from:
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=268684
author: abrahamL
quote->
Level to 35 (and beyond) Painlessly GUIDE
I saw someone post earlier about having a hard time leveling in certain areas so I figured I would post my strategy whenever I level an alt. If you are a newcomer you might want to seriously consider taking your time and exploring more. I did that with my first character and so this more or less pertains to leveling an alt, but could still be quite useful for first-timers. I will try to asterisk helpful hints along the way.
The classes I have leveled to 35 are: Hunter, Champion, Captain, Warden, Minstrel, and Burglar in that order. To me this is the point where I either start to love a character or think they are just alright. The ones I really like I continue from here and try to max out. With these classes you should have no trouble doing 80% of the quests if you play your class correctly. Also to note with the Warden, Captain, and Burglar, I did all of these quests 2-4 levels ahead of my level which means they were either orange or red and I had no trouble soloing most of these.
Archet (easy levels 1-6)
I tend to roll Men as my Race so most of this comes from their starting point. No matter what race you roll you can easily swift travel to Bree and then truck it on over to Archet which is just N of Combe. To save time now you can skip the tutorial which starts you out as a level 3. Once in Archet grab all the quests and begin. Having done these quests before will be a huge time saver. With the release of the Quest Guide you should have no trouble finding everything (if you prefer to use it) if you have never done the Archet quests before. Early on I skip fellowship quests like going into the spider cellar because the time you spend getting a group for these could be better spent moving on to Combe. These initial quests will get you a level or two and then it’s off to Combe.
**Note for Hobbits** I started a character recently as a Hobbit and did a couple of missions there at MD that got me to level 5 in less than 15 minutes and then I took a pony to Bree and went to Archet so for those of you who roll Hobbits those first couple of levels are a giveaway! The missions I did were running to Little Delving and something else around the Mayor, not to sure which they were, but they were easy grab and go here missions.
Combe/Staddle (levels 5-12)
You should have received a quest to talk to the barkeep in Combe and to see the Crafter to choose a profession. If this is an alt or you are not sure about crafting in general I advise Explorer so you can grab wood and ore and turn it around for some silver in the auction. There are a couple of quests that are really easy to do in Combe and I recommend doing minor ones like killing 15 wolves, tree stumps, etc.. Anything dealing with Brigand camps you will want to hold off on until you are a level 8 or better. Doing the initial Combe/Archet quests should get you to level 8. At this point you can venture over to Staddle and I recommend leaving Combe and doing this before heading into the Brigand infested woods. The reason is that Staddle can get you a level or two without fighting much except a few boars, bears, neekers, etc.. The Hobbit courting missions will easily get you a level by itself. So now you should be a level 9 or 10 and its time to do those pesky Brigand missions. Depending on your class you can either solo these or join one of countless groups that are doing these daily. Captains and Burglars have no issue soloing these, but if you are new to LOTRO these might not be the class for you. My Champ had no issue with these either, but I was usually in a group with him. Regardless you will have to find lock boxes, pick fights with young directionless brigands, and poison animals. I soloed Jagger Jack and Jasper with my Burglar with no problems, but that is the only class I can claim that with.
**What I normally do in any area is to do all of the solo quests that I can first. I will then save the small or full fellowship quests until the end. Either my level is high enough by then to solo them or I get a group and do all of them at once. I used this strategy for each area with the same results. It’s easier to find a fellowship for a combined # of quests that are in the relative same area than it is to find 4 separate fellowships at four different times.
Bree (levels 12-18)
**Set your map to someplace in Bree if you have not done so already.
At last you have finished Combe, slayed Jagger Jack, killed countless Brigands trapsed through the Midgewater Marsh and are on your way to the teen levels. Bree has quite a few quests to get you going. If you completed the quests in Staddle they should have pointed you to a Constable in Bree. These missions are something I cherish because you are basically being told where to go to next and getting XP just for doing what you would have done anyway. This is why it’s a good idea to stay in one area until they point you off, but sometimes you will want to go between areas. (more on this later.)
