Lord of the Rings Online Against The Shadow update goes live

The first portion of an update for the Lord of the Rings Online Riders of Rohan expansion is now live, developer Turbine announced today.

The studio announced last month that content for the recently released Riders of Rohan expansion would be delayed, with the first update arriving in late 2012 and the second half coming in 2013. The studio cited additional time needed for polish as the reason for the delay.

The Against the Shadow update is out now and includes the following instances:

• Road to Erebor — the first half of the Riders of Rohan instance cluster
• Moria revamp — the final part to the revision of this iconic location
• Fan-favourite Dol Goldur instance cluster now scales to level 85
• Open-tapping (XP for all!) and remote looting technology from Riders of Rohan now applied to all landscape areas.

The remaining Riders of Rohan instances due next year, currently slated for February, include the following.

• The Bells of Dale (6-man)
• Flight to the Lonely Mountain (12-man; single boss)
• The Fires of Smaug (12-man; single boss)
• The Battle for Erebor (12-man; single boss)