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ILL Machina posted:My understanding is that Mordor is a quality leap over Gondor like Gondor was over Rohan. Everything you says valid though. Moria really was LotRO at its best, with Mirkwood being almost as good and only 5 levels higher so Moria content was still extremely relevant and DN gear was BiS for some classes, iirc. Isengard's story quality was a big drop and then Rohan was just monotonous in addition to mounted combat being what it is. Helm's Deep had an interesting idea with those big battles but even in groups they felt bad and doing the 6-12 man fights without having your skill trees optimized for it was extremely bad times for everyone. I think I did one 12 man run once with 11 others setup for specific roles and it was absolute chaos and IIRC we lost at the end because something we needed to protect just died in seconds when a boss and some other stuff spawned and attacked it. Helm's Deep has the saving grace of the bug that made my Captain's mounted combat CDs super short so I could use the giant AOE nuke every couple of seconds and I just destroyed warbands (that didn't have mounted ranged units) because of it. Even a couple of raid-tier warbands died in minutes because I had about 10x the DPS, with a massive AOE, than you'd normally have even with single target stuff. Pham Nuwen posted:Don't forget bears and boars! This is where Moria was able to be its strongest, and Mirkwood to a lesser extent. The entirety of the Foundation of Stone and its enemies were basically Turbine saying "hey Gandalf mentioned a bunch of ancient, nameless things in the depths when he fell with the Balrog so we can do what we want." They can't really do that with most of the rest of the game that follows the Fellowship since it was pretty much orcs, trolls, and evil men with the occasional other thing like evil spirits or wargs. Someone making a Middle Earth MMO that can just use the setting and not be tied to specific stories could be good but it'd also have a higher chance of being some fanfic disaster (like the additions to pad out the Hobbit movies).
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Feb 9, 2023 05:40
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This is easily the most beautiful LOTR game when it comes to the portrayal of Middle-Earth. When you're walking on that ridge in the Shire and there's that little rainbow above the valley and you can see all the way across Bywater to Hobbiton, yeah. A lot of fun to run around.
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Feb 13, 2023 00:39
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Howard Beale posted:This is easily the most beautiful LOTR game when it comes to the portrayal of Middle-Earth. When you're walking on that ridge in the Shire and there's that little rainbow above the valley and you can see all the way across Bywater to Hobbiton, yeah. A lot of fun to run around. Yeah and they're semi uncommon I think? Makes for an amazing experience. Can't not have a home in the shire homesteads. 
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Feb 13, 2023 01:03
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Glory to Italia!
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how were the burglar changes from a few months ago? Did it make them better solo at all
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Feb 13, 2023 02:26
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As a rule anything can solo landscape because landscape is so easy these days once you get legendaries.
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Feb 13, 2023 02:56
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Lum_ posted:As a rule anything can solo landscape because landscape is so easy these days once you get legendaries. ah ok was just wondering about whether the update changed how they handle content much at all, or if it was a good update for them in general in other news I can't seem to access my account. Somehow doing a password reset for an account I made in ??august?? i think, whenever the 15th anniversary stuff was, doesn't send anything to any of my emails. I know the account name because it was autofilled when I downloaded and installed the launcher.
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Feb 13, 2023 04:15
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Burglar should be a lot better class since Update 34 came out last November. (Update notes here.) A lot of their skills didn't work as advertised, especially regarding Critical Multiplier bonuses. Many skills should have been Fast, but weren't. Stealth broke when it shouldn't, and Stealth Level bonuses did nothing. Pretty much all of that seems to have been fixed. All that said, I ran a burglar from 1 to 140 a couple of months before that update came out, and soloing landscape content wasn't that difficult. From what I gathered, Burglars hadn't been that useful in end-game group content for quite a while, but should be a viable melee dps, debuff, and/or crowd control class now. (I haven't been a regular end-game raid player since before Rohan came out though, so I can't really speak from experience.)
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Feb 18, 2023 05:41
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Yellow burg is desirable in group content for the damage buffs.
