Group Settings:                Duo and higher Do you have a severe case of arachnophobia? If you do, then you don’t want to face the Brood Queen. What could be worse for an arachnophobe than facing a gigantic spider? How about facing a pregnant giant spider? The Brood Queen is most noted for breeding in combat. Every once in a while she will implant an egg into...

Joe asks: I want to level a character doing mostly skirmishes. Which one(s) give the most experience per time invested. I’ve seen folks do marks per minute calculations, but has anyone ever figured out which ones are best to level in? Should I just look for ones with lots of mobs? Some related questions would be: Is it worth it to do the encounters? Is there a...

The herbalist is a favorite soldier by raiders. Why? Because a raid generally has sufficient offensive power but could always use a little extra healing. In addition, they also prefer the safer soldiers. The herbalist is the safest of soldiers of the soldiers.They follow behind you and they do no damage. As such, they are the least likely soldiers to get you...

Skirmishes:         All except Trouble in Tuckborough and Storm on Methedras Group Settings:  All Today we will look at the most gregarious of lieutenants: the Blood Rook. The more friends a Blood Rook has nearby, the more powerful it is. By this, I mean its outgoing damage is increased and its incoming damage is reduced. With enough friends (such as in a solo...

By a wonderful coincidence, my Skirmisher of Middle-earth series on YouTube reached Amon Sûl just in time for Weatherstock V. This week’s episode therefore features Pineleaf’s quest to save Weatherstock from a band of wights. Now we just need to get security to clear out the mess afterwards. If you are interested in the Weatherstock V concert...

A few months before the release of Isengard, I ran a test with all the skirmish soldiers. During this test, I ran a series of four skirmishes with my warden using each soldier in turn: Trouble in Tuckborough at Tier 1, Ford of Bruinen at Tier 1, Thievery and Mischief at Tier 2, and Stand at Amon Sûl at Tier 2. The fastest time (and the only series where I never...

Today is Weatherstock V, the largest musical event in Middle-earth. If you are unable to attend the concert in person (no characters on Landroval or your computer cannot handle the dense population of the concert), then you can listen to the concert on my Twitch account. The Pre-concert show starts at 12:00 Noon Server Time with the concert itself starting at...

Introduction One of the peculiar features of LOTRO skirmishes are the lieutenants. During the course of a skirmish run, you will face a number of lieutenants. Unlike the mini-bosses in other instances, each lieutenant you face will be selected at random from a pool of available lieutenants. The key is that all skirmishes share the same pool of lieutenants...

If you start skirmishing at level 20, you will likely say “Wow, these things are way easy!” By the time you hit 41, the word “easy” is the last word you have in mind. What happened? Today, we will have a little look at the difficulty curve used in skirmishes. I suspect that your initial guess would be that it would follow the same curve as your character. That...

  It should be no surprise to those who have read my earlier posts that I have a preference for the archer. When I look for a soldier whose primary purpose is damage, I generally turn to the soldier that carries a bow. Why? Because of the way soldiers tend to behave. Soldiers act in a similar manner to monsters in that they will generally attack whoever is...

This week we have a sale of skirmishes and instances. Therefore, I will provide my opinion on each of the skirmishes that are available in the store. First off, different players are likely to have different preferences for skirmishes. If you are looking for a skirmish that is light and that you are likely to complete successfully, then you are more likely to...

I have heard this question on several occasions, so I have decided to take this opportunity to finally answer it Why are most of your characters female? This question makes one major assumption: that most of my characters are female. First let’s look at the actual count. I have nine serious characters on my main server. Characters on my other servers are...

Skirmish Soldiers One of the features that distinguishes skirmishes from other types of instances is your skirmish soldier. Each player character is allowed to summon a companion who fights along with them during the skirmish. There are two areas where you may normally summon a skirmish soldier. The first is within a skirmish, which is the location for which...

The guardian skirmish marathon was successfully completed. If anyone is interested in watching the replay, it will be available at my Twitch page for  a few more days. The chat channel was working this time, though I did not find it easy to follow the chat channel and play at the same time. Thanks to those who attended. Skirmish Statistics The total time of the...

Today at 10:00 AM Server Time, I will be running my second skirmish marathon. This time, the goal is to run all 19 skirmishes with my Guardian. You can watch the proceedings on Twitch at http://www.twitch.tv/pineleafneedles May your shield protect you and and speak never break, Pineleaf Needles

Belwynne asks: Is there any difference in marks and medallions awarded if you die during a skirmish and if you don’t? What other factors impact # of medallions/marks awarded? Skirmish Awards We will start with the broader question: what factors affect your mark/medallion awards in a skirmish? Marks are awarded each time you complete a goal within a...

After last week’s successful run, thePineleafNeedles Twitch channel will get into full swing this week. I have posted a schedule on the site. I will be broadcasting The Fellowship of the Creeps during each episode I am attending. This show airs on Saturdays at 5:00 PM Server Time (so the next episode will be today). The next PVE LOTRO event will be the...

  Lilikate asks Do book pages drop in skirmishes? By “book pages,” I presume she means the ones associated with the legendary class deeds you unlock at level 39. The short answer is “Yes.” Naturally, it’s not quite that simple. First, skirmish mobs follow the same rule concerning page drops as landscape mobs: the mobs must be...

Good day fellow adventurers. Yesterday I picked up my staff to undertake the challenge of running as many skirmishes as possible in six hours. I ran this series on Pinestaff, my Lore-master on Windfola. There are currently a total of 19 skirmishes available in the game. I predicted that I would get through 15 of them; I actually completed 13. The first 11 were...

On Saturday, June 22 @ 10:00 AM Server Time, I will begin a six-hour skirmish marathon on the PineleafNeedles Twitch channel. Here I will play as many skirmishes as I can in the six-hour span. While it is unlikely I will be able to get through all 19, I should at least place a good dent in the total. The skirmishes will be selected semi-randomly. By that I mean...