Shadow of Mordor DLC – The Bright Lord Q&A

at 10:23 am by - February 19, 201510:23 am by Kelvarhin

The Shadow of Mordor’s latest DLC, The Bright Lord, is coming out soon, and TORn was lucky enough to have a quick Q&A with Monolith’s Director of Design, Michael de Plater.

Kelvarhin: What was the inspiration for The Bright Lord DLC?

Michael de Plater: During the main story of Shadow of Mordor, we showed flashbacks to Celebrimbor’s life, and in particular his involvement with the Rings of Power and his downfall within Mordor. It was very exciting for us to be able to go back and actually play elements of this story.

Kelvarhin: Is it possible to play as Sauron as well as Celebrimbor in the new DLC?

Michael de Plater: You will face Sauron in battle, but you play as Celebrimbor.

Kelvarhin: What sort of new abilities will be available to the player?

Michael de Plater: The main new abilities revolve around wielding the power of the One Ring. This increases your powers of Domination, so you have an aura which can force enemies to fight for you, you can also use the Ring to enter the Wraith world and slow time so you can battle enemies from the shadows and you can use your followers to heal yourself in combat. Additionally Celebrimbor is even more powerful with his bow. All of this increased power is very important as your enemies are also stronger, this is a time when the power of Sauron is at its height within Mordor.

Kelvarhin: How do you top the top game of 2014?

Michael de Plater: Getting to work on the DLC is a lot of fun. I think anyone who enjoyed Shadow of Mordor is really going to love playing The Bright Lord.

Kelvarhin: Has fan reaction to the lore influenced some of the creative decisions?

Michael de Plater: Very much so, in particular players responded very well to Celebrimbor and his role in the lore. We really have two main characters in our story. Also, it was great that fans appreciated some of the attention to detail we put into features like our collectibles and artifacts.

Kelvarhin: Has actual player data influenced new tweaks to the Nemesis System?

Michael de Plater: Yes, very much so, both during our development and user testing and also since release. In the Bright Lord DLC we’ve been able to optimize a number of the rules around the Nemesis System to make the Uruk Captains and Warchiefs create more memorable situations.

Kelvarhin: Which of the 5 armies did you root for?

Michael de Plater: After spending a lot of time with Celebrimbor, I’m with the Elves.

Kelvarhin: Are any of your staff/designers die hard Tolkien fans?

Michael de Plater: A very significant proportion of our team are die hard fans, of both the books and the films. It’s an incredible privilege to get to make games in Middle-earth.

The Bright Lord

Return to the Second Age and face the Dark Lord of Mordor himself. Play as Celebrimbor, the Elven Lord who forged the Rings of Power and return to Middle-earth thousands of years before the story of Shadow of Mordor.

Features

Play as Celebrimbor, the Bright Lord, wielding a Ring of Power to challenge Sauron for domination Wield the Power of the One Ring to dominate and defeat your enemies. Activate the ring to become invisible and tear through your enemies from the shadows

Deadly new Elven Archery abilities with a rapid fire bow

New ways to dominate your enemies and build your Army including Shadow Brand