Are you a newcomer in Middle-earth? Have you started a new world and you're struggling? This page will give you tips and ideas on how to survive and prosper in your journey across the world of LotR! They are useful in single player games, but more important, when playing on servers.
Food[]
Food of Middle-earth
|
Food is easily obtained if you're a smart player. As you start in the Shire, which is crowded with pigs, chickens, cows and rabbits, you should take your time to hunt a lot of them (in doing so, you will gather a large amount of leather and feathers, which are very useful for crafting and trading). Not only that but there are plenty of structures with lots of it. The other way to gather food is to loot Hobbit holes. Sometimes, you will also find fruit on trees or berries to eat. Fishing (with a Dunlending trident or fishing rods) is also a good way to obtain food.
Most biomes have animals to hunt, but evil and mountainous areas are generally lacking in wildlife (Dol Guldor, Angmar, Mordor, Utumno, Uruk Highlands, Perdorogwaith, Isengard). On the Island of Meneltarma only seagulls spawn.
Many players complain of a lack of food in the Shire on larger servers. One way to circumvent this is to walk and preserve your hunger until you are capable of sustaining yourself. Make your tools, then go find a cave. Mine some nitre, cobwebs (with a sword), iron and other stuff you think you will need. Make a hoe, grab some seeds or veggies, and then craft some bonemeal out of your nitre. With your iron you can make a bucket and then you can begin making a farm. It is recommended to banner protect your farm and fence it off to protect it from rabbits and griefers. Building a scarecrow using skulls or Jack' o Lanterns to protect against pesky birds that steal your crops. Set a custom fast travel point at your farm. Also, try to do some fishing and you will get plenty of food to last you.
Choosing a faction[]
|
The Westlands:
Angmar •
Blue Mountains •
Bree-land •
Dale •
Dol Guldur •
Dúnedain of the North Rhûn:
Harad:
Half-Trolls • Morwaith • Near Harad • Taurethrim The Deeps of the Earth:
|
In general it's a good idea to choose a faction you want to ally with rather early on. Make getting alignment with that faction a priority, as it'll allow you to craft that faction's specific equipment, which is generally stronger than the generic bronze and iron equipment, trade with certain NPC's, and will in time allow you to hire units, which will help protect you both from enemy players, bandits and invasions. If you want a evil faction early on, try to make for the evils of Gundabad, which has fairly cheap and strong orcs to help. Which faction(s) you choose to side with is up to you, as each faction has its pros and cons, but focus on one at a time until you've got a decent amount of alignment (say 400 or so). Then, consider gaining more alignment with factions that your faction is friendly with, just in case you get caught outside your normal region of Middle-Earth, and need to hire troops or trade while underway. For example, if you play as a Gondorian, it's a good idea to consider trying to obtain a decent amount of Rohirric alignment. Conversely, players aligned with Mordor might want to get some Dol Guldur and Gundabad alignment. Mini-quests are a good way to get alignment for new players especially, as they reward both cash and alignment, both of which will prove very helpful in the long term.
Map position[]
In order to avoid players that might try to kill/rob you, turn OFF your map location: Press "L" (or whatever key you've set to bring up the lotr-menu), then click the arrows at the top until the options-menu shows up. By doing this, other players won't see you on their map, making it more difficult for them to hunt you down. On some servers there are rules that you've got to leave it on, check those first.
Establishing your base[]
If you want to establish a base, the best way is choose a remote place, with difficult access, and to use banner protection to avoid looters, griefers and fort besiegers. To do so, you must choose a faction to help and gain alignment with it. Then, find a randomly generated camp or structure of the faction, and use its crafting table to create a new one. Put a banner on it, mine some gold ore, turn it into ingots, turn the ingots into a gold block. You can also use silver or bronze blocks when you want a smaller base. For bigger bases or more complicated protection, you'll probably need more than one block. Place the metal block(s) in the center of the area you want your base to be established, and finally put the banner upon it. For more details see banner protection. Don't forget to add defensive features, such as high walls (three blocks high at least), towers, and avoid windows without glass in them. Don't forget to place doors and always keep them closed to avoid intruders (although, NPCs can open wooden doors and enemies can slip in with them). You can prevent this from happening by using gates instead of doors in your walls; they will also make a fortress-themed build look more realistic.
