Monday 30 May 2011
Promotion video
Hope and Glory, one of the major kins on Gilrain, has made this video for promotional purposes. Still going strong after more than four years feel free to check out their homepage and their forums.
Hope and Glory is an 18+ kin which has also a World of Warcraft section on Ravencrest and a platoon playing World of Tanks. Chances are high, that an Star Wars: The Old Republic section will be established on launch.
If you liked the video, you might also like to watch the credits with some outtakes ;)
Thursday 26 May 2011
Nanu's Hiding Place
I can't remember how many times I have been to the Turtle fight but finally, it dropped and I won it. It was the second time I had seen it drop and I wanted it ever since I saw it in the garden of one of our officers.
As we have houses in the same instance, they now can meet at night ;)
Even though I have most of the housing items, I still miss some:
- I am still missing one of the three heads from the three Globsnaga Elders and the Egg of the Mistress. I've never seen the later drop, but we have one in the kin-house. The Elders trophy is difficult to get, as you need three heads which don't drop a lot. Even if they drop, you got a chance of 1/12 to win the roll. And you need to be on the same character, as the three heads can't be bartered. So I bring my Minstrel to DN over and over and over again.
- Even though we killed the Lieutenant of Dol Guldur lots of times, I only saw the Unwelcome Mat drop once. And the first drop of all the housing items goes to the kin.
- Bill Whitethorn, the taxidermist in Bree, does also barter coins for the two Hurons in Ost Dunhoth (one we got yesterday) and a Dark Music Box, from where, I don't know.
- Of the Fishing Housing items, I got the Sturgeon Group Trophy, but am missing the Trout and the Darter Group Trophy. It has been a bit, since I went fishing in LotRO...
I love housing, with my three accounts I have three Deluxe Houses and two Kin Houses. This puts a huge dent in my pocket, but I like to have the space to decorate my homes.
As we have houses in the same instance, they now can meet at night ;)
Even though I have most of the housing items, I still miss some:
- I am still missing one of the three heads from the three Globsnaga Elders and the Egg of the Mistress. I've never seen the later drop, but we have one in the kin-house. The Elders trophy is difficult to get, as you need three heads which don't drop a lot. Even if they drop, you got a chance of 1/12 to win the roll. And you need to be on the same character, as the three heads can't be bartered. So I bring my Minstrel to DN over and over and over again.
- Even though we killed the Lieutenant of Dol Guldur lots of times, I only saw the Unwelcome Mat drop once. And the first drop of all the housing items goes to the kin.
- Bill Whitethorn, the taxidermist in Bree, does also barter coins for the two Hurons in Ost Dunhoth (one we got yesterday) and a Dark Music Box, from where, I don't know.
- Of the Fishing Housing items, I got the Sturgeon Group Trophy, but am missing the Trout and the Darter Group Trophy. It has been a bit, since I went fishing in LotRO...
I love housing, with my three accounts I have three Deluxe Houses and two Kin Houses. This puts a huge dent in my pocket, but I like to have the space to decorate my homes.
Housing item Red Pottet Huorn dropped from Baleleaf and Dourbark (Ost Dunhoth, Disease) on Tier 2 with Challenge
This is the first time I saw this drop: A Red Sapped Huorn Limb which can be exchanged in Bree at the taxiderminst for the housing itme Red Pottet Huorn:
And this is the animation it does:
We also got the Onyx and Emerald Ring which is quite nice for the tactical classes. It has the good six percent Tactical Critical Muliplier as well as 112 Morale, 100 Power and 23 Vitality, Fate and Will.Proposition for new zone: The Tower Hills
Since I have started to play Lord of the Rings Online, I hated the gap between Ered Luin and the Shire. The Westmarch is the zone filling this void.
I don’t understand, why this zone hasn't been done earlier, as it has a lot of potential.
Who lives in the Westmarch and which places does it cover?
The southern border are the Tower Hills. Elostirion is the tallest tower on the Tower Hills and once held the Palantir of the Northern Kingdom. Even though the Palantir has been long removed, the towers still might hold some secrets to be uncovered by some adventurers.
