It has been awhile. New missions we’re added in Before the Shadow and Umbar. Are these worth running? Is gundabad still as junk as ever? Lets find out.
For part 1. All runs done by me were done on 1 character. A 140 hunter, above par gear/raid T1 capable. With mostly single target and a few aoe skills if groups got really large to simulate an average class. For part 2. Same character at 150 with about the same quality of gear. A bit more aoe focussed.
Mission duration change
Before anything below 3 minutes was considered a decent mission. Over time we’ve gotten better and after the stat squish most missions can be run quicker.
1 minute – 60 seconds is a fast mission (under 60 is great)
2:20 minutes is the break for mission i would consider skipping
3:00 minutes is ones i skip in general. Occasionally i’ll run them if we need the coins or weekly without having to port around
Umbar missions
In general Umbar missions are decent. There are quicker options out there in AK, Erebor or Bilbo. These currently get a slight positive recommendation if you need the allegiance tokens and or delvings. Only a lifes work is below par due to the combination of a ton of clicking and mobs.
Before the shadow/Cardolan and swanfleet
Divided into 3 mission hubs with some additional unlocking required, but once you’ve these under the belt. There are a 30 missions available under 2,5 minutes. While not as conveniet as AK, BTS scores a good second place for experienced missions. Delvings available if you want them, but some do have a lot of mobs and require tracking down a boss.
Siege of sirlond is a bad mission with 7 minutes to defend. Plague of men, sign and sigils and among the watch towers are a worse combination of running, mobs and clicking items.
Always on mission area of choice
Umbar is a decent addition to the bunch. A nice bunch of 10 missions with extra rewards for now. It fits in a comfortable 3rd place of choice right Bilbo. Erebor has 7 quicker ones, which puts it second place. Just don’t run Elrond of thestlebridge.
Anna-Kurfu vs Before the shadow
While AK has more quicker missions. Only a few of those are available each day. If you want to squeeze out the mission weekly in 1 go. Before the shadow with either a few AK or others of choice can be your preferred option. Especially when Delvings get added in Q1 2024 and the hand-in times in Elderslade will jump up alot.
Welcome back to the world of Middle-earth! This guide will help you navigate the changes that have taken place since you were last here. We’ll show you how to find answers to common questions, like: What’s new since I’ve been away? How do I navigate all these new systems? Where am I and where can I go? Let’s get started!
*The guide has been made over the last few months. As an experiment i’ve use ChatGPT to improve text flow and spelling instead of redoing the whole article in a shorter timespan. To get it out of limbo and published and experiment a bit myself with the tools available.
*32 bit client and technical issues are work in progress. Havn’t had to do a reinstall lately and the upcoming deprecation has a lot of fixes itself or break possibilities.
Below is a timeline of major changes in LOTRO. You can skip any updates or expansions that were released before the last time you played the game. For example, if you remember leaving the game before the Trait tree and big battle features were introduced, you can skip the Codemaster closes and First legendary weapons updates. However, if you have already fought Shelob in Remorchant, you may be familiar with the Mote and Ember system, but opening your virtue panel might be new to you.
Year
Level cap
Expansion
Changes
2007
50
Launch Date
2008
60
Moria
First legendary weapons Radiance introduced
2009
65
Mirkwood Barad Guldur
Skirmishes
2010
65
Free to play
2011
75
Isengard Saruman
Codemaster closes EU Radiance removed
2012
85
Riders of Rohan
Mounted combat
2013
95
Helms deep
Trait tree Big battles
2014
100
Gondor
BeorningEssence(slots)
2015
100
Osgiliath and MT
Server closure and merge Bingo boffin Imbuement (2nd LI)
2016
105
After battle/pre-mordor Throne of the dread terror
SSG company
2017
115
Mordor Abyss of Mordath with Light of Erendil
10 year anniversary Motes, embers and lootbox Black book of Mordor
2018
120
EreborAnvil of winterstith raid
Legendary server Anor Other Lotro MMO (gone)
2019
130
Minas Morgul
Virtue system
2020
130
Remorchant raid War of 3 peaks
Legacy of Durin Midsummer Minas Tirith Missions
2021
140
Fate of Gundabad Hiddenhoard
Wildwood (new low level) Tracery (3rd LI) Reward track/battle pass
2022
140
Expanding Eriador (1-50) Before the shadow
Content before 2014 free Trait Points per level Many minor F2P updates
Where are my (old) characters?
There are two options based on when you last played LOTRO:
If you last played the game before 2010, when Turbine took over Codemasters/EU servers, and did not transfer your account manually in the following year, your account is no longer active and you will need to create a new one.
