The forces of Saruman are making an all-out effort to prevent the release of Helm’s Deep by sabotaging the power system at the Turbine data centers on the lats night prior to the release of the new expansion. The good news is that power has been restored as the folk at Turbine are verifying the systems to ensure that it will be safe to bring the worlds...

Andang searched all about for the best burglar to present the new trait system for their class. unfortunately, they were all too well hidden, so he had to settle for me. Therefore, I present Pinesap, who will guide you through the new trait system for the burglar. This is of course on the beta server and thus everything is subject to change prior to the release...

What changes are in store for skirmishes in the Helm’s Deep expansion? Very few. Despite this, I somehow managed to create two videos discussing the updates. In the first video, I look at the changes in the skirmish camp as well as the rewards that are available for levels 90 and 95. In the second, I run my warden through Thievery and Mischief. This is...

The minstrel is noted for ballads, songs, anthems, and codas. In this preview, we will take a look at how the minstrel will change in the upcoming Helm’s Deep expansion. The changes don’t seem to be anywhere as large as when they introduced codas, so I don’t think you’ll need to worry about relearning your class. Since I cannot cover...

The warden is the master of gambits an this will not change in the upcoming Helm’s Deep expansion. In this video, I take a look at the new trait system with a focus on the new traits and skills for the warden. Since I cannot cover everything, you can get more information at the Warden Class Changes Guide in the LOTRO forums. May your shield protect your...

  Yes, get those costumes and festival dresses for the Harvestmath Festival. On October 22, the Haunted Burrow (and other autumn festivities) will reopen. The festival is scheduled to run until November 4. Perhaps those ghosts will have a few Bounder’s Tokens for us.  

The problem with being late in the alphabet is that you often find yourself last in line. Today, Turbine finally concluded their class Developer Diary series with the Warden, the master of the gambit. The first thing to note is that the warden will continue to be the master of the gambit. The bulk of these gambits will be awarded by level rather than through...

  Turbine continues to publish their developer diaries on the class changes that are slated for the Helm’s Deep expansion. Today’s diary focused on the rune-keeper, a class most noted for their attunement mechanic. In reading the responses to the thread in the forums, we already have several players complaining about the skills that are being placed in the...

  Turbine continues to publish their developer diaries on the class changes that are slated for the Helm’s Deep expansion. Today’s diary focused on the minstrel, a class most noted for its healing abilities. The Fundamentals Based on my reading of the fundamentals section, the basic operation of the class will remain the same: you will play...

As usual, Turbine includes several incentive items with their expansion packages to entice us to pre-order them (or at least to make the purchase with cash rather than Turbine Points). I generally purchase the top-tier of each expansion when it is made available for pre-order. I think of this as my annual contribution to the Turbine development fund (as I...

As some of you may have heard, LOTRO Players is organizing this year’s Fellowship Walk which is raising money for the international children’s charity, Child’s Play.  As part of this year’s Walk, we have put our heads together and come up with some fun competitions for you to enter and win prizes for. 🙂 For the poetry, you just need to...

  As we move closer and closer to the release of Helm’s Deep, some of you may be wanting to catch up on your expansions. If you currently don’t own any of the expansions, you may consider the LOTRO Quad-Pack for 39.99 on the LOTRO Market. This includes all four currently-released expansions:     Mines of Moria ($19.99 if purchased separately)...

Now let’s look at the captain in a skirmish. For me, the captain runs much more smoothly through a skirmish than a burglar. Herald or Banner? The first question is whether to use a herald or a banner? I will start off by saying that I generally run with a herald. I suspect that players that generally run in groups and those that dislike pet classes would much...

The LOTRO Game servers will be down from 7:00 AM to Noon Server Time on Monday (August 23)  to install Update 11.3. At this time, we know of two features that are scheduled to be included in this update. On the more mundane side,Sapience has noted, “We have a fix coming for some of this, specifically mounted combat lag, in Update 11.3. Along with some...

  If you have been following this series, then you could likely guess my opinion of the warrior. I don’t get along with melee soldiers and I don’t mix well with soldiers that perform area attacks. Therefore, combining the two attributes in one soldier is unlikely to win me over. Attributes Pros: If you can pack the mobs together, the warrior will tear them...

  Role:                        Damage Group Settings:     Fellowship and Raid In an earlier post, we looked at the Bearer of Blight, who had some nasty effects relating to the various debuff types. That was just a warm-up for the Chaos Fiend. And when you consider that this lieutenant only appears in fellowship and raid skirmishes, “chaos” is definitely...

Most skirmish soldiers inflict common damage. The one exception is the sage. The sage’s basic attacks inflict light damage while most of their skills inflict fire or frost damage. Attributes Pros: Inflicts non-common damage. Has the highest power rating of any skirmish soldier. Can be traited for area damage. Cons: Sages have the lowest morale of any soldier...

Role:                               Damage Group Settings:            Duo and higher You are in a raid that is fending off a counterattack in Assault on the Ringwraiths’ Lair and everything appears to be going fine. Then you see sixteen giants running straight for your group. The Brothers of Destruction are giants (well, the game says “ogre” but they look like...

Ludkeg asks: I haven’t played much on my Burglar, but it seems trying to use stealth for a sneak attack in a skirmish doesn’t work because my soldier is always drawing aggro and starting the fight.  Am I missing something, or does the very nature of the skirmish setup negate the power of the Burglar? By luck, this question came just as I was...

I was once tanking the final boss in Trouble in Tuckborough and a protector latched on the boss and grabbed his attention. Now what was I going to do? I didn’t dare get into a threat fight with the protector, since the last thing you want to do in Tuck is to burn the boss down too fast during a raid. The raid leader decided that I should switch to the...