Reputation Exploration: Odds and Ends

 

Well, we have reached the end of the journey for this particular series. In this article, I will glance over a couple of systems that utilize reputation as a piece of their respective feature, as well as glossarize (made that word a thing) over some miscellaneous info. Hornblower’s pie will be served at the end – hopefully she got the recipe right this time!

If you found I missed out on something you’d like further explanation concerning reputation, please feel free to leave a comment and ask in any of the articles. I’ll do my best to answer, or anybody is welcome to lend a hand. That being said, let’s jump into the ‘ol supplementary info.

 

Festival Factions

There are two special factions that you can increase (and decrease) your standing with only while one of the four seasonal festivals are running. These groups, rivals of one another, include the Inn League, founded by hobbits, and the Ale Association, founded by dwarves. As you can tell, the members of both groups are fond of the fine art of Middle Earth beverage consumption.

The special thing about these factions is that as you complete daily quests (mainly by completing deliveries of a certain beverage to a certain NPC) toward working on one faction, you will lose respect (via subtraction of reputation) from the opposite faction (for most of the quests, ie deliveries). For example, each of the delivery quests will provide +900 reputation for the group you’re doing the quest for, and -500 reputation for the opposite group. While it is potentially possible to become Kindred with both factions by doing both the deliveries and the other dailies, it can really stretch the chore out, and other than the ability to get Kindred items/titles for both there is no special deed for acquiring Kindred with both factions at the same time.

You may only attain reputation for either faction through these quests, only available during festivals. Feel free to check out this guide for more specific info on the repeatable quests, as well as a suggested route for the delivery quests. Each group has a special pub that may only be entered when you attain Friend status with the respective faction. Inside are various vendors that you may barter your attained barter tokens with to receive special goodies. For those horse collectors, note that both steeds have kegs attached to them. However, the Inn League steed is a horse/pony that displays a slight drunk effect while you are riding it, and the Ale Association steed is actually a goat (so it can be used in places like Moria). Alas, goats can better handle the effects of ale, and as such they will not display the same buzzed response.

Whether you chose Inn League or Ale Association (or both!), have fun with it, and make sure to plan your delivery routes wisely (having the product before you begin the quests make it much easier, to negate the need to first visit the supplier).

Rhino-Man, the creator of that festival guide linked above, recently posted this tip:

IF you choose to use the Mithril coins to travel to NPCs, you can do all 22 delivery quests in about 6 minutes.

That’s 22 quests = 22 Badges = 66 Festival Tokens in about 6 minutes!

 

Misc Factions

Every now and then there is always the possibility of a new faction coming to light. While it doesn’t really fit into a regional faction listing, nor is it directly associated with a seasonal festival, it has been created for a specific purpose or event.

• Chicken Chasing League of Eriador – This faction is associated with the Hobnanigans event. Completing matches (whether as a win or loss) should offer you reputation upon completion.

 

Reputation via Skirmishing

Completing most skirmishes also offer a reputation reward, based on the specific skirmish. In the past, this was offered via a daily skirmish quest, which would allow you to get the reputation bonus only once a day. However, with the revamped Instance Finder, the quest was removed, and it was eventually made so that you can receive the reputation reward every time you complete the skirmish.

Below is the number of experience you will gain with a faction for completing a particular skirmish. Essentially, it is 700 reputation with the locale in which the skirmish takes place, although several skirmishes currently reward NO reputation.

 

*Defensive Skirmishes*

Skirmish	Reputation Total	Faction
Battle of the Deep-way	700	Iron Garrison Miners
Battle of the Twenty-First Hall	700	Iron Garrison Guard
Battle of the Way of Smiths	700	Iron Garrison Miners
Defence of the Prancing Pony	700	Men of Bree
Ford of Bruinen	700	Elves of Rivendell
Protectors of Thangulhad	No Rep Awarded	—–
Siege of Gondamon	700	Thorin’s Hall
Stand at Amon Sul	700	Eglain

 

*Offensive Skirmishes*

Skirmish	Reputation Total	Faction
Assault on the Ringwraiths’ Lair	700	Malledhrim
Attack at Dawn	700	Rangers of Esteldin
Breaching the Necromancer’s Gate	700	Malledhrim
Rescue in Nurz Ghashu	700	Eldgang
Storm on Methedras	No Rep Awarded	—–
Strike Against Dannenglor	No Rep Awarded	—–
The Battle in the Tower	700	Malledhrim
The Icy Crevasse	700	Lossoth of Forochel
Thievery and Mischief	700	Men of Bree
Trouble in Tuckborough	700	Mathom Society

 

*Survival/Special Skirmishes*

Skirmish	Reputation Total	Faction
Survival: Barrow-Downs	No Rep Awarded	—–

 

For individuals who enjoy skirmishing, but are not too fond of farming reputation in the landscape, it should be reminded that you can actually barter for reputation items at any skirmish camp. If you visit the Curiosities vendor, and filter it under “Reputation,” you may barter for any of the 700-point rep items (only for factions that utilize consumable rep). As of Update 16, the cost for these range from 19-49 marks per item (roughly variable based on the level ranges in those zones). The Small Reputation Acceleration Tome (1000 bonus rep cache on any earned rep) costs 60 marks and 6 medallions.

