LOTRO Goings On

Man, I haven't played this in like 2 weeks. I have work to do in Angmar!

I have a level 34 Champion I'm working on if anyone wants to group. The name is ElZoidberg.

Aristophan wrote:

According to Steam, I've played LOTRO for about 12 hours this past week. I'm not quite sure how that happened.

I played the game when it first launched - got a dwarf warden up to 35. Got tired of it, burned out, moved on. They kept sending emails, but I wasn't interested. In the meanwhile, I switched to a Mac, which keeps me from getting every game that comes out. I've recently finished several months with WoW - got my 'lock up to 85, but I saw the grind oh so clearly. Then I found out that LOTRO now has a Mac client.

Oh my.

I knew I wanted to start a new character, so I looked up classes, and the Lore-master looked very good. Pets plus eventually duel wielding a sword and staff - YES! I logged in, and my old characters were still there (just 2), and I was now a premium account. I created my LM and started it up. It's been 6 years, and they've added a lot. I'm really geeking out just looking over the map.

I finally decided to pony up some money and get the Samwise Gamgee starter pack. I'm really trying to avoid getting a subscription at this point, since I see more value in upgrading my account. As I put the pack into the cart, the system offered me the triple expansion for $30 and about 1500 points for $15. Dear god, I'm considering it. So much for free to play.

He says as he considers dropping $45.

I kid, I kid. It really is a great deal. The f2p aspects are sort of like an expanded demo, and their content is fantastic.

Unrelated, if you've been defeated once, can you ever get the undefeated titles? It seems like they're one-and-dones, but maybe not.

I believe you cannot get the titles once you are defeated. According to the wiki, there are 5 such titles for not being defeated by level 5, 10, 14, 17, and 20. I'm level 15, and I've not yet been defeated, which as made every big encounter a bit stressful, in a good way. I'll either die or make it to 20 and it will be a lot easier.

My LM has just emerged blinking into the sunlight at the back end of Moria, having finished the last of the 6 books in there with an epic fight. Then was told to get cleaned up before going off to see some elf woman and look in a mirror or summat...apparently they don't like you trailing bits of dust and orc entrails through their trees. Go for it, Aristophan...I've played most character types, but this was my first LM and I'd definitely try another. Right after another hunter...and maybe an RK.

I've played this since beta, and my one increasing 'gripe' is that the game is becoming significantly easier, particularly with regards to levelling. My LM has now finished Moria, but is lvl 65, since my group pretty much did all of Angmar and totally finished Forochel, and now seems slightly overlevelled for Mirkwood and for Enedwaith, the latter of which has now been scaled down to 60-65. And I definitely dislike the changes to the bonus XP (which seems a little daft given my previous sentence, I know).

I'm pretty new both to these forums and MMOs in general. I'm mostly playing solo to learn what I'm doing but was wondering if there is still a fairly active GWJ presence in this game. Any Kinships? I'm still learning my way around but will eventually be interested in some group content and was wondering if there is still much activity and if there might be some room for someone completely new to MMO's to jump in and hopefully not be totally useless.....

Weathertofly wrote:

I'm pretty new both to these forums and MMOs in general. I'm mostly playing solo to learn what I'm doing but was wondering if there is still a fairly active GWJ presence in this game. Any Kinships? I'm still learning my way around but will eventually be interested in some group content and was wondering if there is still much activity and if there might be some room for someone completely new to MMO's to jump in and hopefully not be totally useless.....

A number of us still play regularly, though I'm not aware of any active GWJ groups/clans. I'm on the Landroval server as Nihklas, if you're ever in the neighborhood.

According to Steam, I've played LOTRO for about 12 hours this past week. I'm not quite sure how that happened.

I played the game when it first launched - got a dwarf guardian up to 35. Got tired of it, burned out, moved on. They kept sending emails, but I wasn't interested. In the meanwhile, I switched to a Mac, which keeps me from getting every game that comes out. I've recently finished several months with WoW - got my 'lock up to 85, but I saw the grind oh so clearly. Then I found out that LOTRO now has a Mac client.

Oh my.

I knew I wanted to start a new character, so I looked up classes, and the Lore-master looked very good. Pets plus eventually duel wielding a sword and staff - YES! I logged in, and my old characters were still there (just 2), and I was now a premium account. I created my LM and started it up. It's been 6 years, and they've added a lot. I'm really geeking out just looking over the map.

I finally decided to pony up some money and get the Samwise Gamgee starter pack. I'm really trying to avoid getting a subscription at this point, since I see more value in upgrading my account. As I put the pack into the cart, the system offered me the triple expansion for $30 and about 1500 points for $15. Dear god, I'm considering it. So much for free to play.

I'm also playing on Landroval as Cynphan. According to the sticky, "Eldain a Firamon" on Landroval is the guild, but I don't know if that is current.

I did end up spending money, but it was a bit more complicated. I got the Samwise Gamgee pack and the 1550 points package. It is odd that there are basically two stores. For the pack, I had to enter a code on the website, and for the points I had to enter a code in game. I then got the Mithril Edition from Gamestop for $20 which got me a few quest packs, (Trollshaws, Eregion, Mines of Moria, and Lothlórien), a steed, and 2000 points. Their system does not work for Macs, so I had to get on a PC in order to get the activation code (I also had to go through several password resets, since I forgot my Gamestop password, forgot my Impulse password, and I had to merge the two). In total, I spent about $45, and I feel I'm set for a while. By the time I get to a high level (which may never actaully happen), Steam may have a sale on the expansions, or I can get them with my points.

Finally, the universal toolkit is the best thing to spend 150 points on, simply for the convenience of not having to switch between three different tools.

