Dain and the One Ring news

Greetings, companions of Edain!

After reworking both the young Dain Ironfoot of the Iron Hills and Erebor's old King Dain in 4.5, their ringforms have been a bit lacking. That's why we decided to give both of them a brand new mechanic when they find the One Ring. For this rework we were guided by your feedback, which is why an old fan favourite has found his way back into Edain. But one thing after another...


Dain Ironfoot will be ensnared by the One Ring and take it for himself, allowing his darker side to come forth. While he was already eager to fight at every opportunity, he now turns into a raging berserker who grows stronger, the longer the fight goes on. He starts off with this passive ability:

Consuming Hatred: Driven mad by the whisperings of the One Ring, Dain is slowly consumed by his frenzy and berserker rage. He is constantly in the maximum rage state. Dain no longer regenerates health outside of combat, but heals with every attack.

Dain Ironfoot became a famous warrior among the Dwarves early on in his life, but at this point he doesn't have the experience and wisdom to know the dangers of the One Ring, so he takes it for himself. This turns him into a melee beast, but as expected he has to pay a price for this incredible prowess. His lifesteal and the bonuses from the maximal rage level allow him to fight through entire armies of enemies all on his own, because only the most powerful melee combatants and heroes pose a threat to him. The drawback is that Dain can't retreat back to his base to heal up, as he truly lives only for combat. His other abilities are guided by and expand on this theme:


Rupturing Strike: Requires Level 3. Dain attacks target enemy with such strength that he cracks open the ground around him, knocking all nearby enemies off their feet. Leaves behind ruptured territory, slowing enemies by 30%. Slow is doubled at full rage.

Mount: Requirement: Level 5. Dain briefly mounts his boar. Not as fast as other steeds, but deals increased trample damage. Doesn't slow down when trampling enemies on ruptured territory.


Scorched Earth: Requires level 7. In his blind rage, Dain commands a bombardment of the enemy without any regard for friendly fire. Deals high damage to friends and allies. The bombardment sets the ground ablaze.

The first two abilites remain largely the same, although Dain does benefit from being in the maximum rage level at all times. This means that his Rupturing Strike slows enemies by 60%, and he can mount his boar whenever he wants. Dain can not only take the fight to the enemy, but also make it incredibly difficult for enemies to retreat and escape his wrath. Scorched Earth is based on the Bombardment from the vanilla game, except it sets the ground on fire as well - only Dain can stand in the flames and outheal the damage with his lifesteal. Combined with Rupturing Strike, this ability creates a blazing inferno that becomes a death sentence for all enemies. Which leads us to his final ability:

Vendetta: Requires level 10. Haunted by the One Ring, Dain goes mad with rage and hatred for his enemies. All his hate is focused on a single enemy who he vowes to kill, no matter the cost. Marks an enemy. As long as this enemy lives, Dain will continually take damage and have reduced armor, but his movement speed and attack strength are greatly increased. If the enemy is killed, all enemies nearby cower in fear and Dain is fully healed.

Vendetta is of course inspired by the deed that made Dain famous in the first place: Slaying Azog at the end of the Battle of Azanulbizar after pursuing him when no other dwarf could. His ultimate ability is adjusted to his new ability set and turns his rage mechanic up to eleven. Dain is no longer simply unable to heal out of combat, but will actively take damage over time and eventually die if his enemy survives long enough. On the other hand, he becomes absolutely unstoppable in combat and can take on even the toughest of enemies. And if Dain manages to slay his foe, he will put fear into the hearts of all surrounding enemies - he just challenged his enemy to a duel, fought his was through hordes of enemies to get to him and then kill him, of course enemies will run for their lives!


The old King Dain however deals with the One Ring very differently. Over the years, he has become careful and cautious; he is wise enough to not immediately give in to the temptation. We know from the Lord of the Rings that Dain refused several Dwarven rings in exchange for information about the Shire shortly before the War of the Ring started. For this reason it seemed unfitting for him to jump at the opportunity like his younger self and use the One himself. This gives us the opportunity to bring back a fan favourite: We are of course talking about Durin, the first and most famous of all dwarven fathers.

