Content. It’s one of the main things that keeps us entertained as we progress through the game. And although new content is being released we sometimes forget about what content lies within the lower levels. So, it was with some surprise that as I leveled my Captain closer to level 50 the more content started opening up for him to complete. Quickly I was beginning to feel overwhelmed with choices and even as I made decisions about what quests to fulfill, what zones to explore, and what goals to accomplish I couldn’t help but feel that I was missing out on various things in the game that were intended to keep players entertained once-upon-a-time before the Mines of Moria expansion was released.
And as a result there is a lot of content to choose from. So much, in fact, that someone who didn’t have the Moria or Mirkwood expansions could find themselves occupied for a while allowing that they could actually find level appropriate groups to go through some of the content.
Quest Areas
| Angmar | These areas each offer quite a bit of variety although some of them may become less challenging the closer you get to level 50 or carry your onwards even past level 50. It is very easy to skip one or more of these in favor of moving on into Moria even though doing so leaves a lot of the Epic story untold. |
| Misty Mountains | |
| The Trollshaws | |
| Forochel | |
| Eregion |
Quest Lines
| Legendary Trait Class Quests | The Class Quests are a must for the Legendary Traits alone. These are a pain in the rear, whether it’s killing a ton of mobs for pages and minor class items or going through skirmishes and dungeons for major class items. Volume 2 Book 1 is also a must so you can gain the use of Legendary Items. However, look at how many Books in Volume 1 are in the 40-50 level range! That’s a lot of content. |
| Level 45 Class Quests | |
| Volume 1 Books 4 – 15 | |
| Volume 2 Prologue – Book 1 |
Dungeons
| Goblin-town | The Annúminas, Helegrod and Tham Mírdain clusters have recently been revamped and they will scale with you in levels. Urugarth and Carn Dûm both hold Major class items, Goblin-town holds a special place in the lore, and The Rift is classically known as one of the best designed dungeons (although currently the final boss is fairly buggy due to the Mirkwood combat changes). However, all of them are something that should be completed at least once if not for the items that you need for quests or cosmetic looks then at least for the experience of going through some of the older content. |
| Annúminas cluster | |
| Urugarth | |
| Carn Dûm | |
| Barad Gúlaran | |
| The Rift of Nûrz Ghâshu | |
| Tham Mírdain cluster | |
| Helegrod cluster |
Other than these items listed there are also Deeds, Class Traits or for Virtues, or a questing areas that can be done at this level as well. However, whatever content you choose to complete I feel that there is some content that can be considered a priority over others. The Legendary Trait Class Quests (collecting book pages) and the Level 45 Class Quests (gathering major and minor item drops) should be very high on the priority list. Along with that, if you’ve purchased the Moria Expansion you should also begin Volume 2 and complete Book 1 as soon as you hit level 45 so that you can gain access to Legendary Items as soon as possible. After these three items, the rest is up to you and there is a lot to choose from. What path would you follow?
January 17, 2011 at 8:21 am
There really is a noticable content “bulge” at around level 50, when levelling it becomes very obvious that 50 was the level cap for a very long time.
Friends who started playing after the Moria expansion tried to experience as much of the old level 50 regions before going into Moria – they went in there the fist time at about 57!
At least Turbine is “salvaging” the instanced content by making them scale with level, so that e.g. the Annuminas instances can offer a real challenge again, and give people a chance to enjoy them before over-leveling them.
I wish I had an idea how that bulge could be addressed on landscape as well. I had five level 50 chars when Moria opened, so I had the full enjoyment of all the regions at the appropriate level. When I level a new twink, I can pick and choose to replay the quests and regions I enjoyed most – but how should a new player do that? They either try to play all or at least most of it, play loads of green quests and enter Moria when the Great Delving ia also already green.
Or they select and in most cases miss out on some great fun to be had.
January 17, 2011 at 8:59 am
I think as far as the Epic books go, they’re stuck at 50. My hope is that they’ll scale Uru, CD, Angmar BG, and The Rift sometime this year. I’m sure all the planning that goes into it is fairly extensive, but that might go a ways to making people feel like there’s no rush to experience it all.
January 18, 2011 at 7:46 pm
I totally agree. I still go to Uru and CD for class quest runs, but not usually with a pure on level group. I however never go back to BG or the Rift. Would love for them to make those relevant again. Like they did with Hele and Annuminas. Make the gear and they will do the runs, but also let us do instance joins, as getting to BG or the Rift was a chore.
