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).

For a condensed version with more facts and less math visit https://lotroplayers.com/2021/08/11/xp-how-does-it-work-p1-tldr/

Future articles will refer to tables and graphs used in here.

Index

Part 1 – Experience types, sources and bonuses
part 2 – Quest xp
part 3 – Monster xp
Part 4 – Group and mob size
Part 5 – bit and bobs

Part 1 – Experience theory

Ways to look at xp gain

Knowing how xp gains work can help you choose how you play. Do you want to level as quickly as possible or with the least amount of difficulty? For this part we’ll look at the different kinds of xp and how they roughly work. In the other parts we’ll dive into some numbers and find out how they exactly work. 

Experience types

You do a thing and you get better at it. People like this in writing though so we add numbers to them. Because Bob can say whatever he wants. My level 5 is higher than his level 2. What we’ll mostly focus on is Xp that improves your character’s level. Below you’ll find all sort of Xp in lotro and how to they interact

Crafting

To start off confusing there are 2 forms of “craft xp”. Once you complete a craft your crafting will increase, but you will be awarded character xp as well. This is unaffected by your own level, but by the crafting recipe itself.

Quest xp

On completing a quest you will be awarded character xp. Affected two-ways by your and the characters level. Intended groupsize, but not how many people are present.

Monster

On killing a monster you will be awarded character xp. Affected two-ways by your and the characters level. Intended groupsize, but also how many people are present.

Virtue

Added in Update Update 26 virtue xp will be awarded by deeds and various quest rewards. This will be a fixed value. This has no interaction between level or groupsize. However this also has nothing to do with character xp.

Warsteed

Your war steed functions as a character. You can complete quests, kill monsters etc. This is most likely affected by the difference in your leve, the quests level and intended groupsize.

Item

Item experience is needed to advance your legendary weapons. These are usually awarded by the same rewards as character xp for anything level 50 and above. Same as warsteed xp this is most likely affected by your level and the quests level and intended groupsize.

Renown

What’s more evil than a monster? A monster run by a player. Kill these in pvmp and you will be awarded renown. This is a seperate form of xp only active in the Ettenmoors. Unrelated to level or intended groupsize, but by the rating each player has and other factors.

Experience sources

Our first research will focus on character Xp. As said above I suspect item and warsteed xp to follow the same rules. But that’s for another time. You can gain charater xp from two main sources.

Quests completion

Upon handing in a quest or finishing an skirmish/instance (which is tracked in fact by a quest) you will be handed your awards. Nearly all of these have character xp and if higher then level 50 or 75 will awards item and warsteed xp. All these are affected by the difference in your own level related to the fixed quest level (as shown in your questlog) and intended groupsize.

Monster

Upon defeating a monster you will be awarded the xp. Yet this works slightly differently then quest xp. If you’re lower level then the mobs there are different penalties then with quest xp. 

Items

Some xp can be bottled up in items. These only award non-character xp. These come in the form of an item xp rune or a virtue xp potion. These can be boosted by server-wide or personal buffs.

Experience penalty and bonuses

Lotro has all sorts of bonusses and penalties to your xp gains. Knowing what they are and when they are active can make a big difference in your level speed.

Daily VIP/rested 

Every day you log in(while being VIP)  you will see part of your xp bar be blue. This will boost your xp by 100%. This is 30% of your level, but will vanish if not consumed.

Serverwide

Welcome back, VIP weekend and other events will offer serverwide xp buffs to anyone playing in that time. These can vary from 25% to 100% character xp. There are also versions for virtue xp and crafting xp.

On the other side there are penalties active on legendary servers such as Anor or Treebear which will lower any xp gain by 40% or 60%. This is meant to allow people to do all content on level without having to think about it themselves.

Consumable or item

Tome of experience, VIP perks, Enhanced xp supply or very limited cooking recipes will award temporary boosts to your xp gain. These are usually gained from the store, lootboxes or hobbit-presents.
Permanent items that boost (some) forms of xp gain are only aquired through purchase of collectors editions. Two earrings from Minas Morgul and Mordor boost all xp gain by 25% up to their intended level. A 25% xp boost item was part of earlier expansions and is now available on the store. This one does not boost quest xp.
A special pocket item called Stone of the Tortoise will halt any xp gain. This allows you to freeze your level at choice.

