Book 10: The City of the Kings continues the epic story, adds over 100 new quests, implements significant enhancements to monster play and introduces the Reputation and Bartering systems. Book 10: The City of the Kings will be available to subscribers of The Lord of the Rings Online on August 20, 2007.

"Our first update significantly expanded the world of Middle-earth with new story arcs, quests, and exciting new kinds of gameplay," said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "For Book 10 we continue the epic story and introduce a ton of new content, but we also are introducing legendary play, a completely new way to experience monster play that enables you to play as a powerful Ranger of the North or a terrible Troll."

Beginning August 20th, heroes can join the battle in Book 10: The City of the Kings, the second of many free updates to The Lord of the Rings Online.


NEW FEATURES:

The Epic Continues! - Amarthiel, introduced in Book 9: Shores of Evendim, has reclaimed the palantir of Carn Dûm and is now seeking to make Annúminas her new seat of power as she searches for her lost ring of power: Narchuil. The Dúnedain stands against her as the Rangers mount a last, desperate attempt to wrest the palantir from Amarthiel. Before she can find Narchuil, a most dangerous opportunity presents itself that may give the Dúnedain the advantage they need to blind the eye of Angmar.

Legendary Play - Once in the Ettenmoors, players can experience monster play in a completely new way by spending their Destiny Points to play as a powerful Ranger of the North or a terrible Troll to offer a strategic advantage to their allies in the battle for control of the Ettenmoors.

Critter Play - Friendly barnyard animals love squawking around the landscape, exploring chicken coops, hunting for worms and more! Players can now explore Middle-earth from a different - and sometimes unexpected - viewpoint as a chicken, the first of many new playable critters that will be added to the game in the future.

New Reputation and Bartering Systems - Book 10 introduces the Reputation and Bartering systems. The Reputation system enables players to earn positive and negative standing with different races and groups in Middle-earth based on both monster kills and quest completions. The Bartering system allows players to trade trophies earned in battle for rewards such as armor sets or mounts.

Over 100 New Quests - The story continues for players as they aid the Fellowship and encounter new adventures, new dungeons and over a dozen new monsters.

Enhanced User Interface - The game's UI is now customizable. In addition to being able to skin your UI with a unique look, Book 10 will enable players to access sliders in their ‘Options' panel to scale the size of individual elements of the UI to their liking.


"We are working very hard to deliver the most content and best experiences to our subscribers and it is extremely satisfying to see such a large number of players embracing the game and joining us in Middle-earth," added Anderson. "We intend to continue our long established reputation of delivering frequent and substantial updates to our players with the release of Book 11 this Fall which will offer players the opportunity to live in their very own house in Middle-earth!"

The Lord of the Rings Online delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most beloved fantasy adventure of all time. From the quaint surroundings of the Shire to Angmar, the vile kingdom of the Witch-king, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before. The Lord of the Rings Online is now available for purchase at major retailers across North America and Europe. For more information about The Lord of the Rings Online, please visit http://www.lotro.com/ or http://www.lotro-europe.com/.

Original Announcement can be found here.

Book 10 updates to the Hunter class...

Overview
There's a lot going in for the Month of the Hunter; here's the big picture and a few tantalizing details of what's new for the #1 ranged damage class.

Travel
Fast travel has always been a specialty of the Hunter. Anyone can learn the way home. For the right price, a very fast horse can take you from point A to point B. However, no class but the Hunter has such broad and versatile knowledge of the land of Middle-Earth-or the ability to guide his fellows on their journey.

With the Month of the Hunter, this staple of the Hunter class improves with new and improved skills.


Return to Camp
A new, floating bind point group travel skill
Get your group to (and out of) instances and major landscape camps fast
Look for new map notes to locate these camps around the world

Group Travel Changes
Several of the existing Group Travel skills are available at lower levels
Five new Group Travel Skill Locations have been added
Four of the new travel skills are learned through class quests... find the quests!

Find The Path
The bonus only applies when you are out-of-combat, but the skill is always on
Press the button once, and never worry about toggling it back on after combat
Traveling Ration stack size increased to 50

Tracking
Hunters (and through them, their fellowship members) know the joy of tracking to find just the target you want. New improvements to the experience of tracking give the Hunter more information about their quarry... and even allow them to share that information more readily with their fellows!

