Welcome to the Release Notes for Update 19.

Of Special Note:

After the Battle, A New Day Dawns

The Battle of the Pelennor Fields is won... but the war is far from over. Gather your strength and mourn the dead, but tarry not long for soon the Host of the West will begin its march towards Mordor. Explore after-the-battle versions of the Pelennor, Osgiliath, and the Crossroads before venturing into the dangerous and overgrown wilderness of North Ithilien. Over 90 region quests and deeds included.

Epic Volume IV, Book 7 "The Trap"

There is little time to mourn friends lost during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, for the armies of Mordor will soon return to finish what they began. Aragorn needs your help to make a crucial decision, one that could have grand repercussions for the fate of Middle-earth: should the Free People prepare to defend their lands from the attack that must surely come, or should Aragorn risk all in setting a trap for Sauron that the Dark Lord will not be able to resist…?

Cape of Belfalas Housing

Need to get away from all the war and darkness of recent events in Middle Earth? Visit the scenic Cape of Belfalas for a breath of fresh sea air - and the most stately, well-appointed housing for sale to adventurers of all stripes. Look for a broker in Bree, Dol Amroth, and Minas Tirith today!

New Premium individual and Kin housing is available for Mithril
Hook point counts inside and out are more than doubled
Own as many individual Premium houses as you want & keep your classic house
Premium upkeep is waived for VIPs. Upkeep is possible with gold or Mithril.

Check out a set of Cape of Belfalas quests to tour around the area and get into the seaside state of mind.

Flora Barter System

The herbs, roots, and flowers of North Ithilien, the garden of Gondor, were prized by its herbalists of old, and today’s herbalists are recovering their uses once again. Players will be able to gather plant-life from North Ithilien in Gondor and barter them for an evolving list of rewards by speaking with the Host of the West Herb-master and Herbalist. Gathering flora yields one of five color items that can be exchanged for various rewards, including boots, leggings, armor, gloves, helms, mantles, and more. Some colors are more common, while others are rare.

News and Notes:

Classes

Burglar has been updated:
Aim now guarantees a critical response, unlocking your critical hit chain skills.
Well-practiced now reduces the cooldown of Aim by 20 seconds per rank.
Heartening Prank has been adjusted to increase morale by 2-10%, up from 1-5%
Location is Everything once again causes Crit Chain skills to bypass 10% of target mitigations.
Burglar's Antidote no longer has an induction, and may be used while moving. This skill also restores 2 PDFW's instead of 1, and contains a moderate Power Restore.
Traits and legacies that increase Coup de Grâce, Double-edged Strike, and Flashing Blades critical chance and critical damage will now also increase the second attack critical chance and critical damage.

Hunter has been updated:
Focus builder skills have received a moderate damage boost.
Focus consumers have received a strong damage boost.
Split shot has received a significant damage boost.

Hunter's Purge Poison now removes 2 PDFW's instead of 3 poisons.
Many Beorning skills now require line of sight.

Cosmetic Pets

Frog and Beetle Cosmetic Pets' movement sounds are now on the Sound Effects Volume channel in Options.

Featured Instances

New Featured Instances are now available:
Sari-Surma replaces Bells of Dale.
Fornost - Wraith of Water replaces Sammath Gûl
Haudh Valandil replaces Dungeons of Dol Guldur
Northcotton Farm replaces Halls of Night
Iobar's Peak replaces Stone Heights.

Featured Instances will now drop item level 234 jewelry instead of level 222 jewelry.

Festivals

Winter Festival mistletoe has been added as a barter item to Jeffrey Bloomer.
Various Summer Festival cosmetic items have new icons.
Autumn Leaf and Twilight Purple dye colors have been added to the wardrobe and dressing rooms, and will be available during the Fall Festival.
Summer Festival emote granting items that are bound to account no longer automatically consume when acquired.

Housing

Ambient house music now plays at a consistent volume, and is no longer stacking upon itself depending on conditions.
Small fire pits can no longer be placed in floor housing decoration hooks. Fire pits already placed will remain in place until they are unhooked.
A Belfalas Housing Broker has been placed in Bree, next to Erkenband, and outside of Lalia's Market, so low-level players have easier access to the new Homestead.

Items

Legendary Item advancement tracker bars for items in slots nine and ten now have their appropriate matching color.
Throne of the Dread Terror - 4-piece Greater Armor Set Bonuses no longer stack with identical bonuses on other armor sets.
Throne of the Dread Terror - 2-piece Lesser Armor Set Bonuses no longer stack with identical bonuses on other armor sets.
The Dol Amroth Fountain housing item no longer claims to be a tapestry.
Third Age Legendary Bridles will no longer require minimum level above 100, even when dropped by a higher level enemy.

NPCs:

Human NPCs now run more naturally.

Raids

It is now possible to earn the "Challenger of Gothmog" title if you complete all six challenges in one session of Throne of the Dread Terror after the server-first title has been earned on your server.

Regions and other adventuring areas

More than 90 quests and deeds are available in the new regions of North Ithilien, The Crossroads, Pelennor Fields (After Battle), and Osgiliath (After Battle).
Impassable thickets in Taur Druadan now have more branches and trees.
Caras Galadhon now has daytime music.
Fixed some stuck spots in Talath Anor
Fixed some floating trees in South Ithilien
Fixed a floating tent in Tham Ornen
Fixed a stuck spot in the Entwood.
The ore needed for the quest Mining the Mindolluin is no longer buried under the ground.
Wraiths in Dar Dugoth no longer idle incorrectly.
The door in the Crossing-hall of Central Gondor - Ethring now makes a sound when opening and closing.

Travel

Players can now travel to their premium or classic houses using the character housing panel.
Far Anorien Mithril travel costs have been reduced.

UI

The option to Disable Combat Music now works reliably.
The "Get Points" button on the Character Transfer UI has been renamed Help because it points to an article rather than the store.
It is now possible to use existing character transfer tokens to transfer characters. If you have tokens, you will need to use them prior to using Turbine Points. Only one currently can be used at a time, so if you wish to transfer more characters than you have tokens, transfer the appropriate number of characters using tokens first, then transfer the rest. NOTE: The Character Transfer Token system will be available through the end of the year. Players should use all of the tokens they wish to use prior to the end of December 31st, 2016.