Higher or lower level quest level

Completing quests that are higher then your will in general award you more xp. Lower level quests will award less xp compared to doing them on level. This is not affected by your own level.

Higher or lower level player present

Having a higher or lower level player present won’t affect how much xp is gained. However having any player present in an instance will affect monster xp gained.

Intended group size of quest or type of monster

What type of quest you’re completing will affect xp gain. A group quest, repeatable quest, Boss kill quest and other variations award different amount of xp. Same with monster xp.

Part 2 – Quest Xp

Here we come to the questions and answers portion. These parts will consist of the following parts.

1. What is being tested for and why
2. How was it tested
3. What do i see in the testing done
4. Conclusion

What effects how much quest xp i get?

The expected effects for how much xp you get for a quest are the level you are relative to your level. Is the quest blue,white, yellow, orange or red? Do you actually get more xp for harder quests due to it being a raid or group quest? Do I get more or less xp if I quest in groups (with a much higher level person)?

The testing

Across a range of levels quests were completed and handed in. The amount of xp was marked down. These quests were done on landscape with 2 players being 1 level apart to see for variations in xp gain. After this the same quests were repeated with the player being vastly higher or lower level then the stated quest level.  This to test for any relative and absolute difference to xp gain regarding your and the quest level difference.

This was repeated for quests inside instances and skirmishes. With varying the level of the instance with a fixed level player. 

The question about group size will be discussed in part 4 cause this turns out does effect you in unexpected ways.

Results

For this part Task items were delivered at levels of 20 to 32 with the Task quest being a fixed level (seen on the rigt). Two different task items were used (Coarse fur and skin) and delivered to task boards in different regions (eventually the Housing area task boards were used). This to check the following questions

• Do different task items affect how xp is gained?
• Do different regions affect how much xp is gained?
• Does being over leveled affect how much xp is gained?
• Does being under leveled affect how much xp is gained?

For this test we checked if you’d if the amount of xp a quest gives changes if the player would be fixed. For this a level 120 was accompanied on different levels of Storm of Methedras. This to check the following questions

• Do you get more xp because a quest is orange compared to you or because the quest is 4 levels higher?

This was one of the earlier tests we ran and was mostly used to get an idea how it would work.  We had to combine some other testing to conclude it. Such as does a fixed quest give you X amount of xp regardless of the player level. Handing in the same quest with a level 120 vs a 124 in Torech Ungol, Lonelands and Barrow Downs. 

Conclusions

Do different task items give different XP?

No, at all points the amount of xp was the same between Coarse fur and Skins. If relative player and task level were the same. Forsaken Inn Coarse skin and Amon Raith Coarse fur are both available at level 23. These all gave 700, 628 or 420 xp depending on the player level.

Do different regions affect how much xp is gained?

No, at all points the amount of xp was the same between Coarse fur and Skins. If relative player and task level were the same. Course Fur is available at level 26 for both Ost Goruth and Otrhikar. These all gave 1004, 902 or 602 xp depending on the player level

Does being over leveled affect how much xp is gained?

No as long as the quest is blue, white, yellow, orange or red the amount of xp stays the same. Depending on the level of the quest the amount differs though. See height of xp of each quest from left to right.

Does being under leveled affect how much xp is gained?

Yes, if a quest turns Turqoise or Green the quest awarded drops alot. However this remains the same for all different levels the quest is either Turqoise or Green. Both -3 and -4 levels for turqoise reward the same xp.

The quest level themself won’t affect how much XP you lose. You lose 10% xp on a turqoise quest and 40% on a Green quest

	Task 20	Task 21	Task 22	Task 23	Task 24	Task 25	Task 26	Task 27
% less Turqoise	10.07	10.10	10.14	10.29	10.19	10.22	10.16	10.13
% less Green	40.30	37.13	40.00	40.00	40.05	40.00	40.04	40.15

Do you get more xp because a quest is orange compared to you or because the quest is 4 levels higher?

