Reputation Exploration: It’s 101 Primer Time

 

Gaining in-game reputation with factions in Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) is not only a great way to get respect amongst fellow Middle Earthenites, but you’ll also find many new goodies unlocked and available for purchase. Whether it be equipment, decorations, recipes, or new mounts (and the list goes on), there are a plethora of things that can be acquired to improve your time spent in LOTRO. You can also obtain a nice supply of Turbine Points (TPs, used to purchase premium and convenience items in the in-game LOTRO Store) by gaining reputation (20+15+10+5 per faction & character adds up, considering the number of in-game factions and your available character slots/servers).

It should also be noted that tiers of reputation work in the game as deeds (which will award titles/TP/maximum number of quests/etc), and several travel skills may require reputation to attain. Two such reputation meta-deeds (a deed that requires completion of several other deeds – in this case, reputation deeds) will each reward you with a special 168% speed / 250 morale steed. Surely, riding up to your friends atop a Steed of the Elf-Lord or the Steed of Eriador is a feat celebrated by all Free Peoples.

 

So how can I acquire reputation? I’m a hero, after all!

Essentially, there are two basic mechanics that you will run across in order to gain reputation (or simply rep, to the layperson) with the various factions: quest-based reputation, and consumable reputation. Some groups employ just one mechanic, while others utilize both elements.

Quest-based Reputation

 This is the core mechanic that fuels the reputation engine. Whether a friendly NPC asks you to go out and kill 12 [insert servant of Sauron here], or an ally is in need of escorting through an improbably busy path, a good amount of quest NPCs will generally offer reputation in completion of their task.

The reputation faction will usually correlate to the area in which the quest takes place. It would be to your benefit to complete these quests to help level rep. This may require purchasing quest packs from the LOTRO Store if you do not already own them (those paying for a subscription may have automatic ownership of a quest pack, at least until their sub runs out).

Reputation gained exclusively through questing is prevalent in mid-to-late gameplay, as these areas generally require the use of questing to gain reputation (by removing the other rep mechanic, discussed right below). Other game features, such as Skirmishing and Tasks, may reward users with reputation (and will be further discussed in a later guide). Specific crafting quests can even play a part in the earlier portion of the game.

Additionally, repeatable quests that reward reputation will generally be found in later zones, and perform as recurring content. These are generally based upon a daily reset (3AM EST, server time), at which time they will be ready to repeat.

Consumable Reputation

While quest-based reputation is static and only rewarded upon completion of an appropriate mission, consumable reputation exists as an RNG (Random  Number Generator) system, intertwined with enemy loot. It is defined as consumable for the simple reason that you are required to “digest” (right click, or  however you may consume something like a potion) the items after they float into your inventory space.

This system of reputation is generally utilized in early-to-mid gameplay, as only a handful of factions utilize these items as a mechanic. Consuming each item will provide you with a set number of reputation points  (while there are a couple of discrepancies, most factions with consumable rep offer either 30, 50, or 700 reputation per item). In most cases, the factions  that do utilize these consumables will be found off enemies in the corresponding zones (more on that in future guides!).

 

Play style attitude toward reputation gain

Inevitably, different people play the game in different ways, and that’s just fine. The beauty of worlds like that of LOTRO is that there are going to be different kinds of users, and hence different means to achieve the same goal.

When it comes to reputation, Turbine has introduced a couple ways to gain consumable reputation. Please note that mostly quest-based factions will still require you to quest in those zones at your leisure, though with items like reputation accelerators (read the skirmish/instance player section just below for more info on these), it should help speed up the reputation process. Also, I’m sure it is likely you will fall under multiple categories I have listed below – in that case, you have the freedom to mix and match some possible tactics.

Are you a…?

Mostly-solo player: As long as you don’t mind a bit of grind (a fairly common task in any MMO), I have tried my best to cater my future guides’ locations to where a solo player should not have too much of an issue struggling with signatures or high-level areas while farming for reputation items and completing quests at their own pace(unless you are woefully underleveled for that area).

