Bullroarer updates

[CaptainBoots]

I'm assuming most of you have seen the Official update relase notes for Vol 2 Book 7, at least as they stand currently. I went ahead and sucked down the severa-hour download to get the test client, because that's the sort of crazy thing I do.

I have no higher level characters on Elindimir, sadly so all I can comment about are the changes to the low level areas and XP curve and the like.

One NEAT thing is that under the radar, you see a constantly updated ;loc of where you are in the world. Handy! No more /tell lostguy=;loc anymore!

The tutorial sections are unchanged, that is the single very first instance you run before entering the larger introduction instances.

The dwarf introduction quests (newbie instance) are all in Frerin's Court now, and the elf introduction quests start out right at the base of the steps, leading out and eventually down to Frerin's Court.  If you run all of the Ered Luin quests, your character will be level 7 when you leave. If you want to be level 7 before leaving the Archet introduction you'll need to kill a few mobs first, but it will only take a few.

Once out of the introduction (or even inside of it) Archet isn't changed much. In fact, I didn't see any quest changes at all. Ered Luin after the introduction is VASTLY different. The quests have been shifted around so that they are actually grouped and don't require nearly as much running around to accomplish. The horse routes including Thrasi's Lodge and Swift Travel to Combe are also handy. I'll cite an example of quest grouping. All quests involving Nin Hilith, the area SW of Celondim with bundles of wood and wolves, are picked up at a campsite just outside of it. You're given an introduction quest to talk to someone there right off. These quests go very rapidly and the grouping allows for very rapid completion without running back and forth for each step.

The quest compass is handy because even I sometimes forget which direction a certain location is. Having quests show up on the main map is even more helpful. These can all can be turned off if you prefer the old method of finding your questing area.

As for the XP curve and slightly easier mobs, it's just amazing how it all works. My elf characters are level 10 before they even visit Duillond for the first time. They're 16 before they visit Bree for the first time. I gave a Lore-master a try, remembering the problems I had with the wights. They were more of a fight than other mobs, but I can't say I was ever really in danger. (Keep in mind I'm a very experienced LotRO player of course) A kinmate of mine had two characters on Elindimir, the highest in the low 20's. Both gained two levels after the first kill.

The difference for the Rune-keeper at the low levels is the most remarkable. They've changed the skills around slightly and definitely for the better. The RK grinds through mobs at an amazing pace at low levels. Even once my L16 RK got to Bree, he handled a dark blue Signature mob and an add without using a potion or being in very serious danger. Things do slow up as you gain levels, of course, and people in the Lone-lands have assured us that by then things have returned to live levels for mob difficulty.

The self-revive is nice. Mostly it will just save a long run for those of us who solo mobs regularly and die infrequently.

In short, for most folks getting to 15 or 16 is going to be a piece of cake, but honestly Ered Luin is going to be the easier place to level instead of Archet if Book 7 goes through as it currently stands.

Hope you found that useful.

[Brasse]

That is a great packet of news, Captain!
Thank you for posting it here.
;-)#

ps. Wren and I logged in last night for a while on our level 40/41 characters - man, were we LOST. We played the "WATDISDO" game for an hour, hehehe.

[CaptainBoots]

I've played WATDISDO before myself! I think in LotRO I generally try to play one character's skill list on another one, which never works out.

*See a mob*
Press 1, 5, 6
Wait, why did I just buff myself? What I .. ow! hey!
*RUN*

I've generally only been gone two months though.

I'm assuming you mean in the live game, by the way. It SOUNDS like they won't be copying any servers over to the test server before the patch goes live so the rest of us have to wait for the Eyes and Guard Tavern to become active to see the high level areas. I'm hoping they've updated their bestowers so that we can at least complete Vol 2 Book 1 and have access to Moria after auto-leveling to 60. That was problematic before. I was reading up on the dev's diary about Lothlorien to try and make sure I was up to date on what to look for inside.

[CaptainBoots]

Another Find:

As far as I know in the live game, you still need to leave an open spot in your inventory for quest items that will disappear into their respective quest storage. (Boar heads, Arnorian coins, what have you)

I've run some definitive tests in Book 7 and proved that this is no longer the case. I had my inventory utterly full and still picked up my first Goblin Tabard for one quest and then picked up the Arnorian rubble bits and pottery shards for another. I should try and make SURE that little 'feature' is still in live, though.