With some extra testing on landscape as long as the quest is blue or higher you won’t lose any xp. A level 124 quest was the same 193777 xp for a level 125 or 121. A level 23 bounty in the Lonelands was 1150 xp for both a level 18 and 22. 

Most likely you will see the same xp penalty of 10% and 40% on landscape. However skirmish/instance quests only lose XP because of the base level. You don’t have an extra xp penalty due to lower quality quests. Confirmed the xp loss with 3 skirmishes run at blue, turqoise and green giving 15 and 23 % less xp.

;TLDR

Your level won’t determine how xp you get for a landscape, skirmish or task. Neither will the colour/quality of the quest as long as the quest level is at -2 or higher then your character level. The amount of xp is determined solely by the quest level (set either by landscape or on instance creation

However if the quest is turqoise or green you will get a 10% or 40% xp penalty on landscape or task quests. This won’t affect instance or skirmish quests. Just the base xp reward changes.

The area, skirmish type, hand-in spot, task item etc won’t affect xp reward. However on landscape there are different types of quests such as epic, repeatable, vector, kill quest, boss quest that change the base xp rewards. This however hasn’t been tested enough for a full conclusion.

Part 3 – Mob Xp

Same as with quests the type of mob and the level of you and the mob are expected to affect how much xp you gain. This follows the same sort of testing done in the Quest XP, but to a lesser extent due to unforseen differences. Which is for another testing series.

What effects how much mob xp i get?

• Do lower level mobs give you less xp?
• Do higher level mobs give you more xp?
• Do all mobs give the same xp?
• Do you need to kill more mobs per level later?

The testing

For testing we ran the same instance at different levels with the same character level. This was done in Harrowing of Morgul and Iorbars Peak. This was repeated on lower level Iorbars peaks to see what difference in level ranges did. These xp values were indexed to allow us to see the relative changes.

Results

All results are from the first mob inside an instance killed by 1 player. Group size and mob type affected the results which will be discussed in part 4. 

landscape Goblin scout	122	125	5958	Solo
Instance Goblin scout	122	125	6553	Solo
Landscape Gothmog warrior	122	125	5958	Solo
Instance Gothmog warrior	122	125	6553	Solo

Harrowing of Morgul has the same mob names inside as on the landscape. No other instances came up while testing.  However all mobs inside an instance give the same xp (to a degree).

Conclusions

Do lower level mobs give you less xp?

Yes, these follow the same quality/colour as quests. Each different colour will drop the xp substantially if lower level. As opposed to quest this starts already at mobs 1 level lower.

A different level mob also gives you a little bit less or more  110 xp, 112 xp, 112 xp for blue mobs that jump up to 262 for a white mob.

Do higher level mobs give you more xp?

Yes, but as with quest xp there is no xp bonus. Just more base xp cause the mob is a higher level.

Do all mobs give the same xp?

No, there is a regularity to the xp awarded. But there are many factors in how much xp a mob gives. Such as mob type, group size, landscape vs instance. Even among these it varies. 

All mobs below are Normal mobs, killed by 1 player in a 3-man instance. However even across mobs in the same instance cluster the xp varies. However you only get 2 different values. 

Black Serpent	122	125	8937
School	122	125	7149
Sunken laby	122	125	7149
Warg pens	122	125	7149
Quays	122	125	7149
Chambers	122	125	8937
Woe	122	125	8937
Ruined city	122	125	8937

No final conclusion as to what causes this has been found yet

Do you need to kill more mobs per level later?

Yes, but the increase levels out at a certain point. For quest rewards this is around level 57. however for mobs this hasn’t been tested yet. Illustrated below is how many mobs you would need to kill at a certain mob colour at different levels. At level 22 you need to kill a whole lot of mobs less to level. Whereas level 58+ the results are close enough. But don’t farm any turqoise mobs.

;TLDR

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 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. See part 4 for more detailed results.

Part 4  – Group and mob size

Does group size affect xp gained by quests?