If you last played the game after 2010, you may still be able to access your account. However, in 2015, the following servers were closed: [list of closed servers].
Previously US based servers Arkenstone Crickhollow Landroval Gladden Brandywine
Estel Gilrain Eldar Anduin Morthond Maiar Vanyar Withywindle Snowbourn
Previously EU based servers Belegaer (DE-RP) Gwaihir (DE) Sirannon (FR) Laurelin (RP) Evernight
Bombadil Anor Ithil
Character gone Transfer open till 31st dec 2022 Transfer open till 31st dec 2022
If you were on one of these servers and transferred your account in 2010. Your characters technically still exist, but those server transfers have been offline for years without a clear ETA by SSG.
2.2 If you did transfer your characters will exist on one of the currently existing servers. For ease of checking. Log into the servers on the right. Your characters will be on one of these servers.
In general if you have lost your character forever or they are stuck on their pre-2015 servers. It’s best advised to start a new character if you want to play now
FAQ
The most frequently asked questions that are on most returning players’ minds (that are not specific to a certain system) or that you might need to know before returning.
Should I continue or start a new character?
A general rule of thumb is that starting a new character can be beneficial, especially if your previous character is below level 50 or was created before 2013. This will allow you to become familiar with the game again and learn about new systems such as the trait trees in Helms Deep/2013 or the new LI/2021 systems. Resources for these systems can be found in their corresponding chapters, but it is best to learn about them naturally while leveling up. You can start learning about the trait trees at level 20 and LI when you enter Moria at level 45-50.
What server should I play on?
All of our servers are located in the Boston area. The “EU” server doesn’t offer any better ping or lag for players from the EU. This is mostly a holdover from the past. The peak times for online numbers will vary between servers.
There are also VIP-only or legendary servers. Shadowfax and Treebeard are subscription-only servers that each have their own rules for available areas and leveling speeds. For more information, see https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Legendary_Server.
Of the 10 servers, Arkenstone and Evernight are known for their large size and focus on player-versus-monster-player (PvMP) and raiding. Landroval and Laurelin are known for their role-playing (RP) events. I’m not familiar enough with the other US servers to comment on them.
How do I check what areas and expansions i’ve or get them?
Unfortunately, there is no single location or website where you can easily view all of the expansions and content that you have purchased or unlocked in Lotro. The best options for checking your expansions and content are:
Visit the Standing Stone Games website and log in to your account. https://myaccount.standingstonegames.com/home.php This will show you some of your expansions and content, but it may not be comprehensive and may not include items that were purchased or unlocked before level 120.
Visit the official Lotro website and view the expansions page. This will show you all of the available expansions, but it may not accurately reflect which expansions you have already purchased or unlocked, and it may show errors or inconsistencies.
Check the in-game store, if you are not a VIP member. This will show you the expansions and content that you have available for purchase, and it may also show you any items that are currently on sale. However, this method may not accurately reflect which expansions and content you have already purchased or unlocked.
Try to access the content in-game. If you are able to access an expansion or content area, it means that you have already purchased or unlocked it. However, if you are unable to access it, it does not necessarily mean that you do not have it, as there may be other factors at play.
Overall, the easiest way to determine which expansions and content you have available in Lotro is to try to access them in-game and see if you are able to do so. If there are no sales or promotions currently active, you can typically assume that any expansions or content that you are able to access are ones that you have already purchased or unlocked.
Does lotro have plugins or mods?
Yes, but compared to more modern games, the interface and mechanics of the game can be a bit clunky. Plugins are often used to improve the user interface (UI) or track in-game effects. To avoid the hassle of manually installing plugins, you can use a program called Plugin Compendium. This program automatically installs and updates plugins for you. You can find Plugin Compendium at https://www.lotrointerface.com/downloads/info663-LOTROPluginCompendium.html. Not all plugins are available on this website, so you may need to search elsewhere for specific ones.
Technical issues
A lot of issues on crashing or options missing are due to missing (some older) files or drivers. Usually happens on a clean install. For a full overview of these you can look at Hurins Forum thread or Install guide (videoform)
Small UI, 4K and 1440P monitor
A lot of Lotro’s textures and texts were made when your resolutions were a lot lower then now. Eventually they redo nearly all of the elements to a point where you can run lotro comfortably on a 4k or even higher resolution. For now you can use 3 tactics to offset this issue.
Set lotro to run in (Fullscreen) windowed mode and run it a lower resolution making the size of the items or text larger. Some people run lotro on a tv, but that might come with other considerations.