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Feb 19, 2023 05:41
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I have lots of memories running Moria dungeons and how having a good burglar player in the group, and the group paying attention, meant fellowship attacks left and right. Are they still useful in that regard? I haven't run group content for so long I don't even know if fellowship moves still exist.
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Feb 19, 2023 18:54
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Evil Fluffy posted:I have lots of memories running Moria dungeons and how having a good burglar player in the group, and the group paying attention, meant fellowship attacks left and right. Are they still useful in that regard? I haven't run group content for so long I don't even know if fellowship moves still exist. https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Fellowship_Manoeuvre Burglers and guards each have three moves that can start them, but burgs have marbles and don't have as many conditional reqs for the triggering skills. They're still in the game and strong, but require coordination you might not get from pubs other than all red+1. If you move after picking, you lose your spot in the order, and you can't start FM on a unit that can't be stunned or within 1 min of a previous FM. ILL Machina fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Feb 20, 2023 |
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Feb 20, 2023 00:31
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I really really hate the rigamarole it is to get to Rivendell to get new LI stuff- I get that they're keeping it as a perk for subscribers, but it seems needlessly complex to get there otherwise. I know there's a scroll there, but the cap on ancient script makes every point more valuable than they need to be.
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Feb 22, 2023 21:25
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Glass of Milk posted:I really really hate the rigamarole it is to get to Rivendell to get new LI stuff- I get that they're keeping it as a perk for subscribers, but it seems needlessly complex to get there otherwise. I know there's a scroll there, but the cap on ancient script makes every point more valuable than they need to be. unlocking fast travel on a character really is a requirement, for that reason among others. you don't need to be an active subscriber, just have the character log in once while subscribed and it's good forever.
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Feb 22, 2023 21:35
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Glass of Milk posted:I really really hate the rigamarole it is to get to Rivendell to get new LI stuff- I get that they're keeping it as a perk for subscribers, but it seems needlessly complex to get there otherwise. I know there's a scroll there, but the cap on ancient script makes every point more valuable than they need to be. Gandalf has a quest in Bree which you can get at like level 10 where accepting it instantly teleports you to Rivendell. Just cancel the quest immediately afterwards and you'll have free transportation to Rivendell forever.
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Feb 23, 2023 13:35
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So what's the story in this game? Does it all take place during the quest to destroy the ring or is it in another time?
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Feb 23, 2023 15:55
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Shard posted:So what's the story in this game? Does it all take place during the quest to destroy the ring or is it in another time? Yes.
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Feb 23, 2023 16:02
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To be less jokey, the very first quests take place before the fellowship gets together, then you kind of dog their heels for a bit, and by the 3rd or 4th expansion you're after the destruction of the ring and dealing with the fallout.
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Feb 23, 2023 16:03
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There are also a bunch of cool parts that tell stories from before Lord of the Rings (Mordor Besieged, Blood of Azog, etc.)
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Feb 23, 2023 16:05
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Shard posted:So what's the story in this game? Does it all take place during the quest to destroy the ring or is it in another time? The main quest runs parallel to the story in the LotR trilogy and intersects with it multiple times. You'll run into most of the named characters from the books and often get to help them out. Sometimes your actions during the main quest is the reason certain things turn out the particular way they do in the trilogy, which is a fun detail and written in a way that doesn't retcon the original story.
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Feb 23, 2023 16:13
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Cyrano4747 posted:by the 3rd or 4th expansion you're after the destruction of the ring and dealing with the fallout. Actually it'll be the 6th (or 7th, if you count Gondor as an expansion).
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Feb 23, 2023 16:17
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The first part of the game (the original game on release and the first few expansions) tried to keep you somewhat apart from the Fellowship if at least in a parallel time, but by the time you're in Rohan and especially Gondor you're very much a part of the book's narrative, fighting in the major battles of the series and so on.
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Feb 23, 2023 17:11
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Any sage advice on zones to avoid like the plague while leveling/doing the epic story? I see there's some options with overlapping level ranges so I'd love to know which zones are best skipped bc they're boring, ugly, questing is super awkward, etc etc.
