Anyone playing Lord of the Rings Online?

[Ogremindes]

My brief stint with Everquest 2 ended when I worked out it costs 30 cents for the privilege of equipping each quest reward past level 20. So now I'm playing LotRO. Anyone here play?

[Eldariel]

Ayyup. Still saving for Rise of Isengard, making my way through Angmar and Moria right now (well, all I have left in Angmar is Carn Dum and Urugarth, but I need those for my level 50 class quests anyways). Gilalar @ Laurelin - Elf Loremaster.

[Ogremindes]

I've been playing Ceddo @ Elendilmir, a Hobbit Burglar ('cause men, elves and dwarves are pretty much the same everywhere, and if I going to be a hobbit I may as well also be a burglar). I got my spiffy hat with two feathers in, and have no intention of playing through the Shire again any time soon.

[Mx.Silver]

I've been playing for a couple of weeks now as a result of caving to peer pressure from a friend. It's not that bad, really.


I got my spiffy hat with two feathers in, and have no intention of playing through the Shire again any time soon.
Yeah, it's not exactly the high point of the game.

[Gimliggamer]

I've been playing for a couple of weeks now as a result of caving to peer pressure from a friend. It's not that bad, really.


Yeah, it's not exactly the high point of the game.

Way back in the Beta it was considered cool to venture to The Shire if you played anything else.

[fizzmaister]

I figured that since I have no spare time in my life, it'd be a jolly good idea to start playing an MMO. At least it's "free," PvE, and not Pay to Win (just pay to unlock stuff which I may or may not ever reach), so I can play leisurely and drop it for long stretches of time if I want to.

Anyway, I just rolled a hobbit guardian in Crickhollow (I just checked the old thread, seems like most GitPers are in Arkenstone), and I've been relaxing and doing quests, but I have a few questions.

What plugins are worth getting? I'm assuming a map and tracking plugin, but what else (specific recommendations are awesome)? Is there some sort of a database plugin for quests, deeds, and all those grindy things? Anything to cure interface shock?

Thanks in advance.

[Airk]

What plugins are worth getting? I'm assuming a map and tracking plugin, but what else (specific recommendations are awesome)? Is there some sort of a database plugin for quests, deeds, and all those grindy things? Anything to cure interface shock?

Thanks in advance.

This isn't WoW, you don't actually need any plugins, especially if you're playing solo. The game already does a perfectly fine job of tracking your location and quests too, so uh...

>has played this game for 3+ years without feeling a need for any kind of add-on<

[fizzmaister]

Ok. I want to try to do this only buying one thing (so I can get the vip -> premium stuff). What should I get and when? An expansion pack (which one?)? One month subscription? When should I get it (characterwise)?

Thanks.

[Ogremindes]

Ok. I want to try to do this only buying one thing (so I can get the vip -> premium stuff). What should I get and when? An expansion pack (which one?)? One month subscription? When should I get it (characterwise)?

Thanks.

Probably the Mines of Moria expansion (not the quest pack), as it unlocks content, character classes and character slots. That's assuming you have the cash for it, as it's one of the more expensive things in the cash shop. Apart from that you'll want quests/expansions as you get past level 30 or so, as that's where the free content caps out. You'll probably want to unlock the bags too (fairly rare: bag unlocks are for all your characters). Riding is fairly important, but I'd use the points you get in-game for that as it's a single character unlock.

[fizzmaister]

I should have been a little clearer. I'm willing to buy one thing for real dollars, and plan on using TP for everything else (assuming I ever get around to it). It seems like the permanent unlocks from playing as VIP for one month are well worth the money.

[Ogremindes]

I should have been a little clearer. I'm willing to buy one thing for real dollars, and plan on using TP for everything else (assuming I ever get around to it). It seems like the permanent unlocks from playing as VIP for one month are well worth the money.

In which case a quest pack that unlocks content starting at level 30-ish would be your best bet, I guess.

[Hatevah]

I'm still riding my free month from the Moria expansion (I used TP to buy Evendim, Forochal, Angmar and Eregion previously). I'd use TP to buy Evendim first, it's probably the second most fun zone I've played (after Moria, other than the lack-of-mount-for-the-first-while thing)...also, if you plan on getting up to the 50s, you're going to want legendaries available, which requires Moria...short answer, buy the MoM set, and level whoever you want to play up to 20 to do the riding quest (save yourself 95 tp/character).

