Tag: Quest Packs

Long lost might be an overstatement, but Mordor has been around for over 3 years. There are already some questing nuggets you might have forgotten about or skipped on your second go around.

Moredoors

The first two fortresses of Mordor would provide some solid challenges, and with the help of their infamousy Barad Dur and Cirith Ungol you would venture deeper and deeper. By the time you’ve reached Nargroth and Seregrost however people usually want to see green mountains again.

Stick with it, both fortresses provide a good backstory to questing and epics you will see once you reach Minas Morgul. Lhaereth and the Gúrzyul will show up again. And make you go, hey i got that reference.

Ryme and rust

Those green forests and mountains will show up in Northern Mirkwood. Not often do players skipped out on Dale, Laketown or Erebor, but between the release of this region and Ered Mithrin people were treated to an evil Bingo Boffin. Less pets, but plenty of mystery that would set you up for all the epic quests and black book chapters. Visit Thorin once you’ve finished https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Category:Trail_of_Rust_Quests for the start of this questline.

We need more Iron hills.

The withered heath might be skipped, but not forgotten. There arn’t many things in this questpack that makes you go ah yeah. It’s the other way around. We’ve gotten the feeling that SSG forgot some quests in the Ironfold itself. iT would be a great place for some warbands, a few excursions into caves or a few more dwarven lore. Great scenery, untouched by evil  and open places makes it a completely different area then before.

More ex-dailies

The Rhosgobel and Radagast army of critters are feeling a bit lonely. Come and help them out and bring some snacks. Cause you will need plenty of snacks to feed them. A lot of repeating, but having a trip down memory lane across Middle-earth and a frame at the end.

Little 120 quest hubs

The vales of Anduin Black book flows mostly across the Anduin and skips out the quest hubs along the way. Get to know some elves and pigs in Duskenvale or visit fights of goblins from their mountain hold of Goblintown in the wolf-denes. Or get some sushi in Kidzul kaah and the Gladdenmeres. Wait a bit before going to Minas Morgul.

Have we already forgotten Minas Morgul?

You’ve made it this far so we might as well go over everything. Dont forget the Kolos emblems strewn across the Morgul Vale https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Quest:Kolos_Holm for a throwback to Ost Dunhoth. Or venture with Gandalf to Thuringwraith to find the misty fortress of Bar Nirnath. 

Or even finish off of the tiers of Minas Morgul itself. You’d be amazed how many people forget to do these parts.

Death! Death! well and other questing areas. While mostly known for getting your forces to the battle of Pelennor and the black gate there’s plenty of questing to be done inbetween.

The beacons are lit

The stash of pipeweed has been found and the beacons have been lit. The epic story gets you to Cirith host and a quick little visit to some aborignial tatoed dwarves. You’ll then turn your back on the Beacon Hills and return to Pelennor. 

The beacon hills is a welcome quest area free of roots and has some nice little quests if you’re not quite ready for another round of Minas Tirith. The Rohiric camp used to be 1 trick pony for nostalgia sake, but with the new housing area it’s a nice source for housing items.

Some nice quests, but without the reputation grind it misses the drive for repeat clears.

After battle Minas Tirith and Osgiligath

Are you sticking around the movie theatre for the after story. Where did Bob go to after he got rescued or if Ashley got married to her lost puberty crush? This is the feeling in both After battle quest areas. You get to meet up with nearly all the fellowship, see the rangers again and do a tally who survived. But most of it is taken care of in the epic story. Everytime an alt rolls around i’d say to myself I’ll do these quests this time around. Mostly i remember “another reputation tier?!” These questpacks are truly forgotten by most.

The wastes and North Ithilien

These two places fall in the same category as After battle questing. With the lovely exception of being in areas that look gorgeous in their own way. Never before been in such a lush or wasted landscape makes questing here a lot better. Ithilien has some nicely divided quest hubs and the battle of Cair andros to finish it off with the Wastes being a bit shorter. The little area to the east(erlings) or the two instances provide some replayability

If you’d want you can spend ages in here for the reputation or the Flower frame deed. Otherwise onward to Mordor.