January 17, 2011 at 9:41 am
When it comes to the amount of content, I think having more than you need to level is great. I like having the option to take alts along different paths, though, so I can see where someone who prefers to focus on one character and/or is a completionist when it comes to quests and areas would have a problem entering new areas on level.
The only real solution I see for that would be a way to turn off xp gain. I know the topic has come up in the forums and so far there is no indication it is being considered.
January 17, 2011 at 1:28 pm
The only problem with there being too much content at any given level is — as a new player to the game — it can be confusing when multiple NPCs are all pointing you in different directions. While we all love MMOs for not being linear, sometimes we do need a nudge in one direction rather than a nudge in all directions.
As I approach 50 I’ll have to keep this in mind — that there is almost ‘too much’ content — and choose to explore and quest in only one or two directions.
January 17, 2011 at 8:58 am
@Belamanth
Why are you using the term twink? That is absolutely disgusting; if you don’t know the definition of a word you really shouldn’t be using it. The definition is as follows;
Twink; noun
An attractive, boyish-looking, young gay man. The stereotypical twink is 18-22, slender with little or no body hair, often blonde, dresses in club wear even at 10:00 AM, and is not particularly intelligent. A twink is the gay answer to the blonde bimbo cheerleader.
January 17, 2011 at 9:46 am
@poster above:
Your definition of twink is a very narrow one and not applicable in a conversation about gaming.
Perhaps you should do some more research before accusing someone in not knowing the definition of a word.
Twink in MMO gaming slang or jargon has a range of meanings most of which are described in an article on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinking
January 17, 2011 at 10:59 am
Twink means a character you level up and help along with your higher level characters. I personally have never heard of the definition above and given the gaming context of this post, this blog and Belemanth’s comment, I know he didn’t either.
January 17, 2011 at 9:38 am
Sorry about that, that word is a part of the “official” MMORPG Jargon in German (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMORPG-Jargon#T).
While I do consider myself as German/English bilingual, I was not aware of the derogatory slang meaning in English. Shows that even I can fall for those so called “false friends” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friend
So, really, no offence intended.
January 17, 2011 at 9:49 am
I have never heard that definition. Gamers use the word twink to describe a new character that they are able to equip with the best gear possible.
January 17, 2011 at 10:07 am
Staring areas are the same way. There’s no way you can do Ered Luin, the Shire and Bree on level. I just considered the endgame areas the same way. You can choose the content you enjoy the most. I just wish there was a level 50ish zone that had the charm of the Shire.
January 18, 2011 at 7:50 pm
very good point!
January 17, 2011 at 10:45 am
I imagine Turbine might revamp/streamline the whole leveling curve and redefine level brackets for each region before Isengard expansion, at least that’s what I would have done if I were in their shoes…
January 17, 2011 at 11:11 am
Also, note that you no longer need the Moria expansion in order to start Volume 2.
January 17, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Thanks for the article form a lotro noob, nice to know whats out there at end game.
A poster not comprehending a word might have two meanings and managing to grasp neither was an amusing aside too
January 17, 2011 at 6:48 pm
This is my first time through the game and i’m a dead-set completionist, so even though I hit the level cap in Angmar, I still went on and did Annuminas, Forochel and Eregion quests while following the epic story line. I completed all of Vol 1 and the highest tier quest deed in every zone in Eriador and did as many of the instances as I could find groups for… I ended up not entering Moria (except for briefly walking in to complete book 2.1) until I was level 56!
I also did almost every quest in Erid Luin, the Shire and Bree with the same character, and now I’m L63 and still in moria so….
January 18, 2011 at 11:24 am
Score one more for the Shadows of Angmar content! Even though the Moria content is Epic and well written, the SoA content is just so much fun. So many layers, so many different types of mobs, just an all out blast!
January 18, 2011 at 12:55 pm
I just completed Vol I with my first char, a level 53 champion, almost entirely solo. I’m torn on whether to enter Moria to start 2.2, start questing in Eregion, look for fellowships for instances I missed, or go back to complete some low-hanging-fruit deeds and rep grind. There are just too many choices at this level. What a great problem to have!
January 19, 2011 at 11:39 am
I Leveled my guard from 47ish to 51 doing all the epic books in volume 1. I’ve been playing since launch but I never touched some of them (book 9 onwards) due to the fact that it was hard to get a group on the same one.
That said, I’m so glad they made it solo, some great fun to be had with those.
I always help Kin mates with CD and Uru because it brings back so many great memories doing those with friends back in the day. Was a lot of fun.