Scenic Tour: Before the Shadow

Before the Shadow came out with Update 34 in November 2022 and adds a new starting experience for level 1-32 characters in new regions Swanfleet and Cardolan. There are four epic quest books set before events in the Shadow of Angmar (the original base game) and there are new features for higher level players as well, including a skirmish, a 6-person dungeon and a new delving system (a scalable difficulty option for some missions with special bonus rewards).

Swanfleet

I decided to create a female stout-axe dwarf brawler (since both stout-axe dwarves as a race and brawlers are fairly new as well) to try out this area.

Thordena in the starting village of Mossward

 

The tutorial started off with a burning village under attack and then requests for your aid helping the villagers. One brawler issue I ran into though was that I received several weapons as a quest reward - a 1H sword, a 2H sword, a 1H axe and battle-gauntlets. I was able to equip the axe or the battle-gauntlets but I couldn't use any of my brawler abilities while wielding the axe. Fortunately I didn't sell the gauntlets! 

I discovered a Treasure Cache in the Howlingstones I could open at level 5 and was pleasantly surprised it actually had some nice gear in it - for level 11 and level 15. This is a great improvement on the treasure caches in other zones that require level 90 to open and contain only junk! Now exploring will be more worthwhile!

A Little Extra Steed (32%) from "A Little Extra Never Hurts - Part 2"

Speaking of exploring, Swanfleet is a large open zone with remote villages from many different cultures and lots of hills and valleys with scenic vistas. You really need a mount to get around (you can get the riding skill and a mount for free by doing the tutorial quest "A Little Extra Never Hurts - Part 2"), but there are also stablemasters in each village which helps. 

Mossward - a settlement of Men

Clegur - a settlement of Hobbits

Lhan Garan - a settlement of Dunlendings

Caras Gelebren - Elven ruins

One thing that seemed difficult to find was a Master of Apprentices who could teach you crafting vocations - usually you get an obvious quest at level 5 to visit the trainer in the starting village. Instead, following the Prologue quest chain, I went from Mossward to Clegur to Glyn Helyg to Lintrev, then Book 1 took me to Lhan Garan at level 12 where I finally found the trainer. Nearby Caras Gelebren is a great place for apprentice scholars to find relics amongst the ruins (also lots of wooden chests containing low level crafting ingredients). Tier 1 resources in general are fairly abundant here.

The main story in Swanfleet is quite interesting and the background music in the zone is fantastic and very enjoyable to listen to. By following Book 1 of Before the Shadow I finished most of the deeds in the zone and reached level 17 (quests in Swanfleet are designed for level 1-15). I liked how the Book quests take you back to Mossward where you started, ready to head into Cardolan to continue the journey. I'm curious to learn what will happen next.

Cardolan

Thordena got a makeover in the Mossward blacksmith shop before leaving for Cardolan. Silver, gold and steel blue, and she's got her backpack and pickaxe for collecting shiny ore along the way (she's an armourer). No mistaking her for anything but a metal-loving dwarf, although even I would mistake her for a male dwarf. Maybe one day she'll wear pink but I think she would be proud that people see her as just as strong and capable as her brothers-in-arms.

Thordena preparing for Cardolan

She entered Cardolan by way of Tharbad, an orc-infested ruin of a bridge, and made some interesting new acquaintances. As a result, I think it is better if new players play through the original main story first (i.e. Shire/Ered Luin/Bree-land and beyond - possibly up to at least level 105) before levelling through Swanfleet and Cardolan on another character because there are spoilers for later events in the game.

Tharbad

Herne (main town)

Cardolan looks so pretty when it's not raining. The meadows are blooming with colourful flowers, lakes and rivers glitter in the sun, there are ruins dotted all over the landscape that just beg to be explored and the views stretch so far it gives a feeling of freedom. It would be wonderful to go for a gallop on a war-steed across those fields, leaping over the rocky outcrops like the nimble goats!

Sedgemead

Tyrn Gorthad

 

On the other hand, Tyrn Gorthad looks horrible in any weather - like the Barrow-downs of Bree-land, or the Fields of Fornost in the North Downs.

While doing the quests in the Southern Old Forest (I was going to skip them because they seemed so far out of the way, but I'm glad I did them, there's a good story there), I swam along the Brandywine River between Bree-land and Cardolan and discovered the entrance to the Woe of the Willow instance (which is part of the Wildwoods quest pack). It was pretty easy but not very interesting, and doing it solo, all I got was some medallions and rep tokens.

