The Road to Mordor: Community guide to Lord of the Rings Online
We here at Massively have been avidly covering Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online since we launched back in late 2007. And now, we're dedicating a new weekly column, The Road to Mordor, to cover the many facets of the game including the just announced Volume 3, Book 1 content update. Every Friday, we will be exploring topics and writing guides for both leveling players and end game raiders, crafters and role-players, info-hounds and casual browsers.
After the jump, we've listed links to official guides, fansites, podcasts, blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook pages and more. This community guide will be updated as new resources become available.
But before we get into it, also want to help answer any questions you have about the game. Wondering what are the best legacies for Champion Second Age weapons? The lore behind Dol Guldur? Which Skirmish nets the most marks per hour? List your question in the comments below and in a couple of weeks, we'll round up the best ones and answer them.
Official LotRO site
The official site is full of things you'd expect: official announcements, dev diaries and wallpapers. It also has a the game manual online, iPhone apps and character transfer services. Plus, there are links to the official forums, the official wiki and the official player site. Let's break these down.
The Official Forums
Both the US and EU forums have a wealth of information available to players. Forum categories cover all the myriad topics within the game and some of the best are stickied by the community team. Here are some you shouldn't miss:
Good Legendaries for different classes: which Legendaries to decontruct and which ones to sell on the auction house for big cash
Know of an informative forum thread we don't have listed? Leave a comment with a link and we'll include it in a monthly round up of forum goodness.
My LotRO
This is the official player site. Players can write blog entries about their adventures, check the leaderboards for PvMP and Skirmishes, and track their characters' activities including leveling, quest completion, skirmish reports and deeds. The Community Team regularly spotlights excellent blogs such as this one that has videos and LotRO comics.
One of the fun parts of My LotRO is the character lottery system. You can enter your characters in the lottery from your My LotRO blog page. Depending on their level and the day of the week, you will be shown which of your characters is eligible and what prizes are being given away. Potions, gear, Skirmish marks, Mithril flakes, iXP runes and more are given away every day. You can also enter lotteries from your Character Page.
The LotRO Combo blog
This site aggregates content from many of the best Lord of the Rings Online gaming blogs out there on to one convenient site (and RSS Feed.) Though this is The One Blog To Rule Them All, there are two notable LotRO blogs you should keep an eye on.
A Casual Stroll to Mordor
One of the few sites to stay active, it's an excellent fansite with a lot to offer. News, podcasts, video tutorials and lots of guides. Their visual guide to Skirmish cosmetic rewards is in progress and should not be missed:
I would also recommend Doc Holiday's Warden/Minstrel focused blog with its Armor Comparison Charts (WAR/MIN) and Sword Halls walkthrough videos (page of all his Warden and Minstrel videos here.)
The Lorebook
The official wiki for LotRO which not only has your standard item, location and skills entries, but extensive lore entries, a section explaining game mechanics, and a Google-style interactive map of Middle-earth. But one of the best parts of the wiki is the player-created guides that pull together various entries and make sense of them for overwhelmed players. Some stand outs include:
Mirkwood Guides: including strats for the 3, 6 & 12-man instances
Class Guides: including the fabled and brilliant "What we wish other classes knew" section
Crafting Guides: Does it get any better than Missy's Tailoring guide?
Legendary Item Guide: Updated to reflect the new Legacy pool system
Skirmish Guides: Lieutenant listings, cosmetic guides, and overview of skirmishes, soldiers and encounters.
You can access the Lorebook from within the game any time now.
Since the arrival of the Lorebook, many of the fan run LotRO wikis have not been updated frequently. These are the the ones left. Many of the them are good for checking on pre-Moria topics. If you don't find what you're looking for on the Lorebook, try checking LotRO Wiki.
Drazil's LotRO Armour Guide
This site has a thorough gallery of how all the armor sets in the game look and a list of their stats.
Offical LotRO Twitter
This just started. Until know all official LotRO tweets come through the Turbine Twitter page. Official news, fansite news, contests and more are regularly tweeted.
Casual Stroll to Mordor Twitter page
A great LotRO blog highlighted above, the Twitter account is full of tweets and retweets with many other LotRO blogs.
Finally, here's a list of some of the more popular LotRO Podcasts. Some of these have been around for quite some time. And many of them land LotRO devs and other game celebrities for interviews.
If we've missed any great resource, let us know in the comments. See you next Friday for the next installment of The Road to Mordor.
