Captain Stat Priorities

Captains are versatile characters, who can tank, dps, heal and buff groups while wearing heavy armour and mostly staying in melee range. They are the jack of all trades and master of none, but still in high demand for grouping. The following stats may be important and help captains to be more effective in their various roles.

The Basics

Might

Captains are a might-based class so this is the most important stat and increases both offense and defense.

Captains who have chosen the yellow trait tree (Leader of Men, tanking) can gain the set trait Two-Handed Prowess that lets you block with a two-handed weapon (normally a shield is required for blocking).

• Increases physical mastery (more melee damage)
• Increases tactical mastery (more potent cries and healing)
• Increases block (avoid physical damage taken from a frontal attack)
• Increases parry (avoid physical damage taken from a frontal attack)

Fate

Captains rely on critical hits a lot to increase damage generally and to trigger Enemy Defeat Responses which can make certain abilities more powerful.

• Increases critical rating (more damage/healing)
• Increases tactical mitigation (reduces damage taken from spells)
• Increases in-combat morale regeneration (more survivability) 
• Increases power regeneration in and out of combat (more endurance)

Vitality

Vitality increases your survivability.

• Increases morale (health points)
• Increases resistance to debuffs (reduce effects of wound/fear/disease/poison)
• Increase out-of-combat morale regeneration (reduce recovery time between battles)

Agility

Agility is a helper stat that increases both offense and defense, but not as much as might.

• Increases critical rating (more damage/healing)
• Increases evade (avoid physical damage from any direction)
• Increases parry (avoid physical damage from a frontal attack)

Offense Stats

Physical Mastery increases damage dealt. It's one of the most important stats for Captains and melee damage-dealers in general. Even if you're a healer you will need physical mastery because a lot of heals are triggered by melee attacks such as Valiant Strike.

Tactical Mastery increases healing and cries. If you're a healer you will want lots of tactical mastery, but damage-dealers will want some as well to improve abilities such as Battle-Shout and Routing Cry. 

As mentioned above, Critical Rating is important for triggering more powerful versions of abilities, and is useful for both damage and healing. The cap is 25%.

In addition to fate, agility and direct critical rating on gear, essences or legendary item relics/titles etc., the trait trees also provide buffs that increase critical hit chance (Astute Hands in Blue Line for healing and Arterial Strikes in Red Line for dps).

Finesse becomes more important at high levels. It helps weakens your enemies resistance to debuffs and ability to block/parry/evade your attacks. As a Captain who will be attacking in melee range and who has several bleed attacks, finesse will help your attacks to be more successful.

High level enemy mobs, especially in instances or PvP, can also have finesse. Ideally, you want to make the enemy mobs more vulnerable than they make you.

Defense Stats

Physical and Tactical Mitigations are essential for survivability. These reduce the damage you take from physical damage (melee and ranged) and from spells (e.g. light, fire, frost, lightning, shadow damage).

The cap is 60% and you should try to get as much mitigation as you can. Mitigation can be obtained from stats (armour gives physical mitigation, fate and will give tactical mitigation), gear, virtues, essences, legendary item relics/titles etc.

Resistance to wounds/fear/disease/poison helps decrease the damage you take. However, there are also other ways to deal with these debuffs - such as using Muster Courage or potions to remove them, having mitigations to reduce the damage they inflict, or having lots of morale so that they do not significantly affect your health.

As a result, resistance is something that you shouldn't need to gear for specifically. Virtues are a good source of resistance, as well as vitality.

Critical Defense is mainly a tanking stat that reduces the damage taken from critical hits. This can make it easier for healers to keep you alive. It may also be useful when soloing or in PvP. Captains gain some critical defense as a passive skill at level 20. The Yellow trait tree for tanking also provides some critical defense (Shrug Blows Aside). Critical defense can also be found on gear, essences and legendary items relics/titles etc.

Incoming Healing is also mainly a tanking stat that increases the amount of healing you receive. Again, this makes it easier for healers to keep you alive and can be useful when soloing or in PvP. Incoming healing can increases heals by up to 15%. Incoming healing can be found on some gear, essences and legendary item relics etc.