Entrance to Woe of the Willow instance (1-3 players, lvl 20-140)

The quests also took me into the Sarch Vorn dungeon in Cardolan. The final boss fight was a good challenge - make sure to remove corruptions and debuffs and run away to heal up. It finished off that story-line and set me back on the path towards my next goal: Caranost.

Entrance to Sarch Vorn (1-6 players, lvl 20-140)

In Sírlond, the friendly camp near orc-infested Caranost, I found the Quartermaster for the Dúnedain of Cardolan. I was able to get the Return to Swanfleet and Return to Cardolan travel skills. They also have a bunch of housing decorations available.

The red flowers all over the zone took on a new meaning after learning about the Battle of the Deadmount. The main story in Cardolan is quite interesting and helps fill in some lore. I was level 30 when I finished the quests in Cardolan and I was recommended to continue questing in North Downs or Lone-lands until I reached level 32 then I can continue Book 4 of Before the Shadow. I had almost completed the Deeds of Cardolan so I finished that first. Here's a tip for completing the Slayer of Cardolan:

• Orcs - Tharbad, Caranost
• Half-orcs - Nímbarth, Amon Firn
  
• Goblins - Haudh Nirui, Hove Farm
  
• Dead - Tyrn Gorthad, Dol Ernil, Amon Firn

Steed of Cardolan's Dawn

Completing the Deeds of Cardolan earned me a nice mount: Steed of Cardolan's Dawn!

I followed Halbarad to North Downs to continue helping the Rangers near Esteldín. When I reached level 32 I got a quest to talk to Candaith near Weathertop in the Lone-lands. He sent me to Rivendell. And there, the Before the Shadow story ends as Elrond says thanks for the news, now please continue to protect Middle Earth.

You can join back into the main Epic Quest at Book 4 (recommended level 37) or there is also an option to join the Further Adventures of Elladin and Elrohir (Elrond's sons) on a mission to investigate the Black Riders. The Further Adventures scales with level but ends up in Lothlórien. Or, you could go questing in Evendim or the Trollshaws. I've enjoyed this alternate levelling path through Swanfleet and Cardolan and the new lore I've learnt so I'll continue with the Further Adventures and see what new stories await me there.

Conclusion

When they first announced the Before the Shadows mini-expansion I wasn't really interested (mostly because the cost seemed high for a "mini" expansion) even though it was aimed at players like me who have levelled up lots of characters through the original starting zones. I'm glad I finally tried it because it was really good! It had a great story, some interesting zones, some nice rewards and fairly good pacing - I was close to the target level for all the quests and didn't feel like I was running out of things to do or leaving things undone to keep up with the main story. The levels flew by and the ending leads you back into the main game quite nicely as well.

One aspect of Before the Shadow I didn't try was the Delvings but from what I understand it involves repeating instances over and over again with different/more difficult challenges each time. I find repeating instances boring, so that's not for me, but I hope other people enjoy it.

Overall, I think Before the Shadow is a great prequel to the main story and is a good option for veteran players levelling alts, but not recommended for new players.

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!

LOTRO's Eleventh Anniversary

I've been taking a break from LOTRO for a few months because I got frustrated questing in Mordor. I've been playing Elder Scrolls Online and Path of Exile instead, but when I heard about LOTRO's 11th Anniversary coming up, Myndariel was quick to return to The Party Tree (a week too early). While I waited for the festival, Myndariel has been levelling in The Wastes instead of Mordor, finished off the last of the epic quests (now completed all four volumes) and bought a premium home in Belfalas because her personal home near Bree is full of decorations collected over time and across Middle Earth.

Myndariel's holiday home in Belfalas

Finally, the 11th Anniversary arrived and to my delight I found Myndariel had heaps of tokens left over from last year so she could buy the new mount and cosmetics straight away. 

Armour of the Waking Wood (front)

Armour of the Waking Wood (back)

I especially like the outfit - it looks beautiful and would probably suit an high elf or Northern Mirkwood theme. The outfit comes with chest-piece, shoulders, gloves and quiver.