What time of day is it? Why does this matter? Well if it’s nighttime you are in luck. Down near the auction house (down the alleyway there) is a ghost. The starter for this mission is in the Townhall so go see the NPC there before heading down. The ghost asks you to look for a ring. The ring is found NW of the ghost in a place called Beggar’s Alley (look for a black rock). Return it to him, again while its dark and he will give you another quest to hold on to until you are a higher level. Also of importance while its still dark is to go out of the west gate of Bree and keep going down the road until you reach Adso’s Camp. There is another mission to do only at night as well as a few others that you can start on.
Doing Adso’s Camp and then the Bree missions (all except for any related to the Barrow Downs) will get you to level 14/15 with ease. If you still need some XP you can run north along the greenway until you reach Saerdan’s place (right side of the road). He will give you a couple of missions as well, one of which (further down the chain) is done also at night. The farm directly across from Saerdan is a farm where you can get another quest. Between Adso’s, Bree, Saerdans you will do a lot of running and wish for a horse. You will probably spend more time running than actually doing quests, something I hope they change soon.
To get you to level 16/17 you should have a couple of quests near Brandybuck. You will also have to find a pack which I recommend doing in your Brandybuck sweep, but not so fast! Have you started your Epic Book Quests yet? If you have not now is a good time to do so. Go to the Prancing Pony in Bree and get that started. The reason you want to do it now is because they will send you down to Brandybuck to complete three of them so why not do it all in one shot? After completing the backpack mission/Brandybuck/Book Quests its time to go back to Bree.
**Now you can venture off into the Old Forest and level up there if you like. I did it once. I hated it. You can get by without it so if you like it, great do it. If not do not fret you will make it just fine without it.
So now you should be close to 17 or 18 ( I lose track) You can now easily handle the Southern Barrow Downs quests. Keep in mind my note above about leaving hard quests to be done at a slightly higher level or with a group. You might not have finished Saerdan’s quests, you might not have saved that girl who is locked in the wagon. This is okay. You should still be somewhere around level 18 and can easily go back in a little bit and put the “whats happening” on those Brigands. Being a 17/18 in the Barrow Downs makes life easy. Do the relic mission, find that ladies poor son, get more fragments, and kill some wights. Leave Lalia to cry forever if you like. The girl has more issues than you can ever help her with.
You might not be able to do the Southern Barrow Downs missions yet such as Malin. Boneman, etc, but this again is okay.. You might have to come back as a level 20 when you can probably solo the stuff.
LoneLands/NorthDowns – 18-30
Forsaken Inn
Now comes a very cool tip that many people overlook. Its time to move on to a new area. You should have received a quest to go out to the Forsaken Inn. You get there by going north to Trestlebridge… Hold up, did I say go north to Trestlebridge? But the map says the Forsaken Inn is in the Lonelands which you get to by leaving from the Southgate of Bree and traveling east, past the Midgewater Marsh, etc.. This is true, but someone in the town hall in Bree should have given you a quest to go to Trestlebridge also. Not to mention that at level 15 someone wants you to go see a housing broker. All of these quests that you have been holding onto will be completed in one fell swoop so hopefully you have read this before going off and doing them. Here is how it works.
**If you have to run to your next location this can take time. Remember your run to Brandybuck? Well running to the Lone Lands or to Trestlebridge (in the North Downs) is about equally as painful. What if you only had to run to one of these and yet you get to both at almost the same time? When you run to Trestlebridge to turn in that red quest that NPC automatically sends you to the Forsaken Inn to help out there. It’s an instant “Travel Now” mission and all you have to do is go along for the ride. You get lots of XP and a free trip all in one. Make sure you do in fact click on the horses at both locations or your free ride was for naught.
Once at the Forsaken Inn grab all those glorious rings.. You should be able to turn in a couple also. Now depending on your level at this stage you can either do the easy quests first like finding the wagon and driver (just west of the Forsaken Inn) and then go to Bree (via horse or map) or you could start the other quests south of the Forsaken Inn that you just picked up. Me, I like to get all the easy stuff out of the way first so it can perhaps get me up another level before I start facing stuff that will most definitely be higher than myself.
