North Downs is 595 TP
Warden is 795 TP
I have 526 TP as of right now.
I currently have Evendim, so I have a good 30 area, but I'd also like North Downs as well. However, I've really wanted to roll a Warden for quite some time now. I can't really decide on which to go for next.
My train of thought is going in this direction:
Buying ND gives me new quests and deeds for my minstrel who is having trouble soloing in the Lone Lands at level 27. I also get an unknown number of total TP that can be earned in the area.
Buying the Warden gives me access to a new character that I may or may not like, but it also gives me a third character to run through Shire, Bree, and Ered Luin for a larger sum of TP before hitting the Lone Lands, possibly enough to buy ND sooner. Looks very solo friendly, and also quite powerful.
I have 3 lvl 75, 1 70 and 2 38. Have never noticed a problem with not having North Downs. You get the same levels from Lonelands, then go up to Evendim via hobbits and you have no need of the downs.
I have ND, but just because I finally bought all regions. I tried to level a character through the ND since I have already clean up Lonelands with other characters. But there is not enough quests. I have done quests 3, even 4 level over because there was not enough quests.
To get the Warden, I got it with the Moria Expension (not the quest pack). It give you the quest pack, Warden and Rune Keeper, 2 character slots and maybe some other things. But I didn't check the price lately. But than, for all it given, it really worth it. I didn't played it since the numerous changes it received since RoI, so I cannot tell you if it still fun to play.
Even the smallest person can change the course of the future!
I have 3 lvl 75, 1 70 and 2 38. Have never noticed a problem with not having North Downs. You get the same levels from Lonelands, then go up to Evendim via hobbits and you have no need of the downs.
iirc Lone Lands-Evendim is more solo friendly than ND. You may miss the deeds in ND but thats a toss up between them and warden doing all deeds in starter areas which is a pretty good result in itself.
Personally I'd go for Warden.
Usually a few players in LL if you LFF for quests/tasks or just get a kinny to run with you so your mini can lvl up.
Well, I alread have the Moria Quest Pack. I just don't have the classes. Too bad it's Rune Keeper that's on sale and not Warden because it really doesn't interest me in the least, otherwise, I could get it right now.
I have plenty of content, all the way up to Mirkwood. But it sounds like North Downs doesn't really make a good alternative to Lonelands, which is what I was hoping, if it's hard to level up there due to a lack of quests. :/
I vote Warden, mainly for the reasons you already mentioned. The North Downs has some interesting quest lines but to be honest when I'm levelling an alt, I usually skip them because levelling in Evendim is so much faster and they are the same basic level. I'm not sure how the new Fornost instance is linked to purchasing the North Downs but it is like any instance, some people like it and some people don't.
The Warden class is very solo friendly and has great survivability as long as you learn and use your self healing gambits. When I was levelling my Warden I found myself soloing many small fellowship and fellowship quests as well. With the exception of one or two class skills you will also find yourself completing the majority of your class skill deeds just by levelling.
What ever your decision, welcome to Middle Earth and I hope you enjoy your journey.
Elendilmir - Officer of the Mithril Crowns (The Oldest Kinship in LOTRO)
"It doesn't matter how well you play, only how good you look while playing."
But it sounds like North Downs doesn't really make a good alternative to Lonelands, which is what I was hoping, if it's hard to level up there due to a lack of quests. :/
It may be hard to level up exclusively through North Downs and avoid Lonelands entirely, but ND does have a lot of good content. You could level up a character mostly in ND but with a few LL quests thrown in along the way. Whenever one of them is short on content or has content you don't like (or can't get a group for), you'd have the other available. Personally, I'm VIP, so have multiple regions available at nearly all levels and the flexibility to move around like that is nice.
The only thing that makes ND even remotely attractive is the recently revamped gigantic Fornost instance.
But as always you need luck in finding people willing to run something that´s not part of "the holy endgame".
Though before you buy the Warden make sure you have more Questpacks. Especially the 40 to 50ies are very odd place to level. Forochel and/or Misty Mountains would be a much better buy than the Warden class, if you don´t have them already.
Oh, I have plenty of quest packs. So, I'm not hurting on content to level up. I'm not exactly new (65 Hunter in Mirkwood), it's just that the question forum is linked to the newbie/F2P area.
Evendim, Misty Mountains, Forochel, Angmar, Trollshaws, Eregion, Moria, Lorien, and Mirkwood are what I have, so now I'm ready to start branching out and trying new characters.
North Downs is a good area, but at 27, your mini would run out of solo content soon, and pretty much nobody does the Dol Dinen fellowship stuff that's on level with early Evendim because Evendim has an overall much better quest flow.
