LotRO Lead World Builder Previewed New Swanfleet Zone Ahead Of "Before The Shadow" Expansion

The Lord of the Rings Online will receive the "Before the Shadow" mini-expansion centered on players discovering the rising threat from Mordor and Saruman's Uruks across the new Swanfleet and Cardolan zones. In the case of the former, Lead World Builder "Scenario" at Standing Stone Games previewed the map for players across an hour-long stream, which later received a detailed blog post on the LotRO website.

Swanfleet is a gorgeous area of wetlands between the Mitheithel and Glanduin rivers, once home to the Elf-realm of Eregion. Only after Sauron's devastating wars of the Second Age and environmental destruction caused by Men did Swanfleet return to its natural state. Players will be venturing into the zone during its recovery from many scarring conflicts, searching across marshes, two dilapidated cities, and dark shores to investigate the ominous figures rumored to be hiding in the shadows of Swanfleet.

The Lead World Builder Scenario gave players a more visual look at Swanfleet last week, taking his character on a brisk stroll from corner to corner as he illustrates its historical significance. The zone itself is massive. Many viewers in the YouTube comments noted, "Swanfleet looks so beautiful" and expressed they couldn't "wait to run through the new region." Fleshed-out details on Swanfleet have yet to be officially released, but players making new characters will have the option to kick off their adventure in the wetlands if they purchase the Before the Shadow mini-expansion.

You can watch the entire stream with Scenario below!