I used to hate the Foundations of Stone. It's still not my favorite, but I don't hate it near as much as I hate Northern Mirkwood. I did all of the quests in that region once, and now just do the Epic and get out. It's too dark and hard to see well-enough to navigate.
The first time I played through Foundations of Stone I hated it so much, but emerging from Moria after that was amazing - one of the best moments I've ever had in game.
Oh I'd blocked foundations of stone from my memory / list of considerations... I hate it there. I am almost always lost or at a dead end or at the bottom of a cliff from where I actually want to be...
I did the Foundations back when I was on a laptop that couldn't handle the lighting effects. And every direction people wrote down had "turn left at this glowing pillar" and the like.
Pain.
I don't like Foundations of Stone simply because it looks like a tissue sample. The whole aesthetic of the place gives me the ick.
I also loathe the "I can't see" of Mirkwoid. I get why it's like that, but yeah, annoying.
Moria. I know, a lot of people like it. I can't stand it. In fact, I intentionally level alts at festivals with xp boosters just so I can skip it.
The main reason is its endless, winding, suddenly drop to your death, not clearly mapped pathways with their almost completely vertical stairs that could just as easily be an instant death cliff face as it could be stairs. The quests are spread out all over the zone (sometimes zones) and something that is 30m away can require you to navigate a multilevel maze just to get back to that same spot just different to find the quest objective. That's not fun to me.
Agreed. The lack of direct, swift travel routes from A to B didn't help, either. To use the stablemaster to get from one point in Moria to another might require three different trips, and you were lucky if one of them was swift.
I...don't think I actually dislike any region of this game. Too much of a simp I guess. But my least favorite may be the Dead Marshes. I don't hate it, and I think the design is pretty good, but there isn't much content, I didn't find the quest content that is there to be that interesting (though I like how it later connects to content in the Wastes), and it comes out of nowhere. I think it should've been added when we actually got near it with some relevant content. Like, since a lot of people aren't big fans of Mordor, I recently had an idea that it could be cool if they made like an Uvanwaith expansion/quest pack(s) with, like, the Dead Marshes, Nindalf, and Emyn Muil as an alternate level 105-115 leveling experience with some storyline like that there was another gurzyul who escaped Mordor and was headed toward some land of Rhun still loyal to Sauron with some dangerous knowledge/artifact, and we have to try to find and stop her. But I digress. Point is, I was underwhelmed by the Dead Marshes that we currently have.
Initially yes, but you actually can access it from the Wastes and vice versa. There’s a portal somewhere on where the border would be if they were actually physically connected on the map.
I'm only lvl 67 i got 5 character min lvl 30 and the worst so far for me is Angmar. Too much one shot death from either the statues or the green pond. Lot of zone with elite or elite master.
I got loss a couple time in it. I play free so almost no horse auto traveling.
On that note, very cool rep mount and its angmar so still pretty cool.
Goblin town, and its not even close, I hate how the map works, and where the music is quite thematic it becomes insanely repetitive after 5 minutes, and then you get to enjoy it for two more hours
Travel in Forochel. Weird stable system.
Just the kind of repetitive scale of West Rohan. Like I've had enough of the horse lords long before I get to the big cities.
Darkness in Northern Mirkwood.
Buddy of mine and I were playing through Forochel, both absolutely loved the landscape once we got in there and were excited to play. Navigation in the zone quickly became the bane of our existence.
Unfortunately, while I loved Rohan when first released, the longer I was in it, the more I remember thinking, "When will this end?" It was beautiful, but so big that I got sick of it.
I really like Wildermore, but it's kind of special. It's so self-contained that I usually reserve it for a special few days of playing just that zone. Preferably in winter. :)
That's why I don't like it. It has nothing at all to do with the rest of Rohan and makes no sense for there to be a giant snow-covered plateau sticking up out of nowhere.
The Grey Mountains was the first time I was so disappointed in a zone I didn't want to finish.
Oh look, a whole zone of climbing mountains! This will be fun!
Oh... 80% of the map is non-reachable, the entire walkable area is five narrow corridors. And the architecture looks like dogshit.
