Here are the release notes for Update 45.8, released on Wednesday, November 12th, 2025. 

• This update includes support for the 4th Monster Player Reward Track, which begins at 10:00 AM Eastern (-5 GMT) on Thursday, November 13th and is available in the LOTRO Store at that time. The 4th Monster Player Reward Track continues until 9:59 AM Eastern (-5 GMT) on January 1st, 2026.

Here are the release notes for Update 45.7, released on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025. 

• Adjustments have been made to the way timed effects like damage or healing over time communicate to make this work more efficient in the game environment. This change's impact will be most visibly seen in large raid groups and heavily-populated PvMP zones, but this change will improve communication efficiency game-wide. 

• The end date for Legendary Items Reward Track Season 15 has been extended to 12/3/2025 at 9:59am server time. Legendary Items Reward Track Season 16 will start on 12/3/2025 and run until 3/4/2026 at 9:59am server time.

• All avatars should now play the proper effects when using the Milestone of the Golden Passage.

Here are the Release Notes for Update 45.6, released on Thursday, October 9, 2025.

The Harvestmath Festival begins at 10:00 AM Eastern (-4 GMT) on Thursday, October 9th, and continues until 3:00 AM Eastern (-4 GMT) on November 3rd. This year's festival features new rewards, including a "Cobweb" cosmetic cloak, hat, robe, Harvestmath Cauldron, Fall Hobby-broom, decorative pumpkins and webbed hedges, new pets, "spooky" housing music themes and more!

https://www.lotro.com/guides/lotro-harvestmath-festival-guide-en.

• NPCs will no longer fall through the floor in the Tier 1 version of the raid "Depths of Mâkhda Khorbo",

• The number of spawns from skills have been reduced in the Garash fight in the raid "The Temple of Utug-bûr". We have reduced most summoning effects by half as well.

• A bug has been corrected that prevented characters under level 50 from accessing titles in the third Monster Player Reward Track.

• Captain-General and Tyrant quests at Tol Ascarnen, Grimwood Lumber Camp, and Tirith Rhaw will now advance correctly.

• The reset at the Grimwood Lumber Camp will now invoke an hour long cooldown on resetting the NPCs.

• Legendary Worlds: Nazgul logic has been adjusted to trigger victory at the start of its defeat sequence.

Here are the Release Notes for Update 45.5, released on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.

The Kingdoms of Harad stand at a crossroads, their rivalries sharpening as a greater threat gathers strength. Gandalf has come with a warning of a darkness rising in the South. The Thardúth, ancient servants of Morgoth, rise once more, harnessing powers that could unmake the balance of Middle-earth.

Rally the Kindred of the Coins along with the fierce Mizâdi, Shâra of Renewed Hamât, as rival kingdoms clash and old grudges resurface. From arid wastelands, blighted forests, and perilous ruins, war looms on every horizon. Who will rise to lead the Kingdoms of Harad against the coming darkness, or deeper into it?
Experience the Epic Finale: Embark on over 400 new quests, uncovering stories of betrayal, shifting alliances, and ancient powers. Test your strength in three new instances and raid** as you take part in the climactic chapter of the Song of Waves and Wind.

• Level Cap Raised to 160: Advance from 150 to 160 and unlock new powers, abilities, and gear to face the trials of Harad. Grow stronger than ever as the struggle against Morgoth’s shadow reaches its decisive moment.

• Explore the Heart of Harad: Journey through four vast new regions: the blighted lands of Adagîm, the arid gorges of Kíghan, the scorched plateaus of An Shêru, and the once vibrant lakes of Idagâl.

• Forge Fragile Alliances: As the Thardúth rise with power from the First Age, the South teeters between unity and ruin. Rally the proud Kindred of the Coins and the fierce Mizâdi, Shâra of Renewed Hamât, even as the ambitious Nakási Wave-reaper moves to tip the balance.

• Journey Farther with Expedition Supplies: Get immediate access to Expedition supplies to enhance your journey! The Collector's Edition includes five Reputation Acceleration Tomes, a Virtue XP Accelerator, five 100% XP Accelerators, and a Rare Crafting Component x5 Selection Box. The Ultimate Fan Bundle also includes 25k virtue XP, four Virtue XP Accelerators, and an Ultimate Carry-all Selection Box. Expedition Supplies are limited to one per account.

