The new LOTRO Legacy of Morgoth Expansion is nearly here, which means so are all the bundles you can pre-purchase! In this guide, I’ll lay out the main rewards and give you previews of them all, so you can decide which bundle is the right fit for you.
There’s plenty to look at, so let’s get started.
What Do You Want To Know About First?
Mounts | Cosmetics | Pets | Milestone Skill | Movement Style | Prices
Legacy of Morgoth Mounts
There are up to three mounts available with your Legacy of Morgoth bundles. One of these is in the Collector’s Edition, with a further two in the Ultimate one.
Sand-striker’s Steed
Complete with head armour and a rollmat, you’ll be ready for that desert trek in no time!
As with other items and themes in LoM, the cobra motif is set in white against an orangy-brown background.
UltimateCollector’s
Steed of the Treasured Wellspring
You cool, on-the-edge endgamers who are finishing Corsairs of Umbar (unlike me who has just started Fate of Gundabad!) may know what the “Treasured Wellspring” is. Or maybe it’s a location in the new regions?
Either way, this gold-adorned, white horse (or pony) is a beautiful addition to your stables.
Ultimate
Oryx of the Treasured Wellspring
Ultimate
As the Oryx is a completely new type of creature as a mount, I wanted to show it from a few different angles!
What is an Oryx?
It seems to be a general name that encompasses a few species of large antelopeRef. And, while some are in Africa, it will come as little surprise that Arabia is another location, given the overall look and feel of parts of Umbar.
War-Steed Cosmetics
UltimateCollector’s
If your pack contains one or more of the Mounts, then you’ll also have the matching War-steed cosmetics.
No, you won’t receive a War Oryx, though that would certainly be an unexpected turn of events at any battlefield!
Sandy Hoofprints
And the time you saw two sets of footprints…they weren’t, they were hoof-prints, because only horses could save you.
More seriously…the Steed of the Treasured Wellspring and the matching War-steed Leg-guards create sandy hoofprints wherever you go. Even when there’s no sand! Anyone up for making sandy hoofprints in the snows of Forochel?!
Legacy of Morgoth Cosmetics
There have been some expansions where I have felt LOTRO “missed the mark” on the outfit cosmetics. But neither the Corsairs of Umbar, nor the Legacy of Morgoth even come close to a miss!
Ignore the fact that some pieces are not dyable at all (mostly those that are nearly 100% metal) and these sets are great.
Sand-striker’s Armour
UltimateCollector’s
The Sand-striker’s Armour (or Armor for you who write American-ish), balances the very real need for armour against the very real need not to cook yourself. The robe is fairly loose and has forearm wraps as part of it. The helm is ornate and designed to keep the sun off your neck, but it is very tall. The bracers are pretty bulky but also…pretty. The serpent motif returns there too, but it’s not overdone.
Full Outfit View
I’ve pictured this set on some tall and shorter races. I haven’t gotten around to Dwarves of any kind yet, but hopefully this still helps.
About the Shoulder-guards
The shoulder-guards, to me, suit some races or body shapes, but not all of them. On N’wyn here, they stick out quite a long way. If you see on full outfit view, they rest more naturally on my River Hobbit’s shoulders.
Treasured Wellspring Armour
Ultimate
I took far more shots of this armour/outfit, simply because there are patterns I want you to take note of on the front and the back.
Note: If you want the gold coin appearance across your forehead, use the separate Hood of the Treasured Wellspring, with the hoodless cloak. The actual hooded cloak does not include that, so you can choose whether to wear it or not.
Full Outfit View
Again, here’s the full outfit modelled by a few characters. It looks pretty much the same on Elves as humans, so I didn’t feature them separately. Sorry to Dwarf-fans, it takes me a bit to get around to showcasing these items on Dwarves.
Treasured Weapon Aura
Ultimate
While only part of the Ultimate Fan Bundle, the Treasured Weapon Aura is worth having. It’s been great seeing LOTRO tinkering with Auras, even if they can have a mind of their own at times in the outfits system!
This aura is more descriptive as “shifting sands” or, for weapons I suppose, “swirling sands”. Watch the mini-video to the left (or above) to see the effect on four different weapons. But you can also look at still screenshots below, if you prefer!
Legacy of Morgoth Pets
You can obtain two very different pets, one with the Collector’s Edition and the other with the Ultimate Fan Bundle.