Use UI scale sliders or text size to increase some of the sizes. This won’t help with all parts of the UI. Most notably items in bags. For a quick tutorial view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpJClZ1W8TM by Louey7.
Fake or simulate a larger resolution through your graphic card driver. For AMD you can use https://lotroplayers.com/2022/03/20/fixing-lotros-ui-with-amd-rsr/. Not aware of a nvidea guide.
Crashing upon start-up
*Reserved for future specific answers. Usually solved by following step in Hurins link mentioned above
32 or 64-bit lotro
Currently the 32-bit client is set to be phased out in december 2022. Usually the issue preventing you to select the 64-bit client is a Directx file missing. A quick update to this has been released by SSG inside the lotrofolder. Run the below file on your PC
run – */Program Files (x86)/StandingStoneGames/The Lord of the Rings Online/dxwebsetup.exe
Lotro on the Mac
Alas i don’t run a mac or IOS device. The 2 most often suggested solutions that give you access back to Lotro. Is to run a windows partition , Use WINE emulator or use Crossover (paid).
Crossover (paid, but easier to use) https://johnnymatthews.dev/blog/2022-05-10-install-lotro-on-m1-mac/
Wine (technical, but free) https://forums.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?691804-How-to-install-WINE-for-better-LOTRO-performance-on-your-Mojave-Mac-Revised-simpler-procedure
Windows on a mac https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201468
Can’t connect or patch
Occasionally the connection between your pc and the servers in the US (Boston area) get blocked along the way resulting in your being unable to connect. Without going in far too many details. You need to have to use a different path. This is usually done by switching from your Wifi, home network or mobile data or vice versa. Or by using a (temporary) DNS or VPN.
First follow https://powerdmarc.com/how-to-flush-dns/, if this doesnt work try a wired connection if possible. The next step is to try and use a mobile hotspot (DATA PLAN!) for small updates. https://www.computerworld.com/article/2499772/how-to-use-a-smartphone-as-a-mobile-hotspot.html Other solutions are to use a VPN or public internet connections if you really have to.
Lotro is running very poorly
The most common issue is lotro running on the wrong graphics card. Usually an issue on laptops and sometimes on pc’s. Or its using the 32 bit client instead of 64 bit. Below are two ways to check and update these issues.
Do you have an integrated and dedicated grahpics card? This is often, but not only, the case for laptops. If that is the case, Lotro often runs on the integrated graphics card which can cause massive lags if the game even starts. If you have both (or you don’t know) open the UserPreferences.ini found in C:\Users\<User>\Documents\The Lord of the Rings Online with any text editor and look for the line DisplayAdapter=0. Change the value to 1, save and start the game. If the game doesn’t start or shows any errors, change it back to 0.
Do you use the 64bit client? Although it should be enabled by default it doesn’t hurt to check. Start the Lotro launcher, click on the little arrow on top (beside the language selection) and select Options. If 32bit is selected, change it to 64bit and restart the game.
Free to play changes
Between the previous Questpack codes and the expansion that offered 99% discounts, a lot of recent players were able to access nearly all of the game’s content for free. However, in April 2022, the new free or trial area was expanded to cover half of the game, allowing even more players to experience the content without having to pay.
Free content and (ingame)stores
All areas and expansions released between the game’s launch and the Helms Deep expansion are now free. Previously, only areas for levels 1 to 30 were free, but this has been expanded to include all levels from 1 to 95. However, any quest packs or expansions released after this time that fall within this level range are not free (for example, Yondershire).
Another change is that game codes and CD keys are no longer used. All expansions must now be purchased either in-game using lotro points (with a 6-month delay) or by logging in to https://www.lotro.com/expansions with your game account. Currently, there is no way to gift points or expansions to another player without sharing login information (it is not recommended to share login information with anyone other than family members).
One significant change worth mentioning is that VIP status now grants access to all content, except the latest expansion (currently Gundabad), instead of the previous mix of quest packs, region packs, mission packs, and mini-expansions. As long as you are a Lifetime or VIP player, you will have access to all of this content. For a full overview, see https://www.lotro.com/vip or https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Account_Type.
Previously paid perks
In the April update or later, several in-game purchases that were previously required to fully enjoy the game have been made free. These include the riding skill, barter wallet, gold limit, and questpack gated trait points. All races and classes (except for Brawler) are now also available for free.
However, inventory space, swift travel, and extra trait trees are still paid quality of life features that must be purchased.
