Midsummer Festival 2022

Myndariel finally joined in the Midsummer Festival celebrations, and it was so worthwhile and enjoyable!

Aragorn and Arwen's wedding

She went through all the quests for the epic quest chain Vol. V. Book 1: A Time of Celebration which tells the story of Aragorn (also known as Elessar) and Arwen's wedding in Minas Tirith. After completing Chapter 7: A Wedding at Midsummer, she earned Gondor's Steed which looks awesome.

Gondor's Steed

There are lots of repeatable quests in the Midsummer Festival version of Minas Tirith, plus additional quests in Bree-land, the Shire and Ered Luin, so players of all levels can take part. The rewards are cheap so it was easy to collect all the mounts and some nice new outfits. If I wanted, I could also earn some cosmetic pets and housing items.

Apart from Gondor's Steed, there are several other mounts available this year:

• Steed of Entwining Blossoms
• Blackroot Steed
  
• Lamedon Steed
• Lebennin Steed
• Lossarnarch Steed

You can check these out on my Mounts Gallery page.

I love the main outfit for this year! The Robe of Entwining Blossoms is very pretty, especially when combined with the accessories, and it dyes well, with a slight colour gradient that adds a nice effect.

Steed of Entwining Blossoms and matching dress

Robe of Entwining Blossoms (left: default, right: dyed rose)

Also shown are the Circlet of Entwining Blossoms (head), Mantle of Entwined Blossoms (shoulders) and Boots of the Entwining Blossoms (feet). Instead of using the matching cloak, I really liked the delicate lace-like Bridal Veil (it can also be dyed various colours). 

There are also bride and groom sets of outfits, but they didn't appeal as much so I didn't collect them. I did buy Galadriel's dress (which is the same as what she wore to the wedding) and Arwen's Dinner Dress (which also has a lovely colour gradient effect).

Galadriel's Dress (left: default, right: dyed gold in honour of Lothlórien)

Arwen's Dinner Dress (default, dyed rust, dyed sky blue, dyed turquoise)

There's still a few more days to enjoy the festival, so now that Myndariel is all set, some of my characters on my Free Account would like new mounts and outfits too.

Tunic of Entwining Blossoms

Mynimuso, my hobbit minstrel, discovered that the dresses don't look so good on hobbits, but the tunics fit nicely.

Yule Festival 2020

I wasn't planning on taking part in the Yule Festival this year - I've done the event many times before. But ... I saw the new outfit and it was "Ooh, nice. My characters would like that." 

Mynaruun wearing the Poinsettia Crown, Cloak of Flurries and the Gala-worthy Gown

There's only a few more days of the Festival to go, so my characters each did the 10 activities and earned at least 35 tokens so they could each buy one piece of the costume for my newest character Mynaruun, a level 9 rune-keeper who didn't have an outfit yet and was wearing mismatched, ugly, quest rewards. Now she looks pretty. 

My lore-master (not Myndariel, another one called Myndibeth) has done the Yule Festival before and had enough tokens left over from last time to buy a festive mount. She also bought the Vestments of the Northern Sky to make a new outfit.

Ice Flower Steed

Mynaruun would really like the Yule Gala Steed to go with her outfit, but I don't know if she can get enough tokens in the next few days to buy it during this festival. Plus, she's on my free-to-play account and she doesn't have riding unlocked yet (I make it a rule they have to get to level 20 and earn the LOTRO points themselves before they can ride). Can I get her to level 20 and earn the mount before the end of the Yule Festival? 

* UPDATE * Mission accomplished!

Yule Gala Steed

Mynaruun did the Yule daily quests each day and quested through Ered Luin and Bree-land and is now the proud snowflake queen. Cold as ice indeed! Maybe I should try and get her a frosty pet?

OK, I admit it, I got sucked into the icy vortex of festival deeds and quests and collecting rewards. It was fun and now I'm really looking forward to playing LOTRO in 2021. 

I wish you all a wonderful and happy new year and may you stay safe and well in Middle Earth and real life!

Farmer's Faire, Mordor Allegiances and the Mount Sale

So the Farmer's Faire has come and gone. There wasn't much new stuff this time, so I sent a couple low level characters on my free-to-play account to participate so they could get some cosmetic gear and a mount.

Farmer's Fancy Dress and Circlet of Fresh-picked Flowers cosmetic gear.
Goat of the Harvest Sky mount.

Farmer's Second Favourite Steed mount.

Surcoat of the Yield, Gardening Gloves and Gardening Boots cosmetic gear.

Myndariel has reached level 110 in Mordor - I know, she's going slow, but she has struggled to complete the quests in the fortresses like Durthang in Udûn and Barad-dûr in Dor Amarth. The mobs take so long to kill and respawn so fast and defeat means a long run back and fighting through all the mobs again. She'll get it done eventually. She's taking breaks and going back to North Ithilien and The Wastes to do the 250 repeatable gardening quests so she can get the mount reward (which I've heard is beautiful).

Meanwhile, she's chosen the Elf allegiance and the introduction to that is great. The Court of Lothlórien looks amazing and it's interesting to see more of Thranduil and Galadriel and what they have been up to while we were fighting through Gondor towards Mordor.

