Guide to the Revamped Misty Mountains (Part I)

When LOTRO launched in 2007, endgame was represented by two regions covering levels 40-50 which contained high level landscape mobs and challenging group quests – Angmar and the Misty Mountains. While Angmar has remained largely untouched in recent years, as of Update 13 the Misty Mountains have undergone a much needed revamp.

Prior to the update, the Misty Mountains were much like Forochel – a snowy wasteland rarely visited by adventurers. Quests were poorly spread out and there was a distinct lack of travel routes, which saw adventurers wasting hours simply bouncing back and forth across the map turning in quests. Given the important role the region plays in the lore of Tolkien, it was important for Turbine to keep this outdated area feeling fresh and relevant. While it was only the smallest of the three Update 13 revamps (1), the changes that have been put in place again make the region a pleasure to visit and explore.

Gloin’s Camp
The first thing one notices when entering Gloin’s Camp, the first quest hub of the region, is the lack of quests. While the Misty Mountains has always been one of the sparest regions in the game quest-wise, only having 70 quests compared to 150+ in newer post-Moria regions (2), my first visit to Gloin’s Camp after the revamp was disappointing. Upon first arriving at the hub I only had a couple of quests available. As it turns out, Turbine has converted a lot of quests to auto-bestow, meaning that you must explore the surrounding area to be granted them. This is a good move by the developers as it encourages players to go off the beaten track and visit areas of the map they would have otherwise ignored. Quests here cover the areas of Western Bruinen Source and Northern Bruinen Source and have been bumped from level 39 to 40, though there was no noticeable difference in difficulty. If you are working on Book 5 of the Epic Quest it’s best to get most of it done here, almost all of the quests are set in these areas and most are granted and turned in at Gloin’s Camp.

High Crag
Beside auto-bestow quests, the other reason for the lack of quests at Gloin’s Camp is that many have been moved to a brand new, albeit unnamed, quest hub in the High Crag. The small camp has been created next to the resurrection circle, and contains a Task board, an elven vendor and a dwarven stable-master, the later of which is capable of swift travelling for VIPs back to Gloin’s Camp. Travel in the Misty Mountains has always been a nightmare with the lack to stable routes, so  this new hub and travel routes are a great quality of life improvement. The dwarf and elf give out quests for levels 41-42, covering Eastern Bruinen Source and the High Crag. No longer are you bouncing back and forth half way across the map for quests which were previously started at Gloin’s Camp but involved questing in this area, allowing you to complete them a lot easier. Completing the quests on offer here vectors you to the next hub, with the option to undertaken level 45 fellowship quests around the Giant Halls.

Vindurhal
The third quest hub in this regions looks have had little updated, and it slows. The old quest chain model in LOTRO looks something like:

1. Get quest, go to a camp, kill 10 Goblins/Wargs/Rats
2. Turn in quest, go back to same camp and pick up 5 stolen goods/swords/lost things
3. Turn in quest, go back to same camp and kill the leader/chieftain/bad guy

By and large this quest chain model has been abandoned in newer/revamped regions. Instead, you are given all the quests at once and only have to go into a camp once to finish them. Sadly, Turbine kept the existing model for the two quest chains here, one involving a nearby Goblin camp and one involving the a Warg den in the north east. What this means is that you still have to do the quests one at a time, going in and out of the same area each time, making the quests monotonous and repetitive. The Goblin camp hasn’t been thinned out, and its still easy to get overwhelmed on level if you aren’t careful with you pulls. The quest chains also have capstone quests which see you trekking all the way back to Rivendell. It would have been good to see this quest hub get a little more love.

Next week I’ll continue my guide to the revamped Misty Mountains, looking at the three remaining quest hubs in the region.

(1) https://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/dev-diary-%E2%80%93-update-13-revamps-north-downs-trollshaws-and-misty-mountains
(2) https://www.lotro.com/en/lotro-store-quest-packs