I Wanna see eclipses in LOTRO too!!!

March 20, 2015, 9:54 am

Today, on March 20th 2015, I watched the partial eclipse in Europe, near Amsterdam.
Although it was a very cloudy day, there were some holes in the clouds. It was just a matter of waiting patiently, before we saw a beautiful partial eclips! And, luckily, our patience was rewarded with some fine views of the eclips.

At the time of the maximum, at 10.35 local time (CET), it was cloudy. But I saw some photo's from facebookfriends. This is what the maximum looked like, very near to our village (posted on facebook by some friends):

Partial eclipse near maximum 20th March 2015 10:40 CET near Haarlem (NL)

Our first sight was at 11:14 CET when there were several small holes in the sky. Although not as brilliantly as a total eclipse, the partial eclipse of 2015 was still an awesome sight.

At 11:14 CET

At 11:30 CET

The eclips is nearly finished, 11:40 CET

Here a view of a total eclips of the sun, at August 11th, 1999 in France. I watched it live from Metz.

I want eclipses of the sun in LOTRO too!
If you have ever seen a partial or total eclips of the sun, you would agree that such an event would be a nice addition to the world of Lotro. Once in two year a total eclipse, like that one I saw on August 11th, 1999 in France (I watched it live from Metz), would be nice. And twice a year a partial eclipse would be fun too!

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How to get a Legendary Weapon

October 2, 2013, 2:30 pm

≫ Next: How to become a jeweller

≪ Previous: I Wanna see eclipses in LOTRO too!!!

Introduction
A legendary weapon is a highly customizable weapon. You must level it the same way as you level a character class. So, if you want to advance the weapon to the max, you have to slay monsters and complete quests to get XP points for you legendary weapons (or items).

There are legendary weapons for each class and for different class levels. The basic weapon - the weapon you get at start - will be a Third Age weapon. There are also Second Age and even (quite rare!) First Age weapons. Second and First Age weapons belong to the very best weapons in the game and are highly sought after.

Secondary legendary weapons and items
Your primary legendary item - as described above - will be always a weapon and you can only use a legendary weapon which is specifically forged for your own class. Each class can choose out of a range of different legendary weapon types.

Besides weapons, there are also secondary legendary items, like books (loremaster, minstrel), belts (guardian), runes (champion), emblems (captain), tools (burglar) and a rune-bag for a runekeeper. Hunters and Wardens can use a second legendary weapon, which can be a spear (warden) or an axe (hunter).

Picking up the first quest at the ruined gate in Echad Dúnann

How to obtain

Your first legendary item (usually a weapon) can be acquired by completing the quest A Weapon of the Elder Days. It is chapter 9 from the questseries of Vol. II, Book 1: The Walls of Moria
The second legendary item can be acquired by completing the quest Khazad-dûm at Last! It is chapter 14 from the questseries of Vol. II, Book 1: The Walls of Moria.

Both of these legendary items are of a good overall quality, so I advise you to complete all the quests of Volume II Book 1 The Walls of Moria. The only drawback of these weapons is that they only advance to level 40 and they will have the same DPS as a level 51 item. But, as an extra, you can slot these weapons with legacies like relic settings, gems, runes and/or personally crafted legacies. These legacies give you all kinds of boosts, like Morale, Power etc.


As you can see you can obtain your legendary weapon already at level 45Note the stats of the legendary weapon, compared to a regular equipped weapon You can boost these stats by adding legacy points into these stats

Attention!!
Be aware that you must complete the whole Vol. II, Book 1: The Walls of Moria questline series, which ends in Moria. At the end you will get your second legendary item from a Dwarf called Tulk. Tulk resides in Durin's Threshold, thats the first hall in Moria when you enter it. He will stand near the milestone, opposite to the stable master.
If you start leveling your legendary weapon before you end the questline, so before you get your secondary legendary item, there will be a problem when you want to reforge your legendary weapon. At level 20, both the forge-master and the relic-master don't want to serve you anymore, only saying 'this action is not possible'. When both masters are not accessible anymore, you have to finish the questline. After finishing it, and slotting your second legendary item, the forge-master and relic-master will be active again.

Additional legendary items
Additional legendary items can be acquired through the following means:

Lvl 65 Second Age item:complete the epic quest Ergothorn Elf-friend, which start with Vol III, Book 3, Chapter 4. By completing this quest you will get a selectable level 65 Second Age legendary item as a reward.
Lvl 85 Second Age bridle (for a warhose): complete the epic quest ofThe Dividing Line, which start with Vol III, Book 9, Chapter 9. By completing the quest series you will get a selectable level 85 Second Age bridle legendary item as a reward.

When to obtain your first legendary items
To obtain your first legendary weapon and item, you must have the following requirements:
1) Your character must have reached at least level 45.
2) You must have the Mines of Moria expansion, otherwise you cannot slot the weapon

You can 'get' also a legendary weapon as loot from level 50+ mobs, by killing them a lot. Of course, you can also simply buy one in the Auction Hall. In that case: be aware that you choose a weapon of the appropriate level, otherwise you have to wait until you reach the proper level. To wield one you need to complete the Walls of Moria questline mentioned above, which requires you be at least level 45. When you reach the quest called
Weapon of the Elder Day in this series (Vol II Book I chapter 9), you will eventually receive your most wanted legendary weapon.

However, you have to finish the complete questline of The Walls of Moria to receive your second legendary item and - more importantly - to get full access of the forge- and relic-masters. Its really simple: just finish all the quests of Vol II Book I until it ends in Moria (see the Attention note above). Btw: You will get some fine gear also...

Minimum drop levelThe minimum level to get looted legendary weapons as a drop occurs at level 51 and higher. So you need to be level 51 to get the drops and to equip those (after identifying them at a Forge-Master). If you don't have the Mines of Moria expansion, you could get an legendary weapon in your lootbag (as a drop from a slain enemy), but you are not be able to identify and wear it. You cannot sell legendary weapons to a vendor, but you can - if you wish - trade it to other players by secure trade or put some on the Auction Hall (that must be non bound legendary weapons en items of course, it doesn't matter if they are identified of not).

When to start
I got my first legendary weapon on a runekeeper at level 45.

Some people believe that doing the quests at this level is very hard, but that's just hearsay. If you know how to heal yourself by spells (skills) and morale pots, its not so hard at all. Maybe for some classes it's more difficult, especially when you do little damage, have 1500 Morale or less and don't know how to use morale pots. But I think that at least minstrels, wardens, champs, captains and guardians will do fine. For a hunter it should generally not be very difficult, but stay at a distance when shooting and be sure to have at least 10 morale pots with you (or 20 if you like). A vitality boost with some food is also very handy. For loremasters it will not be a big problem, but you must know how to heal yourselves with flank-bonusus and how to master your pet. Otherwise you need a lot of morale pots and fast shoes to run quickly away. I don't know how well burglars will do, but i think if they use their stun abilities regularly, it's all doable.

If you don't feel comfortable doing the quest at level 45, come back when you are 47 or 50. At level 50 it shouldn't be a big problem at all.

At level 45 your enemies are red, causing your skills to be reflected frequently

Where to start

Part 1: from Trollshaws to Gwingris
To get the quest, you have to go to Echad Dúnann in the lands of Eregion. You can go there by horse, by visiting the stable at Rivendell, or you can ride yourself if you haven't travel this route before.

From Rivendell to Gwingris (click to enlarge)

From Gwingris to Echad Dúnann (click to enlarge)

If you have never been there, I advise you to travel to the river Bruinen in Trollshaws. Follow the river southwards, and keep on the west bank until you pass (high above you) the elven settlement Echad Candelleth (36.8S 14.2W). Just follow the river until you see Carbert's fishers cottage at 38.2S 14.6W. Just before the cottage, go left and cross the river to the other side (east bank). At that place you will see a path leading uphill. If you follow this path, you will cross a giant tree trunk as a bridge and at the end of the path you will see the elven ruins of Gwingris, high uphill (you see it at the right side of the road). Be sure to visit the stable and hit it when the icon is blue.

Follow the west bank of the river Bruinen towards the south

Cross the Bruinen just before Garbert's Cottage

Take the road uphill

Cross the tree-trunk bridge

Arriving at Gwingris in Eregion

Part 2: from Gwingris to Echad Dúnann
From Gwingris you have to go to the ruins of Echad Eregion. Just follow the path which is leading southwards, out of Gwingris (look on the map for Echad Eregion, by hitting the M key). Open the stable at Echad Eregion and travel further south. Try to avoid nasty creatures, or finish them of if you feel strong. After a while you will see a T-junction just before a dry riverbed. Go left (eastwards) and follow the road until you reach the elven settlement in the ruins of Echad Dúnann. Near the stable you will see some kind of magical gate to Moria, whit a named dwarf called Ráthwald. He will give you the starter quest Strangers in Hollin (chapter 1 of Vol II, Book I, called The Walls of Moria), which will eventually lead to the quest A Weapon of the Elder Days.

Head to the south and go to the stable at the ruins of Echad Eregion

After Echad Eregion, go further southwards, turn left (east) at the dry riverbank

Head to the mountains in the east until you arrive at the ruins of Echad Dúnann


You have to level your weapon with XP-points by doing quests and slaying enemies As you can see in the picture, my weapon is level 6, and the maximum level is 40. I have changed the damage type with a scroll to Westernesse (see my blog about damage with an edge). I have 50 unspent legacy points to boost my weapon even further.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

Don't read further because this part will reveal some secrets about the Walls of Moria Questline

A short narrative of the questline: The Walls of Moria

1. Strangers in Hollin
Pick up the quest at the ruined gate at Echad Dúnann from the dwarf Ráthwald, which will eventually leads you to the entrance into to Moria. Just ask Ráthwald, he will give you a quest to look for Tulk, some Dwarf who is working near a dark lake.

Start the questline at Ráthwald

2. Along the Sirannon
Tulk will ask you to defeat some spies and to collect talons from them.

3. Bosi the Dwarf
After the spy quest you are asked to find Bósi and give a report. You can find him somewehere near a cart along the road.

4. Outside the Gate
After the talk to Bósi it seems that you are promoted to a pizza-boy (or pizza-girl) and you have to deliver 7 lunches to dwarfworkers. Locate them and given them their meal-on-heels. After that you are promoted as a parcel-carrier and you have to bring some broken tools to Bósi.

Bringing lunches to dwarf-workers (hmmm.. do they work?)

5. Handling the situation
To repair the tools you have to collect some thick fallen branches in a field full of small black spies. Be aware of them and finish them off before you pick up the dead branches. But wait, that's not all! You have to find some stones too, just ask Bori at the stairs leading to the Dark Pool for some guidance. Like the branches, there are plenty of little black spies near the stones.

Attacked by Crebain during my search for dead branches

6. Cousin Brogur
You thought you were ready now? of course not! These tedious dwarves just never stop with their errands. Now you have to talk to Brogur for your next task. He is a sturdy fellow with an eye-patch. Brogur will give you a difficult task when you are level 45. You have to enter a wolven infested area to find the source for their recent aggressive behavior.

Entering a dangerous territory with aggressive Shadow Wargs

7. Wolf-voices on the Wind
Before you can investigate the wolf problems, you must ask the dwarf Broin for some guidance. This is one of the most dangerous parts of the quest series to fulfill. You have to go to the southwestern part of the dried Gate-stream, in a grassy area with very dangerous black wargs. Slay some wargs and find the cause of all the trouble. After you have reported the problems to Broin, you have to report it to Bósi. Bósi will give you a nice reward.

The solo quest against the wargs can be pretty hard.
Ranged weapon wielders and spell casters: stay at the back!

8. Before the Doors of Durin
On this quests, which is a solo-quest, you have to help the dwarves to slay some very aggressive wargs. Take some pots with you an/or boost your vitality or in-combat regeneration with some food.

At the Black Pool

At he entrance doors to Moria - it's closed ... yet

During the battles, just stay a bit behind if you can (ehhh .... guardians, wardens, captains, champs and burglars must stay in front, although you can attack them with your bow). Help the dwarves to slay some hideous evil creatures.

Scolding a dwarf who is casting stones into the Plack Pool

Afterwards you are asked to go to the secret doors to Moria and help them with all kinds of task. In the end a very scary creature emerges from the lake and will attack the dwarves. The only thing i can say to you, is to listen carefully to the directions they will give you. if you don't, you will certainly die!