Playstyle changes
Trait Points
Up until update 34, players could gain trait points from leveling up, completing quests in areas such as Central Gondor and Helms Deep, or spending a lot of time on epic quests or big battles. However, now trait points are only gained from leveling up, giving players more freedom to choose whether to do every quest in every area or skip certain ones. This change is especially significant on legendary servers or when players follow their own path.
Another change that has begun rolling out to Brawler and Minstrel classes is the change to their skill trees and trait point spending. Over time, other classes may also receive this treatment. Both Brawler and Minstrel classes have been reduced to two skill trees and a supporting secondary tree. The blue tree is focused on their class role (tank or healer), the red tree is focused on damage dealing, and the yellow tree offers general buffs, new skills, supporting traits for existing or new skills, and new major skills. Some examples of traits in the yellow tree include:
General buffs that cost 1 trait point, such as +X% damage to cries or ballads, or +X% damage and outgoing healing.
A new anthem called Song of Aid, which costs 2 trait points.
Traits that reduce the cooldown on skills or remove additional fears when using Song of Restoration, which also cost 2 trait points.
Traits such as Call to Greatness or Tale of Tales, which were previously considered bottom or flagstone traits and now cost 3 points.
Class roles
Can a warden tank? A question being asked since people tried to find the batcave outside of Gotham. But every different activity has its own Best and Worst list. So I’ll be sticking to a general guide for this.
Red or Dps
Every class’s red trait tree is focused on dealing high amounts of damage, often at the expense of mobility or versatility. While all classes have enough damage output to easily complete quests on the landscape, the Captain may be considered slower due to the use of chain skills, and the Loremaster may have difficulty due to its focus on area-of-effect damage and longer cooldowns.
Blue or Class focus such as tank or heal
The blue trait is an essential aspect of each class’s role in the game. Every class can fulfill their designated role in both outdoor environments and in lower-level instances or delves. However, there are differences in their specialties, and a class’s strength in one area often comes at the cost of their effectiveness in another. For example, a captain is one of the best single-target tanks, but may struggle with large groups of enemies. Similarly, a beorning can heal an entire raid, but must carefully manage their resources to do so.
As the difficulty level increases and players progress to higher-level raiding content, these strengths and weaknesses become more pronounced. For instance, wardens and champions may be able to tank effectively, but their downsides become more pronounced than those of guardians and captains (with beornings falling somewhere in between). Loremasters and small-group beornings face similar challenges when it comes to healing, while runekeepers and minstrels each have their own unique strengths
Yellow or 3rd trait tree
This is a mixed bag. And i’ll list these on a per class basis
Brawler, support skills and traits in general or other trait trees
Minstrel, support skills and traits in general or other trait trees
Loremaster, Debuff and preferred raid tree
Burglar, Debuff and preferred raid tree
Captain, Yellow is their tank, and blue is their 3rd trait tree. Buff and heal, but generally considered a worse choice.
Beorning, Healing and preferred raid tree
Warden, Ranged DPS
Runekeeper, DPS with shorter range, but higher crits and usable on the move
Hunter, Blue is DPS on the move, with yellow being a crowd controller worse choice overall
Champion, Yellow is their AoE DPS, very good
Overall advice
Sturdiest and tankiest classes are Beorning, Guardian and Captain. With warden and Champion following far behind unless played very well.
The best heals come from Minstrel or Beorning. With runekeeper played well or in a group closely following. Loremaster and captain only in specific combinations.
Consistent dps comes from Hunter, Runekeeper or Warden from range. With Burglar, Brawler and Champion in melee. Loremaster and Minstrel can burst from range and Burglar, Beorning or Warden less so from melee.
Legendary weapons and reward track
One of the most recent updates to the game involved replacing one of the two legendary weapon systems you may be familiar with. When you log in, you will still have a functional weapon that you have spent a lot of time on, but you will eventually want to replace it.
To do this, you will need to:
Acquire a new legendary item (LI) from the introduction or from Rivendell.
Visit a forge master to bring it up to your current level.
Acquire one or more “skill-gems” or traceries and slot them into available sockets.
Visit a forge master to upgrade your damage per second (DPS) or healing every five levels or so.
Virtues are still in the game and provide a small bonus to your character. It won’t make or break your character, but you will want to give it a little attention while you’re levelling. Instead of doing specific deeds for specific virtues, you can do any deed and assign its rewards to a desired virtue. In the long run you’ll need a lot of time to max it all out though.
In general
Choose 5 virtues with stats you prefer and slot them in the trait panel
Set 1 of those virtues to Earning all completed deed rewards go to this virtue
Once it’s max level it will flow over to the next slotted one (until you set earning to another one
Small and easy quests that help you level if you don’t want to venture into the landscape. Ranging from stationary new quests chain to separate quests you visit an NPC to start these and get xp, cosmetics and other items.They work a lot like skirmishes, but for solo or duo.