Summary

So the stats Captains need in general:

• Might
• Physical Mastery
• Physical and Tactical Mitigations to cap (60%)
• Critical Rating
• Fate
• Tactical Mastery
• Finesse (at high levels e.g. level 75+)

Please correct me if I am wrong or leave a comment if you have something to add about how stats affect Captains.

A New Free To Play Account

For the last week, I've been having fun playing with a new second LOTRO account, a completely free-to-play account.  I immediately noticed that there are a lot of features I take for granted as a VIP/Premium player, but it also gave me more goals to work towards and made me want to keep playing and making progress.

The two biggest features I missed - having riding and mounts available to me as soon as I finish the intro quests on a new character (around level 5-6), and shared storage space in the vault (but I found a way to alleviate that).

Starting new characters on a new account, the tutorial mode was automatically turned on. While I didn't need to be told how to move or loot, there is a little bit of interesting lore at the start that gets missed when you skip the tutorial - for example, seeing how and why Amdir gets stabbed with the Nazgûl blade in the starting area for Men. It's been a while since I'd played through the tutorials so it was good to revisit them. I'll have to make a new hobbit and dwarf soon to see their tutorial lore!

Shared storage space is the best thing since sliced bread and I don't know how I survived without it in other MMOs. Finding out that free players don't get any shared storage space was a horrible shock and became my number one goal to overcome. 995 TP for the first tier of Shared Storage seems like a lot for a new player, but there is another way. By level 15 I had enough in-game money to buy a small house which comes with 30 shared storage slots. It's not as convenient as the vault in most towns, but it'll do.

Small Bree-land House

The house is quite empty at the moment, but I could work on the Bingo Boffin quest saga to get some decorations (and pets).

I really missed having a horse - I was almost level 20 before I had enough turbine points and money to buy the Riding Skill (normally 95 TP from the LOTRO Store) and standard mount (500 silver - additional standard mounts are 200 silver each). I was so happy to finally get her - I've renamed the horse Preshus (since the name Precious is not allowed) and we shall be inseparable as we journey through Middle Earth, like Floid and Dewitt.

My next goal is saving up the TP for North Downs. I still have a lot of free content available in Bree-land, the Shire, Ered Luin and the Lone-lands though, so no rush. Getting some decent-looking outfits is also a high priority, but the Spring Festival is coming up soon so I can get some nice gear there for free by participating in the activities.

Having tried a number of other free-to-play MMOs where there are paywalls blocking progress and/or basic features, or frequent pop-up advertisements encouraging you to buy things from the in-game store, LOTRO is pretty good in comparison. It's not that difficult to earn TP just by playing the game, so even though many features are locked to free players, it's only temporary if you have patience.

The Ballad of Bingo Boffin Part 4

Bingo's journey continues in Mirkwood. See the guide to The Ballad of Bingo Boffin for his earlier adventures.

Chapter 31: First, Breakfast! (level 66)

Bingo wants to make a delicious meal to cheer people up at the Haunted Inn, and hopes you can find the ingredients in Mirkwood. The recipe was in a book given to him by a Ranger called Aduiallin, but when he has a question about one of the preparation steps, you find out that there is no Ranger called Aduiallin - instead it was a ghost called Adolinda, who loved cooking in life but has been cursed to find no rest or peace in death.

Bingo is shocked to find that the Haunted Inn really is haunted and he decides not to go ahead with the recipe - he didn't really want to try spider legs anyway. But he's still hungry.

Chapter 32: Second Breakfast (level 68)

Bingo has been complaining to Willem Whisker about his hunger and now the lynx has run off. Bingo asks you to find out where he has gone. Willem was seen heading east and the ghost can tell he is not in Audaghaim. You head east and finally find him at the entrance to Dol Guldur!

Fennas Guldur - what could you find for breakfast there?

Willem has found an orc-satchel. You laugh when you see what is inside and take it back to Bingo. He laughs when he sees what is inside too - spider legs! Bingo decides to head back to Lothlórien for a decent meal.

When he gets there, he starts worrying that maybe the hunger is a curse for his deception about entering Mirkwood, so he asks you to apologise to Calengoth (the boat-keeper of the Lothlórien docks) on his behalf. Calengoth accepts the apologies and offers Bingo a packet of lembas and his best wishes. Bingo feels much better.

