With Enedwaith a new zone is being released, which appears to be similar to the Mines of Moria, in that it appears to contain several smaller zones. Housing is reported to be getting an upgrade which is something that has been needed for quite some time. In addition to the housing upgrade, there is a new hobby launching with the update.Finally DX11 will be added in the update. Look for the update this fall!

No new Skirmishes will be added in this next content patch, but Turbine has something planned that utilizes the Skirmish system. Due to player feedback on their official forums, Turbine will make the old world raid instances available through the Skirmish interface for any group size, from solo to 24-man raid. These aren’t technically Skrimishes so you will receive no Skirmish Marks, but they use the Skirmish technology to set the instance difficulty, port you there and then drop you back into the world when you are done. No word yet on if you be able to solo the raid trophies, but they are working on more cosmetic rewards with the graphical look of the old world raid armor.

New skirmishes are being worked on, just not for this patch. VIP subscribers will get them automatically, others will have to pay for them. The Skirmish tutorial will be available to all.

The last feature coming with the new patch is DX11 support. We weren’t shown the shininess of Middle-earth using DX11 technology, but were promised screenshots soon.

Players will be glad to hear that both Housing and Hobbies are getting some love. No specifics were given other than Housing getting an “upgrade” and a new Hobby is in the works. These plans are long-term and not for the upcoming patch.

Massively will be taking a tour of the new patch in the next few weeks and will report back with more in-depth information about all the new features coming with Volume 3, Book 2.