[CC] The gearing road to Erebor U22 V0.2

*Based on Beta build 2 of Update 22 North-Mirkwood

We have seen a lot of nice screenshots, but a question I’ve seen pop up more than a few times. Should i stop gearing or crafting essences till the update?  I’ll try to answer a few of them in broad strokes so there will be corner cases that will be at fault.

*legenda
Quest tokens – Silver signet of thrandrim  (mordor) or Tokens of the lakes and towns (Mirkwood)
Persona – Verified information by myself
Second hand – been told by another person
Speculative – Personal conclusion so might be wrong or it can be changed in the next beta

All quest token armour is slightly better in Mirkwood *personal
In general if you would barter a purple piece of armour for quest tokens it will be slightly better in stats then now in Mordor. The base level of stats go up about 50 vitality for example.

Your essences will still be good, but there are better available (20% upgrades) *personal
The news essences are 20% better compared to Empower abyssal ones. But you can still trade your old essences in for the malleable essences. This is the same as with every T10 essence in Mordor. Tier 9 essences you can still discard after being 115 for a while.

No new upgrades in your own level or Legendary items *personal
The maximum level is still 115 and there is no change in the maximum level of your legacies at this time. Except that it will now be less stannous due to item xp and third age identify/deconstruct improvements

What do i need to make new essences? * personal
The crafting of essences is nearly identical to the crafting of an abyssal essence.

1. Barter the recipe once you’re Kindred for 40 quest tokens
   1. Pray to Elui that they remain permanent and not single use only
2. Gather the normal materials
   1. 5 normal craft materials
   2. 1 18 hour cooldown item
   3. 1 universal solvent
   4. 3 malleable essences (from older essences)
3. Gather a Lasgalen purification token
   1. A new token that can bartered for 40 quest tokens or a teal Fragment of the abyss *see later
4. Press craft and enjoy

Isnt Fragment of the abyss super rare? *expectation
At the moment yes, but the droprate is going to increase in this update. By how much we dont know. But seeing that there are multiple needs for them now. I expect a good new number of them will be there now

New rewards from the level 115 Featured instance *source 2nd hand
Long lost coins will be lost again and will be replaced by new rewards. I’ve been told that you can now get a fragment of the abyss or 40 quest tokens as a reward. Equalling 1 Lasgalen purification token you will need for the essence upgrades.

*No idea what will happen to the 40 ash disenchanted item or 2 sliver of black steel keys

Are there extra ways to get quest tokens? *expectation
You seem to need a lot more Mirkwood tokens then Mordor silver signet. So i expect there be to be ways of achieving them that’s not questing or dailies. The rewards from the FI/box runs seem a bit high. But there will probably be a way to get the quest tokens or Lasgalen ones. surely right?

Will there be better gear then the Abyss raid?
There will now be better gear available to barter (item level 340) then from drops in the Tier 1 raid (item level 337). But the T2 raid drops and barter are superior (item level 345+ and set bonus). There is a new craftable 345 pocket item and helmet like before.

You can equip a better fishing rod *personal
There will be a new fishing rod with +10 fishing for 45 quest tokens available. Plus  a new type of fish to fish for. Havnt seen a new recipe a use for it so far.

Will the Ash barters still be usefull? * personal
Havn’t seen any changes to the ash gear. So they will remain on the same level. So equally relevant in the sub-500 ash range. The 1500+ ash gear will get offstaged by some Mirkwood slots

Light of Erendil pointers * personal

• Yes, every Mirkwood piece has more LoE then before.
• No, i havnt seen any Shadow areas in Mirkwood
• Yes you will still need LoE cause all instances will still be in Mordor area
• You can customise armour and jewelry now that you need less slots to get to 150 or 220 LoE.
• Havn’t seen any new non-LoE gear. So mathom armour, scalable loot drops or big battle jewelry is optional. But not better probably.

Mordor pointers *personal

• Silver tokens of thandrim are still good as a cheap alternative for Mirkwood tokens
• Allegiance reputation has been swooped to the side in the top end of gearing
• Mordor instances and raids still good, but it will depend on ash relevance and droprates
• Allegiance dailies are up in the air. Yes, black steel keys, but the other rewards not so atm.

mirkwood pointers *personal

• A lot less enemies than in Mordor
• Mobs feel to have less mitigations and easier to kill
• How many dailies will there be?
• Three new reputations to get

What can i do to prepare for the Update * speculative tips

• Grab some items now that the price is lower than it will be for weeks after launch
  • Universal solvents
  • Essence removal scrolls
  • Reputation accelerator tomes!
  • 18 hour cooldown items from Doomfold crafting
  • Anfalas scrolls and crystals (people will not run a lot of instances so less supply)
• Get rid of them now they have more value
  • Silver signet of thrandrim (less use, but don’t sell everything). I’m keep about 1/3 to half of my stash.
  • Abyssal essence boxes and malleable essences (the numbers you need are the same and limited by tokens so they wont increase in price)
• Keep or balance your stock
  • Both silver signet and malleable essences are still needed and useful so don’t completely get rid of them.
  • First age symbols, New update will bring in/back new people. So they might be hard to get for a normal price
  • Seals, Stars of merits and marks – See price increases.
  • Ash, Black adamant shards and crafting materials. No change now, but might change with the next beta