Chapter 33: The Banks of the Great River (level 70)

Bingo is ready to continue his adventure and follows the Anduin River to Haldirith. He notices the scenery here is different from Lothlórien, but still beautiful, so he wants to record his impressions - but his ink-pot has run dry. One of the elves suggests a recipe for making ink from some dark mud, river-reeds and water.

Thinglad in the Great River

Bingo asks you to find some places of interest nearby to visit. Maervadhor suggests Foul-maw's Den and the Old Burrows might be exciting for an adventurer. Bingo writes feverishly.

Chapter 34: Unusual Friends (level 72)

Bingo noticed a Rohirrim outpost nearby, but the elves won't speak of it. He decides to visit Stangard to see if he can remedy the situation. The guard at Stangard will not allow "peculiar visitors" into the town and hopes we leave Rohan quickly. He mentions a  woman was also turned away recently and she headed towards Frithstan's Camp. Bingo thinks we should go see if she might need our help.

The woman is Langhár, a Beorning from the Vales of Anduin. She has come to fight the orcs so they do not reach her home, and would appreciate if you would help defeat them too. Langhár spots a great eagle near the Secluded Clearing and says we should go talk to the eagle to find out what it has seen.

Bingo meets a Beorning and a Great Eagle

Bingo is amazed at the sight of Great Eagle, so Langhár suggests we fight off some spiders nearby while Bingo talks to the eagle. When you return, Bingo says that Landroval has seen brightly coloured tents and enemies gathering in the Brown Lands, preparing to attack Stangard. Bingo wants to warn the people of Stangard - but the stubborn guard will not listen.

Chapter 35: Enter the Easterlings (level 75)

We head to the Brown Lands to investigate ourselves. While you hunt down Easterlings, Bingo scouts the Rohirrim camp of Etheburg. One of the Easterlings drops secret orders saying that their army is planning to sneak around Etheburg to surprise attack Stangard. Bingo hopes the guard at Stangard will finally take notice of the threat.

The guard looks afraid and guilty that you risked your life to bring him this information even after he had been so rude. He apologises and asks for your help to defend the outpost.

Stangard

The men of Stangard are impressed with how Langhár, Landroval and you help drive off the Easterling raid (while Bingo washes dishes in the kitchen). Stangard is safe for now and the guard has gained some respect, perhaps even admiration, for outsiders.

Chapter 36: Bingo's Burden (level 78)

Bingo is not sure where to go next - Rohan is full of horses and Bingo does not like horses much. He would much prefer to walk.

Welcome to Rohan ... on foot

We are ambushed by orcs almost as soon as we arrive. A Rohirrim rides up to us just after we defeat the orcs and says we should get a horse from one of the nearby towns. Bingo still thinks we will be just fine without one. So we walk to Langhold and Bingo learns the people are expecting trouble. Bingo thinks he can make things better for the townspeople by defeating some salamaders, brigands and Easterlings.

Bingo starts to reconsider the horse - Rohan is larger than he expected. He has been advised to visit Harwick if he wants a horse. Perhaps he will have a look after all.

Chapter 37: Yea or Neigh? (level 80)

Bingo is frightened by the horses for sale in Harwick and refuses to buy any of them. Cuthbald is determined to find a suitable mount for Bingo - he has his reputation as the best horse trader in the Wold to maintain.

Cuthbald obtained a pony from one of the orc raids, but he wasn't sure what to do with it - Tanglemane is too small for the Rohirrim. Bingo thinks he's perfect. Cuthbald will give the pony to Bingo for free if we can find something for it to eat (Tanglemane is a fussy eater). You search Harwick, and finally find some apples the pony will eat - Bingo is delighted as the pony can eat all the apples he doesn't like!

Bingo and Tanglemane

Chapter 38: The Tracker (level 82)

The journey through Rohan continues and Bingo suggests we eliminate some of the enemies of the Rohirrim as we head for Cliving. Bingo enjoys the ride, but Willem Whisker is not so happy - he's jealous of the pony! Bingo tries to reassure Willem and begs Willem and Tanglemane to get along.

In Cliving you find Egwylf, who was last seen heading for Stangard on an urgent mission. She is tracking down members of a cult called the Blood Eye that has allied itself to the orcs. She asks you to look out for anyone in Cliving wearing a brooch with a red gem. You find one brooch near some tents but there is no sign of its owner.

