[CC] 99 instances – The angmar experience 1/2

Barad gularan, Carn dum, The rift and Urugarth. As classic as instance go thesedays these can hardly be beaten. When people go nostalgic, they linger in the memories of Mordrith and Thaurlach. Urugarth and Barad gularan are usually thrown in with the other two. But they do deserve a spot in the limelight.  Good thing that there isn’t a story about revamps, wings  and scaled instances to talk about in here. For now we’ll talk about Urugarth and Carn dum and in a next article about Barad Gularan and The rift.

Launch, revamp and today
We’re in 2007, we’re slowly making our way across the smaller world of lotro. We’ve managed to get past the Seeing stones in Book 6. We’ve said farewell to the dwarves in Gabilshatur and finished Book 7.  Golodir has send us out to retake the fortress area of Angmar which holds the instances of Urugarth and Carn dum.

Over 10 years later we do the exact same thing, but a lot faster in a different world. Angmar isn’t the final objective for travellers anymore. But it’s still there. And we still go. Class items, memories, a special loremaster staff for cosmetics, deeds or for an entire evening on your level 50 group.

Getting around
Both places are immense. Without a higher level or some nice legendary weapons to give you a nice boost in damage these instances and their denizens take hours to cut through.  The game guides you on 3 different travels inside them by giving you 3 deeds to kill a set of bosses before having you move to the next group. After killing the last of the bosses you will be given a key that will allow you to bypass these guys/things on the next night.

Historic – key rings
Bag space was at a premium and the keys being a bind of character drop. The time your tank had to leave and finding yourself that he had won the key, fun times. Standing in front of a closed gate scouring /ooc or /lff for that rare combo. Turbine gave us key rings. A special bag that would store all your keys you’ve found. Saving you the chance to forget them in your vault and valuable bagspace for all that loot that (still) drops in both places.

Class items and last boss loot
The main reason you wanted to get around? Each boss dropped a special quest item. These were the final objectives in your level 45 class quest. Where the level 15 and 30 class rewards were good you’d still find a better reward in the end. Not for the level 45. Those rewards were the best thing you’d find for along while without going raiding. The Watchers cousin Helcham was the bane of every hunter (and we’re plenty). Same goes for the final bosses in Carn dum and urugarth. The most challenging, best rewards and bragging rights were given out by these guys.

Big? How big?
Describing each boss or instance would give enough words for another article. I’ll leave you with a few numbers.  Urugarth will get you 15 bosses to kill, Carn dum has 13. Combined they involve around 40+ quests. A full run will still take you about 60 to 90 minutes with a high level or a nice 2-4 hours if you’re doing it on level.

Third age fortresses
The area of north Angmar is a massive urbanized evil area with 2 strongholds at the end of the road. Uru- is a Sindarin word meaning “to be hot”, as in Uruloki (the Great Worms). Which is one of the larger bosses you will find. Where as Carn Dum is the seat of the witch king founded in 1300 of the Third age. Both were used as staging grounds in the war against the kingdom of Arnor around 1970 TA. After its defeat we get our taste of both when the steward of the witch king takes it as his little house on the angmarim prairie to enslave us in 3018 TA.

So far they have failed. Ever since they added the legendary weapons in Moria the clearing of the thrash mobs has been a lot faster. Ofcourse having a 115 with you makes it a cakewalk.

Classic lotro aka cap group
When people speak of classic lotro or Shadow Of Angmar as it was called people usually refer to the times that Carn Dum was the end game. The rift and Helegrod were the only raids in the game. Several times a year you will see a call for a level 50 only run or a classic run.  Nostalgia is almost as powerfull as Sauron, but as we know Saurons power never grew as immense as they once were.

We’ll cover this part more in part 2 of the Angmar  instances. When we talk about Barad Guldur and The rift.

Angmar is a silly place and it smells of elderberries?
What is Carn dum and Urugarth to the hobbits that weren’t around for the last 10 years? Angmar, fellowships, Volume 1 is just one of the area’s that is a bit of a dead-end. You ‘re 50, curious for Moria and the legendary item.  Hold your goats for a second. Angmar and the sub-51 Eriador storyline is still one of the best story lines around. You have the chance to experience it without having to wait for new updates or a hunter to port you around.

It’s the one place early in the game to experience difficult and group based quests that’s not an instance. Depending on the time and server there wil still be groups forming for Blood Wing or Himbar. The dun covad fellowship, elite ttolls and drakes will scour you if they get a chance.  You wont need a group fo 6 to complete them, but solo or with a small group there is still the sense of dread when you get caught by a patrol or pull the wrong group.

The Angmar experience
Angmar is one of the biggest quest area’s where each little town or quest hub will pull you further in the dark evil that looms further inside.  The earthkin you might remember from the lone lands will get you to Esteldin where the vanguard of the Angmarim roam in Dol dinen. Heading into one of the entrances to Angmar you will be greeted by a massive encampment or the territories of the Drake matron. If you choose door number 2 it’s the safe haven of the earth kins again. Soon you will find the human encampment of Aughaire and the struggles of these guys being part of the force of the with king.

The epic quest will get you across the instagib barrier across the Malenhad swamp and the hidden town of Gabilshatur. The dwarfs have chosen wisely to stay hidden with orcs, uruks, trolls and drakes around the corner. Tales of another hidden safe spot further up north lead you towards Garth Forthnir. Hidden isnt overstated, but this will function as the quest hub for the latter part of east angmar.  From here you will venture on a plethora of quest to disrupt the forces of evil.

Having assembled the key to the gates Carn dum or finding the hidden passage you will find yourself in the last bastion of hope. Quests for the area before Carn dum and Urugarth are here. And eventually the quests for instances itself.

So what is the Angmar experience? A multi-stage quest line that ramps up into what is still one of the biggest nonraid instances around. Nearly 2 years of story found inside one questpack and instances.