Lord of the Rings Online
Story of Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a book series by Tolkien and the game Lord of the Rings Online is highly based on those
stories, or better said it's based on the main story where the Fellowship of the Ring is going to Mordor to destroy the
one ring.
The graphics are beautiful and the different areas in this game, like The Shire, Bree or even the new
update Isengard are lovely made by the artists. I personally love it to just ride through the landscapes and
watching the sun go down in several places.
You begin the game with one of the four races, Hobbits, Humans, Dwarves or Elves, and you choose a class for your character
like Lore-Master, Minstrel, Champion or others. To learn the basics of the game you are starting in one of the low-level
areas, after the tutorial you can go wherever you want to but it's not recommended to run through higher level areas (you
can die pretty fast there).
The first few quests are easy and you learn about Gandalf, Aragorn, the always hungry Hobbits and later you will even meet
Tom Bombadil (Old Forest near Bree) on your journey into the depths of Moria and far away towards Mordor.
With the last update Rise of Isengard we have now reached the evil Saruman and you can explore Isengard.
Right from the start (Tutorial) you are following the Epic Storyline, which let's you travel through nearly all
regions while you are fulfilling the epic quests and learning more and more about your character and the areas and their
inhabitants.
Characters, Creatures & special Places
The game, or better said the world Middle Earth within the game, is devided into several areas like
Ered Luin, The Shire, Bree and so on. New characters have one area as starting point, depending
on their race.
Each area should be played on a special level, for example the Shire is for Hobbits at starting level 1
(5/6, after the tutorial) up to level 10-12, after reaching level 12 the monsters are not longer dangerous and you can go
on to the next area which can be played at higher levels then.
There are some important cities in Middle Earth. Most areas have one main city and several smaller villages where
the player finds everything he needs. All cities in Lord of the Rings Online are created very detailed and looking
beautiful, the player can breath the love the designers put into their work.
While elven cities are more delicate and placed on top of trees, the dwarven cities are more a piece of
Art caved in stone. Hobbits are living in nice holes and humans, well... they live like humans in normal cities,
but nevertheless even as detailed and filled with lovely things as all other cities in Lord of the Rings Online.
As said above in Lord of the Rings Online you have the choice between four races and several classes. You can play a
Hobbit Burklar, a Dwarf Champion or Human Lore-Master and more. With the addon Mines of Moria another two classes
are available.
Note: The Warden class and also the Rune-Keeper class must be purchased with shop points, it's also contained in the Mines of Moria full package.
Character: Human
Human characters (or Man) are living everywhere in Middle Earth and their starting place is Archet, a
small village near the capital city Bree. Within the tutorial you learn to know Aragorn, manage your skills
(depending on your class) and help the inhabitants to save their village from some bandits.
Humans don't have many disadvantages and you should choose this race if you play the game the first time. Humans begin
with +15 Fate, -7 Will, +5% incoming Healing and +15 Might. Possible classes a human character can choose are:
Burglar, Captain, Champion, Guardian, Hunter, Lore-Master, Minstrel and Warden.
Character: Dwarf
Dwarves live deep inside mountains and as Dwarf you will start in Thorin's Gate, which is the dwarven capital
city in Ered Luin. Within the tutorial you will learn about your skills (depending on your class) and help
Gandalf and Gimli to solve a problem deep in the Silver Deep Mine.
Dwarves start with +15 Might, +10 Vitality, +1% Common Mitigation, -7 Agility, -7 Fate,
+30 in-Combat Morale & Power Regeneration and -60/-30 non-Combat Morale & Power Regeneration, they are also
restricted to some classes. Possible classes a dwarven character can choose are:
Champion, Guardian, Hunter, Minstrel and Rune-Keeper.
Character: Hobbit
The starting area for a Hobbit is more or less The Shire, where they normally live. Even if Hobbits are not
leaving their home for dangerous adventures in the big world, in this game they do. As a Hobbit you learn your skills
(depending on your class) within the tutorial, you also meet Aragorn and a horrible Black Rider, but after this you
start in Archet like the Humans.
Hobbits are small and they start with -7 Might, +15 Vitality, +60 non-Combat Morale Regeneration, +1% Fear Resistance
and +1% Shadow Mitigation, they also can't play all classes. Possible classes a Hobbit character can choose are:
Burglar, Guardian, Hunter, Minstrel and Warden.