Chapter 39: A Cold Trail (level 85)

The other agent of the Blood Eye is still missing, but Egwylf thinks they may be heading for Wildermore. West of Cliving, a path leads up the hill into Wildermore and Bingo overhears some orcs talking about letting someone with a red gem pass, even though they would rather take him prisoner and make a meal out of him. Bingo is quite horrified.

You follow the road into Wildermore and find a wounded farmer who was ambushed by someone wearing a red brooch. They stole his axe and ran north-east. At Thrymm's Farm, you find a wounded orc who was attacked by the same man: he stole the orc's purse. The nearest place to spend coin would be in Forlaw, so you head there and find Bingo Boffin in the street near the Tasks Bulletin Board. He heard that a man with a red gem was seen visiting a barber. The barber confirmed the man had been there and was very unpleasant. He muttered something about "Kadar-golnauk" before storming out.

You find Bingo Boffin has left Forlaw without you. "Kadar-golnauk" is not much to go on and no one else seems to have any clues, so you head to the the next town, Scylfig, to see if anyone there has seen or knows anything. Surprise surprise - Bingo is there and the local people have told him that Kadar-golnauk is an orc camp to the north-west. A Sneering Uruk in the orc camp admits to talking with the man and refusing his coin. The man left for the High Knolls. You follow the trail and head up the mountain to Grimnesberg and find Willem Whisker sniffing some empty food sacks. He points to the west with his nose, indicating which way the man went.

You head west and end up near Byre Tor. There you meet Egwylf who has discovered the man's tracks do not lead into the town but continue west. To the west is a large mountain - you follow the mountain pass and find disturbed snowpiles heading west then north. At the top of a cliff, you find the corpse of a desperate man, hand still outstretched towards the red gem brooch lying nearby. You pick up the brooch and return to Forlaw, where you find Bingo and Egwylf.

Egwylf thanks you for your help and warns you to watch out for other members of the cult. Bingo feels a little sorry for the man's suffering but he is also feeling a little sorry for himself - Wildermore is so cold! He is glad to have solved the mystery but now he wants to go someplace warmer!

Wildermore

(Note: this quest gave very little guidance on where to go - I basically had to guess and explore based on the limited information available. Fortunately it worked out, but this guide on Lotro-Wiki may also be helpful.)

Chapter 40: Bert Has a Word (level 88)

Bert Bartleby has been following Bingo's journey and he would like to have a word with you. His stock of merchandise is getting rather low, and he would like you to purchase some items on his behalf from a lore-master recently arrived in Forlaw.

You head to the west gate where he was seen and the guard tells you the lore-master has left town. The guard also mentions the man was stout, wore a simple robe, had a bald head and big brown beard, was selling junk and had pet lizards that bite. When you give Bert the description, he identifies the lore-master as his old neighbour Humfrey Rumming. He's afraid Humfrey might get himself into trouble and asks you to find him.

Humfrey Rumming in Dunfast

You find Humfrey in Dunfast and he rambles on then asks you to kill some "Frozen Efts" west of Dunfast (these are frost lizards/worms similar to those seen in Misty Mountains). You return to Humfrey and he thanks you and hopes the villagers will return now the lizards are gone. He asks why you came and then sells you some sundries for Bert.

The items were worthless and Bert was disappointed you spent all the coins on them, but not angry. Humfrey might have got the better deal this time, but many years ago it was Bert who got the better deal when he bought Rattlepacks, his horse and best friend, from Humfrey cheaply.

Bingo is happy you could help Bert and tells you that he met Egwylf again. She recommended they head to Entwash Vale next, but did not say why. Find out more in part 5.

Scenic Tour: Far Anorien

The new zone has a similar climate and architecture to Gondor and Old Anórien. In Taur Drúadan I found my normal horse was more useful than the war-steed because of its extra maneuverability in narrow spaces - the area is heavily forested and quite mountainous. The main road also leads right through enemy encampments, and many of the quests involve traveling back and forth across the region.

Taur Drúadan

There is only one stable-master in Taur Drúadan, at the War-stead of the King's Men - I hope they add one near Drû Bhûta, as these are the two main quest hubs.

