Opinions about Scholar

[Ms_Kaine]

I have been starting to level Scholar on my LM alt and am wondering if its a worthwhile profession to do. It seems like it needs a bit of farming to keep it going. Is there recommended places to gather the different artifacts or certain mobs that drop the items at a decent rate? It seems like it has potential for some good buffs and elements for other professions?

 

[Thanatos]

It is still a very useful profession, but since the release of Umbar, humanoid NPCs almost drop no parchments anymore. Maybe just 10% of the amount like before and the rest has to be farmed from ruins. It takes much longer now to level it up. The good thing is, you can use the craftingmaterial boxes from the proto dailys in Umbar, the bad news is, new players have no access to it yet.
Usually you find such scholar boxes in marked places, like ruins, camps, abandoned villages and so on.

 

[Aeroniel]

It's definitely a useful profession - makes items used by every class. For the first 10 tiers, this site is very useful for where to farm, including locations of nodes in ruins: https://elannah.blogspot.com/search?q=scholar

 

[-CasualGamer-]

As a gathering profession, I'd say it's twice as difficult as the others and much less financially rewarding. But battle scrolls are very useful once you get to Raid levels, and aren't super easy to get hold of. They also help in crafting teal gear, so some of their stuff is very useful.

In one sense, it's no problem to gather scholar mats ie when you're in ruins or somewhere. But it often doesn't match the progression of your other gathering professions.
If you have spare money from selling eg ore, you can buy extra scholar mats in Trade channel such that you can level up to gather them in the next area.
On the other hand, why not just buy the scrolls you need?

I think it's reasonable to let Scholar lapse and just keep Prospector and Forester up to date.

 

[Ms_Kaine]

It's definitely a useful profession - makes items used by every class. For the first 10 tiers, this site is very useful for where to farm, including locations of nodes in ruins: https://elannah.blogspot.com/search?q=scholar

Oh nice! I hadn't thought to check that site. Somebody here linked it somewhere in reference to their Ore maps, and I am using the Ore map right now in Forochel! Thanks for linking this!

 

[Ena]

I find scholar very useful. LOTRO Wiki is your friend

 

[Dornvald]

I use scholar mainly for dyes, and that alone is worth it.

 

[Locarnas]

To level my scholar through the later tiers, I ended up using lots of the universal ingredient packs I had amassed, to craft stacks of account bound stuff for later use, and only during crafting weekends (+25% craft XP).

I made morale potions, fire/light oils, scrolls of battle and warding lore, and Scroll of Westemnet Explorer's Lore (2m 30s of 14.5% Tailor Critical Chance, +17.5% Prospector Forester Critical chance - what's not to love?! p.s. my main tailor/explorer is well past level 90; lower tier crafting lore scrolls are needed for my lower level crafting alts)

If you just want dyes, for your own characters & wardrobe, you can also just use your universal ingredient packs to craft them at proficiency level.
No need to achieve mastery or max guild rep.

Unless you know you will eventually want to craft high tier consumables, in which case you will need Westemnet Master of the Guild status so you can progress through the Minas Ithil tier (for a preview, see https://lotro-wiki.com/wiki/Quest:Know_the_Enemy_-_Analysis).

 

[Ms_Kaine]

I decided to go with it and I'm doing Scholar on my LM. A few times in the past I would be making jewelry for one of my chars and need one of those thingies the scholars make for the special ingredient, but couldn't find one on the AH. I kinda wish I had done Forester/Prospector/Scholar on my main but she is Tailor/Forester/Prospector. I enjoy alts so it's not that big of a deal. I'm playing the main story on my RK, but mixing up quests and missions on some of my alts. I've noticed that missions give good xp, lots of task items and tons of goodies.

 

[Locarnas]

I would just use a Universal Optional Crafting Ingredient, and skip those Journeyman/Expert Tailor's journals - because it's frustrating trying to get the right single use recipes (drops, repeatable quest reward or from skirm camp), they take shards e.g. sapphire/ruby etc, and only increase the crit chance by ~35%. I only made a few of the journeyman level ones when I got the recipes, and saved a few on each crafting alt, for making incomparable level 20 gear - that I might not want to use a Universal Optional Crafting Ingredient on.

 

[FroyoBaggins]

Scholar and cook are really the only two useful ones over level 100. Lore scrolls, pots, hope tokens and more are about it.

I also agree with Locarnas, do tasks and do them often. You get the autocrit thingies that make life easy.

 

[Ms_Kaine]

I like the weeklies for the crit items, and have been doing those since I came back to lotro recently. I've just recently started doing them on alts as well, and bought a crafting ingredient crate last night.

 

[FroyoBaggins]

The crates are good, use them, but tasks are what get you the autocrit items. Valuable

 

[EWD2412]

Hope tokens are made by a jeweller.

 

[Angdaeron]

I like Scholar also, but just a warning that I think the Scholar is the most frustrating profession for the Umbar craft guilds. No special scrolls like other profession get, and the craftable special item is a consumable potion. It is good for group content, but it requires luckstones that are hard to come by. Compared to what other professions can craft with luckstones, I was very disappointed with how they treated Scholars. And to add insult to injury, the new pocket item is made by Woodworkers. Lower tier pocket items are made by Scholars, why take it away from them now?

 

[Questars]

I have been starting to level Scholar on my LM alt and am wondering if its a worthwhile profession to do. It seems like it needs a bit of farming to keep it going. Is there recommended places to gather the different artifacts or certain mobs that drop the items at a decent rate? It seems like it has potential for some good buffs and elements for other professions?

My main toon, a L132 blue Hunter, started this game as a "Historian". This was before the recent change to allow any 3 professions. As a Hunter, Scholar is the profession that provides several Hunter-specific items. Scholar is geared towards Hunter, but also provides for other classes and Fellowships as well.

The toon initially ignored Farming and Weaponsmith (from "Historian") and focused on getting max Scholar Guild rep and up to Umbar crafting through buying and selling Scholar mats on the AH. If I had the choice on any 3 then, I would probably would have went Scholar/Forester/Tailor to also craft my own medium armor.

 

[Cap]

I have been starting to level Scholar on my LM alt and am wondering if its a worthwhile profession to do. It seems like it needs a bit of farming to keep it going. Is there recommended places to gather the different artifacts or certain mobs that drop the items at a decent rate? It seems like it has potential for some good buffs and elements for other professions?

Some of the new alternate leveling zones (Swanfleet/Cardolan, Yondershire, Wildwood) are littered with ruins that are great for farming out scholar mats. Generally much less competition for them than old zones too.

And to add insult to injury, the new pocket item is made by Woodworkers. Lower tier pocket items are made by Scholars, why take it away from them now?

Probably because scholars have an absolute wealth of evergreen recipes across all tiers and woodworkers are the least-desired profession by a mile. So they literally tossed them a coin, which quickly gets replaced by the coveted gold trinket that jewelers make.

 

[Ms_Kaine]

Lolz, I had been selling all of the scholar items I would get, thinking I would not ever level/use scholar crafted goodies, and now that I am, I had a point where I couldn't get enough of the low level items to get scholar progressing. I have been adding to my alt family and finally got my scholar past Apprentice.

Some of the new alternate leveling zones (Swanfleet/Cardolan, Yondershire, Wildwood) are littered with ruins that are great for farming out scholar mats. Generally much less competition for them than old zones too.

Heh, I can get caught up in stuff and hadn't realized that Swanfleet/Cardolan etc were a pretty new addition. I finally started a new alt in Mossward and am playing through the epic there, and I am really enjoying it! It indeed gave me a LOT of scholar goodies to send to my crafter.