• Exciting Bonus Items in the Ultimate Fan Bundle: Enjoy other great features in the Ultimate Fan Bundle, including: 10 slots of extra bank space, an Ultimate 150 level-up package, Ultimate Carry-all Selection Box, Housing Teleporter, Armor of the Golden Lion, Weapon Aura of the Golden Lion, Camel and War-steed of the Golden Lion, Baby Camel pet, a "What's in the Basket?" Bauble, XP Boost Earing, and a level 150 Valar Package.

** Instance & Raid content will be available after Kingdoms of Harad release.

Click here to learn more about Kingdoms of Harad!

The Bane of Rhûn has joined the Black Blade of Lebennin to challenge adventurers on the Legendary Worlds of Angmar and Mordor!

Learn more about these worlds on https://LOTRO.com

. Ringwraiths will sometimes appear in-game, either in the landscape or accessible by a portal that appears, and anyone at the level cap of the game world can enter the portal or otherwise take part in the fight. Once enough players arrive through the portal, the Ringwraith will spawn. New versions of these Ringwraith instances will appear as necessary based on the number of players who enter the portal instance space. 

Filbert Fig has arrived to barter your Figments of Splendour for new and returning rewards! Filbert Fig can be found by the Boar Fountain in Bree along with Galtrev in Dunland, Skarhald in Ered Mithril, Estolad Lan in Imlad Morgul, the Twenty-First Hall in Moria, and in Hultvis in The Vales of Anduin.

Read more on LOTRO.com!

• This update includes a series of significant changes to frills and bushes to address an issue with game performance. Most frills and bushes are now client-only by default. Some rock and frill placement may be adjusted as a result of these changes, but few visible differences should be noticed. These changes reduce the overall physics complexity of these objects and improve game performance.

• River hobbits will now grow and shrink properly during the Mushroom Hunt.

• Chests at Lugazag and Tirith Rhaw should now spawn after control shifts from one side to the other after one hour.

• The Tyrant at the lumber camp is, once again, the required kill to flip the Lumber Camp back to the Free People.

• The Evergreen Sickle-fly and Russet Corgi cosmetic pets now properly appear in the collections panel and have accompanying text describing how to obtain them.

• The Ringwraith event space has had an adjustment aimed at improving encounter AI.

• The Valorous Potion of Morale can now be properly contained in a Healer's Carry-all.

• The volume of the Hand-knell has been reduced slightly to be more in-line with other musical instruments, and the Ab2 note is now closer in tone to surrounding notes. 

• Guild leaders can once again transfer without selling their Kinship housing. Items in Kinship Housing Escrow will be moved to Personal Housing Escrow, and can be found on any character on the account. These items can also then be transferred with a Shared Items Transfer.

• The wrapper quests "A Bountiful Harvest" for the Harvestmath Festival can no longer be cancelled to prevent issues with properly receiving the quests every year.

• Some animations are not displaying correctly on the new Camel of the Golden Lion and Camel of the Vigilant Sentinel. These animations will be corrected for all races in a future game update.

Here are the release notes for Update 45.4.1, released on Wednesday, September 17th, 2025.

• This game update restores a correction that initially launched with Update 45.1,1 but was accidentally reverted in Update 45.4. This correction relates to the Burglar Trait "On a Roll" and targets a specific gameplay performance concern.

• Veil of the Nine worlds: Vitality has been increased on Amelia's level 75 faction armour to make it more competitive with other sets available at this level.

• The Temple of Utug-bûr: The number of additional nodules that spawn during the transition stages of the Gârash boss fight have been reduced for Tier 3. This brings the spawns into better alignment for each tier and reduces the overall impact on performance when these enemies spawn.

• Transfer: We have corrected an issue where some characters were unable to join a kinship after server transfer.

Here are the Release Notes for Update 45.4, released on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.

• We have corrected a bug that could cause characters to be unable to jump due to riding mounts in snow.

• Grodris, the Matron of the Wintersebb in the Isendeep Mine in The Ettenmoors, now properly respawns two hours after defeat.

