Post by elb on Feb 10, 2012 16:03:04 GMT -5
ELB here (toons: Azmodun, Gwuldir, Horsgar, Khazus, Valgray, Zorthane). I'm new to the kin, so I thought I'd share some links I've found useful in my pre-kin time. I invite others to add their favorites.
In no particular order…
Handy General Info. You May Not Know
LOTRO is full of handy conveniences no tutorial ever taught you — like the recent update that automatically dismounts you and starts you gathering a resource if you have the proper tool equipped (you no longer have to dismount and then click on the craft node). Another tip is you can also bind keyboard shortcuts to hotbars 4 and 5 (through the options menu for key commands), even though they don’t come numbered as 0-3 are. Though the post is old, so things may have changed/improved, it may still prove useful to you:
Thread “Things I Wish I Knew Earlier”: forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?46706-Official-Things-I-Wish-I-Knew-Earlier!
Setting Quantities in Inventory, Vault, Trade
In Personal Inventory:
Shift+Drag to a new slot - splits the stack
Buying at a Vendor:
Holding Shift - Buys a full stack
Holding Tab - Buys enough to finish your existing stack (you have 63 'Bags of Salt' in your inventory; hold Tab and it will let you buy 37 more)
Holding Ctrl - Lets you select how many to buy (it brings up a window like when you split a stack)
Quest Tracker Functions You May Well Not Know
If it bugs you that the quest tracker keeps switching the order of your quests — adding new quests and dropping others off — you can turn off automatic updating in the options menu (then all quests must be added manually through the quest menu).
Another option is to lock the quest. This can be done two ways. If it’s already on your quest tracker, then right-click the quest and choose “Lock” from the drop-down menu. If it’s not on your quest tracker or you prefer to review all your quests, going into your quest menu and clicking the quest so that the gold ring is visible on the left will lock it on your quest tracker (quests added automatically by the tracker will still have the gold ring, but will not be locked). Right-clicking on the quest tracker will also let you remove individual quests and also clear the tracker altogether (remove all).
Deeds and tasks may be added to the quest tracker as well (so you can easily keep count of how many more spiders you need to kill until you reach 100 — yes, my arm is tired too).
*Note that if a locked quest in your quest tracker completes and then automatically advances to the next quest in the quest chain, that next quest will no longer be locked and may drop off your tracker.*
Quests on your quest tracker will also show up on your map (not just the little arrow on your mini-map). This will be indicated by either a ring symbol on your map (which you can recolor as you wish) if the quest is a specific location or by a zone (a colored region) if the quest occurs over an area.
Hovering over the name of the quest on the map will cause either ring or region on the map to blink. This can be helpful when the ring/region is tough to see, especially when overlapped by other quest rings/regions.
Linking Items (and more) to the Chat Window
In LOTRO, it’s easy to place items from pretty much anywhere into the chat window to send/show to the recipient (with full description, icon, etc.). I believe you can also link other things, like skills and deeds, as well.
While your cursor is in the chat text bar, control+right-click the item. You can do this multiple times to create a string in the same message, and the items can be preceded and followed by text (ex.: I have these great helms for sale: [Helm of the Humongous] [Helm of the Inveterate Liar]. Rare drops!)
You can drag items to the chat text bar also.
User Interface
The LOTRO User Interface (UI) is quite customizable, and you can save and load your UI schemes (yes, you can save your UI set-up from one character and load it to all your alts). You can also load those developed by others, including plug-ins that display a wide variety of useful information and/or perform functions the default UI can't (e.g., editable notepad, map notes, etc.).
To move/resize/unlock UI elements: control+\ (hit it again to lock UI)
Saving/Loading Interface: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki//UI_Command
LOTRO Interface Downloads and More: www.lotrointerface.com/
Skill Target Forwarding — Essential for Chars Who Both Damage Foes and Heal/Buff Allies Often
Have trouble switching mid-combat from targeting a foe to targeting an ally (likely that foe's target)? For my minstrel, skill target forwarding is essential, a night-and-day difference from standard targeting. I'll let the links explain. There are some drawbacks, however, so read and apply carefully.
Skill Target Forwarding Explained: lotroreporter.com/tag/skill-target-forwarding/
Skill Target Forwarding Pluses and Minuses: forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?341098-Skill-Target-Forwarding/page2
Equipping Cosmetic Items and Outfits
Some folks may not know that all chars have access to at least several cosmetic outfits beyond their actual equipped gear, there is a "Dressing Room" function where you can preview how any clothing item will look on your toon in any dye color, and any character can wear any item of clothing in the game (the only restriction possibly being gender). So, yes, a level 10 lore-master can equip multiple suits of level 75 heavy armor cosmetically.
