Department of Strategery

Anniversary scavenger hunt guide – year 11 #lotro #lotrofamily

Just when you thought they were done, they throw you one more, and these may be some of the most difficult and most widespread hunts we’ve seen. This set takes us back to many of the locations that Gollum visited on his journeys. We also take a round trip tour of the ruins of Middle-earth and have a cryptic epic entish poem to decipher.

As this is the second year the anniversary scavenger hunt is…

#Spoilers: Here's my guide to the Secret Stones. Get your goat! Use only in case of emergency. #lotro #lotrofamily

From March 21, 2018, a hidden chapter to the dwarven saga in the Lord of the Rings Online was revealed. Unlike the majority of the quests in this MMO, the players are not led to the reward with giant arrows and colorful trackers, but instead must rely on their riddle-solving abilities and knowledge of the game and its lore. The emergence of this special event spawned a mad dash to the solution…

Taking the horse and buggy transportation

A new bug seems to have crept into the game with Update 6. Many people have been complaining about stable-masters giving them faulty horses – the horse fails to clear the stable and gets stuck or it breaks down in the middle of travel and forces you to manually travel the rest of the way. While no official comment from a Turbine official, I found this plausible explanation:

This is a server…

Frelorn dropped into the official LOTRO forum to reveal plans to lower exchanges rates for Anfalas Scrolls of Empowerment, the main enhancement for imbued legendary items and a key part of the current end-game grind. Their intentions are to the reduce the overall grind in the game and he hinted at further changes after update 17.2, which is planned to go live some time in January. (more…)

If you read the release notes, you might get the feeling that something is missing. That’s because, more than likely, there is. With every update, there’s inevitably some stealth changes that may not necessarily affect every player, but nonetheless are important to note. For one reason or another, these items were left off the list. Perhaps the developers didn’t want to draw attention to a nerf…

Highlights from the #lotro Update 15 preview stream

This past Thursday, Frelorn, Rowan and members of the Turbine developer team previewed Update 15: Gondor Aflame on Twitch, which they confirmed will arrive on November 5. While touring the larger features of the update – the Beorning class, the region of Central Gondor and the epic battle Retaking Pelargir – they dropped a few interesting tidbits. (more…)

The places we'll go in #LOTRO this year ...maybe

Speculation time! With Update 15.2 right around the corner, that means Update 16 can’t be far off (unless they go crazy and make a 15.3). We are promised have a firm assurance of a new landmass focused around Osgiliathin far eastern Gondor, but what else might we see? The mountains of Ephel Dúath? Minas Morgul? And later on this year, we’ll get what I am prematurely calling Update 17 and Minas…

The epic battle is different from those that came before it. Instead of defending a single location, the goal is to move throughtout the city to clear the way for Aragorn and his legion of Oath-keepers. At the beginning, you join Elrohir, son of Elrond, and a squadron of soldiers to guard the main gate winch as it raises the gate to let in Aragorn’s forces. If you survive this encounter and triumph over the first of the half-troll crushers, you’ll join up with Elladan and move on to something more familiar. At the next defense spot, there is a ballista, some barricades, a wall with grappling hooks and loosely organized platoons of corsairs waiting to scale the walls. But halfway through this assault, you may notice a rare elite master-difficulty half-troll appear and threaten the integrity of your defenses. It is here where I received two side quests, one of which was another rare elite master which completely overwhelmed me and the other was bugged.

After securing this area, you move on with Elladan and Elrohir to the final defense location: a wall overlooking the docks with more corsairs, their grappling hooks and another ballista. Pro-tip: You can dismantle and bring the siege weapons from the previous defense position. The wall is long and full of obstructions, so it’s best to bring a comrade. I also received my third and last side objective here which was to kill another rare elite master-difficulty mob. The battle ended with a final push from the corsairs and then Aragorn’s forces finally prevail. If you’re a fan of the lore, it’s a satisfying scene to behold.

  I tried this battle on two different characters: first, a level 100 Hunter with decent end-game gear and about 120 promotion points and second, on a level 50 Beorning with terrible skirmish gear but with a level 12 partner and no substantial promotion points. Having completed it with the solo Hunter and getting overrun in the Beorning group there are definitely still issues with balance coupled with pre-existing issues with level scaling. At times I was fighting a few normal mobs with a squadron of knights and at others, I was overrun after taking on two rare elite master-difficulty mobs by myself. If not for the quest proceeding and the sons of Elrond moving on, I would have lost. At the final defense position, I managed the grappling hooks better and stayed afloat to see victory without much difficulty.