• The Burglar Trait: On a Roll will once again decrease the active cooldown on Double Down by additional time per rank.

• Chat line call-outs for signature skills during the Veil of the Nine ringwraith event now display properly in French and German.

Here are the Release Notes for Update 45.3, released on Wednesday, August 27, 2025.

Our Legendary Worlds of Angmar and Mordor now have a level cap of 75 and the inclusion of content from Isengard to the Great River.

https://www.lotro.com/news/lotro-legendary-angmar-mordor-aug-2024-en.

! The Tower of Orthanc instance becomes available to play at 1:00 PM Eastern (-4 GMT) on Thursday, August 28th. 

• In the Egg Scramble, the drop rates of White Eggs have been slightly increased once again to aid in completing the quest.

• Resolved an issue with the Farmers Faire quest Kick Out the Cave-claws that caused players to not be able to loot the den if they kicked a second cave-claw too quickly.

• In the Farmers Faire quest Kick Out the Cave-claws, multiple players will no longer be able to kick the same cave-claw.

• You will no longer be haunted by Gathering Guests (Weekly) trying to bestow to you when the Midsummer Festival is not in progress. When the Midsummer Festival returns, this quest will be bestowed by Captain Khâtaphos and will no longer bestowed remotely.

• Ringwraith Event

  • Enervating Grip VFX no longer gets stuck on players.

  • Amelia's barter now offers a set of level 75 essences.

• The Fire & Frost Lore debuff applied by Lore-masters will no longer build hidden stacks on a target. When an active Fire & Frost Lore effect is cleansed, it will be removed entirely and will not allow a suppressed version to rise up.

• The legacy client has been discontinued, if you have the legacy client selected, you will be prompted to select a new game client when launching the game. You may change which game client you are using from the Launcher in "Menu->Options→General."

• The Rift of Nûrz Ghâshu, The Tower of Orthanc, Draigoch's Lair, and Throne of the Dread Terror traditional raid locks will now reset three times per week (Monday, Thursday, and Saturday). Other instances with thrice weekly traditional raid locks (Carn Dûm and Dâr Narbugud) have been switched to Monday, Thursday, and Saturday resets rather than Monday, Wednesday, and Friday resets.

• Birds can now be discovered properly in the Rohan Housing neighborhoods, the Cape of Belfalas, and North Ithilien.

• Beorning, Brawler, and Lore-master incomparable armours from the Tower of Orthanc now correctly require you to complete different bosses from the raid before they can be equipped.

• Lalia's Market barter prices for Hedgehog Burrow, Gondorian Supplier Horn, Ingredient Crate, and Premium Ingredient Crate housing decorations have been increased to better correspond to pricing in the LOTRO Store.

• In the LOTRO Store, the LOTRO Point prices for many housing decorations have been reduced to better correspond with barter pricing in Lalia's Market.

• Isengard Equipment Sets

  • Mariner's Draigoch Armour of the Serpent's Bite now has a set bonus.

  • Beorning armour sets of the Tower Smasher and Echoing Roar now have the correct equipment pieces associated with them.

  • Beorning and Brawler Orthanc sets now have two class-based bonuses, matching the sets other classes can acquire.

  • Burglar's gamble chance upgrade no longer implies that it can affect the deprecated debuffing gamble.

• GERMAN:  Translations for the titles Sublime Stalwart, Dragon Slayer, and Adept of Shadows will now display in German.

• FRENCH: Translations for the titles Farmer, Wanderer of the Free City, and Proud will now display properly in French.

Here are the Release Notes for Update 45.2, released on Wednesday, August 13, 2025.

The farmers of Staddle need help! Shrews and Cave-claws have been using tunnels beneath the fields of Staddle to pillage the town. The people of Staddle are begging for stout-hearted, adventuresome folk to aid them in their time of need. Talk to Humbert Thornburrow in Bywater, or head straight to Staddle and report to Constable Tanglerush for more information.

"Staddle Besieged" is a series of six quests plus a daily wrapper that is available only during the Farmers Faire. Earn Farmers Faire Tokens for helping the hobbits in need, and keep an eye out for treasures found within The Understaddle that may include pipeweed, cosmetics, dyes, or even a pet!