Also, I think warden is a lot of fun, and wouldn't have tried it if it hadn't come with Moria, so...take that as you like it:smallbiggrin:.

[Eldariel]

I should have been a little clearer. I'm willing to buy one thing for real dollars, and plan on using TP for everything else (assuming I ever get around to it). It seems like the permanent unlocks from playing as VIP for one month are well worth the money.

You might want to consider buying some of the packed editions of the game; those tend to come with enough content to play through it and basically all you need including free one month VIP (which is indeed easily the best money-for-TP purchase you can make, especially since you get 500 TP for it alone) and some TP.


I'm still riding my free month from the Moria expansion (I used TP to buy Evendim, Forochal, Angmar and Eregion previously). I'd use TP to buy Evendim first, it's probably the second most fun zone I've played (after Moria, other than the lack-of-mount-for-the-first-while thing)...

That blasted lake, man... Evendim was fun except I got enough swimming to last me a lifetime there, what with all the Tyl Ruinen and Blue Cave visits. And sometimes it was faster to swim to the Grove or Annuminas than to ride...

[Hatevah]

That blasted lake, man... Evendim was fun except I got enough swimming to last me a lifetime there, what with all the Tyl Ruinen and Blue Cave visits. And sometimes it was faster to swim to the Grove or Annuminas than to ride...

But with VIP, you only need to swim once :D hooray fast (boat) travel!

Revamped Evendim (second to last update before the Isengard expansion) really made the area a LOT more fun...it's also a lot of guaranteed TP if you go through quests (it's hard not to max rep with the region, it also gives you a metric _ton of Shire rep items, and has a lot of 'kill a bunch of [the same category of] these' in different areas, which makes some of the slayer quests a breeze...and the zone is pretty balanced [read - easy to solo] except for a single spot that you can pretty much skip (giant chief, i'm looking at you)...

The hard part for me (still) is where to go after that...Forochal and Angmar are both much easier at level 45 than 40 (where Evendim lets out)...oh well.

I'm 'Wotcher' on Arkenstone, generally...I've got 2 alts in the late teens-20 also on Arkenstone, and my 41 hunter (Pewsy, maybe?) is on Vilya, if anyone wants to fellow (?) up :)

[Gaelbert]

I've been playing Ceddo @ Elendilmir, a Hobbit Burglar ('cause men, elves and dwarves are pretty much the same everywhere, and if I going to be a hobbit I may as well also be a burglar). I got my spiffy hat with two feathers in, and have no intention of playing through the Shire again any time soon.

Really? The Shire was my favourite starting area. I ran through it 9 times or so, with all my characters.

I have a bunch of characters on Arkenstone. I don't play much anymore, but if anyone needs help or something I could log on. I have enough characters to cover all of the crafting, so I can get you nifty suits of armour and weapons up to around the md-30s or so. I have two characters in the 40s and 50s (a warden and a captain), and then all the other classes in the 20s or 30s. If anyone needs help getting the hang of something, or wants to do some powerleveling, or just needs advice, just let me know.

[Balain]

There were a few of us playing on arkenstone. I think there was even a kinship formed with GiTP members.

My main is a hobbit minstrel named Batlin in charge of War Machine of The Tiny. Also have a a bunch of characters about 30 to 75 and most crafting covered.
So if you are on arkenstone and need some help let me know.


not long ago I also posted this LOTRO contests (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230220)

[Eldariel]

But with VIP, you only need to swim once :D hooray fast (boat) travel!

Revamped Evendim (second to last update before the Isengard expansion) really made the area a LOT more fun...it's also a lot of guaranteed TP if you go through quests (it's hard not to max rep with the region, it also gives you a metric _ton of Shire rep items, and has a lot of 'kill a bunch of [the same category of] these' in different areas, which makes some of the slayer quests a breeze...and the zone is pretty balanced [read - easy to solo] except for a single spot that you can pretty much skip (giant chief, i'm looking at you)...

The hard part for me (still) is where to go after that...Forochal and Angmar are both much easier at level 45 than 40 (where Evendim lets out)...oh well.

Eh, doing the early Angmar (Lehmä-Koti & Aughaire) quests easily gets you to 45 and beyond. If you're running with crafted gear, they're a breeze (other than the Drake quests which are very hard to solo). I personally like Misty Mountains since I happen to like Rivendell and Goblin-Town is kinda cool. Also, the Giant Elite Masters make for pretty fun fights, especially solo or with 1 friend (prolly not doable on-level with all classes though, but was possible with LM at least).

