Scenic Tour: Before the Shadow

Before the Shadow came out with Update 34 in November 2022 and adds a new starting experience for level 1-32 characters in new regions Swanfleet and Cardolan. There are four epic quest books set before events in the Shadow of Angmar (the original base game) and there are new features for higher level players as well, including a skirmish, a 6-person dungeon and a new delving system (a scalable difficulty option for some missions with special bonus rewards).

Swanfleet

I decided to create a female stout-axe dwarf brawler (since both stout-axe dwarves as a race and brawlers are fairly new as well) to try out this area.

Thordena in the starting village of Mossward

 

The tutorial started off with a burning village under attack and then requests for your aid helping the villagers. One brawler issue I ran into though was that I received several weapons as a quest reward - a 1H sword, a 2H sword, a 1H axe and battle-gauntlets. I was able to equip the axe or the battle-gauntlets but I couldn't use any of my brawler abilities while wielding the axe. Fortunately I didn't sell the gauntlets! 

I discovered a Treasure Cache in the Howlingstones I could open at level 5 and was pleasantly surprised it actually had some nice gear in it - for level 11 and level 15. This is a great improvement on the treasure caches in other zones that require level 90 to open and contain only junk! Now exploring will be more worthwhile!

A Little Extra Steed (32%) from "A Little Extra Never Hurts - Part 2"

Speaking of exploring, Swanfleet is a large open zone with remote villages from many different cultures and lots of hills and valleys with scenic vistas. You really need a mount to get around (you can get the riding skill and a mount for free by doing the tutorial quest "A Little Extra Never Hurts - Part 2"), but there are also stablemasters in each village which helps. 

Mossward - a settlement of Men

Clegur - a settlement of Hobbits

Lhan Garan - a settlement of Dunlendings

Caras Gelebren - Elven ruins

One thing that seemed difficult to find was a Master of Apprentices who could teach you crafting vocations - usually you get an obvious quest at level 5 to visit the trainer in the starting village. Instead, following the Prologue quest chain, I went from Mossward to Clegur to Glyn Helyg to Lintrev, then Book 1 took me to Lhan Garan at level 12 where I finally found the trainer. Nearby Caras Gelebren is a great place for apprentice scholars to find relics amongst the ruins (also lots of wooden chests containing low level crafting ingredients). Tier 1 resources in general are fairly abundant here.

The main story in Swanfleet is quite interesting and the background music in the zone is fantastic and very enjoyable to listen to. By following Book 1 of Before the Shadow I finished most of the deeds in the zone and reached level 17 (quests in Swanfleet are designed for level 1-15). I liked how the Book quests take you back to Mossward where you started, ready to head into Cardolan to continue the journey. I'm curious to learn what will happen next.

Cardolan

Thordena got a makeover in the Mossward blacksmith shop before leaving for Cardolan. Silver, gold and steel blue, and she's got her backpack and pickaxe for collecting shiny ore along the way (she's an armourer). No mistaking her for anything but a metal-loving dwarf, although even I would mistake her for a male dwarf. Maybe one day she'll wear pink but I think she would be proud that people see her as just as strong and capable as her brothers-in-arms.

Thordena preparing for Cardolan

She entered Cardolan by way of Tharbad, an orc-infested ruin of a bridge, and made some interesting new acquaintances. As a result, I think it is better if new players play through the original main story first (i.e. Shire/Ered Luin/Bree-land and beyond - possibly up to at least level 105) before levelling through Swanfleet and Cardolan on another character because there are spoilers for later events in the game.

Tharbad

Herne (main town)

Cardolan looks so pretty when it's not raining. The meadows are blooming with colourful flowers, lakes and rivers glitter in the sun, there are ruins dotted all over the landscape that just beg to be explored and the views stretch so far it gives a feeling of freedom. It would be wonderful to go for a gallop on a war-steed across those fields, leaping over the rocky outcrops like the nimble goats!

Sedgemead

Tyrn Gorthad

 

On the other hand, Tyrn Gorthad looks horrible in any weather - like the Barrow-downs of Bree-land, or the Fields of Fornost in the North Downs.

While doing the quests in the Southern Old Forest (I was going to skip them because they seemed so far out of the way, but I'm glad I did them, there's a good story there), I swam along the Brandywine River between Bree-land and Cardolan and discovered the entrance to the Woe of the Willow instance (which is part of the Wildwoods quest pack). It was pretty easy but not very interesting, and doing it solo, all I got was some medallions and rep tokens.

Entrance to Woe of the Willow instance (1-3 players, lvl 20-140)

The quests also took me into the Sarch Vorn dungeon in Cardolan. The final boss fight was a good challenge - make sure to remove corruptions and debuffs and run away to heal up. It finished off that story-line and set me back on the path towards my next goal: Caranost.

Entrance to Sarch Vorn (1-6 players, lvl 20-140)

In Sírlond, the friendly camp near orc-infested Caranost, I found the Quartermaster for the Dúnedain of Cardolan. I was able to get the Return to Swanfleet and Return to Cardolan travel skills. They also have a bunch of housing decorations available.

The red flowers all over the zone took on a new meaning after learning about the Battle of the Deadmount. The main story in Cardolan is quite interesting and helps fill in some lore. I was level 30 when I finished the quests in Cardolan and I was recommended to continue questing in North Downs or Lone-lands until I reached level 32 then I can continue Book 4 of Before the Shadow. I had almost completed the Deeds of Cardolan so I finished that first. Here's a tip for completing the Slayer of Cardolan:

• Orcs - Tharbad, Caranost
• Half-orcs - Nímbarth, Amon Firn
  
• Goblins - Haudh Nirui, Hove Farm
  
• Dead - Tyrn Gorthad, Dol Ernil, Amon Firn

Steed of Cardolan's Dawn

Completing the Deeds of Cardolan earned me a nice mount: Steed of Cardolan's Dawn!

I followed Halbarad to North Downs to continue helping the Rangers near Esteldín. When I reached level 32 I got a quest to talk to Candaith near Weathertop in the Lone-lands. He sent me to Rivendell. And there, the Before the Shadow story ends as Elrond says thanks for the news, now please continue to protect Middle Earth.

You can join back into the main Epic Quest at Book 4 (recommended level 37) or there is also an option to join the Further Adventures of Elladin and Elrohir (Elrond's sons) on a mission to investigate the Black Riders. The Further Adventures scales with level but ends up in Lothlórien. Or, you could go questing in Evendim or the Trollshaws. I've enjoyed this alternate levelling path through Swanfleet and Cardolan and the new lore I've learnt so I'll continue with the Further Adventures and see what new stories await me there.

Conclusion

When they first announced the Before the Shadows mini-expansion I wasn't really interested (mostly because the cost seemed high for a "mini" expansion) even though it was aimed at players like me who have levelled up lots of characters through the original starting zones. I'm glad I finally tried it because it was really good! It had a great story, some interesting zones, some nice rewards and fairly good pacing - I was close to the target level for all the quests and didn't feel like I was running out of things to do or leaving things undone to keep up with the main story. The levels flew by and the ending leads you back into the main game quite nicely as well.

One aspect of Before the Shadow I didn't try was the Delvings but from what I understand it involves repeating instances over and over again with different/more difficult challenges each time. I find repeating instances boring, so that's not for me, but I hope other people enjoy it.

Overall, I think Before the Shadow is a great prequel to the main story and is a good option for veteran players levelling alts, but not recommended for new players.