 |
| The entrance to the Vale of Anduin |
 |
| Carrock, with the stairs built by Beorn |
 | |
| Who lives here? What are other Beorning like? |
 |
| Sigh. Home alone. |
Wednesday, 28 October 2015
Scenic Tour: Vale of Anduin
I've recently started a little Beorning and so far I'm finding it an interesting class but it doesn't feel fully developed. The starting area was the same. The Vale of Anduin is a pretty little glen but the village seems practically deserted and the introductory experience was so short that you don't really get to find out what it means to be a Beorning. You get sent on your way to Archet and instead of giving you quests to level up and learn your class and history, you're just automatically made level 5 - what a shortcut!
Wednesday, 21 October 2015
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.
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).
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).
Wednesday, 7 October 2015
Farming Pipe-weed
I was recently asked about pipe-weed farming and cross-breeding in LOTRO and I promised to look into it. My farmer has never grown pipe-weed (until now) because she focused on crops used for cooking and dye-making, but she's decided she's willing to support the smokers and drinkers in Bree with pipe-weed and strong drinks.
Once she got started growing the pipe-weed, she found it very interesting. There's the descriptions of the pipe-weed, the celebration of harvesting a cross-breed seed and she even found the different smoke-ring patterns intriguing (after she got over her coughing fit from accidentally inhaling the smoke).
I received 1-10 leaf crops per field plus the occasional cross-breed seed of the same or next tier (e.g. planting apprentice pipe-weed granted me a few journeyman cross-breed seeds).
It was actually profitable to vendor the pouches. For example, it cost 14 silver to plant 50 fields of Longbottom Leaf and vendoring the 856 pouches of pipe-weed earned 25 silver. Tool repairs reduce profits slightly. It may be even more profitable to sell pipe-weed or cross-breed seeds on auction house or via trade, but when I looked at the auction house on my server there was very little on offer.
The higher tiers of seeds are harder to get. You need to grow a lot of the common tier 3 seeds to get enough tier 4 cross-breed seeds and hope that those cross-breed seeds generate enough tier 5 seeds (Wizard's Fire) to get some tier 6 seeds (Fungo's Fuzzy-leaf and Gold-fire). I tried using special soil to see if that would increase the seeds yield, but although I got more crops (6.5 crops/field) and more seeds of the same tier (0.5 seeds/field), it didn't increase the number of seeds of the next tier (0.1 seeds/field).
At tier 7 (Westfold), you need reputation with Theodréd's Riders to buy the Wild Pipe-weed Field recipe. You can buy wild pipe-weed seeds from vendors. Unfortunately, my farmer isn't high enough level to get reputation, so I can't experiment with this just yet.
Note: * indicates the pipe-weed is a cross-breed variety.
The Stonecrop Leaf smoke pattern seems rather hard to distinguish. At first I thought it a row-boat, then I thought it might be a galloping steed, but then it seems to have a huge jaw or horns or tusks ... or maybe it's just a puff of smoke and she's imagining things! If anyone has a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it!
Once she got started growing the pipe-weed, she found it very interesting. There's the descriptions of the pipe-weed, the celebration of harvesting a cross-breed seed and she even found the different smoke-ring patterns intriguing (after she got over her coughing fit from accidentally inhaling the smoke).
Pipe-weed Descriptions:
- Longbottom Leaf: "A sturdy variety of pipe-weed, long grown in Southfarthing."
- Rushlight: "A poor sort of pipe-weed, usually grown in the Shire."
- Southlinch: "A poor sort of pipe-weed, usually grown in Bree."
- Sweet Lobelia: "A novelty variety of pipe-weed, which many find distasteful."
- Muddy Foot: "A variety of pipe-weed with an earthy flavour."
- Tighfield Choice: "A decent sort of pipe-weed, traditionally grown in Tighfield."
- Hornblower: "Named in honour of the first hobbit to grow pipe-weed in the shire, Tobold Hornblower."
- Southern Star: "A variety of pipe-weed usually grown in the Southfarthing."
- Old Toby: "A fine grade of pipe-weed, named after Tobold Hornblower."
- Shire Sweet-leaf: "A fragrant variety of pipe-weed, prized by Lore-masters."
- Sweet Galenas: "A variety of pipe-weed believed to be a favourite of the ancient King."
- Roper's Twist: "An early variety of pipe-weed grown in Gamwich."
- Dragon's Breath: "A variety of pipe-weed said to glow with an eerie fire when smoked."
- Eagle's Nest: "Some of the finest pipe-weed to come out of the Southfarthing."
- Gamwich Braid: "The greatest variety of pipe-weed ever grown in Gamwich."
- Wizard's Fire: "A pipe-weed representing the best of all leaf known to hobbits."
