If all goes well, the new legendary servers — the first in three years — will roll out this week for Lord of the Rings Online. I’ve been eagerly waiting the opportunity to start fresh once more, build up a wardrobe, and progress through my favorite MMO with a community at my side.
Part of the fun for me is planning out a run in advance, especially considering how much content we’ve got to get through in the first six months of Shadows of Angmar. So in this edition of LOTRO Legendarium, I am presenting – probably for your amusement more than education – my leveling plan from the first day to the debut of Mines of Moria down the line.
Week One
There’s probably more to do in the first day and week of setting up a new character run than any other time period, which comes with a whole lot of excitement and even anxiety until it’s done. Happily, I’ve been here before and know what to expect.
On my first night, I’ll concentrate on making my character, importing my UI layout, and sorting through my inventory of accumulated rewards from over the years of purchases. I’m going to toss out any XP-boosting items (I level fast enough in this game already, thank you) and make sure to hold on to any cosmetics that I want for the backbone of my new wardrobe.
Keeping an eye out for a great kinship is an ongoing priority, especially as you never know which ones will go the distance and which will flame out within weeks.
After going through the tutorial, I’ll pop out at Swanfleet at level 1 and push to get to level 6 quickly via some early quests and grinding. I’m also going to be setting my difficulty to Fearless (3) or above right away, as I want to earn those eventual rewards for running at a higher challenge level.
At level 6, quests open up in all of the other starter zones, so I’ll jet over to the Shire, plant my milestone in Michel Delving, get the VIP items, and start working to “deed out” the entire zone. The Shire takes a long time, the longest of any of the starter areas, but it’s my favorite and an easy way to get those early virtues and levels. I’m usually around 18 by the time I’m done with just this one region.
When I get to level 15, I’ll make my purchases from a pool of LP that I’ve been saving. These include buying a pile of mithril coins for a small premium Lyndelby home (213 MC), getting that cheap Laila’s Market port (3 MC), and snapping up a Hobbit herald for my Captain (15 MC). After that, I’ll buy the milestone cooldowns and at least two more milestones to make travel that much better.
Months One and Two
My general goal is about one full zone clear a week, more or less. That’s going to net a whole lot of virtue XP and LOTRO Points, which will come in helpful rounding out my character’s initial build.
Aside from doing class quests and race/class deeds, I’ll move on from the Shire to go through the remaining beginner zones in this order: the Shire, Ered Luin, eastern Bree-land, and Swanfleet. At Swanfleet, I’ll pick up that version of the epic story and start following that as well, charging right through Cardolan and ending up around level 32.
There’s also August’s Farmer’s Faire to consider, as it offers some extra leveling XP, virtue XP, and a ton of cosmetics that’d be nice to collect on a newbie.
And you know what else is there to do? The new birding hobby the arrived with Update 41, which is something I definitely want to do as I go!
That’s a huge amount of content right there, and if I’m done with it all by the end of the second month, I’ll feel as if I’m on track.
Months Three through Six
Crazy as it seems, that’s only the beginning of my travels through Eriador. After Cardolan, I’ll wrap up any deeds on western Bree-land, then move on to Yondershire, Lone-lands, and North Downs to push me up into the 40s.
Then comes Evendim, Trollshaws (and the Angle), Misty Mountains, Angmar, and Forochel, following the epic as best I can. I’ll also be doing Bingo Boffin’s questline from time to time (that’s another source of some quirky cosmetics and pets).
By now, I should have hit level 50 for sure. Eregion is the last big step before Moria, so that and the remainder of Volume 1 needs to be done before the server progresses. Wildwood is going to be my last step in this region, and an optional one at that. Time permitting.
Two more big festivals are on deck for the fall and winter, with Harvestmath and Yule, and both are the easiest to do for large amounts of cosmetic rewards (and an elk mount!). I tend to hit the festivals very hard during the first full year of a legendary server, and I don’t foresee that being any different here.
During all of this are any social events and the server’s signature world event to be considered. I’m more than willing to be distracted!
So there you go: my very nerdy and probably excessive leveling plan touching upon every zone and hoovering up most of the LP and virtue XP that I can get during those first 50 levels.
Every two weeks, the LOTRO Legendarium goes on an adventure (horrid things, those) through the wondrous, terrifying, inspiring, and, well, legendary online world of Middle-earth. Justin has been playing LOTRO since its launch in 2007! If you have a topic for the column, send it to him at justin@massivelyop.com.
