Thorog, the Helegrod Dragon

When I was younger, I remember reading about Helegrod. It offered a sense of foreboding… a 24 person Raid? A huge dragon? Some tough thug drummers at the beginning, and a miniboss prior to Thorog’s entrance, and a dragon that has 346k morale!? It seemed inconceivable to my young self that had seen few dragons at the time, and had never seen anything remotely close.

Getting to see him has been on my list since then. I have been patient. Waiting. Watching. Waiting for the right time to take a group to see him.

Helegrod has now been separated into 4 wings: the Giant wing, the Drake wing, the Spider wing, and finally… the Dragon wing. You cannot enter the Dragon wing until you have beaten the other three wings at least once. Thankfully, it isn’t on a raid lock; you only have to beat the wings once, and you are eligible from then on.

I proceeded on. Onward through Moria, through Lorien and Mirkwood, toward Enedwaith, Dunland, and the Great River. I was even on one of the very early teams to take out another dragon, the always pleasant Draigoch. (draigoch-draigoch-spoilers-pictures-of-draigoch) Then, I returned to defeat Draigoch again with only 6 people. That was a special day for me as it was no contest; a win in one try with just 6 of us.

Still… Thorog stood steadfast, and I remained patient.

My friend Lartessa knew my desire, assembled an assault team, and took us through the first three wings back in April, 2012. (Happy-5th-anniversary-lotro) However, we were not ready for Thorog at that time on that night.

Patience. Waiting for the day I could return.

I completed every deed in Eregion. Now only Thorog stood between me and the Meta deed Steed, the Dunedain War-horse, and the title Saviour of Eregion. The wave presses toward the confrontation.

Thankfully, the ride to Rohan was delayed! The rangers were unprepared to ride in September, so we were instructed to get our affairs in order for an October journey. For me, that meant deeding, tying up loose ends… dare I say it… defeat Thorog or die trying.

I made a plan with my friends in the Riders of Rohan to target Thorog. The date was set but too few had the experience of conquering the three pre-cursor wings. We would need an extended plan.

I visited Alti Spiderbane of Archet; he has a blood debt against Zaudra, the master spider of Helegrod.

I leave Alti, with his final words weighing heavy on my chest. “End her, Danania.” He had suffered losses at her devastation. I hope not to fail him en route to my goal.

A few of us grouped with the kinships Ministry and Warriors of the West to advance as many people through the wings as possible. Storvagun the Giant was toppled. The Drakes were dissected.

Even, Zaudru the Spider fell, much to the pleasure of Alti Spiderbane. A word of caution when entering Zaudru’s lair… she can poison-one-shot even the toughest foe. The 5-person team of Halj, Mysticle, Nidrod, Reza, and I learned the hard way that hers is no ordinary poison. A hunter with group poison removal is a safer way to beat her. 

Now, the culmination, enter the dragon. I am giddy with anticipation. Here is the last shot as we have passed the trolls and drummers blocking the entrance, and enter his domain. The snow was heavy on the ground and the sky was grey, foreboding.

Drugoth the wight is an appetizer. He tells us how we shall soon be dragon food. THEN, it is dragon time.

Actually, the Thorog fight can be fairly easy. Words of caution: let the tank do his thing and if you are not the tank don’t get agro. More importantly, Thorog has a fear that will kill you. One of the fears has a 10s countdown and if not removed, it will kill you and explode and kill those around you. It needs to be potioned away and you need a bit of luck to not get feared again while on CD (or a Captain who is ready to bolster away your fear). During one of the runs, I did get instantly killed but realized what was happening and ran away and died alone so I did not take out the group.

Thorog looks almost peaceful sitting up there on his perch.

Are we ready team? Sic em Daweirdo!

I did get a few good shots during the fight. Here, Thorog is about to let it be known that not just anyone can enter his realm and walk away to tell the tale.