- Fungo's Fuzzy-leaf: "A variety of pipe-weed that has distinctive hairy leaves."
- Gold-fire: "A tasty variation of pipe-weed that combines the best of both Wizard's Fire and Fungo's Fuzzy-leaf."
Pipe-weed Farming Results:
No special soil was used in growing these crops. Crop yields were rounded to the nearest 0.1, or for yields of less than 0.05, rounded up to 0.1 rather than down to 0.0 (since if the yield was zero there would be no reason to include it in the table).I received 1-10 leaf crops per field plus the occasional cross-breed seed of the same or next tier (e.g. planting apprentice pipe-weed granted me a few journeyman cross-breed seeds).
It was actually profitable to vendor the pouches. For example, it cost 14 silver to plant 50 fields of Longbottom Leaf and vendoring the 856 pouches of pipe-weed earned 25 silver. Tool repairs reduce profits slightly. It may be even more profitable to sell pipe-weed or cross-breed seeds on auction house or via trade, but when I looked at the auction house on my server there was very little on offer.
The higher tiers of seeds are harder to get. You need to grow a lot of the common tier 3 seeds to get enough tier 4 cross-breed seeds and hope that those cross-breed seeds generate enough tier 5 seeds (Wizard's Fire) to get some tier 6 seeds (Fungo's Fuzzy-leaf and Gold-fire). I tried using special soil to see if that would increase the seeds yield, but although I got more crops (6.5 crops/field) and more seeds of the same tier (0.5 seeds/field), it didn't increase the number of seeds of the next tier (0.1 seeds/field).
At tier 7 (Westfold), you need reputation with Theodréd's Riders to buy the Wild Pipe-weed Field recipe. You can buy wild pipe-weed seeds from vendors. Unfortunately, my farmer isn't high enough level to get reputation, so I can't experiment with this just yet.
| Pipe-weed (Tier) | Fields | Crops | Crop Yield | Smoke-ring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longbottom Leaf (T1) | 85 | 320 Longbottom Leaf 4 Muddy Foot Seed 5 Tighfield Choice Seed | 3.7 0.1 0.1 | One Ring |
| Rushlight (T1) | 30 | 79 Rushlight 2 Muddy Foot Seed | 2.6 0.1 | One Ring |
| Southlinch (T1) | 30 | 117 Southlinch 2 Muddy Foot Seed 1 Tighfield Choice Seed | 3.9 0.1 0.1 | Puff of Smoke |
| Sweet Lobelia (T1) | 30 | 116 Sweet Lobelia 1 Muddy Foot Seed 1 Tighfield Choice Seed | 3.9 0.1 0.1 | Two Rings |
| Hornblower (T2) | 30 | 97 Hornblower 4 Muddy Foot Seed 4 Tighfield Choice Seed 1 Dragon's Breath Seed | 3.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 | Double Ring |
| Southern Star (T2) | 80 | 273 Southern Star 11 Muddy Foot Seed 4 Tighfield Choice 5 Roper's Twist Seed 8 Dragon's Breath Seed | 3.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 | Double Ring |
| Muddy Foot * (T2) | 21 | 79 Muddy Foot 1 Muddy Foot Seed 2 Tighfield Choice Seed 3 Dragon's Breath Seed | 3.8 0.1 0.1 0.1 | Triple Ring |
| Tighfield Choice * (T2) | 16 | 62 Tighfield Choice 2 Muddy Foot Seed 2 Tighfield Choice Seed | 3.9 0.1 0.1 | Double Ring |
| Old Toby (T3) | 80 | 297 Old Toby 7 Dragon's Breath Seed 13 Roper's Twist Seed 4 Eagle's Nest Seed 2 Gamwich Braid Seed | 3.7 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 | Heart around Ring |
| Shire Sweet-leaf (T3) | 30 | 99 Shire Sweet-leaf 3 Dragon's Breath Seed 4 Roper's Twist Seed 2 Eagle's Nest Seed 2 Gamwich Braid Seed | 3.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 | 3 Butterflies |
| Sweet Galenas (T3) | 65 | 215 Sweet Galenas 11 Dragon's Breath Seed 7 Roper's Twist Seed 2 Eagle's Nest Seed 6 Gamwich Braid Seed | 3.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 | Ship |
| Roper's Twist * (T3) | 54 | 197 Roper's Twist 4 Roper's Twist Seed 3 Dragon's Breath Seed 2 Eagle's Nest Seed 4 Gamwich Braid Seed | 3.6 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 | Spiral |
| Dragon's Breath * (T3) | 50 | 193 Dragon's Breath 7 Roper's Twist Seed 9 Dragon's Breath Seed 3 Eagle's Nest Seed 4 Gamwich Braid Seed | 3.9 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 | Dragon |
| Eagle's Nest * (T4) | 21 | 65 Eagle's Nest 1 Eagle's Nest Seed 4 Gamwich Braid Seed | 3.1 0.1 0.2 | Eagle |
| Gamwich Braid * (T4) | 28 | 88 Gamwich Braid 2 Eagle's Nest Seed 3 Wizard's Fire Seed | 3.1 0.1 0.1 | Fish |
| Wizard's Fire * (T5) | 3 | 12 Wizard's Fire 1 Gold-fire Seed | 4.0 0.3 | Bird |
 Longbottom Leaf produces one ring |  Sweet Lobelia produces two rings |
 Old Toby produces a heart and ring |  Shire Sweet-leaf produces 3 butterflies |
 Dragon's Breath produces a dragon |  Gamwich Braid produces a dark fish |
Summer Festival Special Varieties