If you live after these quest, you will get some fine rewards from Ráthwald.

9. A Weapon of the Elder Days
Finally, the quest to obtain your first Legendary Weapon is at hand!After completing the terrible critters at the dark pool, you will get your legendary weapon. Just Ráthwald for some directions and the dwarf Hundi in Echad Dunann for the weapon...

10. Forgotten Lineage
In this quest you have to read a lot about the legendary weapons. Don't skip the texts, because its very useful information. Well, be prepared to ask some serious advise from Dithalion, an elf who lives in .... Rivendell! That will be a ling journey back! Dithalion will tell you how to identify a weapon at a Forge-Master, since you cannot wield it before it is identified. You also learn how to slot your weapon with relics.

11. Worth beyond
Now the time has come to level your new legendary weapon until it finally reaches level 10!

12. Forged Anew
After your legendary weapon have reached level 10, you learn how to reforge it at a Forge-Master.

13. The Watcher in the Water
So you thought you were done? Of course not! After you reforged your weapon, go to Ráthwald and he will give you a quest to the entrance of Moria. Don't forget to complete this quest (watch the title, and take some stuff with you!). At the end you will get access to the Mines of Moria and also - important - a very good hat or helm.

A very dangerous creature emerges from the Black Pool

Sometimes the best way to finish a quest is: run away for help!

14. Khazad-Dúm at Last!
Well after your adventure with the watcher, go back to Ráthwald, and he will give you your second legendary item.For me, a runekeeper, it will be a Rune-bag. You cannot slot this item, because you have to identify it first. If you want to identify it in Moria, you have to travel to Dolven view and this voyage can be it bit hazardous at level 45-46. Another option is to do quests in Eregion. First, go to Tulk and he will give you a quest to honor the fallen at the Black Pool. You have to go outside again, travel to Echad Dúnann, pick up some quests there and go to Mirobel. At that place you can identity your book or runebag, or whatsoever. After the identifying procedure, you can slot and level this second legendary item. If you are done with Eregion, or want to go inside Moria, you can go back to Tulk and start you quests in this megadungeon. Ór you can stay in Eregion and level to both legendarys (your sword and pocket item) to their max!
If you dont like Moria at all - some ppl dont like dungeons - you can level in Eregion, Forochel or Angmar until level 55-57. Or do some skirmishes to reach at least level 55. After that, you can enter moria and travel to the first hall, which has an exit to the Dimrill Dale. After leaving Moria, you will enter the western part of Lothlorien, where you can pick up lots of quests at Mekhem-bizru. Keep in mind that you have to return to Moria some day to complete the epic questline, otherwise you are missing traitpoints and all other extra's.

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How to become a jeweller

October 4, 2013, 7:37 am

≫ Next: Named beasts and animals in Lotro

≪ Previous: How to get a Legendary Weapon

Under construction

what is a jeweller
where to enlist
levelling the first three tiers
- apprentice
- journeyman
- expert

levelling tier 4

After you have completed the first experience bar of the expert tier (360 exp points), there seems to be no further advancement. You have to go to an Novice Jeweller vendor at your crafting place. In Michel Delving this is, for example, Berylla Goodchild. She will give you a quest called 'Crafting: A Superior Workbench". By completing this quest you can advance further and also make use of a superior workbench. In the areas with levels 1-50 there is only one location with a superior workbench and that's inside the Crafting Hall of Esteldin. So, for this quest you have to travel to Esteldin and visit Master Deamdirdan, an Expert Jeweller who resides in the Crafting Hall.

To prove that you are worth to be an Artisan Jeweller, Master Demdirdan will ask you to craft 3 pieces of jewelry:

1. Craft a polished ruby (you need 1 Ruby for this)
2. Craft a gold ring (you need 2 Gold Ingots, made from 4 Chunks of Gold Ore)
3. Craft a gold bracelet (you need 2 Gold Ingots, made from 4 Chunks of Gold Ore)

If you don't have the raw materials, I advise you to mine some Gold and Iron ores around Esteldin. Come back when you have the necessary quantities (8 Chunks of Gold Ore and 1 unpolished Ruby. The Ruby is a red gem which can drop from an ore deposit or from slain humanoids)

Just open your crafting panel and you will find the proper recipes. Don't forget to check the bank in the Crafting Hall of Estildin, maybe you need some material from your vault to create all this stuff.
f

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Named beasts and animals in Lotro

October 4, 2013, 2:47 pm

≫ Next: Lotro TP and Free To Play Tips

≪ Previous: How to become a jeweller

Did you know there are a lot of animals and beasts who have their own name in Lotro's Middle Earth. You have probably encountered some in the game. Some of them will drop an award, and others are only a target destination for a quests. of course the reward droppers are the most interesting, since they can drop flakes and shards. These thingies are handy to create some rare stuff by crafting valuable gear, weapons or jewelry.

I decided to photograph them all in the future, since I met a beautiful black drake named Skybreaker in Angmar.

Skybreaker, a level 48 black drake in Angmar with 20382 Morale

Skybreaker: pop-up for info

Known locations of named beasts

North Downs
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Shard
Bleakwind	6.3S, 40.9W	Nan Amlug East	8,434	33	Elite Master Drake	Adamant
Khurshat	11.9S, 43.4W	Kingsfell	1,112	27	Elite Warg	Ruby

Lone-lands
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Shard
Darkheart	28.3S, 28.1W	Agamaur	7,393	31	Elite Master Tree	Adamant
Rot-Heart	roams	GarthAgarwen	11,613	32	Elite Bog-Prowler	Adamant
Blugasht	33.3S, 30.2W	Ost Cryn	1,112	22	Sign Orc	Ruby

Evendim
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Shard
Glimmertail	5.2S, 72.6W	Northern Emyn Uial	2,154	37	Sign Fire-fly	Adamant
Gonflad	13.7S, 67.8W	Tyl Ruinen	5,204	38	Elite Turtle	Adamant
Mangetail	21.5S, 66.6W	Stonecrop Tor	1,479	31	Sign Wolf	Adamant
Rattleclaw	22.6S, 67.6W	Barandalf	1,670	33	Sign Nerbyg	Adamant
Sagrurz	4.2S, 65.2W	Tum Fuin	4,895	37	Elite Warg	Adamant

Trollshaws
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Shard
Baushat	30.1S, 20.0W	North Trollshaws	6,516	42	Elite Fire-Worm	Beryl
Karnasht	35.1S, 13.8W	Drauglad	2,132	37	Sign Wolf	Adamant

Bree-land
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Shard
Brishzel	Haudh Iarchith	Barrow Downs	15,330	43	Nemesis Barghest	Beryl
Gwigon	Haudh Iarchith	Barrow Downs	2,896	42	Sign Spider	Beryl
Marrow	Haudh Iarchith	Barrow Downs	3,244	44	Sign Kergrim	Beryl

Misty Mountains
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Shard
Hoarktusk	29.8S, 1.9 E	Giant Halls	19,321	47	Nemesis Mammoth	Beryl
Kindle-maw	roams	Bruinen Source East	15,483	43	Elite Master Dragon	Beryl
Rodlug	24.9S, 6.1 E	Northern High Pass	10,080	50	Elite Worm	Beryl
Sulmog	21.4S, 3.9 E	Northern High Pass	4,076	48	Elite Warg	Beryl
The Antlered King	roams	Northern High Pass	3,864	47	Sign Elk	Beryl

Forochel
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Shard
Iso-Torvi	2.3N, 60.4W	Taur Orthon	3,276	44	Sign Moose	Beryl
Kurja-rakki	11.1N, 71.2W	Ita-ma	7,718	45	Elite Sabertooth	Beryl
Paha-peto	7.9N, 79.8W	Lansi-ma	8,609	47	Elite Snowbeast	Beryl
Raivo-Kaihu	6.1N, 76.5W	Lansi-ma	3,864	47	Sign Bear	Beryl
Torahammas	roams	Lansi-Ma	50,076	52	Nemesis Mammoth	Nothing

Ered Luin - Sarnur
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Shard
Brullug	Sarnur Caverns	Sarnur	45,248	50	Nemesis Drake	Nothing
Icerender	Sarnur Great Hall	Sarnur	19,978	48	Elite Master Snowbeast	Beryl
Northpaw	Sarnur Great Hall	Sarnur	4,036	48	Sign Highland-Cat	Beryl

Angmar
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Shard
Achathling	11.9N, 27.9W	Himbar	10,080	50	Elite Spider	Beryl
Bruigon	roams	Nan Gurth	52,641	53	Nemesis Dake	Nothing
Chillgrip	roams	Fasach Larran	6,899	43	Elite Hill-Beast	Beryl
Danghal	3.1N, 35.3W	Torgailuin	3,066	43	Sign Warg	Beryl
Dreadjaw	1.2S, 31.5W	Western Malenhad	17,322	45	Elite Master Turtle	Beryl
Gnashmaw	0.8N, 24.7W	Gorothlad	8,609	47	Elite Worm	Beryl

Eregion
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Shard
Bregochel	roams	Tar Stazg	23,570	51	Nemesis Frostgrim	Beryl
Thaneleg	53.3S, 14.0W	Emyn Naer	11,156	52	Elite Worm	Beryl

Moria
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Flake
Darkshear	11.8S, 111.2W	Silvertine Lodes	5,212	53	Sign Grodbog Queen	Mithril
Dourlight	18.6S, 117.0W	Water Works	5,750	55	Sign Worm	Mithril
Helegling	14.3S, 104.7W	Redhorn Lodes	14,238	57	Elite Spider	Mithril
Riptalon	4.5S, 102.2W	Fanged Pit/DurinsWay	172,500	55	Elite Master Deep-Claw	Mithril
Rocktooth	7.7S, 113.0W	Dolvenview	10,607	51	Elite Deep-Claw	Mithril
Ruinnaeg	roams	Water Works	6,034	56	Salamander	Mithril
Swartgut	roams	Water Works	3,047	56	Normal Deep-Toad	Mithril

Lothlorien
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Flake
Belegbrog	9.3S, 63.9W	Taur Hith	16,521	60	Elite Bear	Mithril
Braigam	13.1S, 34.1W	Gelirdor	17,109	61	Elite Lynx	Mithril
Daeranc	17.7S, 70.2W	Brochos	17,280	60	Elite Bear	Nothing
Faegnar	9.0S, 64.1W	Taur Hith	7,270	60	Forest Shrew	Mithril
Gwollug	17.0S, 64.1W	Egladil	16,358	60	Elite Lizard	Mithril
Targlok	13.6S, 71.2W	Eryn Laer	7,343	60	Sign Warg	Mithril

Mirkwood
Beastname	Location	Area	Morale	Lvl	Type	Flake
Redfang	roams	Minas Gil/Hrigg Vidikuni	18,680	63	Wolf	Mithril

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Lotro TP and Free To Play Tips

October 13, 2013, 6:49 am

≫ Next: Wonderful Places in Lotro's Middle Earth

≪ Previous: Named beasts and animals in Lotro

As a Free to Play (f2p) player you can experience the Lotro Game up to level 30, just for free. After that, you need to have enough Turbine Points (TP) accumulated, to buy quests in different regions (lands). In this guide I show you what the benefits and drawbacks are of a free to play player, and how you can get you most wanted Turbine Points.

PART 1 - FREE TO PLAY OR PAY TO PLAY?

As a f2p player you don't have to pay every month your subscription fee. That can be handy if you cannot afford a subscription for a long period of time. So, what are the drawbacks of free to play (remind that the developers did n't make the game for free), and what are the benefits?

1.1. F2P advantages and drawbacks
The advantage of free to play is - of course - that you never have to worry about a lot of cash to play. A subscription cost nowadays:
$14.99 per 1 month - $29.97 per 3 months
$59.94 per 6 months - $119.88 per 12 months
There was in the past also a $199.00 and $299.00 Lifetime subscription, but sadly, it is no longer available.