Sea-ward Steed

I'm not sure what to think about this steed. It reminds me of Dol Amroth with the little wings around the face and shoulders and the ship on the blanket. I have a hobbit minstrel who really likes that bright blue so she'd probably like sitting on her Sea-ward Steed playing one of the new fiddles - the Bardic Fiddle or the Traveller's Trusty Fiddle. As far as I know, these new fiddles have a greater range of notes that can be played than the original fiddles that were released recently.

Myndariel also got an anniversary present - for playing LOTRO for four years she received the Festive Azure cosmetic outfit. Next year, she'll get the Festive Azure steed.

Festive Azure Dress and Cloak

Festive Azure Tunic and Cloak

The Scavenger Hunt continues! The reward for completing one of the Year 11 scavenger hunts is a Gollum Festival Mask cosmetic item and the Ent Horn emote. Below are some tips on where to go.

For more information about the previous 10 years of scavenger hunt quests and rewards, see my guide to LOTRO's 10th Anniversary.

Year 11 Tales: Gollum

• Search for the Precious in Gollum's Cave - Goblin-town, Misty Mountains
• Gather 3 Remembrances in Gollum's Cave - Goblin-town, Misty Mountains
• Find the open shackles along the road west of Barad-dûr - Dor Amarth, Mordor
• Find the cell where Gollum was held by wood-elves in Felegoth - Felegoth, Eryn Lasgalen
• Visit the Memory of the Creature at Garbert's Cottage - Tâl Bruinen, The Trollshaws
• Find the tree Gollum climbed in pursuit of Frodo on the edge of Lothlórien - Talan Haldir, Nimrodel, Lothlórien
• Swim in the Anduin south-east of Floodwend - Nîn-stazg, The Wold, East Rohan
• Gather 2 Remembrances in the Dead Marshes and the Noman-lands - The Dead  Marshes, Western Gondor (base camp and through portal to the Noman-lands)
• Swim in the Forbidden Pool - Henneth Annûn, North Ithilien
• Listen to Gossip in one of the markets of Dale - Dale, Dale-lands
• OPTIONAL: Visit the Memory of the Ring-bearer south of the Camp of the Host and experience the session "The Precious, At Last" - North Ithilien

Year 11 Travels: Ruins of Middle Earth

• Gather 24 Remembrances (remembrances available shown in brackets below)
• Explore the ruins of Midgewater Marsh - Marshwater Fort, Midgewater Marsh, Bree-land (x3)
• Explore the ruins of the Misty Mountains - Iskeld's Lookout, Bruinen Source West, Misty Mountains (x3)
• Explore the ruins of Annúminas - Gwaelband, Annúminas, Evendim (x2)
• Explore the ruins of the Barrow-downs - Ost Gorthad, Southern Barrow-downs, Bree-land (x3)
• Explore the ruins of Emyn Lûm - Ost Galadh, Emyn Lûm, Mirkwood (x3)
• Explore the ruins of Bâr Húrin - South Ithilien, Eastern Gondor (x3)
• Explore the ruins of Haerondir - Noman-lands, The Wastes (x3)
• Explore the ruins of South Ithilien  - Brangobel, South Ithilien, Eastern Gondor (x3)
• Explore the ruins of Lebennin - Ruins of Ethillorn, Lebennin, Central Gondor (x3)
• Explore the ruins of South Trollshaws - Ost Dúrgonn, South Trollshaws, The Trollshaws (x3)
• Explore the ruins of the Trollshaws - Echad Gauradan, Tâl Bruinen, The Trollshaws (x2)
• Explore the ruins of Kingsfell - Ost Lagoros, Kingsfell, The North Downs (x2)

Year 11 Trifles: Long List of the Ents

(I needed some help from Lotro-Wiki to find these ones)

• Eldest of all, the elf-children - House of Celeborn, Caras Galadhon, Lothlórien
• Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses - The Endless Stair, Foundations of Stone, Moria
• Ent the earthborn, old as mountains - Wellinghall, Entwood, West Rohan
• Man the mortal, master of horses - Meduseld, Edoras, West Rohan
• Beaver the builder - Dale-lands (below waterfall NE of Dale)
• Buck the leaper - High Moor, The Trollshaws (NW of hunter's camp site)
• Bear bee-hunter - Buckland, Bree-land
• Boar the fighter - The Greenway, North Downs (NW of the Tarkrîp Assault Camp)
• Hound is hungry - Bree Mess Hall, Bree, Bree-land
• Hare is fearful - Field of Cormallen, North Ithilien (near river)
• Eagle in eyrie - Dómstoll, Misty Mountains
• Ox in pasture - Starkmoor, Dunland (on a hill SE of Cartrev Andras)
• Hart horn-crowned - Eryn Lasgalen (near bridge NW of Caras Tilion)
• Hawk is swiftest - Torech Andraug, Eregion
• Swan the whitest - Wyrmdenn, Rushgore, The Great River
• Serpent coldest - Tyrn Fornech, Evendim (near border with Forochel)
• The hobbit children, the laughing-folk, the little people - The Party Tree, The Shire