We now display more information on tracked creatures, and you can sort by any column
Monster name has level-relative conning coloration (like you'd see over its head)
The challenge level of the monster, such as Normal or Elite, is now displayed
The approximate distance at the time of tracking is displayed in a third column
Sharing Tracked Targets
Advanced Hunters can share the location and name of their tracked targets with other members of their fellowship on their mini-maps

"Passage of Nature" can now track Dragon-kind
Now, find your worms, salamanders, and drakes... in addition to beasts, insects, and creatures of nature!

"Passage of Foes" can now track Giants
They may not be as evil or mean as Orcs, but they can still be trouble.... Oh, and they leave really big tracks!

Traps, Oils, and Bow Chants
Ever resourceful, the Hunter can make use of many different tools wrought by the hands of skillful craftsmen. Improvements and new additions to the line up of consumable items allow the Hunter to push harder and focus their skills.

The duration of Fire and Light Oils has increased dramatically
The shortest duration oil now lasts for 5 minutes (yes, minutes!) not 10 seconds
Oils will now last for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, up to 15 minutes at the highest tier
The clever Weaponsmiths of the world have devised new kinds of traps
The Quick Trap drops without any induction
The Strong Trap doesn't trap as long, but it isn't broken by damage
The Lure Trap draws the aggro of animals until the trap is destroyed
The Tripwire gives you a chance to open a Fellowship Maneuver on a target (it won't do it every time, and it will only be usable out of combat)
There are also new tiers of existing traps
Lower tier traps have always had a higher chance of being resisted by monster of higher levels, the new tiers give you a better chance of success against higher level monsters

A new kind of Hunter-only consumable item crafted by Scholars: Bow Chants

5 new items which empower your ranged weapon in different ways-pick the right Chant for the right job!
Foe-finder - Reduced chance for targets to evade bow skills
Shield-bane - Reduced chance for targets to block bow skills
Breach-finder - Bypass some of target's damage mitigation
Wind-rider - Reduced power cost of bow skills
Whisper-draw - Reduced threat generated by bow skills
These buffs last for 20 minutes so each one goes a long way

Bows and Crossbows
Long has the debate raged over which implement was the superior weapon. With the Month of the Hunter's changes, we have decided to make the crossbow a weapon with consistent damage and the bow one with more variability but with the possibility of bigger numbers.

What does this mean in game terms?

Damage:

Bows have a greater variance in damage: the highs are higher, the lows are lower
Conversely, crossbows have a narrower variance
Speed:

Bows now exist at both extremes of speed, both the fastest and slowest ranged weapons are bows
Conversely, crossbows have a narrower range of speeds
The biggest damage numbers will come from bows rather than crossbows-call it the power of the archer's art. However, if random number generators hate you, the crossbow limits your lows as much as it does your highs.

If you want the fastest possible weapon, or the slowest possible weapon-both will now be bows. This represents that bows may be fired very fast, or that you can take your time. Crossbows are simple to use but are less flexible, and therefore have speeds more toward the middle range of bows.

Ultimately, you may find the special properties of a particular weapon out weighs preferences you may have for speed or damage variance. Then again, maybe you'll steer clear of one or the other because of personal preference.

New Skills
As mentioned above, the Hunter is getting a bunch of new travel skills:

Return to Camp - Travel with your fellowship to your current campsite bind point
Guide to Michel Delving - Instant fellowship travel to Michel Delving in the Shire
Guide to Ost Guruth - Instant fellowship travel to Ost Guruth in the Lonelands
Guide to Evendim - Instant fellowship travel to Evendim
Guide to West Angmar - Instant fellowship travel to a safe haven in Western Angmar
Guide to East Angmar - Instant fellowship travel to the Eastern reaches of Angmar
In addition to the travel-skills mentioned above, we've made new combat-oriented skills:

Heart Seeker - A large damage, long cooldown, long induction "mega-nuke" attack
Strength of the Earth - An In-Combat Power Regen Channelling Skill
Set Snare - A new "free" trap skill which slows and applies sizable damage over time

