Reputation Exploration: Rhovanion Factions

 

Now that we have taken a look at the Eriador factions, let us cross over to the next stage of the journey – the Rhovanion reputation factions. These currently include:

                  *AtE = Factions needed for “Ambassador to the Elves” reputation deed

 

Unlike the Eriador area, which saw many of its factions utilizing consumable reputation, there are currently only two factions here which use this mechanic (and they share the same zone and drop tables) – the Iron Garrison Guards/Miners, located in Moria. The factions in this area of the game revolve heavily around completing quests (and repeatable quests, if needed) to progress with the reputation tiers. Because of the sometimes-monotonous repeatables, the Reputation Acceleration Tomes really shine in this area of the game (1k tomes in skirmish camp – 5k in LOTRO Store or possible drop via Hobbit Presents).

Along with the Elves of Rivendell (Eriador faction), completing Kindred standing with the Galadhrim and the Malledhrim will complete the “Ambassador to the Elves” reputation deed, and reward you with a title, 20 Turbine Points, and a Steed of the Elf-Lords (68%, 250 morale).

Now, let’s jump into the factions. They should be in order of when you’d probably go through them in level, but feel free to skip around as you wish.

 

Iron Garrison Guards (Moria)

Worn Dwarf Carving (30 rep each) – Level 45 required
Cracked Tablet (50 rep each) – Level 45 required
Purple Crystal Lamp Fragment (700 rep each) – Level 45 required

Durin’s Emblem (900 rep each) – Level 45 required
Fractured Ruby (1200 rep each) – Level 45 required

 

Iron Garrison Miners (Moria)

Broken Engraving (30 rep each) – Level 45 required
Cracked Etching (50 rep each) – Level 45 required
Green Crystal Lamp Fragment (700 rep each) – Level 45 required

Durin Figure (900 rep each) – Level 45 required
Uncut Moria-Adamant (1200 rep each) – Level 45 required

 

I have put these two factions together, as both share the same zone in which any of the six main reputation items can drop. All consumable reputation items under the Guards can only be used to increase your reputation with the Guards, and likewise with the Miners. Owning the Moria pack is still very helpful to gaining reputation with both, as there are a ton of quests available in these hallowed mines. However, it is not essential to own the Moria region (whether through expansion or quest pack) in order to reach Kindred with both of their factions, as long as you have some means to accrue their reputation consumables. The three Moria skirmishes (unlocked through the epic) also reward reputation with their respective factions (more on that in another guide).

There are also repeatable quests you may complete daily for a nice chunk of reputation with both factions. Dolvien-View offers solo quests (L 54/47/60) that require a specific shard to begin, and will reward a number of reputation, along with other goodies.

There are also a cluster of repeatables between Chamber of the Crossroads and 21st Hall (around 5.5S, 108.9W). This area has two Mekeb dungeons, with three quests each (make sure to talk to the respective vendor again after starting the main quest for the other two), and should give you more rep with Guards/Miners. Another area, Mezer-serej (7.2S, 104.7W; a little SE of 21st Hall) offer two more of these kind of NPCs for two different instanced locations. Finally, a third similar area, Gharaf-fehem, is located in SW Redhorn Lodes (13.0S, 105.7W), and will offer you six more repeatables.

Beyond quests, during which you will find a good number of reputation consumables, you may need to do some farming for the rest. Unlike other zones, finding the high-end rep item for either faction is not something you will find in a specific location. You may also exchange Moria Guards and Miners reputation items by visiting the reputation vendors in Moria (Dolvien-View or 21st Hall). They will allow to to exchange across factions for the same tiers (ie Purple Crystal Lamp Fragment for a Green one – both are 700 rep items).

Therefore, I’d recommend simply farming in a lower-level Moria area that you can at least pick up a lot of Engravings/Carvings, and most likely a smattering of other tiers. East of Dolvien-View, in Gazatmur (7.6S, 111.3W) is a decent encampment in which to grind. You are right next to a town (to stop in with vendors and barterers), and there are a good number of itty bitty goblins to take down here. Beware the signature lieutenant in the area.

Also note the addition of two extra tiers of items for each faction (the 900 and 1200 rep items). These will not drop from enemies, but are available in-game as a small possible RNG loot via special treasure chests. After completing the epic instances “The Drowned Treasury” (2.4.7) and/or “New Devilry” (2.6.8), if you talk to the NPC by the Reflecting Pool in the 21st Hall, he will offer the ability to repeat these instances via the Reflecting Pool in order to net Marks of Victory. You may then turn these Marks in for a chest (or other rewards, though I recommend go with a chest – and I tend to specifically prefer the Chest of Chance) from that same NPC. You can repeat these once a week, and the Marks of Victory are also available should you pick up quests from respective NPCs outside instance areas that involve assisting allies with their level 58 fellowship class quest (which takes place in that respective instance).

 

Galadhrim (Lothlorien)

This faction requires reputation through questing in Lothlorien – there are no items to trade in for reputation. This means you will need to own the pack to make the most of reputation in this zone (some rep can be gained through the epic book). However, there are four repeatable quests that you may be able to take advantage of to gain Galadhrim rep without owning the pack. There are many other repeatables for rep that will require owning the pack.