[AmAvocet]

It is.  Just yesterday I had to pick something in my inventory to destroy before i could grab a quest item that immediately vanished from my inventory.

[CaptainBoots]

ooo, I should go see if I can collect the Cardolan journal pages. The other more standard quest item collections definitely were fixed, though.

This would be one more reason to hope they get through this Book 7 testing/tweaking quickly.

[CaptainBoots]

One of the updates on Bullroarer today was to activate the Eyes and Guard Tavern.

I should point out a quirk or two about it though. Something in the way they used to do XP and the way things are done now mean that Keth, the level 50 bestower, only gets you to level 49 and change.  To hit 50, the simplest way is to go visit Tens, the epic book bestowing cat, by the keg near the front door. The XP earned from the book quests puts you over 50. Once that's done, you can go visit the level 60 bestower in the Moria Training Room.

Note, however, that they have removed the level 60 chests from their room, so you're stuck with some rather pathetic gear. My autolevel Warden's agility is pathetic.

Just as a reminder, you'll have to run on foot most of the way out there since any autoleveled character won't have visited the stables and won't have completed quests for the swift travel either. (I speak the obvious)

I can update more later, but I'm a little frustrated that my Warden is so anemic that he can't even handle two mobs. I guess I'll go autolevel a Hunter and see what the DPS change is like.

[CaptainBoots]

Given that this is going live on March 17th (the Tuesday following this post) I guess this will be a final update unless someone has a question.

I've taken the time to examine some of the upper content and have some commentary, avoiding spoilers.

Book 7 can be completed solo for most classes. Having someone else along with you will of course make the book quicker and more fun.  Only the final battle chapter will be solo-only.

If you have not completed Book 6, you will need to run some reputation quests prior to starting Book 7. Although the majority of the book occurs inside of Moria, it does start at the edge of Lothlorien. There are FOUR reputation quest givers. Some quests might require you to have someone along with you to make things easier.  As a note, the quests at least start with a 2 hour cooldown and you will need to complete at least 3 of the quests after that cooldown in order to hit Acquaintance. The quests may be run once more immediately after the first completion, but after that the two hour timer comes into play. NOTE that without Book 6 or being Acquaintance, the elves will shoot you to prevent you from entering the woods.  Also note that once you achieve Acquaintance you will need to talk to a Lookout to gain the Trait that lets you in. Although you don't need to get into Caras Galadhorn for Book 7, you will need to be a Friend in order to gain entry.

Most of the quests inside Lothlorien are rep quests. Some are repeatable. Almost every quest I've seen offers as much as 7K in item XP, a nice chunk of reputation, and barter items for a variety of goods. (far too many to list here) At least one quest also granted some Destiny Points. Often one of the rewards is a reasonably large item XP rune, often 22k and larger.  It's also good to note that the rewards for completing quests in Lothlorien are NOT a Virtue Traits, but are in fact more item XP runes.

The quests are all solo that I've seen, and they've tried to find new things for players to do. One of the party-related quests I felt was particularly fun.

The character I've been running around with is a Hunter. If your main is a Hunter, BE PREPARED. You'll notice immediately that your DPS has dramatically lowered, even beyond that which everyone else's DPS (mobs included) was lowered. Fights take a distinctly longer time to complete, resulting in a larger power loss. My Hunter even struggled to kill 3 birds that ambushed.  In reading the notes, I am not sure where the other hit was taken on them.  The damage being done is often 2/3 of what it used to be.  I know my live Second Age bow has a DPS of 59.1 while my Book 7 Second Age bow has a max DPS of 47.5, a massive drop.  They apparently did also nerf the 3rd attack in the 'Improved Swift Bow' skill too.

I think that's mostly what I wanted to get across to folks. Don't expect to just jump into Lothlorien thanks to that 2 hour cooldown, but maybe you have some alts to work on in the meantime.  In short, I do like this book, even if my poor Hunter is going to have to get used to this lowered DPS.

[Brasse]

Thanks, Captainboots!

I am working on a map of Lothlorien as well. Big place, way the hell too many trees, hehe.
With luck I'll have it done for the launch of the zone.

;-)#

[CaptainBoots]

heh, pretty cool, Brasse. It's hard to imagine that coming out faster! At least the coordinates being visible all of the time must make mapping a tad easier.

[Brasse]

Having the coords up all the time is really great.
Hey, check your PMs, Cap'n.
;-)#