Tweaks and Changes
We also made a number of smaller changes to existing skills, traits, and more:

Lowered the level where Hunters acquire the Dual-Wield trait (from 20 to 15)
Increased power restored by Intent Concentration when the relevant Trait is slotted
Increased the duration of the Beneath Notice skill when the relevant Trait is slotted
Trait “Rapid Recovery� grants a greater reduction time to your recovery (from 1.2s to 2s).
Normalized the "Focus" point costs of skills, Rain of Arrows went from 4 to 3, Merciful Shot went from 5 to 6
Reduced the frequency that the "Enduring Precision" trait allows you to gain Focus pips from one every 5 seconds to one every 10 seconds
Some traveling skills now require more rations than others. Traveling to Angmar is a more perilous and taxing journey than visiting the Shire!
Updated category listings in the Auction House to put "Oils and Chants" in a category under class items, also moved the "Traps" category under the class items group
Placing a crafted trap whose effect breaks on damage will now disable the Hunter's auto-attack to help avoid freeing newly trapped targets!

Book 10 changes to the Captain class...

Overview
Welcome to the Month of the Captain. Here's an overview and a few details of what's new for the #1 buff class -- our very own Swiss army knife of the battlefield.

Standards

Heralds?! Why Heralds? Well, to be perfectly honest, we like Heralds, and we know that a lot of you do as well. However, with that said, we also understand that some of you had envisioned the Captain as a non-pet class. So we've decided to give you a choice.

Beginning at level 20, Captains will now have access to Banner Standards. Basic Standards will be sold by your Trainer, and more advanced versions can be crafted by Tailors.

Equipping these Standards will give you a number of stat bonuses. Once they've been equipped, using them will allow you to place a Banner on the ground in front of you. This Banner will give the same type of buff that your Herald would normally provide to everyone in your fellowship, but there is one caveat.

If you have a Standard equipped, you won't be able to summon a Herald; equipping a Standard will dismiss your Herald if you already have one in tow. The choice is ultimately up to you and your preferred play style. You can be a Herald Captain, Standard Captain, or a mix of both.

Now that the mechanics are out of the way, here are some examples of the types of Standards you'll be able to find:

Simple Standard of War
+10% Damage Dealt
+10% Maximum Morale
Minimum Level 20
Usage: You place a Banner of War on the field of battle.*

Finely Woven Expert Standard of Victory (crafted)
+10% Damage Dealt
+10% Maximum Morale
+5% Maximum Power
Minimum Level 35
Usage: You place a Banner of Victory on the field of battle.*

Intricately Woven Grand Master Standard of Hope (crafted, crit success)
+10% Damage Dealt
+20% Maximum Morale
Minimum Level 50
Usage: You place a Banner of Hope on the field of battle.*
*Standards with higher level requirements apply higher level Banner Buffs, so it's generally a good idea to upgrade as higher level versions become available.

Herald Armaments
Book 10 also introduces some new types of Armaments. These function just as the old ones did - er, more like, just as the recently-fixed old ones do ;)

Female Armaments
Shield-maiden
Swordswoman
Maid-at-arms

Other Armaments
Rumor has it that there may be other Armaments to be found...

Shield-brother
The Shield-brother mechanic is intended to further reinforce your primary class role as a "Buffing God." Designating a fellowship member as your Shield-brother will allow you to both buff and heal that player without having to retarget them. You can only have one Shield-brother chosen at a time.

Captains will get 3 skills that target their Shield-brothers for Book 10:
Inspire - a melee attack that applies a HoT (Heal over Time) to your Shield-brother
To Arms - a very powerful, but short duration, offensive buff to your Shield-brother
Strength of Will - a buff that increases the amount of Morale your Shield-brother recovers from healing effects

Healing
One of our primary goals for Month of the Captain was to increase the over-all healing capabilities of the class. Here's a rundown of the healing abilities you'll have available, and how they'll function:

Words of Courage - This skill received some significant updates in Book 10.
WoC is now insta-cast. This will help to keep you in the action even while you're trying to fill a healing role.
WoC can now be cast on the run. Again, this will help to keep you mobile.
WoC now has a 3 second cooldown.
WoC now costs a moderate amount of Morale to cast.
This can be offset through the use of other skills in your healing arsenal, such as Rallying Cry and Revealing Mark. Equipping a crafted Standard of Hope will also help to increase your Morale pool.
That said, standing in the back ranks of your fellowship spamming WoC is still a viable strategy - its just going to soften you up a bit now.

