f13.net

After talking to a couple of you today it became clear that I don't really have any idea what I'm doing.

I'm 24.5, haven't started crafting (though I picked up Scholar a while back) and am apparently in dire need of an equipment upgrade.

Where should I be, and where should I be going?

Level thread already in progress.

For equipment I go by the 5/5 rule.  Every 5 levels upgrade armor/weapon.  Now, some classes its not so important.  With my mini I did a 10/10 pretty much.  I am interested to see what other peoples opinions are.

Pre-30 quest rewards were enough to keep me in fine shape I found. Probably post-30 too, but...

Past 30 I've been upgrading my armor/weapons whenever new purple ones become available from the skirmish vendor. With the amount I was playing before my recent break just doing the 3 daily skirmish quests I have available was enough to keep me fully kitted out and still have enough left over to keep my soldier up to snuff as well. I do just change the cosmetic item things straight into skirmish marks though, you get 25 a pop so it is a big difference income-wise between hanging on to them for cosmetic stuff or turning them into marks.

EDIT: I should say I did buy the occasional purple weapon for my level from the AH but as a champ I figured I was very dependent on my weapon damage for success. Classes like loremasters or minstrels may not care as much.

A guild member made me crafted at level 28 and even by the time I got to 35, my crafted was MUCH better than my quest reward gear. 

I urge you to ask someone for crafted gear once you hit 28.  It makes a HUGE difference.

I'm thinking that I'm probably very heavily equipment reliant, being a Guardian and all.  So is there a corresponding set for every five levels or how exactly does that work?


Edit: Also, traits. Should I be focusing on and grinding traits or do they just sort of fall into place?

You are very gear dependent.  I would just ask the kin periodically if its time for an upgrade.  As far as traits; I never bother until 40+.  On my last 2 high level characters I barely bothered at all.  Not to downplay traits - they are very helpful, but the grind can be numbing for higher level ones.

I try to work on kill and explore deeds as I go, adds a bit of xp and you get some odd drops occasionally. Some just are better skipped and done when you get bored at higher levels.

And yeah, Guard is like champ in that a good weapon will make your killing oodles faster. Armor makes a big difference for every class.

I picked Metalsmith as a craft for my Guard and it pays off.  Critical crafted or the one-time recipe stuff is the way to go.  Once the skirmish system was available, I was able to easily get the shards I needed to make the one-time recipe armor, which is much better than anything else I know about.

Crafted does fill in, and at times exceed some gaps in loot nicely. Useful stuff in all tiers. Loot/quest drops will "get you there" but critted purples will be "just over" in power, and just under some of the hardiest stuff to get (hard group quest, big story arch or raid) This is even double true now that one recipe can now out put about 3 variations in stats for the same item, meaning you can make a "leather shirt" with stats appropriate for many classes with just one recipe, just choose a different output/stat set.

(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/imarichan/goldenhostcoat.jpg)


(http://www.lotro.com/media/article_images/Dev_Diary/v3b1crafting/image016.jpg) VS: (http://www.lotro.com/media/article_images/Dev_Diary/v3b1crafting/image018.jpg) VS: (http://www.lotro.com/media/article_images/Dev_Diary/v3b1crafting/image020.jpg)

Hey! I'm halfway through 32. I hear there's a new armor set at that level.

Any of you crafter types care to whip up a set? Any maybe a couple of swords and a shield while you're at it? :)

Save brimstone, it makes for easier critting of armor for you. And whetstones for weapons.

As you saw from the shield and chest, purples are way better than yellow versions.