Hope and Dread
A characters mood, whether or not experiencing hope or dread, affects its maximum morale, received heals and damage, dealt damage, and the effective level of skills. The mood can be affected by the location, by recent defeat, by persons or objects nearby, also by skills like Hobbit-resilience, or by using items like: Edhelharn tokens, Bounder Shirriff's Cap, Fireside Tales of The Shire, Glass of Aglaral, Horn of the Dwarrowdelf, Sticky Apple, and by Hope Boosts. Increased hope, will render the world more brightly; conversely, greater dread will render the world darker and less colourful.
Cowering
More dreadful bosses often yield five dread or more, causing characters to cower and making the fight much more difficult. While cowering, the mini-map will be replaced by an Eye of Sauron (as in the image on the right). Characters may use Edhelharn tokens to reduce this dread and avoid cowering.
Effects of Hope and Dread
The following table shows the specific affects of each level of hope/dread. Note that stats will continue to degrade with increased amount of dread all the way to 15, but stats can never be improved beyond 5 hope.
| Hope/ Dread |
Description | Max Morale | Healing Rec'd | Damage Rec'd | Damage Dealt | -Skill Effect Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | You sense the favour of the Valar upon you. | 105% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 14 | The stars shine upon the hour of your coming. | 105% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 13 | The blessings of all the Free Peoples go with you. | 105% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 12 | Shadows flee at your approach. | 105% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 11 | Your heart heeds not the night. | 105% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 10 | Your spirit flies free. | 105% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 9 | You cannot be daunted. | 105% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 8 | You do not know dread. | 105% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 7 | Hope strengthens your limbs. | 105% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 6 | Oppression has no hold over you. | 105% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 5 | Hope blazes within your heart. | 105% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 4 | The spark of hope grows ever steady. | 104% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 3 | Hope has been kindled within you. | 103% | 100% | 100% | 103% | 0 |
| 2 | Your heart is free from burden. | 102% | 100% | 100% | 102% | 0 |
| 1 | Your heart is light. | 101% | 100% | 100% | 101% | 0 |
| 0 | You feel neither hope, nor dread. | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 0 |
| -1 | You have a vague sense of anxiety. | 95% | 99% | 101% | 99% | 0 |
| -2 | You are not sure what, but something at the back of your mind is troubling you. | 90% | 98% | 102% | 95% | 0 |
| -3 | You have a feeling something is not quite right. | 85% | 97% | 103% | 90% | -1 |
| -4 | Your unease has grown strong. | 80% | 96% | 104% | 85% | -2 |
| Below here characters will cower | ||||||
| -5 | A shadow of oppression has fallen upon your spirit, causing you to cower. | 70% | 92% | 106% | 80% | -3 |
| -6 | You begin to doubt your actions, causing you to cower. | 60% | 90% | 108% | 75% | -4 |
| -7 | Hope is fleeting within you, causing you to cower. | 50% | 85% | 110% | 70% | -5 |
| -8 | The shadow of fear looms over you, causing you to cower. | 40% | 75% | 115% | 65% | -6 |
| -9 | The fear of defeat seizes your heart, causing you to cower. | 35% | 65% | 120% | 60% | -7 |
| -10 | Terror has seized you, causing you to cower. | 20% | 55% | 125% | 55% | -8 |
| -11 | You are nearly overwhelmed with dread, causing you to cower. | 15% | 45% | 135% | 50% | -9 |
| -12 | Hopelessness drags down your spirit, causing you to cower. | 10% | 35% | 145% | 45% | -10 |
| -13 | The curses of dark things disheartens you, causing you to cower. | 5% | 25% | 155% | 40% | -11 |
| -14 | The dread of the Nazgûl seizes your mind, causing you to cower. | 3% | 15% | 175% | 35% | -12 |
| -15 | You sense the Eye of Sauron upon you. The fear of defeat seizes your heart often, causing you to cower. | 1% | 5% | 200% | 30% | -13 |
Hope and Dread from NPCs and Bosses
The following table gives the hope granted by friendly NPCs and the dread imposed by noteworthy hostiles and final instance bosses. The list is an incomplete sampling, see the pages of specific NPCs or bosses for more information.
| Hope/ Dread |
NPC/Boss/Location |
|---|---|
| 10 | Celeborn, Galadriel, Glorfindel |
| 9 | Elrond, Gandalf |
| 8 | Aragorn, Tom Bombadil, Celebrimbor, Faeldor |
| 7 | Goldberry |
| 5 | Gimli, Legolas, Radagast, Rivendell |
| 4 | Arwen, Boromir, Gildor Inglorion, Elladan, Elrohir |
| 3 | Halbarad, Merry, Pippin, Sam, Cardavor |
| 2 | Bilbo Baggins, Galdor, Lindir |
| 1 | Barliman Butterbur |
| -1 | Frodo Baggins (due to the presence of the one ring) |
| ? | Castellan Wisdán, Zaudru |
| ? | Drugoth the Death-monger (Helegrod), Storvâgûn, Thrâng |
| ? | Mordirith, Udúnion |
| ? | Thaurlach, Thorog |
| ? | Dar Narbugud (location) |
| ? | Dar Narbugud bosses |
| -4 | The Watcher |
| -5 | Durin's Bane (Moria) (location) |
| -6 | Lagmâs |
| -10 | Minas Elendúr (Room of Dread) |
| -15 | Doom of Caras Gelebren (location - the final seconds in the presence of Sauron) |
Historical Notes on Radiance & Gloom
Hope was originally given in the same units that it is today. During the second and third years of the game, designers decided to give "fractional" hope bonuses on armour, but to avoid a decimal error on armour, all hope/dread values were multiplied by 10, then a single-unit hope scale called radiance/gloom was introduced (with 10 radiance or 10 gloom being equal to 1 hope or 1 dread, respectively). This was later removed from the game and all hope/dread values were divided by 10 to get them back to where they are now.