Thread: OK I give up - where's the Troll-keeper?

[SPOILERS!]

I'm on the quest "The Troll-Keeper" in the North Downs, where you are in the Etten Caves, slug through a 100 something elite Trolls, avoid the hillmen and - don't find the actual Trollkeeper.
http://lotro.allakhazam.com/db/quest...lotrquest=1053

I even have this little map:
http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Etten_Caves



But he's just not there. The cave just has a wall where he's supposed to be. I went into the cave two times, each time using up all my food and my flaming arrows and I can't find him. The character is like on a vacation in there but I need her back, she's my only tailor

Anybody knows what I overlook?

Hmm.. That's odd. It's been a while since I did the quest, but that map is accurate as far as I can remember. I do remember there being a lot of mobs in that general area (and the first time I tried it, a stray LM lynx pulled them all down on our heads), and the Troll-Keeper can easily hide in among them. But if you have a Hunter, I assume you tracked for him.

It's a public cave, as far as I recall, so if you take an over-leveled character in there, you should be able to explore without aggro. But if he's truly not present, you should probably file a bug. It's totally possible the Troll-Keeper got hosed in some patch, and then completely overlooked. It's not a popular quest chain.

Hmmmm, sounds about right.

I have a hunter in there, not sure it can track humanoids yet (level 33) but I'll check.

There is a wall where access to that last room is supposed to be. So from my perspective one of those things must be true:

• I overlook some "you need to go up that ramp" or "you need to go down that other ramp" to access that room. I cannot see such a ramp, though.
• the game is b0rked in that region right now

I do notice that my own map view does not show the wall I see visually. It has the fuzzy "not explored yet" although I am standing right in front of the wall. This might indicate that the room is still there but I can't conclude whether I can't find the access point or whether it isn't accessible.

The problem I have is that the character in there is massively gaining XP points from required troll-slaying and I don't want to spoil further questing by making it too powerful. One way or another I need to get out of that place pretty soon.

I don't have a character that has this level of mobs greyed out but at this point it might be best that I ask a kinmate with a level 60+ to have a look. Hrrrrmmmmm.

That's a popular Gold Farming area, so it wouldn't surprise me if someone else ran through there before you and cleared out the Troll-Keeper. The trash mobs respawn at a regular rate, but the Signatures are on a 5 minute respawn.

Originally Posted by Darmokk

• I overlook some "you need to go up that ramp" or "you need to go down that other ramp" to access that room. I cannot see such a ramp, though.
• the game is b0rked in that region right now

I'm pretty sure that there is a ramp. I recall being in a similar situation with this quest, and off to the side of where you think you need to be there was a ramp going up, and once you go up there you could get further back into the caves. Unfortunately I don't recall anything more specific that that, though the troll-keeper is very well-guarded. I believe you will need a small group to help or else to be higher than the quest level to complete it. It's very easy to get swarmed by the mobs in that last room.

Thanks. So ramp it is.

I doubt I can take on the guy if I can't separate out the bodyguards, I'm level 33. At least I can go down in flames.

necro-ing this because it comes up high in google and there's no clear danswer here .

i had the exact same prob as the OP. The key is to follow the path on the map EXACTLY. it takes you through the waterfall shortcut and then along the north wall of the final room. stick to that top wall and you will find an entrance guarded by 2 trolls behind two pillars. behind that is a ramp leading down into the troll keeper's room and the weapon chests.

also don't go trying this quest solo or at low levels just b/c you can kill trolls. the guys in the final room are much tougher .

also don't go trying this quest solo or at low levels just b/c you can kill trolls. the guys in the final room are much tougher

Actually I did that thing solo with my level 30 guardian a couple days ago. I did die but I killed the target guy. And you don't even have to loot him.

With the lower aggro range his bodyguards are not pulled when you shoot at him. He himself isn't that tough when alone. You might have a problem with running into patrolling elite hillmen but if you don't, or if you solve that problem with just resurrecting yourself, that's not a real issue. Point is, in post-nerf LOTRO you can pull the quest target without pulling the bodyguards that were hardcoded to trigger on the same pull pre-nerf.

Shame how they ruined all these guests from one sweeping change that nobody thought through.

Very interesting... not a Gold Farmer in sight within this cave anymore... yet I fought my way to the Troll-Keeper's room and gone he was. I even logged out and logged back in about ten minutes later and still no Troll-Keeper to be seen.

Level 36, well traited/well virtued/well geared and armed Captain, I was.

Sadly, seems like this Quest NPC may be bugged... ???


*** Edit ***
I logged out/logged back in later today and voila! Troll-Keeper was present. Down he went... although admittedly it was far too easy to down him even as a Level 36 "twinked out" Captain. They have removed the NPC tethers that once bound him to the two Trolls guarding each of his flanks. Thus, he can (indeed) be pulled solo without issue (just be sure to pull him back against the wall/into a nook though) unless you're sure the roaming guards won't bother/repop on you.

I have completed this quest with another character just recently and he was there.

The quest is kinda broken now because of the lower aggro range. The troll-keeper has several bodyguards that have carefully been placed in aggro range by whichever poor level designer made the quest. Unfortunately with the lower range they now longer trigger and let you kill their VIP without as much as a shrug.

Too bad Turbine had to go for this knee-jerk solution and the lower aggro range without even stopping for a second and look for some solutions for now-broken quest design.

I don't usually necro threads but I think this quest warrants it. The confusing part about the quest is the fact that you can easily pass by the cave entrance that leads to the troll-keeper and his minions. Once you get past the waterfall follow the path, killing or avoiding trolls as you see fit. But once you reach the room with the tall ceiling and lots of stonehenge-like structures, look carefully on the right side of the room for an entrance that is more orange than gray because of the torches. Take this entrance. If you see 2 or 3 hillmen by themselves, you have gone too far. Once you go in the orange cave you should encounter lots of hillmen and their weapon chests, which are part of the other quest. You can easily tell if you have found the right room if you see a troll lit up by sunlight on a throne-like structure, turned into stone. Look around, and you will find the troll-keeper.

This is possibly the hardest to find quest objective I have ever done, but it's pretty worth it because you get some nice gear and it's quite rewarding to succeed with the help of some friends in the dark, troll-infested caverns.