f13.net

I'm going to elaborate this for comment and feedback.  Originally from Rattran's helpful notes (http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=18397.msg758888#msg758888).  There are very few secondary sources out there for LotrO.


Levels
0-5 tutorial (worth it to speed through to 5)

5-15 starting areas

15-20 Breelands (not old Forest, just North of Bree)

20-25 Lonelands (start this by finishing 1.1.11 Great Barrows with Tom, then Strider will send you to Saeradan who will horse to Candaeth North of Weathertop.  You can do 5 levels just on Candaeth's quest.  Once you finish Weathertop Epic solo or group, he will horse you to Forsaken Inn)

25-35 Lonelands or North Downs (you can motor fast through these levels in either place.  Start at the Forsaken Inn or Trestlebridge.  Lonelands are now faster IMO)

35-38 The Tinnudir/Ost Forod/Across the Lake stuff in Evendim, and finishing any remaining non Nan Walthen/Dol Dinen quests in North Downs and Lone Lands East. I think the first few South Trollshaws quests open up then too. (killing pigs, killing cave claw things). Or Trollshaws.  

38-40 Misty Mountains -- farm pages off Northmen

38-40 West Angmar: the giant guys on the middle path up from Estelin, cold worm quests from Estedlin on the left path, and the Crannog quest line in Aughaire which gets you a good set of Fem armor, and should get you to 42 or so. Lots of the Aughaire quests give decent loot too

40+  was all the remaining West Angmar stuff, the Book 6 (all soloable) Epic quest to open East Angmar, then the part of Trollshaws in the south-east, Echad Candelleth, and on into Eregion.

40-45 West Angmar -- farm pages off Angmarim

45 you go to Echad Dunnan in se Eregion, talk to the guy at the3 glowy gate, and do the opening Moria stuff, which gets you about a level, and your first 2 Legendary Items. Then go back and finish up whichever zones you haven't. I went and did some of East Angmar, finished up the now gray Book2 and Book3 stuff, and generally just cleaned up exploration deeds and level 45 class quest drops. You can do the rest of Eregion too. It's a good zone. Got me to 51, leveled both my legendaries to 20.

45-55 Forochel -- farm pages off Guaradain (sp?); East Angmar

46+ Moria....


Extras
A couple of extra notes to consider:

• if this is your first character be sure to pick up a crafting career to harvest as you go.  It will slow you down somewhat, but you can make excellent money selling stacks of ingredients.  However, it's not worth trying to complete any crafting tiers until you are 50+ and can afford the costs.  Crafting is a money sink, but harvesting is worthwhile.
• always carry food.  You can buy or make useful buff and regen food very cheaply.
• before you hit the cap (65) start your legendary item quest and legendary books (like Rattran explains below)
• Get your legendary books at your trainer at 39, head to Rivendell and talk to your Fellowship class equivalent, and start farming pages buy doing quests in the areas they drop. 8 pages to each book, the first 4 of each set drop from humanoids in Angmar(east and west from Orcs, Trev, and Angmarim) and Eregion (Half-Orcs and Dunlendings) the last 4 in each set in Misty Mountains (Corcur, Goblins, Guaredain and Dwarfs) and Forochel (Guaredain and Angmarim) Some of the legendary skills rock, and will have you jumping for joy, some kinda suck and will never get slotted. (by Rattran)
• do not go into Moria until you 55.  Seriously.  The mob concentration makes travel very challenging.  At 55 you can still complete all the intro quests as green.  Make your way to Dolven View then 21st hall.
• unlock the Moria stables early.  Find a cpt/hunter/warden to help with Moria travel. They can port you to the stable masters to help with travel.  Particularly 21st->First Hall so can go outside...
• don't forget skirmishes. Some are fun, some are not. But running one of the shorter ones each play session will start building up a pile of skirmish marks pretty quick, and contribute a reasonable amount of xp. Spend what you have to up them to buff your skirmish pet, but I found that buffing the pet just to the point the skirmishes are winnable but not easy left me with enough marks to buy all but one of the major class quest times. (by Rattran)  Also, you will need a strong pet for Mirkwood, since the Epic Quest chains there depend on running skirmishes to complete.
• also also, use skirmish marks like Rattran advises to purchse major class items.  These are quests you get at 45 and 55 by your class trainer.  Because the lvl 45 quests rely on old zones it is very difficult to find a full group to complete them.  You can now purchase the 45 quest items from a Curiousity Skirmish broker.  You still need to complete the 55 instances in Moria, however.
• Also, if you have people you're grouping with, do the Epic Books. Otherwise, go back and hit them when they're grey and knock them out. Book 4,5,7,8 will need a group for certain parts, but if you are willing to pug there's usually people in /glff willing to run them. Type "/joinchannel glff" then set your chatfilter to show 'userchat x' with x being whatever it said glff was set to. Then type "/ucx" to start typing there. That's if I remember right. (by Rattran)

Edit: updated for feedback on Moria, Rattran's feedback, formatting

I disagree with some of your recommendations to an extent. So, no particular order to the following, and there may be conflicting opinions due to  alack of coffee in my system.

