lone-lands posts

Lord of the Rings Online developer diary revisits the Lone-lands

by Rubi Bayer Nov 25th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Game mechanics

The latest developer diary entry is from Lord of the Rings Online Senior Designer Allan "Orion" Maki, and takes us back to a very familiar area: The Lone-lands. While the region seems like a low-level walk in the park to the majority of players these days, Maki had always felt that there was a bit of a "disconnect" and that players were being sent to an area far above their level. The Lone-lands have been given what he describes as a "massive overhaul", bringing them more in line with low and mid level players abilities.

Players will find changes such as a solo version of Weather Top, a new horse travel mount to make the initial trip to the Forsaken Inn less dangerous, and some new faction and quest systems. Those, however, are just the beginning. With Siege of Mirkwood only days away, players eager to explore the expansion will find their path in the earlier areas considerably smoother.

The full entry is worth looking at, as it contains four pages of great information on the overhaul -- it's a valuable resource for anyone still hanging out around Ost Guruth.

Tags: allan-maki, allan-orion-maki, developer-diary, lone-lands, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, siege-of-mirkwood, turbine

The hero's guide to the Lone-Lands of Lord of the Rings

by Seraphina Brennan Feb 24th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, PvE, Massively meta, Roleplaying

Codemasters has released another entry in their "hero's guide" series of articles for The Lord of the Rings Online, this one centering on the Lone-Lands, home of Weathertop and many other dangerous locales.

The Lone-Lands are marked by the ruins of ancient kingdoms, each once part of the human kingdom of Arnor before shattering apart and going their own ways. Those ways ended up leading to war, with the kingdom of Rhudaur siding with the minions of the witch king in order to conquer the other two kingdoms. It was in these battles that the watch post of Weathertop fell, as it sat right on the borders between each of the three kingdoms.

For all the tasty goodies and lore-related treats about the Lone-Lands, check out the full guide located over at LotRO Europe.

Tags: arnor, codemasters, heros-guide, lone-lands, lotro, lotro-europe, rhudaur, ruins, the-lord-of-the-rings-online, turbine, war, weathertop

Lorebook tells tales of Ents gone bad

by Samuel Axon Jun 5th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Lore

According to Turbine's most recently highlighted The Lord of the Rings Online Lorebook entry, even Ents can turn to the proverbial dark side. One might think that even if they did, it would take them such a long time to work out how to kill you that they wouldn't be much of a threat. Unfortunately, you'll hear a different story from anyone who's faced the dour-root -- or Huorn, as some call it -- in Agamaur.

To be more specific, the monster is an Elite Master boss encounter in the Lone-lands' Garth Agarwen instance. It's probably not the first killer tree encountered by most LotRO players. That honor most likely goes to the Warped Oaks in the Old Forest.

Tags: boss, dour-root, elite-master, garth-agarwen, huorn, instance, lone-lands, lord-of-the-rings-online, lore, lorebook, lotro, mob, monster, old-forest, turbine, warped-oak

TTH resource-gathering guide: Lone-Lands

by William Dobson Dec 30th 2007 at 9:03PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Guides, Crafting, Tips and tricks

Compared to the last zone we examined in the TTH Lord of the Rings Online resource gathering series, for the bountiful Bree-Land, the Lone-Lands really fail to impress. In general, it's simply not a great place to do your harvesting. However, there are a few redeeming qualities that may cause you to visit the zone.

For example, the Lone-Lands guide asserts that there is no better area in the game to get your medium hides than the back areas of Midgewater Pass. Also, the tier 3 resources here are widespread, and the zone is one of the main sources of these materials for lower level characters who can't go much further, but aren't having luck harvesting for them in earlier areas.

To gleam what value you can out of this often frustrating area, check out the rest of the guide for the usual table and detailed look at individual portions of the zone.

Tags: how-to, lone-lands, lotro, medium-hide, medium-hides, midgewater-pass, resource-gathering-guide, ten-ton-hammer, tentonhammer, tier-2, tier-3, TTH, turbine

Ten Ton Hammer demystifies the Forsaken Inn

by Samuel Axon Nov 27th 2007 at 10:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Quests, PvE

If you're nearing level 20 in The Lord of the Rings Online, it will be nigh impossible to avoid spending some time with the Forsaken Inn as your base of operations. The inn's prominence in LotRO is surprising since it's a place that only appeared in a single line of the literature of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Since every freep in all of Middle-earth inevitably spends at least a little time at the Forsaken Inn, Ten Ton Hammer decided it would be a great idea to catalog every single quest connected to the place. Their new Forsaken Inn Quest Guide not only lists all the quests, but their levels and objectives. In some cases, there's even information on how to complete the objectives.

So if you're planning a journey down the Great East Road, the guide will be a good thing to bring with you.

Tags: forsaken-inn, great-east-road, guide, how-to, jrr-tolkien, lone-lands, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, quests, ten-ton-hammer, turbine