LOTRO: Everything Old Is New
In mid-March, while the server migration debacle raged, I created a new alt for the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, on Peregrin server. The idea was to play casually through content focusing on enjoyment, rather than worrying about progression. I was to level at a pace that suited me and had no specific plans to develop my alt in any particular way. I have been playing LOTRO since 2008 and have a primary level-cap character that has been my main focus over the years. Hence I have previously experienced all story content from all the expansions and am therefore very familiar with what the game has to offer. Which is why I thought I’d do things differently this time. So I started my new Lore-master in Mossward in Swanfleet, the new starting area added to the game in 2022.
In mid-March, while the server migration debacle raged, I created a new alt for the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, on Peregrin server. The idea was to play casually through content focusing on enjoyment, rather than worrying about progression. I was to level at a pace that suited me and had no specific plans to develop my alt in any particular way. I have been playing LOTRO since 2008 and have a primary level-cap character that has been my main focus over the years. Hence I have previously experienced all story content from all the expansions and am therefore very familiar with what the game has to offer. Which is why I thought I’d do things differently this time. So I started my new Lore-master in Mossward in Swanfleet, the new starting area added to the game in 2022.
Levelling via the Before the Shadow expansion is a far more streamlined and efficient process than doing so via the original starter areas in Shadows of Angmar. The main storyline (Epic Quests) offer far superior gear as rewards and more XP. Cardolan and Swanfleet are well designed and very atmospheric zones. They are diverse in game content and have some of the best ambient music in the entire game. The main story involving the disgraced ranger Meneldir trying to warn his former colleagues about the threat of Saruman is well conceived and fits into the existing story arcs well. Once you move onto Bree and pick up the main story there, you quickly notice the pace slow down as this is some of the oldest content in the game. It is still enjoyable but you soon realise that a lot of the gear rewards are lacklustre compared to the previous zone.
I decided to concentrate on the main story while playing my new character and if I found myself at too low a level, I would do skirmishes and missions, rather than side quests. Having played LOTRO for so long, I also benefited from various account unlocks. Hence I had access straightway to some cosmetic outfits, thus did not have to play through early levels looking like a sartorially challenged “murder hobo”. I also used my stockpile of LOTRO points to purchase a lot of travel and milestone skills to make traversing Middle-earth easier. Due to many areas of the game being restructured over the past 18 years, you do find yourself progressing across Eriador quite rapidly. I quickly found myself at Gath Forthnír and the prospect of having to navigate the nearby enemy stronghold, Barad Gúlaran. I balked at this, so I decided to move on and after some thought, I chose to tackle Moria.
Moria has been revamped several times and its current iteration is a lot more user friendly than the version which existed back in 2008/9. However, what made the Moria prologue different this time round was the new introduction to the revised Legendary Item system. I actually found the tutorial for this aspect of the game quite helpful. Mainly because an entry level LI has only a few tracery slots open and is therefore a lot easier to manage. It was also nice to find familiar NPCs moved to far more intuitive locations, making it a lot easier to hand in completed quests. Moria also has far more stables now and is therefore a lot easier to navigate. However, despite these quality of life improvements, the expansion still maintains that air of wonder that was there in 2008. Khazad-dûm is still visually very impressive, showcasing Dwarven culture at its height. Yet it also has a palpable sense of decay.
The last few months of playing my new Lore-master have certainly highlighted the substantial changes that have been made to LOTRO over its lifecycle. The addition of areas such as Yondershire, the Wildwood in Bree-land and the Angle of Mitheithel, plus the new starter area in Swanfleet give players a great deal of choice when levelling. In fact large swathes of LOTRO can be bypassed if the player so desires. The in-game store also has a major impact on gameplay. As I mentioned, I bought various skills that reduced my fast travel ability to a five minute cooldown. I also had access to a mount within minutes of creating my new alt. All of which significantly alter the pace of LOTRO compared to how it was 15 years ago. Although the journey to level cap (150) still takes time, it is most certainly not the grind it used to be.