The 2025 Farmer's Faire begins at 10:00 AM Eastern on Thursday, August 14th.

• Farmers Faire returns on August 14th, 2025 with new quests in Staddle and new Apple-picker’s cosmetic rewards! Read more about the Farmer's Faire on https://LOTRO.com.

• For Farmers Faire some adjustments have been made to make the Egg Scramble and Mushroom Hunt deeds easier to complete:

• Farmers Faire: Maggot's Mushroom Hunt now requires 5 mushrooms rather than 8 to complete successfully.

• Egg Scramble Victories (Tier 2) now requires 10 rather than 20 quest completions.

• Maggot's Mushrooms Victories (Tier 2) now requires 10 rather than 20 quest completions.

• Much Drinking, Much Running and Much Eating, Much Running now require 2 successful bets per runner rather than 3.

• In the Egg Scramble, the drop rates of White Eggs have been reduced. The drop rates of Bad Eggs have been greatly reduced. The drop rates of colored, spotted, and striped eggs have been increased. The drop rate of the Golden Egg has been greatly increased.

• In accordance with these drop rate changes, the Farmers Faire tokens received for using the striped eggs has been reduced from 10 to 5 and the tokens received for using the golden egg has been reduced from 50 to 20.

• We removed the announcement for heroes returning to Grothum and Hoarhallow, as they were occurring randomly, at best.

• We revised the value of quests on the Monster Player Reward Track to make the amount of time engaging with the track more achievable. The new values are as follows:

• Standard quests will reward 2500 Monster Player Reward Track Experience.

• Immediately repeatable quests will reward 500 Monster Player Reward Track Experience.

• The task to kill 50 players will reward 7500 Monster Player Reward Track Experience.

• The weekly quest for Monster Players will reward 50000 Monster Player Reward Track Experience.

• This change reduces the number of standard quests to earn a single pip along the reward track to about 8.

• We have addressed an issue where the titles from the latest Monster Play Reward Track were not bestowing correctly.

• We addressed the errant title on the reward box for the Nemesis of the Free title on the Monster Play Season 2 Reward Track.

• Grodris' timer will extend to 2 hours between spawns.

• The faction that defeats Grodris keeps the buff she grants until the opposition defeats her.

• Flags will return to the exterior/interior of Lugazag and Tírith Rhaw; these align with the controlling faction and can only be used to ingress and egress from the tower when you are out of combat.

• Defenders at forward camps will more readily defend the flags.

• Underseaths exits can only be used when out of combat.

• Relics are no longer dispelled when near Underseath exit.

• You can no longer leave the Underseaths while carrying a relic.

• You cannot be interrupted when deploying a siege machine.

• White Hand Bow-masters will be removed from the forward camps and replaced with a less potent enemy.

• Mazauk and Goldhead gain skills to deal with gates.

• Mazauk now appears as a defender at Lugazag when Monster Players control the tower.

• Goldhead now appears as a defender at Tírith Rhaw when Players control the tower.

• Doors are placed behind the new defenders on the bottom floor of Tírith Rhaw and Lugazag.

• Broadcasts now alert players and Monster Players when the reward chests are available to claim at Thirith Rhaw and Lugazag.

• Levers, on either side of the doors, can only be used when out of combat and will open the doors.

• Defeating the defenders on the bottom floor of the tower will also open the doors.

• The base resistance of gates was increased significantly.

• Fixed an issue with overwriting an existing spider skin with the U45 update. This sets the name and the appearance back to the original Luminescent Morgul Creeper.

• Captain: Removed the errant Ettenmoors Dispel effect on the improved version of the Motivating Speech.

• Translations for "The Gambler" have been updated in German.

• "Extraordinary Wanderer's Tools" now properly give their bonus rare item effect.

• "Magnificent Master's Resilient Leggings" have had their stats adjusted to differentiate themselves from the "Magnificent Master's Steadfast Leggings".

Here are the release notes for Update 45.1, released on Wednesday, July 30th, 2025.

• An errant multiplier for two-player groups in the Ettenmoors has been corrected. The error was reducing the amount of Infamy/Glory to 5% instead of providing a 5% bonus before dividing the amount of Infamy/Glory earned.

