Florandir Skirmishes to level 31

Florandir skirmishes to level 31 having chosen an archer as skirmish soldier. The Amon Sul skirmish is a favorite as the Lynx and soldier can hold their own in a -4 level fight so if I get called away to my little boy the skirmish can continue without Florandir. Being a Supreme Master Woodworker Florandir crafted an Ornate Yew Staff of Combat which gives a much needed Morale boost.

Apelred thanks Moonmaiden for his 2nd Age Bow

Apelred gives thanks to Moonmaiden for a 2nd Age L65 Bow which already had the Induction power down legendary and fortunately got the threat down at the L20 reforge making it a very good replacement for his 3rd Age bow.

Grimberg goes Legendary

Captain Grimberg thanks his kinmates for the items allowing him to get the In Defence Of Middle Earth legendary skill that gives +45 on all stats - nice. Just got to remember to keep it up all the time!

Florandir hits level 30 with a flourish

Florandir hands in Vol 1 Book 2 Chapter 15 to hit level 30 and gets a spectacular effect that is rather spoilt by the follow on quest dialogue box popping straight up so you can't see most of it. This effect only seems to appear when you level up as a result of handing in a quest.

Florandir then went on to do the notorious L30 Loremaster riddle quest. With a bit of thought he got the first two but had to look up the last one, and glad he did as it is not really clear how you are supposed to get to the answer from the riddle. I would have much preferred the third riddle to refer to some Tolkein lore like the second one did.

Flaming Halflings reunited

Apelred & Colzarak were joined by old friends Zeshac, Tipsie & Montagu for a trip to get Colzarak the 2nd key to Carn Dum.

Grimberg gets to level 45

Grimberg treks up the Misty Mountains & defeats Shataz on the way to level 44

Captian Grimberg is joined by Deshac the Burglar and Colvedui the Champion to make an unconventional group with no main healer & no main tank. The combination works surprisingly well and can deliver very high DPS so mobs don't stay around long enough to do much damage.
In the pic Deshac has triggered a fellowship maneuver on a turtle in Malenhad. Grimberg completed the Aughaire Fem quests to progress to level 45 enabling him to get his Class quests.

Florandir levels up ahead of the F2P rush

Florandir the Loremaster makes level 25 ahead of the F2P rush. In the screenshot he is drawing the power from a spider while Baloo his bear friend squashes it as part the the Weavers Beneath the Ruins quest in the Lone Lands. During this time he got jumped by a Ruby Shard dropping spider and half way through the fight got another add, two of these spiders were too much for my Champion but the Loremasters crowd control meant he could manage both, very impressed with this class.

Florandir spotted this lovely moonrise over Weathertop on his travels.
 

 Florandir completes the Master of the Staff deed at the expense of a goblin or two.

The Pumpkin Band play in Bree

Balikwin has been levelling up to join the Weaponsmiths Guild and had the pleasure of spotting this announcement.

'LISTEN UP ALL JOYFUL PEOPLE OF BREE AND MIDDLE EARTH, COME OUTSIDE PRANCING PONY NOW FOR A FUN TIME AND THE WORLDS FIRST TRAVELLING PUMPKIN ORCHESTRA TOUR!!!! <3

Grimberg drugs some giants on the way to Level 42

Grimberg sneaks round to the left of the giant sentries and pours some interesting berry juice into the giants stew pot.

Friend of the Men of Bree & Level 41

Grimberg ventures into the Bree Rep dungeon with burglar friend Deshac and manages to barter enough rep items to become a friend to the men of Bree and complete the rep quests to make level 41.

Apelred's determination slays 300 Angmar wargs

Apelred slays 300 wargs for his determination deed and to get their exceptional hides to progress his tailoring.

Class Changes in F2P Release

Just spotted this great summary on Casual Stroll to Mordor of the Class changes coming our way in F2P (Free to Play).
Hunters are getting interrupt & remove corruption skills!!! Hooray and thankyou devs.

Changes are also due for Champs, Loremasters and especially Cappies.

CAPPIES
The Lead the Charge & Leader of Men trait lines for Cappies are being reorganised, not sure of the implications but would like to find out as I am leveling Grimberg my Cappy atm, recently got him to level 40.