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Feb 23, 2023 21:09
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parara posted:Any sage advice on zones to avoid like the plague while leveling/doing the epic story? I see there's some options with overlapping level ranges so I'd love to know which zones are best skipped bc they're boring, ugly, questing is super awkward, etc etc. People are going to tell you to skip Angmar and make a beeline for Eregion and Moria as soon as you can. There’s legitimate reasons to do so (it’s a bleak, desolate zone with too few fast travel points and a lot of the content is tuned for groups since it was the endgame zone of the base game), but I’d argue that it’s worth playing through at least once for lore reasons. A significant portion of the later parts of the first book of the main quest are set there, so if you’re playing through that you’re going to end up there sooner or later anyway. As for skippable zones, I’d say Misty Mountains is a strong candidate. And unless you love riding back and forth a lot, Forochel.
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Feb 23, 2023 21:25
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parara posted:Any sage advice on zones to avoid like the plague while leveling/doing the epic story? I see there's some options with overlapping level ranges so I'd love to know which zones are best skipped bc they're boring, ugly, questing is super awkward, etc etc. Get an extra milestone (teleport) skill and bind it to Rivendell the first time you go there. Way too many quests have one or more steps that are just "go talk to Elrond" and the only legendary item shops in the game are in his basement. Or do the trick mentioned upthread to get a free teleport by keeping a particular quest uncompleted. As a Hunter or Warden, you eventually get a class skill that will teleport you there; however, you don't get that skill until level 46 or 44 (respectively) and the epic questline gives you your first Elrond visit at level 32 or 37, depending on whether you picked Before the Shadow or Shadows of Angmar for your start. It's probably not worth bothering with crafting unless you particularly like it. The gathering skills (prospector, forester, scholar) might not be so bad, if you're up for selling materials at the auction house.
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Feb 23, 2023 21:56
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Comrade Koba posted:People are going to tell you to skip Angmar and make a beeline for Eregion and Moria as soon as you can. There’s legitimate reasons to do so (it’s a bleak, desolate zone with too few fast travel points and a lot of the content is tuned for groups since it was the endgame zone of the base game), but I’d argue that it’s worth playing through at least once for lore reasons. A significant portion of the later parts of the first book of the main quest are set there, so if you’re playing through that you’re going to end up there sooner or later anyway. I'd say the same generally, at least play through Volume 1 Books 7 or 8 to get access to all of Angmar + keys to Carn Dum. If you like that story then keep going or just hit da bricks for Eregion and come back later if you want.
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Feb 23, 2023 22:25
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parara posted:Any sage advice on zones to avoid like the plague while leveling/doing the epic story? I see there's some options with overlapping level ranges so I'd love to know which zones are best skipped bc they're boring, ugly, questing is super awkward, etc etc. Do the Moria intro in Eregion when you hit level 45. You'll get some introduction legendary items that blow away anything you'd use at that point and it lets you start getting your LI going so that whenever you start Moria around 50 (I think you need at least level 48 to start the Epic quests inside) you'll have a little bit of a head start. Plus Moria is just better than any other content before that point (and honestly, after it too in most cases). You can go back to other zones once you finish the Moria intro, but it's definitely worth stopping whatever you're doing and running that intro quest line. Enemies will be orange/red but if you take them 1-2 at a time you'll be fine and the power boost from the LIs will let you cut through chaff in Angmar or whatever other pre-Moria zone you're running if you decide to do all of the story content before moving on.
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Feb 23, 2023 23:09
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Evil Fluffy posted:Do the Moria intro in Eregion when you hit level 45. You'll get some introduction legendary items that blow away anything you'd use at that point and it lets you start getting your LI going so that whenever you start Moria around 50 (I think you need at least level 48 to start the Epic quests inside) you'll have a little bit of a head start. Plus Moria is just better than any other content before that point (and honestly, after it too in most cases). What's the first quest for this line called? I'll keep an eye out for it!
