The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria has just rolled out its latest update, version 1.5, bringing a plethora of interesting features that players will want to check out. This update introduces farming improvements, new cosmetics, and even a freecam feature for capturing great moments in the game. Let’s break down what you can expect in this latest patch.

Update 1.5 Release Notes: Freecam, Farming and Ent-craft DLC!

Time for beauty, Time for growth

Spring is almost here and with it our second feature update of 2025! Get planting, growing and taking better screenshots. We won’t tell the Elves that we broke their monopoly on the color green!

Complete the update before playing:

• Steam: 1.4.3.186305 [net.10.4.6.b0e951] to 1.5.0.194801 [net.10.4.7.fb726c]
• Dedicated Server: 1.4.3.186308 [net.10.4.6.b0e951] to 1.5.0.194497 [net.10.4.7.fb726c]

Watch a Quick Summary:

Farming Improvements

We’re making several targeted changes to improve farming and make it accessible earlier in the game.

Farming Unlocks Earlier

• Created a New farm plot that can be built with stone and not granite.
• Bat droppings can be collected from the ground and not just from bats.
• Bat droppings are found earlier in the progression and are more abundant.
• Tweaked bat populations.

Fieldpost, a Farm-specific ‘Hearth’

Our very first “hearth-extender” construction is the Fieldpost. Resembling a Dwarven scarecrow, this construction acts like a hearth in that it can create a new base or extend an existing hearth’s range.

Updates to Crop Visuals

• Updated sound and visual effects.
• Visible growth stages so you can track your crops’ progress.

Crops now have Clear Growth Stages

Along with adjusting growth times to be slow, medium or long, all farm plots now follow this progression when growing:

• Empty: A crop can be planted in this plot.
• Sprouting: A crop has been planted. Can be uprooted but the seed/plant is lost.
• Growing: A crop is in progress and can be collected for less than the maximum amount.
• Ready: The crop is done growing and can be fully harvested.

Planting Trees & The Berêk Rune

• We’ve added a new Rune to the game: Berêk, which unlocks when finding Emeralds in the mid-game progression. When this rune is applied to a weapon and used against a tree it will drop the new Tree Cuttings resource. Tree cuttings can be used to plant new trees.
• Added a new Tree Bed player construction. Cuttings can be planted in the Tree bed and will grow both Elven and Ubâsam trees.
• All wild trees in the world should now be harvestable and regrow.
• Grabapples are now farmable in regular farm plots.

Cosmetics Updates

We have two major changes to help fulfill the vision of the cosmetics wardrobes:

New Endgame Cosmetics

• When you beat the game and watch the endgame cinematic, you unlock a new outfit.
• If you’ve already progressed past that point in your game, simply rewatch (and skip) the endgame cutscene to unlock it.

Cleaning up Existing Cosmetic Unlocks

The Gold, White and Black armor variants were created before we released the Cosmetic Wardrobe. We love the way they look but don’t love how busy they make every forge’s crafting screen. To better reflect their original, cosmetic-only intentions we are converting them to be Cosmetics. See below for more details. We hope that by preserving already unlocked recipes and items we will make this transition painless.

• Newly created worlds will no longer unlock crafting recipes for these as equipable armors.
• Dwarves in these newly created worlds will see these variants appear in the “Available to Unlock” section of the wardrobe when the base armor item is in their inventory.
• Any world that had previously unlocked the crafting recipes will retain those recipes.
• Any previously-crafted armor items using their recipes will remain and will not be taken away.
• Related, we’ve re-tuned the cost to unlock the game’s available cosmetics to reflect that they are unlocked for all Dwarves this player ever creates.

Retuning Shields and Helmets

When the game launched both Shields and Helmets were intended as a form of expression. So they did not inherit the same power ramp that weapons and armor have. With the release of the Cosmetic Wardrobe they no longer have to bear that aesthetic responsibility. We have now retuned shields and helmets to closer match their corresponding sets and costs. Three shields that previously only unlocked in Sandbox now also unlock in Campaign.

The Ent-craft Pack, Now on Sale

We’re excited to also release our second premium DLC content pack. Along with a new cosmetic skin it also supplements the changes to farming and includes new building options. Purchase the pack and gain access to these new items:

• Skinbark Cosmetic Skin
• Ironbough Greatsword
• Ent-craft Shield
• Wellingspring Construction
• Entwood Resource
• Vine-Covered Trellis Set
• Tree Planter Set
• Fangorn Draught Brew
• Decorative Plants

Make sure to click the “Add-ons & Dlc” option on the main menu!

Use Free Cam to show off your world

Now you can capture that perfect screenshot or video without the UI or Dwarf in the way.