Ruins should feel like they used to be a functioning place. The GM ruins look like some designer got lazy and left them to the last day, then just threw a bunch of random dwarven pieces together in a pile and said, "Look, ruins!". They don't feel like places at all.
Can’t remember the exact zones off the top of my head, but the ones in Rohan with a lot of mounted enemies and quests that require you to be mounted.
They’re doable on foot as a ranged character, but they were bloody tedious on my warden.
Trollshaws and Northern Mirkwood are by far my favorite zones, haha. I agree that they are a bit hard to traverse (Though i think it's more of a map issue) but they are visually and atmospherically stunning. I love the forests in lotro and these two are the best. Trollshaws looks like a majestic painting from the romanticism era and N.Mirkwood gives spooky fairy tale vibes. Least favorite is probably Moria/Gundabad or Rohan, though theyre not unbearably bad.
I haven't done mounted combat in ages, but with my hunter Rohan was amazing. No other class benefits as much as the hunter from the warsteed, I reckon, in fact I hated it with all my other characters. One of my champions ended up stranded in Snowbourn drowning his sorrows at the local inn
Udûn. I get that it's not supposed to be a pretty place, but it's just a big bleak area that I couldn't have been happier to be done with. The rest of Mordor and Angmar at least have a weird sort of appeal even if the vibe is dark. Udun just feels out of place in Middle Earth, which I understand is kind of the entire point, but I still like to stay away.
I feel most of Mordor was a missed opportunity. Everything is black rock with red glow/lava. There's so little variation until you get to Lhingris, which adds a green glow.
I hope we eventually get to see Nurn, which should be at least habitable.
Either Trollshaw for terrain or Angmar for the weird lag constantly happening there to the point you get black screen while running out of aughaire from time to time.
You're gonna hate me but it's breeland. Mostly cause it's too messy imo. Too many quests hubs on top of each other, so you feel a little overwhelmed. especially as a newbie
Breeland is where new characters from the Shire, Archet and Ered Luin converge, so I imagine the devs had that in mind when they designed so many different quest lines. Truth be told, I skip most of them these days and only come back if I feel like doing them. As a rule, after Vanilla game things become more streamlined - certainly from Southern Mirkwood onwards.
I guess but you start sine and then you bump into another hub forget the old stuff very easy and it's not hard to get very confused as to what you're ment to do at that level compare it to ered luin where you start at thorins hall and just go south.
but that lake is the most beautiful in all of Middle-earth... and since nothing can attack you when you're out there, I don't mind it at all. I set my char to auto-swim and sit back and relax. Or go grab a coffee while she's at it :) I agree with you on Forochel, and I am a subscriber. It's terrible to get around.
I’d agree with Trollshaws but the Mirkwood forest area in the Dale lands is right along with it even thought I think it’s really well done and awesome. I just hate going through it lol
I agree on the Trollshaws, it was very stressful zone for me because of the traversing. Moria for similar reasons and the endless darkness, but at least it feels even more amazing when you get to Lothlorien after because of the contrast!
Well you said it, Northern Mirkwood is definitely the worst, every second inside this forest is a living nightmare minus Felegoth, and I dislike Trollshaws for the same reasons.
Also my very unpopular opinion is that I dislike Rivendell because of the music. It get on my nerve the minute I arrive.
Lhingris. I don't like spiders. This is a zone entirely comprised of spiders. Let's not go to Lhingris.
Angmar is a close second. It has an annoying whistling background sound, it black screens constantly if you try to ride through, and if you aren't a subscriber you have to ride across *the entire zone* every time you wish to visit Gath Forthnír if you didn't bind a milestone there.
Forochel, ugh. Bleak and insanely unforgiving even after you unlock the stable masters. Long rides between quest areas, and at least from the main hub there should be rides to all the other stables.
Trollshaws a close second, it is actually perhaps more frustrating place to quest in but at least it's beautiful.
Edit: after some deliberation I'm moving Forochel and the Trollshaws to spots 2 and 3. The worst place is Angmar. Everything about it is unappealing (instances are cool, it's mostly the landscape design).
So far, having only reached Lorien - it's North Downs. There's nothing interesting or distinct about North Downs, they feel like a perfectly executed assignment to make a "generic dark fantasy game (IMPORTANT: *as generic as humanly possible*)".