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Feb 24, 2023 01:06
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parara posted:What's the first quest for this line called? I'll keep an eye out for it! Epic Quest Vol. II, Book 1, Chapter 1: Strangers in Hollin it's given by the dwarf at the door to moria in eregion, kind of hard to miss
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Feb 24, 2023 01:23
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Lum_ posted:Epic Quest Vol. II, Book 1, Chapter 1: Strangers in Hollin There's a prologue quest even before that where you help the Fellowship set off from Rivendell. https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Category:Vol._II._Prologue_Quests
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Feb 24, 2023 01:34
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I’m going to be the dissenting voice and say don’t skip ahead to Moria. The story makes a lot more sense in order and you don’t really need Uber gear for main plot quests.
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Feb 26, 2023 04:57
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Nerding out by being in Rivendell doing quests with the Elrond boys. I'm level 35 and this has honestly been pretty awesome. I like the story and it's been fun to kind of turn my brain off while I farm and collect bear asses.
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Mar 1, 2023 05:07
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Before the Shadow is now in the points store, if anyone is interested. I don't know much, but it sounds like the delvings are not quite there yet.
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Mar 10, 2023 18:12
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I finally made it to Moria for the first time. My jaw dropped at how beautiful it is. And like every game’s first expansion, the quests suddenly get much better and more logically structured. I’ve been told you get sick of Moria’s interiors pretty quickly but leveling is much faster these days so I don’t think it’ll outstay its welcome.
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Mar 11, 2023 22:45
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Pryce posted:I’ve been told you get sick of Moria’s interiors pretty quickly but leveling is much faster these days so I don’t think it’ll outstay its welcome. For me, Moria was great from start to finish design-wise. The various subzones are different enough in outlook and atmosphere that they rarely felt repetitive or uninspired. There’s some backtracking and fetch questing near the middle that felt a little bit tedious, but that was mostly because Moria is huge and so you spend a lot of time riding back and forth between quest hubs.
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Mar 11, 2023 22:59
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just avoid the Waterworks entirely and you'll be good
Demon Of The Fall fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Mar 12, 2023 |
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Mar 12, 2023 00:06
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Pryce posted:I’ve been told you get sick of Moria’s interiors pretty quickly but leveling is much faster these days so I don’t think it’ll outstay its welcome. I'm from the hobbit influx, so I've been playing a long time now, but was also really late to the game. As a side note: some of the epic quests are also pretty... Not happy, in that era. (Hopefully balance changes haven't made some of them impossible - a few were quite tough when I went through because that poo poo wasn't considered with years later balance changes). But it really does also feed into the mood. My advice is that once you start Moria, to try to stay there until you're done. Do your banking and such there. Why? Because it's goddamn oppressive, in a wonderful way. The zones are ultimately the same bear rear end gameplay as everything else, but the atmosphere is on point. Let yourself yearn for light. The zones do have variety, but the constant underground definitely can be felt. Then when you do finish it, and come out the other side and see the golden forest, it just makes the whole experience that much more memorable. At least, that's how it was for me!
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Mar 12, 2023 01:22
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xZAOx posted:Then when you do finish it, and come out the other side and see the golden forest, it just makes the whole experience that much more memorable. 100% was the same for me. Stepping down to the mirrormere then entering lothlorien after spending so much time underground felt amazing. That 50-60 content is some of the best in any mmo as far as I’m concerned.
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Mar 12, 2023 04:23
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Questing in and around Evendim but man it there is some whiplash of Aragorn: "Carry this letter to one of my ranger buddies from Rivendell to Evendim." **Carries letter** Ranger: "OI, you, a letter don't mean dick to me, now, here's a bunch of quests that have you go back and forth to Rivendell and here"
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Mar 12, 2023 16:48
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Evendim: Enjoy spending the next ten levels killing nothing but bandits
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Mar 12, 2023 20:46
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But no boar asses.
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Mar 12, 2023 20:49
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Comrade Koba posted:Evendim: Enjoy spending the next ten levels killing nothing but bandits Be glad the boats exist now because long ago it was "enjoy spending the next half dozen or so levels killing bandits and swimming back and forth when your fast travel's on CD." Demon Of The Fall posted:just avoid the Waterworks entirely and you'll be good Ignore this poster and embrace the  frogs.(no but really, that area sucked and you can get away with only doing any epic quests that send you there) Evil Fluffy fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Mar 12, 2023 |
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Mar 12, 2023 22:25
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