Level 80-85 Frustration

My Beorning has kind-of got stuck in the early 80s and its so frustrating it's putting me off the game at the moment.

She completed all the quests and exploration deeds in East Rohan at level 83, plus all the additional quests I could find. I'm not masochistic enough to make myself suffer through completing the slayer deeds. I tried taking her into West Rohan but couldn't find any quests. A kin-mate reminded me about Hunbald near the Entwade Crossing - he starts Vol III Book 11 of the epic quest and sends you to Edoras eventually. That got me into West Rohan and to level 84. Unfortunately she died more than she should have to those annoying level 85 and 86 mounted orcs that seem to be everywhere, but she persevered.

Edoras in the distance

Then she got to the dreaded Stilling the Wade quest. I've done it before and I know you have to focus on attacking the mobs who are attacking the palisades and ignore the orcs attacking at the gate - but just because you ignore them doesn't mean they ignore you! Especially when you're low level! I hate that quest - it's the most frustrating quest in any MMO I've ever played.

So, she's got a few alternative options for levelling - start the Hytbold quests, which is probably the easiest option; go to Wildermore, which would mean getting some turbine points to unlock the zone because I'm not currently subscribed; or doing skirmishes and big battles ad nauseum. To be honest though, none of them really interest me. I wish there was another level 80-85 or 80-90 zone, and I'm sure there would be a lot of people who would agree with me if I suggested that it not be heavily focused on mounted combat - there's plenty of that in Rohan.

Another issue that has been frustrating her and may be partly why she's finding the quests in West Rohan so difficult is because there is no might-based medium armour appropriately designed for Beornings in East Rohan. She's wearing agility gear and sure it works, but not as well, and you really notice it when you're up against mobs 2-3 levels above you, even in the tank spec. She feels so squishy and like she's swiping at mobs with rubber claws - it's taking forever to kill mobs and she's not doing much damage. Sure she would do more damage in dps spec, but then she would be even more squishy.

Sigh. I'll probably have a break from her and focus on some of my other characters for a little while. Myndariel, my main lore-master, has been doing some quests in Eastern Gondor that she skipped earlier and Melanariel, my second lore-master, is almost ready to enter Moria (I should probably make up some background story about how they are both descended from a long-lost relative called Ariel, but another time perhaps). Then there's my hunter who is busy helping Bingo, and a bunch of other characters that have been neglected in crafting halls around Eriador.

Bâr Húrin in South Ithilien (Eastern Gondor)