The introduction of disenchanting, ash-making, and other forms of breaking down unwanted loot into currency has added a new level of flexibility to Lotro. Players can now convert their unwanted items into a small amount of currency, which can then be used to barter for desired items. This currency comes in several forms, depending on the type of loot it was obtained from. For example, a cosmetic item can only be converted into another cosmetic item. This change allows players to more easily acquire the items they want, while also giving them a way to get rid of items they no longer need.
Right click the flame and left click the item you want to disenchant
Destroyed = destroyed
Each currency has a cap
Visit the barter and barter stuff. Each later instance, area, mission NPC has too many things to list here.
Different currencies currently used with these
Embers, Highest level range currency for gear (weeklies and items from the level cap activities)
Motes, Same as embers, but for all other level ranges. Generic gear or gear higher than level 105.
Figments, Cosmetic gear, pets, housing etc. Embers and motes can be “downgraded” to figments
Crafting materials, Newest instances or skirmish gear that’s too low to award embers or motes can be disenchanted into crafting materials
Ancient script, From boxes or from traceries you can get ancient script. This allows you to barter LI materials as opposed to gear.
Writs, New currency for the Delving barterers.
Essences
The easiest way to think of these are gems that you can put into special sockets in your gear. Normally starting around level 100 you can right click an essence and if you have a gear piece it can go into it will pop-up. These come in variations of all stats ingame and follow the normal gear quality (yellow, purple, teal, gold, class) and level ranges.
In general, these allow flexibility on gearing but a higher level or better quality gear piece is better than messing around with earlier essences.
Under level 100 they are available, but don’t focus on them
While levelling slot any stat that looks good to you, but don’t spend time or resources on upgrading them.
Once you stick to a specific level range or cap. Then look into them. These allow you to more easily upgrade or transfer stats around your characters.
Previously important systems
For the past few years, the developers of Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) have been working to update and harmonize various systems within the game to make them relevant and work well together. While many systems have already been updated, there are still some that have not yet been updated or that may not receive updates in the future.
Despite this, these systems are still present in the game and can be important for some players. It is important for players to be aware of these systems and how they work in order to fully enjoy their experience in LOTRO.
Skirmish(camp)
The update to the skirmishes system has been long overdue, as the loot and other features have not been functioning properly since the Mordor expansion. Skirmishes are still available at all level ranges and offer moderate experience rewards, but most aspects such as loot and bartering have been capped at level 105. The only exception is the seals reward from max level raids, which can be used for essence removal scrolls.
Recently, the Before the Shadow update introduced some changes to the skirmish system, but it remains to be seen if these updates will be implemented in other skirmishes as well. There are promises of future updates, such as the Delving expansion, being brought to older skirmishes. However, it is likely that most features of the old system will be phased out in favor of these new updates.
Mounted Combat
The war steeds of Rohan have undergone a recent update that has improved their defenses, morale, and handling. This update has brought them into the year 2022, although they were originally introduced in Rohan and have not been significantly updated beyond that. The update also included improvements to the scaling and bridles of the steeds. While their damage output may not be exceptional, they are still suitable for riding and fighting on the battlefield.
Radiance/Light of Erendil
Light of Erendil is a stat that was added to armor pieces in the expansions Mordor and Moria. It is necessary for players to have a certain amount of this stat in order to be able to effectively participate in certain instances and on the landscape in Mordor. Radiance, a similar stat, has been removed from Moria. In Mordor, players can gain the passive trait “Light of Erendil” at level 116, which provides them with up to 80 points of the stat. This is generally sufficient for most gameplay, but certain quests and instances, such as the raid in Ironfold, may require more Light of Erendil. This can be obtained through various means, such as completing specific quests or purchasing it from vendors.
Big battles
The updates to the big battles in the game, such as the skirmish camp and mounted combat, have largely been focused on adding optional variations and content, rather than making significant changes to the core gameplay. For example, the Helms Deep big battle has added optional variations, but the core gameplay remains largely the same. The Pelargir and Minas Tirith big battles are still necessary for players to progress through the epic story. In terms of rewards, the jewelry obtained from these big battles is still among the best available up to level 105, but better options become available at higher levels and the set bonuses stop after that.
Roving threats, scourges and warbands
The rewards for Western Gondor and Mordor instances were originally tied to the older legendary weapons, but with the introduction of the new Legendary Items (LIs), these rewards have been shifted to focus on region-specific items such as cosmetics and deeds. These changes were introduced in Rohan and have continued to be a part of the game in Western Gondor and Mordor.