Using Outfits, the Basics: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Cosmetics_Guide#How_to_Equip_Items_Cosmetically
Taking advantage of the Wardrobe to cosmetically equip gear your character is normally restricted from wearing (by level, class, etc.): lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Wardrobe
Ignore "as long as they meet the requirements" in the Wardrobe link — I've put heavy mail on a burglar...there are no restrictions.
Completing Tasks (Using Task Boards) to Increase Reputation
You may have seen notice boards throughout the world. These task boards offer (surprise! surprise!) tasks! Completing a task generally yields a small amount of XP, but, much more importantly, it almost always grants a fair amount of reputation for a given faction. Maxing out reputation with a faction yields a variety of benefits, so it’s a good goal to pursue. Task quests always consist of gathering item drops (so-called “vendor trash”) that you’ll likely acquire while adventuring in the area and killing mobs anyway, so you rarely need to go out of your way to complete the task alone. Initially, you are limited to performing five tasks/day (resets @ 3 am EST).
Keeping all those task items can take a toll on your inventory, though.
All about tasks: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Task_System_Guide
Table of items that fulfill tasks (vital for separating true vendor trash from task turn-ins): lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Trophy_Items_Used_for_Tasks
The Reputation System — Who Gives It and What are the Rewards?
Increasing your char’s reputation with a faction can bring significant rewards. Crafting guilds also offer reputation that can lead to the best recipes in the game.
Reputation — Factions list and levels: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Reputation
More on crafting guilds and rewards: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Crafting_Guild
Deeds — From Initiation to Rewards
It seems that every time you kill something new or quest for a bit, you’re alerted that you’re either on your way to or have completed another deed. Then it’s off to the bard to slot them (the art of deciding which to use is a whole other subject). LOTRO includes a rather dizzying number of deeds with varying rewards. So, if you're curious how to get that 4th rank of Zeal or Fortitude, read below.
Deeds categorized: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Deed
Virtue Deeds — How to Level Them and What They Give You: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Virtues
Playing an Instrument — from Amateur to Virtuoso in 5 Minutes
Can you compose your own music for LOTRO instruments? Sure, and you’ll deserve our true admiration if you do. But most don’t. For LOTRO, it’s easy as pie to grab pre-made music files from the Web and then execute (“play”) them in game with a single command.
Play LOTRO music — Learn how and download tunes here: www.thefatlute.com/Tutorial.aspx
Maps — Umm, Where Do I Find That?
The in-game maps are good, sure, but sometimes that particular NPC or item (Where the heck is all the tin ore!?!) is elusive. These can help.
Searchable Dynamic Map: dynmap.ruslotro.com/
Searchable Google-Earth-style Interactive Map (takes some getting used to, but helpful for finding, say, concentrations of craft resource nodes): www.arda-online.com/map/
LOTRO’s Epic Story Summarized
Having trouble keeping the LOTRO epic story straight in the midst of everything else? These sites will help jog your memory and clarify past events (or read the ending if you're naughty).
Epic Story Summary: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Volume_1:_Shadows_of_Angmar-_The_Complete_Story#Introduction.2FPrologue:
Epic Story in Chapter-By-Chapter Detail: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Epic_Story_Narrative
Skirmishes — How To and Rewards
Skirmishes are like a mini-game unto themselves. Read these to get a handle on how they work, how you get paid and what you can get with the credits.
Skirmish Q&A: massively.joystiq.com/2009/12/04/getting-started-with-the-lotro-skirmish-system/
Basic Guide to Skirmishing: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Arbalisters_Guide_to_Skirmishing
More extensive information on Skirmishes: www.lotro.com/gameinfo/devdiaries/514-developer-diary-som-skirmishes-rewards
Skirmish Rewards Listed: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Skirmish_Compendium#Barter_Rewards
Custom Shortcut Commands — Macros and Aliases
Have a long line of text your character says often after which she performs a specific emote? How about executing three actions in a row? Rather than typing it in over and over or taking actions one at a time, LOTRO allows you to create macros and aliases that enable you to bind them to a single hotkey and keyboard command.
It’s not the most intuitive system, so you may need to take a few stabs at it before it works properly.
Macros and Aliases: forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?144140-How-to-Macro!-(A.K.A.-The-alias-Command)
Another Explanation of Macros/Aliases: www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/45/view/forums/thread/305682/LOTRO-MACRO-ALIAS-SHORTCUT.html
More On Macros and Aliases: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Aliases_and_Quickslot_Shortcuts
More On Macros and Aliases 2: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Alias
Those Magnificent Mounts
Wondering how to get that all-white pony with the hot pink saddle and mauve blanket with the white-gold accents that you've always wanted? (Of course there's pictures.)