I recommend riding back to Bree via horse instead of mapping because along the way the housing broker is there and you get a chance to complete another easy quest or 2 for easy XP. If you accept the housing quest and go into any neighborhood to do that quest they give you another one to drop off in Bree while your there.
After you have dropped off a couple of quests in Bree you might want to clean up a couple of earlier quests. This is up to you. Andrath and the South Barrows were some that I did around this time. Usually the quests that I drop off in Bree at this point either level me or put me close so I clean up some quests depending on that. You might even want to finish up Book 1 with a group.
After your business in Bree is concluded its time to travel back to the Forsaken Inn and kill wolves, boars, goblins, and collect relics. With the exception of the goblin camp they are all pretty straight-forward easy missions. You should almost certainly level again with these. Save Our Greatest Find, The Spiders, and the Goblin Leader for a full group later, say around level 22-24.
You go back to the Forsaken Inn, rinse and repeat. You get more missions moving you further east near Weathertop. Be careful with the goblins, but make sure to kill plenty of them (Valour Trait). Move up along the northern ridge of Weathertop and make sure you see Candaith. He is a ranger with a few quests that are easy XP, but might require another helper with the Orc Chief. (Kill plenty of Orcs there, more Valour) Other than that its standard quests and you will eventually be sent back to Bree again. That’s when the map comes in handy and it gives you another chance to clean up some quests you still might not have done yet. You should now be somewhere between a level 21-24 depending on skipped quests, how often you play, etc..
Ost Guruth/Trestebridge
Why did I mention both places even though they are maps apart? Because depending on your level you might want to start Trestebridge before you get in too deep with Ost Guruth. What I generally do is go ahead and make the run to Ost Guruth while I’m out near Weathertop. I collect the horse and all of the quests in OG. I do the half-orcs, orcs, lynx, and maybe the crebain quests and then I map to Bree and head up to Trestlebridge. The reason I do not go for the wargs and spiders around OG is because they are levels 25-27 and you are still just a little too low to handle them well if at all. Why not go take care of some quests that are more your level and then come back?
**Advice/Rant** I see too often in the forums people saying that they feel like the leveling is too stagnant in the 20-30 levels and at first I thought this as well, but if you jump around like I am suggesting here it really goes fast.. Now levels 37-43 are another matter!
The Trestlebridge quests are also straightforward. I suggest doing all of the ones near the Orc camps except the Defiler and anything else that takes you in too deep. If you can find a quick group for the Defiler then do it, otherwise you should be able to handle everything else. If you see another person in the orc camps where you have to get the book, etc then join up, Its easier with 2 people but not impossible to solo. Make sure you do the missions further up the greenway and collect the horse at Amon Raith. There are also a few more missions there at AR that I had not done until recently and they really help fill out the area.
Hopefully you are closing in on level 23 or 24 by now. Its time to go back to OG and put those spiders and wargs down. I suggest doing everything there you can and getting to 25-26 before attempting the leftovers from the Forsaken Inn and Weathertop. You might need an extra hand taking care of the Dwarves (24 is quite a lot). Starting book 2 will help get you going.
**For some good coinage try killing the dead wights in the ruins just SE of the Red Circle. A good run with full bags can usually net you between 300-500 silver or more.
Esteldin (Mecca Quest Hub)
As you approach 25-26 you are now ready to venture back into the North Downs and way up and around to Esteldin. This Ranger Haven is chock full of quests and will remain that way until you are well into your 30’s. It will be the first time you get a real taste for a quest hub and you will wonder what you ever did without one.
First off let me explain that there is a “good side” of Esteldin and a “bad side”. Esteldin is a pass that goes completely through the hills/mountains. The Western side you enter from is the good side (Kingsfell) and this is where your quests will be concentrated until you get to level 30. So when I mention the good side you know I mean the Kingsfell side.