What do you get as f2p?
- free access to all regions in the game
- 2 character slots per server
- up to 2 gold per character
- free access to all quests in the following zones: Bree-land, Ered-Luin, Shire
and Lone-lands. These lands are for level 5-30 quests.
- free access to all epic quests (flaming ring quests) in all zones of the game

What you DON'T get as a f2p player
- free access to all quests beyond the starter regions
- the riding skill for riding a horse
- unlimited gold
- 6 character slots
- all slots for skills and virtues

http://www.gameitems.com/get-your-lord-of-the-rings-online-free-starter-pack-giveaway-831.html

NOTE: Free Starter Pack Giveaway
Recently Turbine is offering a Free Starter Pack Giveaway for Lord of the Rings Online
Each starter pack includes:

Riding:
The Riding Skill (for free)
A Chestnut Steed

Cosmetic Armor:
One cosmetic piece of armor: Masterwork Breastplate

Boost packs
five Universal Healing potions
one 100% Experience Boost
one Skill Deed Boos
one Slayer Deed Boost

You defenitely want this! At Jan 28 there were only 2548 keys left.

Web adress to activate the free starter pack:

http://www.gameitems.com/get-your-lord-of-the-rings-online-free-starter-pack-giveaway-831.html

PART 2 - BUY AN UNUSED GAME IN A BARGAIN SHOP

Advantages: it saves you lots of money or time for purchasing TP points.

Drawback: only 1-2 months of free game time (VIP), after that you are downgraded to premium,

2.1.Playing by paying a total maximum of $40

When I started the game, I bought the Shadows of Angmar DVD. If you buy it, you get unlimited access to all the regions west of Moria and north of Eregion. After Moria came out I bought that expasion, of course, and I had access to Lothlorien, Moria and Eregion.

As I player I would strongly advise you to buy both DVD's for discount prices in a DVD/Music shop or warehouse. If you have a Steam account, both these starter packs are very cheap.

If you have them you have 2 months playing time, and you can level until level 60. You have your horse riding skill, gold cap removed, you have access to all your virtue/traits slots, and access to all the quests in they regions included in the DVD's.

In a way, this is much cheaper than buying TP points for money.

So what do you get by buying these oldies? Well, VIP status for 1 month game time. You can unlock all your trait slots now, get your riding skill and earn as much as gold as you can. But, wait, there is more:

2,2, Buy Shadows of Angmar
Advantage: you will get access to all the quests and instances in:
- North-downs (level 25-35)
- Trollshaws (level 35-45)
- Misty Mountains (level 40-50)
- Forochel (level 42-55)
- Evendim (level 30-40)
- Angmar (level 38-55)
Disadvantage: Shadows of Angmar is the starter game and you have to make a new account and start again at level 1 with a new character (send me a comment if not true).

Take the following steps

Go to a Music or DVD shop, or look on Ebay and buy the Shadows of Angmar DVD for 5-15 dollars (depending on seller). Be sure it is unused and sealed!
Install the game
You get for 1 month free game time and VIP status
All the regions named above will be unlocked

2.3. Buy Mines of Moria
Price: It will cost you $5-15 in a bargain shop
You will get:
- 1 month free game time and VIP status, you can unlock your traits now
- The Mines of Moria Quest Pack, which means all the quests and instances within:
    - Moria
    - Eregion
    - Lothlorien
- 2 extra Character Slots
- Access to Legendary weapons and items (very important)

Take the following steps

You need to have an account
Go to a Music or DVD shop, or look on Ebay and buy the Mines of Moria expansion for 5-15 dollars (depending on seller). Be sure it is unused and sealed!
Install the Mines of Moria expansion
Moria, Eregion and Lothlorien will be unlocked, you will spare lots of TP points with it
You get 1 month free game time and get also access to all zones and quests west of Mori.
After 1 month you are downgraded to premium and are a f2p player again, unless you for another time period.

Buy the Lotro Mithril edition in a shop or on your STEAM account
Price:
It will cost you $20 to download it from the USA
It will cost you 14,76 UK POUNDS to download it from the UK
It will cost you $5 to download it on a Steam Account

Benefits:

You will get access to all the quests and instances in Trollshaws, Eregion, Lothlorian and Moria
You will get a good horse at level 5 without buying it from the Store
Best benefit: you will get TP. 2000 for free, which is about $25 worth. You could use these TP for buying other quest packs and/or expansions

Drawbacks
If you have Mines of Moria, will already have the Moria quest pack, and it should also include the Lothlorien and Eregion quest pack.

PART 3 - BUY GAME TIME FOR 1 MONTH
Well, if you like the game, but don't have the money, you can also buy 1 month playing time for $15. Your f2p status will change for 1 month to VIP, and after the subscription ends, you well be a premium player. With a Premium account you are still free to play, but you will get some more advantages than a f2p player:

Traits: traits are permanently unlocked on a per character basis. A character played during VIP status will retain them after the subscription expires and your status is downgraded to Premium.
3 characters per server (in stead of 2)
Gold cap is increased to 5 gold (in stead of 2)
You can mail up to 5 gold to a person
5 active listings on the Auction Hall (can purchase more); 20 active bids
Priority login is high (in stead of low)

Disadvantages of a Premium account, compared to VIP

You still have a Gold cap (5 gold)
You still must buy quest packs and their instances, the same as a f2p player (if you dont like that, grind for TP points, or buy a cheap Moria expansion in a discount store)
Only 3 character slots per server in stead of 6 (VIP)

TIP: you can earn many benefits during your 1 month subscription and finish them during or after your subscription ends. It is best to buy game time when you have finished most of the Lone-lands quest, or if you reach level 26-30 and levelling in the Lone-land is slowing your down. This is how it works:

Subscribe for one month to become a VIP
You will get 500 TP
All your traits, bags, virtues are now unlocked.
You can learn the riding skill for free, no need to spend 95 TP on that
Go to every quest locked zone for a f2p player in Eregion (these are: Trollshaws, Angmar, Misty Mountains, North Downs, Evendim and Forochel) and kill at least one mob that gives a new deed (you can aske a friend for help)
After the VIP 1 month subscription ends ends, you can still finish the opened deeds and get lots of TP for them.
VIP also changes you account permanently from f2p to Premium.

Table with slayer deeds in the lands of Eregion for level 5-55:

Kill at least 1 animal, undead or humanoid to open the deed:

Defeat at least 1 critter in	BL	EL	SHI	LL	ND	EVE	TS	ANG	MM	FOR
Zone-level	5-20	5-18	5-20	20-30	25-38	30-40	35-45	38-55	38-55	40-55
angmarin								x		x
barghest	x
bear									x
bog-lurker				x
brigand	x	x	x
crebain				x			x
crawler							x
dourhand										x
gauradan						x				x
giant						x	x		x
goblin		x	x	x	x	x
grim										x
harvest-fly			x
hendroval		x				x
kergrim						x
limrafn						x
neekerbreeker	x
orc	x			x	x			x
sabre-tooth										x
salamander						x
shade					x
sickle-flie	x
slug			x
snow-beast									x
spider	x	x	x	x
tomb-robber						x
trees in Old Forest	x
troll				x	x		x	x	x
uruk								x
warg				x	x			x	x
wight	x			x			x	x
wolf		x	x	x			x
worm (dragon)					x			x	x	x

BL = Bree-land EL = Ered-Luin SHI = The Shire LL = lone-lands ND = North-downs
EVE = Evendim TS = Trollshaws ANG = Angmar MM = Misty Mountains FOR = Forochel

PART 4 - DON'T PAY AND GRIND TURBINE POINTS
Well, if you like the game, but don't have the money, you can also earn Turbine Points (TP). With these points you can buy extra character slots, questpacks, the riding skill, virtue slots or removing the gold cap. The points are free to gain for doing certain deeds in the game. You always can ask for a TP card for your birthday!

How to claim Free Turbine points
If you know how to get free turbine points in the game, it is an interesting option for players who cannot afford more than $20 a year (at least try to buy the game for a small fee in a store or on Steam, see part 2 of this guide). There are advantages and drawbacks by earning free turbine points.
The advantage is, that you can do quests for turbine points on every server, on every created character. These points will be accumulated to your account, not to your character on the server. So, if you earn 50 TP on the Gilrain Server, you can spend it on the Laurelin server. Thats a real advantage. You can make several characters on several servers to grind for turbine points.

Drawbacks: well, of course there are drawbacks. You can do the TP rewarding quests only once per server per character. Moreover, grinding for TP points is boring.If you do it every week, I think you will bored to death and skip the game for ever. Well, you like the game a lot, but don't want to grind a lot? Read part 2 or 3 (buy Game time, the Shadows of Angmar Starter Game or the Moria expansion).

In the two-step guide below, you will see how you can get your TP points.
Part 5 is the easy - less boring - way. Part 6 is ... uhm ... a bit more time-consuming...

PART 5 - TP FARMING BY DOING EASY DEEDS

10 TP BY CREATING A STARTER CLASS

Strategy: Create a character, do 1 quest

Time: Less then 10 minutes

Create a new character on any server
Select a Race: choose MAN
Complete the new user tutorial, after finishing you will be send to Archet
In Archet: go to the Hunters Lodge (check it on the map by pressing the M-key), open the door, go inside and take the quest "A little extra never hurts" from the NPC Jon Brackenbrok
Finish the quest and as a reward you will get 10 Turbine Points

____________________________________________________________________

5 TP BY DOING THE DEED: PLACES OF THE DWARVES

Strategy: Go to Thorin's Hall in Ered Luin and do some horse traveling at the stables

Time: Less then 5 minutes

Go to a stable with a horse-ride to Thorin’s Gate in Ered Luin (stables are at Michel Delving, Celondim and West gate Breetown)
By passing Frerin’s Court near the stable you get the Deed
At the stable: after unmounting go back to Frerin’s Court, turn left, follow the stairs to Thorin’s Gate.
After Thorins Gate, go back to Frerin’s Court and turn left until you reach the Silver Deep Mine
Go back to the stable, buy a ride to Noglond
At the stable in Noglond, buy a ride to Gondamon.
At stable of Gondamon: deed finished.

____________________________________________________________________

10 TP BY DOING THE HIDDEN BOAR SLAYER DEED

Strategy: Visit 7 different regions ('lands' with a separate map) and kill at least 1 boar, ask a friend of high level for help, best to ask a hunter with fast-travel skills

Time: Less then 15 minutes

A. Do it yourselves, or ask a friend for help, to kill at least 1 boar in the following regions:

1. Bree-land (E of eastgate Bree-town, or in Archet)

2. Shire (NE of Michel Delving)

3. Ered Luin (NW of Celondim, at Falathorn, 22.6S, 93.9W)

4. North Downs (200m N of Threstlebridge)

5. Lone-lands (100m NE of Forsaken Inn)

6. Trollshaws (200m E of Last Bridge)

7. Angmar (only 1 boar, called Grimgore, north of Aughair)

-. NO boars in Evendim!

B. Works on every character, on every server
C. You wil get: 10 Turbine Points, 300 marks and the Title Pork-chopper

Note: there is also a hidden boar slayer deed in Rohan. For killing 30 boars you get 5 Silver Riddermark tokens, a rank in mercy, 700 shards and the title Boar Slayer of the Eastemnet.

____________________________________________________________________

10, 15, 20 & 25 TP BY EARNING REPUTATION POINTS

Strategy:Farm reputation tokens, and for each level you get, you will earn some Turbine Points.