The Drúadain/Wose are a new race, associated with the Púkel-men statues seen in West Rohan near Dunharrow. If I understand it correctly, they call themselves the Drúadain, but the Rohirrim call them the Wose. In any case, they like to laugh, play drums and have unique marriage ceremonies!

Drû Bhûta - a Wose village

The Beacon Hills is a welcome change after the wilderness - more open, rolling foothills, but also more mounted orcs. The hills look out over wetlands along the River Entwash. In the west is West Rohan, to the north is the Falls of Rauros and East Rohan, and in the distance to the north-east is the Dead Marshes.

The Beacon Hills

Looking towards the Dead Marshes

The main settlement is Ost Rimmon, which seems cluttered and poorly laid out at the base of Min-rimmon, one of the seven Northern beacon-hills in Gondor.  

Ost Rimmon

I feel like I've been ripped off with the Far Anórien region pack. It was so much more expensive than other region packs and has so little to offer. The instances and a promise of a raid do not justify the high price either. We finally get a level cap increase after several years at level 100, and it wasn't worth it. There's nothing new and exciting to look forward to at level 105. Farming instances for essences and essence gear? No thanks. The debacle with the level 101+ legendary items that are not supposed to be any better than level 100 items hasn't helped either but rather caused confusion and disillusionment with the legendary item progression system.

I can only wait for them to add more content in future updates, but in the meantime I'm going back to leveling lower level characters through zones that are overflowing with content and lore and interesting things to do and see and collect compared to Far Anórien.

LOTRO's 9th Anniversary

Lotro's 9th Anniversary is here (April 22 to May 8) and Robinya is keen to take part in the festivities and collect some more mounts. They have a wicked-looking Windfells Goat I want - it looks like the Druggavar from Enedwaith, so different from the other goat mounts. Robinya also likes the new fireworks anniversary cloak as it almost matches the colours from her farmer's faire outfit - two of her favourite events of the year.

Anniversary Mounts at Hengstacer Farm (also available at Market Square in Bree)

Fire Flower Cloak

Several of my other characters have got involved too. My rune-keeper was thrilled to get the Steed of the Woodland Realm to match her turquoise and gold dress, and my original beorning got a new black outfit that would look good with the black goat (she'd been neglected for a while, so it was good to get excited about playing her again too).

Steed of the Woodland Realm

Windfells Goat

Tokens can be earned from repeatable quests - it looks like you can get at least 20 tokens per day, so it shouldn't be too difficult to earn enough for a couple of mounts, costumes and/or decorations. There is also the Anniversary Event quest that takes you to the main event locations and some deeds for lighting fireworks or brawling in the Thorin's Hall Festival Arena that reward tokens once per character.  

Quests starting in Bree near the market:

• Lost Invitations (2 tokens - and the envelopes aren't blowing around this year)

1. Gift - A Delicate Bracelet (1 token) starts in Bree, finishes in Combe
2. Gift - Delicious Pastries (1 token) starts in Combe, finishes in Combe
3. Gift - Beautiful Carving (1 token) starts in Combe, finishes in Michel Delving
4. Gift - A New Hammer (1 token) starts in Michel Delving, finishes in Hobbiton
5. Gift - A Dwarf Shield (1 token) starts in Hobbiton, finishes in Frérin's Court
6. Gift - A Lucky Goat's Horn (1 token) starts in Frérin's Court, finishes in Thorin's Hall
7. Gift - A Pint of Ale (1 token) starts in Thorin's Hall, finishes in Bree

Quests starting in Bree at the fireworks area near the farms:

• Sparking an Interest (2 tokens) - server day-time only, repeatable every 3 hours
• Fireworks in Bree (2 tokens) - server night-time only, repeatable every 30 minutes

Quests starting in the Shire at the Methel Stage:

• Fireworks in the Shire (1 token) - there needs to be at least 3 people doing the quest at the same time or the quest fails: "Not enough fireworks were launched to impress the crowd."

