Thread: Can someone explain the legendary weapons stuff to me? The tutorial did not help much

I understand the basic. Level up your weapon, reforge it so it gets a new skill every 10th level.

However, there are some things i don't understand:

- Am i supposed to deconstruct my Legendary wep/book when they reach max? What do i get from it?
- Can i choose the "perfect" legendary weapon? I always get a few legacies to choose from when it levels up, but i want to be able to control everything to make it as good as possible for my class (Minstrel.)
- Are all 2 age and 1 age random drop only?
-What is/how do i "upgrade" a wepon?

Thanks for reading. I'm still a bit confused :P

This page (and the embedded links) may answer many of your questions:

http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Legendary_Items

Good luck,

Fara

Most of your questions are answered in the link EagleNine shared, but in case you find it difficult to find in all the information, here are some shorter answers.

Originally Posted by ShotgunStalker

I understand the basic. Level up your weapon, reforge it so it gets a new skill every 10th level.

New skills at levels 10, 20, 30, then upgrades of your legacy tiers at 40, 50, 60 and (if you upgrade your weapon using a Scroll of Delving) 70.

- Am i supposed to deconstruct my Legendary wep/book when they reach max? What do i get from it?
- Are all 2 age and 1 age random drop only?

You'll get your first weapon and book from a series of epic quests you can get around level 45 in Echad Dunnan, Eregion. After that, you'll get them from random mob drops and you can craft them (or have them crafted). 1st and 2nd ages require special ingredients to craft that drop from raids and instances, but the 2nd age ingredient can also be bartered for using skirmish marks.

As far as deconstructing, you will be able to slot 6 LIs that you are leveling, including the 2 you are using. More or less you can deconstruct when you have a better LI available than what you are using, or when you know you won't use a potential weapon because it will not be any better than the one you are using. Since leveling is fairly fast, personally I would not put a lot of effort into perfecting your weapon until you hit cap and have a weapon you can use for a longer period of time.

When you deconstruct weapons, you get item experience runes and relics back. The higher the level of the weapon the more you get, but it works in bands. The best return in terms of iXP and relics seems to be at levels 11, 21, 31 etc. But you can deconstruct a weapon you don't want to use at any time and get some benefit from it.

- Can i choose the "perfect" legendary weapon? I always get a few legacies to choose from when it levels up, but i want to be able to control everything to make it as good as possible for my class (Minstrel.)

-What is/how do i "upgrade" a weapon?

If you are willing to put work into it, yes you can.

Aside from changing weapons to raise the level and age of the weapon (which increase the dps and healing output, and the number of points you have to spend on legacies), on a given weapon, you can choose the specific legacies you want and can upgrade the legacy tiers so that you need fewer points to max out the legacy. As I mentioned above, you can also upgrade the maximum item level from 60 to 70, which gives you more points to spend. The items you use to upgrade the LIs come in different versions for different level items - lesser/regular/greater.

To raise the item-level from max 60 to max 70, you use a scroll of delving (lesser/regular/greater).

To raise the tier of a legacy you use a scroll of empowerment (lesser/regular/greater)

To replace a legacy, you deconstruct an LI that has the legacy you want and is above item-level 30. You will be able to choose a legacy to keep. Double click that legacy in your bag and you will be able to put it on another LI (with some level restrictions), though it will become a tier 2 legacy on the new weapon.

With the latest update, it is also possible to upgrade your LIs by adding starlit crystals to them. They drop from raids, instances, and skirmish lieutenants, and increase the base stats on your LI to make a 3rd age weapon closer to a 2nd age in stats/dps/healing output, and a 2nd age closer to a 1st age.

All the items you use to upgrade LIs except the starlit crystals are available at skirmish camps for barter. Some are also available from other barter NPCs in different areas (Moria, Lothlorien, Enedwaith). All are available from the store.

First, there's base weapons:

• The minimum level for the item contributes to how "good" it is. A level 65 item is much better than a level 52 item. However, the two items you get initially are very nice for their level and you probably won't find good replacements until you are nearly level 55.
• The Age of an item contributes to how "good" it is. A level 65 Second Age item is better than a level 65 Third Age, but not better than a level 75 Third Age.
• Many classes get some base stats on their weapon, and sometimes a bonus stat for Second Age class items. The weapon stats are generated when the item is identified, and you can't change these.

Then there's legacies:

• Legendary items have 3 legacies on them when you identify them. You get new ones when you reforge at level 10, 20, and 30. (You get a choice of 2 legacies to upgrade when you reforge every 10 levels at level 40, etc.)
• When you equip a legendary item, the legacies on it take effect. They can change the way your skills & other abilities work in a number of class-specific ways. You spend the points that your LI earns when it levels on the legacies you want to make better. (When you reforge, you can choose to have the points refunded so you can spend them again.) The tier of a legacy determines how many points it takes to raise it. Tier 6 legacies are a LOT cheaper to raise than Tier 1 legacies.
• Legacies on a "better" item (see the first 2 bullets) start at a higher value and are capable of being raised higher than on "worse" items.
• If you deconstruct after the level 30 reforge, you can choose to "pull" one of those legacies into a scroll, which can be applied to a different Legendary item, replacing one of the legacies on that item.
• When you deconstruct a Legendary Item, you get relics (settings, runes, & gems), plus sometimes Legendary shards/fragments, XP "pills", and other things.