With the Beorning, however, the level scaling did not give me appropriate DPS and survivability to withstand the blows from the bosses, a problem which has persisted since the introduction of epic battles. If I assume correctly, level scaling should boost your stats to something comparable to a capped-level player but you have to make do with the skills and traits of your unscaled level. Right now, this does not happen. My level 12 partner ended up with about 7,000 morale while my level 50 character ended up with about double that amount. A normal level 100 character would have anywhere from 13,000 to 30,000 morale. My poor teammate couldn’t withstand more than a few hits from a normal mob and those rare elite masters sure pack a punch. After a few bewildering and demoralizing failures, we called it quits.

  If nothing else, a new epic battle means more easy promotion points and more daily sources for platinum loot. And speaking of loot, in addition to the platinum, gold, silver and copper rewards, it appears there will be a new currency with epic battles: Stars of Merit. These will be used to barter for level 100 epic set jewellery with barter NPCs in Helm’s Deep and Dol Amroth. These drop from boxes awarded when completing side quests and the main quest and right now drop 50 stars at a time, likely only for the purposes of testing.

This battle is equal parts exciting and frustrating but I foresee it becoming stale quickly due to the lack of variation in the main quest. Epic battles are still glorified skirmishes. However, I’m still looking forward to further exploring this battle instance in subsequent Bullroarer builds when there will hopefully be better balance and more suitable level scaling, though I’m not sure yet if this will make it into my regular set of instances to play.

Some Wose people (or Drúedain) dancing in a circle.

Heading west from Talath Anor, we reach Taur Drúadan, a dark, rocky and forested area amongst a hostile backdrop. The first enemy I faced here looked like a faceless from Moria but I was soon met with even more unfriendliness when I stumbled upon a camp of Variag from Khand at the beacon of Amon Dîn. Navigating this area was treacherous and replete with pitfalls (literally), but the winding passages soon led to the host of the Rohirrim poised to head into Gondor. Further west there is a second beacon at Nardol and a quarry immediately south with more of those ugly nameless lying in wait.

Then we reach Drû Bhûta, home of the dancing, naked dwarf-like creatures. The Wose people or Drúedain are an ancient folk from the First Age who have since died out except for two known locations, this forest at the base of the White Mountains and in the far western reaches of Gondor on the sea shore past Dol Amroth. We’ll also come across many of the Púkel-men monuments created in their likeness which I still hope with come to life at some point.

A reputation item for the Riders of Rohan in the Far Anórien area

Let’s move onto the Beacon Hills, a land which leaving out a single letter from its name turns it into the delectable and savory Bacon Hills. Contrary to that imagery, the Beacon Hills are merely that – lots of hills and lots of beacons, four to be exact. Buttressing the White Mountains is Rimmon Quarry, similar in structure to Nardol Quarry but with fewer deplorable evils walking the surface. At the center of Firien Wood on the banks of the Mering-stream, which defines the boundary between Rohan and Gondor, lies the beacon of Halifirien. In the north are the Mouths of the Entwash, a swampy area with a nice view of the Falls of Rauros and Amon Hen. The Variag have camps dotted up and down this land likely in an attempt to prevent the Rohirrim from answering the call of Gondor.

Now when they said the land of Far Anórien was a barren buffer zone between two kingdoms, they weren’t exaggerating. There are no large settlements with crafting stations or vault access and very little respite from the harsh wilderness. You’ll find Ost Rimmon and the War-stead of the King’s Men simple checkpoints in this area, but Minas Tirith will remain the alpha city in the region. Think of Far Anórien as a location for expeditions from the capital. Never minding the War of the Ring timeline, of course.

Consistency is the world-building team’s greatest quality, for better or worse. The scenery melts together from one area to the next even if there is a stark contrast at the Rohan-Gondor border evident of lands built long ago in development cycles vs lore age. The character designs of the Wose and Variag are welcome additions to the LOTRO bestiary; I’d love to see the sketches that the artists worked from.