Character: Elf
Elves are living in several places throughout Middle Earth, mostly in Rivendell, Lorien or
Mirkwood. Within the tutorial you learn about your skills (depending on your class) and you also get in some
trouble with Skorgrim and the Dwarves. After the first part of the tutorial you start in Thorin's Gate and have
to help the Dwarves then.
Elves are starting with -20 Maximum Morale, -60 non-Combat Morale Regeneration, +15 Agility, -7 Fate,
+1% Disease Resistance and +1% Poison Resistance, they can play nearly all classes. Possible classes for Elves are:
Champion, Guardian, Hunter, Lore-Master, Minstrel, Rune-Keeper and Warden.
Creature: Bossmonsters
There are several Bossmonsters in Lord of the Rings Online, but you normally meet them within instances where you raid with your friends and/or kinship.
Creature: Normal Monsters
While you're on your journey to Mordor, you will see hundreds of normal monsters, too many to list them all. There are wolves, bears, orcs, goblins, bandits and so on, all kind of monsters. Some of the normal monsters you can find in Lord of the Rings are listed in the next section under the place where you will mostly meet them.
Place: Ered Luin
Ered Luin is the starting place for Elves and Dwarves. The capital city here in this area is
Thorin's Gate, a large dwarven city which has a crafting hall for mighty weaponsmiths and much more. While
Dwarves start directly within the city and meet Gandalf and Gimli here to clear the Silver Deep Mines before starting
their journey, Elves have to go through a first tutorial scene located in the Refuge of Edhelion, on the right
side of Thorin's Gate, playing a few hundred years earlier.
Monsters you'll meet here are Wildcats, Bears, Wolves, Goblins, Bandits and more. Ered Luin is for starting
characters and so it has a level range from 1-12.
In Thorin's Gate you can also find the homesteads of the Dwarves where your character can buy a house. Before
you leave Ered Luin to the east (to The Shire) you come across Falathlorn, where the Elves
have their homesteads.
Instances: There is a zone called Sarnur, it's an old dwarven ruin and the level range here
is around 45-50.
Place: The Shire
When you've finished your business in Ered Luin you might travel to The Shire, the next reachable area.
The Shire is the home of the Hobbits and a friendly and beautiful place. The biggest city here is
Michel Delving, it has an Auktion Hall and the farms are located at Hobbiton. From here you can reach
Evendim in the north and Bree-Land in the east.
Monsters to kill here are Wolves, Bats, Harvest-Flies, Bog-Toads, Brigands and more. The Shire is for starting
characters too and so it has a level range from 1-15.
The homesteads of the Hobbits are located near Michel Delving and nearby is also a lovely horse racing course,
during some festivals you can win a horse at such a race.
Place: Bree-Land
The next area you should visit is Bree-Land and the capital city here named Bree. In Bree
always happens something (at least on the roleplaying servers), may it be a party or a lonesome minstrel singing in
(or in front of) the Prancing Pony.
You can also make a sightseeing tour around Bree (a quest) or test your might in fighting against the skeletons
of the Barrow Downs. Here in Bree-Land you can also meet Tom Bombadil within the Old Forest,
but be careful to not step onto one of the old trees, they may get angry.
Monsters you can find here are Skeletons of all kind, Daurhands, Robbers, Snapper-Turtles and also some high-level Orcs.
The level range within Bree-Land is from 10-20. Near the Weather Hills is a small ruin with Orcs that
have level 65, so be careful to not walk into them accidentally.
The homesteads of the humans are located here near the road to the Lone Lands. A horse racing course can be
found near the festival place in the Eastern Bree-Fields.
Instances: The Great Barrow contains three small 6-men instances that have to be played in
order to unlock the next one, the Maze at level 20, Thadur at level 22 and then Sambrog at
level 24.
Weatherstock Festival
Weatherstock is the equivalent to Woodstock and very well known throughout the Lotro-Community. It is a festival
arranged and managed by The Lonely Mountain Band, a kinship on the server Landroval.
Once a year the Landroval server is turning into a laggy something, while hundreds of visitors from all servers are playing
a twink on Landroval and visit the Weatherstock Festival there: it is the player event in Lord of the
Rings Online and one should really visit it at least once in a lifetime.
My Dwarf Tokal did visit this event in 2011 (and also in 2012), his adventures and drawings are stored on the
Weatherstock 2011 page here:
Lord of the Rings Online - Weatherstock 2011
Note: There are several screenshots (128, ˜46MB) included on the Weatherstock 2011 page, it may take
some time to load depending on your system!