Before we head deeper into Angmar, let’s take a little break and look at the troubles in the Shire. Interlude – Ode to Tuckborough Trouble takes our Tuckborough folk, As brigands bring a blight of woe. We gore the goblins and gut the wolves To save the Shire with spear of oak.   Trouble tears our Tuckborough home As hobbits hide in holes so...

Andrew Ferguson asks: If I want to get as much gold as possible out of Skirmishes, what is the best Skirmish to do this? I must admit that I don’t worry too much about gold I earn during skirmishes but I presume that there are a few like Andrew who do. Before we decide on a best skirmish, we need to know whether you are are running a single skirmish or a...

  Welcome back to the second edition of Pineleaf’s Pictorial Primer to Skirmishing. In this series, we will look at each of the skirmishes in The Lord of the Rings Online. In this installment, we attempt to survive a Stand at Amon Sûl.   This edition updates the information up to Update 16.2 (the original version was posted on CSTM back when the...

In their weekly players email, Turbine announced a 75% off sale for the LOTRO Market (http://store.lotro.com), the cash shop built into the LOTRO website which allows you to make in-game purchases using real cash rather than Turbine points. What most people don’t know it that there is a second cash shop which sell slightly different items: the Turbine...

  Welcome back to the second edition of Pineleaf’s Pictorial Primer to Skirmishing. In this series, we will look at each of the skirmishes in The Lord of the Rings Online. In this installment, we attempt to survive the Siege of Gondamon.   This edition updates the information up to Update 16.1 (the original version was posted on CSTM back when...

Welcome to the second edition of Pineleaf’s Pictorial Primer to Skirmishing. In this series, we will look at each of the skirmishes in The Lord of the Rings Online. We begin this series where any good hobbit starts their journey – in the Shire to handle some Trouble in Tuckborough.   This edition updates the information up to Update 16 (the...

This year, I embarked on a quest to complete Skirmisher of Middle-earth on my 12 primary characters (4 wardens and one of each other class). After spending more hours skirmishing about middle-earth than I could count, I have finally completed this quest. The following video is a tribute to the fulfillment of this quest. The main part of the video features my...

Well since I can’t really post anything do to this invisible glitch  I decided to post my secrets on controling that frustrating skirm solider we all know and love as the Warrior!  I did this video with my guardian but this method will nearly work perfect with just about any class.  Just be a bit wary on the hunter.  Again I apologize for anything odd and...

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...

  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...

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...