This stable route diagram shows the 3rd of the three starter areas.  Bree-land and The Shire have also been documented to this point. Click on the picture below for a larger image.   — Braxwolf can be found on Twitter at @Braxwolf or on Windfola, disappearing in one place and re-appearing in another

  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...

Now you can deliver your mail and pies more efficiently! Click on the picture for a larger image. — Braxwolf can be found on Twitter at @Braxwolf or on Windfola, running around the party tree

While some call it Hot-bolt, others call it LayanorVille but Pineleaf and Spridra call it Hytbold.  They both do a great job running through the complexity of Hytbold and simplifying it so that a simple mind like myself can understand.  A huge thanks to both of them for sharing their knowledge in these...

This is the first of a series I’m doing on travel in LOTRO. I plan to diagram all of the stable routes for the different zones, starting with Bree-land. Click on the image below for a larger diagram: — Braxwolf can be found on Twitter at @Braxwolf or on Windfola, staring at various stable masters

  Well, we have reached the end of the journey for this particular series. In this article, I will glance over a couple of systems that utilize reputation as a piece of their respective feature, as well as glossarize (made that word a thing) over some miscellaneous info. Hornblower’s pie will be served at the end – hopefully she got the recipe...

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...

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...

  Here we have my breakdown of The Fires of Smaug, the third and last raid in my series on the Erebor instances. This one is probably the most mechanically difficult, especially if you are going for the challenge quest. Again, in the interest of full disclosure, I have completed this on tier 1 & 2 many times on my lore-master and warden, but have not...

I know what you’re all thinking.  The title should be Death by Misadventure but, well, after skirmishing with Spridra, Pineleaf and Andang, I thought he deserved a post of his own. As I get ready for this year’s Fellowship Walk, I find myself often on the Landroval server, levelling characters, farming dye mats, cooking pie crusts etc and I was...

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...

  Now that we have taken a look at the Eriador factions, let us cross over to the next stage of the journey – the Rhovanion reputation factions. These currently include: Iron Garrison Guards Iron Garrison Miners Galadhrim  (*AtE) Malledhrim  (AtE) The Riders of Stangard Heroes of Limlight Gorge Men of the Wold Men of the Norcrofts Men of the Entwash...

In this episode of the LOTRO Academy podcast, Branick, Mysteri, and Pineleaf continue their 2013 Character Guide with discussions on the introductions, early game structure, beginning group content, crafting, and LOTRO’s unique cosmetic system. Also, Branick refers to the Great Barrow as the Barrow Downs far too many times. Thanks for listening.

  If you’ve ever done or attempted the Survival Barrow Downs skirmish, then this fight is quite similar.  The raid is always timed (10 minutes) as it’s not about how far you get or which boss you defeat, it’s about surviving until the game says “Time’s Up!” Full disclosure: This is the Erebor raid I’ve done the...

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...