Thread: Returning player - overwhelmed - need help!

Ok, just came back from a very long break from Lotro and trying to get back into everything is quite overwhelming. Have a RK from back when they were new, lvl 55 now.

Finished volume 1 of the epic series and progressing thru Moria and Volume 2.

Have played most other MMO so now the basic generalities.

What I need is some basic pointers on a solid modern build for levelling up now. Would prefer lightningbased if still viable. Also offspec for healing perhaps.

Any specific questlines thats really good for RKs? Deeds/Virtues to focus on?

Or just general must do or don´ts for a returning player.

Tried searching but most advice were simply abit too complex or seemed outdated in regards to affinitychanges (?) and whatnot.

Any help or pointers to good posts/guides are much appreciated.

There was a RK revamp and changes in stats for all classes, so I recommend reading all Developer Diaries that were released since your leave.

One major change you'll have to adjust to is the obviating of Fate. Fate is not nearly as important as Will now. Even Lightning-traited RK's will agree that Will>Fate, and that the crit rating can be made up with direct bonuses from gear.

Another change you'll need to know about is mitigation and crit defense. Mitigations & Crit Defense have become more important than raw morale, RK's have very little of either. For virtues, Zeal is of the utmost importance. I would work on any virtues that give you Vitality, Tactical Mitigation, and Morale (in that order).

The stat cap has been removed, so don't worry about "stat-levelling." Many of the end-game RK's are sitting at over 2000 Will, and some of the best are over 2500. My Fate is in the 300 range. (Yeah, it's THAT unimportant.)

Radiance has been removed. You no longer need to worry about Dread/Gloom in the big raids. In its place, we have Finesse, which is sorta like "Radiance done right." More things can give you Finesse than just armor sets, and Finesse doesn't gate instances like Radiance did. It counters the Block/Parry/Evade/Resist ratings that enemies will have, so bosses have a lot of it, and trash mobs less so.

If you haven't already, you'll want to start thinking about trekking into Moria. Don't stress the armor sets there too much; pick one and stick with it.

Legendary Items have gone through a TON of changes, the end result being that it's easier to get them exactly the way you want. Each time you decon one, you get to take one of the legacies from it. If you decon 6 LI's, you can have a full set of 6 legacies. Major legacies can only replace majors, but minors can replace majors or minors. The trick is to get a decent legendary, and then as you level it up, also level up a few other legendary weapons whose sole purpose is to donate missing legacies.

And finally, don't listen to anything anyone says on this forum, including me. You should play your RK like it's the first time, and learn your own play-style. You'll never be good at it if you're copying someone else. Pioneer your own play-style, and who knows, maybe we'll learn something from you.

PerfectApproach!

Thanks a ton for the pointers, just what I needed. And yes, looking at my character I was Fate- and Morale-stacked.

Quick followup, for LI it used to be stack 6 in your slots and keep them until 31 then deconn for max efficiency. Still the same way or should I keep longer (even if the LI are only lvl 55 items)?

Edit: Also what did you mean about sticking with one armor set? Factionarmor or I get from drops or?

Thanks once again. The helpful community is what really brings me back to this game.

Originally Posted by Caranthor

Quick followup, for LI it used to be stack 6 in your slots and keep them until 31 then deconn for max efficiency. Still the same way or should I keep longer (even if the LI are only lvl 55 items)?

Yeah, you can still do that, but they've changed the LI advancement curve to a point where it's so easy to max them out that you might as well take them all the way up.

Originally Posted by Caranthor

Edit: Also what did you mean about sticking with one armor set? Factionarmor or I get from drops or?

Individual tokens, like the barter tokens you used to have to grind/get lucky for in Moria are gone. Instead, when you complete an instance, everyone gets a number of medallion, specific to a zone. Once you have enough, you can use those medallions to barter for whichever piece you need. The exception is The Watcher head and shoulders; they have a shared barter token that is separate from anything else. But you'll probably outlevel the Moria armor anyway. You won't really need to take your armor too seriously until you get to around level 70. So if you grab a half-decent set, don't worry too much if you outlevel it. Once you get up to Lvl 70, that's when armor starts becoming important.

Sorry to hijack but also a returning player, now that affinity doesn't matter is there a better choice as far as weapon stats go when crafting 75 stones?

Not sure what you mean, but I'm gonna give it a shot. Weapon stats are still not controllable by the player. Of course, Will/Vit bonuses are good, as are Tactical Mastery and Critical Rating. Parry/Evade ratings are next to useless, and Block rating is 100% useless, as is Might (although I think the dev's said somewhere that they removed some of the most useless stats from rune-stones).

That said, 3rd age stones are almost disposable. Cheap and easy to come by. If you don't like the stats, simply decon it and wait for the next one.

2nd age stones are little harder to come by, but they'll last you longer. As such, even if you get junky stats after crafting one, it's usually a good idea to hold onto it. Worn Symbols of Celebrimbor are getting cheaper as Riders of Rohan approaches, but it's still rather expensive. I'd recommend holding onto any crafted 2nd age stones, regardless of the stats. At least until you get another 2nd age leveled, legacies maxed, and can pretty much switch to another stone.

First age stones, well, I think it's a given that if you get one, hold onto it. If you get junky stats, well, just ignore them.

Sorry for half a year necro, but I guess it is on-topic.

I'm returning after almost a year long brake. I have lvl 75 RK but it was just leveled and never geared (quest reward armor, rune/satchel lvl 65 2nd age, etc).

I wonder what would be better - upgrade my gear to lvl 75 (do not know what is available right now but i guess even crafted will be better then quest rewards) or maybe leave it as it is and first lvl to 85 by questing (upgrading on the go with quest rewards) and then work on 85 gear.

I can imagine it would be easier to play from 75 to 85 with lvl 75 stuff and I can ask friends to do a few fast runs to get items (3 / 6 man, not full raids) or at least craft something, but on the other hand I do not want to spend too much gold and time for something that will become obsolete after 20 quests.


What are your thoughts?

I´d replace the Rune stone with a crafted 2nd Age lvl 75, that´s available from Skirmish Camp or Epic

If you want you can replace your armor with the Draigoch Set, it´s pretty easy to get for Medallions (just run Foundry a few times) and you can get the coins from Draigoch raid rather easily too, as almost nobody needs them anymore

Apart from that, keep what you have