Unpublished part 5 of a beginners introduction to stats in lotro. Never figured out to present the follow-up and advanced parts and kinda stopped on them. As you’ll see in the level difference part.
Skipping ahead a bit to the actual less than theory bit. We’ll come back to the science later, but for now we’ll go beyond the introduction course.
One important thing to remember. Lotro doesn’t use direct numbers for nearly all translations. It will turn 10 – 1 = 9 into 10 – 10% = 9. While it looks more complicated it allows the game to use 1 calculation for everyone.
Example 10 % discount vs 1 gold in Bree
The Bree vendor likes you and it likes to give you a discount on a 10 gold gem. Giving you 1 gold discount is easier to understand. But this will lead to complications. Such as
What if the next gem costs 1000 gold. 1 gold isn’t that much of a discount.
What if the next gem costs 100 silver. Do you get 900 silver and the gem for free?
You have a coupon for an extra discount. What is extra?
Instead lotro uses an invisible step in between to prevent this. Why is it invisible? Cause it can get quite complicated. And most don’t care about the how. Just the end result.
Turning gameplay into numbers
You hit an orc and the orc dies or gets wet. In the normal world that axe you wield has a weight, the edge is sharp and you’re strong. In lotro all these things need to be translated from what you’d expect and understand into something a computer can make use. You don’t speak computerish and your pc doesn’t understand English. What we need is a translation or conversion as we’ll call it.
Behind the scenes
An example of what happens behind the scenes when gollum tries to knock frodo out and take the ring. We know Frodo has some armor, gollum has a rock and he has hit Frodo with it. But lets take a look and see what lotro does with that.
Defense – What is armor?
Frodo wears some pants, a shirt and a backpack that each has some armor. In lotro where you get hit doesn’t matter. The game totals all these numbers up to make it easier to give you 1 number for damage reduction.
Defense – Turning armour (and others) into mitigation
But armour isn’t the only thing that gives you damage reduction. You have essences, virtues, trait points etc. All these things can’t simply be added up. So the game uses a translator (mitigation).
Defense – Turning mitigation into a percentage
Tallying all these different things up will give us a total which we can use. The game looks up what 10 mitigation will give us. For the level frodo this would give us 20% damage reduction against an equal foe such as gollum.
Offence – Weapon damage (min-max)
Gollum has a rock that will do between 2 and 5 damage. The game will randomly roll decide how much damage you will take. You can vary a lot of things about the weapon that will give you a different minimum or maximum damage, but this is fixed for every weapon.
Offence – Damage bonus
Gollum has been living in a cave so he doesn’t have any bonuses to his rock. But if he were an elf wielding a sword he’d get 2,5 % extra. Or he has mastered the way of a bow and has a high physical mastery. All these numbers work the same as mitigations, they get added up and are turned into 1 percentage. Armour is easier to understand and we’ll go over all the different damage bonuses in a later article.
Offence – Critical hit
One major damage bonus that doesn’t get swooped up with the others is Critical hit. You hit a vital organ or bump Frodo on the head. This will result in a large fixed damage bonus.
Result – Turning numbers to gameplay
Gollum has hit Frodo for 5 damage. Frodo is the same level as Gollum so all his armor and buffs give him a 20 % damage reduction. Resulting in 4 damage to Frodo.
This is what happens behind the scenes when your characters gets attacked. You might only see 1 number, but there’s a lot more under the hood.
Level difference
This all counts when Frodo and Gollum are the same level. Once a level difference gets in the mix it becomes a whole lot more complicated. In the short version: The game will take the mitigation, mastery and critical rating the character and enemy has and compare it to the original amount needed to reduce or increase the damage.
Aragorn is sparring Frodo. Aragorn has 100 levels on Frodo and is sitting on 1000 mastery rating. And Frodo is only level 5. Where Gollum has 10 mastery to get 100% damage bonus. Aragorn puts up 1000 against the 10 needed. In lotro (currently) you can only get 200% damage bonus. So 980 of Aragons mastery is sort of wasted and Frodo takes 200% of Aragorns base damage. Good thing Aragorn is using a practice stick and not Narsil.
But Frodo has armour on that gives him 50% damage reduction against Gollum! Alas Aragorn level difference means he will overpower any defences Frodo has. *How this exactly works is not completely clear to me. But at 80 levels difference there is no difference in char wearing no armour or any armour in tests we did.
Not a draft perse, but an unpublished part of the 99 instances of lotro discussing skirmishes and some “future” possibilities from 2018.