Near the main tower, is the future site of Untertowers, a village founded after the coming wars. I want this place to be special. A place where the grass is greener than in the other fields and where there are more flowers. A place where the eldest daughter of Sam Gamgee would want to live. There will be no settlements of Hobbits, but one or two could wander the wild.
To the west, we find the Gulf of Lûne with the Elven settlement of Mithlond, the Grey Havens. From here to the north we can either travel by boat to Celondim or by foot to Ered Luin through the now unblocked pass near Rath Teraig.
The zone has the shape of the letter J, the south-western part being Mithlond. I wouldn't make the zone so big, that it reaches Forochel to the north. On the parchment map on the LotRO site, there is a small forest on the eastern side of the river Lhûn the river being the western border.
Finally, we would be able to explore the castle we have seen from the Wardspire.
Besides the Grey Haven, I would not add a major settlement. There are some ruins, like the towers and the castle I mentioned before. But in general, there would be an empty place with some bandits and wildlife.
Quest hubs would be Mithlond, where we could try to convince elves not to leave Middle Earth and to fight Sauron. Other quests could evolve around two feuding families, one farming and one nomad shepherds who are in conflict over land. Of course there could also be a Romeo and Juliet story ongoing where the player could either help the farmers the shepherds or the young in love.
I don’t understand, why this zone hasn't been done earlier, as it has a lot of potential.
Who lives in the Westmarch and which places does it cover?
The southern border are the Tower Hills. Elostirion is the tallest tower on the Tower Hills and once held the Palantir of the Northern Kingdom. Even though the Palantir has been long removed, the towers still might hold some secrets to be uncovered by some adventurers.
Near the main tower, is the future site of Untertowers, a village founded after the coming wars. I want this place to be special. A place where the grass is greener than in the other fields and where there are more flowers. A place where the eldest daughter of Sam Gamgee would want to live. There will be no settlements of Hobbits, but one or two could wander the wild.
To the west, we find the Gulf of Lûne with the Elven settlement of Mithlond, the Grey Havens. From here to the north we can either travel by boat to Celondim or by foot to Ered Luin through the now unblocked pass near Rath Teraig.
The zone has the shape of the letter J, the south-western part being Mithlond. I wouldn't make the zone so big, that it reaches Forochel to the north. On the parchment map on the LotRO site, there is a small forest on the eastern side of the river Lhûn the river being the western border.
Finally, we would be able to explore the castle we have seen from the Wardspire.
Besides the Grey Haven, I would not add a major settlement. There are some ruins, like the towers and the castle I mentioned before. But in general, there would be an empty place with some bandits and wildlife.
Quest hubs would be Mithlond, where we could try to convince elves not to leave Middle Earth and to fight Sauron. Other quests could evolve around two feuding families, one farming and one nomad shepherds who are in conflict over land. Of course there could also be a Romeo and Juliet story ongoing where the player could either help the farmers the shepherds or the young in love.
Wednesday 25 May 2011
Proposition for new zone: Umbar
Unlike my Mirkwood, Heart of the Forest, proposition, Umbar does not border the world we have visited.
This does not seem to be a huge problem, as Ered Luin is not connected to the rest of Eriador and an other gap exists between the eastern exit of Moria and the Mirrormere.
But still, why wander a far and not stay closer to the book?
Scenery! Most of Middle Earth has European climate. If not for Forochel, all would be different shades of green. Given this restriction due to the lore, Turbine has done a good job. They incorporated the seasons, Shire being spring, Eregion autumn, North Downs summer and Forochel winter.
But if we wanted something new, a bit exotic, we have to travel further.
The south would offer deserts and jungles, we could even penetrate the underbelly of Mordor. This would offer some visually very distinct choises. Not only the landscape would be very different from what we have seen, the architecture and clothing of the Harad would offer new choices.
How get there? By shanghaiing of course! The journey starts with a quest or two including some beers as a reward. When you drink that ale, you fall in a deep sleep and awake on a ship. This brings you to its harbour, a small town a bit north of Umbar.
