#LOTRO: I’m Legendary, Baby!

A crappy week outside of LOTRO but I managed to get some respite from it all in Middle Earth…

Ranhold – Man, Champion, Historian, Master Expert Weaponsmith & Supreme Scholar. Level 51

I wanted a goat. Moria was/is looming and I knew I would need a goat. All the podcasts tell me it is a nightmare in there without one. Trouble is not one of my main guys has ever come near gaining Kindred with Thorin’s Hall, not even Gorfrik and he’s a frigging dwarf! I googled a little and soon found out that raiding in Sarnur is the best, fastest way of gaining Rep items so off I trotted. Nowhere in my googling did it mention how frigging rock-hard some of the bad guys in there are – and these were just the ones at the bloody entrance! A quick chat with my kin and I found out my weapons needed to do ancient dwarf damage and the only way to get that was to either buy a weapon with it on or bite the bullet and finally get my arse into gear about getting a legendary weapon.

I won’t go into much detail on legendary weapons here, suffice to say the game has a complex system whereby you gain special weapons that can be ‘built up’ with special skills and the like – hell, they even level along with you getting better and better all the time. I only knew about this is passing, never actually getting around to starting it. Until now. My very kind and patient kinmate Saelolyn came to my aid in Sarnur and then rode me all the way out to Erigion where I journeyed alone to the Gates of Moria and aided the dwarven mining team fight the dreadful Watcher in the Water. This quest chain granted me a legendary sword (which I have named Cresting Wave in honour of its Arnorian heritage). This sword was put to good use in Sarnur where I ground down the first level of Dourhands until I reached Kindred with Thorin and was at last granted access to the secret area of his Hall so I could buy the goat.

After that I moved back to Misty Mountains in order to move the along the Epic quest line and what had started out a dull run-a-about for Gloin turned into a bloody great battle with giants, Skorgrim, a zombie dragon and even a Nazgul! I all but ODed on fanboy squeeing this weekend!

Keltorn – Man of Bree, Warden, Explorer. Level 40

Poor Keltorn was ill this week – nasty head cold so his mum wouldn’t let him out to play.

My long term plans are to do more skirmishes, move through more Epic Storyline content and write up some more of his adventures – the stuff I’ve written so far can still be read here  (honestly I really do have plans to carry them on at some point! Honest!).

Gorfrik – Dwarf, Hunter, Armourer, Master Metalsmith & Artisan Tailor. Level 27

Gorfrik seems to have taken to sitting in a corner of Esteldin and counting his precious flax fibres over and over again. Strange boy.

Nimlarn – Elf, Minstrel, Woodsman & Master Expert Woodworker. Level 22

Nimlarn read a poem that lasted three days and nights. Two people died of boredom and three just gave up breathing. Bloody elves.

Hocko – Hobbit, Burglar, Tinkerer & Master Jeweller. Level 20

Hocko is grinding out rep items & seems to have a lot more platinum than I remember mining for him. Questions will be asked.

Rolcko – Hobbit, Guardian, Yeoman, Supreme Farmer & Master Cook. Level 32

Rolcko has been cooking up a storm and is a gnat’s nudger away from the top of the cook’s guild. After that I’m looking forward to cooking lots and selling it in the AH instead of having his entire inventory full of bloody half made ingredients!

Arranborn – Elf, Rune Keeper, Explorer, Level 19

I gave in to temptation of created a Rune Keeper. Erid Luin was a bloody chore and I managed to get him killed just before he hit 20 and got the undying title. What a maroon!

Elsewhere…

My head is spinning with work, home and Xmas. I picked a hell of a week to stop drinking boot polish.

 

#LOTRO: The Hubris of Mortral Man in His Eternal Struggle Agin Nature (or, I did got me a spankin’ ma!)

I know I haven’t mentioned it, but I have rolled/created/generate a new character/toon/avatar in LOTRO. I did this for, as best I can remember, three reasons:

1. I have wanted to try a Rune Keeper for some time,
2. I need another Explorer to gather crafting mats,
3. I am a plonker who can’t ever just finish one bloody thing!