Skirmishes
Are skirmishes instances? And how should you categorize them if i would decide they would be one of the 99 instances? Skirmishes have filled a hole in lotro that would have been there without them. What that hole would be is different for each kind of player. Some might not even know they exist these days. This article is mostly a look into that hole that it still fills and why it’s not in shape it used to be.
What is a skirmish?
When the skirmishes launched they really sticked to their Oxford or Vandale definition. In the large-scale of the War of the Ring the trouble in Tuckbourough or the defence of the prancing pony wasnt a tipping point. But for the ones involved it was still an important battle that would still influence the major factions in Middle-earth. If Bree would have fallen, there would be fewer defenders to guard the borders of Rivendell or less rangers of the Grey company to head south.
For the players themself it was a great alternative to level. Even when the game was around for a while there were still points where an extra level or a few extra marks and medallions were very welcome.
Scaling and replayability
The skirmishes were Turbines first venture into scalable instance and loot. For how important i think this has been i’ll refer you to someearlier articles. But it also added an alternative to questing to the game. If you want you can skip an entire expansion with the experience rewarded by them. This might seem irrelevant, but is imperative to any player on a tight budget. Up till level 50 it’s all fun and games, but after that it’s expansion, VIP or bust for a more than 0% percent of the players (especially Helms deep still being $40).
Skirmishes have always provided a great alternative to players looking for options. They can become repetitive, but when there is no other option or if you really like the methodical approach to the offensive skirmishes. They are your go to place.
The fourth age
Sauron hasn’t been defeated yet, but its still the fourth age. The age of the Fourth mark was a time where this was the one of the most important barter currency you could get. The best gear you could get would use these and. Since there were only so many instances and a lot more skirmishes. Everyone would run skirmishes to get these barter tokens.
A million marks and cosmetic pets with lasers
As long as there is a number going up players can be very forgiving in what they would do. Be it marks, ash or gold if you set a goal you can achieve you can do a lot more instances than you’d like. I still remember the days where me and a kinnie decided to go for 1 million marks. He made it, technically if i converted everything i would have as well. Still rocking those marks as my lower limit.
Current days
This brings us to the 2018 and skirmishes. It still a really important to anyone below level 65 and players on a quest to limit their expenses and/or interested in an easy quick xp fix. The loot has been limited to 105 since mordor (fix incoming in Update 22). And with recent influx of valared character there are a lot of players that might not even know what a skirmish is these days. The allegiances have filled some story plots that would have made really interesting skirmishes. Standing stone games seemed to have decided that it’s an old system that has been surpassed by time and development options.
Perhaps with there not being an expansion this year they could revisit some old systems and update/fix the incentives to make this older but still great content more interesting to newer players.
Future options
One option to make all and future skirmishes would be a aystem where the difficulty could scale beyond the current tier 3. Have the skirmishes present a never ending run in difficulty. Or use the system as a basis for a dungeon crawler. Conquer flags on each level of a dungeon and have you defend them like you do now. After you succesfully defend it you can advance to the next floor. This could use the personal loot and quest locks introduced in the Abyss of Modrath. A bit lore breaking perhaps, but could provide a nice system with a lot of replayability at each level range. Server-wide contest, ladder seasons, twinked chars?
Who knows. But for now skirmish safely. And we’ll see you for future 99 instances and a
Written, but a never completed draft from May 2020. Probably not complete, but a nice read or an intro if you want to take your first steps in larger groups. Most of it applies to Hiddenhoard now. Except just a bit worse of a raid in hindsight then Remorchant
Make sure you want to raid
May be a strange start to a raid guide, but do ask yourself what you’re looking for. Raiding is a seperate activity that requires alot more time, effort and preperation and wipes compared to your garden variety instance or questing.
Depending on the type of raid it can be easy such a skirmish raid or some old level 50 raid as the Rift. But a higher tier Remorchant might require joining a different kin and/or several nights a week.
Getting ready before the raid
Plenty of boxes can be ticked of before you start looking for the raid. Having all these done before makes sure you can join without a hitch and make a good (first) impression.
Discovery deeds
Like plenty of instances a lot of raids require certain quests or visiting a landscape location to be able to enter the raid. Remorchant requires you to visit the Torech Ungol cave (north east) which requires a captain summon or Cirith ungol quests to enter it. These deeds are on a character basis so if you sign up with a tank and healer make sure both have it.
Type of raid
Is it a quick easy raid, a high difficulty or just a first boss farm. The type of raid or group you’re joining will decide how far along you’d have to be on the specific character.