This town would be instanced, meaning that you could not leave it, until you have done a certain amount of quests (like the Mirkwood- and Moria-Starter Instances). Outside, you would be able to travel by the usual means.
It would also offer new monsters to fight, instead of spiders there would be scorpions, instead of boars antelopes and so forth. Even the bosses in the instances could have a Ali Baba / Oriental / Persian theme.
This does not seem to be a huge problem, as Ered Luin is not connected to the rest of Eriador and an other gap exists between the eastern exit of Moria and the Mirrormere.
But still, why wander a far and not stay closer to the book?
Scenery! Most of Middle Earth has European climate. If not for Forochel, all would be different shades of green. Given this restriction due to the lore, Turbine has done a good job. They incorporated the seasons, Shire being spring, Eregion autumn, North Downs summer and Forochel winter.
But if we wanted something new, a bit exotic, we have to travel further.
The south would offer deserts and jungles, we could even penetrate the underbelly of Mordor. This would offer some visually very distinct choises. Not only the landscape would be very different from what we have seen, the architecture and clothing of the Harad would offer new choices.
How get there? By shanghaiing of course! The journey starts with a quest or two including some beers as a reward. When you drink that ale, you fall in a deep sleep and awake on a ship. This brings you to its harbour, a small town a bit north of Umbar.
This town would be instanced, meaning that you could not leave it, until you have done a certain amount of quests (like the Mirkwood- and Moria-Starter Instances). Outside, you would be able to travel by the usual means.
It would also offer new monsters to fight, instead of spiders there would be scorpions, instead of boars antelopes and so forth. Even the bosses in the instances could have a Ali Baba / Oriental / Persian theme.
Thursday 19 May 2011
Proposition for new zone: Mirkwood, Heart of the Forest
We had a glimpse of Mirkwood with the Siege of Mirkwood expansion. But even though I liked to quest there, the Mirkwood in game is not what is described in „The Hobbit“.
It is not completely braking the lore of the books, as it can be argued, that the presence of the Lieutenant and his rabble have reduced the power of the forest somewhat. So what do we know?
Beorn speaks about a river which is „black and strong“ and „crosses the path. He warns „neither drink of, nor bath in“ it as it as it „carries enchantment and a great drowsiness and forgetfulness“. Perfect bounder border of a zone!
„By the afternoon they had reached the eaves of Mirkwood, and were resting almost beneath the great overhanging boughs of its outer trees. Their trunks were huge and gnarled, their branches twisted, their leaves were dark and long. Ivy grew on them and trailed along the ground.“
There seem to be few things alive in the heart of the forest. Bilbo describes some black squirrels, some moths that come to the fire at night, the elves and the spiders. I doubt that the elves would wander that far south, so I would not add them to this zone.
I do want this zone to be distinct from any other zone. Lets see how: There will be no horse-routes, no camps to fast-travel, no milestones and no quest-hubs with pesky elves or humans. There will be no killing of mobs, at least not anywhere near the scale of the other zones.
The spiders are different from other spiders we met. They talk! Besides Mirkwood which is some kind of entity, spiders are the only intelligent denizens of the forest.
When we can’t kill a lot of monsters, what is there to do? Exploring, recovering, surviving and some very selective killing is my proposition.
The adventure into Mirkwood starts with a letter where Fuirgam in Emyn Lûm asks for your aid. Probably after some minor quests, he sends you to Echad Sirion where you can take the boat to Gladden Fields. I will write more about the zone Gladden Fields in a later post.
For now we only need to know that there is a small settlement with some preliminary quests into Mirkwood, heart of the forest.
The first quest is to rescue a young woodworker whose return from the forest is overdue. Mirkwood is an instance. I want it to be different every time you enter. Lhaid Ogo, the instance in Volume 3, Book 3, Chapter 4, is a hint in the right direction, but of course far too small.
Some big trees, which can be climbed are always at the same place and work as a marker and a resting-place. But the paths to those trees will change every time you enter.