Court of Lothlórien (Elf Allegiance Hall)

And finally, I decided to splash out on a new mount in the LOTRO store mount sale. I thought my High Elf Hunter needed a mount that suited her ancient armour and after much deliberation, decided on the Obsidian Steed. I think it's perfect!

Obsidian Steed

Cosmetics: Blue Bear

I don't normally do cosmetic outfit posts - there are other blogs like Wandering Around Arda, Material Middle Earth or The Starry Mantle that create lots of great-looking outfits and presents them beautifully.

Nevertheless, I really like my Beorning's outfits and I'd like to share them. The first I think shows an almost Elven litheness inherent in the flexibility to change between man and bear form, while the second outfit with heavier armour shows strength and her willingness to make a stand, protecting her allies from the enemy.

Outfit 1

Tyravorth wore Outfit 1 for most of the first 90 levels. She changed helms a few times - she started off with the starter Beorning headband, and at one stage wore a shiny navy and gold metal helmet, but I liked this hat best.

Oh, my characters tend to hide their weapons when they're out of combat (unless they have a really cool looking weapon).

Head: Scholar's Hat (Misty Mountains quest reward from "A Scholar's Lesson", dyed navy)
Shoulders: Battle-tested Shoulders (Level 59 quest reward, Battle-tested Armour box, dyed navy)
Chest: Ceremonial Town-saver's Jacket (from Skirmish Camp, dyed navy)
Hands: Elven Leather Gloves of Vigour (random mob drop around level 41-44, dyed umber)
Legs: Ceremonial Town-saver's Leggings (from Skirmish Camp, dyed navy)
Feet: Ceremonial Boots of the Quiet Step (from Skirmish Camp, dyed umber)
Back: Eastemnet Cloak of Might (crafted T8 cloak from tailor, dyed navy)

Outfit 2

This was taken just after the battle of Helm's Deep. The chestpiece was a heavy armour epic quest reward for taking part in the battle and she liked it better than the medium armour option. So she collected it and then raided the shared wardrobe for other pieces to go with it and dyed them navy, or umber for the gloves. I used the same cloak - I like how it dyes and the pattern isn't boring, but it also doesn't distract attention from the outfit.

Head: Inquisitive Lore-master's Hat (East Rohan quest reward from "Leaders from Moria", dyed navy)
Shoulders: Fine Grey Company Wrap (Dunland epic quest reward from Vol 3, Book 5, Chapter 1, dyed navy)
Chest: Breastplate of the Rider (West Rohan epic quest reward from Vol 3, Book 13, Chapter 6, dyed navy)
Hands: Dholen-lhaw (Dunland epic quest reward from Vol 3, Book 4, Chapter 5, dyed umber)
Legs: (not visible)
Feet: Reinforced Leather Dunlending Boots (Dunland quest reward from "Once a Servant, Now a Wizard", dyed navy)
Back: Eastemnet Cloak of Might (crafted T8 cloak from tailor, dyed navy)

War-steed Appearances from Rohan

My Beorning, Tyravorth, is still in East Rohan questing to get to level 85. Her favourite quests have been the ones that rewards items that let you customise your war-steed appearance for free.

My Lore-master, Myndariel, still hasn't collected the rare Spotted War-steed and the full set of war-steed appearances from West Rohan - they are harder to get because they only have a small chance to drop from warbands.

Hunting warbands is a good excuse to go back and visit Rohan every now and again. Brings back memories too - remember the first time you saw that huge troll in the Norcrofts and though "uh oh", or came across a warband designed for a raid and you tried to solo them and got wiped out in an instant? Warbands add a little extra challenge and danger and make the zones feel more alive.  

War-steed Appearance Set from the Wold

• Light Caparison of the Wold - quest reward from Welcome to Harwick [76] near Harwick
• Light Leggings of the Wold - quest reward from Down Payment [76] near Harwick
• Light Saddle of the Wold - quest reward from Source of the Corruption [77] near Twickenburg
• Light Halter of the Wold - quest reward from Floodwend Besieged [77] near Floodwend

Light Set of the Wold

War-steed Appearance Set from the Norcrofts

• Light Caparison of the Norcrofts - quest reward from The Enduring Menace [78] near Trader's Outpost
• Light Leggings of the Norcrofts - quest reward from All That Remains [79] near Cliving
• Light Saddle of the Norcrofts - quest reward from The Elfward [79] near Faldham
• Light Halter of the Norcrofts - quest reward from The Corrupted Matrons [79] near Faldham

Light Set of the Norcrofts

War-steed Appearance Set from the Entwash

• Light Caprison of the Entwash - quest reward from Patching Friendships [80] near Eawort
• Light Leggings of the Entwash - quest reward from In Defense of Eaworth [81] near Eaworth
• Light Saddle of the Entwash - quest reward from Chieftain of the Dead [81] near Byrgenstow
• Light Halter of the Entwash - quest reward from The Treasure of Rohan [82] near Éomer's Vengeance

Light Set of the Entwash

War-steed Appearance Set from the Sutcrofts

• Light Caparison of the Sutcrofts - quest reward from An Unfair Exchange [85] near Snowbourn
• Light Leggings of the Sutcofts - quest reward from The Father of the Sutcrofts [85] near Snowbourn
• Light Saddle of the Sutcrofts - quest reward from The First Assault [85] near Snowbourn
• Light Halter of the Sutcrofts - quest reward from The Reeve Restored [85] near Snowbourn

Light Set of the Sutcrofts

War-steed Hide Appearance from East Rohan

The Spotted War-steed hide appearance is a rare reward in boxes of spoils (e.g. Blue Box of Wold Spoils) from defeating warbands in East Rohan.

