Lord of the rings online

Zharaza ran thorugh dark, twisting roads in Mirkwood. Landing finished, Elves established some kind of stronghold – it was high time to kill some evil, do deeds and grind Lotro points.

Which – so far – goes very good. I killed every animal in sight, even harmless stags – and deed to kill animals was quickly done. Orcs were not spared, so advanced Orc slayer deed goes quite good. Spiders are being killed on sight. Wargs are the problem, for I see no good spots for them. Undead? There is one village where I can kill maybe 10 of them. Enough to run in circles and finish at least basic deed.

Landscape sometimes was bit lame (go, kill 10 spiders…go, kill wolves). Undead village quest arc was interesting. History unfolded – bit too short though. At least one oath-breaker has found its rest. Right now I have almost finished Drownholt quest arc, so would have to move forward.

Questing goes good, my dps are enough to greatly advance slayer deeds, I have enough will to grind – so things are pretty well.

Lord of the rings online

And so it was that Halls of Crafting were ran four times and multitude of Orcs were killed, loot taken. And behold – grumpy Elves of Lothlorien acknowledged me as their Kindred.

Finally. Finally Lothlorien may be left behind.

Epic redirected me to Mirkwood. This dark, bit maze-like forest. First quests, so called “landing”. Kill this, jam doors, kill more orcs, free Elves, kill more orcs…finally, participate in assault while killing orcs.

Landing quests were quickly done, two deeds finished, some deeds started.

Now I am here to grind all non-repeatable quests, finish all deeds and reach Kindred with locals. Which means – stuck here for a long time. However, I have time to grind and spend one or two more days while reaching Kindred with locals.

So, the day has ended, I was Kindred with one Elf faction, moved to grind Kindred with another Elf faction… life is kindred-ish in Lotro.

Lord of the rings online

Zharaza farms Lothlorien. All deeds are done, almost all non-repeatable quests are done, Epics is done there…and still I wasn’t even at 25.000 reputation with locals.

Which means crossroads: ignore grindy Lothlorien and move to Mirkwood; mobilize all will and grind Lothlorien, only then go to Mirkwood. /World adviced the last option – so I took it. Some boring repeatables to loot/kill Orc camps. Hurray, I am finally 25.000 reputation. Then, I ran Halls of crafting. Within three runs, finished all local deeds, gathered valuable LI xp runes – and was some 17.000/30.000. Which can mean, I need some repeatables and then just farm Halls of Crafting, where each kill gives +24 reputation.

So, if all goes well, today I will finish Lothlorien. Then it would be Mirkwood with no taskboards or reputation items. Some day it would be Enedwaith with two factions that rely on repeatables only.

Stormsong first time went into roleplay. One Hobbit wanted to go to Forochel, but later found some lore-obstacle to go. We rode to Combe, only to stop near Old forest for my Hobbit to have some elevenses. We talked about him, about Beornings…and I realised my “Mordor was good” things were not appropriate. I was in the middle of roleplay and could do little to reply. Then we rode to Misty mountais and I had to leave my Hobbit here.

And our developers’ letter…Elves-burglars are causing uproar, mostly – negative. Lore-wise it’s just wrong, developers so far pay no attention.

Anyway, my adventures continue and it is high time for Mirkwood. Grumpy unfriendly Mirkwood.

Lord of the rings online

Zharaza grinded Moria, this dark unwellcoming maze. Killing almost everything in sight, exploring most of it. Taking every non-repeatable quest (and cancelling 1 that cannot be completed). I was travelling to various points, doing many things Dwarves asked me about.

Epic finally redirected me outside, like “go, seek help from Haldir”. Finally, outside where there is sun and fresh air! And golden leaves. Even if inhabited by Elves. I started slayer deeds (Orcs and beasts), did all local quests before being redirected back to grumpy Moria.

This time it was more about finishing exploration. Running some skirmishes (and yes, finishing skirmish tutorial first). Some slayer deed were completed too. Lotro points were flowing almost automatically. Loot was, of course, unimportant. Vendor trash at its best.

Most of epic in Moria is finished. All exploration is finished. All landscape quest deeds are finished. Slayer deeds remain, those painfull Nameless, Worms and Dragonets! But I will finish these as well.

Also, after many deaths, finished one quest arc to locate axe “Dragonslayer”. It was most stupid quest arc ever. Huge maze where you have to guess clues (hints are written in such rubbish that any word may be solution). Choose wrong, you are dead: because of that cute insta-deat trap that appears out of nowhere without warning. Finally, I managed to finish with zero help from /World.

Right now my task is leave Moria and start grinding Lothlorien. At least fresh air and no more goat droppings…

Lord of the rings online

Zharaza grinds Moria, region after region, finishing Orc slayer deed (advanced) and finally getting to Kindred with Iron Garrison miners and Guards. Reputation was really easy: items that grant it drops in hundreds, each monster drops them.

Quests in Waterworks: infected orcs, then – polluted waters with maggots in Goblin corpses, then – glass spiders. Had to kill many of them, clear local gear from filth and quest in that building near great wheel. Gosh, finding last piece of gear – a nightmare! Go forwards, forwards, turn tight, go forward, turn left, turn left, go forwards, turn right, go forwards, then go backwards… No chance to use “del”, no chance to describe the way, just blindly run and hope for best.

Lucky for me, questing in these infected pools were over. I was allowed to return to Twent first hall. There, witnessed one Dwarf, who almost abandoned his duties, another one caring and of course – being killed. A pity. Located one more slain Dwarf, so had to avenge, then – to drink to his memory. And thus, I visited many places, unlocked stables, even picked few quests (because – why not?).