Click right or left on the reputation tokens to get reputation, you need the following reputation points to earn a title and some Turbine Points:

Acquaintance: get 10.000 rep points + 5 Turbine Points
Friend      : get 20.000 rep points + 10 Turbine Points
Ally        : get 25.000 rep points + 15 Turbine Points
Kindred     : get 30.000 rep points + 20 Turbine Points

Time: hours when grinding, 10 minutes for 50 TP when buying reputation items at the Auction Hall (you need a total of 85.000 reputation points to earn the kindred standing)

____________________________________________________________________

10 TP BY DOING THE RIDERS QUEST AT LEVEL 20

Time: Less then 5 minutes

When you hit lvl 20, go to Hengstacers farm in Bree-land
Get the quest and earn10 TP

____________________________________________________________________

25 TP BY DOING A SERIES OF DEEDS IN THE SHIRE

Strategy: run from town to town by delivering post-packages to the postman in that town. After each delivery you will get a follow-up quest from the target postman to the next town in the shire. Avoid the Nosey Hobbits, since if they see you, you will fail the mission and have to restart (their movements are predictable, so avoid the eye markers indicating a Nosey Hobbit on your radar-map)

Time: Less then 20 minutes

Quest-line series:
A: The Life of a Bounder: Complete 15 quests in the Shire, +15 TP, +1 Compassion
B: Restoring the Quick Post: Complete all Quick Post quests, + 5 TP, +1 Patience
C: Sights of the Shire: + 5 TP

Buy a horse ride to Michel Delving
Go to Little Delving, speak to the postman and begin the "Restoring the Quick Post" quest-line series.
Tuckborough: before taking the package-quest, head east over the hill past the Great Smials to take a peek at The Great Willow in the center of the small bog. Return when you have seen it (the name appears in your screen)
Bywater: before taking the package-quest, head south to see the Methel-Stage.
Be sure to take the quest between Bywater and Frogmorton, it doesn't have you carry a package but it guides you to the next.
Woodhall to Stock: while running with your package, head to the shoreline of the Brandywine and do a quick run-by of the Stock Tower directly south of Stock.
Budgeford to Scary:while running with your package, stop by the Budgeford Wall, over the farmlands to the east of where you started the quest.
Scary: before taking the package-quest, head into the Quarry adjacent (east) to the town.
After you finish the last quick-post quest run south to Bag End and see the Party Tree to finish "Sights of the Shire" for a quick 5 TP
Go back to Michel Delving to accept your rewards for the quick-post quests from the postman there for another 5 TP as well as turning in your 15th quest for another 10 TP for completing "Life of a Bounder" Part one.

PART 6 - TP FARMING BY DOING BORING DEEDS
Objective:
Doing slayer deeds buy killing a certain amount of enemies or animals
Advantages: getting better traits and virtues, getting better stats, getting free TP points
Drawbacks: slayer deeds to earn solely TP points are more or less boring. It will increase the chance that you are so bored, that you will quit the game. It is therefore far better to buy some game time or an expansion, please read part 2 and 3.
____________________________________________________________________

15 TP BY KILLING SPIDERS IN THE SHIRE

Spiders:
Objectives:
A. Kill 30 spiders for part 1 of the deed and earn 5 TP
B. Kill 60 spiders for part 2 of the deed and earn 10 TP.

Go north-west from Brockenborings into the Bindlebole Wood to grind both Spider slayer deeds.
Or go to the Quarry (ant the cave) in Scary (these spiders are somewhat dangerous and of a higher level)

____________________________________________________________________

15 TP BY KILLING WOLVES IN THE SHIRE
Objectives:
A. Kill 30 wolves for part 1 of the deed and earn 5 TP
B. Kill 60 wolves for part 2 of the deed and earn 10 TP.

Go to a wolve den in the shire
Wolve dens are near a farm or in the Wolf-den ruin, north of Stock

____________________________________________________________________

3 x 15 TP BY KILLING ANIMALS AND ROBBERS IN THE SHIRE
Objectives:
A. Be at least level 12 (champs, wardens, minnies) or 15 (others)
B. Complete the following slayer deeds:

Kill 90 brigands: go to Odo's Leaf farm to grind lower level brigands until you are high enough to continue with the more dangerous and numerous mobs at the waterfall south of Woodhall
Kill 90 harvest flies: after finishing the brigands in Woodhall, go to a hill near the Stocktower. Atop of this hill are many harvest flies and slay them all. They re-spawn quickly. Warning: boring deed!
Kill 90 goblins: head to the far north of Greenfields, north of Brockenborings to kill goblins in the two orc forts. If they are too dangerous, go to the forest SE of Overhill and S of Brockenborings.
Kill 90 slugs: head to the west to the Rushock Bog and kill Slugs.Warning: boring deed!

____________________________________________________________________

MORE BORING DEEDS

If you like doing boring deeds, follow these links for some other easy zones in LOTRO:

↧

Wonderful Places in Lotro's Middle Earth

October 17, 2013, 6:52 am

≫ Next: Article 19

≪ Previous: Lotro TP and Free To Play Tips

Today I released that I originally set up this blog page about of world adventuring in Lotro's Middle Earth. The main focus was to describe and photograph all these wonderful places most players never had seen.
But Lotro is - of course - far more. There are lots of places which are both easily accessed and are wonderful too. So, I decided to post my most memorable places I have seen in the game on this page of my blog Wonderful Places in Middle Earth!

Orange sky at the Ice Bay of Forochel (dawn)

PINK, ORANGE AND PEACH SKIES
Some days ago, a loremaster Grishrond on the Landroval server, told to me that one of the most astonishing sights in Lotro was to be seen in the lands of Forochel. At dusk the sky tend to have a wonderful peach to pink appearance. If you ever have seen such wonderful skies in Lotro's world, please send me a screenshot.

Salmon sky in Misty Mountains (dusk)

Brooding orange sky during sunset in Angmar

A hazy sunset in the High Moor of Trollshaws

Peach sky at th Ice Bay of Forochel (dusk)

AREAL PHOTOGRAPHY
As a female elf you are just lucky to acquire at some dark wood the old elven witchcraft. There are rumors about a 1nd Age wooden staff that can let you fly for just a day. Well these rumors are true! I acquired such a flying staff for one day, and lo and behold I could travel in the air and make some wonderful areal pictures of Middle Earth. Here you see some pictures from famous places.

Breeland

Shire

Angmar

↧

Article 19

December 5, 2013, 5:25 am

≫ Next: Virtues

≪ Previous: Wonderful Places in Lotro's Middle Earth

HAS GAMEPLAY IN LOTRO CHANGED DRAMATICALLY?

Helms Deep in Lotro

A blog about the God Mode in LOTRO for everyone

and .... how Turbine managed to SHATTER the gameplay completely!!

Last week I have experienced the gameplay on Helms Deep, in order to make new maps and new blogs about all the exciting new areas of West Rohan. Exciting? Mmmmmm..... Although the lands are beautiful and the musical scene around Edoras is great, there is definitely something wrong with the gameplay. Since they have changed all skills and trait using, the game hasn't become exciting as it was. It's even dull now, boring, painfully boring for players who have joined the game since fall 2007 (like me).
Why do I come to this harsh conclusion?. Well, let me summon some of my major complaints:

Class Trainer: is obsolete now, why do you need a trainer? You get your skills by clicking in a tree. Although this concept isn't new at all (see Conan Online), it has one major drawback: you loose the connection with your personal trainer. Which is great for roleplaying or the flavour of this kind of game. Lotro is known because of the friendly fellowships and nice players. Now, its almost completely solo, you don't even have to talk to you trainer anymore for new skills. How rude!

Bard and Trait-slotting: the Bard is obsolete now. You only need him for buying some lousy instruments. And even that is not interesting, the best instruments can be bought at the auction hall or simply buy them from other players.
And you don't need the bard for traits anymore. Which is a shame. I miss the flavor of visiting a bard to manage my traits. Moreover, traits can be slotted and change within seconds now, free of any costs and at every moment and at every place. For example, as an elf, you haven't to bother anymore about choosing the invisible trait (Sylvan shadows) or slotting the travel to Rivendell trait. Just rotate them when you need them. Convenient Yes! But challenging? Absolutely not. You haven't to make a difficult decisions anymore. Its just child's play now .... Like a God ...

Looking for book pages, for special skills: a silly quest now, only for turbine point grinders. You personal trainer still sells books. You have to find pages of them in certain regions, and in old times you needed them for some special skills (spells). Which was good. But now, all the skills are easily bought with skill points, like a spoiled child you get the best skills early in the game. You haven't to work for this anymore, only if you need TP points. Why? I don't know. It look's like Give a child the most wanted Toy during Christmastime for free.

Godmode and DPS : most players will slot their dps skills early in the game. Which means that most classes will become dps classes now. So why bother about a class? Choose one at random! And all the dps is Lotro is Godmode anyway. A runekeeper at level 85 does 10.800 dmg easily now. But the best God option now is: play a Loremaster or Minstrel!

The Loremaster's and his God Mode combat pet: the Loremaster is now a true god/goddess, especially when you slot all the skills for pets. The pets does massive damage and with an insane skill you can send ALL your combat pets into combat. There is even a skill to increase your level of your combat pet above your own level. This is really a programmers error. Now you can combat, as a loremaster, purple colored mobs of 8 levels higher then yourself. And, since the pets does massive damage, like the lynx, an enemy is killed in a short time. We tried this God Mode pet out in the Limlight Gorge in the Great River area. There is a huge spider on the north flank with 170.000 morale. You can solo this spider as a LM easily now, even if the spider is PURPLE! How? Just tank the creature with your pet, which is 4 levels higher than you. When the pet dies, don't stay to close. Since you can now INSTANTLY resummon your pet when he is dead, its back within a second. So, the pet is virtually immortal now (yeah: God Mode). Just watch your distance, and if the monster comes too close, step aside a bit. And let the pet take aggro constantly...

Fellowship quests: for the epic book quests you needed a fellowship in the past. Not anymore! Classes with a God Mode pet (loremaster) or a herald(Captain) can do the work solo with their personal assistant now, even on 200.000 Morale bosses. So, captains and loremasters don't need a fellowship anymore. A good guardian or champion can also solo a boss of 200.000 Morale, probably even a Minnie too. These classes don't need fellowships anymore I guess... And think: the whole game was based on fellowship play, it's defenitely biased to solo play now.

Loremaster Ring of fire: a little public secret is the skill Ring of Fire of the Loremaster. Just use it when 3-5 mobs are around you. Each person and each mob damage the other with this skill. So, a loremaster (1 person), with 5 enemies, does 6x the same damage on each individual enemy. Wow, you are a God now!

Conclusion
Lotro is Godmode for the veteran and hardcore players now. All challenging options are gone. Good players don't need fellowships anymore, they can do every epic quest solo. So, the developers shattered the core of the game. For me, Lotro has become a dull game, without any challenges anymore. Only monster vs. free peoples combat is a bit of fun, all the rest is a dull repetition of monster and quest grinding. The most challenging quests - really! - are now the search for cakes, cookies, apples, mirrors or braziers, or looking for lost children in West Rohan. Combat is an easy piece of cake now, searching for objects are the hardmode quests now.

The developers are just lucky. If they had released this expansion together with Elder Scrolls online, perhaps the game could have been dead within 4 weeks.

I am still waiting in anticipation for a major tweak. If even have no problem when they changed all the skills back to the system before Helms Deep. Or if they create a server with a level cap of 50/60 and only the lands of Eregion and Moria, and Ettenmoors of course ...
Now, all challenging quests, dangerous mobs, epic bosses en fellowship quests are extremely boring... All deja-vu: ehh didnt I battle that bear, raven, crow, boar, wolf, when I was level 15? Now I am 95, but only the morale of the mobs is higher and my dps is ofc insane. So, in conclusion: sadly, no news from the western Front (Rohan).

Developers do your work! Change this beautiful game back to a more challenging game as it was before. Restore the trainer and bard and restore the most wanted fellowship quests. And please, please, nerf the Godmode damage skills! SO: steal all these dps toys of all the spoiled kids immediately!

Elannah, now a bored Goddess Elf in Lotro

↧

Virtues

December 26, 2013, 12:36 am

≫ Next: Zeal

≪ Previous: Article 19

Virtues are one of the 4 types of traits your character can gain in LOTRO.

From virtues you gain bonuses which can be important for your character. These virtue bonuses stack with each other and all other bonuses, and are a way to tweak your character's build for different game-play situations.

Each virtue gives 3 bonuses to your stats: the largest bonus is given to the primary stat of the virtue. A smaller bonus is given to the secondary stat of the virtue and the smallest bonus to the tertiary stat.

To make the game simple (sic!) there are 20 different virtues, and they can be classified into 3 different virtue groups:

Group 1: virtues that give a bonus to your character stats, like agility, vitality, might, fate, will, power or morale
Group 2: virtues that give a bonus to your resistance against attacks
Group 3: virtues that gives a better power or morale regeneration

You can earn virtues by completing deeds and doing quests in specific areas. In each virtue you can gain 18 ranks. Any virtue higher than rank 18 is stored, but does not contribute to any bonuses at the moment of the current expansion. However, they will contribute after the next expansion, so max scores of a virtue can be beneficial in the near future.

