Back on the Stateside forums, a vicious little argument erupted on 17 November over the top-end raid loot in Siege of Mirkwood, namely the armour set dropping from the Dol Guldur instance, and raged for two days until the thread was closed. The title given to the thread by the original poster says it all: “If you value raid loot, Mirkwood is NOT for you...”. Well, we already knew (see previous post!) that DG armour will be a visual disaster, but it seems that it’s going to be distinctly poor in terms of stats as well – some posters felt it will be barely better than the full Watcher set. And to add insult to injury, it turns out to be (oh, the shame!) purple rather than teal.
At the same time – and I’m definitely confused as to the thinking behind this - it seems the new SoM legendary weapons will only come in Second-Age flavours. No First-Agers at all. So will a l.60 First-Ager be better or worse than a l.65 Second-Ager? I would guess worse, but who knows?
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ONLY IN IT FOR THE LOOT?
Kairos posted this on November 26th, 2009.
Categorized as Armour, design, Dev Chat, Dol Guldur, First Age, legendary items, loot, Second Age.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://lotro-chronicles.blogspot.com/2009/11/only-in-it-for-loot.html
PRICING LEGENDARIES
Kairos posted this on March 1st, 2009.
Categorized as auction prices, economy, First Age, legacies, legendary items, Second Age.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://lotro-chronicles.blogspot.com/2009/03/pricing-legendaries.html
The price of top l.60 Second and First Age legendaries is a matter of consuming interest to most advanced players, but the market is still extremely unsettled; sellers tend to be wildly optimistic, but buyers remain cautious. Apart from anything else, we still don't know enough about drop rates. The first image in this post, taken from the Laurelin AH, shows prices for three typical Second Age legendaries (I am considering l.60s only; anything else is a stop-gap). The cheapest item is an identified Rune-Keeper' stone with five legacies, offered at an opening price of 15G with no offers as yet. In my opinion, this is far too expensive in view of the very limited demand for top-end RK and Warden equipment - after all, how many of these classes have reached l.60? Next is an unidentified Loremaster's staff, opening price 45G, buyout 70G - ridiculous on the face of it for an unidentified item, but a rich LM might just possibly take a flutter with a first bid. Finally, an unidentified Hunter's Bow, with no buyout and a current bid of 74.5G. This is the highest price I have yet seen offered for a Hunter Bow, and merely confirms the widely held belief that top-end Hunter gear continues to fetch the highest possible prices. I would argue that just under 75G is way over the top for an unidentified item (remember I acquired mine for 30G), but at least two Hunters disagree with me, and the market is king.
Turning now to First Age items, which are beginning to appear on the AH with greater frequency, the first thing to strike one is the apparent preponderance of RK and Warden items. There could be two reasons for this: one is that the drop tables really are badly skewed in their favour, which would be bad news. The other, and more likely, is that if rolling for a First Age item after a Watcher defeat is limited to players of the same class as the dropped item, then the great majority are hanging on to their prize. Whatever the reason, this does not make RK and Warden items with a 150G buyout very likely to move before hell freezes over; on the other hand, a first bid of 25G on the Warden's club, despite its poor legacies, is a distinct possibility. Finally, there is that Loremaster's Book offered for a first bid of 150G and a buyout of 180G, and once again no bids. This is a marginally more likely sale, but I somehow doubt it. My gut feeling, based on posts here and there on various forums, is that the small percentage of seriously wealthy players have savings which average around 100G, and that at least for some time to come, this sum will represent both an actual and a psychological price ceiling. Read the rest of this entry »
SECOND AGE LEGENDARY BOWS
Kairos posted this on February 25th, 2009.
Categorized as bows, DPS, legendary items, Second Age.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://lotro-chronicles.blogspot.com/2009/02/second-age-legendary-bows.html
The bow on the right, Reason, is the l.58 Second Age legendary I've been using in Moria for the last couple of months, and it's a pretty good bow. However, I've been on the lookout for a l.60 Second Age, more out of a feeling that I really needed to get the best possible (leaving aside First Age items for the moment, please), rather than because I was unhappy with Reason. A few days ago, chancing to log on early one morning when almost nobody else was around, I was very lucky to find a l.60 bow on the Laurelin Auction House with a sellout price of 30G. It was unidentified, and therefore a gamble, but it paid off - the legacies it came with were more than decent, if not perfect.
So Darkfall has now become my main ranged weapon, rushed up to l.30 in a matter of minutes thanks to a stash of item experience point runes. However, what has really floored me is the difference two levels make to the DPS (Damage Per Second) rating: maxed out in both cases, Reason has a DPS rating of 53.6, whereas Darkfall, raised to the same tier, achieves an astonishing 59.1! Oh, and the speed is significantly better, too (2.2 versus 2.5),
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LEGENDARY WEAPONS & ITEMS
Kairos posted this on February 4th, 2009.
Categorized as experience points, First Age, legacies, legendary items, runics, Second Age, Third-Age, weapons.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://lotro-chronicles.blogspot.com/2009/02/legendary-weapons-items.html
Legendary warriors in fact and fiction have often wielded unique weapons, usually swords, which sometimes become as famous as their owners: El Cid’s Tizona, Charlemagne’s Joyeuse, King Arthur’s Excalibur, Roland’s Durendal, Beowulf’s Naegling, Elric’s Stormbringer… and of course, Orcrist, Anduril and Sting. So Turbine’s announcement that legendary weapons would play a major role in the Mines of Moria LOTRO expansion was greeted with justifiable enthusiasm; according to the official release, "Players will be able to forge weapons and class-related equipment and evolve them to build a legacy the likes of Bilbo's Sting and Gandalf's Glamdring. These legendary weapons will level-up along with the player, allowing customization by advancing the item's virtues, adding runic legacies, modifying its titles and forming fables".
The reality proved somewhat different. What we have now is interesting, but a legendary weapon system it ain’t. What we have is several hundred different legendary items of three different kinds; in order of increasing rarity (and value), these are Third Age, Second Age and First Age legendary items, all of them class-specific and of several different types. Furthermore, Third Age legendaries can be of user levels 51-60, Second Age legendaries can be of user levels 53-60, and First Age legendaries span user levels 59-60. For each player class, age and level there is a sword, dagger, club, spear, hammer, bow and crossbow, plus all the class special items such as burglar’s tools. You do the math.
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The reality proved somewhat different. What we have now is interesting, but a legendary weapon system it ain’t. What we have is several hundred different legendary items of three different kinds; in order of increasing rarity (and value), these are Third Age, Second Age and First Age legendary items, all of them class-specific and of several different types. Furthermore, Third Age legendaries can be of user levels 51-60, Second Age legendaries can be of user levels 53-60, and First Age legendaries span user levels 59-60. For each player class, age and level there is a sword, dagger, club, spear, hammer, bow and crossbow, plus all the class special items such as burglar’s tools. You do the math.
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