One of the reasons why we removed Durin I. was that he died long before the Third Age, the time period Edain is set in. And even though we sometimes make an exception for special reasons, reviving a dead dwarf is just too much of a contradiction to the lore, even though Durin was very popular among the community. But then a very interesting suggestion from the community offered a solution for this dilemma. It is said of Durin that he would be reborn several times and become king of his people again. His sixth reincarnation was slain during the Third Age by the Balrog of Moria, which earned the latter the name of Durin's Bane. This leaves only one last reincarnation, the seventh; and it was prophesied that this last Durin was a direct descendant of Dain Ironfoot. The new ringhero of Erebor will not be Durin I., but his last reincarnation, Durin VII. When Dain collects the One Ring, Durin will be summoned right next to him, the One Ring at his finger.

Durin VII. is at the time of the War of the Ring still young by dwarven standards; but when the One is found, he steps up and Dain surrenders it to him. Durin's fate is the reclamation of the great dwarven realm of Dwarrowdelf, Khazad-Dûm, which is called Moria ever since his ancestor was slain. Finding the One Ring only accelerates this endeavour. With the most powerful ring of all at his finger, Durin tries to cleanse his home from orcs and all evil creatures. But before this expedition can have any chance at success, Durin has to gather the support of other dwarves, learn and receive advice from Dain and most importantly find out how he can carry the One Ring without being corrupted. He starts with the following abilities:

Durin the Deathless, Forefather of the Dwarves: Durin escapes death for a long time even if his health points are spent. As the greatest of the legendary seven Forefathers of the Dwarves Durin is known to all Dwarves and he is a source of inspiration. Dwarven heroes in the area gain +50% armor. Durin is aware of the temptation of the ring. Instead of falling for it, he learns to control it on his own. On this path, no ally can support him and he won't gain any shared experience from nearby allies.

Master of Stone: Requires: Level 3. Durin knows every rock in Middle-Earth and also all manners of shaping stone. In a medium radius allied structures are temporary strengthened and enemy structures are temporary weakened.

Word of the Forefathers: Requires: Level 5. Durin speaks a Word of his Forefathers. Enemy units within a wide area become afraid, while allies are slowly healed and rank up a level.

Fires of Durins Forge: Requires: Level 10. Durin the Immortal sentences enemies to burn in the fire of Aules forge.

All these abilities are familiar to older fans, but they are weaker version of his old skillset. The young Durin still has to learn and find out how much he can do. The reclamation of Khazad-Dûm will be the crucible that allows him to unlock his full potential:

Expedition to Khazad-Dûm: Durin VII. is going to lead the dwarves back to the halls of their forefathers in Khazad-Dûm, but such an expedition requires preparations.
Phase I: Durin VII. learns how to handle the One Ring in combat. He has to reach level 5 before he is ready to start his journey.
Phase II: Durin VII. holds council with Dain and has to be close to him for one minute.
Phase III: Durin VII. selects any battalion of dwarves to be become scouts for the expedition. They disappear from the battlefield and Durin joins them after 30 seconds himself. On Durin's Day, they return from their expedition. On his return, Durin VII. gains improved abilities and his scouts have become veterans of Khazad-Dûm.

Before he can start his journey to Moria, Durin has to complete several tasks. He has to confer with Dain. He needs to gain combat experience with the One Ring, which means he has to kill his enemies himself - unlike other heroes, he won't gain any experience from nearby allies. Nobody can teach him how to deal with the One Ring, after all. And finally he has to find soldiers willing to join him and be his scouts. After doing all that, he finally joins his soldiers and goes to Khazad-Dûm. When they return, his scouts have become battle-hardened veterans and Durin himself has mastered his skills, improving his abilities. Master of Stone becomes Buildsmanship of Khazad-Dûms which gives a more powerful buff or debuff.Word of the Forefathers turns into Word of Silence, which additionally shuts down all enemy buildings in the area for 30 seconds. Fires of Durin's Forge becomes Fires of Aule's Forge, an even deadlier ability. But the expedition not only unlocks Durin's full potential, but also gives the dwarves access to something that can only be found in Moria. After his return, Expedition to Khazad-Dûm is replaced by this new ability:

Mithril workshop: Since Durin's return from Khazad-Dûm, the dwarves have regained their access to Mithril. Constructs a special workshop, which is able to create armor from Mithril and generates resources. Can build other mining facilities that generate resources, but can only be placed onto mountains.

The dwarves naturally can't instantly go back to mining as much Mithril as during their glory days, but Durin was able to secure a first access point to the most valuable mineral in all of Middle-Earth. The Mithril workshop is able to use this Mithril to forge new armour, which allows all dwarven heroes to purchase their Mithril Mail.


That's it for the new ringheroes of the Iron Hills and the Lonely Mountain. We hope you liked this update and are looking forward to your feedback!

Your Edain Team