The Lord of The Rings Online: Riders of Rohan PC

The Lord of The Rings: Riders of Rohan is the fourth expansion to the popular PC MMORPG developed by Turbine Entertainment. The game takes players to Middle-Earth created by none other than J.R.R. Tolkien. As the subtitle might suggest, this time around one gets to explore the plains of Rohan – a vast land inhabited by fierce warriors and excellent riders, located east from Isengard.

Plot

The Fellowship of the Rings is divided at Amon Hen, and Aragorn together with Legolas and Gimli set off to chase the band of Uruk-hai, who kidnapped their companions. At the same time, the shadow of Isengard has fallen over Rohan – the country is engulfed with war, and the orcs marked with the White Hand plunder the nearby villages with impunity. A young commander – Burnoth son of Baldeg, accompanied by his fellow soldiers, begins the fight for his homeland. A player is tasked with supporting Rohan warriors in their war efforts against the forces of evil and facilitating an alliance with the Ents – ancient dwellers of the Forests of Fangorn.

Mechanics

The Riders of Rohan expansion expands the game world by adding new territories – the kingdom of Rohan, twice as large as the Mines of Moria (introduced by the first expansion), and two smaller locations – the Hill of Amon Hen and the regions surrounding Fangorn. Upon reaching level 75, a player is free to explore these new locations and make use of the new elements of gameplay mechanics. The most important one is the ability to fight while riding a horse (a player receives a war horse after completing a particular story mission). This faithful steed is much more than just a mean of transportation – it constitutes a significant support when fighting new types of enemies, such as the Warg Riders. Together with one’s character, the war horse reaches consecutive experience levels and acquires new abilities that boost its combat potential and allow it to e.g. trample and kick the foes. While on a horse, player’s character gets access to new abilities, however, he can utilize some of the previously available ones. Moreover, joining other players who also ride their steeds allows players to use new tactical options, such as flanking or charging at the enemies.

Apart from the story missions, The Lord of The Rings Online: Riders of Rohan available on PC offers hundreds of side quests – these also includes daily missions, completing which allows a player to gradually rebuild the city of Snowborn. Another motivation to complete all these missions might be the fact that the level cap has been increased up to 85.

Technical aspects

The developers have put a lot of effort to slavishly recreate the landscapes and the architecture typical for Rohan. As a result, a player can enjoy vast plains, meadows covered with flowers, and thatched wooden houses. The Riders of Rohan expansion introduces certain technical improvements that include better lighting effects and well-developed physics of vegetation.

Despite the fact that the add-on, as well as the base version of the game, are free-to-play, players can spend some real money to unlock additional content, such as missions, multiplayer instances, new skills, Rohirrim’s armor, more pieces of gear, and much more.

Last updated on 25 September 2012