Thorog is not happy and is throwing fear and death. You can see my friend Mysticle to the far left with the eye over her head. I am thinking this might have been when she got hit with Thorog’s Fear (mentioned above) and is marked for death.

Here, Daweirdo tanks Thorog. I am glad to be over here… and not over there under the big dragon.

In the end, the battle was won! Defeating Thorog has its own special title, De-animator of Thorog.

Five deed sets make up the Saviour of Eriador: Barad Gularan, Urugarth, Carn Dum, defeating the Rift balrog, and defeating Thorog. More importantly (to me), I received the beautiful meta deed steed, the Dunedain Warhorse! He is one of my favorites.

It was such an adventure, I went twice to get more people completed on their journey.

Special thanks to the two groups with whom I went and the many I got to group with along the way.

Group 1: Tahnee, Byrane, Eroric, Blodin, Maethindol, Mysticle, Thyshadow, Nimitar

Group 2: Hal Jordan, Lapis, Daweirdo, Nidrod, Mysticle, Ainurian, Nimitar

For those really into quests, there are several quests (all level 50) scattered around that are aimed at Helegrod. They come from

• Elrond (Elrond’s Library),
• Sigrun (Misty Mountains near the Helegrod entrance),
• Gonediad (Rivendell Spire),
• Elladan and Elrohir (Bruinen Gorge),
• Arifael (Giant Valley), and of course,
• Alti Spiderbane (Archet).

Here are two of the quest items I thought were interesting that I found along the way. The Ancient Explorer’s Pack is as good as the best explorer tools available (minus the Tailor portion, and will soon be outdone in Rohan). I have used these tools for over a year (when I first ventured to Helegrod); I like them because they are unique and good. I have a separate tool for Tailoring, yeah, I know I could just get the dropped one-time recipe, and a Metalsmith, with a Scholar’s help for the scrolls, and with very good luck have a combo tool made. But, my tools are mine and I like them. (It only takes one more slot in my bag so shush. hehe)

The gem-encrusted scale is surprisingly good for a level 50 item, and compares well versus the scholar crafted pocket item for level 75. Granted, I have a better Great River pocket item, I have never used this Scale and I’m sure it will get tossed but for what it is, I was surprised. 

Faire hobbits don’t get drunk

Yay for Farmer’s Faire! I have been really enjoying myself in the new Farmer’s Faire and have been racking up the goodies. If you want a good festival guide, let me direct you over to CSTM (http://cstm.mymiddleearth.com/2012/07/lotro-farmers-faire-guide-2012/).

For me though, I noticed that I pulled in enough tokens in the first 3 days to buy everything there is at the Faire. So, this post is “things I learned at the Faire”, aka Faire on Easy-Mode. If you want to swim in tokens like Scrooge McDuck, here are some pro-tips.

Deeds: There are several deeds; just do the quests in and around Bywater and you will get most of them started. The hardest ones will be the egg collecting. I’ll go there in a moment. Daweirdo and I compare egg notes and discuss deed strategy. The Shire reputation pony watches the festivities in the background.

The quests for feeding the Fat Mayor, Restocking the Faire, and Helping the Overworked vendor are so simple that I won’t bother to explain it here. For the restocking the faire, good to know info, DO use the “speed boost pie” you were given as often as the Cooldown expires. You will be on foot for the quest and the item gives you a +68% speed, so you are moving as fast as the fastest horse. Here I am flying across the Shire at Supergirl speed (because flying trumps running fast).

Proof that I cook. Sometimes. When a quest is on the line.

Tickets: UPDATE 08/06/12: Update 7.3 released today. "Festival Tickets are also now barter wallet items." Well, lovely. That is one way to support ticket sales in the Store; kill your competition. I'm not a big fan of that change. The tickets are NOT Bound. Gather all your alts and mail the tickets to whomever you want to be flooded with tickets. Gather the 3 daily tickets per alt, and walk over to the mailbox there in Bywater. This event is the first time in history that I have had all lildanas in one area… get tickets, mail them, repeat. Here, Danaarodel takes time out of her busy schedule of “sitting around Thorin’s Hall sorting extra clothes that don’t fit in the wardrobe” to go camp in Bywater for two weeks. She enjoys the atmosphere, working down her Anniversary firework supply.