If you are having lag issues at all, I wouldn't plunk down money for a warden. Mine is currently unplayable owing to the skill lag problems, and a fair number of folks can't even log into their wardens. Other people are fine, but there are definitely problems affecting a significant number of wardens.
Well, I'm 40TP away from 795, so I'm pretty set on getting it since I've been grinding TP between my two characters since I started this thread. Hopefully I won't have any problems with the log in issues, and other than some microstuttering, I've not had any lag.
If I were you I would go for the North Downs quest pack. There is a lot of content in that area. You should be good to go until level 40 or high 30s. As for the Warden, you can always save up TP to buy it. Roll another character to farm TP if you want to buy the Warden class quicker.
I'm kind of a completionist so I bought ND on sale in order to have all the areas (Now only missing Enedwaith and Misty Mountains) but I believe you'd be better off as a warden, even though I've never played the class.
The reason why I say no to ND is that many quests require a full fellowship or a small fellowship and unless you have kinnies to help you or you are good at making groups, you'll have a harder time. Like others said before, do LL until around level 28 and then start doing Evendim and it'll get you well up to level 38-40.
I got the Warden, and so far, I'm enjoying it. I've got to figure out how to set up her hotbars though.
Not got a chance to really try out gambits, because the enemies are usually dead before I can pull one off. It's an interesting system, and I'm wondering how complicated it's going to be late-game.
I'll check up on the Warden forums to see what's been put in there. Thanks again for all of the suggestions.
I wouldn't recommend either choice, but if those are the only two choices I'd pick Warden over North Downs.
North downs is split into two halves. The Western portion can really be considered an extension of Bree, as all the quests there are 21-25 and give Bree reputation. The Eastern portion is 26-35, and gives either Thorin or Ranger reputation. While most quests can be soloed easily, almost every quest chain ends in one that needs at least a small fellowship to complete, and several entire map areas need 3-6 players just to survive questing in them.
I enjoy North Downs, but due to the higher difficulty and needing to find a group for much of it, I stick with Lone-lands for the 20's and do some of the North Downs quests after I've finished that zone, not as an alternative to it. The Epic quest line also leads you to Lone-lands before North Downs.
Your Minstrel shouldn't be having trouble soloing Lone-lands at 27. Everything except Garth Agarwen is easily soloable, especially for a great soloing class like Minstrel. Lone-lands also has easy progression to 34, gives some great rewards, and has easily acheived reputatation that grants a much needed port skill.
If you want to buy Warden, I'd save your TP and get the Warden/RK bundle since it's cheaper, especially if it's on sale. However, if you're in this game for the long haul, there's a problem with buying either of those classes. Both are included with the Moria Expansion (not Quest Pack), but buying the expansion is also the only way to get the last two character slots. This means if you have any plans to ever max out your number of characters, buying the classes separately would be a waste. Also, you're going to need to get Moria eventually for 50+, as well as your legendary items, which is another reason to buy the expansion if you don't get the Moria quests from one of the many other bundles that includes it.
If you want a new quest pack, I'd suggest Angmar (group) or Forochel (solo). With Evendim you're already covered to about 40, and both those zones are in the 40-50 range. If you really want Warden now then get it, but I'd recommend the Moria Expansion later on.
Edit - Heh, looking at the post times you bought Warden while I was typing all of this. It's a great class, hope you enjoy it.
One more thing - first quests in Evendin are of level 30, so the Oatbarton can be started once you got level 25, adn then its 2-3 levels on pure hobbitsy stuff there. Once you done with Oatbarton and moce to Dwaling, then things start to get a bit hairy...
Your level 27 minstrel wouldnt have any trouble getting up to lvl 30 in Oatarton alone, then you can return to LL and do the things you had problems with at level 27. Once done and gained a level, return and blast thry Dwaling quests.
Thank you, Turbine, for listening and giving us an opt-out of FE! Good work!
Both are included with the Moria Expansion (not Quest Pack), but buying the expansion is also the only way to get the last two character slots. This means if you have any plans to ever max out your number of characters, buying the classes separately would be a waste.
The Moria expansion does come with two character slots, but it's not the only way to get them. They can also be bought separately. (I believe they're 595 TP each.) The only thing that changes the maximum available is whether you have a VIP subscription or not.
The Moria expansion does come with two character slots, but it's not the only way to get them. They can also be bought separately. (I believe they're 595 TP each.)
They're On Sale for the next day and a half for -30% off - 417 pts each. (I bought my two.)