Inspire - (NEW) A melee attack applies a HoT directly to your Shield-brother.
Rallying Cry - No change, but still useful. This will help you recover your Morale from WoC.
Revealing Mark - No change, but still also useful. This will help you recover your Morale from WoC if you're active in melee.
Strength of Will - (NEW) A buff that increases the amount of healing your Shield-brother receives. This will increase the effectiveness of all of healers in your group, including yourself.

Combat Revives
For Book 10 we've made a few changes to the Captain's combat revival abilities to both enable us to balance and expand on them in the long run, and to bring them more in line with Captain's response-driven play style.

Cry of Vengeance - In addition to providing the buffs that it did previously, Cry of Vengeance will now revive 1 defeated fellowship member.
Escape from Darkness - Functions just as it did previously.
Defy Corruption (formerly "Escape from Corruption") - The "Escape from Corruption" Legendary Trait has been changed to "Defy Corruption". Defy Corruption does two things:
Lowers the cooldown on Escape from Darkness by 10 minutes
Allows you to revive an additional fellowship member with your Cry of Vengeance

Summoning Horns
We made some changes to the way Summoning Horns work to address the long-standing feedback that it was weird that they were consumed on use. Boromir's horn probably didn't break when he used it, and yours shouldn't either!

Here are the specifics:

New "Finely Carved Rallying Horns" will be available from Captain Trainers
These horns will not be consumed on use.
These horns will consume 5 Traveling Rations from the person doing the traveling (not the Captain).
For what it's worth 5 Traveling Rations (~10s) costs less than the horse ride from Bree to Trestlebridge (15s).
All existing "Hewn Rallying Horns" will remain in game and will function as they have previously; they just won't be sold anymore.
Both "Finely Carved Rallying Horns" and "Hewn Rallying Horns" will be usable at level 40 (it was 45 previously).
Please note: All Racial Trait travel skills require Traveling Rations as well now, so the likelihood of a player having rations on them will go up significantly in Book 10.

New Skills
In addition to the skills mentioned above, Captains can also learn the following abilities in Book 10:

Blade of Elendil - A melee attack that has an increased chance to critical and that inspires your fellows to invoke the Light of Elendil (a Light Damage Damage over Time). This skill can only be executed after you've used Devastating Blow or Pressing Attack.
Grave Wound - A melee attack that generates additional threat. When dealt to a foe bleeding from your Cutting Attack, your overall threat is also raised.
Kick - A weak melee attack that interrupts your opponent.
Withdraw - Lowers your threat to the opponents around you, but reduces your damage output for a short period of time.
Time of Need - You sacrifice some of your morale to gain the same effect as defeating an enemy and to put yourself in a Battle-readied State.

Tweaks and Changes
We also made a number of smaller changes to existing skills, traits, and more:

The Fear Resistance buff that Muster Courage gives you has been reduced from 50% to 20%. All other functionality of the skill remains the same.
Reduced the Power Regen buff of the Banner of Victory slightly. It's still good. In fact it's still really good - just not as good.
We now have new art for the War, Hope, and Victory Banners, and your Heralds even know how to wield the right ones!
All of the Herald skills have new icon art.
The duration of Motivating Speech has been increased to 30 minutes. That brings it in line with your Tactic buffs.
War-cry's animation is now shorter. You should now be able to loot monsters shortly after using the skill.
In Defense of Middle-earth has not been changed. It remains awesome. :)

Very nice updates for a Captain. Just wondering if you plant a banner, can it be killed?

I don't think it can... but we'll find out Monday.
You can donwload the update now from this link. It will still need to udate some files through the game client, but this is the bulk of the update files. It's good for us, since I always have to update three coppies of the game when there is a patch. :)