Group-player: Farming for consumable reputation has never been easier since LOTRO introduced remote looting across the landscape. In the past, fellowships had the need to roll on rep items, and essentially split the spoils across the whole group. Now, everyone gets their own RNG roll per kill, and hence you will likely gain a greater amount of rep items.

Outside grinding for rep, questing in a fellowship across all of Middle Earth should likely increase the speed at which you can complete quests, and hence gain reputation.

Skirmish/Instance Player: Solo and Group users may fall into this category. While instances are primarily group content, the Mirkwood expansion brought us skirmishes, which allow players to create specific, scalable content (from solo to raid-sized). Amongst other rewards for completing specific objectives in instances and skirmishes, you may also receive marks, medallions and seals.

If you head to any skirmish camp, visit the Curiosities vendor, and filter the items under “Reputation,” each of the 10 factions which utilize consumable reputation offer their 700 rep items for a variable amount of Marks. If need be, you may also head to the Currency Exchange vendor to transfer your instance currencies around.

Another item you will see from the Curiosities vendor is a Small Reputation Acceleration Tome. This item, at the current cost of 60 marks & 6 medallions, will provide you with a cache of 1000 bonus reputation per tome use. Essentially, for each subsequent gain of reputation (either via questing or consumable rep), you will gain that same amount of reputation from the bonus cache of rep (ie: If you have 1000 bonus rep in the cache, and use an Elvish Relic [worth 700 Rivendell rep], you will gain 1400 Rivendell rep, and have 300 bonus rep left in the cache). A 5000 bonus reputation tome is also available through the LOTRO Store, for Turbine Points.

Additionally, specific skirmishes even reward reputation for completing them! I will discuss this further in a future guide.

Pockets filled with shiny Gold?: This will obviously depend on the server and current listings, but consumable reputation (and the small rep accelerator tomes) may be available from your local Auction House (AH). You may filter the AH listings by Reputation (and by each specific faction). Note that both Moria factions will share the same “Moria” filter. Those looking to increase their pocket size may also look into grinding (or bartering from the Skirmish Camp) reputation, and placing it on the Auction House.

 

What will this reputation guide series explore, there and back?

While playing LOTRO for the past couple of years, I have always found myself exploring all around (most) of the zones, and this inevitably means I have taken the spoils off many foes. As a semi-completionist, the notion of either collecting consumable rep, or simply completing quests to fill out the reputation bubbles intrigued me.

With personal discovery, and some tips from other players, I have done my best to scout some locations for consumable rep. Additionally, I’ve tried to take note of the repeatable quests that I could utilize to take care of maxing out my reputation in higher-end zones.

The result is something I will do my best to explore in this short guide series. In the next part of the series, I will go through each of the factions located in the Eriador region. These include factions like the Men of Bree, and even jump as high as those available in Dunland. I will then later likely tally through the Rhovanion region. Finally, I will hopefully conclude by giving some of my notes on special factions (notably, the Festival factions), and do a quick discussion on reputation rewards from skirmishing and tasks.

Please Take Note:  I am not set out to forcibly change how you may enjoy or proceed gaining reputation. If you happen to have your own methods or thoughts, and they are working for you, that’s great! Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions for the community!

Conclusion – Reputation rocks!

Assuming you haven’t fallen asleep at the helm (wake up, there’s a warg right behind ya!), I hope this introduction into the world of LOTRO’s Reputation system has been enjoyable. To some players, the feeling of improving their social stature with the inhabitants of the virtual world is vital to enhancing their immersion (and not to mention, the tangible rewards).

I hope the future guides will provide a decent collection of resources for you guys – it’s your reputation on the line!

 

Guides in this series:

 

*Eriador Factions

 

*Rhovanion Factions

 

*Gondor Factions

 

*Odds & Ends (misc factions, skirms, charts)