The first time you enter, a countdown starts. If you are on your own and don’t use any special skills or reach on of the trees, you have three minutes to explore the forest. If the time expires before you are out of the forest or at a safe place, you fall in a endless sleep and are automatically rescued by some npcs. After some minutes of dread, you can retry again.
When you find the first tree, ten seconds are added to your counter (as you have learned to cope better with the dread of the forest). Each tree gives this reward only a certain amount of times and the closer the tree is to the Gladden Fields, the fewer time you get this bonus.
The three trees closest to Gladden Fields give this reward three times, so if you have found each of these trees for three times, you get three more minutes before you fall to the forest (three times ten seconds per tree is thirty seconds per tree, is ninety seconds for all three trees plus a bonus of ninety seconds for deed completion).
The next three trees are further in. A second counter starts. To reach the second line of trees, you get an other three minutes. The same rules as with the first trees apply. So for every new found tree, you get an other ten seconds, again with all the bonuses for the second trees, you get an other six minutes to reach them.
What changes is that if you travel on your own, you have only half the time. While it is not impossible to reach the second trees on your own, it will not happen a lot. So bring a friend or two to reach the second set of trees. But remember, the chain breaks at the weakest link. So if one member of your band of three has never been into the forest, you only have three minutes to reach the first trees.
The third set of trees need a full fellowship to get to. If you have completed the deed (reach all the trees of the different lines three times) you get after entering Mirkwood the option to travel to the central of those trees. This only applies, if everyone in your group (if grouped up) has finished that deed.
What kind of loot is there? The further in, the better it is. The borders of the forest mostly have been cleared over the years, but deep inside, there still can be hidden treasures.
Remember, the shadow of Sauron corrupted the forest and there might still be caves and homes the Sindarin Elves left when they fled the shadows. In such caves or ruins, there is room for some classical instances.
I did mention skills. Some skills, like the Irresistible Melody or the Call to Greatness does add some time to the counter. The Minstrel and the Captain have the most skills to help the group. Food and beer also help to raise the spirit and stay longer inside Mirkwood. And smoking pipe-weed has some relaxing effects as well.
Back to the spiders. I don’t see the spiders as purely evil. Living in such an unpleasant environment has some negative effect on ones character. Remember, „when they roasted it, it proved horrible to taste, and they shot no more squirrels.“ So befriending a spider could be beneficial too. Spiders seem not to have that much interest in gold and treasure and might be willing to trade some for raw meat or livestock.
It is also very possible, that the spiders are in conflict with the evil dwelling in the elven ruins and caves as well as with scouts from Dol Guldur. Again, I don’t want this to be just an other zone with some quest-hubs, but this doesn't mean that there are no quests to be found.
Making this zone instanced will make the loneliness believable when you don’t see other people doing their quests all the time.
It is not completely braking the lore of the books, as it can be argued, that the presence of the Lieutenant and his rabble have reduced the power of the forest somewhat. So what do we know?
Beorn speaks about a river which is „black and strong“ and „crosses the path. He warns „neither drink of, nor bath in“ it as it as it „carries enchantment and a great drowsiness and forgetfulness“. Perfect bounder border of a zone!
„By the afternoon they had reached the eaves of Mirkwood, and were resting almost beneath the great overhanging boughs of its outer trees. Their trunks were huge and gnarled, their branches twisted, their leaves were dark and long. Ivy grew on them and trailed along the ground.“
There seem to be few things alive in the heart of the forest. Bilbo describes some black squirrels, some moths that come to the fire at night, the elves and the spiders. I doubt that the elves would wander that far south, so I would not add them to this zone.
I do want this zone to be distinct from any other zone. Lets see how: There will be no horse-routes, no camps to fast-travel, no milestones and no quest-hubs with pesky elves or humans. There will be no killing of mobs, at least not anywhere near the scale of the other zones.
The spiders are different from other spiders we met. They talk! Besides Mirkwood which is some kind of entity, spiders are the only intelligent denizens of the forest.
When we can’t kill a lot of monsters, what is there to do? Exploring, recovering, surviving and some very selective killing is my proposition.
