Prep for Riders of Rohan

I recently read a forum article by Deathknyght, http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?477101-Preparing-for-Riders-of-Rohan-End-Game.

It was quite good. The author put a lot of thought into it and knew enough about what to expect from Beta that made his knowledge valuable. For my benefit (and possibly yours), I copied the post by Deathknyght here (Preparing-for-riders-of-rohan (Danania's notes), see top header of this blog) so I could study it and make personal notes to guide me. Cheer’s to this pen-warrior for writing such a thorough take on what he sees.

At the Dana link above, my notes are in Red intermingled with his guide.

Very briefly, here are some of the highest highlights I see in his article melded with a few thoughts of my own:

Active things to do:

1. Crafting: 60,000 reputation worth of scrolls required for the next guild level.
2. Crafting: Use new section “processing”. Leather à shavings à Leather, etc
3. Crafting: Get new recipes, look for level 80 and 85 gear recipes. Guild recipes?
4. Task items: Stockpile. Rohan task board for existing items = Decorative Sword Sheaths, Punctured Shields, Speckled Ears, Marked Furs, Blotchy Skins
5. Relics/Shards: Stockpile. All relic services will be cheaper after the jump so don’t meld/decon/etc yet. Make a new Relic plan (Relics-and-Virtues)
6. Crafted relics: Stockpile. T9 relics are going to be crazy expensive. Get as many crafted relics prepared for shards now as possible.
7. Commendations: Moors cap is 10,000. Hover around there to make new gear bartering easier. Also, comms are supposed to be easier to obtain post-Rohan.
8. Warsteed bridle: Bridles take up a legendary item slot. Store will sell two additional legendary item slots to accommodate extra bridles. Bridles obtained by Tailor-craft, mob drops, and one 2nd Age bridle from the quest line. Probably make some bridles.
9. Resource instances: At 84, look for daily instances in Hytbold.
10. Warbands: Deed completions, and daily quests offer good rewards.
11. Hytbold Dailies: Doing daily Hytbold quests opens up gear and possibilities
12. 85 2nd age symbols: one 2nd age bridle from Epic, 12 person skirmishes, PvP rank 10 (for 7500 comms). Plan to do 12-person skirmishes since that is the only realistic option.
13. Reset scroll: At 85, Buy a skirmish soldier reset scroll to maximize marks (Best 295 TP ever)

Passive things that will happen:

1. Virtues: Cap 16.
2. Warsteed: Progress the epic normally and you will get a warsteed. Three types of warsteeds available: Light, Medium, and Heavy. You can obtain bridles and build all three.
3. Warsteed Cosmetics: Store and quest cosmetics are available.
4. Seals and Marks: Barter for New Empowerment Scrolls to improve level 85 LIs.
5. Keep gear: New level 85 gear is not necessarily better than existing 75 end-game gear. Compare everything before deleting.
6. Trade in Moors gear: 10% discount on new gear for trading in old gear.
7. Remote looting: Have bag space and enable “Always loot all”.
8. Order of Areas: The East Wall, The Wold, Norcrofts, Entwash Vale, Eaves of Fangorn, Sutcrofts.
9. Epic quest loot: Food, pots, Rare (Purple) gear, T8 relic, 85 2nd age bridle, Housing items, Horse cosmetics.

Stuff I glossed over that may peak your interest:

1. Sell level 75 consumables if desired: Cracked Rhi Helvarch Sigils, Greater Scrolls of Empowerment ("GSoEs"), GSo Delving, and Star-lit Crystals not usable above level 75.
2. Gold: You may want some gold for AH buying in Rohan
3. Graphics engine: Graphics got cooler.
4. Mac client: For those who do Macs.
5. 6th bag: Yep, there is one available for sale.
6. Open tapping: Warbands in Rohan are open tapping.
7. PvMP: It is a-changin’. No comments at this time.
8. Music: There is some.

Turbine Point List: Here is a list of things on which I will probably spend TP. I will know when I get there and see it.