Epic goes slowly (because of heavy drinking?). There are some parts I dislike. Go, avoid Orcs, wait for clear pats, signal Dwarf, hope he runs within time limit…repeat. I really wish to leave dark, grumpy maze of Moria as soon as epic quest allows.

And so my questing in Moria continues, deeds tend to almost auto-complete and income of Lotro points is really nice. Life may be good even in darkest places after all…

Lord of the rings online

After some hesitation, my Zharaza went to dark, grumpy maze of Moria. There was another choice: ignore Moria, move to Enedwaith. Folks adviced very clearly: since you are Dwarf, how can you ignore Moria?

And so I moved. Doing all quests, region after region. Exploring. Killing almost everything that moves. Several deeds done, including goblin and grodbog slayer (advanced). Reputation – all thanks to reputation items – is close to Kindred. Epic is going almost well. Navigation is same – really bad, because no map actually works.

My only wish is to leave this dark, unfriendly place once and for all. The only thing that helps in questing – is Hunter skill to return to 21st Hall.

However, this does mean I have enough things to do: kill, run, explore. And enough deeds to finish, Lotro points to grind.

And so, my adventures in darkness of Moria continue. May Dark side of the ring be with me…

Lord of the rings online

Zharaza finished epic, Volume I. Amarthiel dead, Mordrambor dead, Laerdan (I guess) dead, Mordirith banished, lesser ring destroyed – in short, happy ending since everyone is destroyed.

It was time for Stormsong. Logged in, ranted, went to Wells of Langflood. One kind player reminded cave with bats…and my gosh, I forgot to finish slayer deeds here! So I stood, killing everything, looting everything. Will need every single item for Naktieskarys and Zharaza.

Chat was bit refreshing – we joked about Sauron and Middle Earth. Stormsong was called “Sauron’s favourite fangirl”. Oh no, Sauron’s favourite girl was Lhaereth the Beautifull, Shield maiden and Healer of Mordor. My toon is just…well, kind of Mouth of Mordor reborn. One who always speaks the truth*, you know… Zharaza, on the other hand, was called “someone who roleplays brainwashed dwarf”.

Right now I have to do some homework. At least finish slaying where I still can, grind lots of taskboard items and supply Zharaza with them. You know, xp + reputation is always good.

And then, it would be high time to grind all looong, grindy deeds in grumpy underground Moria.

*terms and conditions apply.

Lord of the rings online

My Stout-axe grinded deeds and waited for date with Amarthiel, champion of Angmar. Date with Elf girl, dressed in seductive red outfit, in privacy of her own building cannot go wrong, right?

It can. First, there were orcs and other bad folks protecting her. Then, she acknowledged I was her “boon companion” and thus had the privilege of being the very first killed by Narchuil. Wait, this is how you imagine first date and expressing gratitude???

Mordrambor arrived, Mordirith went on fell beast, there was spectacular duel. Angmar lords left with Narchuil, Amarthiel left wounded, her father dead.

And I was free to grind my deeds. All thanks to lotro-wiki, found some nice places to hunt (Walls of Moria, that is). And now, all deeds in Eregion are done, meta-deed to do all deeds is done too.

What is left, is lame Volume I, last book (number 15) to travel back and forth, then fight with Amarthiel to dethrone false king. Will gladly finish this boring Volume and delve into dark, uninviting depths of grumpy Moria.

The date has ended, my date went wrong (just when it went right in Lotro?). New adventures and dates await.

Lord of the rings online

Eregion goes smoothly, so far. Zharaza is efficient and knows to kill every deedable monster he meets, especially those pesky lizards and ravens. Pity, worms and lynx are not deedable.

I have finished Gwingris, leaving some repeatable quests behind and moved to Echad Dunaan. There, killing [half] orcs, dunlendings, wolves and wolf-masters…you know, your typical day of killing everything that moves.

The only confusion was “kill named monster”. I was expected to loot his corpse. Ok, monster killed, body disappears immediately. Second time I se trap, monster attacked me, was killed, body disappeared immediately. Third and fourth time – the same.
Untill I looked at my pending loot. Messages I needed were there…

Right now I have to finish quests in this Dunaan settlement – and then probably move to Mirobel, finish epic book 14 (only to find bit boring auto-travel book 15 where almost everyone dies).

But the day was succesfull, adventures were plenty – this is what matters.

Lord of the rings online

Forochel, both landscape and epics, is finished. All quests and deeds done, various NPCs visited, fate of the last King investigated and Mordrambor appeared yet again. Killing lesser Dragon before I killed the last of Gauredan pack. Then I had to witness fall of Laerdan – and be redirected to Eregion.

My long stay in Forochel ended. Last deeds seemed long and bit boring. One quest possibly bugged. But I have done everything (except Treasure, but who cares about it?). Reputation there was fast – just turn in task items few times, use reputation items that dropped like spam – and hurray, you have Kindred. In terms of grind, Forochel is bad. In terms of impressions, Forochel is great. This great aurora borealis, sound of Scandinavian names or just view of skiing Lossoth. Stories are half-good, navigation…navigation mostly good.

And now, I am in Eregion. Rushed here, arrived at Gwingris and started some quests there. Eregion should be easier (except raven and lizard killing). And yes, Narchuil will be reforged, Amarthiel will be betrayed only to turn against her Angmar allies, only to be killed. Lucky for me, book 15 of volume 1 is mostly auto-travel. Saves some time and coin.

And so weekend has ended. Region by region I grind Lotro, leaving all deeds done, waiting for more interesting regions and especially Mordor.