The Lord of the Rings Online has been pushing an initiative to improve its stagnant player versus monster player mode, and this week's Bullroarer test server notes highlight another change: level 20 players can now enter the fray.
Monster play in the Ettenmoors has been a feature of the long-standing MMORPG since its launch in 2007. However, in the years since its release, the Moors haven't really been all that relevant to many players, especially thanks to how stagnant the mode seems. Recently, though, Standing Stone Games has attempted to revitalize the PvMP mode, such as opening the experience up to everyone for free recently.
However, a large barrier of entry was the need to have a high level or even max-level character in order to survive against the well-kitted monster players. LotRO is looking to shake that up with the latest update being tested on Bullroarer.
Now players starting at level 20 can bring their Free People classes to the Ettenmoors and get a boost to level 140, making it a little easier to survive in the scrum. The notes highlight the fact that while level scaling will get you to 140, you aren't going to be as good as a player who is truly level 140 in the Moors. However, it gets you competitive for sure.
Audacity is getting some tweaks as well, seeing it scaled for those boosted players. Both the Freeps and Creeps (monster players) will see Audacity adjustments, especially when it comes to crowd control and damage bonuses.
LOTRO Lead Systems Designer Orion will be making his debut on LOTROstream this week! Join us on Thursday starting at 2:00pm Eastern (-4 GMT) for a Q&A, chat, and more! #LOTRO #wedonthaveanamefortheshowyet pic.twitter.com/EVbJ0JPH2j
— LOTRO (@lotro) July 3, 2022
You can check out the full notes on the Lord of the Rings Online forums. The Bullroarer server is open until tomorrow, July 7th, so there isn't much time if you want to hop in and get your PvMP testing on. If you want to get more on Monster Play and ask some questions of the team, Thursday's LOTROStream will be looking at the feature with Orion live on Twitch at 2pm ET/11am PT.
Monster Play has been a focus of the team, especially since developer Orion returned to the team earlier this year. While this won't fix the current issues surrounding Monster Play, it's definitely a step in the direction the dev team wants to go.