Fast travelling[]
When your base is ready, set a custom fast travel point in it. With default fast travel points, you'll always spawn on the highest level when fast travelling, not inside buildings or caves. However, with custom fast travel points, you can spawn underground, so it is not needed to have an open-air arriving point. Doing so, you'll have easy access to your base, and it will be more difficult for enemy players to follow you and find it.
Supplies[]
In your base, dig a 2x2 hole and fill it with water to have an unlimited water source. If you have a Dunlending crafting table and are able to craft tridents, you will have unlimited food as well, or use just a simple fishing rod. Near this source, plant your crops to get food. If you find some, plant berry bushes as well, and farm sugar cane for sugar and paper. You should also breed some farm animals like cows, chickens or pigs for milk, meat, eggs, leather and feathers.
Enemies[]
Players aren't the only foes you'll have to worry about: Certain biomes will naturally spawn bandit NPC's. They won't kill you unless you attack them, but they will attempt to take stuff out of your inventory. More dangerous than bandits -- and sometimes more dangerous than an enemy player -- is an invasion. This can spawn anywhere from 30 to 70 enemy NPC's (including banner bearers and the dreaded warg bombardiers) within a few minutes. Don't be caught unawares -- keep an eye on your chat, and if you ever hear a low-pitched horn blow, be ready for a lot of combat, or just run. Read this for more information about how to fight invasions best.
Hunting down your foes[]
When fighting other players, don't forget that PVP logging (disconnecting the server or fast travelling away when you see that your death is near) is strictly forbidden on most servers, and will only get you a ban (the hunter will be angry to lose his prey, and will certainly report the cheater to the admins). On some servers, both players first have to agree in a fight.
Be well prepared, and keep your valuables in a chest at base. Only bring armour, weapons and food with you (including magical drinks for combat boost, such as Athelas brew, Orc draught, Ent-draught, etc.) in case of death. Modified armour and weapons, even if they are rare and valuable, are very useful in a fight. Take them if your target is a veteran player, and try to hunt him down with some friends.
Also, watch that your location is turned OFF in the options (if allowed by server rules), and turn your aligmnent OFF as well (it's very easy to spot the large golden ring over your head, even through walls, trees and hills). Turn it ON only if you meet a friendly player that doesn't know you, to prevent him from thinking you're aggressive.
The Elven scout armour of the Wood-elves of the Woodland Realm has a permanent speed-II-buff, very useful to run after a player, but it lacks in armour points, so try to modify it with Tough and Sturdy buffs.
The crossbow is a very powerful weapon, but it has a long reload time, so use it only for sniping at long distance. Elven and dwarven weapons have better stats than human or Orcish ones, so keep that in mind. A warhammer is a good choice if you fight an opponent in a mountainous region, as a single hit can push him in the air, and there is a possibility he will fall from a high place to death. A Morgul blade is also a good choice, as it causes the wither effect, which ignores armour and depletes the enemy's health until they die or the effect runs out (more efficient than poisoned weapons).
Also, remember to be fair and respectful with your "enemy" players: This is just a game, even if you lose a very powerful weapon or armour. Real warriors pay a lot of respect to each other, as they know, how difficult and dangerous their "handicraft" can be. There is no valor and no fame in killing a newbie on a server, when you are in mithril armour using a powerful weapon.
Gameplay mechanics of the Lord of the Rings Mod
Basic Mechanics:
Alignment •
Books •
Crafting •
Equipment Modifiers •
Factions •
Farming The World:
Biomes (Variants) •
Clock •
Compass •
Fast Travel System •
Roads Achievements and Quests:
Achievements • Mini-Quest • Shields • Titles • The Red Book • Tutorial In-Game Events:
Bandits • Bloodmoon • Invasions • Player Respawning • Skirmishes • Thieves Combat:
Banners •
Boss Mechanics •
Combat System •
Conquest •
Fort Besieging Tips •
Fort Defense Tips Brewing:
Portals:
Other / Technical:
|