The adventure into Mirkwood starts with a letter where Fuirgam in Emyn Lûm asks for your aid. Probably after some minor quests, he sends you to Echad Sirion where you can take the boat to Gladden Fields. I will write more about the zone Gladden Fields in a later post.
For now we only need to know that there is a small settlement with some preliminary quests into Mirkwood, heart of the forest.
The first quest is to rescue a young woodworker whose return from the forest is overdue. Mirkwood is an instance. I want it to be different every time you enter. Lhaid Ogo, the instance in Volume 3, Book 3, Chapter 4, is a hint in the right direction, but of course far too small.
Some big trees, which can be climbed are always at the same place and work as a marker and a resting-place. But the paths to those trees will change every time you enter.
The first time you enter, a countdown starts. If you are on your own and don’t use any special skills or reach on of the trees, you have three minutes to explore the forest. If the time expires before you are out of the forest or at a safe place, you fall in a endless sleep and are automatically rescued by some npcs. After some minutes of dread, you can retry again.
When you find the first tree, ten seconds are added to your counter (as you have learned to cope better with the dread of the forest). Each tree gives this reward only a certain amount of times and the closer the tree is to the Gladden Fields, the fewer time you get this bonus.
The three trees closest to Gladden Fields give this reward three times, so if you have found each of these trees for three times, you get three more minutes before you fall to the forest (three times ten seconds per tree is thirty seconds per tree, is ninety seconds for all three trees plus a bonus of ninety seconds for deed completion).
The next three trees are further in. A second counter starts. To reach the second line of trees, you get an other three minutes. The same rules as with the first trees apply. So for every new found tree, you get an other ten seconds, again with all the bonuses for the second trees, you get an other six minutes to reach them.
What changes is that if you travel on your own, you have only half the time. While it is not impossible to reach the second trees on your own, it will not happen a lot. So bring a friend or two to reach the second set of trees. But remember, the chain breaks at the weakest link. So if one member of your band of three has never been into the forest, you only have three minutes to reach the first trees.
The third set of trees need a full fellowship to get to. If you have completed the deed (reach all the trees of the different lines three times) you get after entering Mirkwood the option to travel to the central of those trees. This only applies, if everyone in your group (if grouped up) has finished that deed.
What kind of loot is there? The further in, the better it is. The borders of the forest mostly have been cleared over the years, but deep inside, there still can be hidden treasures.
Remember, the shadow of Sauron corrupted the forest and there might still be caves and homes the Sindarin Elves left when they fled the shadows. In such caves or ruins, there is room for some classical instances.
I did mention skills. Some skills, like the Irresistible Melody or the Call to Greatness does add some time to the counter. The Minstrel and the Captain have the most skills to help the group. Food and beer also help to raise the spirit and stay longer inside Mirkwood. And smoking pipe-weed has some relaxing effects as well.
Back to the spiders. I don’t see the spiders as purely evil. Living in such an unpleasant environment has some negative effect on ones character. Remember, „when they roasted it, it proved horrible to taste, and they shot no more squirrels.“ So befriending a spider could be beneficial too. Spiders seem not to have that much interest in gold and treasure and might be willing to trade some for raw meat or livestock.
It is also very possible, that the spiders are in conflict with the evil dwelling in the elven ruins and caves as well as with scouts from Dol Guldur. Again, I don’t want this to be just an other zone with some quest-hubs, but this doesn't mean that there are no quests to be found.
Making this zone instanced will make the loneliness believable when you don’t see other people doing their quests all the time.
Friday 13 May 2011
Gortheron (Ost Dunhoth) some tactics, contains spoilers!
If you think you are having a deja-vu, you might be right. Sadly blogger.com deleted my old post so the former link doesn't work any more.
After having done the first five bosses, Gortheron is left. We have seen him many times during the instance and even in the quests leading to the instance. Now is the time for payback.
I like, that there is no time wasted with adds. After killing Ivar, the gate opens to the arena which has the shape of a pentagon. As most evildoers, Gortheron likes to talk. A lot.
Which classes are or rather which setup is the best for this fight?