• Skirmish soldier reset scroll @ level 85 = 295 TP
• Two additional legendary item slots for bridles = 295 TP each
• Mebbe some warsteed cosmetics and cosmetic slots (because I like options even though I can barely match clothes on myself)

What do you think? Anything special that you are doing to prepare for Rohan?

Danadelion and the GM

Danadelion got the opportunity to meet a Game Master during the Summer festival. It is always a bit intimidating, it is like talking to the police. I know I didn’t do anything wrong, but they have badges, and uniforms, and guns, and jails. What if he is an evil GM??? O.o

Turns out, he was nothing of the sort. Here is how it went down… told from Delion’s perspective.

"  I had patiently waited for my turn to go to festival. Danania had gone, then Danaszar, then Danaish, and now I was up 4th. The path was clear. I had gone to Summer festival last year, and had already been watching what was happening this year for two days, just waiting. I went to the Party Tree and got my one token from Opal Goodbody to start the festival, did the food fetch-it quest there around the Hill, and the other Hill fetch-it quest, and then over to Bywater to do the fishing gear fetch-it quest around the pond.

Next, I completed “To the Fishing Hole” there in Bywater by talking to Neddie Grubb and pick up the quest to Stock the Pond… wait… where is the next quest, for Stocking the Pond???

Hey! I am old enough to fish! I am higher than both that goodie child Danaish and that laid back elf Danaszar! Why am I not allowed to Restock the Pond? It’s because I’m a Champion, isn’t it? No respect! /fervour builds../ I know the quest must be here. I did get the “To the Fishing Hole”, it is done. Mebbe both Neddie and I know that he wants me to go to Thorin’s Hall and catch Amberjacks. Ride there... Nada. The Quartermaster just stares at me like he has no idea that Amberjacks might be in Thorin’s Hall. Sigh. Mebbe it is an error in festival communication; something involving the phase of the moon and keg-dwarves on strike. It is time to call on a higher power, he-who-shall-not-be-named.

I nervously wait, practicing my ability to dodge if the higher power shows up and decides to smite me for angering the wrath of the great and powerful Oz. A few minutes later, +Jalwis+ contacts me with a very pleasant, Howdy! How very hospitable; Danania, raised in the suthun’ flets, would have been impressed.

After I explained the situation, he asks me to pause, blink out, click my heels three times and see if everything was back to normal. While hopeful, I found that just closing my eyes didn’t help. He explained that the most likely cause is often missing a pre-requisite. I explained that I had done everything the other danas did, exactly as they had done them, the next quest was supposed to be here but it just isn’t. I don’t know what else it could be since I did exactly the same thing.

I fidgeted anxiously some more and rode my steed in circles. Jalwis asked me to stop fidgeting and come stand next to Neddie. Mebbe putting me next to the “accused” would help. So, I stood there, fishing pole in hand, eager to go. Jalwis started off again with “obviously you have the fishing prerequisite”.

I stand there. Stunned. I have a pole. Danaszar crafted it for me. OMG. Fishing Prerequisite. The entire fishing prerequisite is talking to that Hobby Master right next to me and telling him “Yes, I would like to fish”.

Somehow I had been to this many festivals, carrying a pole for years and had never fished. It turns out that last Summer, I bet on hobbit races and earned enough to barter for my festival horse. The next best option for fishing was Farmer’s Faire, but I was picking mushrooms out of a field and earned enough tokens for a horse and never fished. So, in fact, I had NEVER learned to fish.

I sheepishly apologized to Jalwis and thanked him for being so polite and helpful with thinking through the troubleshooting (not mentioning being thankful that he didn’t smite me). He asked if there was anything else I needed? Which there wasn’t (except for the dwarves to get off strike and get back to keg racing, but realized that wasn’t his jurisdiction).

I thanked him one final time and told him he was welcome to drop in at danania.net anytime! Bold. Yeah… I’m smooth like that. Lol. The next message I got from him was the form message “session closed, go and sin no more, live long and prosper, end of line” ...whatever that text was to tell me to stop writing him.

So, from all of the Danas, Jalwis thank you for making Middle Earth a better place! Readers, If you know Jalwis, feel free to pass this link along as I feel confident that someone might know him. J