The bosses in the Lord of the Rings Mod have many features in common.
See the individual boss articles for more information:
Summoning[]
Both bosses need to be summoned in some way; they do not spawn naturally. For the Hill-troll Chieftain, this is through the use of the Troll Totem. For the Mallorn Ent, it involves Gulduril and a Mallorn sapling.
A boss can only be summoned by a player who has negative alignment with the boss's faction. In the case of the troll, this is Angmar. For the Mallorn Ent, it is Fangorn.
Fighting[]
Both boss fights have some elements in common. The bosses have a melee attack, a ranged attack, and a powerful jump attack. They summon minions to fight for them, and have some way of healing from the environment. They also have different 'stages' of the fight.
Any damage inflicted to a boss by a non-player source (excluding damage dealt by hired units, which here counts as damage by the hiring player) is reduced to a single damage point. This includes damage from fire, falls, non-hired NPCs, and other sources. The purpose of this feature is to ensure that bosses are only killed by players, and not by the environment or any automated contraptions.
Defeating[]
When defeated, bosses drop a lot of loot. This includes several common items, such as Troll-hoard weaponry, animal remains, and Mallorn wood and sticks.
In addition to this common loot, bosses drop a trophy item. They also have a 50% chance of dropping an exclusive boss drop.
There is an achievement for killing each boss which also brings with it a shield and title. However, the conditions for earning the achievement are different from normal NPC kills. In order to earn the boss-kill achievement, a player must:
- have damaged the boss in the last 30 seconds (including damage by hired units);
- and have dealt at least 40 damage points in total, with no longer than 30 seconds between subsequent damages. If a player does not damage the boss for 30 seconds, the 'damage count' for that player resets.
The purpose of these features is to make sure that groups of players working together in multiplayer to kill a boss can all get the achievement, while also ensuring the achievement is given to players who have truly contributed to defeating the boss - as opposed to players who just land a few hits to try and get the achievement without putting much work in.
Trivia[]
When fighting a boss, you might be in dire need or help, or even feel deep anxiety. The anglo-saxon nyd-rune ᚾ (= letter N) means "need" or "angst". Tolkien used those ᚱᚢᚾᛖᛋ for some texts in the initial drafts of "The Lord of the Rings", later on, he replaced them by cirth runes.
| “ | ᚾ Need is oppressive to the heart; yet often it proves a source of help and salvation to the children of men, to everyone who heeds it betimes. |
” |