There are three special varieties of pipeweed that are only available during Summer Festival. The recipes and seeds are sold by Pipeweed Vendors in major festival locations (i.e. Celondim and Thorin's Hall in Ered Luin, Bree Festival Grounds in Bree-land, and The Party Tree in The Shire).| Pipe-weed (Tier) | Fields | Crops | Crop Yield | Smoke-ring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stonecrop Leaf (T1) | 30 | 116 Stonecrop Leaf | 3.9 | Stampeding Beast? |
| Lengalenas (T3) | 30 | 96 Lengalenas | 3.2 | Crossed Swords |
| Summer Green-weed (T5) | 30 | 102 Summer Green-weed | 3.4 | Pipe |
The Stonecrop Leaf smoke pattern seems rather hard to distinguish. At first I thought it a row-boat, then I thought it might be a galloping steed, but then it seems to have a huge jaw or horns or tusks ... or maybe it's just a puff of smoke and she's imagining things! If anyone has a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it!
 |  |  |
Friday, 18 September 2015
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 ...
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.
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.
Saturday, 12 September 2015
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.
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.
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.
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 |
1H Swords Gallery Available
The first crafted weapons gallery is here! I've started with one-handed swords which you can view on the Weaponsmith: Crafted 1H Swords page.
I found that the swords blades are, in general, fairly simple designs but there are some interesting hilts. Unfortunately, you don't really see them unless you're up close to the character and they have drawn their sword - in which case you better hope they don't intend to use it against you!
Some of the swords that stood out to me as more interesting include the Elven-steel Sword which was narrow with a delicate cross-guard and the Sword of the Mark which had a more bronze-coloured blade than most, while the Wildermore and Fangorn swords had some of the nicest hilts.
I haven't included the crafted legendary weapons as I think I'll cover them separately, maybe by class rather than by weapon type. For the legendary weapon galleries I'd probably also include the dropped and vendor legendaries so that they're all together.
What have I got myself into? For someone who is not an artist I see a lot of galleries in the future!
I found that the swords blades are, in general, fairly simple designs but there are some interesting hilts. Unfortunately, you don't really see them unless you're up close to the character and they have drawn their sword - in which case you better hope they don't intend to use it against you!
Some of the swords that stood out to me as more interesting include the Elven-steel Sword which was narrow with a delicate cross-guard and the Sword of the Mark which had a more bronze-coloured blade than most, while the Wildermore and Fangorn swords had some of the nicest hilts.
 Elven-steel Sword |  Sword of the Mark |
 Wildermore Sword |  Fangorn Sword |
I haven't included the crafted legendary weapons as I think I'll cover them separately, maybe by class rather than by weapon type. For the legendary weapon galleries I'd probably also include the dropped and vendor legendaries so that they're all together.
What have I got myself into? For someone who is not an artist I see a lot of galleries in the future!
Thursday, 10 September 2015
Crafted Weapons Gallery Coming Soon
Return of the Lore-master
Hi. I took a break from LOTRO after the release of Central and Eastern Gondor. Mostly I felt disappointed with the quality of the releases. However, after some time away I started to miss Middle Earth. My interest was also piqued when they announced the imbued legendary items and cosmetic weapons. So I'm gradually getting back into the game again, especially since the Farmer's Faire (my favourite holiday event).Cosmetic Weapons and Gallery Coming Soon
I know I kept a couple of staves that I got as quest rewards while levelling Myndariel because they looked cool but I'm sure there's a lot more nice looking weapons out there and since I like crafting I'm going to focus on crafted weapons and showcase them in a gallery like I've done with armour, to make it easier to find good looking swords, daggers, axes, bows, spears, staves and shields ... did I forget anything? Probably. In any case, my craftsmen will dust off their tools and get to work very soon in the crafting hall of Bree.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)