Fishing: For these two quests: “Big fish, little fish”, and “Fishy, very fishy”, if you don’t move after the quest ends, win or lose, you can stay there and fish for barter fish, seemingly indefinitely. Those extra fish, especially Big fish, can barter all the tokens you might want. Note 2 Big fish barter for 3 tokens; gather several dozen of those Big fish and you will start rolling in tokens. (Two ways I have broken out of barter fish mode: walk away from water, and drop Fellowship.)

Note that “Fishy, very fishy” is on a 24 hour timer where every other daily festival quest is on a daily timer resetting at lotro midnight. There is some discrepancy about the CD timers if pass versus fail so I wouldn’t be shocked if the “Big fish, little fish” has a wonky timer also. “Fishy, very fishy” quest is one of the two hardest things to accomplish at the Faire (finding a golden egg being the other one), because you have to be very lucky and pull out dozens of fish before you pull out a bad one. On the bright side, all those fish barter for tokens, so it is still a win for you. Brettawyn looks on, preparing to pull a large net of fish. 

Mushrooms… shrooms: This event is super easy; it is almost a guaranteed win. You just have to get into the right frame of mind. Firstly, Priority #1 is to avoid the dogs. I play it like I play Pacman. No matter what, avoid the dogs.

How to avoid the dogs? Use the minimap. The dogs show up as “eyes”. Don’t even watch where you are walking, just use the minimap.

But Dana, I need to find Mushrooms. The DEL key and /follow are your friends. Hit DEL, then /follow, and you will walk to the nearest targeted mushroom. Keep your eyes on the dogs on the minimap, click on the mushroom at your feet. Take control of walking and change course if the /follow takes you in the path of a dog. Repeat.

The contest always lasts 3 minutes. I average 18 mushrooms per contest and it only took 8 to win. With the bonus 10 tokens for winning, this contest nets about 38 tokens per run, and is nearly an instant win every time. Of course, if anyone else is playing in the field; I take my 8 mushrooms and leave, wishing them luck. I don't know if the mushroom spawn rate is dependent on the number of players; there always seems to be shrooms-aplenty, but I want everyone to win.

The mushrooms have lots of fun effects. Beware the Nazgul! (Not really, he has no power here, the dogs are in charge.) Here I am tiny, and looking up at a Nazgul (stacked shroomy effects).

The Tiny effect actually works really well to help you; Green-spotted mushrooms make you little. You are harder to spot when you are little. Still, don’t taunt the dogs, you are not invisible. Here I am looking up at my hobbit friend Dazy… nothing quite like being knee-high to a hobbit to give you a different perspective to the world. (Dazy is riding the Symbelmyn Spring horse of 2012.)

On the flip side, the Giant effect makes for a more challenging run; Red-spotted mushrooms make you giant. The effect lasts a minute, so you can shake it off. The game is still the same; avoid the pacman ghosts (dogs). Reaching down to get mushrooms is a bit tougher for a giant. Change your angle to see the mushrooms at your feet. Friend Sparowen gapes at me as I storm out of the field, giant-size and full of mushroomy goodness. Sparowen rides the Farmer's Faire steed of 2012.

Chickens and eggs: Some good things to know.

Again, the DEL key and /follow are your friends. Hit the DEL key to target eggs, then /follow (shortcut button) to go directly to the egg. Even if you can’t see the eggs through the chickens, you can hunt eggs and win just fine. Use your horse if you feel too slow; it takes some persistence to mount up and down, but it might work well for you if you feel slow.