 

Reputation Item Level Restrictions

In Update 15.1.2, released January 7, 2015, level restrictions were placed upon consumable reputation items. This will no doubt have a big impact on those who roll up a new character (especially a temporary one) for the sole purpose of getting it through the introduction, then acquiring a mass amount of various consumable reputation items (whether through their own cache or via spending marks at a skirmish camp).

Characters must now meet a certain player level before they are able to “consume” (via right click to attribute the reputation to your character) reputation items. Below are the required character levels they must meet.

 

Faction	Level Requirement
Men of Bree Barrow-treasure Cardolan-trinket	20
The Eglain Pilfered Arnorian Coin Stolen Arnorian Heirloom	20
The Mathom Society Gift Mathom Mathom Well-kept Mathom	20 (level 8 for Gift Mathoms)
Rangers of Esteldin Orc Battle-medallion Orc Campaign-medallion War-master’s Lash	30
The Wardens of Annuminas Tomb-raider’s Sash Black Badge Band of Numenor	30
Elves of Rivendell Signet of Rhudaur Goblin-town Tabard Elvish Relic	35
Thorin’s Hall Dourhand Crest First Age Relic	35
Council of the North Bone Amulet Wicked Dagger War Dispatch	40
Lossoth of Forochel Lossoth Spear-head Gauradan Claw Lossoth Luistin	40
Iron Garrison Miners Broken Engraving Cracked Etching Green Crystal Lamp Fragment Durin Figurine	45
Iron Garrison Guard Worn Dwarf Carving Cracked Dwarf Tablet Purple Crystal Lamp Fragment Durin’s Emblem Fractured Ruby	45
Dol Amroth (var. City Factions) Armoury Token Bank Token Docks Token Great Hall Token Library Token Mason Token Swan-knight Token Warehouse Token	90
Men of Ringlo Vale Ornamental Skull Weathered Gondorian Relic Pristine Wood-carving	90
Men of Dor-en-Ernil Coast-raider’s Sash Jewel-encrusted Scimitar Unblemished Swan Statue	90
Men of Lebennin Bone Carving Gold-studded Staff Worn Medallion of Castamir	90

 

 

Tasks

Another way to gain some supplemental reputation for most factions (depending on your level) is by completing tasks. These are quests that involve gathering and turning in specific task items, dropped from specific monster types. While this guide will not go into the specifics as to each of the tasks and the monsters that drop each kind, you are welcome to browse a more comprehensive listing here (there is also a nice task plugin listed in the plugin section below, Daily Tasks).

In a nutshell, you are first permitted to complete five (5) tasks per day. You will start and complete these at taskboards, which are littered all around the world (they will usually be located at an ally encampment). Note that not ALL regions offer reputation for completing their tasks (see the link above for specifics), but those that do will generally offer 300 reputation per task (along with regular experience and possibly LI experience). This is 1,500 reputation per day when you first start off.

The task system also has deeds associated with it that will boost your ability to do more tasks per day for every 100 completed tasks. You will gain  a +1 max tasks token for completing each deed (the later boxes also contain an exclusive task reward!). After finishing all 500 tasks for the deed, you’ll be able to double your daily tasks, doing 10 a day (3,000 reputation for completing 10 regular tasks).

For those at a higher level doing work in the Limlight Gorge (Great River), there are two tasks that will offer 900 reputation a piece. These two task items (Thick Branches and Knotted Heartwood) can both drop off the huorns in the area. Take note of your level, as leveling too quickly before turning in these may lock you out of the ability to do those tasks.

While tasks should not be the ONLY way to gain reputation with any given faction, they are a nice addition by Turbine that will reward you for otherwise simply selling this “vendor trash” dropped by monsters. Doubly implemented as deeds, they’ll get you some nice rewards for doing what you are already doing – slaying the evil and looting their goods.

 

Plugins

Simply, plugins are user-made add-ons that offer the ability to present game data in a different way. There are all sorts of plugins that allow the user to modify and customize the look of their user interface (UI) to create a look that suits their needs. Whether you are looking for a plugin to display buffs/debuffs, merge your inventory bags into one big bag, or even assist with displaying musical lyrics during your concerts, plugins are designed to be as user-friendly and often informative as possible.