The new 64-bit servers have also had a positive impact upon the player population. If a player wants company or to join a kinship, then this is far easier at present as all major in-game hubs such as Bree of the 21st Hall in Moria have players coming and going. The chat channels are busy for those who like such means of communication. Hence LOTRO, despite its age, seems very dynamic and novel at the moment. The servers are busy and there is plenty of social activity if you want it. The game content seems fresh mainly due to the amount of choice a player has. This stems from new zones and a wealth of revisions made over time. For me at present, everything old is new. This coupled with my long term experience of the game, means that I can stop as I progress through Middle-earth and take stock of what is around me. Something that can be overlooked when playing for the first time.
LOTRO: Lore-master Class Traits
If you play the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, then you’ll probably be aware of the significant changes that were made to the Lore-master class in Update 41. Two and half months later I think I have come to terms and successfully adjusted to the “realignment” of the trait tree and the core skills. Setting aside the argument over the rectitude of these changes, I would like to share my thoughts on the respective performance of the three trait configurations. This is not from the perspective of a min-max player or someone who focuses on the “numbers”. These are just casual observations from an equally casual player. Furthermore, my opinion is based upon PVE gameplay and not group content or full blown raids.
Lore-master Pre Update 41
If you play the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, then you’ll probably be aware of the significant changes that were made to the Lore-master class in Update 41. Two and half months later I think I have come to terms and successfully adjusted to the “realignment” of the trait tree and the core skills. Setting aside the argument over the rectitude of these changes, I would like to share my thoughts on the respective performance of the three trait configurations. This is not from the perspective of a min-max player or someone who focuses on the “numbers”. These are just casual observations from an equally casual player. Furthermore, my opinion is based upon PVE gameplay and not group content or full blown raids.
Master of Nature's Fury:
The “red line” trait configuration has a major impact upon the way combat pets are used. You no longer summon one and it continuously follows you. Nor does it independently aid you in combat. A pet, when summoned, will persist for 15 seconds approximately and attempt to flank your current target. During this short window, you can activate a minor or major pet skill. Both of which do varying degrees of Beleriand Damage. Each pet also does a unique type of damage during its 15 second duration. IE a Lynx does both melee damage and damage over time. At present, on default game difficulty, a skills rotation of Burning Embers, Wizards Fire and Lightning-Charged Staff Strike will quickly kill a single mob.
Keeper of Animals:
The “blue line” trait configuration has also been significantly altered. Pets can be permanently summoned but you must use your own skills in order to trigger a pet to use one of its combat skills. The three main skills are Minor Pet Command, Major Pet Command, and Sign of the Wild: Rage. All of these skills will tell your pet to execute an ability. Minor and Major pet commands transfer your threat status to your pet, so they can tank for you. Pets still intercede in combat due to mob proximity. Minor and Major pet commands used in combination with Wizards Fire, Wizards Spark, Burning Embers and Staff-Strikes are an efficient skill rotation on the default difficulty when using this trait configuration.
The Ancient Master:
The “yellow line” trait configuration is in many ways the nearest to how the Lore-master class was prior to the changes in Update 41. It allows the player to summon a pet permanently and plays very similarly in terms of crowd control, the skills that are accessible and overall pet damage. Minor and Major pet commands activate reciprocal skills. IE if you have summoned a Bog Lurker you can activate the ranged debuff Choking Vines or the stun inducing Bursting Root, which can trigger a Fellowship Manoeuvre. Once again on default difficulty, Minor and Major pet commands along with Burning Embers, Staff-Strikes and Wizards Fire or Wizards Spark deals sufficient damage to an average mob.
Lore-master Post Update 41
For a long time, I have played LOTRO with my Lore-master configured to the “red line” trait configuration. I enjoyed having my favourite pet, the Bog Lurker, available continuously. I liked the fact that you could name them. Suddenly finding from August onwards that they had been relegated to a short term skill was annoying as it fundamentally altered the nature of the class. Furthermore, many skills that were known and loved were now locked to specific trait configurations. You now have to spend across all three trees to get a full range of pets and you may have to make some hard choices about what skills you may have to give up. Sadly, what’s done is done and one has to move forward. I have adjusted to the new changes and still find “red line” trait configuration very effective. For those players who are still finding their feet with the Lore-master class, post Update 41, I hope you find the right build for you.