Two Captains, two Minstrels, two Lore-Masters and a Guardian seem to be a necessity. An additional healer, probably a Rune-Keeper does help too. So we got eight. I would bring three Hunters and a Warden (as the warden has the best corruption removal skill of all classes).
The fight starts, when Gortheron moves into the body of a troll and opens one of the walls of the arena. Some monsters from the Shire join the fight. The adds of the first phase consist of two huge boars (Thadur's Boar, about 24 k morale) and three big goblins (Thadur's Thug 11k). When one of these five is killed, it is replaced almost instantly.
The boars have anger, which needs to be removed before they can be CC'ed (so you need to CC them twice in a row). Lore-Masters seem to work best here. We usually damage them till they have about 5 k morale left and leave them CC'ed till the next phase.
The goblins have corruptions which should to be removed as fast as possible. So if your corruption removal skill is off cool-down, use it to make every one's life easier.
Using buffbars is also very helpful. It is easy to install and there is little room for error in this fight. In every phase, players get different buffs which they need to remove with the right pot as soon as possible. In the first phase, this is a green pool which does a huge amount of damage. Actually there are three pools (similar to those in Oatbarton Farms). If you use a pot right away, you won't drop a pool at all which can make all the difference.
When the boars are damaged and controlled, the goblins can be killed. This has two advantages. First, it gives Captains a defeat response which they can use for a group-heal. Secondly Gortheron is building corruptions about every eight seconds which are reduced by killing every add.
Hunters damage Gortheron, others kill goblins and Lore-Masters CC boars. At a certain point, Gortheron switches phases and moves to the second wall and opens it. Now the Hunters switch to the adds, but don't kill them before the new gate is opened and the old gate is closed. Yes respawns do even apear, when the wall is closed again...
New adds come form the North-Downs, two Defilers and three Wargs. Defilers need to be CC'ed and I like to range-dps the Wargs. But don't forget to kill all the adds from the Shire.
Defilers only have about 10 k health so just keep em CC'ed, kill wargs to keep everyone powered and healed up and again, remove corruptions.
In this phase, you get wounds which you need to remove by a pot or it will spread to the players close to you. When this happens, they too get a wound which even can be transferred back to you, when not removed at the right time. This can lead to a wipe, as pots can be off cool-down when needed. But you can move away from the other people to not spread the wound.
In the next phase monsters from the Trollshaws join. They consist of two Virulent Stone-Trolls (24k) and three Virulent Worms. We haven't lasted long enough here to work out our tactics. Last phase, the adds will come from Forochel and consist of Starved Kilpa-Kita sabretooths (which get bloodlust when kited for too long) and some caeryg.
After an other phase-switch one monster of each kind will spawn as well as some skeletons. On Tier 1, the skeletons can be killed and won't respawn, so I'd guess, those are the first targets for dps. But as I haven't done this on Tier 2, I am not sure about this. The rest of the monsters will vanish, as soon as Gorthereon is at his next phase-switch, so killing the adds is not the priority.
Gandalf appears and kicks Gortheron out of his troll-body and (again in Tier 1) the last 35 k are easy (in Tier 1). We were thinking about only doing the other bosses in Tier 1 to get the locks and to have almost a full week for trying to kill Gortheron in Tier 2.
The challenge is connected to the buff Gorthoron has, which increases his damage output. Every eight seconds, his buff tiers up one point to a (shown) max of fifty. Killing a monster reduces the tier by one. When the tier reaches fifty, you get a message. So killing an add in the next eight seconds fails the challenge. Sadly there is no in-game-way to see how many adds you can kill without loosing the challenge...
Again, Ost Dunhoth is a very interesting raid with some nice rewards. I like how the raid and the last fight mirrors to some degree the three- and six-man-instances of the Echoes of the Dead-Update. Gortheron on Tier 2 with the Challenge is a great fight with only minor complaints from my side (the buff-counter being one, the 'need' for buffbars an other).
After having done the first five bosses, Gortheron is left. We have seen him many times during the instance and even in the quests leading to the instance. Now is the time for payback.
I like, that there is no time wasted with adds. After killing Ivar, the gate opens to the arena which has the shape of a pentagon. As most evildoers, Gortheron likes to talk. A lot.