Moria is fine to start at 50. You can in theory start at 45/46 when you get your legendary (I did on my Hunter) and Moria has so much content you can still get to 60 with quests to spare. But you can't start exploration deeds or use Moria stables until 50. At 50/51, the mobs are around even con, so more xp from them, and quest rewards are good. Plus good xp from the various exploration deeds, and you'll find you finish the 'Kill 120 Rats Now / Go Kill 240 Rats' title/trait deeds with normal questing.

Forochel I can't recommend at all, lots of back and forth, and rekilling mobs. It's like the Misty Mountains, but with stables, and people who hate you.

Get your legendary books at your trainer at 39, head to Rivendell and talk to your Fellowship class equivalent, and start farming pages buy doing quests in the areas they drop. 8 pages to each book, the first 4 of each set drop from humanoids in Angmar(east and west from Orcs, Trev, and Angmarim) and Eregion (Half-Orcs and Dunlendings) the last 4 in each set in Misty Mountains (Corcur, Goblins, Guaredain and Dwarfs) and Forochel (Guaredain and Angmarim) Some of the legendary skills rock, and will have you jumping for joy, some kinda suck and will never get slotted.

And, don't forget skirmishes. Some are fun, some are not. But running one of the shorter ones each play session will start building up a pile of skirmish marks pretty quick, and contribute a reasonable amount of xp. Spend what you have to up them to buff your skirmish pet, but I found that buffing the pet just to the point the skirmishes are winnable but not easy left me with enough marks to buy all but one of the major class quest times. And made the skirmishes I like (Tuckborough, Amon Sul, Bree) still challenging enough to be fun solo.

Also, if you have people you're grouping with, do the Epic Books. Otherwise, go back and hit them when they're grey and knock them out. Book 4,5,7,8 will need a group for certain parts, but if you are willing to pug there's usually people in /glff willing to run them. Type "/joinchannel glff" then set your chatfilter to show 'userchat x' with x being whatever it said glff was set to. Then type "/ucx" to start typing there. That's if I remember right.

I'm going to go make coffee.

Thank you very much for this.  I did all the quests to get my fast mount and then started losing interest in the game after a few skirmishes.  I may give your suggestions a try in the next week or so to see if I can get my enthusiasm back. 

I started Moria at 45-46 as well.

God, if I'd waited to 55 to start Moria I'd have quit the game even sooner than I did.

This.

Moria handled 45-55 and then along with elves quests to 60, it was a fairly quick trip.

Thanks, corrections made.

I agree about Forochel, but at that point in your levelling it's more about taste.  One can skip the zone entirely for Eregion->Moria, which frankly is now the designer's intent for your progression, but there is an Epic chapter out there and some useful deeds.  If you do the lvl60 IXP bounties it is also useful to unlock swift travel there.  Some old but nice rep items as well with the Lossoth (e.g. LM pets). 

The armor out there is also really really cool looking. (Use for cosmetics for that oh so warm look)

I've resubbed, after hitting 25 on my previous attempt, its much better at these levels it seems. This guide is very helpful.

I've actually been toying with a resub...I crapped out at around 34 on my first playthrough.

This has been sitting on my shelf for a while, and I'm about ready to try it out. Any tips?

Do.

RoME is pretty quiet lately, but like most f13 guilds it ebs and flows.  Still a LOT who log in, just not a lot of chatting.

Wide level range - I recommend you join.  Brandywine, etc etc.

If brandywine is a us server i probably wont be able to join. Still, I'll look once the game has finished patching (like tomorrow probably)

Now that I'm of a level to have found this out, some of the ranges in the initial post seem a little off to me. The lowest level mob I have seen yet in Misty Mountains is level 40, and there is stuff orange to a 41 right near where you enter. I think level 35 people going there would really be pushing it.

noted -- I pushed it to 38-40

So, started in Angmar at 38. The Earth-kin camp gave me some group quests that I couldn't complete solo so I went up to Aughaire and the xp flows like wine. On top of that, the zone is really cool.

I am starting to slow down a bit though, so if you give it even the slightest effort you'll catch me pretty promptly.

I played for a couple of months and noone ever chatted much.  Shame, really... I may have lasted longer if they had.

There are some standard chatters lately. There are usually 6-7 people online, but Cheddar, rattran and myself are the only ones that really talk much. The others chime in occasionally.

Join up again and at least you'll have us to talk to!

Definitely more chatter lately.  We also have some f13'rs who returned along with some fresh meat. 

I went through a catassing phase a couple weeks ago but I've been distracted by Mount and Blade again - when that wears off I will be back to it. Almost 50!

Yep. I'm playing now and finally got around to getting a kinship invite. I mostly play at night where it's mostly non-f13ers.  They seem talkative enough.

I have also been inspired to break out my captain.  For reference, I can set my pet to KILL MODE and auto follow you kids, thus allowing you to finish traits and get a healthy dose of XP to boot (while I watch pr0n).