LOTRO: Virtue Traits
I returned to the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, in April this year and caught up with 18 months worth of content. Upon reaching the latest level cap of 150, I built two entirely new Legendary Items and acquired new gear via the game’s lootbox system. As I am not the sort of player who is especially knowledgeable about the “stats” associated with my class and the overall theorycraft of the game, I did some research and found several guides to follow. As I play primarily solo PVE content, I favour a DPS build for my main character in LOTRO, which is a Lore-master. So I copied a specific build and considered my work done. However, along came Update 41 on the 1st of August, which made serious changes to this class. As a result I recently decided to look at every option for the Lore-master and see what I could do to find a new optimal build. The two areas that offer the most scope for improvement are Class Traits and Virtue Traits. This post deals with the latter.
I returned to the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, in April this year and caught up with 18 months worth of content. Upon reaching the latest level cap of 150, I built two entirely new Legendary Items and acquired new gear via the game’s lootbox system. As I am not the sort of player who is especially knowledgeable about the “stats” associated with my class and the overall theorycraft of the game, I did some research and found several guides to follow. As I play primarily solo PVE content, I favour a DPS build for my main character in LOTRO, which is a Lore-master. So I copied a specific build and considered my work done. However, along came Update 41 on the 1st of August, which made serious changes to this class. As a result I recently decided to look at every option for the Lore-master and see what I could do to find a new optimal build. The two areas that offer the most scope for improvement are Class Traits and Virtue Traits. This post deals with the latter.
Virtues are a type of trait that each character can obtain in LOTRO. Virtues grant bonuses to specific statistics. Each trait grants bonuses to 3 different stats. The first statistic listed grants the largest bonus, the next grants an intermediate bonus and the last stat listed grants the smallest bonus. In order to gain the benefits of a specific Virtue it must be slotted into the top bar in the Virtue page of the Trait Tree Panel. There are 21 Virtues in total, all of which grant a small passive stat bonus (either to Maximum Morale or Physical and Tactical Mastery) even if they are not slotted. A character can have 5 Virtue traits slotted at a time. Virtues are levelled as you progress through game content, with quests rewards often including Virtue XP. Completing deeds is another means of levelling Virtues. The current cap for Virtue Traits is 92.
The key to using Virtue Traits effectively is to slot those with statistics that are beneficial to your specific class. Naturally, you will find hardcore LOTRO players who favour bespoke selections for specific tasks. They may even swap between selections on the fly. For the average player, it is simply a question of finding those traits with stats which benefits your class and favoured play style. Post Update 41, I perused various discussions about the Lore-master class on Reddit and opted for the following Virtue Traits for my “red line” Lore-master. Honesty, Wisdom, Valour, Wit and Confidence. I then proceeded to return to older regions in the game and clear outstanding deeds to earn appropriate XP. Some of the traits I slotted I’d used before, so they were close to the level cap. Others that I had not used previously were only halfway. The benefit of having 5 maxed out Virtue Traits is that it boosts your overall stats and thus your in-game performance.
To cut a long story short, I went through Cardolan, Swanfleet, the Wastes and Elderslade completing various slayer deeds and earning virtue XP. It got somewhat tedious after a while and then I remembered that I have an abandoned Guardian alt, that I previously “boosted” to level to 120. As I hadn’t used all the resources that came with the “boost”, I transferred them to my Lore-master and subsequently maxed out their respective Virtue Traits. This combined with my rebuilt Legendary Items, along with “Teal” gear and jewellery, means that my character stats are now very robust. I always pursue a policy of being overpowered for PVE content, when playing MMORPGs. Hence this has made playing through the Corsairs of Umbar content, a lot easier and faster. I remain undecided about the merits of the last expansion but I am now happy that my primary alt is now what I consider to be optimal.