So you have to start your own little ecosystem of growing and deconstructing LI's, using them to farm for desired legacies and to acquire a LOT of low-level relics. You combine low-level relics into higher-level ones, which are more powerful. However, since the relics you slot are destroyed with the LI when you deconstruct it, you either need to acquire more (often easy) or buy a Relic removal scroll from the Store to use.

Yes, this takes a lot of work. As you kill things and do quests, you will acquire IXP (Item Experience) plus IXP "pills". It takes a while to level up LIs to their maximum level, but doing so will yield the best rewards when you deconstruct. And you're GOING to be doing a lot of deconstructing. I consider any Legendary Item to be temporary, though the ones I acquire at level cap (level 75) are worth spending time on since I'll have them for a while.

You will find a LOT of 3rd age LIs... mostly not for your class. I sell those in the AH, pass them to alts, or give them to friends. 3rd age LIs are not particularly valuable, unless they have VERY unusual stats. But they are just fine to equip and use; as you are leveling they will do you fine as your regular equipment. Now that I have good 2nd age items, I use 3rd age items to farm for relics. There are 2 ways: equip them and let them level to 30, then blow them up and get a legacy scroll... or have a deconstruction fest where you get a large number of them, level them to 2, and deconstruct. The first will give you scrolls and better XP pills, the second will get you more relics.

2nd and 1st age items are better. You can get the necessary crafting item for 2nd age items at the Skirmish Vendor. Worn/regular Symbols of the Elder King, which make 1st age items are much more rare. I don't feel it's worth investing time until you are 65, but others may disagree.

Once you reach level 65, try exploring the Relic-Master's window some more. You can forge together relics (and shards, which you sometimes get when combining relics) into new & interesting relics that might fit your play-style well.

Hopefully this was more helpful than confusing... please ask more questions as you think of them!

I've found with the LI system that it can be very confusing, partially because it's very complex, and the answers above really can't/don't explain all the ins-and-outs. Many if not most of the details about the LI system you don't need right away. Basics to keep in mind as you start:

1. Keep your original LIs for many levels, they are quite good and will last quite a while. I've characters that have kept theirs until 65 although that's probably a bit long. The main problem with the LI system as it now is, imo, is that it's all about the grinding to raise your main LI's levels. Generally speaking, the more often you deconstruct your "keeper" LIs, the more grinding you'll do to raise levels for the ones you will keep and use.

2. Level many LIs for your class at once, you will need the deconstruct relics and tokens for your main LIs. Sell, or better, deconstruct the LIs that are not for your class. Again, you'll need the relics you get.

3. Be VERY careful to not slot a relic over an existing slotted relic that you want to keep. Getting high level relics is a hard grind and losing them that way is a pain. Even after years of using the LI system, I just did it, through inattention and carelessness. The LI system permits and in some ways even encourages this kind of mistake through poor design.

4. 3rd Age LIs are not rare. The name makes them seem, well, "legendary" and thus, in the the 3rd Age of Arda, rare. They aren't in the game, in fact, they are the primary vehicle for acquiring LI xp, relics, etc. Again, imo, bad design.

5. Finally, learn about the LI system by reading just before you do something you need to do, then doing, reading then doing. Other than accidentally deconstructing a LI you want to keep, or accidentally replacing a slotted relic you want to keep with another, you can't go too far wrong with the LI system that you can't fairly quickly fix.

Good hunting!!

Ok, lots of information. I will be entering Moria soon, i will follow your tips. Thanks everyone.

I was typing up a ludicrously long post trying to explain the whole thing, totally forgot to hit submit, and *poof*. Looking back on it, though, I've changed my mind anyway. Here's a condensed version that will probably be much more helpful:

1) Level up your DPS first. Honestly I'm not 100% sure how this works for minstrels, but I think your weapon will still have either a DPS or tactical damage rating that you'll want to put points in. Doing so will likely allow you to get the most out of your weapon for the time you have it.

2) The LI system is very, very complicated. Learn about it as you level and by the time you hit cap you should have a general idea of how they work as pretty much every aspect of them is covered by the LI intro quest and through rewards you get from the Epic Book quests. By the time you're high enough level, you'll know which skills you use and what different stats do for your character, at least on some basic level, so just toss points in legacies you think will be useful and slot whatever relics you have that will help you out.

3) Don't bother making perfect LI's until you're at the level cap. You level pretty quickly in this game and making an LI into something that fits your playstyle perfectly takes a ton of work. It's really not worth it to do all of that work on an item you'll replace in a few short levels. Experience, research and time will allow you to make perfect LI's at cap.