His name is Arzogar.

Finally got in the Kinship last night with my new RK.  Hit 15 last night and hit the sack.

Kin-Chat was pretty heavy last night and died down when it got late.   Makes the game more fun with people logging in and out.

I must say I'm really digging this game since my recent re-sub.  One of the things I love most about the source material is the geography, and the game captures it well.  It's actually a joy to me to experience a new location like the barrows or weathertop.  Or even Bombadil's.  It's been a long time since I have been this interested in an MMO.  Not sure what took me so long. 

Damnit.  I may have to resub.

I hate you guys.

I'll be back (lvl 40 warden) once I get through Dragon Age....and maybe one more marathon civ4...
I was playing alot last month but I guess that was one of the down cycles for most of RoME.

Well I think I've officially hit the 30-35 wall with my RK. Its boring the hell out of me now. The stupid "ride halfway around the planet" quest to get my fast(er) horse seems to have been the final straw.

Does it get better after this?

Yes. YMMV.

Myself and 2 friends just got the game in a fit or boredom.

Guild invites would be cool.

Morve = 8 Burg (me)
Nefgloin = 17 RK
Alrick = 10 Warden (think still on trial account).

Some one is online now to help.

So is anyone actually playing in the Kinship?

I see one or two people on, but seems the activity level is very low.

It ebbs and flows, and its also approaching summer.

I was playing, then Resonance of Fate and a vacation hit.  Not sure if I'm returning or not.  Not a lot of free time makes me somewhat of a monogamous gamer.

Found a great guide and a very informative site.


Link to fancy informative site. (http://lotro.mmorsel.com/)

Very cool.  Thanks MrB!

Why is Haudh Icarith listed at lv20?  Ruh-roh.

I believe that chart is based on the test server changes, including the splitting up of instances, and the new scaling by level feature. Then again, isn't that the rep dungeon in the barrows?

It is but it is also a great place for tier 5 scholar ingredients.  Just wondering if that will change.

Can you guys recommend a place to go at level 29 when I've gotten sick of Ost Garuth?  Is North Downs worth the travel time?

It's OK but at lv29 I would go to Trollshaws.  Not sure about burglar survivability but if I were you I would not bother with North Downs.  It's a good alternate to Lone Lands but at 29 you should be finishing up there.  You may want to do the area east of Esteldin in ND but personally I prefer Trollshaws by a large margin.  You'll go through Esteldin enough as it stands when you need to get to Angmar.

edit: clarify

I think you can start Evendim if you want instead of North Downs, which will last you a good few levels. One level and you can start running skirmishes too, that sped things up a lot for me.

Well, I think Evendim looks great but it didn't really lead me anywhere.  YMMV.

They do have one of those stupid rep-based horse routes there later on in Annuminas which would be convenient to have open for later Epic quest doing, but just questing alone in the 30s in Evendim didn't get me there sadly.

The level 29ish stuff in Evendim is Shire-flavored, down in Oatbarton and that area as I recall.

If you haven't been to the North Downs yet at all, then you've already leveled past the first chunk of the content (Trestlebridge is designed for the low 20s).

There are several quest hubs that will provide you with something to do at your level.
Trestlebridge (although the quests there will be gray, green, and light blue to you at 29)
Amon Raith (a tower overlooking the fields of fornost, with a stable master) - quests here also con early-mid 20s.
Esteldin, Meluinen, and Othrikar are over more in the center of the zone. Quests there range from the late 20s to early 30s. Quests in Othrikar and Meluinen mostly center on those hubs, and the quests in Esteldin either want you to go out the east or west exits. (Esteldin is a ruin that occupies a pass through some mountains). The area to the east of Esteldin is geared towards low 30s.
Esteldin, Othrikar, and Meluinen all have stable masters as well.

Right now, you could fast travel from Ost Guruth to South bree, from there to West Bree, and from there you're going to have to leg it to Trestlebridge (assuming you haven't been there already). Starting at level 30, you can fast travel between West Bree and Esteldin.

Esteldin also contains a room full of crafting stations and a vault-keeper, so you don't have to go back to Bree for those things.

There's a Bree-to-Trestlebridge breadcrumb/teleports-you-right-there quest I think, maybe from the town hall?

The breadcrumb from the Bree town hall to Trestlebridge sounds very familiar. I think you're right.

I think the teleport-you-there quest is either from Ost Guruth to Trestlebridge, or vice versa. Or both. Can't remember now.

Yes, you port from Ost Guruth to Trestlebridge, one way.  Did it the other night. 

Seems like there is also a Trestlebridge-to-Ost-Guruth one... been a while since I did T-bridge quests.  I more or less shot through there with my guardian several months ago, it's a bit of a blur.

The other thing that irritated me about Evendim and mostly Tinnudir was how I couldn't get tomb-raider sashes to save my ass.  Also, the fucking swimming... but there's a boat now.  Very pretty, though.