So Arranborn was, well, born. This elf of Lindon, noob rune-keeper & hopeful material gatherer stepped out into Erid Luin and immediately reminded me why I dislike Erid Luin so much. Also Elves. And Dwarves. Sigh. Still I burnt through the first 10 levels in no time and got up to 15 very fast. I had no troubles whatsoever – nothing came close to killing me, even though I found the magic-wielder to be less powerful (and therefore less fun) than I had imagined.

Around about the start of level 16 I began to seriously tire of the Erid Luin quests and noticed that my levelling had slowed to the pace of an dying snail. So I bit the bullet and buggered off to Bree – my idea was simple, get to 20 as fast as possible in Far Chetwood and just start skirmishing into my 40s, after all Far Chetwood had been good to all my guys so far and had seen two of them get their undying titles.

Ahhhh the Undying title. It means nothing yet matters so much. After such a good run with this guy I wanted it and I wanted it bad. I blasted through Far Chetwood and got to 19 in an orgy of killing bears, boars, wolves and Orcs like a man (Elf) possessed. and then I came to the Wood Troll. And killed him 3 times in a row. Bang. Bang. Bang. Get down and stay down punk!

I was a man (Elf) unstoppable.

I was Death with a satchel.

I was the Grim Reaper with just a whetstone baby.

So this morning when I had a 30 minute window I decided I’d get to 20 and be down with it. Nothing there could touch me now. Nothing.

Except I’m not on my game at the moment. I’m distracted. Work and home are on my mind more than healing stones and attack skill rotations. I tackled a few turtles but they were harder than before, took longer to put down. I made stupid little errors and failed to plan. Then I came across the wood troll again. I didn’t have to, but I took him down but it was harder. Not like yesterday when I ripped through him time after time. Still, he went down eventually.

And then I made my worst mistake of this character’s life. I failed to move from the troll’s spot. He regenerates very quickly. I had chosen to fight a turtle who did not go down. I had my back to the point where the troll appeared and it seems the fucker knows how to hold a grudge against someone who killed him so many times in a row. The bastard.

I floundered. I dithered. I hit the wrong skills. I didn’t run when I could. I tried to run when I couldn’t. I hadn’t put a healing stone down. I wasn’t using regen food. In short I did everything I could possible do to fuck the fight up and in ten seconds flat I went from a thousand XP away from being called The Undying to simply just dead.

If I could spend the billions of pounds needed to make a time machine and risk the whole of the fabric of existence itself by switching it on, I would use it to go back and punch myself.

 

#LOTRO: Update 5, how I loves ya!

Yesterday saw the release of Update 5 for LOTRO, an event I was neither excited nor depressed about, rather I was a happy passenger as most of what has come with Rise of Isengard has passed me by (or, more likely, gone over my head) and with the exception of my Champion now being a viable tank and all-round badass I’ve merely carried on carrying on. But Update 5 has changed all that. And why (I hear two of you eventually ask in a sullen tone that I am certain I don’t like)? Well I’ll tell you.

Marks.

That’s right, you heard me, marks. Skirmish marks to be exact. Up until now the currency you got as a reward for skirmishes was a confusing jumble of (frankly) low value crap. In the two months I’ve been skirmishing with Keltorn I have barely earned enough for upgrading my soldier’s skills let alone the much-needed crafting items and much-wanted cosmetic items they supposedly could be exchanged for. Skirmishing to me was a grind for little reward – a fun grind maybe, but a grind nonetheless.

Update 5 has changed this. The LOTRO Devs have simplified all the various mark-type reward currencies down to a simple mix of three and on top of that they have reduced the cost of the much-needed & wanted items they can can purchase. In two minutes last night I managed to ‘buy’ more cosmetic items than I had dome in the past two months, all without running one single skirmish. Add to that the fact that the Instance Join makes finding a skirmish a cake walk and what Turbine have done is finally turn me on to Skirmishing! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord I’m a convert!