Cobra
This cobra pet is so detailed and I surprised myself because I genuinely like it! I think it’s because this serpent is fierce, but not dark or evil like the Ill Omened Snake.
Now, where did I put my charming musical instrument?
Ultimate Collector’s
Treasured Jackal
While suspiciously similar to wolf-dogs, the Treasured Jackal is only the second one of that breed since the Ill Omened Jackal.
These are oddly calming to have with you when adventuring. At least if you can ignore them howling every so often, just in case you had forgotten that they could!
Ultimate
Character Portrait Frames
As is often the case, new character portrait frames are out. This time, unusually, they’re oval. Given that our character portraits are, in fact, circular, these frames are the tweaked version from the originally-released ones.
As of this expansion, LOTRO appear to be working on scaling of the UI. See the Bullroarer “Misc” notes
on character panel and barber shop scaling. I hope in future updates to be able to provide higher resolution frames.
As it stands, if I scale it with the UI scaler, they just blur, I’m afraid.
Journey’s Start Milestone Skill
Ultimate
A newish feature to LOTRO bundles – whether expansion packs or Supporter Packs, is a customisation to your teleportation animation. Journey’s Start, sadly only coming with the Ultimate Fan Bundle, is simple – but its simplicity is what makes it an aweseome, everyday-use animation.
Using the Journey’s Start
- Right-click the item in your bags to “consume it”.
- In chat, type
/milestone_pack - Any time you use a Milestone or “Return To” skill, this animation will now play.
Note: As of November 2024, /milestone commands do not alter the animations for: Hunter Campsite returns, Warden Musters or Mariner “Sail To” animations.
I hope LOTRO change this at some point.
Wellspring Defender Movement Style
Ultimate
I don’t have a fancy video for this, because it involves a certain level of dexterity to move and rotate the camera at the same time. There’s no way in LOTRO to “lock” the camera.
But the Wellspring Defender Movement Style does not really need a video.
How the Wellspring Defender Looks
Firstly, you’re “equipped” with a huge sword, which you hold a little bit awkwardly. It’d be like me trying to learn to play golf for the first time. But it works.
Once you move, it’s a sort-of sprint, where you keep your back upright but keep your greatsword ready for that first big swing.
Using the Weapon
You can, sort-of, “use” it, if you want to get some good poses in, but do so out of combat. Guardian shields used to show on this animation and, for some bizarre reason, LOTRO disabled them. It was a shame because it looked awesome.
Baubles
The Baubles in the Legacy of Morgoth Expansion packs are not due to be delivered to players until the expansion officially launches. I have not been well enough to see if they made it to Bullroarer, though.
I will add this section once it’s live.
What’s a Bauble? No, not the Christmas Tree kind…
Baubles are an addition to the Collections panel and are now the home of reusable, usually cosmetic, items. They are items that you used to have to carry around in your bags/inventory to be able to use.
Now, once you have obtained a relevant “bauble” and used/consumed it, it will appear in Collections. Now you can just drag the skill to a quickbar slot and save yourself a bag slot.
Scorpion Surprise Bauble
In the Legacy of Morgoth packs, there are two such baubles. One is the Scorpion Surprise Bauble. If you are the prankster type who likes to scare people witless for cheap laughs, then this is for you.
You literally dump and inanimate scorpion (that has the label “Surprise!”) and run away.
Treasured Smoking Bauble
This is a neat way to AFK, or just stop for a while and relax. The Treasured Smoking Bauble lets you do just that. This particular bauble can be used by multiple people, so if you see someone with one, you can use it and join them. I haven’t managed that yet, but I should, even if I just dualbox it.
How Many People Can Use the Smoking Bauble?
confirmed it was “up to three people”. Thanks Mad Badgr!
You do occasionally cough.
Bauble Cooldown
While the bauble skill itself states a 5-minute cooldown, neither the Scorpion Surprise nor the Treasured Smoking Bauble despawn after that time, you just can’t reposition it while the cooldown is still ongoing.
Titles
As always, there are a few titles to be snaffled too.
- UltimateCollector’sStandard Defier of Morgoth’s Legacy
- UltimateCollector’s Sand-walker
- Ultimate Treasured
Other Features
There are many little items, or bundles of little items, that aren’t worth going into depth here. That’s because I didn’t want this page to be a proverbial copy of the official expansions page!
But a few are worth mentioning:
- L150 Level-up Package: Does not apply to Legendary Worlds, but is granted to all packages.