The Virtue Traits system often gets neglected in LOTRO, due to the more pressing needs such as upgrading your gear and weapon as you level, as well as selecting the right Class Traits to unlock the skills you desire. Hence, levelling your slotted traits is often something we relegate to the time between expansions or content updates, when we’ve done all the major quests and are simply looking for something to do while we kill time. However, it is something that can significantly improve your stats and is therefore well worth pursuing. If done in conjunction with completing deeds, not only will you benefit from the trait XP but you’ll also be rewarded with traceries for your LI and even the occasional additional skills point or mount. There is the possibility that the Virtue Trait cap may be increased in the future, so that is another reason to stay on top of them now.
LOTRO: The Lore-master is Broken
I started playing The Lord of the Rings Online on On Monday 22nd December 2008. I still have the receipt in the box set that I bought, which included the base game Shadows of Angmar and the newly released expansion, Mines of Moria (it had been out about a month). This was my first MMORPG and unlike many other gamers, I had not previously played World of Warcraft. Hence, this was very much a new experience for me. I spent a lot of time pondering what race and class I would play and after reading the game manual thoroughly, (remember them?) I decided upon a human Lore-master. This proved to be a wise decision because I immediately took to the class with its mixture of ranged fire attacks and combat pets. As I am not an “altoholic” this has been my primary character in LOTRO for the last 15 plus years. I have played through every update and expansion with this Lore-master. A total time investment of 7 months, 1 week, 3 days and 5 hours.
I started playing The Lord of the Rings Online on On Monday 22nd December 2008. I still have the receipt in the box set that I bought, which included the base game Shadows of Angmar and the newly released expansion, Mines of Moria (it had been out about a month). This was my first MMORPG and unlike many other gamers, I had not previously played World of Warcraft. Hence, this was very much a new experience for me. I spent a lot of time pondering what race and class I would play and after reading the game manual thoroughly, (remember them?) I decided upon a human Lore-master. This proved to be a wise decision because I immediately took to the class with its mixture of ranged fire attacks and combat pets. As I am not an “altoholic” this has been my primary character in LOTRO for the last 15 plus years. I have played through every update and expansion with this Lore-master. A total time investment of 7 months, 1 week, 3 days and 5 hours.
Over the years I have enjoyed both the good times and bad times with LOTRO. There have been occasions when I have indulged in marathon sessions and other times when I’ve taken several months break from the game. But because of my love of Tolkien and my connection with the character that I’ve created, I always return. Over the years our Fellowship (guild) has waxed and waned. Many friends have come and gone from the game and sadly, some have passed away. Such is the nature of communities within the MMO genre. 15 years has also seen a lot of changes in the games development. Systems have been added and game mechanics have been changed. Mounted combat and epic battles proved unsuccessful. The change from a flexible trait system to a generic skills tree proved problematic. Yet despite various bumps along the way, the road continues to go on and on for LOTRO.
On July 31st, I logged into LOTRO as Update 41: On the Wing was being released that afternoon. I had been away from the game for several months and read that there were to be some class changes included in the latest patch. I took screen captures of my current build, so I could quickly return to it after any system reset. I then logged out, with a view to returning later. It was not until a few days ago that I logged back into LOTRO and I quickly discovered that developers, Standing Stone Games, hadn’t made minor adjustments to the Lore-master class but had radically retooled it. In the past I would have known chapter and verse about this matter well in advance. Nowadays, I have a more casual relationship with the game, so I was blissfully ignorant of the changes. Needless to say, I wasn’t the only player who was confused and frustrated by this decision to alter a class in this fashion.
I won’t belabour casual readers with an excess of detail but all classes in LOTRO have the option to spend their skill points in three distinct skill trees. All of which offer different abilities and play styles. These are colour coded. Blue is weighted towards buffing the Lore-master pets and making them a major focus of gameplay. Red is DPS specific, buffing most fire skills and such like. Yellow line is designed to make all Lore-master buffs and de-buffs more robust and is the favoured skills tree option for those playing group content. All of these have now been nerfed by SSG with certain skills being combined or removed altogether. The most egregious changes are to the red line option. The option that I’ve always favoured. Combat pets which could previously be summoned until manually dismissed, are now relegated to short term skills. You summon them, they fight for a short period and then vanish. These skills now have long cooldowns. Considering that the Lore-master is a pet class, this decision is illogical. It also spoils having these pets as companions when out of combat.