Addendum: In the interests of balance I should point out that many folks are not happy with either the Rise of Isengard expansion or Update 5 as they feel they were both rushed out unfinished & untested (the later specifically to trump SWTOR early opening later this week). I don’t know, I haven’t got to the Isengard areas yet and won’t for many moons – hell I suspect it’ll be Update 7 or 8 by then – but the list of known issues and bugs for Update 5 was released at the same time as it went live which struck me as odd. And what a whopper! It’s a huge list! Really! Giant’s cock length! I kid you not! The biggest  Uh-Uh for me is that “Assisted Movement” has stopped turning you to face an enemy and now merely has you charging at it like a mentalist – not great for ranged classes I can tell you ;-D

 

#LOTRO: Double whatnow?

The family have gone. Peace once more rules in the Antfarm household. Unfortunately work is a right old bastard and I have barely enough time to go for a wee most days, let alone blog. Still, I’ve got some playing in, mainly guild rep crafting, AH playing and some (accidental) power levelling of a certain Warden I know…

Ranhold – Man, Champion, Historian, Master Expert Weaponsmith & Supreme Scholar. Level 49

Stubbornly hanging on to the dying end of level 49, Ranhold has been ignored of late after my marathons Orc-slay-a-thons in Angmar failed to net me the last to pages of my legendary books resulted in a near case of burnout-induced rage. Still, after a few days of rollicking good fun with Keltorn and then several more days of happily crafting guild rep items across all my guys I was ready to return to Ranhold and his search – and was immediately rewarded with one of the two final missing pages meaning he now has two (count ‘em!) legendary combat skills that are both freakin’ OOOSSSOOOMMMM! *sching sching*

I’m hoping to start him back on the path of the Epic Books again soon – after all, Gloin is still waiting for him in the *shudder* Misty Mountains

Keltorn – Man of Bree, Warden, Explorer. Level 40

Frustrated beyond belief with Ranhold’s inability to find the last two pages of his legendary books (no matter how many frigging orcs I had to kill!) I decided to roll out Keltorn and run him through a few skirmishes. My plan was to use some of the skirmish reward boosts and XP boosts I’d won in the lotteries to move him up from level 34 to 35 or 36.Little did I know I’d chosen a weekend that Turbine gave out double XP across the board! My we warden shot up through the ranks like a pig with poker up its arse and after what felt like no time at all I hit 40 with him! Since then he’s been on a bit of a go-slow as I’ve been crafting guild rep with the rest of my guys and trying to get Ranhold to the next level but I can honestly say I’ve freaking’ loved playing the warden class!

My long term plans are to do more skirmishes, move through more Epic Storyline content and write up some more of his adventures – the stuff I’ve written so far can still be read here  (honestly I really do have plans to carry them on at some point! Honest!).

Gorfrik – Dwarf, Hunter, Armourer, Master Metalsmith & Artisan Tailor. Level 27

Gorfrik hammered his own hand flat whilst making a new shield. People are beginning to suspect he’s not the full shilling.

Nimlarn – Elf, Minstrel, Woodsman & Master Expert Woodworker. Level 22

Nimlarn was last seen wafting about a meadow somewhere droning on and on about how the world was so sad and grey now. Bloody elves.

Hocko – Hobbit, Burglar, Tinkerer & Master Jeweller. Level 20

Hocko is back in Esteldin’s good books and quietly crafting rep items for the bling guild.

Rolcko – Hobbit, Guardian, Yeoman, Supreme Farmer & Master Cook. Level 32

Rolcko has been rescued from the well and has been spending his convalescence in Michel Delving cooking for the troops, working his way up the cook”s guild ladder and doing very nicely indeed in the auction house (one sale netted me more GP in one go than I had made from my whole previous 8 months in game – blimey).

Elsewhere…

I’m fighting off the temptation to roll up a Rune Keeper and start it all again. This would be a Silly Thing as I simply don’t have time but man do I want some lightning action! Also? Christsavemeformwork. I picked a hell of a week to injecting CIA-grade acid.