Skirmishes of Mirkwood

Mirkwood was an expansion upon an expansion. Relativley small with only 5 levels after the 10 in Moria, but across the instances in Dol guldur, skirmishes in Mirkwood and the freshness of scaling it felt as the finish of a storyline.

The instances we’ve discussed in … and skirmishes are woven into the epic book. So much that your main problem with them is going to be finding players that A – have them unlocked and B – not run them to death.

After you made your staging ground in the Mirk-eaves you venture east towards the fortress of Dol Guldur. On the way you will strike against Dannenglor and protect your forward base in the reconquered Gathzburz. After the dust has settled it time to assault the gate, lair and tower where your escaped orc now resides. Without giving away to many spoiler about Moria or Mirkwood this

article will be a bit shorter then normal.

Strike against Dannenglor
A classic skirmish surrounding a central plaza where we retake the ancient elven ruins of Dannenglor. Grims, morrovail and bats will have to make place for our encounters and counterattacks.

Some interesting encounters, minimal distance and a relatively easy end boss make it into a quick skirmish that grows difficulty with the number of players in your party.

Protectors of thangulhad
As the elven host made its way east and retook the stronghold of Thangulhad. Just as in the battle of the Ardennes, Saurons forces starts a massive counterattack with groups of mobs you have not seen before in skirmishes

Luckily the engineers have brought and setup their siege engines already in just the right spots. Ballistas take out over ¾ of the morale of any mob you hit them with. Catapults in the back will help you with the final boss. Nothing stops a raging troll like a bolt in the face.

Encounters blend right into the fray and have a few tricks up their sleeve, just shooting them is not enough. As long as Rodelleth survives and you find out that east and west mean something different in Quenya its a fun skirmish to run once in awhile.

Assault the gate, lair and tower
Dol goldur is a massive place and is such a landmark in middle earth that you have 3 skirmishes, 3 instances and a raid in one place. The epic book ramps up and they follow each other in such rapid succession you might even forget they are 3 separate skirmishes.

Attacking the outer defense in Assault on the ringwraiths lair is hindered by the the ringwraith themselves striking fear into your party as they swoop down on any that don’t hide in a corner. The inner defenses of this fortress are guarded by wards that you can only destroy as you try to Breach the necromancers gate.  Only to be met with Doraz the troll and spank him as you tank him and you’re done.

After you rescued some of your dwarven mates from the dungeons of Dol goldur you join them in the Battle of the tower. Mazog is at the top, the nasty orc that has meant the death of too many good dwarfs in Moria. Its time to enter the Matrix and not be The One. Dwarfs are better suited to deal a final blow at that height.

Skirmishes
The underlying scaling of skirmishes meant a lot to lotro at the time and continues to do so in 2018. From a one time battle against the brigands of Bree to a major part in the conclusion of an expansion the skirmishes grew in the same way as any other part of lotro. Big battles gotten alot better over time, instances as story telling with osgiligath and minas tirith or the latest Court of seregrost or naerband supplied more then just another instance. Well Naerband tried it’s best.

Fallen past its wayside or past by in other dimensions. What would you like to see as a future skirmish or what moment in lotro would fit well? I feel that the resource instances in Mordor might be the closest we’ve gotten to a skirmish in a while. Orodruin of Bhol rudh would be great places to assault with a bigger group then 2.

Addendum: With update 23 nearly here. Don’t forget the scaled loot from skirmishes. It won’t be the best, but it is on par with the questing and T1 instances. And it won’t require essences. A great budget option for ones not in Dale yet.