Virtue Trait Tree

Racial trait bonusesFor each of the 4 races (man, elf, dwarf and hobbit) you can also slot one racial trait, which give a bonus to you virtue score. These racial traits are:

Virtuous Man (Friend of Men of Bree Faction): +1 Conficence, +1 Justice, +1 Patience
Virtuous Elf (Friend of Elves of Rivendell Faction): +1 Charity, +1 Patience, +1 Wisdom
Virtuous Dwarf (Friend of Thorin's Hall Faction): +1 Fidelity, +1 Honesty, +1 Loyalty
Virtuous Hobbit (Friend of The Mathom Society Faction): +1 Empathy, +1 Honesty, +1 Idealism

In the table below, you can see each virtue and the bonuses they will give you (when slotted).

Bonuses from virtues (table adapted from Lotro-Wiki)

Virtue groups
Below tI give you a graphical presentation of the virtue groups and there bonuses. In the table above you can read the raw statistics.

Virtue Group 1: better character stats

Virtue	Primary Stat	Secondary Stat	Tertiary Stat
Determination	Agility	IC Morale regener	Morale
Discipline	Might	Resistance	Physical Mitigation
Idealism	Fate	Resistance	Will
Loyalty	Vitality	Power	Armour Value
Wisdom	Will	IC Power regen,	Resistance
Honesty	Power	Armour Value	Fate
Valour	Morale	NC Morale regen	Might
Zeal	Morale	Physical Mitigation	Armour Value

Virtue Group 2: better protection against attacks

Virtue	Primary Stat	Secondary Stat	Tertiary Stat
Charity	Resistance	Physical Mitigation	NC Power regen.
Compassion	Physical Mitigation	NC Power regen.	Tactical Mitigation
Confidence	Resistance	Will	IC Power regen.
Empathy	Armour Value	Fate	Resistance
Fidelity	Tactical Mitigation	Vitality	Power
Honour	Resistance	Tactical Mitigation	Vitality
Innocence	Physical Mitigation	Resistance	Tactical Mitigation
Tolerance	Tactical Mitigation	Agility	IC Morale regen.

Physical Mitigation: a better defend against melee attacks

Tactical Mitigation: a better defend against magical attacks

Note: tactical and physical mitigation are capped, which means that after a certain value the mitigation bonus has no effect. The cap on how much damage can be reduced depends on the type of armour you are able to wear.

- Light Armour: mitigation caps at 40%

- Medium Armour or lower: mitigation caps at 50%

- Heavy Armour or lower: mitigation caps at 70%

Armour Value = a better armour value against taken damage

Resistance = Better resistance against wound, fear, disease and poison

Virtue Group 3: better morale or combat regeneration

Virtue	Primary Stat	Secondary Stat	Tertiary Stat
Fortitude	NC Morale regen.	Might	Resistance
Justice	IC Morale regen.	Morale	NC Morale regen.
Mercy	NC Power regen.	Tactical Mitigation	Agility
Patience	IC Power regen.	Resistance	Physical Mitigation

IC regen = a better in combat (IC) regeneration of power or morale

NC regen = a better out of combat (NC) regeneration of power or morale

Slotting Virtues
Previously, you had to visit a bard to slot your virtues, but you can do it now by yourself, at any time and at any place. Just open the Trait Panel, by clicking on the Gandalf 'button' on your toolbar (bottom left on your screen). By pressing "J" on your toolbar, you can also access the Trait Panel.

Earned Virtues can be dragged into the available slots in the center of the panel.
If you click on a virtue, you will also open the deed log, and in this log (ordered by area) you can see what deeds you have to do to earn a rank in a specific virtue. Nowadays, the LOTRO store will also pop open, so you get an advertisement how to earn extra virtue ranks by investing turbine points.

You can have a maximum of 5 virtue slots. They will be open up at levels 7, 9, 11, 17 and 23. Which means that from level 7 onward you can slot your first virtue. Note: free to play players will have a lesser amount of virtue slots, and they have to buy these slots by investing turbine points.

The best virtue for your character
On the LOTRO forums you will find various discussions about the best virtues for each character class. In short, slotting virtues is a personal choice and will change at each game situation. For example: up to level 50 virtues that will give morale can be important for characters with light armour (hunter, minstrel, runekeeper, loremaster) to survive hazardous situation in dangerous areas. At higher levels, the mitigation bonuses become more important, and which one to choose depends highly on your character class and combat situation. Just ask some players which traits they prefer, or read the LOTRO forums to get an impression. Note: please note that after the Rise of Isengard expansion, the trait system has changed. Older posts on forums on the web (period 2007-2011) can therefore be a bit misleading, or are only appropriate for lower levels.

↧

Zeal

December 27, 2013, 7:44 am

≫ Next: Article 2

≪ Previous: Virtues

Zeal is a virtue that gives you more Morale and Armour, while it also increases your defenses against melee attacks.
↓
Follow these arrows for the table to increase your Zeal rank
↓

↓

You can increase your Zeal by doing the following deeds:

Level	Region	Deed	Location/Best Location
15	Bree-land	Broodhunter-slayer (kill 450 Barrow-Spiders)	Barrow of Taradan in the Northern Barrow Downs [30.9S, 55.0W] (a few barrow-spiders for this deed can also be found in the barrows of Haudh Taenthond [30.3S, 56.1W] and Hautham [30.3S, 56.0W]
1	Ered Luin	Goblin-slayer (kill 90 Goblins)	Rath Teraig [24.8S, 96.1W], or Dol Ringwest [24.9S, 95.0W], or Orodost [20.2S, 102.3W]
5	Ered Luin	Spider-slayer (kill 90 Spiders)	webbed valley in Rath Teraig [24.8S, 96.1W]
16	North Downs	Goblin-slayer (kill 270 Goblins)	South of Annúndir at [12.0S, 49.7W], or in Dol Dínen at [15.41S, 39.6W]
29	Trollshaws	Troll-slayer (kill 240 Trolls)	Go into one of the 3 troll caves Nurath Dungeon in Bruinen Gorges at 32.2S, 13.4W, or Torogrod Dungeon in the North Trollshaws at 29.5S, 20.3W, or Thingroth Dungeon in the North Trollshaws at 29.3S, 18.2W
39	Misty Mountains	Giant-slayer (kill 240 Giants)	around Giant's Needle at 30.4S, 3.5E or in Iorbar at 30.6S, 5.7E
33	Evendim	Kergrim-slayer (kill 360 Kergrims)	Inside the tomb of Haudh Valandur 16.4S, 66.5W (9 Kergrims which respawn very fast)
35	Angmar	Orc-slayer (180 Orcs)	The dungeon of Bûrzum Pushdug [4.3N, 35.0W] or the camps at Mor Maudhúl in Eastern Malenhad [3.1N, 27.7W] or Ongbishúk in Gorothlad [1.0S, 25.7W]
41	Forochel	Worm-slayer (180 Worms)	the hot springs north of Zigilzund at 10.2N, 82.6W
47	Moria: Silvertine Lodes or Zirakzigil	Dragonet-slayer (180 Dragonets)	Silvertine Lodes in and around a chamber located at 12.1S, 111.2W, or go to the snowy high plains of Zirakzigil at 14.9N, 109.9W
53	Moria: Silvertine Lodes Waterworks Flaming Deeps Redhorn Lodes Foundations of Stone Nud-melek	Bulwarks of the Enemy (find 8 locations for +2 Zeal)	Find 8 locations: Memem-berej in the Silvertine Lodes at 11.0S, 112.8W Harâzgund in The Water-works at 17.6S, 116.9W Forges Khazad-dûm in the Flaming Deeps at 17.0S, 109.8W Fil Gashan in the Flaming Deeps at 17.1S, 109.9W Gate of Ruin in The Redhorn Lodes at 10.2S, 103.9W Skûmfil in the Foundations of Stone at 13.2S, 100.4W Dark Delvings in the Foundations of Stone at 15.9S, 97.3W Sixteenth Hall in Nud-melek at 11.1S, 101.0W
55	Moria: Nud-melek	Corruption in Command (Defeat 3 bosses in the 16^th Hall: Tramug, Dhûrz and The Lost One)	16th Hall; a 6 man instance located near the campsite at 11.1S, 101.0W
55	Moria: The Flaming Deeps	Orcs of the Forge (Defeat 80 Orcs in the Forges of Khazad-dûm);	Forges of Khazad-dûm a 6/6 man instance at 17.0S, 109.7W
55	Moria: Zelem-melek,	Discovering Adventures in Zelem-melek	Explore and defeat enemies in: Baiúrz-mur [8.08S, 107.34W] Skrithûrz-ulíma [8.1S, 108.3W] Mudmul-charâf [6.4S, 108.4W] Explore and help someone in the Hall of Flowing Water [9.1S, 107.7W] Discover and explore Uzbad-bakân [10.5S, 107.9W]
60	Enedwaith	Wood-troll Slayer (180 Goblins)	northwest corner of Mournshaws [67.2S, 24.8W]
60	Dunland	Exploring Carreglyn: find 7 locations	Find 7 locations: Lower Barnavon [84.9S, 16.8W] Upper Barnavon [84.9S, 17.6W] Naur-maudhûl [81.9S, 15.7W] Barnavon Mine [84.7S, 14.4W] Hen Turrau [85.1S, 15.1W] Lhun Avanc [86.0S, 17.4W] Munfaeril's Shrine [83.9S, 16.8W]
60	Dunland	Quests in the Bonevales	Complete 30 quests within the Bonevales
70	Great River: Mega Deed	Explorer of the Great River. Complete 7 other deeds:	Complete all the Deed at the following locations:
		Thinglad Explorer	Discover 5 locations: Foul-maw's Den [24.4S, 60.8W] Haldirith [21.5S, 63.4W] Old Burrows [23.0S, 63.8W] Ûngund [19.8S, 63.4W] Hîs-urdan [23.7S, 62.1W]
		Eorlsmead Explorer	Discover 5 locations: Abandoned Farm [29.5S, 60.1W] Fetid Caves [28.0S, 61.3W] Stangard [25.9S, 63.4W] Eorlsmead Tower [28.0S, 59.9W] Teeming Nest [26.5S, 60.1W]
		Limlight Gorge Explorer	Discover 7 locations: Limlight Gatehouse [25.4S, 67.0W] Limlight Falls [28.5S, 72.3W] Ent-grove [29.4S, 72.1W] Fallen Watchtower [28.1S, 68.6W] Pothole [27.3S, 71.3W] Prospector's Shack [27.0S, 69.9W] Old Sawmill [29.0S, 69.7W]
		Wailing Hills Explorer	Discover 7 locations: The Cuthstan [25.6S, 66.0W] Frithstan's camp [24.6S, 65.5W] Nink-hai Camp [27.4S, 66.7W] Mor-Hai Settlement [23.9S, 68.1W] Secluded Clearing [22.2S, 64.9W] Venom-Bite Cave [22.2S, 66.5W] Aster Hill [22.9S, 65.7W]
		Parth Celebrant Explorer	Discover 5 locations: Idmar's Camp [28.5S, 56.8W] Field of Celebrant [28.5S, 57.9W] Hordfierd [30.4S, 57.9W] Ost Celebrant [30.3S, 56.0W] Murderous Pit [26.6S, 57.3W]
		Rushgore Explorer	Discover 6 locations: Aculf's Camp [29.1S, 55.2W] Atburg [30.9S, 53.8W] Wyrmdenn [28.0S, 54.6W] Creeping Mud [28.3S, 51.9W] Tik Botokh [30.0S, 53.2W] Clutch-ground [29.5S, 52.8W]
		Brown Lands Explorer	Discover 5 locations: Etheburg [31.3S, 52.1W] Helstor [28.9S, 50.5W] Lashkarg [33.2S, 51.9W] Desolation Gardens [32.8S, 47.9W] The Stone-hole [32.0S, 47.8W]
75	East Rohan	Enemies of the Rohirrim	Discover 12 locations: Olghakhósh [40.2S, 49.0W] Jóshkhin Orda [41.8S, 47.7W] Nîn-stazg [47.0S, 46.9W] Eastmund's Lair [36.1S, 56.0W] South Undeep [34.9S, 47.9W] Kufuzg [51.4S, 52.9W] White Hand War-camp [55.7S, 55.1W] Ash Durub [62.0S, 56.2W] Ufum-mau [64.7S, 55.5W] Krash-Bálum [54.1S, 59.6W] Maustazg [49.1S, 62.7W] Thrug-unur [40.1S, 68.6W]
85	Wildermore	Quests of the Balewood	Complete 25 quests in Balewood
95	West Rohan	Boar and Bear Slayer of the Westemnet	Defeat 200 boars and/or bears in the Westemnet