Mounts of Middle-Earth: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Mounts
More Mounts of Middle-Earth: www.lotrosteeds.com/
In no particular order…
Handy General Info. You May Not Know
LOTRO is full of handy conveniences no tutorial ever taught you — like the recent update that automatically dismounts you and starts you gathering a resource if you have the proper tool equipped (you no longer have to dismount and then click on the craft node). Another tip is you can also bind keyboard shortcuts to hotbars 4 and 5 (through the options menu for key commands), even though they don’t come numbered as 0-3 are. Though the post is old, so things may have changed/improved, it may still prove useful to you:
Thread “Things I Wish I Knew Earlier”: forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?46706-Official-Things-I-Wish-I-Knew-Earlier!
Setting Quantities in Inventory, Vault, Trade
In Personal Inventory:
Shift+Drag to a new slot - splits the stack
Buying at a Vendor:
Holding Shift - Buys a full stack
Holding Tab - Buys enough to finish your existing stack (you have 63 'Bags of Salt' in your inventory; hold Tab and it will let you buy 37 more)
Holding Ctrl - Lets you select how many to buy (it brings up a window like when you split a stack)
Quest Tracker Functions You May Well Not Know
If it bugs you that the quest tracker keeps switching the order of your quests — adding new quests and dropping others off — you can turn off automatic updating in the options menu (then all quests must be added manually through the quest menu).
Another option is to lock the quest. This can be done two ways. If it’s already on your quest tracker, then right-click the quest and choose “Lock” from the drop-down menu. If it’s not on your quest tracker or you prefer to review all your quests, going into your quest menu and clicking the quest so that the gold ring is visible on the left will lock it on your quest tracker (quests added automatically by the tracker will still have the gold ring, but will not be locked). Right-clicking on the quest tracker will also let you remove individual quests and also clear the tracker altogether (remove all).
Deeds and tasks may be added to the quest tracker as well (so you can easily keep count of how many more spiders you need to kill until you reach 100 — yes, my arm is tired too).
*Note that if a locked quest in your quest tracker completes and then automatically advances to the next quest in the quest chain, that next quest will no longer be locked and may drop off your tracker.*
Quests on your quest tracker will also show up on your map (not just the little arrow on your mini-map). This will be indicated by either a ring symbol on your map (which you can recolor as you wish) if the quest is a specific location or by a zone (a colored region) if the quest occurs over an area.
Hovering over the name of the quest on the map will cause either ring or region on the map to blink. This can be helpful when the ring/region is tough to see, especially when overlapped by other quest rings/regions.
Linking Items (and more) to the Chat Window
In LOTRO, it’s easy to place items from pretty much anywhere into the chat window to send/show to the recipient (with full description, icon, etc.). I believe you can also link other things, like skills and deeds, as well.
While your cursor is in the chat text bar, control+right-click the item. You can do this multiple times to create a string in the same message, and the items can be preceded and followed by text (ex.: I have these great helms for sale: [Helm of the Humongous] [Helm of the Inveterate Liar]. Rare drops!)
You can drag items to the chat text bar also.
User Interface
The LOTRO User Interface (UI) is quite customizable, and you can save and load your UI schemes (yes, you can save your UI set-up from one character and load it to all your alts). You can also load those developed by others, including plug-ins that display a wide variety of useful information and/or perform functions the default UI can't (e.g., editable notepad, map notes, etc.).
To move/resize/unlock UI elements: control+\ (hit it again to lock UI)
Saving/Loading Interface: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki//UI_Command
LOTRO Interface Downloads and More: www.lotrointerface.com/
Skill Target Forwarding — Essential for Chars Who Both Damage Foes and Heal/Buff Allies Often
Have trouble switching mid-combat from targeting a foe to targeting an ally (likely that foe's target)? For my minstrel, skill target forwarding is essential, a night-and-day difference from standard targeting. I'll let the links explain. There are some drawbacks, however, so read and apply carefully.
Skill Target Forwarding Explained: lotroreporter.com/tag/skill-target-forwarding/
Skill Target Forwarding Pluses and Minuses: forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?341098-Skill-Target-Forwarding/page2
Equipping Cosmetic Items and Outfits
Some folks may not know that all chars have access to at least several cosmetic outfits beyond their actual equipped gear, there is a "Dressing Room" function where you can preview how any clothing item will look on your toon in any dye color, and any character can wear any item of clothing in the game (the only restriction possibly being gender). So, yes, a level 10 lore-master can equip multiple suits of level 75 heavy armor cosmetically.
