Aside from the land of Mirkwood itself, skirmishes are the biggest addition being introduced in this expansion. Put simply, skirmishes are a series of twelve, semi-randomised and scalable instances that offer unique rewards and new ways to level up. Every skirmish can be fought by one, three, six or twelve players, starting as early as level 30. The difficulty and amount of enemies faced in skirmishes will be scaled so groups of every size and level will have an optimal challenge. Players will also have some control over this, being able to increase or decrease the difficulty as they feel is necessary. In addition, both the enemies fought in each skirmish along with optional objectives for the skirmish can change, providing a unique experience nearly every time a battle is fought.
Even if you choose to fight a skirmish solo you won’t be going it alone, as every player will be able to create and manage a soldier to fight alongside their character. Soldiers are only useable in skirmishes, but they are highly customisable. They can be assigned traits and can have their appearance altered, and while you cannot directly control soldiers in combat the way in which you build them beforehand will go a long way towards determining how useful they are. The more skirmishes you complete the more powerful your soldier will become, and you’ll also be able to make your soldier stand out more from those of other characters.
Skirmishes are expected to take around thirty to forty minutes each to complete, and can be accessed from anywhere in Middle-Earth. You can enter a skirmish from anyplace you like, as can any allies you choose to fight alongside. When the skirmish is complete, you’ll all be returned to your original locations. This makes the skirmish system a very accessible new way to play LOTRO.