If you are interested in setting up some plugins for yourself, the first thing I would get is the LOTRO Plugin Compendium (LOTRO Interface is the place to go for any plugin information/window shopping). This is a stand-alone program that allows the user to search through a very solid list of LOTRO plugins (new plugins are regularly added to the listings). Once you find the plugin(s) you’d like, you can just hit “Add” and let the program install the plugin for you. Beyond this, the well-kept database lets you easily update any plugins when necessary.

For the purposes of reputation, I will list a couple of plugins that may prove their use toward your reputation goals. The links are provided for you to read more about each of the plugins, but I would still recommend using the Compendium to install and let it set them up for you. It’s also generally a good idea to keep an eye on a plugin’s last updated period, especially for information-based plugins. As the game itself is updated, a lot of data is often added/modified, and plugins won’t generally be updated until their creator has the time to make the appropriate adjustments.

• Reputation Reference (author: Vinny) – This plugin is a nice tool for displaying general information about specific factions. The ability to select a specific faction or item type, and tell it to list all of the NPC rep rewards you can buy that fall under that umbrella is really handy for making informed decisions. I’d say make sure you learn the abbreviations for the factions if you decide to use this a lot.  Also note that all of the information for this plugin is listed in a chat window, and you will need the “/standard” filter checked in order to see all of the info provided. Also, if you go to load the plugin, and do not get a separate window, type in “/rrw” to get the window (unless you really wish to use the commands provided on the LOTRO Interface page for this plugin.

• Daily Tasks Reference (author: Vinny) – In many zones, tasks (further discussed in the section above) reward reputation. This plugin, which also displays a hefty amount of info in a chat window, will assist users by allowing them to list task board locations/task items through a nice filterable window (“/dtw” if you don’t see the window upon loading plugin). You can also drop a stack of task items in the bar at the bottom, and it will tell you with which taskboards that item is applicable.

If interested in both Reputation Reference and Daily Tasks , this author has also provided their own plugin, Vinny Loader, which sits at the bottom left of the screen. From this interface, you can load any of the author’s plugins you have installed. Set this plugin to auto load, and the other plugins become a 1-click load for when you situationally need them.

• TitanBar (author: Habna) – This is a really handy plugin for displaying all sorts of info right on your UI. While all of the info can be found elsewhere in-game, it often requires opening a menu or two to access the data. It is also very customizable in choosing what you want it to display, and very easy to move around on the bar. Before I used TitanBar, I was really hoping there would be a way to track reputation progress with a specific faction, just like tracking slayer deeds/quests. By right-clicking TitanBar, you can select “Reputation”. After left clicking the rep icon that appears on the bar, you can tick off the factions you wish to track, and voila, they will show up by mousing over that icon.

 

Reputation Meta-Deed Steeds

There are two reputation meta-deeds (that is, a deed that requires the completion of several other deeds) that will each award a horse for completing (and Turbine Points!). The perks of one of these steeds? Not only bragging rights, but they will provide you with the current best stats that all meta-deed steeds share – 250 morale, and a 68% movement speed (most other steeds are 62% speed and have various morale 200 and under – this is, of course, excluding war-steeds and the store-bought passive steed traits).

Steed of the Elf-Lord

The requirements to receive this steed involves getting Kindred with the three (3) Elvish factions: Elves of Rivendell, the Galadhrim, and the Malledhrim.

You will gain the steed, the title “Ambassador to the Elves,” and 20 Turbine Points.

 

 

Steed of Eriador

This steed will take a little more effort than the Steed of the Elf-Lords, but be resolute about attaining reputation and you’ll find yourself eventually achieving this noble steed. The requirements to receive this steed involves getting Kindred with 11 (eleven) factions: Men of Bree, Mathom Society, Wardens of Annuminas, Rangers of Esteldin, Council of the North, Elves of Rivendell, Thorin’s Hall, Lossoth of Forochel, the Eglain, the Algraig, and the Grey Company. Essentially, Kindred with all except Galadhrim/Malledhrim, the Eldgang, and the factions introduced in RoI and beyond.

You will gain the steed, the title “World Renown,” and 50 Turbine Points.

 

Conclusion

I hope you have been able to pick up some handy tips or info out of this series – I apologize for it being such a long read. I had an original write-up on a small forum, and have basically done my best to move it here (many any updates, and breaking it up into four “smaller” reads). It should certainly be used as a reference material, so don’t feel you have to memorize the whole thing (extra slice of pie if you did!). You can either click on the “reputation” category under the article title to see the rest of the series, or find it under “The Academy” < “New Player Guides” < “Reputation” in the menu bar.

Like I’ve said a couple times, feel totally free to leave any comments/suggestions/questions where applicable, and I’ll do my best to oblige as needed. I hope you find your way around Turbine’s world of Middle Earth with awesome success, and may you forge new alliances with the peoples of each land!