[Gaelbert]

Loaded up LOTRO and remembered why I enjoyed it so much. I'd love to make a fellowship or kinship with you folks if anyone's interested. This game gets so much better when you work as a team. Like I said before, my main is a level 55 Warden named Nalolluin, but I have one of every class around level 20 or so. I'm willing to craft or help anyone out who's interested. I'm on Arkenstone, hit me up.

Also, if people are curious about classes/builds/items/what have you, I know a fair amount. Probably not as much as Balain or people who have hit endgame content, but I've gone through everything else pretty thoroughly and have a decent grasp on strategy and stuff. Certainly enough to help folks out with the starter regions. Like I said, I ran through those over 9 times. I know them pretty well.

[Airk]

Get levelling! My friend and I have a level 75 Hunter/Captain duo, and we really need a tank for 3-man content!

[Mx.Silver]

Hmm. My main guy's on Brandywine (only around middle 20s, haven't been playing terribly long), but since I don't really have an alt I could probably get one going on Arkenstone. Let the levelling commence, I guess.

[Eldariel]

Hmm. My main guy's on Brandywine (only around middle 20s, haven't been playing terribly long), but since I don't really have an alt I could probably get one going on Arkenstone. Let the levelling commence, I guess.

Good news is, once you've done it once and know a good general questing order and the exact locations for each quest, early leveling is much faster. I can get a character to about level 20 with all the early Deeds (Ered Luin, Shire sans quests & Quickpost/Pies, and Bree outside the long Barrow-Downs Deeds) done in about 5-7 hours time (depending on how much competition/assistance I get doing the early Slayers) nowadays when, the first time, it took me approximately forever.

Realizing that there's no need to do all the quests in the early areas and there are really no consequences for leaving them undone really speeds up the process. For instance, in Ered Luin I skip the Wight area entirely when making new Elves or Dwarves since the quests are kinda slow, rewards rather poor and you get more than enough quests and XP without them.


Of course, my first character was/is used to experience the world so I take a ton of time to go through all the area since I want to experience the places, not just play them.

[Gimliggamer]

All my characters are on Arkenstone from last time a LoTRO thread popped up, so next month when I'm supposed to get a laptop I can start playing again.

[Gaelbert]

Get levelling! My friend and I have a level 75 Hunter/Captain duo, and we really need a tank for 3-man content!

I'm working on it, I'm working on it. Up to level 58 and trying to get through the Epic quest line before I leave Moria. I am so ready to leave it.
My main goal is to hit 75 by the time the Riders of Rohan comes out so I can get into the mounted combat. I am so incredibly excited for that content you have no idea.

Does anyone have a good guide for legendary items? I more or less know the basics, but if someone has a guide for how to fine tune and the best ways to optimize and work with them, that'd be great.

Also, let me tell you the story of when I fell in love with my Warden.
I was in the upper 40s or something like that, I think I had just unlocked Exultation of Battle. It's one of my gambits that does an AoE morale leech and raises my threat for the group. I also had just walked into Angmar, and I was overleveled by a level or two and a Warden, so the content was dark blue and fairly easy (wardens are hands down the best class for solo play and leveling. You level up so fast when you can routinely and easily defeat multiple red mobs at once). Watch the Throne by Jay Z and Kanye West had been released recently, so I as this story happened I was listening to H.A.M. for the first time. As you'll see, it was fitting. I was working with a friend of mine, a loremaster. She was underleveled, so my strategy was an exercise in rapid threat generation, something the warden isn't necessarily good at. We ran through some sort of cave, filled with orcs, killing them as we went. We got to the end, killed the boss, but all the other orcs had respawned. The thing about this cave was the spawn points were densely packed, meaning if you had to fight one, you would have to fight many of them at once. My loremaster friend mentioned we should just run through them all and get out. I had a better idea. I grabbed every single mob in the entire cave while the loremaster sat back and looked stunned. Then I set up my AoE HoT leeching gambits, did some group threat generation, and sat back and watched as I was getting substantial health from around 2 dozen mobs. Long story short, the loremaster stayed in the background and gave me power while I sucked 2 dozen orcs dry. I don't know if I ever went under 1000 morale total. It was a beautiful, beautiful thing.