Thanks for the reply, I'm on landroval as Elvoth just arrived in Bree after finishing up the prologue quests. Any good advice on low level leveling?

Just follow the quest line and go to level-appropriate areas.

Robear wrote:

Just follow the quest line and go to level-appropriate areas.

Yup. Bree has plenty to offer on-level. The game rarely sends you into an area you can't handle, so have at it. But if you need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask.

Robear,

My Internet has gone bad enough that I can't keep the game open.....

Thanks for taking the time to give some starting advice, hopefully be back on in a little bit when my connection clears......

Good to hear about leveling, just planning to take it on the slower side enjoying the epic quests and story.

The Old Forest is still a scary place. At least there's now a map, which I swear wasn't available back when the game was launched. The music that plays as you get deeper and deeper into the spider lair and beyond ... *shuddder*. Also, I was level 19, without a death, so I was trying to be as careful as possible.

EDIT: And I hit level 20 in the safety of the crafting hall. Whew!

Aristophan wrote:

The Old Forest is still a scary place. At least there's now a map, which I swear wasn't available back when the game was launched. The music that plays as you get deeper and deeper into the spider lair and beyond ... *shuddder*. Also, I was level 19, without a death, so I was trying to be as careful as possible.

EDIT: And I hit level 20 in the safety of the crafting hall. Whew!

Yeah, the original Old Forest was VERY HARD to navigate, exploration required a lot of tough fights, because everyone was constantly lost and so kept getting funnelled back to tough bad guys.

There's a GWJ chat channel that you'll occasionally find folks in; when you login it will also show you a count of the number of folks in any chat channels you've joined, so its a nice simple way to see if anyone else from the community is around.

Oh man, I love the Old Forest. I remember way back when I first got into lotro, taking those first few steps in there felt like such a momentous occasion. I was genuinely intimidated to go too far in.

Now I'm on to places like Forochel and Angmar - both of which I think, for the most part, I've wrapped up. There are a few full and small fellowship quests I left undone until I can find some people to tackle them with, and a few solo ones I just said "f*ck it" to and skipped. I'm level 49, about 2/3 of the way to 50, and just bought the Misty Mountains quest pack on a whim after watching The Hobbit again; I figure that should get me to 50 no problem, where I can then head to Eregion and get my very first Legendary Item, then head to Moria. Plus, between that and Sarnur, I should be able to rack up the rep for Thorin's Hall and get that goat mount for Moria. I'm also gonna tackle the level 50 class quest.

Feels like only yesterday I was traipsing around the Shire, exploring the Chetwood, and walking the streets of Bree in search of quests and adventures.

Misty is great for the class quest, often overlooked by people. Page hunting on the Bitter Stair outside of Helegrod I've always found fruitful, although often you'll be fighting against a hunter or two who can completely monopolize the spawns.

I think you're eligible for Legendary weapons at 45 or 46, right?

Yep, your first legendary gets granted by completing epic storyline Volume II, Chapter 9 (the Moria access questlines) which you can pickup at 45. Can be a little tricksy solo at that level, but useful to do and get one with Ancient Dwarf damage type and then go an do inner Sarnur quests where the mobs are all but immune to anything but that damage type, and get the fast goat from kindred Thorin's Gate faction. By the time you've done that you're pretty set to have an easier time in the first part of Moria.

Moria is considerably easier than it used to be, and the direction of movement in terms of quests is a lot better. If you are lower than about 53 when you enter, you might find it a bit of a grind - and doing legendary weapon quests at 46 you will also find quite time-consuming when you have to level your weapon up to 10 as part of the arc.

Hit the level cap tonight. Never thought it'd happen but there you go.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Hit the level cap tonight. Never thought it'd happen but there you go.

Congrats

Aristophan wrote:

I'm also playing on Landroval as Cynphan. According to the sticky, "Eldain a Firamon" on Landroval is the guild, but I don't know if that is current.

I did end up spending money, but it was a bit more complicated. I got the Samwise Gamgee pack and the 1550 points package. It is odd that there are basically two stores. For the pack, I had to enter a code on the website, and for the points I had to enter a code in game. I then got the Mithril Edition from Gamestop for $20 which got me a few quest packs, (Trollshaws, Eregion, Mines of Moria, and Lothlórien), a steed, and 2000 points. Their system does not work for Macs, so I had to get on a PC in order to get the activation code (I also had to go through several password resets, since I forgot my Gamestop password, forgot my Impulse password, and I had to merge the two). In total, I spent about $45, and I feel I'm set for a while. By the time I get to a high level (which may never actaully happen), Steam may have a sale on the expansions, or I can get them with my points.

Finally, the universal toolkit is the best thing to spend 150 points on, simply for the convenience of not having to switch between three different tools.

Eldain's kind of dead at this point(everyone there went to SWTOR and it never really recovered). I know Kiri had wound up in another kin, but I don't know how much she's around at this point. Hitting up the GWJ channel is probably the best option.

Thanks for the info. So would that be /joinchannel GWJ?

ShynDarkly wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

Hit the level cap tonight. Never thought it'd happen but there you go.

Congrats :)

Thank you, thank you. I've started hanging out in the Ettenmoors and am now an Esquire. PvMP seems like it's either ridiculously easy (I get commendations for standing around) or ridiculously hard (I get killed in one hit on the way to the actual fight). Guess it depends on the size of my raid party.

Moria: I am in you.

Also, congrats Lobster!

Kiri is on all the time, especially evenings. Feldrel would be one character, Hattilla (sp?) another one.

Nicholaas wrote:

Moria: I am in you.

Also, congrats Lobster!

Aristophan wrote:

Thanks for the info. So would that be /joinchannel GWJ?

Yep, should be.