Tactics
It’s never a bad idea to read up on tactics (if available). A prancing pony skirmish raid for seals doesn’t have that much tactics to them. But every raid is more complex and bosses usually have specific roles or phases that can easily kill you. Not all raid groups will have time during a fight or want to explain all aspects of a fight
For remorchant there are multiple videos of people completing bosses on tier 1, 2 or 3. Only boss 1 currently has a written guide for it over on Dadi’s guides. For boss 2 find your class roles video on Thossulun the Massive, boss 3 Rûkhor the Pale Herald and boss 4 Shelob.
Expected class role
In a raid you will be mostly expected to do whatever your class is “supposed” to do in a raid. A beorning will not be asked for as dps class or a champion will not be tanking how much you’d want to be doing that. For your class you’re also expected to have the gear for that role.
A loremaster is often expected to crowd control mobs in which there is no room for a resist. Which will often mean bringing some special gear that up your finesse to far above normal values. A runekeeper healing in his dps gear is far less effective then needed.
Voice chat
Being able to hear people on a voice chat client is often asked for. Depending on your role a microfone to speak is a 2nd step. Tanks asking for extra heals or a healer letting the raid know that his ress is on cooldown isn’t usually done by text chat.
These days most use Discord which doesnt require an installation, but it helps to keep in touch or have the setting done. Other options kins uses is Teamspeak or Mumble which do require a programme to be installed before use. Making sure it’s done before the raid start helps a lot.
Character specific
Gear
Essences
Legendary weapon
Account
Make sure that whatever you need is on the character you’ll be bringing to the raid. A lot of gear like Shadow king earrings or Thrang pocket items can be shared across characters. But having to gather everything while 11 people are waiting for it is less nice. Consumables is easier to forget it was on another character.
Consumables
Speaking of consumables, any buff you can consume is an improvement. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a buff. Which consumables you need is often determined by the raid tier. You can either craft them yourself, trade with others or buy them from the auction house.
Basic consumables
Morale and power potions, Hope token, offensive and defensive scrolls and an assortment of draughts to remove extra wound/fear effects.
Personal buffs
Every class has potions or consumables, cooked food with stats available to them. These provide small, short duration, but still very noticiable buffs for yourself. For a more casual raider or tier 1 you might not have these. On higher tiers or when push comes to shove you’ll be required to have these with you usually.
Expert consumables
Store bought, or gotten from newly created characters (see special note later).
These consumables are temporary, but make a large enough difference that on any raid that is pushing the limits of your group of gear at the time is using these. Personally i don’t raid on these and as such don’t use them. But it’s good to be aware of that they exist.
Acquiring these buffs cheaply
Tome of defence, attack damage and morale scrolls come from the Gift boxes you can open at early levels. Or have a chance to drop from lootboxes opened.
Create a new character, level it to 20 through crafting. This will allow you to open lootboxes with keys gotten freely from Year 3 or 7 anniversary giftboxes. The Gift boxes will give you some slayer accelerator and other items. For a full guide see **insert link**
Plugins
Raiding requires paying attention to yourself, others, bosses, mobs and a plethora of other details. The default lotro settings can be improved a lot. Plugins allow you to do that. From more visible alarms, to reminders to use a certain skill or a large “Get out” on you screen it can do alot.
While there are more dedicated plugins available for every aspect. One plugin can do a lot of it good enough out of the box.
One of the large difference between a raid and any other activity is the time it takes. A run of stairs is done in 15 minutes. While a raid is usually 1-3 hours. If you’re joining a run that starts at 8, be ready at 8. Do you need to go at 8:30? Probably not a good idea to join that evening.
Communicate with the organiser of the raid if there are issues. You have a doorbell riniging, 1 word in chat is better then none. Can’t stay that extra hour due to work the next morning. Tell him. They can look for a replacement in time and continue with a downtime. It’s group effort and you’re part of that group.
Getting invited back
This might be tad contentuous. But raiding usually happens with a fixed group for higher tiers. Even within repeat runs the raidleader will most likely send some messages to that minstrel that did so well last time before going to /lff. A bad reputation will last you a lifetime though. On the other hand not every raid pans out. Like most friendships and relations, don’t be a jackass and being consistant is key.
Starting your own raid
If all else fails. Start your own raid. You can wait a very long time if you wait for someone to start that Fire of Smaug T2 Challenge. Especially for raid that (over time) become well known. Boss 1 T3+ in Remorchant was not done on day 1, but overtime as people got better gear it was run endlessly by plenty of people that hadn’t even seen Shelob yet.