Colored eggs are fairly common. Spotted eggs are less common. Striped eggs are rare. If you find a striped egg, it might be worth a lot on AH. I have never seen a golden egg, after running the event well over a hundred times and spectating nearly as many (though friend Morthin says he has in fact seen one golden egg). "

Pictures or it didn't happen." ... on the lotro forum (http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?471024-Farmer-s-Faire-Egg-Scramble), Koonmaster posted a picture of the Golden egg. It is BOUND, awards 50 tokens plus 10 additional tokens for completing the deed "collect the golden egg". There do not seem to be any locks for it (no requirements to find other eggs first); it seems to be just random with a very low drop rate. Koonmaster credited for posting this Golden egg picture at the previous link.

It is an educated guess that the more people entered, the better the odds for a good egg selection. Update 08/03 - Wrong: It is a hunch that it might take a packed game to have a chance at a golden egg, but that is just my guess. It might be just completely random with a really really low drop rate. This Spectator next to me hasn’t seen a golden egg this year, and he has been there almost as long as I have. J To date, I can confirm two winners of Golden Eggs in Arkenstone. On interviewing them, there seems to be no correlation; it is random location, random group size, random everything. I have entered or watched enough egg hunts that, at this time, I have seen approximately 7000 eggs and none of them Golden. I can only guess that the drop rate is 1:10,000 or worse (mebbe 1:300 - 1:600 egg hunts).

Note: I can neither confirm nor deny that I in fact stepped on a chicken. Ate a rotten egg? Yeah, I did that a bunch to help clear the board so others could target good eggs and win (and hopefully help with the respawn rate by weeding out the bad eggs), but I try not to step on the chickens. If you are having trouble finding enough white eggs, team up with someone. I am certain more eggs spawn for greater numbers of participants, so if you need to, just trade off who will get the 5 white eggs and win the round. Float like a butterfly, peck like a chicken!

Bounder Rounds- Drunk hobbits: What I have learned, is that Faire hobbits do not get drunk… at least not in Arkenstone. I am told that if anyone accuses a sober hobbit of being drunk, the “drunkenness” gets reset. What I have actually seen though is not one single hobbit drunk, ever. And making it easier to tell if it gets "reset", if they are falsely accused, they say something, like “How Rude”. After collecting dialog over several hour periods, 7pm, 12am, 4am, 10am… I conclude that the quest is broken (there were not that many people in Bywater to screw it up at 4am). Hobbits just don’t get drunk. (Feel free to prove me wrong with a screenshot taken in Arkenstone, because hopefully, it will get fixed eventually.) Oh sure, they are more lively than this picture, but drunk?... not so much. UPDATE 08/06/12: Update 7.3 came into effect today. "Drunken Hobbits should no longer slink home to sleep it off and should be easier to locate and admonish for not going home to sleep it off". I'm glad to see the powers acknowledge the problem and have issued a hotfixed!

HOWEVER, I talked to my fellow Lorien elves about the plight of non-alcoholic hobbits, and the elves were more than happy to fill in as drunkards for the Faire, but you still have to get to them at the Vineyard of Lorien and they only agreed to drink at night. They do give credit toward the quest and deed. (Here I ride the Reveller's steed; how fitting.)

Farmer’s Faire Steed: When I saw the Farmer’s Faire steed across the away, and he looked at me with those big brown eyes, I knew he would be taking me home tonight. Ooh, baby. (That might be the mushrooms talking… who said that?)

Yes, Mr. Hengstacer horse guy, I’ll take him. 120 faire tokens, 2 race tokens, some silver coins. Not a problem. I hit a jackpot of mushrooms earlier and tokens are no longer relevant.

To buy the steed and one of everything offered in the festival, it only takes 1190 tokens. Trust me, it is easier than you think to rack up more tokens than you can use in a very short time, and as I write this column, we still have two weeks! Undoubtedly, I will take time out from egg hunting to let the lildanas all get their steeds.