So run in, say hi, grab quests, but put the brakes on! I know you were dead set on running out there and killing spiders, wargs and finding some silly gem pouch, but before you do that, do yourself a favor and run back out into the Kingsfell and follow the road (the one that forks) north and go visit the dwarf outpost Othrikar. Here you find some more quests, some of which will kind of overlap so it’s a good idea to do them all in one fell swoop. (didn’t I use that already?) Now you have bears, lynxes, and stuff to find. The quest you get from the dwarf near that smithing to find a lockbox or something is one to do right away because the box is there inside of Othrikar. BAM, quick XP just for running up some stairs (hint hint). Also make sure to go way south (follow the road) and seek out the elf camp in the swamp. There are even more quests here to tackle and a couple of ruins to locate for deeds.
So now you can pretty much guess which quests you can do. I did most of the kill x amount of this quests first because you can usually pull one thing at a time. You might want to save the bears until you level up to 28, same thing for the orcs, unless you have some sort of CC. You have so many quests here though that you can be choosy and yet still level up. You should have no problem reaching 28.
Oatbarton (Slightly Long Detour)
Old Mugwort from the Forsaken Inn should have given you a quest to go see someone in Oatbarton. Hopefully you kept that quest because now is a good time to take a break from Esteldin and go see the countryside. This is one of those things that will be a bother, but will benefit you in the end. If you are starting to run out of quests in Esteldin that you can accomplish on your own and looking for that extra level (or two) to get you closer to 30 (or to 30) there is an out of the way place where you can accomplish this.
Hopefully your map is still set to Bree. Use it and then from the West Gate horse it to Brandybuck. Go grab a snack and then come back and you should be there. From Brandybuck venture into the Shire and go West until you reach the road that travels north through Budgeford. Now take this long hike all the way up until you come into a new land area called Evendim. You are now close to Oatbarton and a new set of quests, not to mention you can turn in that one from old Mugwort.
These quests here are pretty easy. You will find some strange goings on near a farm. You will kill spiders and have to sneak into a goblin camp which can be hard, but usually there are others there or nearby so give a shout if you are having trouble with those flaming pots. Just a little north of Oatbarton is a tiny hobbit village besieged with Brigands called Dwaling, again here are some more quests, not a lot, but enough to get you leveled. I did everything except the fellowship quest there concerning delivering a complaint. That instance is hellahard for the level.
Now you should be really close to 30 and you have a choice before you. Map back to Bree and travel to Esteldin (swift if you’re a 30) or you can run north west and grab the horse for Tinnudir. My vote is to grab the horse for Tinnudir because it will be your destination as soon as you reach level 32. It’s an easy run if you stay on the road, but even if you die, odds are you will end up just outside Tinnudir anyway so go for it! Be adventurous! If you run to Tinnudir go ahead and grab the stable at Ost Forod which is NE of Tinnudir. Again you will thank me later when its time to travel from Bree.
Back to Esteldin (the bad side)
So hopefully you ran to Tinnudir and found that there is a travel to Esteldin, how convenient. I believe it’s a swift at level 30 so that is really convenient. You possibly even had a quest or two to turn in at Tinnudir from Esteldin. So now you’re back in the comfort of the rangers. Hopefully you are a level 30 now and ready to rip apart any quests you did not finish when you were a lowly 28. It’s also time to start those “bad side” quests.
At level 30 or above you start to hone your character. You start to realize that there is a purpose for some of those powers and you can now exercise those in cool and useful ways. With my burglar I started the bad side as a 28. The wargs were tough, but I managed to get through the quests that I could. As you hit 30 this area becomes a lot easier. Do everything you can except for Dol Dinen. I do not recommend going there until you are at least a 32.
Tinnudir (and Epic Chain)
Esteldin offers a lot and I could not imagine the game without it. I could imagine the game with an Esteldin-esque presence in the Trollshaws, but that’s another post. As the quests start drying up (or as you are left with only tough ones that you cannot solo) its time to start thinking about that lovely place by the lake. But once again do not jump on that horse and go to Tinnudir just yet. Instead ride back to Bree from Esteldin. Why ride? Well I will tell you in a bit.
We are at another one of those long and dull runs you will have to make. I had to make it, the guy who is going to come in and criticize my guide had to make it, we all have to do it. Its time to run east from Ost Guruth until you cannot run anymore. In other words its time to discover Rivendell. Swift travel from Bree’s Southgate to Ost Guruth. Then from there your on your own making your way toward the Trollshaws on foot. You will loathe the devs for not making horses available at 30.
