LOTRO's Handbook: Dear Hannah

24 July 2010

Hello, Nosferat here,

Is it necessery to have the Moria or Mirkwood expansion to do the volume 2 and 3 for the books?

Howdy Nosferat,

Currently, Volume 2 Takes place in the Mines of Moria Expansion Pack so you will need that and Volume 3 takes place in Mirkwood so that is also necessary. Both Expansion packs can be downloaded from offical LOTRO game site in the area you live in.

Now, on the hush, word is that you will be able to obtain access to both of those areas once the game goes Free to Play (on 10-September-2010) by purchasing the access with your LOTRO point. I also happen to know that they are going to be very expensive.

Be careful in Moria. It is easy to fall into bottomless pits.

From The Shire,
Hannah

Hello, its me, Nosferat again,

I've got a Legendary Trait on my class traits. Its says that is not purchased but I earn them when I use 5 class traits from the same tier, which is The Fighter of Shadows. Have you got any idea How I get it? Because I think you need to buy it but I cant find the seller. Ty. =D

Hi, again, Nosferat!

In order to place a that trait into the open slot on the trait panel you are first required to 'slot' five (5) Class Traits from the same division. The game was simply informing you that you now have the first of the three Legendary slots open and not that you have the access to that trait yet. The first Legendary slot becomes available when your character reaches level 41. The second becomes available to you when your character reaches level 45 and the last of the threes slots opens when you are level 60.

Trait Panel

Perhaps you can see the problem with this? There are 3 Legendary Trait slots but there are only 7 Class Trait slots!

Class Trait Panel

When the time comes to select your Legendary Traits, based upon your Class Trait Selections, you are going to be forced to choose with a bit of caution.

But you did ask about using your Class Traits, didn't you. Here in lies another problem. You see, you can not use any Class Trait until you successfully complete the Deed to get that Class Trait. So you should check in your Deed Log under your class page to see what you need to do to earn that Class Trait you covet or you can just open your Legendary Traits Panel.

Legendary Trait Panel

If you have not yet started on a particular deed for a Class Trait then the icon will be greyed out.

Perhaps you are currently working on the trait? Then it will still be gray but it will have a golden ring on it.

When you have complete the deed it will be in glorious color!

Locked Class Trait Finally, when you equip that completed Class Trait it will be locked into the slot and have a nice shining halo around it.

Don't be disappointed, Nosferat, if you haven't acquired the Legendary Trait at level 41. Only the most experienced players, those who know what to expect from the game, are able to anticipate and plan for acquiring specific traits when the slot opens. What matters most is that you are having fun while you are in Middle-earth and then, those traits you need will just happen by the way you play.

Hannah Twinkletoes

Dear Hannah,

Is crafting important for a character? If yes, why? I ask because at the moment I don't know which profession I should have on my character.

Oh, and can you tell what is a crafting instance? What does it give?

Sincerely yours,
Nosferat

Dear Nosferat,

Why yes, Nosferat, crafting is important for a number of reasons, especially if you ever decide to leave the Green Dragon. Perhaps you are already aware that crafting is broken up into 3 catagories? There's the Gathering Catagory, they would rather gather resources found throughout Middle-earth than craft full time. An Explorer falls neatly under this catagory. The Explorer can gather and prepare woods, ores and skins. Of course, they are able to tailor if they are so inclined which is just great for all those Delicate, I mean Light and Medium Armour wearers.

The next catagory is the one I call Nearly Essential Catagory and you will find many crafters in these professions. These crafters make armours, weapons and jewellery. Everything that everyone is interested in but not what everyone will change too often. You will find the Jeweller, Metalsmith, Tailor, Weaponsmith and Woodworker with this catagory.

Finally there is what I call the Essential Catagory because in its ranks you will find the consumables and who can live long or well without a daily ration of consumables? So this is where you will find the Cooks and Scholars because they make everything that your character is going eat or drink just about every 20 minutes, perhaps more often on occassion. I almost forgot to include the Farmer in this group! Of course the Farmer is all important, if a bit backward and *yawn* boring because without the Farmer there would be very little food and absolutely no flower arrangements!

Crafts are called professions in LOTRO. I don't know why. Perhaps it makes us feel important? Anyway, they are arranged in packets of 3 under the heading of Vocations. The trick is to choose a Vocation that will suit you. For example, if you decide you are going to be a cook, you have a choice between Tinker and Yeoman. My personal choice is to become a yeoman because you can't cook much if you are not also a farmer. We just have to face the facts that a Jeweller will never be able to sell enough jewellery to be able to afford carrots at the exorbitant prices that some farmers charge! Look at how I go on and on, but I am rather adamant about the subject of Crafting. Perhaps I should say Professions?

You also asked about Crafting Instances. They are certain places which are located in some towns throughout Middle-earth. This is where everyone and their dog, if they have a dog, must go inorder to make anything. The idea behind this mandatory restriction was to get complete strangers to talk to one another or so I have been told. It doesn't seem to be working out that way at all. Never-the-less, regardless of the vocation you choose, your professions are going to require that you do your craftings in a certain crafting areas particular to those professions. I should also tell you that not all crafting areas are created equal. There are some quite ordinary run of the mill types of crafting areas and then there are Superior Crafting Areas. But it is just the opposite of what you might think. You don't have to be a master craftsperson to use the Superior Crafting areas but a superior craftsperson can't use the ordinary crafting areas for many of the most cherished recipes in Middle-earth. All that being said, Crafting Areas don't really give you anything other than the opportunity to be ignored by all the other crafters there.

There will be a information section on Crafting in this manual within the next 7 days. I will include the link here once it is in place

Happy Crafting, Nosferat,
Hannah Twinkletoes

As always, the contributors to LOTRO Handbook would appreciate it if you tell your friends about it.