LOTRO store description of the Far Anórien region (price from Bullroarer; subject to change)

But the village of the Drúedain, while rife with new textures and objects, still feels ordinary. Patrolling NPCs with seemingly no purpose to their life but to walk up and down a well-beaten pathway and groups of Wose youth shooting the breeze on a bridge next to a waterfall. I’m sure I’ve seen that same scene somewhere in Gondor. Oh, and don’t get me started on the labyrinth of invisible walls along the banks of the Entwash at the northern border of Far Anórien. It would please me greatly if they resorted to non-immersion-breaking landscape obstacles instead.

Despite this, I’m still excited to explore this region through its quests and storyline at least once even if I likely won’t get there for some time. Though if I don’t need the region to get to level 105, it may get skipped in favor of more prosperous activities like doing the laundry.

Landscape quests

  To get to the island, take the Tol Fennas boat in the docks of the city. All of these are simple pick-up quests. Find the flashing object and grab it. But for Raven’s Rookery, when you approach the summit of Amon Corch, a two-minute timer begins in which you need to “save” 10 raven eggs from corsairs. There are two ravens which will attack and slow you down, and a couple stealthed corsairs near the western steps. Don’t be alarmed if the baddies aren’t there; sometimes they spawn underground and are harmless.

Quest-giver: Dimlas [75.3S, 71.3W]

Tol Fennas – Caught and Caged

Destroy cages (0/8)

Tol Fennas – Planting Anew

Plant Seeds (0/10)

Tol Fennas – Raven’s Rookery

Gather eggs (0/10) (2 minutes)

Tol Fennas – Snares

Collect snares (0/10)

Training exercise quests

  All of the outside quests take place in the gardens near the great hall. The target for the quest “There’s Always One” is an enemy named “Traitor” which patrols between the east and west gardens. For Stripping it Bare, make sure to check for Looters right inside the entrance to the great hall.

The Great Hall

Defeat Mîkhin

Defeat bands of corsairs (0/8)

Climbing a Cliff (outside)

Destroy grappling hooks (0/6)

Foul Waters (inside)

Remove poison (0/4)

Garden of Lumber (outside)

Defeat Wood-cutters (0/8)

Stripping it Bare (inside)

Defeat Vandals (0/6)

The Heart of Dol Amroth (outside)

Secure swans (0/6)

There’s Always One (outside)

Find and defeat the traitor

#lotro Dol Amroth City Watch - Docks guide

The dreaded docks are up next. If you like fishing in Lotro, then you won’t mind doing the four landscape quests for the docks. If you happen to curse fishing like a plague of spine-eating buzzards, then this isn’t the faction for you. Good news, though, since you only have to do the quests once for the deed and then you can buy all the tokens you need. Thankfully, the quests in the Dol Amroth…

Landscape quests

Server wide quest: Tothlant [75.0S, 71.0W] – Quest: Unlocking Emyn Ernil

Quest-giver: Gelloth [75.3S, 71.2W

Emyn Ernil Tunnels – Claws of the Deep

Defeat deep-claw diggers (0/6)

Emyn Ernil Tunnels – Corsair Surveyors

Defeat corsair surveyors (0/6)

Emyn Ernil Tunnels – Forgotten Ore

Acquire ore (0/10)

Emyn Ernil Tunnels – Twists and Turns

Mark posts (0/4)

Quest-giver: Lhossil [75.2S, 71.2W

Emyn Ernil Cave – Captain without a Ship

Defeat corsair foremen (0/3)

Emyn Ernil Cave – Mining with Oars

Defeat corsair miners (0/3)

Emyn Ernil Cave – Shaky Scaffolds

Repair rotting scaffold (0/5)

Emyn Ernil Cave – Shattered Crystals

Acquire crystal shards (0/8)

Training exercise quests

  The Mason

Defeat Barkyat

Defeat bands of corsairs (0/7)

Crafting Commandeered

Defeat craftsmen (0/4)

Flooded with Arrows

Defeat the snipers (0/4)

Locked Up

Lock chests (0/6)

Stealing a Soul

Defeat slavers (0/4)

The Materials of War

Collect supplies (0/7)

Tools of the Trade

Recover tools (0/8)

Landscape quests

Server wide quest: Harniel [75.0S, 71.0W]

Unlocking the Paths of the Dead

Quest-giver: Golusel [75.2S, 71.5W]

Kêr Izel – Fallen but not Forgotten

Recover remains from Kêr Izel (0/8)

Kêr Izel – Lenn Dûskud

Remove ruthless rune-stones from Lenn Dûskud (0/8)