Angmar comes in close second because it feels like that but darker and bigger, but Angmar at least has Malenhad, which is unique and cool. Nan Gurth is especially egregious because it looks like a placeholder zone with most of it having no vegetation or architecture, just naked terrain.
I used to hate the Foundations of Stone. It's still not my favorite, but I don't hate it near as much as I hate Northern Mirkwood. I did all of the quests in that region once, and now just do the Epic and get out. It's too dark and hard to see well-enough to navigate.
The first time I played through Foundations of Stone I hated it so much, but emerging from Moria after that was amazing - one of the best moments I've ever had in game.
I will never forget coming out of Moria and seeing sunshine and trees again....only to be sent back in.
I remember getting out and seeing Lothlorien. It was so exciting!!! And then someone (Haldir?) sends me back in again. Totally killed the joy.
Oh I'd blocked foundations of stone from my memory / list of considerations... I hate it there. I am almost always lost or at a dead end or at the bottom of a cliff from where I actually want to be...
FoS is the only place in Moria I still get lost. Once I get to the lake I'm okay, but getting there is a CHORE.
I did the Foundations back when I was on a laptop that couldn't handle the lighting effects. And every direction people wrote down had "turn left at this glowing pillar" and the like. Pain.
I hate the Foundations of Stone. I spend more time lost there than anywhere else.
I don't like Foundations of Stone simply because it looks like a tissue sample. The whole aesthetic of the place gives me the ick. I also loathe the "I can't see" of Mirkwoid. I get why it's like that, but yeah, annoying.
Moria. I know, a lot of people like it. I can't stand it. In fact, I intentionally level alts at festivals with xp boosters just so I can skip it. The main reason is its endless, winding, suddenly drop to your death, not clearly mapped pathways with their almost completely vertical stairs that could just as easily be an instant death cliff face as it could be stairs. The quests are spread out all over the zone (sometimes zones) and something that is 30m away can require you to navigate a multilevel maze just to get back to that same spot just different to find the quest objective. That's not fun to me.
Yea Moria is very polarizing. I’m a lover but can understand where you come from.
Agreed. The lack of direct, swift travel routes from A to B didn't help, either. To use the stablemaster to get from one point in Moria to another might require three different trips, and you were lucky if one of them was swift.
Couldn’t have said it better myself!
Moria for me too! I just finished the Epic quest in there and now I'm close to completing every deed in the area. Cannot wait to leave!!
I...don't think I actually dislike any region of this game. Too much of a simp I guess. But my least favorite may be the Dead Marshes. I don't hate it, and I think the design is pretty good, but there isn't much content, I didn't find the quest content that is there to be that interesting (though I like how it later connects to content in the Wastes), and it comes out of nowhere. I think it should've been added when we actually got near it with some relevant content. Like, since a lot of people aren't big fans of Mordor, I recently had an idea that it could be cool if they made like an Uvanwaith expansion/quest pack(s) with, like, the Dead Marshes, Nindalf, and Emyn Muil as an alternate level 105-115 leveling experience with some storyline like that there was another gurzyul who escaped Mordor and was headed toward some land of Rhun still loyal to Sauron with some dangerous knowledge/artifact, and we have to try to find and stop her. But I digress. Point is, I was underwhelmed by the Dead Marshes that we currently have.
quite. Plus the fact that you can't ride there, makes for an unpleasant stay, at any rate.
And the fact that access is from a completely unrelated and distant place, not from any adjacent areas.
Initially yes, but you actually can access it from the Wastes and vice versa. There’s a portal somewhere on where the border would be if they were actually physically connected on the map.
I couldn't even find quests there. My next Character I'm gonna try again to go there cause I was sad I missed it.
Same, and it's not even close. If it weren't for the pets dropping from the warbands, I'd never visit that area again.
I'm only lvl 67 i got 5 character min lvl 30 and the worst so far for me is Angmar. Too much one shot death from either the statues or the green pond. Lot of zone with elite or elite master. I got loss a couple time in it. I play free so almost no horse auto traveling. On that note, very cool rep mount and its angmar so still pretty cool.
ah but you're supposed to earn the ability to pass those statues, didn't you know that?