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Article 2

September 11, 2016, 3:31 am

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≪ Previous: Zeal

Tier 9 and Tier 10 artifacts in Gondor and Anórien

Gondor is a very huge area to look out for tier 9 and tier 10 scholar artifacts. The Gondor region is divided in five parts. In the north (south of the mouths of the Entwash) lies Anórien, with in the east Old Anórien and in the west Far Anórien. The Anórien areas are both tier 10 areas. The southern part of the Gondor area is subdivided in Eastern Gondor, Central Gondor and Western Gondor. The following chests can be found in Gondor and Anorion:

Western Gondor - Tier 9: Adorned Chests
1. Blackroot Vale (level 95 - 97 area)
2. Havens of Belfalas (lvl 96-100)
3. Lamedon (lvl 96-98)
4. Paths of the Dead (lvl 95-100)

Central Gondor - Tier 9: Adorned Chests
5. Dor-en-Ernil (lvl 100)
6. Lower Lebennin (lvl 100)
7. Pelargir (lvl 100)
8. Ringló Vale (lvl 100)

Eastern Gondor - Tier 10: Lavish Chests
1. Lossarnach (level 100 area)
2. South Ithilien (lvl 100 area)
3. Upper Lebennin (lvl 100 area)
4. Osgiliath (lvl 105 area)

Far Anorian - Tier 10: Lavish Chests
1. Taur Druadan (level 100 area)
2. The Beacon Hills (lvl 100 area)

Old Anorian - Tier 10: Lavish Chests
1. Pelennor Fields(level 100 area)
2. Talath Anor (lvl 100 area)

Tier 9 - Western & Central Gondor- Ornate Caches

Like in Rohan, Ornate Caches can also be found in Western and Central Gondor,but these areas are far more dangerous to search for artifacts than Rohan. For easy gathering on high levels (100+) I advise you to search for Ornate Caches in the Rohan areas.

Ornate Caches contain 2 types of raw material:
- Scrap of Rohirric Text
- Piece of Sealed Wax.

Sometimes, especially in heavy ornate caches, you can find the rare Tarnished Crest of Rohan. However, it is stated that this is a very rare drop from scholar artifacts, much rarer than the droprate from wood and ore...

The best spots for scholar artifacts in the Central and Western Gondor areas are still under research, but the Havens of Belfalas belongs definitelyto one of the best areas. Rather concentrated locations of caches can be found in the pirate haven of Edhellon, but also in the Hashadîr raider camp. Anotherrich area to look out for OrnateCaches are the Paths of the Death, but here the node locations are more scattered around the area.

1. Blackroot Vale
A preliminary map can be found below, I will update this map soon with notes and more exact node locations.

2. Havens of Belfalas
I completed my search in the area of the Havens of Belfalas, where I found four locations with clusters of Adorned Chests. The elven city Edhellond and Hashadîr, the Corsair raider camp south of Dol Amroth, are by far the richest locations. Both are dangerous areas, with many corsairs (pirates with turbans ... funny).

Edhellond was once a famous Elven city and port, where the Elves built their ships to sail westward and away from Middle-earth into the Undying Lands. There is also a strange tale of Amroth, Prince of Lórien, who was lost at or near Edhellond in the year TA 1981. As history says so, he was looking for his beloved Nimrodel, but was never seen again. Although you can fancy to find this famous Elven prince, your dream will evaporate soon when you visit in Edhellond. There are no elves anywhere, and the place is swarmed with aggressiveCorsairs. Nevertehless, Edhellond is an excellent place to look for Adorned Chests! I found 14 locations, 2 of them where heavy chests (I have marked them with a red circle on the map).

The Elven city of Edhellond, a perfect place for artifact hunting!

To the south of Dol Amroth, the big harbour city, lies the Corsair camp and pirate harborHashadîr. Like all Corsair camps, Hashadîr is swarmed by pirates, but there are many chests to be found. An interesting side quest brings you to the treasure chests of five pirate ships, which can be seen in the adjacent Bay of Belfalas.

Looking at the Bay of Belfalas, from the coastal road.
The big city is Dol Amroth; the brown camp in front is Hashadîr.
The island at the horizon is Tol Fennas.

The other two locations with adorned chests are also Corsair camps, but the abundance of chests is a little bit less. North of Tadrent, there is a camp at the foot of the hills and across the river: Makham Mijann. I found eight chest nodes, two of them where heavy adorned chests. Like all the other Corsair camps in the Belfalas area, this camp is also heavily guarded by Corsairs.

Makham Mijann, the corsair camp north of Tadrent

In the far southeast of the Belfalas area lies an interesting ruin, at the top of a stony mountainslope, Abedec's Watch. If you travel to the south, along the coastal road, you will see the towers of the ruin above your head.Abedec's Watchs is rather big and like Hashadîr you have to explore it quite extensively to locate all the eight chests. If you have found them all, slaying lots of Corsairs, the first explored chests will be respawned. So, if you have time, Abedec's Watch is an interesting place to gather you scraps of Rohirric Texts.

Abedec's Watch as seen from the coastal road.

To the south of Abedec's Watch lies the broken bridge, a huge elven construction. If you have a fast warhorse, be careful when you approach this bridge, otherwise you will drop down quite a distance. The view from the bridge to the Bay of Belfalas is breathtaking, especially at sunset. There are no chests to be hound near the bridge, but it is sure worth to visit this spot!

The end of the coastal road near Abedec's Watch

3. Lamedon
Lamedon is a rather empty area for Adorned Chests. You can find five chests in the bandit infested Tathrendalf, north of the small village Lothgobel. There are some other encampments and ruins in the area, but except at the abandoned camp at 69.7S and 59.3W, there are no chests to be found. The abandoned camp is unguarded, so you can pick easily the one and only chest near that spot. I checked all other places in Lamedon, but I could not find any other Adorned chest locations.

4. Paths of the Death
A preliminary map can be found below, I will update this map soon with notes and more exact node locations.

.
8. Ringló Vale
In the woody area of Ringló Vale chests with scholar artifacts are scarce. At first sight, there isn't any adorned chest to be found. If you are doing the Gondorian treasure chest deed, you will find 4 chests scattered around the vale, but these chests don't contain anything worthwile for a scholar. In my hunt for scholar artifacts I checked all the ruins and burned places with enemy's, since there is a good chance that you will find some artifacts there. It was fruitless... The orc infested camps at Gríshru and Lumber Camp where devoid of chests. Even in Dâr Mathum and the adjacent Dead Cave, where lost of dangerous evil spirit warriors dwell, there was absolutely no sign of adorned chests.

Only one location with Adorned Chests in Ringló Vale: inside the Spider Cave

After many hours of fruitless searching, I finally found a location inside the Spider Cave, west of the beacon of Eilendoth. Inside, you will find four chests, one of them was a heavy chest (blue marked in the map). Four chests is not very much for a whole region, so I advise scholars to search elsewhere for Adorned chests in Gondor (like The Havens of Belfalas!).

Four Adorned Chests inside the Spider Cave of Ringló Vale

Be aware at the end of the cave, because this is the lair of a the Weft-Mother, a level 101 spider of of 36.637 morale. Of course, this shouldn't be a big problem for the experienced artifact hunters.

The Weft-Mother, the guardian of the Spider Cave near the beacon of Eilendoth

Tier 10 - Eastern Gondor and Anorien- Lavish Chests

I am still working on these maps, but the locations which are currently known are shown below. In the upcoming weeks I will complete these areas, but for now it is up to you to find the exact locations!

Lavish Chest

Old Anórien: Pelennor Fields
A preliminary map can be found below, I will update this map soon with notes and more exact node locations.

Old Anórien: Talath Anor
A preliminary map can be found below, I will update this map soon with notes and more exact node locations.

Far Anórien: Taur Drúadan and The Beacon Hills
Theartifact location maps of both areas are in preparation, the node locations are not known yet...

Eastern Gondor: Lossarnach& Ithilien
I have made the first part of the Lossarnach map, which can be found below. The other regions are still terra incognita ('unknown lands') for me. I hope to publish the exact node locations of all these areas soon.

Lossarnach
A preliminary map can be found below, I will update this map with notes and more exact node locations as soon as possible.

South & Upper Ithilien
Theartifact location maps of both areas are in preparation, the node locations are not known yet...

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Article 1

September 11, 2016, 3:43 am

≫ Next: Atlas of Evendim

≪ Previous: Article 2

Index Elannah's Wonderful Lotro World

After a break of one year, I am playing Lotro again. So, good news for the scholars: I have recently updated my blog for tier 9 and 10 scholar artifacts in Gondor. The new pages can be found in the index below.

Tips

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Atlas of Evendim

October 21, 2016, 4:11 pm

≫ Next: Deeds in Forochel

≪ Previous: Article 1

Have you ever been in Evendim? No? Oh, you surely should go there!
It is a beautiful region with wonderful landscapes, good weather, relaxing music, great monuments & ruins and a bunch of interesting quests.
So, if you are level 25 to 30, just go to Evendim and level up to 38 or even 40!

Evendim map

Traveling to Evendim
The easiest way to travel to Evendim, is by hiring a horse at a stable from Michel Delving in the Shire. Just choose destination Hobbiton. After arriving in Hobbiton, change horses at the stable and go to Brockenborings. The stable of Brockenborings is the last stop in The Shire; here you rent again a horse with destination Oatbarton, in Evendim.
If you arrive in Oatbarton at level 25, you can begin questing in the Northcotton Farm. This area is a maze like area of farms, hedges and fields, where you have to do many small farm chores. Yo will gain at least 3 levels, by looking for eggs, chickens, milking the cows, washing pigs, smoking tobacco, etc. etc.

It is also possible to reach Evendim from the North Downs, but at level 25-30 this is a dangerous route to explore. There is a stable route from Trestlebridge in the North Downs to Tinnundir in Evendim. Trestlebridge lies in the southeast of the North Downs, and you can reach it by traveling northwards from West-Breetown. Tinnundir is the ranger island in the center of Evendim. To open the route from the North Downs to Tinnundir, you have to travel westwards through the Fields of Fornost. This is a dangerous area with many undeads and fierce bargests dogs.
If you have opened the route to Tinnundir and Oatbarton, there are swift travels from Michel Delving to Tinnundir. There are also swift travels from West Breetown and Esteldin to Tinnundir, so there are many ways to ride to the center of Evendim.

Travelroute to Evendim: rent a horse in Michel Delving, and ride subsequently to the stables of Hobbiton, Brockenborings and Oatbarton

Starting Quests in Evendim (from level 25 onwards!)
Evendim is essential a level 30-40 area, but you can already start you quests at level 25! To do that, go to Ost Guruth in the Lone lands. Find a woman called Hana the Young, she resides near the tower in the central part of Ost Guruth. If you are the right level, and you have done some quests in the Lone Lands from level 18-20 onwards, you will get the quest "Oatmeal Problems" from Hana. At level 25, this quest is red (its a level 30 quest); don't be afraid of the high level quest because it is a very easy one. First you have to go to the Forsaken Inn, to speak with Anlaf. He is the bartender and will send you to Nod Gardener, who lives in Oatbarton. Just travel to Michel Delving and pick up the stable route to Oatbarton, as described above.

As soon as you arrive in Oatbarton, go to Nod Gardener, who is in the center of the small settlement. He will send you to Northcotton Farm, which is a big and maze-like farm complex uphill, just behind Oatbaron. You have to travel a road uphill, west of Oatbaron, and have to speak with the farmer Albin Northcotton. The Northcotton farm complex is described below.

The Northcotton Farm
The Northcotton Farm is a big farming complex within a maze of hedges. It is locates in de area of Bullroarer's Sward. Below you see a picture of the layout of the farm complex, with the main farmers and areas of the farm complex.

Layout of the Northcotton Farm complex, west of Oatbarton (Bullroarer's Sward)

As you can see, there are 7 farmers in the Complex (yellow dots), which will give you lots of chores to do. The first thing to do, is to visit Albin Northcotton at the Market Grounds. He will give you various quests, which you can pick up from farmers like Blossom Gamgee, Edulf Tunnely, Rosa Brockhouse and Gerard Deephole.