The Aiding the Elves quests (there are four of them) allow users not owning Lothlorien the chance to accrue reputation with the Galadhrim. Two of these quests are located in Echad Andestel (14.2S, 73.0W), and the other two are located up in a fleet across the stream in Talan Haldir (16.2S, 73.5W).

Additionally, most deeds in this zone will offer 700 Galadhrim reputation per deed. One thing you do need to watch out for in this zone are beasts who are marked “Protected”, as killing one of this will actually decrease your reputation slightly. There is an NPC in Echad Andestel who offers a short chain of poaching quests. While they may offer some nice rewards, completing each quest will decrease your reputation by 700. You are free to skip over these quests with no penalty, and as such is probably recommended if you are looking to gain reputation with this faction quickly.

See the below image for the location of the various dailies in Lothlorien to accrue reputation with the Galadhrim.

 

Malledhrim (Mirkwood)

Like the Galadhrim, the Malledhrim reputation is also gained through questing – this time in Mirkwood. There are also epic quests and repeatables that may be completed to gain reputation with this elvish faction.

The following skirmishes also each reward 700 Malledhrim reputation per completion: “Breaching the Necromancer’s Gate”, “Assault on the Ringwraiths’ Lair”, and “The Battle in the Tower”.

The below image illustrates the various Mirkwood repeatables that offer reputation with the Malledhrim. Note that the repeatable “An Ally in Need” can be picked up from either NPC location, and is a very short and easy escort quest (in most situations, you only need to kill two wargs).

 

The Riders of Stangard (The Great River)

The Great River brought us two factions – the Riders of Stangard, and the Heroes of Limlight Gorge. The meaty faction of this zone are the Riders, whose reputation will be gained by completing the majority of the quests throughout the Great River zone.

If you complete all of the quests, are are still not Kindred, there are several dailies located throughout the zone (also a good way to gain some more silver/gold Anduin barterable tokens). Please see the image below for all Riders of Stangard repeatable rep quests.

Another way to gain a little extra reputation is by turning in tasks at the taskboard located throughout the zone (should be at most, if not all, of the settlements that contain a stable-master). As task items are not monster-specific (other than in the Limlight Gorge, possibly), some of the task items can actually be farmed in level-comparable areas outside the Great River.

 

Heroes of Limlight Gorge (The Great River)

While the Riders cover most of the zone, there is an area set aside for the most brave Free Peoples to group up and test their mettle. The Limlight Gorge, located on the western corner of the zone, is the site of various large trolls, spiders and huorns.

The majority of the quests here are fellowship-based, and will reward reputation with the Heroes. Once you complete all of the starter quests, three dailies will be unlocked to complete for additional reputation each day. Please see the image to the right for the list and location of these daily pick-ups (you will need to cross a bridge across the river and take an upward-sloping path to reach the second NPC).

There are also tasks from the Great River taskboard that are exclusively set aside for the Heroes. If you are lucky enough to accrue some task mats from your battles here (they may drop from the huorns in the area), you may turn them in for additional reputation. The taskboard in the area will likely be locked by the time you reach 85 (due to the level of the task quests), so you’ll want to turn in any Heroes tasks by the time you are 80 or so, and beyond that rely on the three dailies to complete this faction (the rep acceleration tomes are very handy).

If you wish to do so, the fellowship instance “Roots of Fangorn” will reward you with additional reputation.

 

Men of the Wold/of the Norcrofts/of the Entwash Vale/of the Sutcrofts (East Rohan)

With the arrival of the Riders of Rohan expansion came four new factions located within the Eastemnet plains – Men of the Wold, Men of the Norcrofts, Men of the Entwash Vale, and Men of the Sutcrofts. Each of these factions cover a sizable area within East Rohan, hosting several towns of varying architecture, from the small farm town of Faldham, to the large and fortified town of Snowbourn.

As with all of the newer areas, you will need to do quests which provide reputation upon completion, with the added interactive feature of an ravaged town (Hytbold) which you must complete daily quests to supplement gaining reputation with all four factions (and the added benefit that you may choose to help rebuild the town). Hytbold will become an essential part of getting to Kindred with all four factions, as you will likely be just short of Ally with each faction by the time you complete each of the regions’ quests (excluding Hytbold questing, repeatable quests/warbands in East Rohan do NOT reward reputation).

The basic way you will begin gaining reputation is through competing quests in the four major areas (the Wold, Norcrofts, Entwash Vale, Sutcrofts), which will net you reputation with the corresponding faction in that area. Once you hit level 84, you are sent to Hytbold to begin aiding the once-glorious town that was destroyed by the ensuing evil.

Essentially, Hytbold is designed to let you gain reputation with all of the factions, by allowing you to complete specific, randomized (chosen from a list of possible dailies per factioned area) daily quests. Completing each quest will get you 1200 reputation with that faction whom you aided. You may complete a total of five dailies per day (resets at 3AM, server time [EST]), with the option to reset the ability to do five more of the available dailies that day, at the cost of five Mithril Coins.

