A Hunter's guide to fast-travel in LotRO

There are several reasons to roll a Hunter in Lord of the Rings Online. You can usually do the most damage. You are the primary ranged-attacker. You can track virtually anything in the game. You can provide speed buffs that help you and your fellowship run faster. You can name yourself some clever variation of "Legolas". Whoa wait, no. Please don't ever do that. But the fact of the matter is, the Hunter is a powerful and extremely popular class in the game, and it would never hurt to learn a bit more about the actual usefulness of their skills.

In this guide, we're going to focus on one of the most valuable aspects of the Hunter: the wayfaring or "guide" skills that allow you to quickly and easily teleport yourself or your entire fellowship to certain spots across the map instantly.

These skills may be considered overpowered by many other players, but the fact is, they make the Hunter viable in a group setting, so that's exactly how we're going to approach this guide. The class is so geared towards solo-ability and high direct-ranged damage, that sometimes their aggro-stealing abilities become a problem in the hands of the less experienced players. But if played correctly, the Hunter stays in the background during combat and picks off his targets gently or lays down the occasional snare while the rest of the group does their crowd control thing. For this reason, you want to make sure that as a Hunter in a group, when it comes to the things you know best -- tracking and traveling -- you are confident in your abilities. We're here to help.

The first of this type of skill is not an actual guide skill itself, but it can be considered a "guide light" skill. The skill is Find the Path which will increase the fellowship run speed by 15%. You can also use it on yourself, but when you are attacked or you attack an enemy, the buff instantly turns off. Keep in mind that while this is a fellowship-affecting skill, it only works if the members of your group are very near you. It's especially helpful when running to the quest location or between fights at lower levels, but remember that any aggro at all will turn this skill off. You gain this skill fairly early at level 14 from any Hunter trainer for 19 silver and 60 copper.

The second wayfaring skill is called Desperate Flight, which will teleport you to a nearby rally point. These rally points are the stone circles you find yourself in after your character dies. This skill can be a blessing when you're in deep trouble and want to escape certain death, but if overused, it can be a nuisance to the rest of your fellowship. Notoriously, this skill has gained a bad reputation from players who abuse it (or use it at all in a group), so if you choose to bring it, use it as a last resort. As with the majority of these wayfaring skills (besides Find the Path), this skill requires the use of Travelling Rations; only one in this case, though. You can buy these rations from any Provisioner NPC throughout the game at the cost of 2 silver per piece.

For the first "real" guide skill in the wayfaring line, we have Guide to Michel Delving, which you obtain at level 22 from your Hunter trainer. At the cost of 64 power and 2 Travelling Rations, you can teleport to the southeastern corner of The Shire with your fellowship. An important note when using these guide skills is to remember that they only work on fellowship members who are close to you, so make sure everyone is standing near you before you use the skill, or you might end up with some angry group members.

The second guide skill is Guide to Thorin's Hall obtained at level 24. This skill costs 64 power and 2 Travelling Rations to use. It will take you to the northern side of Thorin's Gate in Ered Luin, where you can find the amazingly large Dwarven fortress of Thorin's Hall.

The third guide skill is Guide to Ost Guruth which is the first of these skills that you will obtain through a quest entitled "Wilderness by Ost Guruth" instead of simply buying from the Hunter trainer. You'll get this quest at level 26 from any of the various Hunter trainers throughout Middle Earth. Once you've completed the quest, you will then be able to teleport to Ost Guruth in the Lone-Lands at the cost of 64 power and 3 Travelling Rations.

Also at level 26 you will have access to a very valuable skill called Return to Camp, which basically allows you and your fellowship to teleport to any of the twelve camp site fire locations throughout the land. These camp sites should not be confused with the regular camp fires which are used by the Cook profession to create their trail food. Instead, these camp sites are usually located right outside of an instance and are used to help teleport the group quickly into battle. You must actually bind yourself to the camp site first, much as you do with the milestone locations for quick travel back home. At a cost of 64 power and 3 Travelling Rations, it is certainly worth the time saved.

The fourth guide skill is Guide to Bree which you will obtain at level 32 from the Hunter trainer. At the cost of 64 power and 2 Travelling Rations, you can easily teleport back to this wonderful mecca in the center of the land of Man known as Bree-Land. This skill is particularly useful as there are certain aspects of this city that are not found anywhere else, such as the trophy vendors.

The fifth guide skill you'll gain is Guide to Esteldin which will take you to the east-central North Downs city of Esteldin, home of one of the finest crafting halls -- and your first encounter with a Superior Workbench! -- around. Not only is this city an important gateway to Nan Amlug and eventually Angmar, but it is jam-packed full of quests and acts as the perfect pivot point for leveling throughout your 30s. This guide skill will be available to you at level 34, and it also costs 64 power and 3 Travelling Rations to use.

The sixth guide skill is Guide to Evendim, which is the second such skill that is obtained through a quest. This one is entitled "Tracks through Evendim", and once successfully completed, will grant you the ability to travel to the central Evendim island of Tinnudir. It also costs 64 power, 3 Travelling Rations and is only available at level 36.

You'll find yourself with quite a long stretch of time before you can obtain your seventh guide skill at level 44. This one is called Guide to West Angmar and is obtained through a quest entitled "Desolation by Aughaire". Once completed, you will then be able to teleport to Aughaire, in western Angmar at the cost of 64 power and 4 Travelling Rations.

The eighth guide skill in your journey is Guide to Rivendell which is available at level 46. There are so many reasons why you'd want to travel to this gorgeous Elven metropolis in the eastern Trollshaws, but what other reason do you need other than the fact that this is where you will first meet the real fellowship! Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn... they're all here! Even your namesake Legolas is here! It's an exciting milestone in the progression of the game when you reach Rivendell, and this skill will help you relive that euphoria whenever you feel like 64 power and 3 Travelling Rations are burning a hole in your pocket.

Finally, the last guide skill in the wayfaring set is Guide to East Angmar which you will gain at level 48 through the completion of the quest "Waste Near Gath Forthnir". You will only be able to gain access to this quest upon the completion of Book 6: Chapter 7. It will cost you 64 power and an unpresedented 5 Travelling Rations to use this guide skill.

Be sure to practice common sense when using these wayfaring skills in a group. Ask them if they want to be teleported after the quest or instance is over. Let them know that they need to be standing near you for it to work effectively, if you see any stragglers wandering outside of your range. And finally, we can't say it enough, but Desperate Flight is not called "Kinda Unsure Flight" or "It Might Be Fun To Play A Trick On The Group By Teleporting Yourself To A Random Spot To Leave Them Fending For Themselves Flight". It's to be used when you're in a desperate situation and know you're about to die, preferably while soloing.

And that's it! We hope with this new fast-travel knowledge in place, you will be a better Hunter, especially in a group setting where your knowledge of the land will prove invaluable to those classes not as finely-tuned into nature's blessings. Go forth and hunt!