Which classes are or rather which setup is the best for this fight?
Two Captains, two Minstrels, two Lore-Masters and a Guardian seem to be a necessity. An additional healer, probably a Rune-Keeper does help too. So we got eight. I would bring three Hunters and a Warden (as the warden has the best corruption removal skill of all classes).
The fight starts, when Gortheron moves into the body of a troll and opens one of the walls of the arena. Some monsters from the Shire join the fight. The adds of the first phase consist of two huge boars (Thadur's Boar, about 24 k morale) and three big goblins (Thadur's Thug 11k). When one of these five is killed, it is replaced almost instantly.
The boars have anger, which needs to be removed before they can be CC'ed (so you need to CC them twice in a row). Lore-Masters seem to work best here. We usually damage them till they have about 5 k morale left and leave them CC'ed till the next phase.
The goblins have corruptions which should to be removed as fast as possible. So if your corruption removal skill is off cool-down, use it to make every one's life easier.
Using buffbars is also very helpful. It is easy to install and there is little room for error in this fight. In every phase, players get different buffs which they need to remove with the right pot as soon as possible. In the first phase, this is a green pool which does a huge amount of damage. Actually there are three pools (similar to those in Oatbarton Farms). If you use a pot right away, you won't drop a pool at all which can make all the difference.
When the boars are damaged and controlled, the goblins can be killed. This has two advantages. First, it gives Captains a defeat response which they can use for a group-heal. Secondly Gortheron is building corruptions about every eight seconds which are reduced by killing every add.
Hunters damage Gortheron, others kill goblins and Lore-Masters CC boars. At a certain point, Gortheron switches phases and moves to the second wall and opens it. Now the Hunters switch to the adds, but don't kill them before the new gate is opened and the old gate is closed. Yes respawns do even apear, when the wall is closed again...
New adds come form the North-Downs, two Defilers and three Wargs. Defilers need to be CC'ed and I like to range-dps the Wargs. But don't forget to kill all the adds from the Shire.
Defilers only have about 10 k health so just keep em CC'ed, kill wargs to keep everyone powered and healed up and again, remove corruptions.
In this phase, you get wounds which you need to remove by a pot or it will spread to the players close to you. When this happens, they too get a wound which even can be transferred back to you, when not removed at the right time. This can lead to a wipe, as pots can be off cool-down when needed. But you can move away from the other people to not spread the wound.
In the next phase monsters from the Trollshaws join. They consist of two Virulent Stone-Trolls (24k) and three Virulent Worms. We haven't lasted long enough here to work out our tactics. Last phase, the adds will come from Forochel and consist of Starved Kilpa-Kita sabretooths (which get bloodlust when kited for too long) and some caeryg.
After an other phase-switch one monster of each kind will spawn as well as some skeletons. On Tier 1, the skeletons can be killed and won't respawn, so I'd guess, those are the first targets for dps. But as I haven't done this on Tier 2, I am not sure about this. The rest of the monsters will vanish, as soon as Gorthereon is at his next phase-switch, so killing the adds is not the priority.
Gandalf appears and kicks Gortheron out of his troll-body and (again in Tier 1) the last 35 k are easy (in Tier 1). We were thinking about only doing the other bosses in Tier 1 to get the locks and to have almost a full week for trying to kill Gortheron in Tier 2.
The challenge is connected to the buff Gorthoron has, which increases his damage output. Every eight seconds, his buff tiers up one point to a (shown) max of fifty. Killing a monster reduces the tier by one. When the tier reaches fifty, you get a message. So killing an add in the next eight seconds fails the challenge. Sadly there is no in-game-way to see how many adds you can kill without loosing the challenge...
Again, Ost Dunhoth is a very interesting raid with some nice rewards. I like how the raid and the last fight mirrors to some degree the three- and six-man-instances of the Echoes of the Dead-Update. Gortheron on Tier 2 with the Challenge is a great fight with only minor complaints from my side (the buff-counter being one, the 'need' for buffbars an other).
