Isolation
Highlights: Resolina enters Ered Mithrin
Ered Mithrin is definitely not what I was expecting as a dwarf expedition. The area is essentially divided up into four main dwarf sites that have not stood the test of time: Thikil-Gundu, Glimmerdeep, Stormwall, and the Withered Heath. There is only one central dwarf site - Skarhald. Of course they ease you into the zone with a bit of exploration from a small settlement to the south - Dôm Goru. Make sure you check both bounty boards with a total of six bounty quests. You will also have a small chat with Radagast and his friends in the southwestern portions of the map.
Disenchantment is a bit weird in the area. Although the quest rewards in Mordor give very little (10-40) of motes of enchantment, the quest rewards in Ered Mithrin can give you a moderate sum (100-200) of embers of enchantment. For the time being 10,000 is the current cap for Figments of Splendour, Motes of Enchantment, and Embers of Enchantment. You can convert 1,000 of your currency into Figments of Splendour at any time. There is however a new problem. The Curator that generally has all of the available items for sale is gone with no pending status on when she will return. Filbert Fig that hosted all the seasonal items (like the Dwarf Desk)has been replaced with a much lazier woman named Rowan Raspberry that appears in Hultvis, Skarhald, and Bree. She currently has a couple of items to sell (like the Badger House). The Mordor vendor Keeper of Mysteries will still accept currency for current Mordor items.
Rewards are also a bit weird. Be sure to keep an eye on the currency cap as you may actually hit 500 before even reaching Kindred status. There are two kinds of currency: Mark of the Longbeard and Coin of Grarik. There are a lot of nice rewards to explore at the vendor. The Dainlik is much larger than I expected and the Falling Icicle is animated. Most of the gear is negligible as you will find equivalent or higher items in quests or instances. They cannot be disenchanted. The Chapter 8.7 Rewards that cost 1 Mark of the Longbeard is about 3% better than the one you get from the quest itself. Makes me question why they even bothered adding it. You can buy a Dwarf-Iron Fragment with 100 Marks of the Longbeard but it seems only around 20% of the crafting recipes require it (earrings, necklace, hat, shoulders). A ton of people just use their extra marks to buy extra Tome of the Silver Goat Kid.
Instances are also in a weird state. You might be noticing a trend. In order to discover and enter the instance, you must first be level 118. So don't be trying to sneak through the zone any earlier. The instances can be soloed, though the only reward is perhaps 5 Coins of Grarik. You get a nice party of dwarves during the solo-version inside Thikil-Gundu that can do all the work for you. Just make sure you watch them whenever you go up some stairs. A group instance now contains "favoured" chests where you have a better chance of getting 100 Embers of Enchantment and a purple gear piece equivalent to the ones from the vendor and quests for the first few times you run the instance. Also like the vendor, the equipment cannot be disenchanted. This is terrible. The only additional benefit to this arrangement is the gear is tradeable and account-bound. This is super-friendly to those with alternate characters coming up to level 120. However if you do wish to run the instances, you can do each one once for 750 embers of enchantment. This quest should be auto-bestowed once you finish State of the Expedition and complete an instance.
Resources Instances on the other hand are much more valuable. They follow the example set in Mordor's crafting instances. They can be soloed or duoed. Tons of resource nodes are located inside (though the chances of getting a dwarrowshard is still pretty thin). There is a ton of deeds for killing enemies and completing quests. They give lotro points, reputation, and marks as well as the Triumph emote for the meta. There is also a 3-phase weekly quest Reclaiming the Grey. Each phase requires 20 assists - killing X number of enemies, collect X number of items, defeating a scourge, defeating the final boss, and completing the quest Wanted: Pebbles - inside the four resource instances. The rewards are Dwarrowmark (used for crafting LI relics and equipment), 750 Embers of Enchantment, and a Crafter's Rare Cache (that has a Dwarrowgleam Shard inside). The second phase removes the Embers and the third phase exchanges the Dwarrowgleam Shard box with 50 Marks of the Longbeards. If anything, you can use 5 Dwarrowmarks for a new crafted relic for your Legendary Items. Otherwise crafting is pretty terrible with the requirements of 3 Dwarrowgleam Shards, 50 resources, and 3 Dwarrowmarks. That also goes for the quest "Craft for Embers" that requires 7 Dwarrowgleam Shards (in making 7 items) for 1,000 Embers of Enchantment.
Anvil of Winterstitch is the highlight for many raiders. It actually was released in January 10th Update 23.2 (3 months after the quest pack). It took a month before the T3 version was released. Interesting that you must finish the instance on T2 before buying any item from the Raid Quartermasters. Completing the quest nets you the Grey Mountains Elite Goat. There are many decorative rewards to obtain. There is even the /freeze emote that turns you into a block of ice. Alas our kinship has not yet attempted the raid. I tried looking up how to defeat the first boss but I found it way too complicated without hands-on experience. Perhaps one day we will.
Essences pretty much make or break items. A purple item may provide you with some stats while a teal item adds the same stats with an available essence slot. When considering a primary stat, common essences will run you around 755, a T1 purple Mithrin essence 836 (can be found inside resource instances or landscape), an empowered T2 Mithrin essence 917 (crafted with a Dwarrowgleam Shard, 15 Resources, and Universal Solvent), and a teal T3 Mithrin Essence 997 ("double" crafted). Things can get pretty ludicrous when people have T3 Items with 3 T3 Essences. Now they are talking about T4 Gladden essences that give 1078.
Epic quests were very nice. You finally get some closure to the Trail of Rust quests in Eryn Lasgalen even if the adventures in the Anvil of Winterstitch had to be told to you. Seeing an encampment surrounded by drakes brings back fond memories of Gondamon. I do like the fact that the mirrors inside the dwarf homes actually reflect back your character. I also really liked how your adventure "inside the book" shows the actual pages within the minimap.
Traveling is perhaps the biggest complaint I had in this area. There are a total of two stable points between Skarhald and Dôm Goru. You must travel around the mountain to each of the four fortress areas through a path of gruesome enemies. Be careful not to die because there is only one spawn point in the whole region. It would not be a good idea for a hunter to use "Desperate Flight" at all. The dwarves are separated into different camps in Skarhald. The vault and selective quest-givers are located on the opposite side of the travel skill point. It takes a whole minute up windy stairs just to reach it. I could tell the dwarves were mocking me as I left their presence. "See, I told you I could get her to go up those stairs again" is what they would say. But that is alright because Resolina is Queen of the Mountain and Climber of Stairs. There were several times I wanted to tie Radagast to the back of my goat as I sent messages back-and-forth between him and his beorning pals down below. At least the quests were much more enjoyable than I anticipated.
He's sitting there... menacingly!
In Other News: June 20th through July 11th was the Summer Festival. I received just enough tokens to max-out my LIs on both Resolina and Fanrel. June 30th was the date many of us were promoted to officer status including Taisie and Resolina. July 20th was Weatherstock! The title Weatherstock Wayfarer are to be handed out through the mail for those who attended. I have yet to receive mine. I tried attending twice before but always crashed on my old computer. Fanrel made it through Orthanc T2 (except for the final challenge). Being level 120 allowed us to complete the Challenge: Fire & Ice without either boss receiving any rage. The date for our Kin Party: September 14th. It is much later than I expected. I do plan to cook food and play games for everyone (which I am expecting around 15 to attend).
2019-07-23