- Extra Character Slot: All Bundles
- Small Map Carry-all: All Bundles. But be careful: as with others, if you put a character-bound map in, the whole carry-all becomes character-bound.
- Carry-All Selection Box: Ultimate: pick one from all current carry-alls.
- Housing Teleporter Deco: Ultimate: instantly travel to the Legacy of Morgoth region from the comfort of your own home!
- Boosts and Accelerators: UltimateCollector’s Virtue XP, normal XP, Reputation Acceleration
Legacy of Morgoth Packages
The weird pricing system that is LOTRO-bundles-in-GBP continues!
Package/Bundle Costs
How much do the Legacy of Morgoth packages cost?
- Standard Edition: £30.99 / USD$39.99 / €36.99
- Collector’s Edition: £62.99 / USD$79.99 / €72.99
- Ultimate Fan Bundle: £101.99 / USD$129.99 / €118.99
Packages Compared
Above, I’ve tried to focus on the type of reward, because sometimes people care about different things. And because the official list of features of each package is enormous. LOTRO cram so much in, and rightly have to list everything you’re paying for.
I’m not SSG, so I’m allowed to summarise. I’ve also not stated the obvious that you’ll not only get the content for legacy of Morgoth, but you’ll get it once it’s released! Shall we?
- 1×Instant Level 150 Level-up Package
- 1×Extra Character Slot
- Mounts: None
- Character Outfits: None
- Pets: None
- Portrait Frames: Simple
- Title: Defier of Morgoth’s Legacy
- Baubles: None
- 1×Instant Level 150 Level-up Package
- 1×Extra Character Slot
- Mounts: Sand-striker’s Steed (and War-steed)
- Character Outfits: Sand-striker’s Armour
- Pets: Cobra
- Portrait Frames: Simple | Elaborate
- Titles: Sand-walker, Defier of Morgoth’s Legacy
- Baubles: Scorpion Surprise
- 1×Instant Level 150 Level-up Package. More for Ultimate.
- 1×Extra Character Slot
- Mounts: Oryx, Steed of the Wellspring Defender (and War-steed), Sand-striker’s Steed (and War-steed)
- Character Outfits: Treasured Wellspring Armour and Weapon Aura, Sand-striker’s Armour
- Pets: Treasured Jackal, Cobra
- Portrait Frames: Simple, Elaborate, Treasured
- Titles: Treasured, Sand-walker, Defier of Morgoth’s Legacy
- Baubles: Treasured Smoking, Scorpion Surprise
Other Exclusives
- Movement Style
- Milestone Teleportation Style
- 10×Shared Storage Slots
- Monster Play (PvMP) Appearance
Are these Prices Expensive?
If you go for the base price of £31.99 for the content, which also includes a couple of cosmetic goodies, then I think that is fair for an entire expansion’s worth of content.
Quick Comparisons
FFXIV most recent expansion of Dawntrail was £29.99 and you only got a couple of bonus items if you pre-ordered. I know they are radially different feels and different games. But what I am saying is the actual content price is comparable. The next package for FF14 (“Digital Collectors”) gives you a mount, a pet and a cosmetic held item.
The next package up for LOTRO, gives you an outfit, title and a mount.
And you don’t get an instant-level boost with any of FFXIV packages. All of the LOTRO bundles, Standard included, let you boost right up to be able to jump into the new content if you want to, as well as character buffs and acceleration tomes.
Sure, LOTRO prices look high, but you get a lot for your money.
How to Decide
Whether you go for the Collectors or Ultimate packages depends on what other items you are most drawn to. I love the weapon aura, parts of the Ultimate cosmetic set, the movement style and the amazing new milestone animation. I happened to have been gifted this expansion, which I am really grateful for. I know what I could and could not have afforded, so work with that idea.
You Can Upgrade Later
If you’re not sure, the expansions page does include an “upgrade” option, allowing you pay the difference between packages. Some items are “One per account”, such as the map carry-all. So pick a lower priced bundle, bookmark the page, and upgrade later when you feel ready!
TL;DR Get Ready to explore the Legacy of Morgoth
Morgoth wasn’t exactly a fan of the free people. He wasn’t terribly likable, let’s say! But as with your life and mine, what he set in motion echoed down through the history of Middle-earth. Although I’m a few expansions behind, I’m looking forward to exploring the Legacy of Morgoth in LOTRO.
So grab a content and whichever goodies you want. I hope having this guide has helped you to decide for yourself, and I’ll see you soon in Middle-earth.
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