As a mature gamer, I am not prone anymore to gaming related tantrums. They are unseemly and ultimately change nothing. But as a player of LOTRO with 15 years plus standing, who has solely played the Lore-master class for that period, I am “disappointed”. Something that wasn’t broken to begin with has been diminished and is now demonstrably inferior to how it used to be. The irony is this isn’t the first time such decisions have been made during LOTRO’s lifespan and I suspect that it will happen again. SSG developers have a habit of being tone deaf to players’ likes and dislikes and indifferent to any upset or inconvenience they cause. They have an unedifying habit of “always knowing better”, regardless of whether they do or not. As for me, I spent a little time experimenting with the new red line build and then abandoned it. I have not at present chosen an alternative option and have logged out, with no immediate plans to return anytime soon. Nothing remains the same forever but this was a crass decision by the developers and it has now degraded mine and other players’ gaming experience. Bravo SSG, bravo.
LOTRO: Bullroarer Update 33 - Yondershire Beta #3
Standing Stone Games have a third preview of Update 33 for the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, available on the Bullroarer test server which ends tomorrow. This latest build includes all stables for the new zone. There are six in total, four of which are based in the Hobbits villages of Gamwich, Tighfield, Nobottle and Long Cleave. The mob population has increased since the last preview and all enemy encampments are now accessible. Most importantly, a map of Yondershire is now available clearly showing how the zone fits between The Shire and Ered Luin. Hence players now have sufficient details to be able to accurately appraise Yondershire which has a challenge level of 20-23. Furthermore, the map of Eriador has also been adjusted to show the new zone.
Standing Stone Games have a third preview of Update 33 for the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, available on the Bullroarer test server which ends tomorrow. This latest build includes all stables for the new zone. There are six in total, four of which are based in the Hobbits villages of Gamwich, Tighfield, Nobottle and Long Cleave. The mob population has increased since the last preview and all enemy encampments are now accessible. Most importantly, a map of Yondershire is now available clearly showing how the zone fits between The Shire and Ered Luin. Hence players now have sufficient details to be able to accurately appraise Yondershire which has a challenge level of 20-23. Furthermore, the map of Eriador has also been adjusted to show the new zone.
This latest beta has been of particular interest to me as there are some significant changes coming to the Lore-master class. My primary character in LOTRO is a Lore-master that I’ve played since 2008. Perhaps the biggest change is the removal of the “Sic’em” trait from the “Keeper of Animals” trait tree. This skill when used summons all Lore-master pets and causes substantial damage to target(s). However, it is a major resource hog and causes lag problems for groups in instance when used. So SSG have decided to retire it and replace it with “A Murder of Crows”. According to the developers this new skill “summons a cloud of crows around the target for 15s. It has a 2 minute cooldown. While they persist the crows inflict enormous damage and disorient their victim, reducing hit chance and increasing the damage of other attacks made against the target. Enemies within 7m of the main target also take constant damage from the cloud of circling avians (but are not debuffed)”.
Class changes are always a source of trepidation for players and it is always difficult to approach such changes in a way that pleases everyone. I remain cautiously optimistic regarding those currently listed on the Official LOTRO Forums. My Lore-master is currently traited for a red line DPS build and so the replacement of “Sic’em” doesn’t especially bother me but I can see how players are attached to the sheer bravado of this skill. I am more intrigued by the statement “damage of LM red line skills and effects in general has been improved” because even at level cap with a robust selection of gear from Steel-bound lootboxes, I still feel a little underpowered at times. So any positive adjustment will be well received by me. With regard to Update 33, it will be interesting to see if there will be a 4th beta test or whether SSG simply go ahead and release the current build.