The Moria expansion does come with two character slots, but it's not the only way to get them. They can also be bought separately. (I believe they're 595 TP each.) The only thing that changes the maximum available is whether you have a VIP subscription or not.
Sorry, but that's incorrect. The Moria expansion is the ONLY way to get the last 2 character slots.
Each account comes with 2, 3, or 5 character slots depending on its type.
Each account can buy up to 10 additional character slots from the store.
The 2 slots given by Moria are in addition to the 10 character slots, and don't count against that limit.
Each account comes with 2, 3, or 5 character slots depending on its type.
Each account can buy up to 10 additional character slots from the store.
The 2 slots given by Moria are in addition to the 10 character slots, and don't count against that limit.
Oh, now THIS is very intersting!
So it means that a premium acount can only have 15 character slots after buying the Moria Expansion Pack.
I hope it´s irrelevant when Moria has been bought.
Say for example, while only having a total of 8 slots on a premium account?
P.S, @OP about buying that Warden. At least wait till we find out what´s on special sumer sale next week. After the Rune-keeper this week, I´m having a sneaking suspicion the Warden might come on offer too.
Last edited by Flatfoot789; Jul 11 2012 at 09:02 PM.
So it means that a premium acount can only have 15 character slots after buying the Moria Expansion Pack.
I hope it´s irrelevant when Moria has been bought.
Say for example, while only having a total of 8 slots on a premium account?.
That's correct. Technically, Moria adds 2 to the base 2/3/5 limit so it doesn't matter when you buy it. The 10 purchased slots go on top of whatever your base amount happens to be.
One again, since it's confused more than a few people in the forums, this is from the Moria Expansion and not the Moria Quest Pack. They really needed more distinctive names.
[*]2 from the Adventurer's pack, which was available only as a Mirkwood pre-order
Good point, though I didn't include the Adventurer's Pack since it can't be bought anymore. I'm not even sure the codes are still valid even if you manage to find one. I recall something about older expansion codes needing to be applied in a certain order.
Originally Posted by Shukar
I haven't managed to use up the 9 I have yet, so I think 19 is pretty out-there.
Lucky you. I've bought all I can, and I still had to make some choices about what characters wouldn't get made. I'm in trouble if they release a new class. I might have to start buying quest packs on a 2nd account.
Lucky you. I've bought all I can, and I still had to make some choices about what characters wouldn't get made. I'm in trouble if they release a new class. I might have to start buying quest packs on a 2nd account.
I'm probably only stating the obvius, sorry if that's the case, but some newer players might not think about it
The character slots you have are 'per server'. So if you have 7 slots you can make 7 chars on every server there is. If you have a couple of friends with 'sewere alt-oritis' just pick another server with them and let your alts invade all of middle-earth
And as the quest-packs are per account, no need to spend more money on QP's.
P.S, @OP about buying that Warden. At least wait till we find out what´s on special sumer sale next week. After the Rune-keeper this week, I´m having a sneaking suspicion the Warden might come on offer too.
You have a very high level "sneaking suspicion" skill, the Warden is going on sale on the 16th.
Originally Posted by Shukar
The absolute maximum slots anyone can have is 19:
5 for VIP
10 from purchases
2 from the Moria expansion
2 from the Adventurer's pack, which was available only as a Mirkwood pre-order
I haven't managed to use up the 9 I have yet, so I think 19 is pretty out-there.
Actually it's 17, the 2 slots that came with the Adventurer's pack count against the 10 you can buy in the store, so if you got the AP then you can only buy 8 more from the store.
Originally Posted by Sapience
It's just mean to make me do math so late in the day.
5 base (VIP) 2 Moria 10 purchasable --- 17 Total.
Keep in mind that if you purchased the adventurer's pack, those 2 slots count against the 10 you can purchase. So you would have this breakdown
5 Base (VIP) 2 Moria 2 Adventurer's pack 8 Purchasable ---- 17 Total
You can mix and match as you wish with F2P and Premium options, but the end result is a cap at 17 characters per account per server.
Glad to hear that - in case you missed the new sale that started today - all quest packs are 50% off this week so get to earning some more TP quick
Yeah, I'm kicking myself in the &&& for that right now. I could have gotten ND and Enedwaith if I had waited two more days. Probably Great River too, with the TP I earned in those two days. Then all I would have needed was Isengard QP, which isn't on sale anyways.
Yeah, I'm kicking myself in the &&& for that right now. I could have gotten ND and Enedwaith if I had waited two more days. Probably Great River too, with the TP I earned in those two days. Then all I would have needed was Isengard QP, which isn't on sale anyways.
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