Low-Level Outfitting: Lore-Master Starting Outfit

For an introduction/explanation of this Starting Outfit series, check out this post.

In the Lord of the Rings, Elrond has always fascinated me. He has lived for ages (literally); his memory is long and his understanding deep. It is fitting then that the lore-master class was created with Elrond in mind. Lore-masters use ancient knowledge to unleash nature against their enemies. Animal companions are an interesting component of this class; both the bear and lynx are just so cute! Apparently the elves trust some men and women to learn the ancient wisdom, for both races can be lore-masters.

The lore-master starting outfit consists of three pieces, two of which are complicated by other classes' starting pieces with similar names or designs.  Please see the post on Sorting out the Confusion for clarification.

1. Chest: Robe (green with yellow accents)
The lore-master's starting robe is a beautiful elven robe in green and yellow with an orange sash. This design will appear countless times in the lower levels as quest rewards, but you might as well put this one in the wardrobe and start dyeing it for various occasions. Just be aware this design is not unique to lore-masters. My guardian found it quite smart for the 2011 Summer Festival Horse.

2. Legs: Quilted Leggings (brown)
Interestingly, you might never realize that your lore-master has these because they're completely hidden from view when the robe is equipped (See picture at right; the shirt there is the male undershirt that cannot be removed, which conveniently prevents streaking in Middle Earth). If you want to deviate quickly from the robe look, these are a basic set of leggings that will serve for a while.

3. Feet: Padded Shoes (brown)
This is a basic shoe that is definitely worth keeping. I have a pair of these in my wardrobe in a dozen colors.

The trick to dyeing robes is figuring out which portions do not dye and what their colors are. Sometimes, only a tiny amount is dyeable and thus the piece has little potential for variety. In this case, the robe will continue to have an orange sash and yellow trim, but the overall impact color can be changed. By the way, sashes are notorious for having odd shades that don't seem to go well with anything! Here I've dyed the robe black, which simultaneously looks elegant and allows the bright trim and sash to pop. Black shoes finish the outfit.

Full Details:

Chest: robe (black)

starting lore-master outfit piece, no min. level required
Legs: quilted leggings (default)

starting lore-master outfit piece, no min. level required

Feet: padded shoes (black)

starting lore-master outfit piece, no min. level required

Low-Level Outfitting: Hunter Starting Outfit

For an introduction/explanation of this Starting Outfit series, check out this post.

Like guardian, hunter is an equal opportunity class. Any race can be a hunter. Hunters are excellent archers and are most effective fighters at a distance; they do have a melee weapon as well if needed. Turbine's model representative for this class is Legolas, whose kill record in Helm's Deep kept pace with that of Gimli the axe-wielding dwarf..

Hunters receive a starting outfit of light armor in green and brown tones. The outfit consists of three pieces, one of which is complicated by other classes' starting pieces with similar names or designs.  Please see the post on Sorting out the Confusion for clarification.

1. Chest: Cloth Vest (green and brown)
The green portions of this sleeveless chest piece dye well. The same shirt with sleeves can be found later in-game. If you like the sleeveless look, this is a good piece to keep.

2. Legs: Cloth Pants (green and brown)
These "pants" are skirted leggings whose green portions dye well. There is a crimson stripe around the lower leg that does not dye, and the green belt also stays regardless of dyeing.

3. Feet: Padded Shoes (brown)
These are great, basic shoes. I have a copy of these in my wardrobe in a dozen colors.

This outfit is quite versatile and adapts to many different looks. My take on it here ties in the crimson of the leggings and matches the leggings and shoes to the brown of the vest; it borders on Christmasy but hopefully stops just short!

Full Details:

Chest: cloth vest (crimson)

starting hunter outfit piece, no min. level required
Legs: cloth pants (sienna)

starting hunter outfit piece, no min. level required

Feet: padded shoes (sienna)

starting hunter outfit piece, no min. level required

Return from Vacation

In real life, I've been on vacation. My original plan was to use some of that time to write a bunch of posts, but I quickly realized that I needed a complete vacation from every aspect of "normal" life, including Lotro and the blog. Although our vacation spot did not have the gorgeous views of Evendim, my husband and I had a wonderful time, and  I came back refreshed!

Misty Mountains

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming (i.e. the starting outfit series) for a short break. Gelmirian has started questing in the Misty Mountains and has been enjoying the frosty weather. I managed to catch this moody night shot in between snowbeast attacks.

Does anyone else find it strange that the clouds seem to be behind the stars?

Low-Level Outfitting: Guardian Starting Outfit

For an introduction/explanation of this Starting Outfit series, check out this post.

Human Guardian

Gelmirian, my main, is a guardian, so I know this class the best of any of them. I chose it because I have an aversion to my characters dying, and the guardian class has enough morale to withstand most fights and tank for another player as well. And now that Gelmirian is high enough level to also use a bow, I can snipe and tank. It's great!

all pieces dyed red

Unfortunately, the starting outfit for guardians is my least favorite due to its dyeing limitations. The outfit consists of five pieces of medium armor in blue and brown tones, but most of the blue areas on this entire outfit are undyeable. In the picture at right, I have dyed each piece red; notice how much blue remains.