• Keys rewarded at Lugazag and Tirith Rhaw for capturing the location are now unique.

• The keys of Lugazag and Tirith Rhaw now grant properly when flipping a keep to your faction.

• Chests in the Towers that grant rewards will now lock so they can be used by other players.

• Rewards from chests at the Towers now provide a decaying reward package item. This is done to ensure that the loot in the chest is able to respawn.

• Players and Monster Players will no longer trigger aligned cauldrons at the towers of Lugazag and Tirith Rhaw.

• Gates will no longer hold players in combat after being attacked at Tirith Rhaw and Lugazag.

• Health bonuses on the gate now stack correctly and apply a lesser value.

• Tomes of Defence have been added to Outpost barterers for 175 Marta for both Free People and Monster Players.

• Burglar's "Hiding in Plain Sight" now correctly activates "Sneak" within the Ettenmoors.

• The Forester Crafting Event will now provide its correct reward.

• We have removed the 15th Legendary Items Reward Track that debuts August 20th from the 32-bit game worlds. We do not want players to begin this track just prior to world closing and have to restart progress on their 64-bit game world. The 15th LI Reward Track begins at 10:00 AM Eastern (-4 GMT) on August 20th. Reminder that Character Creation is no longer available on our 32-bit game worlds.

• Birding

  • The Anduin Eagle and Helmed Mew now properly describe that they can be found in Anórien in addition to the Eastfold.

  • The Bird in the Hand and Handful of Bird Feed Baubles now properly display in the Collections Panel.

  • The Deed "The Rarest of Birds in Gondor and Mordor" now properly bestows.

• Burglar

  • "A Sure Thing" damage now correctly applies to your current target.

  • Clever Retort's "Malicious Wound" now benefits from damage over time pulse bonuses.

  • Clever Retort now correctly benefits from bonuses to Fellowship Maneouvre potency, including those from Burglar signals.

  • Well-placed Strike now benefits from Critical Magnitude bonuses.

  • Exposed Throat now correctly benefits from single-target critical chance and magnitude bonuses.

• Hunter

  • Kingsfoil Healing no longer incorrectly turns into Purge Poison when Bountiful Purge is traited.

  • Split Shot now benefits from Suppressing Stings as intended.

  • Strength of the Earth now requires you to stop moving before using it.

  • Distracting Shot now correctly interacts with the Volley trait.

  • Call to Greatness now resets the cooldown of Horn of Orome for yellow line Hunters.

  • The trait Perseverance now correctly requires you to first trait "Press Onward". 

• Mariner

  • Disarming Strike now correctly reduces Tactical Damage rather then Ranged Damage.

Here are the release notes for Update 45: Allies and Adversaries, released on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025. 

The Ettenmoors has received significant updates with the release of a Siege mechanic and more! These changes are far-reaching and aim to alter the gameplay in the Ettenmoors by providing a large number of fluid events that can influence and tip the scale of battle. We have added more mechanics in the form of rewards for taking and holding the towers of Lugazag and Tírith Rhaw, new relics and buffs in a new area called The Underseaths, accessible by controlling a forward camp on the landscape of the Ettenmoors, and new vendors with buffs available once you take control of outposts. This is one of the largest changes made to the game play flow of the Ettenmoors in several years. Further information about these changes can be found lower in the release notes.

Along with other major changes to the Ettenmoors we will debut Season 2 of the Monster Player Reward Track! This reward track is available will be made available on the LOTRO Store, and we will announce when the track will become active. Completing the track earns you a currency called Marta, which can be used to claim new rewards! Further details are available in the release notes.

Birding has been expanded once again! This time around, birding reaches into the lands of both Mordor and Gondor, with nine new territories to discover birds in. These new territories are Anórien, Ithilien, Lossarnach, Lebennin, Belfalas, Lamedon, Waste, Agarnaith, and Lhingris. Within these, there are over 120 new birds to discover amongst these territories. Find all the rarest of these birds to gain a new title. Along the way, discovering all the birds in certain territories will grant you other rewards, from new pictures to hang up in your houses to even a few new Baubles to collect. The birds are calling and eagerly awaiting those birding enthusiasts, so get out there and explore!