Quests starting in the Festival Arena at Thorin's Hall (quests repeatable every 3 minutes while beer-fight is active - best way to farm tokens as long as there are plenty of people participating):

• The Mightiest Blow (Basic) - 1 token
• The Mightiest Blow (Intermediate) - 2 tokens
• The Mightiest Blow (Expert) - 3 tokens

And don't forget the anniversary races:

• The Delving Fields Anniversary Run (2 tokens) at The Delving Fields, The Shire
• The Bree-fields Anniversary Run (2 tokens) at The Festival Grounds,  Bree-land  

Happy Anniversary LOTRO!

UPDATED 27/4/16 - I just opened a Lost Invitation and found a War-steed Cosmetic Set - Reveller's Gilded Appearance! This includes a halter, caparison, saddle and accessory. Wow - what a nice surprise! And something for my character to look forward to as she is only level 40 (the items are all character-bound).

UPDATED 28/4/16 - Robinya just got the Reveller's Gilded war-steed cosmetic set too! Here's how it looks:

Reveller's Gilded Appearance

Scenic Tour: Eastern Gondor

Until recently, Eastern Gondor was somewhere I passed through on the way to Minas Tirith or if I wanted to collect some Anórien resources (lots of nodes and not a lot of mobs). In leveling Myndariel up to 105, I decided to catch up on the Epic Quest which did a good job of guiding me through the zone.

First, Upper Lebennin and a visit to Tumladen to check in on the refugees from Minas Tirith. Tumladen is a large city but it feels rather empty and spacious, nestling into the mountains and spreading out on both sides of the river Sirith. It shares the name with the vale of Tumladen in Beleriand, which was the site of the hidden elven city, Gondolin, built by Turgon in the First Age. *updated*

The entrance to Tumladen at night

Lossarnach is beautiful - so many pretty trees and bushes and wildflowers amongst the grass in a riot of colour. The best blossom of Lossarnach must be Imloth Melui - Myndariel wouldn't mind retiring there after the war; her pets could roam the gardens and protect the town while she could help the healers in the Hall of the Gentle Hand or work with the Captain of the Guard training new recruits.

The entrance to Imloth Melui

The central fountain in Imloth Melui

Forests of Lossarnach

Luntil's Ferry

Luntil helps allies of the Rangers of Ithilien cross the Anduin river into South Ithilien. The Rangers have set up camp at Bâr Húrin, but the inhabitants of the area have fled the invading Haradrim and their mûmakil.

South Ithilien

Mûmakil in Ithilien

Finally, the Rangers send you to Osgiliath and the Osgiliath Culverts to look for Captain Faramir. Osgiliath is ruined and swarming with enemies - orcs, trolls, mûmakil, Easterlings, Unseen, corrupted beasts and more.

The Great Bridge

Rómendacil's Square

The entrance to the Culverts is right in the middle and there are several dungeon instances, but no Faramir. The Rangers of Ithilien still hope to find their missing Captain and delay the enemy's onslaught against Minas Tirith.

Eastern Gondor is diminished by the Dawnless Day and destruction spreading across the region, but it must have been lovely before the War of the Ring, and no doubt will be again after.

Instances: Moria Cluster Part II

The Moria instances do not scale with level and were designed for groups of 6 or 12 players between level 54 and level 58.

The instances are located throughout Moria and tend to drop a lot of loot, especially Moria reputation tokens, legendary item relics and heritage runes.

There are also a lot of deeds to be done so they can be a good place to gain some extra titles, virtues and Turbine Points.

The Forges of Khazad-dûm - 6 person instance, level 58

In Durin's day, the Forges of Khazad-dûm produced marvellous metal creations, but now the place is over-run by orcs and it now creates weapons to be used against the dwarves.

The entrance

The first area has a constant stream of mobs entering from the left and right doorways. The black powder kegs should be carried to the doorway, but be careful to quickly return to the main room or be crushed by falling rocks. When both doorways are blocked, the gate at the back will open.

Narkû stands in the middle of the next room while large trolls carrying heavy loads move around following pipework on the floor. The daily challenge is to defeat him then defeat Kranklûk within 30 minutes. Narkû summons many minions to help protect himself. Once defeated, hug the wall and head down, watching out for trolls as they will stun you if you get in their way.

On the next level down, Dhaub oversees the trolls from an elevated bridge. There are several doorways and black powder kegs. Block the doorways in the correct order. Once four doorways are blocked, trolls come in to fight. Dhaub keeps healing them, so you need to block the remaining doorways quickly before you get overwhelmed (use crowd control on the trolls if possible). Finally, Dhaub comes down from his bridge to fight you himself. Once he is defeated the trolls should be easier to take out.