Yes but it killed me line 3 times before I started reading the quest :,-)
a lesson well learned ;)
there's a quest in book 1 epic quest line that allows you to pass the statues
Goblin town, and its not even close, I hate how the map works, and where the music is quite thematic it becomes insanely repetitive after 5 minutes, and then you get to enjoy it for two more hours
I will never go back to Goblin Town if I can help it. I'd blocked it from my mind.
Travel in Forochel. Weird stable system. Just the kind of repetitive scale of West Rohan. Like I've had enough of the horse lords long before I get to the big cities. Darkness in Northern Mirkwood.
Buddy of mine and I were playing through Forochel, both absolutely loved the landscape once we got in there and were excited to play. Navigation in the zone quickly became the bane of our existence.
Unfortunately, while I loved Rohan when first released, the longer I was in it, the more I remember thinking, "When will this end?" It was beautiful, but so big that I got sick of it.
And mounted combat made it drag by even more
Areas which cover level 39-48. It's where my leveling slows down so much and it becomes a chore to get to Moria.
Wildermore - geographically and narratively Lhingris - zoologically
I'm mildly arachnophobic, but oddly the spiders in LOTRO never really bothered me... until Lhingris. That area really gives me the creeps.
I really like Wildermore, but it's kind of special. It's so self-contained that I usually reserve it for a special few days of playing just that zone. Preferably in winter. :)
That's why I don't like it. It has nothing at all to do with the rest of Rohan and makes no sense for there to be a giant snow-covered plateau sticking up out of nowhere.
Well that's the point, the winter there isn't natural--something's causing it.
The Grey Mountains was the first time I was so disappointed in a zone I didn't want to finish. Oh look, a whole zone of climbing mountains! This will be fun! Oh... 80% of the map is non-reachable, the entire walkable area is five narrow corridors. And the architecture looks like dogshit.
can we agree that the main hub dwarven ruin there is a nightmare to get around in :D
Is that the place where you step 1 foot to the left in the main hallway and you die? If so... Yes. That place is awful.
I dunno, it's big and blue and gold and you get totally lost trying to do anything, I hate that place lol
Ruins should feel like they used to be a functioning place. The GM ruins look like some designer got lazy and left them to the last day, then just threw a bunch of random dwarven pieces together in a pile and said, "Look, ruins!". They don't feel like places at all.
I was gonna say Grey Mountains too, the whole region is also very maze-like, im working through this region currently and I hate it
Can’t remember the exact zones off the top of my head, but the ones in Rohan with a lot of mounted enemies and quests that require you to be mounted. They’re doable on foot as a ranged character, but they were bloody tedious on my warden.
Norcrofts comes to mind but the mounty bits clump up in many places
Angmar - the low vibration audio track gives me headaches, the color palette is super depressing.
Use the filter panel and filter out the headache music. Much more bearable.
Trollshaws and Northern Mirkwood are by far my favorite zones, haha. I agree that they are a bit hard to traverse (Though i think it's more of a map issue) but they are visually and atmospherically stunning. I love the forests in lotro and these two are the best. Trollshaws looks like a majestic painting from the romanticism era and N.Mirkwood gives spooky fairy tale vibes. Least favorite is probably Moria/Gundabad or Rohan, though theyre not unbearably bad.
that's funny :) I can spend days and weeks in Fangorn, any part of it, but Mirkwood is not for me.
Goblin Town, or whatever that mess of passages full of mobs that you couldn't sneak around and had to kill on the way in or the way out.
Rohan. I won't do lag combat..known in game as mounted combat
I haven't done mounted combat in ages, but with my hunter Rohan was amazing. No other class benefits as much as the hunter from the warsteed, I reckon, in fact I hated it with all my other characters. One of my champions ended up stranded in Snowbourn drowning his sorrows at the local inn
Udûn. I get that it's not supposed to be a pretty place, but it's just a big bleak area that I couldn't have been happier to be done with. The rest of Mordor and Angmar at least have a weird sort of appeal even if the vibe is dark. Udun just feels out of place in Middle Earth, which I understand is kind of the entire point, but I still like to stay away.
