LOTRO Raiding Readiness Calculator [BETA]

posted this on May 7th, 2010.
Categorized as Barad Guldur, calculator, Dar Narbugud, Dungeon Guides, Guide, Guides, how-to, raids, Vile Maw, Watcher.

Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cstmfeed/~3/oN6qBJrhMVU/

Our raiding readiness calculator will help you determine if you have acquired enough radiance items to join in raid dungeons that have gloom auras. The ready to raid determination is based off guidelines we found in various dungeon guides. In all instances, you will still need to bring with you hope tokens and may require additional hope from destiny points to prevent yourself from cowering too much.

See our Radiance Guide for more information on these calculations. We also have information on Hope and when you start to cower.

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LotRO update

posted this on October 5th, 2009.
Categorized as Barter, blind one, Bosses, cake, Codemasters, dn, First Age, loot, lotro, raids, siege of mirkwood, trez, Vile Maw, Watcher, watcher in the water.

Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://nerfthecat.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/lotro-update/


I’ve had some important chats with some people. Cryptic, but it cleared some air and made a few things better.

We killed the Watcher for the first time last night, on 3rd attempt I think. I had a few problems with the first attempt, so that fail was pretty much my fault and solved the next time around by some tweaking. Felt good to get him down. Not as good as Balrog, but we’d probably invested more in the Balrog. But in terms of killing a ‘big bad’ and avenging Bill the Pony, it felt good.

We’re spending more time with the Blind One in DN (I don’t think he’s truly blind), I feel we’re on the verge of cracking it, but just depends how long the other bosses take us to kill and how tired we are by the time we get there. DN doesn’t feel as fun as the Rift and while I could probably justify why in some aspects, I’m not sure about others. Still, we’re progressing and even pre-BO fights are getting smoother and faster.

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ACHIEVING MINIMUM RADIANCE IN BOOK 8

posted this on July 22nd, 2009.
Categorized as Dar Narbugud, design, Filikul, gating, Glistening Elf-stone, gurvand, Mirror Halls of Lumul-Nar, Nalad-Dum, Nornúan, radiant armour, raiding, Vile Maw, Watcher.

Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://lotro-chronicles.blogspot.com/2009/07/achieving-minimum-radiance-in-book-8.html

As everybody knows, the two end-game 12-man instances at the moment are gated – that is, you need a certain minimum level of radiance in order to even enter them. Personally, I think this is a poor design approach, and it’s no secret that most players feel the same way. However, we’re stuck with this situation for the foreseeable future.

Fortunately, Book 8 introduced some new paths to achieving the minimum requirements, which are currently +50 radiance for the Vile Maw (the Watcher), and +70 radiance for Dar Narbugud. What follows are some suggestions as to how this can be achieved as expeditiously as possible. Keep in mind that raiding is a cooperative affair, and that in order to get anywhere you’ll need to join a Kinship, or at least find a reasonably steady group of players - solo play doesn't enter into the debate at all.

To quickest way of achieving the +50 radiance necessary for the Vile Maw is to complete the first two (and easiest) of the 6-man instances which drop a single BoA coin when completed in Hard Mode. These are the Grand Stairs (dropping a Platinum Coin of Courage, exchangeable for Boots) and Forges (Platinum Coin of Strength, for Chest). Each of these armour items gives +10 radiance, for a total of +20.

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THE RAIDS IN LOTRO

posted this on April 28th, 2009.
Categorized as Barad Gularan, Bogbereth, design, Ferndur, Filikul, Gaergoth the Unbound, Helegrod, instances, Nornúan, raiding, Rift, Thaurlach, Thorog, Udúnion, Vile Maw.

Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://lotro-chronicles.blogspot.com/2009/04/raids-in-lotro.html


Though raids do not play as massive a role in LOTRO as they do in some other online games, they are nevertheless very much the core element of most players' gaming experience; two years on, it seems a good idea to take a look at how LOTRO's raids have stacked up. First of all, what exactly is the definition of a raid? A raid is an example of an instance - namely, a copy of a building, a dungeon, or other location activated by passing through a portal, which allows an individual or group to take part in a private adventure, segregated from the main game and undisturbed by other players. A combat-based instance designed to be experienced by between one and four fellowships is called a raid.

So far, and ignoring the PvP raids in the Ettenmoors, LOTRO has included five proper raids; a sixth, Filikul, was to have been packaged with Vol.II/Book 7 but proved buggy when released in the States. The first to be released, Helegrod in the Misty Mountains, was a 24-man raid (four full fellowships). A vast, sprawling affair, it included nine bosses culminating in the undead dragon Thorog. Players could choose in what order to attempt some of the encounters, and even experienced groups needed at least two evenings to complete the raid. While the raid was visually impressive and offered a good variety of combat experience, it was never as popular as it deserved because of the extreme difficulty of getting together as many as 24 determined players. It also suffered from an odd system of rewards, including titles for defeating bosses which were effectively limited to just one of the 24 participants, and above all armour set drops which were class-specific; this made it virtually impossible for anybody to put together a full set of Helegrod armour, which until the advent of MoM was probably the game's second best after the Rift set.

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