Amarthlang from Durin's Bane Tier 2
Wednesday 11 May 2011
Frothskold from Ivar Tier 2
Yesterday, we managed to do Ivar again on Tier 2 and he left a shield behind. Needless to say, with these stats, it was a very happy Minstrel.
It is in purple but the lucky Minstrel seemed to like it anyway. To be honest, with those stats, what is not to like?
It is in purple but the lucky Minstrel seemed to like it anyway. To be honest, with those stats, what is not to like?
Thursday 5 May 2011
Echoes of the Dead, a brief review
The last six weeks, I have been enjoying the update Echoes of the Dead. I gave my first impression here so I don’t want to repeat myself.
As usual, in the beginning a lot of people signed up for the new raid and instances. There was even some moaning or bitching about who could go. Now some of the runs had to be cancelled due to too few people online. Tempus fugit. I blame the nice weather and World of Tanks.
Echoes of the Dead is one of the best updates released.
The three-man instances are fun and challenging on Tier 2. Tier 2 favours a certain set-up. Healer, Tank and Damage Dealer or Healer with two DD. Classes like Burglars and Captains are less useful for Tier 2 runs. Of course it can be done, but the other members need to work extra hard. It would have been nice, if the skill-reset we have in Ost Dunhoth were implemented here too...
The two six-man instances are fun and challenging too. No complaints here, with six it is easier to bring a Burglar and Captains.
Ost Dunhoth is almost perfect. The skill reset is great. Fights are short, fun and challenging. After a wipe, no time is wasted. Everything is in a short walking distance, no more running up the tower for five minutes to kill the Lieutenant.
Trash mobs are non-existent, instead we get some small fun fights before the boss. Rewards are good. What I dislike is the amount of medallions needed for the armour. I doubt, that I will get a full set anytime soon...
We managed to do four of the bosses on Tier 2 with the challenge and one more on Tier 2 without the challenge. Getting Gortheron on Tier 2 with the challenge will take some time. We raid a lot in the kin, about six days a week, but we are not a hard-core raiding kin. This means that we have a lot of different people on every raid and some are better raiders than others.
I would also suggest to use Buffbars as it does make fights easier. A kinnie programmed a small add-on which analyzes the combat-log and helps with acoustic warnings and big flashing letters.
I have done the book-quests on all of my main characters, save my Warden.
Ten being best, I give this update 9.5/10. Well done!
As usual, in the beginning a lot of people signed up for the new raid and instances. There was even some moaning or bitching about who could go. Now some of the runs had to be cancelled due to too few people online. Tempus fugit. I blame the nice weather and World of Tanks.
Echoes of the Dead is one of the best updates released.
The three-man instances are fun and challenging on Tier 2. Tier 2 favours a certain set-up. Healer, Tank and Damage Dealer or Healer with two DD. Classes like Burglars and Captains are less useful for Tier 2 runs. Of course it can be done, but the other members need to work extra hard. It would have been nice, if the skill-reset we have in Ost Dunhoth were implemented here too...
The two six-man instances are fun and challenging too. No complaints here, with six it is easier to bring a Burglar and Captains.
Ost Dunhoth is almost perfect. The skill reset is great. Fights are short, fun and challenging. After a wipe, no time is wasted. Everything is in a short walking distance, no more running up the tower for five minutes to kill the Lieutenant.
Trash mobs are non-existent, instead we get some small fun fights before the boss. Rewards are good. What I dislike is the amount of medallions needed for the armour. I doubt, that I will get a full set anytime soon...
We managed to do four of the bosses on Tier 2 with the challenge and one more on Tier 2 without the challenge. Getting Gortheron on Tier 2 with the challenge will take some time. We raid a lot in the kin, about six days a week, but we are not a hard-core raiding kin. This means that we have a lot of different people on every raid and some are better raiders than others.
I would also suggest to use Buffbars as it does make fights easier. A kinnie programmed a small add-on which analyzes the combat-log and helps with acoustic warnings and big flashing letters.
I have done the book-quests on all of my main characters, save my Warden.
Ten being best, I give this update 9.5/10. Well done!
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