The MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online has accidentally leaked the next new class. Instead of covering it up, the developers proudly admit that there will indeed be a new hero type. However, many players find the concept does not fit the game at all.
How was the new class discovered? Beta testers who were testing the new mini-addon “War of Three Peaks” were quite surprised when a completely new hero type appeared in a dropdown menu of available classes.
Who or what is a “Brawler”? Is it a bug, a temporarily available class for an event, or even a really new type of character that can be played permanently when “War of Three Peaks” is released soon?
Developers admit that there is a new class
This is how the developers reacted: The announcement about the mysterious Brawler class quickly circulated in the LOTRO community. Eventually, the developers also spoke out. In a forum post, community manager Jerry Snook shared further details:
Obviously, you all saw something we weren’t quite ready to talk about yet, but we will have more information in the near future. Just to be clear: This is not something that is coming in the “War of Three Peaks.”
The Brawler will therefore be introduced; it will be a new class and it will come with the next expansion called Gundabad.
Does a Brawler fit into The Lord of the Rings? What exactly a Brawler is meant to be is not known. The name translates to “brawler” or “fighter,” which suggests a melee class. However, players would prefer a class with magic, not just another type that fights in the melee.
Furthermore, such a brawler type is said not to match the theme of the game and its setting. One user on reddit sarcastically noted that many well-known brawler heroes from the Tolkien universe are known, such as famous heroes like “Punchagorn” or the feared “Bilbo Smackin’s.”
On the other hand, the upcoming major expansion Gundabad is about dwarves. And the little rough fellows are feared melee fighters. A rough and tumble class like the Brawler may indeed fit in well with them.
We will probably learn more in 2021 when the Gundabad expansion is released. So, there will soon be changes in The Lord of the Rings Online. However, what is rather unlikely to happen is a classic server like the one in the MMORPG World of Warcraft. The developers are not so enthusiastic about it at the moment.