Immidately when you enter the farm complex of Northcotton, you will have the feeling that you have entered a maze of farms, fields and hedges. And yes, this farm complex is more or less a maze, but you will learn your way soon enough by visiting to the various farmers. Below you see a map of the available roads (orange-brown) and impassible hedges (green). Impassible rock outcroppings are light grey. Through the hedges there are gates, and try to memorize the locations of these passages. If you look at the map you see the hedgegates depicted with two small green bars in the openings of the hedges.
Outside the hedges there are also some farms and fields, but these are only accessible through an instance quest. This area will be discussed later.

The Northcotton Farm complex: persons, places, roads en hedges

Each farmer will give you various quests, which are actually farmer chores. They are easy to do, but sometimes the locations of the chores are hard to find in the maze-like complex of Northcotton. I have made a map for you where you can find all the quests objects of the farm chores. I will not describe the quests, since it will spoil all the fun at Northcotton! Feel free to use the map, but remember it is a spoiler!

Northcotton Farm, location of all the quest objects

After you have done al the Northcotton Farm chores, you have to help Nibs Chubb & Hal Gamgee with their troubles. Don't look for them in the Northcotton Farm complex, since they aren't there. You have to go back to Oatbarton and have to find Nibs at his farm, which is a little east of the village center. If you go a little southeast of the farm, you will see 4 hobbits staring at a Mysterious Relic. You can examine this relic which starts an interesting deed. Just see it for yourself.

The farm brothers have some quests for you concerning a mysterious curse in the meadow and disperse some nasty insects in the cornfields. Look out for a dead animal corpse in the meadow, which is the solution of one of the quests. If you have done all the quests you are directed to the peculiar cam of Dwaling, where most of the hobbit houses are conquered by thieves and outlaws. The hobbits at Dwaling give you a lot of interesting quests. Not only to disperse the thieves and outlaws, but also to investigate a dangerous goblin camp.
If you completed all the quests at Dwaling, you will be level 29 or 30.

Some quests will send you to the sands of Barandalf. Try to check your bag regularly, because some foes will drop a green weed (algae). That green weed will start a quest whichdirect you to a ranger camp underneath a gigantic statue, at the crossing of Lake Evendim and the Brandywine River. These series of Evendim quests can be obtained already at level 28 or 29. Just visit High Kings Crossing. You can find the statue on the map also, so it must be no problem to find the ranger camp.

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Deeds in Forochel

July 28, 2017, 5:19 am

≫ Next: The Dutch Maps of Middle Earth, made by Cees Kelfkens

≪ Previous: Atlas of Evendim

Forochel is a beautiful place, with some interesting deeds. There are four groups of deeds:
1. Explorer of Forochel
2. Forochel Pioneer
3. Slayer of Forochel
4. The Lost Fellowship

1. Explorer of Forochel
To complete this group of deeds, you have to explore the harsh but beautiful and icecold wilderness of Forochel. For this, you have to explore the key battlegrounds of Forochel (Battle of Forochel deed) and to visit the old dwarven ruins. So, you need to complete the following:

The Battle for Forochel
Discover and visit four key battlegrounds of the Ice Bay of Forochel. Key battlegrounds could be blue or red, depending wich force controls them (red = evil force of Angmar, blue = free people of Middle Earth).

Hylje-leiri is the Camp of the Seal. It is a small hunting-camp which can be found at 18.8N, 81.3W.

Karhu-leir is the Camp of the Bear, ant this hunting-camp can be found at 12.9N, 66.3W.

Pynti-leiri is the Camp of the Hunt, and is one of the more popular hunting-camps of the Lossoth. The camp can be found at 8.8N, 70.5W.

Norsu-leiri is the Camp of the Mammoth. This hunting camp was established by the Lossoth to hunt mammoths and can be found at 8.0N, 78.9W.

Ancient Stones of Forochel
Although the Lossoth of Forochel are not great builders - they build small temporary settlements with iglo's or tents - there can be found some interesting old buildings scattered over this region. All these buildings where build by dwarves a long time ago, and one has even an underground mine. To complete this deed, find all the old dwarven ruins.

Kibilzahar: in an age when Dwarves mined the crags and bluffs of Forochel, they built many fortresses. Kibilhazar is one such place, though it has been long abandoned. Rumour has it that the place is infested with undead creatures. But as you know, rumours run wild among old ruins... The rold fortress of Kibilhazar can be found at 20.0N, 85.0W.

The Ironspan: The Ironspan was built by the dwarves long ago, as they sought precious metals and gems in the mountains of Forochel and Angmar. When the dwarves abandoned their endeavours, the Witch-realm of Angmar wrested control of the great gates. The place is full of Angmarin and can be found at 17.0N, 59.3W

Zigilgund: Zigilgund is an ancient dwarf-site, build at southern shore of the to Ice Bay of Forochel. Recently the dwarves have returned to this remote place; it can be found at 9.5N, 81.1W

The Lonesome Stones: the Lonesome Stones is an a weary and old ruin and a reminder of ancient days when dwarves mined the crags of Forochel. It is situated at 13.6N, 74.4W.

Find Icereave Mines: the Icereave Mines long stood unused, but now the Dourhands seek to use them for their own benefit. It can be found a short distance southeast of Zigilzund, at 8.9N, 81.9W

Forochel Pioneer
The brutal wilderness of Forochel would keep all but the hardiest at bay, but for those with the spirit to endure and thrive in its environment, its call may prove irresistable at the last. To complete this deed perform the following objective(s):
Complete quests in Forochel (30)
Your efforts here in a land of endless winter have endeared you to many of the Lossoth who live in the region. Between your efforts and those of the others who have fought on behalf of these folk, perhaps the Angmarim and their allies can be hindered in their evil designs.

Slayer of Forochel
There are many villainous monsters roaming Forochel, and the Free Peoples must do their part to slay them.
To complete this deed perform the following objective(s)
Complete Slayer deeds:Angmarim-slayer (Advanced)Dourhand-slayer (Advanced)
Gauradan-slayer (Advanced)
Grim-slayer (Advanced)
Sabre-tooth Slayer (Advanced)
Worm-slayer (Advanced)

The Lost Fellowship was a brave party that set off from Angmar to find a great treasure in Forochel. Unfortunately, they encountered some trouble along the way. To complete this deed perform the following objective(s):
Aid the Champion, Déornyd [11.4N, 69.8W]
Aid the Guardian, Nef [19.4N, 71.3W]
Aid the Burglar, Warstang [9.5N, 81.1W]
Aid the Captain, Reginald Ward [19.1N, 70.8W]
Aid the Hunter, Thurmaer [19.4N, 83.8W]
Aid the Lore-master, Cenlieg [3.0N, 58.1W]
Aid the Minstrel, Burgthryth [7.5N, 75.5W]

This deed is a prerequisite for the quest [50] Hero of the Lost. For female characters, the reward title is Heroine of the Lost.

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The Dutch Maps of Middle Earth, made by Cees Kelfkens

September 4, 2023, 6:47 am

≫ Next: Travelling to the Yondershire

≪ Previous: Deeds in Forochel

For all players who love the maps in the game, this blog is dedicated to three Dutch maps, drawn by the Dutch artist Cees Kelfkens (1919-1986).

The story goes as follows....

I have three old dutch Lord of the Rings Prisma pockets from 1976. From the moment I got these books, I loved the map art of three maps, which were enclosed in these pockets. In part I (The Fellowship) there is a beatiful map of the Shire by Cees Kelfkens, based on Tolkiens own map. You can see the name of the artist in the left bottom corner of the map, just by a capital 'K' or - on the Rohan map - by his family name, Kelfkens.

Map of the Shire

Dutch map of the Shire ('De Gouw'), drawn by Cees Kelfkens

As you can see, all the topographic names were translated in Dutch. For a young Dutch reader this was great, but years later - when the movies and LOTRO were released, it was a bit difficult to translate them directly into the original English name, devised by Tolkien. You need the original Tolkien Map to know which Dutch name refers to which English name.

For comparison: here is the original map made by Tolkien of the Shire:

Original map of the Shire, as drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien

Map of Rohan

In part 3 of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Dutch version), there was an intricate map of Rohan. It was republished in the one volume collectors edition in 2003. Unfortunately, the reproduction of the map had a fold in the middle, which makes the map not very easely readable in the centre parts. I made a scan of my 1976 pocket book and reworked it in Photoshop. Here is the final result:

The Lord of the Rings: Rohan map by Cees Kelfkens

As you can see this is a great map, drawn in the cartographic tradition of the old Dutch map makers, like Joan Blaeu in his Atlas Maior. This map was already enclosed as a folded map in the first Dutch edition, which was released in 1956-1957. Below is an impression of the first printed Dutch Rohan map, as photographed by the Tolkien shop, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Gondor map in the first Dutch edition of Lord of the Rings (1956-1957)

Most of the names on the Dutch map are recognisable, but some are lost in translation. For easy comparision of the English names, you can look them up on the original map, drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien, see the map below.

Original map of Gondor, as drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien

Map of Middle Earth

I do not remember in which volume the big folded map was enclosed, since I have used it over and over to look at all the details. It was first published in 1956-1957 as a big, folded map in the first Dutch edition of the Lord of the Rings. In the pocket series it was enclosed as a white, folded map, sized between A4 and A3. As you can see clearly by the 'K', this map was also drawn by Cees Kelfkens. I have scanned the map and reworked it, to remove the folds (and their shadows). The result of the scanned and enhanced Kelfkens map is presented below:

The Lord of the Rings: Middle Earth map by Cees Kelfkens (1976 printing)

Below a picture of the original 1956-1957 map, as can be seen at the Tolkien Shop, Leiden, The Netherlands:

The Kelfkens Middle Earth map of 1956-1957 (Tolkien shop, Leiden, Netherlands)

As you can see on the scanned map above, the map is a real beauty of art. I love the Dutch map, even if the names where translated in Dutch (and sometimes got lost in translation...).

Below you see the original map of J.R.R Tolkien, which is preserved in the British Library:

Original map of Middle Earth, drawn by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Travelling to the Yondershire

September 19, 2023, 9:36 am

≫ Next: Adventures in the Yondershire

≪ Previous: The Dutch Maps of Middle Earth, made by Cees Kelfkens

The Yondershire is the new north-western hobbit-region added to The Shire in April 2022 (update 33). In fact it is the same area as The Shire, and you can see this clearly when you make use of the stables for travelling within The Shire. Access to the quests requires the Yondershire quest pack, but is free for players with a VIP account. Quests in the Yondershire are mainly intended for toons of level 20 - 24. You can also start at level 18 or 19, but at these levels most of the quests will be red.

The Yondershire area (the red dotted line is the boundary between The Shire)

Lore of the Yondershire
The Hobbits from Bree got official permission from the high king of Fornost (Argeleb II) in T.A. 1601 to settle the land between the Brandywhine River and the Far Downs. The total area was about 21,400 square miles and was divided into four subregions of the Shire: the four farthings. There were cooler and drier fields in the Northfarthing; downlands in the Westfarthing; sheltered coplands in the Southfarthing and the mixed lands in the Eastfarthing - consisting of woods, marshes, croplands and quarries. A little east of Bywater there is an official 'three-areas point', where the three borders of the West-, East and Southfarthing come together into one single point. On this special location, the Hobbits have erected the Three Farthing Stone. This landmark can be seen at 32.2S, 69.6W near Bywater, near Tom Cotton's farm. The location and a scenic view of this landmark is presented below.

Location of the Three Farthing Stone in The Shire

The Three Farthing Stone as seen from Tom Cotton's Farm

Enjoying a close view of the Three Farthing Stone

Later in history, the Eastmarch (Buckland) and the Westmarch were added to the Shire. The Eastmarch was occupied in T.A. 2340, almost 700 years before the War of the Rings. The Westmarch was granted by Aragorn, 32 years after the end of the War of the Rings.

By playing Lord of the Rings Online, the Eastmarch is the area east of Combe and Staddle. The Westmarch is situated east of Gamwich and Tighfield, and only a small part is accessable in the game. South of Foxden Heath and the Shire Homesteads - near Michel Delving - lies the Southfarthing. Since the start of LOTRO in 2007, this particular area of the Shire is still inaccessible. In the map below you see the boundaries of the Northfarthing and the Westfarthing.