Again, all the pieces except the shoulders are complicated by other classes' starting pieces with similar names or designs.  Please see the post on Sorting out the Confusion for clarification.

1. Chest: Leather Shirt (blue and brown)
This shirt is a short-sleeve version of the champion's chest piece. It dyes well and is worth keeping in my opinion.

2. Shoulders: Leather Shoulder Guards (blue and brown)
Chiefly blue, you can dye a ribbon width of trim.

3. Hands: Leather Gauntlets (blue and brown)
Fairly standard design for medium armor bulky gloves; you're just stuck with the blue.

4. Legs: Leather Leggings (brown)
Basic leggings that dye well; worth keeping.

5. Feet: Leather Boots (blue and brown)
These boots dye strangely in two stripes; these might be useful for coordinating complicated outfits with multiple colors as long as one of them is blue.

When I'm designing an outfit and there is a difficult color that I am forced to work with (e.g. the sea blue trim on the Fourth Anniversary pieces), I tend to embrace that color and add more of it. That is what I did with the guardian's starting armor and its unchangeable blue.

Full Details:

Chest: leather shirt (orange)

starting guardian outfit piece, no min. level required

Shoulders: leather shoulder guards (default)

starting guardian outfit piece, no min. level required

Hands: leather gauntlets (orange)

starting guardian outfit piece, no min. level required

Legs: leather leggings (navy)

starting guardian outfit piece, no min. level required

Feet: leather boots (sienna)

starting guardian outfit piece, no min. level required

Low-Level Outfitting: Champion Starter Outfit

For an introduction/explanation of this Starting Outfit series, check out this post.

Elf Champion

In contrast to captains, who can be only human, the champion class is available to all races except human. Champions are fierce and unflinching in battle, wading into swarms of enemies and racking up the kills. With half the health of other melee classes, though, they are more apt to die unlike Turbine's model representative for this class, Gimli son of Gloin.

Champions receive a starting outfit of medium armor in green and brown tones. The outfit consists of three pieces, all of which are complicated by other classes' starting pieces with similar names or designs.  Please see the post on Sorting out the Confusion for clarification.

1. Leather Jacket (green and brown)
This long-sleeved chest piece has an interesting cross-hatch pattern on it, and the background dyes very well in various colors. If you like the style, definitely keep this.

2. Leather Leggings (green and brown)
These skirted leggings go with the jacket, but could undoubtedly be used in other outfits as well.

3. Leather Shoes (brown with green cuff)
These shoes dye only on the cuff and are good when you need an accent of color instead of a block of color. The minstrel copy of this design is in my wardrobe.

I really like this outfit for its versatility in dyeing. It simply looks good in a lot of different colors. Here's just one variation. Notice how brightly the jacket dyes white!

Full Details:

Chest: leather jacket (white)

starting champion outfit piece, no min. level required

Legs: leather leggings (white)

starting champion outfit piece, no min. level required

Feet: leather shoes (Evendim blue)

starting champion outfit piece, no min. level required

Starting Outfits: Sorting out the Confusion

So far we have looked at the burglar and captain starting outfits.  But we need to pause for a moment, for it doesn't take long to realize that working with multiple classes' starting outfit pieces is confusing because there are:

• pieces with the same name that look nothing alike
• pieces that do not have the same name but do look alike
• pieces with the same name that do look alike

To bring some clarity to this situation, here are pictures of the confusing pieces next to each other along with which class they belong to. As usual, I'll go from head to toe. Throughout the pictures, I have used different races, so sometimes a piece is a bit elongated (particularly for hobbits). Also remember that I do not have access to warden and runekeeper beyond the main character choosing screen, so those images do not have specific names given.

Head, Shoulders, and Back:
Blessedly, there are no confusing pieces in these departments! No class starts with a head piece or a cloak, and starting shoulders are given only to guardians and captains. And Turbine gave them different names. Excellent.

Chest:
There are four styles of starting chest pieces. Below are the three confusing styles. Notice the key difference between each design pair is the length of sleeve.

Hands:
Four classes have gloves, and each seems to be a unique design, although I can't get a good enough look at the runekeeper's gloves to be sure they are different than the burglar's.

Legs:
Legs epitomize the confusion of starting pieces. Notice going down the first column, three different designs are called "Leather Leggings," and across the first row the same design has two different names. I also made a point of including all three skirted leggings (the middle row) because they are notably not the same design. If I had to guess, the runekeeper's leggings, which are not visible under the robe, would be similar to that of the loremaster.

Feet:
Let's keep this simpler by splitting "feet" into boots and shoes. There are two types of starting boots. The captain and warden boots dye all over, so if you like the strappy look on big boots, these are worth keeping. The guardian's boots dye awkwardly in stripes, and the blue cuff cannot be dyed at all; in my opinion they are not worth keeping.

Starting shoes also have two styles. The top row of shoes all dye as one color, and are worth keeping. This style shoe is in my wardrobe dyed in a dozen different colors. In the bottom row, only the cuff dyes; this style is also useful for when you want just a touch of coordinating color.