Kêr Izel – The Ruthless Dead

Defeat Ruthless Dead in Kêr Izel (0/10)

Kêr Izel – The Shadow-watch

Defeat Ruthless Banner-bearers at the Shadow-watch (0/3)

Quest-giver: Avordur [75.2S, 71.5W]

Kêr Bras – A message of Courage

Plant banners at Kêr Bras (0/6)

Kêr Bras – Bloom of Decay

Gather Blooms of Decay from Kêr Bras (0/6)

Kêr Bras – The Fallen

Lacquer the ground beneath quieted Ruthless Oath-breakers at Kêr Bras (0/6)

Kêr Bras – The Ruthless Dead

Quiet Ruthless Dead at Kêr Bras (0/10)

Training exercise quests

The Swan Knights

Defeat Kesekhos

Defeat bands of corsairs (0/8)

Death From Above

Identify spotters (0/6) In addition to a one-minute countdown on the flag item used to target the snipers, be sure not to attack them directly as they will not count for the quest unless targeted with the flag.

Dividing the Bridge

Defeat sappers (0/4)

Looting the Swan

Defeat looters (0/4)

Rescuing the Knight

Free Swan-knights (0/2)

Sweeping for Stragglers

Check houses (0/7)

Wounded in Action

Heal injured soldiers (0/4)

Landscape quests

  Quest-giver: Rodwen [75.3S, 71.3W]

Tol Aduial – A Feast of Drakes

Place the meat then defeat the drakes Unless you’re feeling adventurous, use a simple tank/heal/dps setup to fell these drakes.

Tol Aduial – Corsairs

Clear the groups of Corsairs (0/6)

Tol Aduial – Smoke Signals

Smoke signals sent (0/6)

Tol Aduial – A Hunter’s Prowess

Defeat Swarming Avanc (0/20)

Before time expires (2 minutes) To thwart the swarming avanc, you’ll need a combination of AoE and healing. If you’re going with single target DPS, aim for the swarm-difficulty “juvenile” mobs first.

Training exercise quests

  The Warehouse

Defeat Dabardon

Defeat bands of corsairs (0/5) Dabardon is on the second floor of the warehouse interior.

Fanning the Flames (inside)

Food secured (0/3)

Fire and Water (outside)

Set fuses (0/3)

Securing the Way (outside)

Disable traps (0/8)

Slave to the Sea (outside)

Defeat Slavers (0/6)

Stores for Winter (outside)

Recover supplies (0/6)

Very Hungry Rats (inside)

Defeat rats (0/6) All six rats attack at the same time though if you feel overwhelmed, you can exit the warehouse to drop aggro.

The landscape quests for the bank take place at Tarlang’s Crown, the fellowship-difficulty area stretching along the river Morthond between Blackroot Vale and the Havens of Belfalas. The training exercise quests center around the House of Coin in Dol Amroth or that building with the Vault-keeper and Auctioneer that only recently got its own mailbox (and yes, you can use it while in the instance).

Landscape quests

There are some simple rules to follow when you’re adventuring in Tarlang’s Crown:

  Stay with your fellowship

Don’t pull more than one group of enemies at a time

Don’t pull until everyone is ready

Don’t fight on the spawn point

Kill all the enemies in a pull at roughly the same time

With careful enemy management, you can complete these quests with a minimal group. The two barrel pick-up quests can even be done solo if you’re careful. If you’re doing the regular Tarlang’s Crown daily quests with a group, you’ll likely complete these at the same. Remember to skirt along the ridge next to the river to avoid many of the encampments that aren’t necessary to engage.

Quest-giver: Elagar [75.2S, 71.2W]

Tarlang’s Crown – A Dangerous Thirst

Destroy Barrels of Ale in Tarlang’s Crown (0/6)

Tarlang’s Crown – Carried Downriver

Recover stolen barrels from Tarlang’s Crown (0/8)

Tarlang’s Crown – Servants of the Heirs

Defeat Corsairs in Tarlang’s Crown (0/10)

  Tarlang’s Crown – Waters of the Blackroot

Defeat darkwater in Tarlang’s Crown (0/6) If you choose to take these darkwater on solo and you want to kite them (that is, run around attacking while the enemy chases you), go after the Blackroot Darkwater since they’re melee only, but remember that if they don’t land a hit on you once every minute or so, they’ll reset.