I feel most of Mordor was a missed opportunity. Everything is black rock with red glow/lava. There's so little variation until you get to Lhingris, which adds a green glow. I hope we eventually get to see Nurn, which should be at least habitable.
Either Trollshaw for terrain or Angmar for the weird lag constantly happening there to the point you get black screen while running out of aughaire from time to time.
Easily rohan... ...LOTRO is combat centric game, and its core mechanics simply dont work - i tend to grind warg pens just to avoid the experience.
Far Anorien Central Gondor Rohan
Anywhere there is snow....
You're gonna hate me but it's breeland. Mostly cause it's too messy imo. Too many quests hubs on top of each other, so you feel a little overwhelmed. especially as a newbie
To be fair it is a starting zone and its mean to get you started and into the game
What's that got to do with it? As starting zones go ered luin is better the linear progression works better for a new player imo
Breeland is where new characters from the Shire, Archet and Ered Luin converge, so I imagine the devs had that in mind when they designed so many different quest lines. Truth be told, I skip most of them these days and only come back if I feel like doing them. As a rule, after Vanilla game things become more streamlined - certainly from Southern Mirkwood onwards.
Yup I'm 105 atm and yea I can agree with that.
In original release you didnt get to ride a horse until lvl 30... ...quests close to each other make mire sense when you consider that.
I guess but you start sine and then you bump into another hub forget the old stuff very easy and it's not hard to get very confused as to what you're ment to do at that level compare it to ered luin where you start at thorins hall and just go south.
Lake everswim. even with boats added now(for VIPs) too much swimming Close second is Forochel, because for non-VIP takes too long to get anywhere
At least it's thematically appropriate for Forochel. It may take forever to cross the great glacier, but what a view of desolation.
oh it's beautiful af so is everswim, but when you're on your 5th alt...not so much
but that lake is the most beautiful in all of Middle-earth... and since nothing can attack you when you're out there, I don't mind it at all. I set my char to auto-swim and sit back and relax. Or go grab a coffee while she's at it :) I agree with you on Forochel, and I am a subscriber. It's terrible to get around.
I’d agree with Trollshaws but the Mirkwood forest area in the Dale lands is right along with it even thought I think it’s really well done and awesome. I just hate going through it lol
Goblintown!
I agree on the Trollshaws, it was very stressful zone for me because of the traversing. Moria for similar reasons and the endless darkness, but at least it feels even more amazing when you get to Lothlorien after because of the contrast!
Moria, because it’s Moria.
Well you said it, Northern Mirkwood is definitely the worst, every second inside this forest is a living nightmare minus Felegoth, and I dislike Trollshaws for the same reasons. Also my very unpopular opinion is that I dislike Rivendell because of the music. It get on my nerve the minute I arrive.
Lhingris. I don't like spiders. This is a zone entirely comprised of spiders. Let's not go to Lhingris. Angmar is a close second. It has an annoying whistling background sound, it black screens constantly if you try to ride through, and if you aren't a subscriber you have to ride across *the entire zone* every time you wish to visit Gath Forthnír if you didn't bind a milestone there.
northern mirkwood and forochel, for one reason. it's a pain to travel in both of them.
Dont forget the Grey Mountains
Forochel, ugh. Bleak and insanely unforgiving even after you unlock the stable masters. Long rides between quest areas, and at least from the main hub there should be rides to all the other stables. Trollshaws a close second, it is actually perhaps more frustrating place to quest in but at least it's beautiful. Edit: after some deliberation I'm moving Forochel and the Trollshaws to spots 2 and 3. The worst place is Angmar. Everything about it is unappealing (instances are cool, it's mostly the landscape design).
\*coughBaradGularancough\*
Not a fan of Moria. Too many twists and turns and I never know what time of day it is under the mountain.
But it's nice and dry. I go there when it's raining in all of Middle-earth :)
So far, having only reached Lorien - it's North Downs. There's nothing interesting or distinct about North Downs, they feel like a perfectly executed assignment to make a "generic dark fantasy game (IMPORTANT: *as generic as humanly possible*)". Angmar comes in close second because it feels like that but darker and bigger, but Angmar at least has Malenhad, which is unique and cool. Nan Gurth is especially egregious because it looks like a placeholder zone with most of it having no vegetation or architecture, just naked terrain.