Pineleaf Previews the Beorning

My primary goal of the Extra Life marathon was to see how far I can level a Beorning in 24 hours of game play. My secondary goal was to either live stream or record this event. At least the first first goal was successful (the attempt at a live stream proved to be a fiasco). I do have a video from the final moments in the playthrough, where I run a skirmish...

Scout’s Honor (Part 1) – A Burglar’s Guide to the Quiet Knife

Just a few steps more and it is lights out for this creep… Oh, hey everyone!  You all caught me while being sneaky, something we Burglars very much enjoy being.  I am not sure why everyone insists on calling us Burglars, though.  I have never stolen a thing in my life, honest! So, you want to know what it is we do and how we go about doing it, you say? ...

Helm’s Deep Hunter Skills: Trapper of Foes

Well, folks, we’ve had some time to absorb the class changes that update 12.0 (otherwise known as the Helm’s Deep expansion) brought to us. To recap, skill traits were replaced with skill trees, and several skills were consolidated, removed or changed as a result. For the hunter, the names remained the same – Bowmaster (red), Huntsman (blue) and Trapper of Foes...

Helm’s Deep Hunter Skills: The Bowmaster

Well, folks, we’ve had some time to absorb the class changes that update 12.0 (otherwise known as the Helm’s Deep expansion) brought to us. To recap, skill traits were replaced with skill trees, and several skills were consolidated, removed or changed as a result. For the hunter, the names remained the same – Bowmaster (red), Huntsman (blue)...

Helm’s Deep Hunter Skills: The Huntsman

Well, folks, we’ve had some time to absorb the class changes that update 12.0 (otherwise known as the Helm’s Deep expansion) brought to us. To recap, skill traits were replaced with skill trees, and several skills were consolidated, removed or changed as a result. For the hunter, the names remained the same – Bowmaster (red), Huntsman (blue)...

Increasing Hunter Survivability

Over the last couple of years, I’ve read on Twitter and the Forums about people having some difficulty with survivability while playing their Hunters. One mob isn’t much of an issue but when it comes to multiple mobs or an elite, it can be a bit much to handle. Common ways to combat these problems involve getting gear with more morale and armor or creating a...

Pet Menagerie – The Spirit of Nature

  Welcome to the last edition of Pet Menagerie! In this final writeup, I will be talking about arguably the most unique of the LMs pets, the Spirit of Nature. This pet is also the most recently added to the LM’s zoo(leaving out the War Wolf, which is so inconsequential that it doesn’t deserve an article of its own), at level 70.   Skills...

Pet Menagerie – The Bog-guardian

  And after an incredibly long break; we’re back again! The second to last installment of Pet Menagerie is here, and this time we’re examining the walking moss heap, the Bog-guardian. Of particular note for this article to determining, similar to the Eagle, whether the requirements to use this pet are worth it. The answer may surprise you. Or...

So You Want to be a Hunter?: A Beginner’s Play-style Guide

So, you’ve decided to play a hunter. Great choice! You’ve read all the beginner guides, chosen your race, and have started pew-pewing your way through Middle-Earth. The hunter is a fairly easy class to learn, but there are subtleties in the early levels that are very easy to miss. Maybe it’s because you’re so good at killing things fast, or that...

Character Selection

Congratulations!  You have downloaded the game and logged in only to see a Character Selection Screen.  What do you do now?  Make a character of course. 🙂 Step 1:  Choose a gender to play. Choosing a gender is the easiest option.  You will either create a male or female character. Step 2:  Choose a Race to play. Here you have four races from Tolkein’s...

Pet Menagerie – The Eagle

  Aaand we’re back! Out of the cold, barren, desolate wasteland that is the Sabertooth’s skillset*, and into the bright, warm, soothing glow of the Eagle. The big thing we will be talking about in this edition is this; Is the Eagle worth the legendary trait slot it takes up? To begin, let’s take a look at the Eagle’s abilities....

Pet Menagerie – The Sabertooth

Sabertooth, y u suck so much!? I’ll be honest with you guys; I hate the Sabertooth. HATE it. If my hatred for the sabertooth were converted into a liquid, there would be enough to fill a large bathtub and two dozen beer mugs. That is how much this pet grinds my girdle. But, alas, it is still a pet, so I must persevere and press into this edition of LOTRO...

Pet Menagerie – The Lynx

And we’re back! Today’s edition centers around the cute furry cuddly wuddly pet, the Lynx! The Lynx is the straight up DPS pet. Its stats and abilities are all based on damage output, with little room for anything else. We will be looking at just how viable the Lynx’s DPS really is, and in particular whether it’s enough to make it a good...

Pet Menagerie – The Bear

  Welcome back, folks! Before we get into the topic of this week, I would like to take the time to thank ya’ll for the responses to my last (and technically first) article. It’s very encouraging and I’ll be bearing(har) the comments in mind for this edition and for future ones. Today we’ll be looking at the second of the Lore-master’s zoo of companions,...

Pet Menagerie – The Raven

Welcome to the first of what should be many articles showcasing the pets available to LOTRO’s resident animal fanatic, the Lore-master! I plan to look at each pet individually, examining the different abilities available and how it matches up statistically with the others. In this initial edition, we will quite appropriately be covering the first pet you...