No, the xp gain for landscape quests is unaffected. And the skirmish size also won’t affect your xp gained

Size	XP
Duo	7940
3-man	7940
6-man	7940
raid	7940

Does group size affect xp gained by mobs?

The amount of people present in a group will give you an XP penalty on mobs killed in an instance. However this won’t affect landscape mobs. This was changed in Update 8 on landscape (however not in instances). Compared to 1 person you will lose 40% xp with 2 present and 60% if 3 are present.

Iorbars peak	122	125	7149	1 person present
Iorbars peak	122	125	4289	2 person present
Iorbars peak	122	125	3432	3 person present

The people do actually have to be inside the instance. If they aren’t there when the mob is killed the xp penalty won’t apply

Goblin scout	122	125	5898	Duo 2 people present
Gothmog warrior	122	125	5898	Duo 2 people present
Goblin scout	122	125	9830	Duo 2 people in party 1 in instance
Gothmog warrior	122	125	5958	2 people present

Does instance size affect xp gained by mobs?

Yes, if a solo version is available you will gain less xp.

Instance Goblin scout solo	122	125	6553	Solo
Instance Gothmog warrior	122	125	6553	Solo
Instance Goblin scout solo	122	125	9830	Duo
Instance Gothmog warrior	122	125	9830	Duo
Instance Goblin scout solo	122	125	9830	3-man
Instance Gothmog warrior	122	125	9830	3-man

Does the skirmish size affect how much mob xp you get?

Only indirectly. The same mob type (normal, signature, elite, master, nemesis) will award the same xp in any size skirmish (duo, small fellowship, large fellowship raid). However the larger group size will have more higher quality mobs spawn. As such reward more xp per raid run vs a duo (if you can kill them ofc).

Thievery	Duo	3-man		6-man		12-man
Normal	3753	3575	3753		3575
Signature	4289	4289	4504	4504	4289
Elite	5255	5005	5255	5255	5005	5005
Master				5362	5362

However there is a slight variation in xp per mob which i can’t explain at the current time.

Part 5 – bit and bobs

Short tests without a direct impact 

Quest length and different type of instance quest

Do longer or defensive skirmishes give more quest xp?

No, all skirmishes give the same xp

Do other raids and skirmishes give different quests xp?

No warg pens and skirmishes gave the same xp per quest. However in warg pens there can be more quests completed per run.

Do missions give different quests xp then instance quests?

Yes, these give significantly less XP. About 45% off instance quests.

	Xp per quest	Total Xp earned	% mob xp
Quest – Methedras	519357	915901	43,3
Quest – Tuckborough	519357	1149020	54,8
Quest – Pony	519357	925599	43,9
Warg pens 20 warg	519357	1210336	14,2
Warg pens 8 goblins	519357	X
Misson thestle	242221	Svaelfang short mission
Mission Erebor	242221	Caveclaws Longer length
Mission bilbo	242221	Chapter 7 medium length
Landscape Torech Ungol	242221,25	Older quest + 25% for xp weekend

What is the best “power-leveling” instance

So with completion time and group size not affecting the amount of quest xp the shortest completion time is the best to run. However with mob xp being about 40-60 % of the total Xp there might be merit to picking a longer one if you do skirmishes or instances if they don’t take much longer. 

Wargpens has always been the strongest one due to having 2 quests available to complete. Mobs only factor in for 15% of the total xp. Every level warg pens get run higher or lower than the boosted char you gain 5% xp * two quests (+ a bit for mob xp). So the best level to run it on would be the highest one where completion time increase is smaller than 11% compared to 1 level lower

One thing to consider however if you’re greedy. With 1 booster and 1 leecher, adding a 3rd would have you lose 20% mob xp (roughly 7% completion time offset). 

 

Has Xp gain changed in the 14 years?

Suprisingly no. While very anecdotal we’ve found 2 screenshots from around 2008 and 2009 with xp gain shown from a mob. Replicating the mob, level, place and visible rested xp in these shots. We’ve gotten the exact same xp.

The only change we found was that in Update 8 they introduced open tapping and the xp sharing/penalty for mobs killed in a group. See https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Update_8,Riders_of_Rohan-_October_15,_2012