Dead marshes

Forgotten to the point you might not know it existed, The dead marshes. A level 100 area tagged on a small update after Western Gondor that can only be entered through a cave in the area (since then a portal in the Waste has been added). The quests are your standard orc and spirits, but the interweaved Frodo, Sam and Gollum sessions are the coney and butter for the area.

The atmosphere as you trudgeon through the swamp is aerie and the two warbands contain some of the rarest pets ingame. Prime xp? Not really, but well worth a visit if you have the western Gondor questpack.

What do you do when you’re past level 75 and still in Dunland or you’ve liked the story of Mazog and cleaned Mirkwood completely? Besides the “gondor expansion” nearly every level range was released as Expansion + questpack. And if you’re not in a Judge dredd kill every quest mode one of each part is usually stepped over. Not completely forgotten, but we’ll go over some parts that you might in these zones.

Caras Galadhon

There have probably been more screenshots made in Lothlorien then people questing there after 2015. While the Mirrormere has some nice and dense questing once people reach Haldir they are sent back into Moria for the instances and epic story.

Do you enjoy the rustic scenery, deeds and elf-reps? You might want to stay for a bit and listen as the trees sing songs for you and vice-versa. Bask in the Fellowships presence and enjoy some nice little easter eggs. Just don’t forget to bring a parachute and new horseshoes for your mount.

Huntsman

Mirkwood isn’t often forgotten, but the final storyline in Enedwaith is. The mystery of the Huntsman remains a chapter without official closure. The Lichbluffs feature the resurrection of evil with Mournshaws getting the same treatment spiritually. Who is strong enough to battle this unknown foe in Ost Dunhoth. Once you find the information about the Huntsman he agrees to help you out. But who is he?

Going full-size person to toe with giants for a good challenge (previous fellowship area) can also be a nice change of pace.

Easterling and Sarumans threat

10 levels later you get to experience the end of Saruman inside the instances, but on the landscape there is plenty of questing to be done before venturing to Rohan. In the epic you go through several different times of failed assault by the Rohirim and the battle of the Isen. Only to be captured and get a unique cosmetic set. 

Or you can get a feeling of the Rohirric landscape in the Great river. Don’t forget to get the teaser about the threat that the Easterlings pose in Rushgore and learn of the threat they pose to a little corner of Ents in the Brown lands.

Extra bits of Rohan and more Isengard

While not often forgotten you could go for some extra bits of Rohan in Wildemore with it’s unique sidestory of Nurzhum. Or finally get to see the results of your questing while rebuilding Hytbold. Wildermore stands out as a separate well written story area that’s not found in the Lotr books with Hytbold having gotten a revamp that makes it a lot more pleasant and less grindy then before.

If you’re looking for a break of the plains of Rohan you could visit Fangorn forest for a chance of some cute little Huorn pets while doing the dailies there or if you’re wondering what happened to sSengard after the ents took their revenge. Visit Isengard not from the west, but head to the Isen from the east and you’ll find a post-battle Isengard. Including some pipeweed.

When Turbine didn’t want to bring out an expansion, it was the corsairs time to expand their lands instead. The tale of Gondor is the story of the Corsairs as they approached Minas Tirith. Starting with a blockade of Dol Amroth in Western Gondor’s questpack, followed by a full blown take-over of Pelargir and Linhir. Finalized with it’s assault on Osgiliath and Minas Tirith pre-battle.

Every questpack listed above has its perks and falls short in another catering to a different kind of player.

Western Gondor

An introduction to Gondor in it’s better days (they just didn’t know it then). As you venture through the Path of the Dead you find green rolling hills and your main protagonist in Corsairs and Oathbreakers.

Little quest camps, some warbands and roving threats sprinkled across the map. Filled with some new gear with essence slots. And some 5 new levels to bite your axe in. It’s a new set of visuals in a comfy package with a familiar set of repeatable content for a nice prize.

Central Gondor

The land of trait points and red skies, foreboding the arrival of mordor forces onto the shores of Pelenor fields. Split into 4 subregions each with their own overarching questlines. Ethring and pelargir tell a tale of defending and retaking the hub. With a vast open coastal plain with Linhir in the middle providing more corsairs that have taken over the lighthouse of Barad Iril.