Again, hug the wall and head down to the bottom. Thrug is relatively easy to defeat, but watch out for the fire debuffs, jets of fire and trolls. Kranklûk is on the other side of the forge, behind some Ghâsh-hai troll guards. When you attack the trolls, he joins the battle and gradually moves around the forge in a clockwise direction, going through short periods where he cannot be attacked as he summons more trolls to his aid. In the last phase, fire jets start erupting from the forge as well.

The forge

After defeating Kranklûk, a gate opens into a small tunnel to the exit. A brazier in the tunnel can be lit to summon Ruingal, a fire grim for the level 58 Lore-master class quest chain The Path of the Ancient Master.

The Sixteenth Hall - 6 person instance, level 58

The Sixteenth Hall in Nud-melek was once home to many dwarven labourers but is now inhabited by orcs who are being infected by the strange fungal plague spreading through the halls and corridors. Disease is rife, so come prepared.

Keep an eye out for unusual spores - there is a deed called "Investigating the Blight" that involves finding four different types of spore.

Defeat the Orcs known as "The Shunned" in the corridors of the 16th Hall, gradually working your way downstairs to Tramug's room. Tramug and his servants will wait on the podium while you clear the room. Tramug coughs, leaving puddles of disease, and his servants heal him, but without them he is quite easy to defeat if kited from range.

One of the halls

Beyond Tramug's room, globsnaga now fill the corridors. Up the curving stairs, the path leads to a large room followed by an intersection with a locked door in front and rooms to each side filled with globsnaga guarding wheels that need to be turned to enable access to Dhûrz. His room is damp and has many toxic mushrooms that can explode on contact, causing a knock back and disease debuff. Dhûrz drains power levels and summons crazed globsnaga minions that also explode revealing a group of aggressive crawlers.

Defeating Dhûrz unveils a cave tunnel which leads to a large cavern with several grodbog fungal queens and their fungal guards. Killing the queen makes her guards de-spawn.

The daily challenge is to defeat The Lost One without killing the fungal workers - don't use AOE attacks or reflect damage! However, killing the fungal workers weakens The Lost One. Mushrooms spawn during the fight and should be eliminated before they can explode as they debuff the players and buff the numerous fungal workers so they are faster and do more damage.

The Lost One's cavern

Dark Delvings - 6 person instance, level 58

Deep in the Foundations of Stone in Moria, the Nameless dwell. The Elves of Lórien have tried to restrain them, but their ancient evil casts a shadow over those that would reclaim Moria for the dwarves. Just by entering their domain, you will be afflicted by Grasp of Darkness which decreases run speed and increases attack duration and induction time. Rune-stones throughout the instance provide light, which removes the Grasp of Darkness debuff and also protects you from Gurvand's Challenge (another debuff increasing damage taken, associated with a vile gust of wind sweeping through the passages).

The entrance to the Dark Delvings

After crossing a retractable bridge onto a platform with several rune-stones, the Void Eater emerges from the ground. He does wound damage and a knock-back, so fight with your back to the rune-stones, so you don't get knocked off the platform.

In the next large cavern, the Doom-speaker emerges when you approach the green rune-stone. He douses the light from the rune-stone, summons minions and causes significant debuffs. Fight in the light of a rune-stone, cleanse debuffs, remove corruptions, kill minions and burn him down before all the rune-stones are extinguished.

Gurvand's chamber

The daily challenge is to defeat Gurvand with activating any of the rune-stones on his platform. This means surviving the escalating debuffs as the fight progresses.

The battle commences by talking to Gurvand. He does significant shadow damage, has a knock-back (prevented by light) and a periodic self-buff called "Bleeding Ears" which reflects 200% of damage received (so don't attack while he has the buff - it can be very deadly: Myndariel had Sic'em active when the buff started and her health went from above 80% to 0% in a few seconds). If you are using the rune-stones, make sure Gurvand can't destroy them with his club (e.g. face him away from the stone). Gurvand enrages when he reaches about 20K health.

Timing and positioning are critical for this encounter.