Training instance quests

    Some of the locations of items shown on the maps may be random such as the placement of looters and records in the bank and the piles of gold and traps outside the bank.

The Bank

Defeat Khabec

Defeat bands of corsairs (0/8)

Clearing the Path (outside)

Disable traps (0/8)

Closing the Port (outside)

Close the gate to the port

Looking for Interlopers (outside)

Search houses (0/10)

Pilfer and Plunder (inside)

Defeat looters (0/6)

Securing the Savings (outside)

Recover piles of gold (0/6)

Up in Smoke (inside)

Preserve records (0/4)

Landscape quests

  The corsair camp of Hashadîr lies outside the southern gate of Dol Amroth. This is also the site of some lower level questing which you can do simultaneously if you plan it right.

Quest-giver: Tolrían [75.1S, 71.2W]

Hashadîr – A Place to Lie at Night

Burn Corsair Tents (0/4)

Hashadîr – Captains of the Crew

Defeat corsair captains (0/3)

Hashadîr – Slavers of Men

Defeat corsair slavers (0/6)

Hashadîr – Trapping the Beach

Trap the beach (0/4)

Training exercise quests

  When starting the DACW quests for the first time, you’ll be redirected to the library faction to see if you’re worthy to defend the city. Complete these quests and receive tokens for reputation with the library faction, and this will also open up the rest of the landscape quests.

These quests are unique in that this is the only faction that does not require you to kill a certain number of bands of corsairs. Just the boss will do, but I’m sure you’ll run into enough corsairs anyway to fill your quota.

If attempting the Guardians of Dol Amroth quest and not getting anywhere, first clear the door to the library then pull the three vandals, kill one, enter the library to drop aggro then step out and continue killing.

The objectives for Freedom’s Thief and Securing the Past are randomly spread throughout the library interior. Your best friend here the “Select Next Item” hotkey (default: Shift+Delete) and the “Select Next Enemy” (default: Shift+F10). These will cycle through nearby objects and enemies within a certain range so you can find what you’re looking for.

The Library

Defeat Urbin

Ashes of Knowledge (outside)

Recover books (0/4)

Freedom’s Thief (inside)

Defeat slavers (0/6)

Guardians of Dol Amroth (outside)

Statue defended (0/6)

Saving the Scholars (inside)

Open doors (0/2)

Securing the Past (inside)

Recover books (0/4)

Shattered Glass (outside)

Defeat corsair looters (0/4)

Landscape quests

The landscape quests for the armoury take place on Tol Fennas, an island west of the city in the bay of Belfalas. There you will face many corsairs setting up camp which pose a threat to the Gondorians onshore. To get there, take the rowboat in the docks area of Dol Amroth, the one labelled Tol Fennas. Since the island is a public instance, you will likely see other players questing there, too. The Armoury shares this island with the Great Hall for landscape daily quests. The corsairs on the island are known to engage the wildlife in battle making them both easy targets for passersby.

Quest-giver: Glíreth [75.2S, 71.3W]

Tol Fennas – Corsair Craftsmen

Defeat Corsairs at Makham Jurrar (0/8)

Tol Fennas – Floating Kindling

Destroy boats at Makham Jurrar (0/4)

Tol Fennas – Hunting the Hunters

Defeat corsairs at Makham Hosh (0/12)

Tol Fennas – The Corsair Croup

Defeat and treat sick corsairs (0/6)

Training exercise quests

  The quests in the training exercise take place in the western half of the city. Of the six side objectives, four of the quests take place out in the city while the other two, Arms and Armours and Punishing the Purloiners, are inside the armoury itself. The objectives are for those two quests are somewhat random, so there are no dots on that map, but trust me, they’re in the room with Jabbur. All of the quests are simple item pick ups or involve talking to NPCs. And for the main quest, only the stationary groups of NPCs count for the “bands of corsairs” objective; the patrolling groups do not count.

The Armoury

Defeat Jabbur

Defeat bands of corsairs (0/5)

Weapons of the Guard (outside)

Recover weapons (0/5)

Guarding the Ocean (outside)

Repair ballistae (0/2)

Tending the Wounded (outside)

Heal injured soldiers (0/4)

Checking for Intruders (outside)

Search houses (0/3)

Arms and Armours (inside)

Lock chests (0/4)

Punishing the Purloiners (inside)

Defeat looters (0/4)