Rather than going into much more detail about Hytbold, please check out this superb Hytbold guide, made by Fredelas, for all the info on the offered daily quests, rebuilding the town, and even scoring some nice armor along the way. If you would like an in-game plugin that helps track your progress in Hytbold, please take a look at Galuhad’s Hytbold Assistant (or pick it up through the LOTRO Plugin Compendium).

 

People of Wildermore (Wildermore)

Wildermore, the newest area in the game, came to life with Update 11. This zone includes what I personally found to be a fantastic storyline. I not only recommend playing through it because of the story, but also due to the reputation you’ll gain. Other than the storyline and epic quests, the zone also offers tasks and warbands to complete for reputation with the People (as opposed to East Rohan, where there is no rep gain from doing tasks or warbands).

To the best of my knowledge, there are no regular repeatable quests to increase your reputation with the People of Wildermore. There should be enough reputation while questing through the storyline to hit Kindred with this faction. You may also keep doing tasks and the auto-bestowal warbands to complement the reputation gain.

Once you finish the final zone quest in Wildermore, you will unlock the ability to partake in the main repeatables to start increasing rep gain with the next faction, the Survivors of Wildermore.

 

Survivors of Wildermore (Wildermore)

Now that you have done your part to assist the people of Wildermore with their monstrous task (hint hint nudge nudge, play through the storyline!), you are given the option to continue assisting the remaining Survivors of Wildermore. This will be done by completing dailies, much in the same way that you did in Hytbold (with the exception that you don’t need to physically rebuild a town, or defrost the whole zone in this case).

An NPC by the name of Cole sits outside the Feasting Hall (Forlaw; 39.3S,60.8W) , in the main center of town (see the image to the right as a visual aid). He offers a quest called “Wildermore’s Recovery,” which resets on a daily basis. After picking this up, several nearby NPCs will suddenly have quests available to you. Players are then able to pick five of the quests offered that day, which vary across a variety of activities. Please note the warband quests are different from the normal auto-bestowal warband quests, and these will reward Survivors rep (rather than with the People).

For a full and more complete guide on the Survivors of Wildermore repeatables, please see this fantastic Survivors of Wildermore guide, made by Mar-Evayave. It not only contain a listing of all repeatables, organized by NPC, but also offers strategies for each daily.

 

The Eorlingas / The Helmingas (West Rohan)

These two factions have been introduced with the Helm’s Deep expansion, and are contained in West Rohan. Completing quests in this region will be your almost-exclusive means to accrue reputation with either faction. From what I could tell, none of the Epic Battles will reward you with reputation with either faction (they still offer plenty of other rewards, and are worth repeating). Fortunately, just doing zone + epic quests alone should be enough to get you to Kindred with both factions.

Essentially, the way that these two factions are interspersed within the region is a half/half split. You will begin the zone by completing quests that will reward reputation with the Eorlingas (essentially, the Rohirrim). There are plenty of settlements that will need your help, and aiding these people will accrue rep with that faction. As you get to the latter half of the region, you will begin to do quests that reward reputation with the Helmingas (basically the peoples in an around the areas of Helm’s Deep).

Tasks will also offer the means to gain reputation with either faction, depending on the respective task you pick up. The task mats that generally drop from the first half of West Rohan will correspond with the Eorlingas, and the task mats from the second half will correspond with the Helmingas. Beyond tasking, the daily warband quests should also be giving you reputation with the respective faction in which the warband is located.

 

The Ents of Fangorn Forest (West Rohan)

This faction, added with Update 13 (Breaking of Isengard) takes the player into the area of Entwood, where the Ents who led the assault on Isengard reside. The reputation grind here is another simple, yet slow process. Your main contact here will be Quickbeam, who will start by bestowing you several quests. As you complete these, and continue to pick up quests from him, you will gain reputation.

Eventually, it will come down to completing three daily crafting instances (each one has three quests within), a solitary random daily quest in Entwood, and the final involves picking one of three chains of quests to do at a time. This is a five-quest chain, with an 18-hour timer between each objective, that will reward some reputation (and a gift box, possibly containing the Fangorn barter item/huorn housing decoration/huorn pet) at the end.

Currently, there are no tasks for this area, and the reputation is needed in order to barter for goodies from several of the NPCs in the area.

 

Conclusion

I think some people have mixed feeling between collecting reputation in Rhovanion versus Eriador. I find the reward of reaching Kindred in Rhovanion zones to be much more fulfilling next to those in Eriador, as the increased effort to aid the peoples’ of the areas merely through questing feels much more pure faction-wise. This can definitely be felt as a more immersive portion of the game, in this respect. On the other hand, I certainly find the merits of reputation hunters in Eriador, as most of the zones don’t even require you to physically own the area to reach Kindred and reap the rewards (in this case, most often via the Turbine Point gain).

In either case, this now wraps up a look at strategies and discussion on gaining reputation with both Eriador and Rhovanion factions. In the next guide in this series, I will run through the factions in the Gondor regions.

If you have any comments/suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below. The dailies can be pretty scattered in many of the zones, so it’s entirely possible I forgot about a daily or two (or more? eeps!).