Using Outfits, the Basics: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Cosmetics_Guide#How_to_Equip_Items_Cosmetically
Taking advantage of the Wardrobe to cosmetically equip gear your character is normally restricted from wearing (by level, class, etc.): lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Wardrobe
Ignore "as long as they meet the requirements" in the Wardrobe link — I've put heavy mail on a burglar...there are no restrictions.
Completing Tasks (Using Task Boards) to Increase Reputation
You may have seen notice boards throughout the world. These task boards offer (surprise! surprise!) tasks! Completing a task generally yields a small amount of XP, but, much more importantly, it almost always grants a fair amount of reputation for a given faction. Maxing out reputation with a faction yields a variety of benefits, so it’s a good goal to pursue. Task quests always consist of gathering item drops (so-called “vendor trash”) that you’ll likely acquire while adventuring in the area and killing mobs anyway, so you rarely need to go out of your way to complete the task alone. Initially, you are limited to performing five tasks/day (resets @ 3 am EST).
Keeping all those task items can take a toll on your inventory, though.
All about tasks: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Task_System_Guide
Table of items that fulfill tasks (vital for separating true vendor trash from task turn-ins): lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Trophy_Items_Used_for_Tasks
The Reputation System — Who Gives It and What are the Rewards?
Increasing your char’s reputation with a faction can bring significant rewards. Crafting guilds also offer reputation that can lead to the best recipes in the game.
Reputation — Factions list and levels: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Reputation
More on crafting guilds and rewards: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Crafting_Guild
Deeds — From Initiation to Rewards
It seems that every time you kill something new or quest for a bit, you’re alerted that you’re either on your way to or have completed another deed. Then it’s off to the bard to slot them (the art of deciding which to use is a whole other subject). LOTRO includes a rather dizzying number of deeds with varying rewards. So, if you're curious how to get that 4th rank of Zeal or Fortitude, read below.
Deeds categorized: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Deed
Virtue Deeds — How to Level Them and What They Give You: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Virtues
Playing an Instrument — from Amateur to Virtuoso in 5 Minutes
Can you compose your own music for LOTRO instruments? Sure, and you’ll deserve our true admiration if you do. But most don’t. For LOTRO, it’s easy as pie to grab pre-made music files from the Web and then execute (“play”) them in game with a single command.
Play LOTRO music — Learn how and download tunes here: www.thefatlute.com/Tutorial.aspx
Maps — Umm, Where Do I Find That?
The in-game maps are good, sure, but sometimes that particular NPC or item (Where the heck is all the tin ore!?!) is elusive. These can help.
Searchable Dynamic Map: dynmap.ruslotro.com/
Searchable Google-Earth-style Interactive Map (takes some getting used to, but helpful for finding, say, concentrations of craft resource nodes): www.arda-online.com/map/
LOTRO’s Epic Story Summarized
Having trouble keeping the LOTRO epic story straight in the midst of everything else? These sites will help jog your memory and clarify past events (or read the ending if you're naughty).
Epic Story Summary: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Volume_1:_Shadows_of_Angmar-_The_Complete_Story#Introduction.2FPrologue:
Epic Story in Chapter-By-Chapter Detail: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Epic_Story_Narrative
Skirmishes — How To and Rewards
Skirmishes are like a mini-game unto themselves. Read these to get a handle on how they work, how you get paid and what you can get with the credits.
Skirmish Q&A: massively.joystiq.com/2009/12/04/getting-started-with-the-lotro-skirmish-system/
Basic Guide to Skirmishing: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Arbalisters_Guide_to_Skirmishing
More extensive information on Skirmishes: www.lotro.com/gameinfo/devdiaries/514-developer-diary-som-skirmishes-rewards
Skirmish Rewards Listed: lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Skirmish_Compendium#Barter_Rewards
Custom Shortcut Commands — Macros and Aliases
Have a long line of text your character says often after which she performs a specific emote? How about executing three actions in a row? Rather than typing it in over and over or taking actions one at a time, LOTRO allows you to create macros and aliases that enable you to bind them to a single hotkey and keyboard command.
It’s not the most intuitive system, so you may need to take a few stabs at it before it works properly.
Macros and Aliases: forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?144140-How-to-Macro!-(A.K.A.-The-alias-Command)
Another Explanation of Macros/Aliases: www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/45/view/forums/thread/305682/LOTRO-MACRO-ALIAS-SHORTCUT.html
More On Macros and Aliases: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Aliases_and_Quickslot_Shortcuts
More On Macros and Aliases 2: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Alias
Those Magnificent Mounts
Wondering how to get that all-white pony with the hot pink saddle and mauve blanket with the white-gold accents that you've always wanted? (Of course there's pictures.)
Mounts of Middle-Earth: lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Mounts
More Mounts of Middle-Earth: www.lotrosteeds.com/