It has a bit of everything. Roving threats, a surprise big batte and some of the cut quest lines with the river-sisters being the largest one. The epic takes a bit of a backseat until you reach Pelargir and Aragorn’s encampment. It’s not a bad questpack, but most people tend to rush through it for the 4 trait points awarded. And if you want to reach 100 there are worse quest packs to skip over and forget about.

Eastern Gondor

Larger than you’d think, but most remembered for Osgiligath. It’s the first questpack since Eastern Rohan heralded the return of an actual instance (cluster). It has the same feeling as Central gondor within a different landscape. You’d trade the coastal plains for mountainous paths of Ithilien. Finding larger enemy encampments along the way. It’s the encroaching enemy on the east banks of Osgilgath.

Your first Mumakill, some hefty instances and plenty of rewards for your legendary weapon are the major highlights for this questpack. But it suffers from the Moria syndrome. After a while you have had enough of the darkness and want to reach the big spoiler that’s just on the horizon of Minas Tirith.

A questpack experiment

Overall Gondor if you’d include Minas Tirith and pelennor fields could have worked as the Gondor Expansion. But after the departure of Helm’s deep with its myriad of “game changers” in traitlines, big battles and more mounted combat it might have felt like they needed a change of pace. Now it feels like there is too much of Gondor and not enough variation in its place. 

One the level ranges people dont fancy is level 40-50. Either you stick to Angmar and Eregion or you find yourself running back and forth across Eriador for Volume 1. However each of the other quest areas have their own little story lines that are worth the visit.

How come they feel so disjointed?

In a galaxy far far away it’s still Lotro’s launch year. You find yourself playing the North Downs on your subscription never before heard the word questpack. The quests begin to run dry around level 35 so you try to find some in Angmar or Misty Mountains, but these are too high a level. Or you’re struggling to make it to Carn Dum for those fancy teal weapons because you’re 46.

The game was smaller and only at later points did the below areas become available as the story progressed with the epic quests and zones. Or years later revamps of older regions smoothed out the missing quest levels

Area	Level range	Extras
Evendim	30-40	Annúminas instance
South Trollshaws	30-35	level 50 quests
East Misty Mountains	45-50	Goblin town
Forochel	45-50	level 50 quests
Eregion	45-50	Instance + LI

All these parts have later become seperate questpacks while they were meant to be done fully or returned to as you complete Volume 1. These days with Vip Xp, scalable instances, festivals and crafting you can choose to skip these or not buy them.

So why would you still want to visit each area?

Annúminas

Former capital of Arnor now in the midst of being retaken by its former Wardens is a prequel to Carn Dum. Some solo with large fellowship quests in the midst of it all. Often not needed level wise, but a place with a challenge and jumping board to the Annuminas instances. Discover the sites, tombs of kings in Men Erain and stick around to perhaps even finish the The blade that was broken quest line and spot the true though slow nemesis of Evendim.

Evendim hardly is a forgotten questpack, but the last level 40 quests are often foregone.

South Trollshaws and East Misty Mountains

The only two areas that have gotten new landmass after they got released. Filling some needed extra xp holes they have a big jump between the 2 zones. The extra quests are pretty standard, but if you’re looking for an extra level that’s not filled with fire and grims in Angmar visit the cold Misty Mountains. Or after it’s revamp, get an extra level in Echad Candelleth around 34.

Two exceptional quest lines you’d be good to visit are the Garberts Cottage and Gollum it up. Or visit the iconic place of the Hobbit in Goblin Town. Do bring a map and some extra time for this one.

Forochel, an icy Shire

Some go around Forochel as the bays width itself. Others adore it for the views and relaxed atmosphere. What sets Forochel apart is the slow pace of its questing. Whereas in Angmar your fighting evil around every corner in Forochel you help the Lossoth with it’s daily troubles and lovelive. Only to find it threatened by Angmarim from the east or Dourhands of the west. And animals, oh so many animals. 
Find yourself aching for a more relaxed time and want to chill a bit. Forochel is yours for a good few levels.