War-steed Appearance Set from West Rohan

These appearance traits are rare rewards from boxes of spoils received for defeating warbands in West Rohan.

• Caparison of West Rohan
• Halter of West Rohan
• Saddle of West Rohan

For more information about the warbands, their difficulty, location and possible rewards, visit LOTRO Wiki: Warband Quests.

Crafted Shields Gallery Now Available

Shields stand out and the crafted ones in LOTRO are no exception. Metalsmiths can make some beautiful shields, as you can see in the Metalsmith: Crafted Shields gallery.

There is a great variety of motifs, shapes and colours that may be helpful for creating a nice outfit or role-playing. For example:

Dwarf

Elf

Man

Rohan

I also found a couple of shields that might be good matches for my guardian's current outfit (she's the hobbit modelling the shields). Which one would you recommend?

#1

#2

#3

#4

Crafted Bows and Crossbows Gallery Available

Woodworkers can make some lovely bows and crossbows and you can now view them in the Woodworker: Crafted Bows and Crossbows gallery.

There was quite a variety of bow styles - some were smooth, some were spiky, some had jewels, some had vines, some had glowing lights, some had a combination of these. The crossbows were simpler and much more solid-looking, but there were a few stand-outs. The cross-bows were more likely to have glowing lights, mostly red or blue, playing along the limbs.

Glowing blue lights move from tips to center

There was also quite a lot of collision with weapons poking through arms or back, which is a shame but every graphics engine has its limitations. Nevertheless, if I was choosing a weapon for its cosmetic appearance, that would be something to take into consideration.

My favourite bows:

Carved Yew Bow - pretty jewels

Black Ash Bow - nice vines

Wildermore Bow - colourful pattern

My favourite crossbows:

Yew Crossbow - beautifully carved

Smooth Black Ash Crossbow - uniquely leafy

Silver Ilex Crossbow - just wow!

Crafted Daggers Gallery Available

My burglar was happy to show off her crafted daggers, but only in the shadows of the forges of Thorin's Hall for some sneaky reason. You can now view the daggers gallery too.

The daggers were very simple and very similar at low levels. The Supreme tier daggers were my favourite with their unique shapes, gold and jewels. Fortunately, the higher tiers also showed some interesting variations in weapon shape.

Typical Low-level Dagger

Supreme Tier Dagger

Level 75 Dagger

I expect the legendary daggers will show off some more bling. I'll have to look out for nice quest rewards too. My burglar wants to fill her lair with dangerous but beautiful weapons that will prove she has robbed rich and powerful villains and lived to tell the tale (whispered in dark alleys and shady taverns).

Crafted Staves Gallery Available

I couldn't wait any longer - I had to see what the full collection of crafted staves looked like - and now you can too by visiting the Woodworker: Crafted Staves page.

A good staff is a lore-master's best friend - after her pet of course! Fortunately, woodworkers can turn wooden sticks into some beautiful works of art. My favourite is the Scout's Staff; it might look familiar from my profile picture ...

Level 56: Scout's Staff

Close up of the details

Myndariel's favourite staff

Unfortunately, after level 65 there are only legendary lore-master staves that can be crafted. They're beautiful too, but we'll have to wait to see them when I do the legendary lore-master weapons article.

1H Axes Gallery Available

Following quick on the heels of the 1H swords gallery, the 1H axes gallery is now available to view on the Weaponsmith: Crafted 1H Axes page.

None of my characters normally wield an axe, but there were several axes I liked, particularly the double-sided axes such as the Heavy Iron Axe and the Elven-steel Axe. I can definitely see a dwarf guardian swinging it side-to-side through a crowd of clamouring goblins. Also useful for chopping wood for a campfire - and showing off your battle prowess to your comrades while drinking ale and singing loudly and badly - another favourite past-time of dwarves.

Heavy Iron Axe

Elven-steel Axe

Amongst the other axes, the Thain's Axe, Westfold Axe and the Axe of the Mark are quite detailed and interesting. The Axe of the Rider and Wildermore Axe are also unique.

Thain's Axe

Westfold Axe

Axe of the Mark

Oh, and there was also one that was unbelievably ugly ... the Sellsword's Axe. It reminds me of someone doing the sign of the horns, but with a blade along one edge. Maybe the weapon was supposed to be particularly good at warding against the evil eye (Eye of Sauron) and killing his minions? It does Westernesse damage, which is strong against The Dead, Unseen and Gaunt Men. Coincidence? Probably not.

Sellsword's Axe