Before the Shadow Ultimate Fan Bundle Unboxed!

Starting Comments

What’s in the LOTRO Before the Shadow Ultimate Fan Bundle?

The main items included are (use the links to jump to items of interest!):

• (Mount) Elk of Flowing Silver
• (Mount) Valiant Steed of the Dúnedain
• (Outfit) Cosmetic Armour of Flowing Silver
• (Outfit) Valiant Armour of the Dúnedain
• (Pets) Friendly Heron and Loyal Turtle
• Weapon Aura of Elven Blessings
• Emote: /dance_elf4
• Mounted Emote: /mountdressage
• Flowing Silver Stones (Two Types)
• Carry-all Selection Box

And there is more! So, in one sense, a better question would be what’s not in the Ultimate Fan Bundle, because there’s a bit of everything packed into the small 32×32 icons! So let’s get into it.

Mounts

Before you open your boxes and ask Where are my Before the Shadow Mounts that I paid for?, the answer is that they are…wait for it… in your Mounts Panel! You don’t need to click anything to activate or “learn” them as you do with pets.

Elk of Flowing Silver

Ultimate

Matching Cosmetics
Cosmetic Armour of Flowing Silver

This beautiful Elk looks wild, but not too wild, tame but not too tame. The barding seems to give a feeling of natural wood and silvery-white silk. Even the nose covering appears protective, but not restrictive, though it is held onto the caparison with two draped sashes.

I don’t think the decor is overdone at all. More is not better, especially where mounts are concerned (at least in my opinion). The Elk of Flowing Silver also has this subtle, shiny effect when moving. I’ll try to get a better shot later.

Valiant Steed of the Dúnedain

Ultimate Collectors

Matching Cosmetics
Valiant Armour of the Dúnedain

The Valiant Steed of the Dúnedain is a mid-grey horse (or pony), with what appears to be a combination of both metal and leather armour plates. As with the Valiant Armour of the Dúnedain, your mount has a “real” metal helm. Plate armour covers the back of the neck hiding the horse’s mane with a bit of extra support on the rump and chest.
This Before the Shadow mount has no separate saddle, as you just sit on an area of leather “plates”. Finally, it has no fancy tail, maybe a testament to the fact that many Dúnedain had been in the wilds.

Outfit Cosmetics

Cosmetic Armour of Flowing Silver

Ultimate

Health Warning: don’t look at this in broad daylight – it’s very reflective! The Armour of Flowing Silver is a combination of – I think – metal plate and cloth. As with other Elven sets, there is a nod towards nature; either leaves themselves, or the veins found on leaves are used, but in a tasteful way.

The only other thing I’ll give an opinion on is I think the helm is weird. The plate on the cheekbones and across the nose are great, but the spikes upward seem a bit more Angmar-inspired than Elven. But maybe I’m missing some lore in terms of how the Eldar dressed, or something?

Helm of Flowing Silver

Note: the Hooded Cloak will hide this helm.

Pauldrons of Flowing Silver

I’ve not had ideal light to take all my shots by – and it’s rained twice (in-game). This is the best I can do for now!

Cloak of Flowing Silver

I realise these thumbnails look identical – click/tap each to view the full-length versions, please!

Note: using the hooded version will hide the Helm of Flowing Silver

Chestplate of Flowing Silver

Gloves of Flowing Silver

Boots of Flowing Silver

How Well Do These Dye?

I need to experiment on all pieces, but from my initial quick tests, the plate metal bits do not dye. I’ll provide screenshots soon.

Valiant Armour of the Dúnedain

Ultimate Collectors

Valiant Helm of the Dúnedain

Valiant Pauldrons of the Dúnedain

Valiant Cloak of the Dúnedain

Valiant Chestplate of the Dúnedain

Valiant Gloves of the Dúnedain

Valiant Boots of the Dúnedain

Because only the left knee is weak. Though, the chestplate does extend more over your right knee.

How Well Do These Dye?

I’ll provide shots soon, but the only bits that dye are where you can see red. Bits like the cloak’s trim, the pauldrons’ fabric, that kind of thing.

Weapon Aura of Elven Blessings

Ultimate

Inline with the “Flowing Silver” cosmetics and mount, the Weapon Aura of Elvan Blessings is a bright, glistening aura for your weapons and shields. Especially clear on the shield in the video (on the right or below), is the beautiful “flowing” effect. There are also bonus sparkles, as seen on the mount when it’s in motion.

For auras to show, equip a 'blank' in the equipment/gear panel. They do not appear to work if an actual aura is in the gear and a different one in the outfit slot.

Weapon Aura Of Elvan Blessings

Cosmetic Pets

Friendly Heron

Ultimate Collectors

Loyal Turtle

Ultimate

Emotes

Emote: /dance_elf4

Ultimate Collectors Standard

Elf Dance of Old Traditions (/dance_elf4)

Emote: /mountdressage

Ultimate

Mount Dressage Emote (/mountdressage)

Flowing Silver Stones

These are Pocket slot items and have different effects. Only people who purchase the Before the Shadow Ultimate Fan Bundle are granted these stones.

What is the Difference?

Characteristics shared by both stones are:

• Both have Scaled Combat Stats for the ‘core’ values of Might, Agility, Vitality, Will and Fate.
• Both grant 10% Landscape Token bonus for regions up to Western Gondor (L100 Quests).
• Both are Bound to Account. In one sense it does not matter as all your characters on that account will receive them. But if a character loses theirs, they can share with another character. The normal Tortoise Stones are bound to character, not account.

The difference is the Flowing Silver Stone of the Tortoise also disables XP gain, in the same way that the normal Stone of the Tortoise Does.

Flowing Silver Stone

Ultimate

Flowing Silver Stone of the Tortoise

Ultimate

Titles

The Ultimate Fan Bundle contains these two titles:

• Before the Shadow
  You have been here since before the shadow crept over Middle-earth.
  Ultimate

• Of the First Page
  You were there, from the first page, through the last, and onto the next.
  Ultimate Collectors

These may not appear underneath each other in your Titles panel. Image for illustration only.

Carry-All Selection Box

Ultimate

This has the snappy name of Before the Shadow Ultimate Carry-all Selection Box! This lets you choose one Large Carry-all from the following types:

• Healer’s
• Crafting
• Task Item
• Essence and Tracery
• Instrument
• Housing Decoration
• Dye

Other Items

Choose Your Before the Shadow Edition

As always, there are three levels of packages available. It’s up to you which Before the Shadow edition you want. However, just an FYI, that the following items get delivered once BtS is launched:

• The expansion story and quests: in case that needed saying…
• Additional Character Slot (Ultimate/Collectors)
• 10 × Shared Storage Space (Ultimate)
• The Mysterious “Housing Teleporter”: no doubt it’s been announced someplace and I’ve missed it.

Further Reading

• Before the Shadow – Where is LOTRO Taking Us?
• Official BtS Site
• Official BtS FAQ

TL;DR Is the Before the Shadow Ultimate Fan Bundle Worth It?

That is a question only you can answer! I’m not completely copping out. LOTRO have put a lot into this bundle, but I think the number of items and bonuses given for each tier is representative of the proportional increase in price.

Had SSG not given me a code for a LOTRO Before the Shadow Ultimate Fan Bundle, my choice would have been based on our family’s financial situation, rather than what I thought I was happy to buy into.

After all the above, my favourites are the Weapon Aura and the new Tortoise Stone, which may not be what SSG would anticipate! Anyway, whichever you go for – even if that’s the basic package – remember “basic” includes two new regions and a shedload of new storywriting and world exploring. I’m looking forward to it!