One of the oldest unchanged systems in the game is XP. No level gain without it. How does xp work in lotro? How bad is it to be doing blue quests? Do other players steal my xp? Like all things lotro it’s not as straightforward as you might think (and i thought beforehand).

This is ;TLDR (too long did not read) version of a larger project that aims to uncover how all sorts of XP rewards, bonuses and penalties work in Lotro. For this article we’ll focus on character xp. 

For the full mathy and information article view https://lotroplayers.com/2021/08/11/xp-research-understanding-xp-gain/

Example of the researches use

Why would you want to know all these and what can you do with all of this? Besides little things like knowing more players doesn’t mean more xp, the myth about Orange quests being the best not being true or that leveling doesn’t take longer at 120 then 60 you can dive deeper actually get some answers like the ones below

Example 1 – What is the best level to run warg pens at?

Noone really runs warg pens with green mobs, but what is the best level? Is it on level because you kill mobs faster or orange? But Red gives more xp right?

The short answer is “If a level higher takes 11% more time to complete it’s not worth it”. Can’t you kill the mob before they fear you and you die? You’ll probably take longer to retreat and run back. Set it 1 level lower. You might get less XP, but more XP per hour. 

Taking down all the mobs is not worth it as well since only ⅙ xp comes from mobs while ⅚ comes from the quests. 

Example 2 – How much xp will Gundanbad need?

While not being part of this phase of research. Knowing how xp is rewarded, what penalties or bonuses there are helped us shorten the next phase by weeks to give you a sneak peek in here.

If Gundabad will be level 140 we’d need an extra 120 Million xp to get there. And this (without mob xp or any boost) would take you about 240 quests or 380 missions. Same as any level range since Moria.

Xp sources

There are 3 usual sources for character xp. The most well known are from quests or killing mobs these two will be the focus. Crafting gives you two sorts of xp. One to level your crafting and a tiny bit of character xp. However this is always a steady number that has no penalties and only gets bonuses from items and server buffs.

Quest XP

Your main way to level (and pleasant) is completing quests. These can be sorted in 3 different types. Each award a different amount of xp.

• Landscape quests (including missions)
• Instance quests (quests awarded in instances and skirmishes)
• Repeatables (landscape and or tasks)

At Least past level 56 all landscape quests will award the same xp as any other. This means that a quest in Dunland will award the same amount as a mission if it’s the same level. 

This also applies to any quest given inside an instance or skirmish. That kill 20 wargs gives you the same amount as a completion of a skirmish. All repeatables offer a lot less xp then either of these forms.

Does it matter where you complete the quest or what you hand-in?

No testing has shown that if the quest is the same level a task in Othrikar will award the same xp as it would if you handed it in in Ost goruth. Same applies as to what task item is. Coarse fur or skin? Both the same

Does my level matter when handing in quests?

No it doesn’t. A quest will always award the same amount of xp independant of what level you are when handing it in. A level 120 or level 124 will both get 194.000 xp from a level 124 quest for example

Orange quests give me more xp then a blue quest?

Indirectly yes. You get more xp because the quest is a higher level not because you’re a lower level as seen above. However once the quest level gets lower then your level there is an xp penalty applied.

Lower level quests give me less xp?

Yes, however this isn’t as major as you might think. A blue quest has no penalty, a turquoise quest gives you 10% less. Only when their quest turn green for you lose 40%. And ofcourse grey is 0 xp.

Do larger group size quests award more XP?

No, an instance quest award the same xp. A raid skirmish gives you the same amount as all other sizes

Summary

As long as a quest is blue or higher (2 levels below you up to 7 levels higher than you) the amount of xp is determined by the level of the quest and not you. For a turquoise quest (-3 to -4) you get 10% less xp and Green gives you 40% less. 

Where or what you hand-in doesn’t matter. Or what size the quest meant to be completed in doesnt either. The type of landscape quest might (epic,kill, task, boss fight etc). There are signs it does, but this hasn’t been looked into enough yet. However all skirmishes and instance quest award the same xp no matter which you complete. Landscape and mission quests award you about ⅓ less than these.

Mob xp

White it might look like you get most xp from quests. The mobs you kill do add up to a nice chunk of your leveling. These xp follow the same set of rules as quest xp, but will have some small differences.

Does every mob give me the same xp?

No, while they are usually in the same ball-park. The amount xp given by each mob varies enough there is something different at work. On the other side there is enough consiteny with it. 

Every mob in Iorbars peak awards one of two amounts. But these vary by about 10%. A normal gobln scout in Minas Morgul gives you less xp then the same mob inside the solo instance of Harrowing of Minas Morgul.

A normal mob in a 3-man instance that’s level 125 awards either 7100 or 8900 xp. But there is no pattern to be found such as instance cluster, release date, area etc.

Does my level affect how much xp i gain? or the colour of the mob?

Same as with quests if the mobs are higher level then you. Your level doesn’t matter. Once mobs turn blue however it will (as opposed to turqoise)

Does skirmish or instance size affect mob xp?

No, every signature mob in a skirmish will award the same xp. A normal will award less, but every normal among themselves will award the same.

Summary

Same as with quest xp, mobs on or above your level dont award bonus xp. They do give more XP at the virtue of being a higher level. While mobs lower level then you award less, but also suffer a large xp penalty across the different quality/colours.

There is a difference in what mob you kill where. Limited research shows this is less then 25% however. No definitive conclusion has been found about what causes these differences yet.

Group and mob size bonus/penalty

Having a friend in your group used to affect your xp gain, but this was changed in Update 8. However, having more people in a party in instances will greatly impact your mob xp. Quest xp is not affected by this penalty.

Does group size affect quest rewards?

No every size skirmish awards the same xp. On landscape it hasn’t been tested enough.

Does having more people in your group affect mob xp?

No on landscape since update 8, yes alot in instances. Having 2 people present in a 3-man will cost you 40% xp as compared to 1 person inside the instance. A 3rd person will lose you 60%. 

Does instance size affect mob xp?

At the moment this only applies to level 120 instances and onward. A solo harrowing mob will award 50% less than a duo or 3-man version. This hasn’t been tested fully since its effects are rather marginal on the larger picture.

Quest length or difficulty

No, how fair or balanced it would feel like. The amount of time a mission or quest takes to complete doesn’t affect your xp reward.

Summary

Having more people in your instance will negatively impact the amount of monster xp. While quest xp is unaffected. In the case if there is a solo version available you will receive less mob xp as well. 

Changing the size, completion time or difficulty of the quest has no impact on your quest xp (confirmed in instance, skirmish and missions).