Once in the trollshaws stay on the road until you reach an elf with a quest. There are a couple of quests you can do here while you are in the area. Barachen’s Camp is just south of her and gives a couple more quests. This option is yours. You can detour and do a few quests until you run into a fellowship quest or you can keep moving. Once you move on keep an eye on the map for a stable to appear in the northern middle of the map. Once you see it, make your way up the path that leads to it and collect that stable. It’s a nice stable to have in case you have to ride back out here before you are a 35 or 40 (when the swift travel from south Bree to Rivendell opens up).
After you have the stable at Thorenhad make your way back down to the road and continue east until you reach the Ford of Bruinen. Now its time to hike up the hill without stopping. The hill can be confusing, but the best advice for making it through is to just stay left until you reach the top and then you should see the road. Watch your radar and swap quickly between your map so you can get a good idea in which direction to travel to reach Rivendell.
**If you know a hunter (either friend or from a kinship) who has a second, porting you to Rivendell, Evendim, and Aughaire is an awesome way to hurry these long runs along. However I still advise riding from Ost Guruth to Rivendell on a horse later to collect a deed that gives good XP for doing nothing more than simply traveling down this long path!
So why did we come all the way to Rivendell before heading to Tinnudir? To speak to Aragorn of course. Also you should speak to Elrond (which Aragorn will eventually send you to) and anyone else in the Last Homely House. Bilbo will give you some nice and easy riddle quests that are worth about 1500-2000Xp each and can all be found inside of Rivendell (*cough – stable*cough – stable *cough - Borimir). Gandalf might also have a quest for you to simply walk with Frodo, but I cannot remember when that one is available, might be upper 30’s. Stay in Rivendell doing the Aragorn big decision quest until he sends you to tinnudir to speak with Calenglad. Now you can go back and you can use your map to Bree, then to Ost Forod. See I told you the map would come in handy.
**At this point a second port is useful so you should really check out your race deeds to see which one you need to complete your port to Bree, Thorins Gate, Bree, or Michel Delving respectively.
So now you’re in Ost Forod. Grab all the quests (including the 4 glowing wanted posters) and then once again do not start them yet. Are you seeing a pattern? Run (or horse if your lazy) down to Tinnudir and grab all of those quests as well. Do not forget to go a little further down from the stable because there are more quests. The order I recommend for doing the quests are the ones that want you to kill brigands, neekers, and salamanders. They are all in the same area (near that tiny hobbit village Dwaling) on the beach. The Brigand camp is across the river and here you can do at least 3 quests. Take one friend with you if you can. I soloed this with a burglar, but obviously they can get into places most cannot.
Hopefully you make it through these quests okay. You will have to go back out to the beach again to kill some bog lurkers, but you will be pretty much through with this area at this point. Now its time to work on earning trust and maybe even some quests near Ost Forod, but I recommend being as close to 34 as possible before going north of Ost Forod unless you have a friend.
Normally I get to 35 in Tinnudir and then I go running for the hills or more precisely Bree so I can get my horse. Assuming you have enough gold to get one that is. If you do not have enough gold, take a break and grind some in the area near Ost Guruth I mentioned. A few hours of that will net you the remaining gold you need. The horse missions are north of bree in the horsefields, look for the little horse on the map near the north breefields.
Now if you are still not a level 35 and struggling in Evendim try going back to Esteldin and cleaning up some more quests. Honestly there are enough between Evendim and Esteldin to get you to 37-38. At 36 you can try Dol Dinen with either a full group or small. My Burglar did it with a level 43 Guardian the other day and it was one of the best times I have had in the game. Either way you should now be a 35 and looking forward.
Bonus Info - Levels 35-40
I will not go into as much detail as I did for the first 35 levels because hopefully you are starting to see a pattern here. Here are some brief notes though to help point you in the right direction.