Doc Holiday has kindly done some number crunching of the Cappy changes in his blog

UPDATE - Reading around the forums

• Extra Level 1 Melee skill "Sure Strike" to alleviate early leveling boredom (good)
  
• Banners have been nerfed making Heralds more of an option at higher levels (not got to high enough level to affect me).
• Tier 5 and 6 crafted Armaments are now available (better get leveling my Tailor :))
  
• Lead the Charge is now DPS/Herald line (includes Oathbreaker pet)
  
• Leader of Men is now Tanking/Buffing line
• Hands of Healing is unchanged as Healing line
  

Here is a post on Lotro Weekly with screen shots comparing Live with Beta

Here is the original Lotro Beta Journal post

UPDATE - well nearly two months later it looks like Codemasters & Turbine have resolved their legal difficulties and us Europeans will get the Free to Play upgrade on Tuesday 2nd November as per this Codemasters announcement.

Vol 1 Book 15 One Hope Remains (Spoiler)

Apelred soloed Vol 1 Book 15 Chapter 12 fighting through Gador Gularan & bravely protecting Narmeleth who was very gung ho! Eventually they faced Mordrambor with Apelred very slowly chipping away at him while Narmeleth kept the curse of Narchuil at bay. Eventually Mordrambor was defeated and Narmeleth regained the powerful ring. Would Amarthiel return? Apelred let out a big sigh of relief as the ring was tossed into the fire and was destroyed.

Apelred very nearly lost Narmeleth fighting through to face Mordirith, desperately trying to get the aggro of the Angmarim & spiders before she was defeated. They made it, and finally faced Mordirith who met his end at the hands of the redeemed Elf.So after a long gap Apelred has finally finished Volume 1 and has his sturdy Grey Pony to ride as a reward.

Grimberg Level 40

Sunrise over Dol Dinen welcomes Grimberg's level 40 achievement during his Warg Slayer deed for Determination.

Grimberg makes L38 & L39

Grimberg adventured around Tal Bruinen and achieve level 38. Looking for a Black Rider and completing the Expert Attacks deed triggered the milestone level 39 and enabled Grimberg to pick up his Legendary Books and chat to Boromir about the missing pages. While in Rivendell he achieved Acquaintance with the Elves allowing him access to the Superior Forges to progress his Weaponsmithing and he used the Superior Study to get to Artisan Scholar and pick up the Path to Learning 4 quest.

Water Works dont work for our party

Apelred, Brenville & Colzarak try to complete the Water Works instance to get some radiance armour but the final boss proves too much for them this time - we will get the better of him next time they all say, we shall see!

Grimberg L37 & Subtle Command

Grimberg has killed many a wolf, bear and tomb robber around Ost Forod and is rewarded by completing Subtle Command and making Level 37.

Laenan Caves Vol 3 book 1 Chap 1 helping Radanir

Apelred stumbled around the caves for a while finding 2 orc leaders in the end, here is the map, hope it is useful, Apel is at the starting point.

Ascarsul Reborn

Apelred finally got his lovely 2nd age legendary crossbow up to level 60, and with great sadness he has deconstructed it for parts.

He has a pretty good L65 3rd age replacement and with the saved XP has got it up to level 28 which means a nice boost to DPS now at 81.3. Apel chose to prioritise grouping benefits and therefore has gone for power, threat & 'to hit' legacies. The Crit legacies only give around 3% extra DPS when maxed out so he can live without them.

Grimberg makes Level 36 on the way to completing Vol 1 Book 3

Grimberg & faithful companion Petula are stunned by Drukordh but recover to give him a good thrashing with the aid of a handy elf stone. They later help to defend Trestlebridge and free Dori to enable Halbarad's council to be assembled to complete vol 1 book 3.

Grimberg gets his Goat at Level 35

Grimberg delivers fresh steeds and learns how to ride his nimble goat.

Grimberg Levels Up

Apelred's captain friend Grimberg talks to Aragorn about reforging Narsil. He has made level 34 so far including completing Book 1 vol 1 & 2 doing the new solo versions of the final instances.