Fall Festival and Bingo's Return

There's been some drama this week with Update 21.2. This update includes two new Mordor dungeons, new max level gear, a new improved Mount Collection interface, new filtering options for quests and items, removal of the crafting quest required to unlock Artisan crafting, and many other fixes and quality of life changes.

The drama is about the new max level gear having the wrong price and/or stats. This is being fixed, but some players are not happy with how it has been handled. Standing Stone Games decided to offer everyone 50 Mithril Coins per account by redeeming the code MORDORMITHRIL at the LOTRO Store before October 22.

The Harvestmath/Fall Festival has arrived with some nice new goodies. The Autumn Leafmail armour set (hauberk or dress, shoulders, shield and a hooded or unhooded cloak) and the new steed look great and matches the outfit too with the pale golden leaf theme.

Autumn Leafmail Dress and Cloak

Steed of the Eldar Autumn

Bingo Boffin makes a return with an interesting new spooky quest-line! I hope there is a follow-up - it left me curious to know more about the Spectral Vision's threat.

Bingo Boffin telling tales around the campfire

My Burglar got the Steed of Gloaming Autumn and I'm impressed - at night its eyes and the pattern on the blanket glow orange, which looks awesome. Only 30 Fall Festival tokens too!

Steed of the Gloaming Autumn

Steed of the Gloaming Autumn (glows in the dark!)

I'm very happy about the new improved Mounts Collection interface. Finally we can see all the mounts available, preview what they look like and find out how to get them in-game.

Updated Mounts Collection interface

There seem to have been quite a few crafting changes, particularly for Doomfold crafting, such as making daily crafting recipes available to more professions that use those materials, increasing stack-sizes for food, reducing the amount of daily-gated materials needed for jewellery, and making Doomfold materials drop from some Mordor mobs and items that were previously giving Anórien materials. Removing the quest for unlocking Artisan crafting will eliminate a roadblock for many new players who get Expert Proficiency then don't understand why they can't progress any more. While I'd like to see more crafting quests, I think they should be optional and perhaps reward rare recipes for cosmetic skins or "flavour" items that are not essential but are fun to collect.

Apart from the new gear drama, I think there's a lot of good stuff in this update. I especially liked seeing Bingo return for the festival - it's like catching up with an old friend.

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

Finally Finished Mirkwood

The 10th anniversary scavenger hunt has made me go back and finish quest lines that I never got around to on Myndariel which is great. One of the quest-lines I have always wanted to finish is Mirkwood. By the time I finished Moria and Lothlórien, I was high enough level to go to The Great River so I pretty much skipped Mirkwood while levelling. I did start the epic and I have had my milestone set to The Haunted Inn for a very long time as a reminder to return.

The Haunted Inn

Dol Goldur and the doomed forest

And I finally did it - I finished the exploring and the questing (Mirkwood has some great story-telling!), got Kindred with the Malledhrim, became an "Ambassador to the Elves" (kindred with all the elven factions - Elves of Rivendell, Galladhrim and Malledhrim) and "Stalwart against the Shadow" (completed the epic quests in Vol. 2), and got three nice mounts and an Exquisite Elven Dress. It feels like a big accomplishment, even if it is a few years overdue.

Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of Mirkwood - partly because it's so dark and gloomy and partly because most of the pictures I did have are on my old computer that died recently. I will have to go back (again) and do a proper Scenic Tour of Mirkwood soon.

In the mean time, here are my new horses:

Prized Malledhrim Horse

Smokey Black Horse

Elf Ambassador's Horse

And here's the Exquisite Elven Dress (dyed violet):

Myndariel in Mirkwood

So, now I can work on a few other characters and look forward to more scavenger hunts that send Myndariel on new old adventures.