Milk Esteldin and Evendim for everything you can. Northern Evendim (near the Elves and that Ent) give off plenty of quests. At 38 you can venture north of Rivendell and start the Misty Mountain quests. You will be limited until you are a 40, but you can get some things done. Also try the earth kin camp in southern Ram Duath of Angmar. You already have a quest to go there so why not start there. I did and it helped me get to 40.
Bonus Bonus Info - Levels 40-50
Start out with Aughaire at 40. There is plenty to do there and getting those jewelry and armour sets are awesome. In all honesty Aughaire should get you to 42 or 43 easily. Then you can venture back out to the Misty Mountains, then back over to Evendim if you have anything left there. You can also do more Trollshaws (Echad Candelleth). Between levels 43-45 you should start Forochel and do one area at a time, completing all of the quests until they send you to the next camp. You will get 3-4 levels there.
**At level 45 you are eligible to enter the gate near Echad Dunnan in Eregion to begin Volume II of the book quest. You do not have to complete Volume I to do this. If your class is squishy you might want to wait until level 47-48, but the reason I suggest making this long trek out to this gate is simple. You can get your legendary weapon and thus begin working on a new type of leveling. The earlier you get the weapon the more powerful it will be. My thinking is if you are going to be leveling yourself, why not go ahead and level you weapon as soon as possible?
**Seven Swords..
At 45 (I think) when you are in Eastern Melenhad, kill the 7 named Iron Crown guys for each of the seven swords (use the dynamap for the locs) , then just turning all those in is more than half a level really fast. It will also likely complete your advanced "quests in Angmar" deed. (Thanks Scracer14)
Finish everything in Forochel and then you should be able to either start Eregion or clean up enough quests in other areas to reach 48/49. As you go through more areas you tend to have more options for going back and finishing up quests. To get you to 48 you can also go back to Angmar and start quests on the eastern side (bad side) so long as you have finished Book 6. Book quests are another way to level up and also break the monotony of killing countless mobs, or finding items in unknown places.
Eregion will take you to level 52 and then from there you enter Moria and your LOTRO life should change forever. I will not be writing anything about Moria because frankly I have only gone through it twice and I am still not an expert or anywhere near. I got you this far and hopefully my jumping around has made sense and helped you to come up with a system. Leveling is not a race, but sometimes (especially with alts) it helps to have a plan to just get through the grind!
Tips (Things probably mentioned 100 times in the forums)
**For fellowships its easier to monitor them if you change your LFF channel color to something that stands out. So as your questing and putting those hard ones off, you can see when there is someone getting a group together.
**If you are power leveling, hold off on purposely grinding for traits. You will get some simply by doing the quests in an area and natural kills from quests. Once you are a 60 you can always go back and slaughter kill deeds and get out some aggression at the same time.
**Do pay early attention to your power (class) traits. Monitor which ones you are not leveling. I know some might stink and you might not find much use in them, but some really blossom when traited.
**Plan your attacks. Try to view the fight from all angles (literally and figuratively) Watch patrollers and look at their patterns before making that first strike. Getting a surprise from a missed patroller can send you straight to your local rez circle in an instant!
**Sell hides in the AH and use your profits to buy the best armour and weapons when you can. I would try not to buy too much until after you have bought a horse. If you have an alt with some gold send over 2G, you would be amazed at what purple armour can do for you.
**If you get to a new area and feel like you are dying too often, take a look at your armour, odds are its outdated by at least 5 levels.
Last edited by abrahamL; Today at 10:55 AM.
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tips by hardsell (3 60's 6 others 51-53, all classes played; SM in 10 crafts, kindred in 7 crafting guilds)
Stay in Forochel, Himbar, goblin town till 51-52
Do Eregion, every quest and trait till 55-56
I gained two full levels just acquiring the two different hides for SM tailoring, these are a great money maker as well as 3 crafts need hides and they are harder to get than ore, you don't have to kill an ore/wood node to mine/harvest it:) but every ore/wood node has ore or wood and unfortunately there are are a lot of naked critters who die without a hide on 'em:) so you end up almost killing 3 critters for one hide.... that's a lot of exp:)
Do loth rep quests, until you gain entrance to the golden wood area and do the daily rep quests plus the others till 60 and you should also be kindred there about the same time.....
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