Other Quality of Life Changes & General Bug Fixes

This is a list of bug fixes and improvements that apply to all RtM games unless it is called out for a specific platform, dedicated server or regular P2P server/client.

UI and QoL

• Added ladder sprint while climbing or descending ladders to improve the player experience. This uses the same button as sprinting when walking – [Shift] on keyboard, [LeftStick / L3] on gamepad/controller.
• Improved building placement, especially for wall-anchored objects like torches, banners and signs.
• Braziers now use less-valuable fuel by default.
• Fixed issue where the crafting progress bar drops from full to empty while crafting.
• Fixed issue with the item pickup notification feed where picking up many items at once could create multiple notifications instead of updating a single existing notification with a new item count.
• Changed maximum resource count on item pickup notifications to 999+ to keep the UI readable when the value is very high.
• Improved item pickup notification to show both the amount picked up and the total amount in the player’s inventory
• Fixed an issue where the ‘Drop’ function in the inventory stops working if the player hovers an item over the armor slots and then sorts the inventory
• The names of brews will now display in the Action Bar when Wanderkeg and Brewskins are equipped.
• The player can now deposit items in a pre-placed Ornate Chest without having to use the “Deposit Similar” button.
• Fixed issue where some loading screens were displaying an oversized loading icon.
• Shields should now have the correct tint in the crafting UI even if the shield is not equipped.
• Fixed an issue where preplaced mapstones were not updating in the Mapstone Travel List, regardless of their actual position on the map.
• Player-built Mapstones no longer need to be activated to be used.
• Players must now be closer to a crafting station to see the station status UI, reducing visual clutter on screen when a lot of crafting station status widgets are on screen at once.
• Fixed an issue where the Callout Screen automatically closes every time the player takes damage from environmental effects.
• Fixed a UI issue where sometimes the DLCs & Add-on page appears empty if closed and opened too quickly.

Text and Localization

• The Custom Text setting should now work to enable or disable naming of signs and chests on all platforms.
• “Open Store Page” button is now translated for supported languages.
• Fixed inconsistent use of roman numerals among different tools and weapons.
• Fixed various misspellings.

Gameplay

• Aberrant Cavecap mushrooms are now called Cavecap mushrooms and have a partially restorative effect when eaten. But be careful of too much.
• Grabapple’s base should no longer be destroyed alongside its tree.
• Dwarves in rare cases no longer respawn with Shadow Curse after being killed.
• Second Breakfast buff has been tuned to require two full meals not just rations.
• Fixed issues with Backpacks getting stuck and having non-functional interactions when mounted as wall displays.
• Fixed an issue where dropping and picking up a masterwork item causes it to be displayed in default color until equipped.
• Fixed case where Aric’s shadow remains and animates in place after performing a save/load.
• Fixed an issue where active Durin’s Lamps would reset after save/load.
• Fixed an issue where “The Eastern Stairs” challenge would be incomplete after doing a save/load.
• Some items unlocked midway through singing but now unlock at the end of the song.
• Some melee weapons had inconsistent hit boxes which have now been fixed.
• Improved cases where range attacks on the head/neck of certain enemies would not count as a hit.
• Fixed Siege Enemy AI not spawning during siege in certain areas.
• Fixed a few issues with pre-placed walls and misaligned tomes in the Build-lore Case.
• Fixed a case where a Dwarf’s arm may remain stuck in throwing animation after throwing a mug while performing Tavern Song.
• Added missing animation for “focused” personality type when creating a Dwarf.

VFX and Lighting

• The Zarok Torch has been updated to reduce the harsh effect of its shadow in the direction the Dwarf is facing.
• Waterfalls now have accurate lighting based on the time of day.
• Fixed an issue where horde lighting persists after the horde ends.
• Fixed various issues of VFX desync between server and client.
• Fixed some cases where VFX plays again after fast travel or save/load. There are still known instances of this.
• Fixed VFX delay when a big building gets destroyed.
• Fixed cases where VFX or lighting is missing or persists after an item is gone.
• Fixed an issue where previously lit Braziers appear unlit in some areas after save/load.
• One of the Monuments was incorrectly emitting light before it had been activated by singing and not when it was active. This has been fixed.
• Fixed a series of issues where brews had incorrect coloring.

Other

• Improved audio attenuation on equipping armor and footstep SFX that were audible to all players even at a great distance.
• Fixed an issue at the Elven Forge in Sandbox mode where both roaming and forge activation music may be heard simultaneously.
• Fixed rendering issues with certain loading walls and dirt plugs in the Lower Deeps.

Dedicated Server

• The status.json file should now update during sessions.
• Fixed an issue with username handling where the same player could be blocked and unblocked repeatedly.
• Improved the flow for joining a world and re-entering password with Advanced Join.
• Improved the error message when an invalid invite code is entered.