Today we invite you to hear from one of our Beta participants about what it’s like to play a Dwarf in the lands of LOTRO’s Middle-earth.

Sign up for The Lord of the Rings^TM: Shadows of Angmar^TM Beta Program, and a chance to start forming your own impressions! European players, sign up for the Codemasters LOTRO Beta at http://www.lotro-europe.com.

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Humans are good at anything, Hobbits are quick and sturdy, and elves are practically demi-gods with spell or bow, but dwarves are truly the masters of battle. Dwarves have a high tolerance for pain and poison, as well as high strength, but are less agile than the other races of Middle-earth. Dwarves can be Minstrels, Guardians, Hunters, or Champions. Unlike the other races, dwarves are simply “dwarves”, and have no male/female character option - Dwarf gender is difficult to discern by non-dwarves, and they guard their women more carefully even than their Mithril! Playing to the might of the Dwarf, I chose to play a Champion, the most powerful class in melee combat against multiple opponents and the one in which I believe his dwarven talents can be used to their greatest effect.

Regardless of where they hail from, dwarves begin their adventures in the mountains of Ered Luin at Thorin’s Gates, after an introductory adventure which includes meeting a couple very familiar characters, and an adventure with a Cave Troll. This area also has many elves, who escaped from Edhelion during the siege and subsequent downfall of the city. A variety of gathering, fighting, and exploring quests take my Dwarf up onto snow-covered mountains and down into deep, dank caverns under ancient ruins. Combat ranges from trading blows with simple beasts of the wilderness to fending off multiple goblin warriors. Once my Dwarf has proven himself a worthy member of his race, he is trusted with a difficult rescue mission. After this, he is allowed entrance into Thorin’s Halls and given free reign to delve into the lands around Thorin’s Gate.

From here on, the missions become more difficult, and the combat becomes more intense. The Champion’s ability to use Fervour to gain a tactical advantage in hand-to-hand combat proves to be just the edge that a Dwarf needs when wading into a brawl. When he reaches level 10, I am proud that my character has earned the sobriquet “the Undefeated”. More of the westernmost lands of Eriador are unveiled through perilous journeys south and east. The land of the Hobbits, known as the Shire, and very full of these curious and friendly folk and their numerous children, lies just on the other side of Duilond, a city of the elves well worth visiting.

After passing through the quaint towns (and stopping at the many taverns!) carved into the rolling hills of the Shire, my more experienced and well-traveled Dwarf enters the human region of Breeland. By now he has a couple of nice weapons, a decent set of armor, and a few trinkets. His skills have increased enough for him to fear nothing from goblins, and little enough from larger creatures he encounters along the road, in the forest, or under the ruins scattered across the land. Although he has seen humans, this is his first time in a city full of them, and Bree-Town bustles with commerce and teems with activity of all kinds.

The lands around Bree-Town offer no safety, but challenge the might of my Dwarf Champion in swamps and barrows, through the woods and into the lairs of ancient evils. Once he has pacified the area, even greater trials await in the harsh deserts of the Lone Lands to the east, and the hills and ruins of the North Downs.

The adventures of my Dwarf Champion are not nearly complete. There are no doubt Trolls to be slain in the Trollshaws, and tunnels full of goblins to be vanquished in the Misty Mountains. The undead of the Ettenmoor stir restlessly at his approach, and the pinnacle of unspeakable horror waits in Angmar. Only time will tell if he is worthy to lie in the halls of the great dwarven warriors with his fathers and grandfathers as his kin toast his legend with great flagons of ale. But time waits for none, and glory waits only for he who wrests it from the snarling jaws of defeat.

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We hope you enjoyed this week’s Beta Journal! Check back next Wednesday for more!