In the Tolkien's books, and especially in 'The History of Middle Earth' by Christopher Tolkien, there is no mention of the Yondershire. So, this area should be interpreted as the lands, ruins and settlements 'beyond' the Hill, west of Bilbo Balings home. If you look at J.R.R. Tolkien's maps, and especially at the maps in the Atlas of Middle Earth by Karen Wynn Fonsted & Christophor Tolkien, you will see that the Yondershire contains both the Northfarthing and the Westfarthing. A correct picture of the boundaries of these farthings in the LOTRO game can be seen below:

Farthing boundaries within the Yondershire

As you can seen in the map, the Westfarthing contains not only the Yondershire area, but also a small partion of LOTRO's 'The Shire' area, e.g. Needlehole, Little Delving and even Michel Delving.

Traveling to the Yondershire
If you are in the Shire, and you have never visit the Yondershire, you can enter this area by following the road westwards from Needlehole. Just pass through the Rushock Gate and you will enter the Yondershire.

If you are in the little settlement of Little Delving, you can enter the Yondershire by following the road in north-western direction. You will soon enter the Yondershire and arrive at the settlement of Foxden Road. If you want to travel through the wilds, you go to Rushock Bog. Go to the centre of this boggy place ant travel in a western direction: you will soon enter the wilds of Yondershire, east of the Foxden Road settlement. Another option, it travelling from Ered Luin. Go to Duillond, cross the high bridge across the river and go in eastern direction. Affter a while you will soon enter the Yondershire, but it will take a whilte before you will reach the first settlement: Tighfield.

If you have already visited one of the stables, the most convenient way to travel to the Yondershire, is by hiring a horse at a stable from Michel Delving in the Shire. Just choose one of the stable destinations in the Yondershire, like Nobottle, Tighfield, Foxden Road or Gamwich.

Starting the questline for the Yondershire

As soon as your adventurer reaches level 19 or 20, you start with the first quest 'To Yondershire' in Needlehole. in the northwest part of The Shire. Travel to Needlehole, pass the hedge gate and find Bounder Chubb to pick up the first Yondershire-quest. Bounder Chubb will ask you to pay a visit to the dwellings of Nobottle and Tighfield in the Yondershire.

Bounder Chubb in Needlehole

After you got the quest from Bounder Chubb, follow the road westwards, cross two bridges, and after passing the Rushock Gate, you will find Bingo Boffin along the road. Bingo will give you the second Yondershire quest, 'A visit to Yondershire', which directs you to Tighfield. Pass the stone gate after Bingo and turn left, e.g. westwards and your adventures in the Yondershire (aka the North- and Westfarthing) will begin!

Below is a graphic report of my travel to the Yondershire, picking up quests from Bounder Chubb and Bingo Boffin. I came from the road northy of Rushock Bog and arrived at the little settlement of Needlehole. Directly after passing the Hedge Gate, I found Bounder Chubb.

Location of Bounder Chubb in Needlehole

After I got the quest, I travelled westward, following road which is directly adjacent to the river. First I had to cross a high stone bridge, and after a while I crossed another and lower stone bridge. I finally arrived at Rushock Gate, which is also a Hedge gate.

From Needlehole to Rushock Gate

At Rushock Gate, I saw Bounder Dogberry, who waved me goodbye after passing the gate and entering the Yondershire.

Bounder Dogberry at Rushock Gate

After passing the Rushock Gate, I saw another gate, made from stone. A friendly hobbit in a green jacket was standing near the road. It was Bingo Boffin, who gave me a quest to visit hobbits in the settlement of Tighfield.

Bingo Boffin and the stone gate to the Yondershire

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Adventures in the Yondershire

September 20, 2023, 9:37 am

≪ Previous: Travelling to the Yondershire

The Yondershire area is a very good alternative for hobbitplayers who do not like the man quests in North-downs. Just go to Needlehole and pick up the first quests and enter The Yondershire!

Quests in the Yondershire
The quests in the Yondershire have a very typical 'hobbit' theme. As usual, there are quests that let you run from postoffice to postoffice, avoiding nosey hobbits. And there are also 'search' quests for missing hobbits and objects. Of course there is some mushroom and strawberry hunting, you can feed all kind of animals and at some places you can help with the beer or breakfast preparation.

You can play a hide-and-seek game with an Gildor Inglorion and the kids,

Sometimes your quests looks like a job of social worker: you have to calm offended hobbits, must resolve a bullying incident or collect signatures for a petition.

Some quests are typical slayer-orientated, but most are friendly hobbit quest to help hobbits in need or in distress. If you don't mind slow levelling, than the Yondershire is a great area to have fun with Lotro!

Mischief in the Yondershire with Dinodas Boffin
One of the most funniest quests (lvl 20) are the quests which let you do some mischief with a very playful hobbit kid: the famous Dinodas Boffin. With him, you will enter a quite hilarious questchain with several quest-assignments! It actually starts with the quest 'A Visit to Yondershire', which was given to you by Bingo Boffin near Needlehole. One of the tasks that you will get, is to find Dinodas Boffin in the settlement of Gamwich.

At some point, Dinodas Boffin will ask you to help you with a housewarming present, and from than on all the mischief will begin! If you follow the questchain, you will meet up with Dinodas Boffin during the following three quests: 9 Honeymead Lane, followed by Dinodas in Distress and finally with A Caper on Honeymead Lane. After resolvong these quests, you have to do some other tasks, starting with the quest 'Boffins on the Loose'. Please, do all the tasks of this quest, since it will ends with one of the most funniest instances in the Lotro game, called 'A Very Boffin Housewarming'. As you can see, I don't give clues, since it will spoil all the fun of the Dinodas Boffin quests. If you do them, you will remember him forever.

A meeting with Dinodas Boffin, somewhere in Nobottle, to do some mischief...

Sites of Yondershire (Deed)
One of the Deeds in the Yondershire is to visit the Sites of Yondershire. First, you can pay a visit to the hobbit-settlements of Nobottle, Gamwich, Long Cleeve and Tighfield. If you ride quickly along the roads to these places, there are no noteworthy enemies you will meet. If you do it early in the Yondershire area, don't forget to visit the stables, since that will open the travel routes to these settlements.

After visiting the hobbit-settlements, it is time to do some ruins exploration. Troughout the Yondershite area there are 5 named ruins, which are inhabited by quite large groups of unfriendly ruffians, goblins or half-orcs. A rough location of these ruins are given on the map below. I dont give coordinates, since it will spoil all the fun by finding them. The map is accurate enough to find the ruins, althoug sometimes you have to look carefully where the entrance is situaties. Ruins along the road are: Bâr Faroth, north of Long Cleeve, and Tham Amothir, west of Tighfield. The entrance of Bâr Faroth is on the eastside, just circle the stonewall in an eastwards direction and you will find it.The entrance to Tham Amothir is also a bit hidden. Just follow the road westwards until you pass the ruin, which is build high on a hill. After you have passed the ruin, look for a small path going uphill (left of the road, at the southside of the road).

The other three ruins are situated in the wilds, they are Lhúngobel, in the outer northwest, Ost Lagorath above Gamwich and Taerhad, east of Long Cleeve and north of Bullroar's Way. As soon as you have visited these 8 sites, you have completed the Sites of Yondershire Deed. As you can see, I don't give coordinates, just try to find these sites with help of the map below. It is way more fun!

Deeds in the Yondershire: visiting settlements and ruins

Hunting insects: the Insect Slayer Deed of the Yondershire

There are two kinds of insects that will contribute to your Insect Slayer deed in the Yondershire. These are Kneekerbreekers (kind of swamp crickets) and Harvest-flies (kind of sickle-flies). These insect species will remind you of your adventures in the Shire, in Rushock Bog east of Needlehole. Kneekers and Swampflies are also common in Bree-land, especially in the Midgewater Marshes, east of the village of Staddle (near Bree). You can find Kneekerbreekers and Harvest-flies near streams and especially in boggy areas of the Yondershire. On the map below I have added some, but not all, locations where you can find them. Just look at clusters of green squares (Neekers) and lilac diamonds (Flies) on the map. A very good place to go for kneeker-hunting is the bog in the east of the Yondershire, at 35.3S, 88.1W. Lots of Harvest-flies can be found east of Thâm Amothir, at 27.3S, 83.9W. The fly around a stone circle with five ruined pillars.

Many harvest-flys can be found around the stone circle near Tighfield (27.3S, 83.9S)

Note: harvest flies in the Lotro game, do not have any resemblance to the harvest flies of our human world (real life), which are big cicadas. In the Lotro game they are unique fly-like insects with a sting like a wasp. They looke a bit like a giant caddis fly, but those insects don't have a sting and are not aggresive at all.

Hunting mammals: the Beast Slayer Deed of the Yondershire
Three kinds of mammals will contribute to your Beast Slayer deed in the Yondershire. These are bears, Wolves and Shrews. Wolves and Bears dwell mainly in woods and along forest edges, while shrews can be found in the grassy open fields or along grassy roads. All these mammals can befound scattered throughout the Yondershire. There are two bear-dens and one wolf den with 15-20 animals of these species. They will contribute hugely to the Beast Slayer Deed of the Yondershire if you can locate them. The Wolf den is in the woods northeast of Gamwich, around 23.4S, 81.2W. Just look at your radar if you are level 20-25, and as soon as you see a cluster of red dots you have found the den. The bear den in the West, at 23.3S, 85.6W, can be located using the same technique. However, you have to go into the wilds and cross one of the streams to reach the den. Is is at a somewhat higher location, with trees and boulders. The other bear den is harder to find. It is located at the south side of the road from Nobottle to Bullroarer's Way. Look for a gap in the stone wall, along the road. This gap is is located at 25.5S, 76.1W. Cross the gap in the wall southwards, walk a little bit higher, to the southeast and look for a narrow valley between two rocky outcrops. Around 25.7S, 75.4W, many red dots on your radar will appear: you have found te well hidden Bear den of Bullroarer's Way!

Deeds in the Yondershire: Beast Slayer Deed

Pass the stone wall and go up between the rocks to find the Bear Den of Bullroarer's Way

The hidden Bear Den of Bullroarer's Way: look at the red dots in the radar!

Hunting for the bad guys & girls: the Enemies of Yondershire (Slayer Deed)
Enemies of the Yondershire can be easily found by using your rader (at level 20-25): if you sea many read dots around the below depicted places on the map, you have found them! The bad guys and girls of the Yondershire are thieves and ruffians, and they live in derelict places like the elven ruin of Ost Lagorath, north of Gamwich. Another concentration of thieves and ruffians lives east of Tighfield, just west of a straight and low stone wall, with some ruined pillars. This ruined place with no name, I call it 'The Straight Wall'), is around 26.6S 84.5N. It lies a bit west of the harvest-fly concentration at the pillared stone circle (see pictures below). To enter this place, you have to go uphill at the road between Tham Amochir and Tighfield. Just look for a straight stone wall with an arched stone gate. You can see the straight wall as a thin black line in your radar, with lots of red dots behind the wall (see picture below). The wall can even be seen on the map, if you look careful you see a very thin and straight line, pointing northwards.

The other baddies are goblins and halforcs. Lots of halforcs live in the elven ruins of Tham Amothir, in the southwest, and also in the ruins of Tearhead, north of Bullroarer's Way. Goblins dwell in two other elven ruins. One is situated in the far northwest, and is called Lhûngobel. The other goblin infested ruin is Bâr Faroth and lies north of Long Cleeve.

Deeds in the Yondershire: the Enemies of the Yondershire

Thieves and ruffians at the Straight Wall. Look at the radar and you see the wall.

Cowardly Boggarts
Throughout the Yondershire, there are also small roaming bands of Cowardly Boggarts. These small goblins comes in groups of 4-6, and they run like madman through the countryside - even along the road from Nobottle to Bullroarer's Way. I have not included all of these roaming Boggarts, the map depict just some of them I have met on my travels. You can recognise these mad goblins in your radar: look for a small moving cluster of 2 or 3 red dots. Just point your mouse above such a red dot, and you will find out if it is a group of Boggarts. They are usually level 20-21, but can be a nuisance if they popup screaming while you are fighting other creatures in the Yondershire.

Four Cowardly Boggarts attack with their pointy spears

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Tier 9 - Western & Central Gondor- Ornate Caches

Tier 10 - Eastern Gondor and Anorien- Lavish Chests

Remmirath, the Netted Stars, right above my head.