Last week we began our thorough tour through Lord of the Rings Online’s largest city, Minas Tirith, combing through the first three tiers in search of unique sights and interior spaces. But this city is simply too big to contain in a single column, so today we’ll wrap things up as we explore the remaining four tiers, heading upward.
While each successive tier gets smaller as you go higher, they also contain some of the most beautiful and iconic locations. What remains to be found? Find out with me!
Player’s Tier: The Blue Theatre
The appropriately named Blue Theatre is a stunning opera house draped in cerulean with entertainment rooms surrounding a giant central theater. I can easily imagine this being a great place for community performances. And if you visit, definitely check out “behind the scenes” where you can see actors warming up, costumes ready for fitting, and a full prop room.
Player’s Tier: Court of Voronwe
While you’re rushing to and fro across this city, make sure to take a brief pitstop at this lovely little outdoor alcove. With some picturesque statues, a fountain, and a lot of flowers, it’ll be sure to lift your spirits.
Player’s Tier: The Baths of Belecthor
This multi-story fountain area is a must-see for anyone going through the city. Three giant statues frame the water, making this place feel more epic than peaceful.
Sages’ Tier: Hall of Air
Hey, it’s yet another theatre, except this one is way high up and sort of wraps around one side of the small stage and it’s not nearly as attractive as the others. Feels like this one was shoe-horned into the available space.
Sage’s Tier: Upper Stores
This warehouse definitely suffers from the TARDIS effect, where the outside looks relatively small but the inside might as well be shipping Amazon products to a tri-state area. But they’ve got purdy windows!
Sage’s Tier: The Old Archives
If you like very moody and possibly haunted libraries, you’re going to want to visit this dimly lit stacks. I’m guessing this is where Gandalf went to do all of his research into the One Ring?
Sage’s Tier: House of Lore
Or perhaps he went here, to the much bigger, far better lit mega-library located just a few doors down. This may be my most favorite place in all of Minas Tirith for the fact that it has something like 15 rooms, all of which contain something interesting to gawk at. There’s a map room, a room filled with evil taxidermy, a small tavern, and more.
Sage’s Tier: The Thirsty Seer
What would a tavern look like if it was made for academic-types? Probably a lot like this one, with half of its walls covered with bookshelves. This expansive tavern has two other notable features: a suspended pool of water over its entranceway and the unhewn mountainside rock forming one of the four walls.
Master’s Tier: Houses of Healing
Almost at the top, the Master’s Tier is the first time we see a full circle of a tier rather than a horseshoe. I also really like the foliage and trees that liven up the outdoor corridors, which is something that the bottom tiers could only dream of seeing.
In any case, the main stop here is the Houses of Healing, the expansive and airy hospital that players will be visiting numerous times for quests. Seems like a huge amount of space for the small bed count, but I’m sure the patients don’t mind.
Master’s Tier: Dome of the Sun
Another frequent quest location, this circular room is notable for the incredibly cute model of Minas Tirith itself in the middle. This allows you the opportunity to stand on its summit and pretend that you’re a giant who is on top of the world.
Master’s Tier: The High Stables
If I know anything about horses, it’s that they can’t get enough of being hoisted up to the top of skyscrapers and asked to perch there like birds. At least the High Stables are relatively posh and clean, with Shadowfax himself at the center.
The Citadel: Court of the Fountain
Finally at the top, our first sight here is the expansive Court of the Fountain where the famous (dead) White Tree stands. It’s certainly a very nerdy moment for any Tolkien fan to witness.
The Citadel: The Pier
If you make it up this high and you don’t have a fear of verticality, then make sure to take a stroll out to the end of the iconic Pier of Minas Tirith. Here you can see vast swaths of the countryside as well as the many levels of the city spread out below. Nowhere else do you get quite the sense of scope of this city as here.
The Citadel: Southern Great Guesthouse
Have we arrived at the penthouse suites? It looks so! It’s certainly posh but nothing much of note lies within its halls.
The Citadel: The Feast-hall of Merethrond
While initially devoid of people, this massive feasting hall fills up in a hurry when Aragorn and Arwen are wed. It’s kind of neat to see the before-and-after in respect to that.
The Citadel: Tower of Ecthelion
The crowning jewel of Minas Tirith is no doubt the court of the king in Ecthelion. This imposing room is absolutely stunning to behold, from the mirror-shine floors to the statues to the swan motif to the throne itself. And I like the touch of seeing the black steward’s seat propped up there as well.
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.
