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

Blue Ceremonial Dress

This is a beautiful dress, particularly for those with blue eyes.  I expected to use a different cloak since the golds are of different tone, but the navy pieces went so well together that I really like the flow of the outfit. In the picture below, you can see how in the right light, the gold bands on the sleeves actually match the cloak.

Full Details:

Chest: Ceremonial Dress

navy non-dyable cosmetic Summer Festival barter item, no min. level required

Back: Cloak of the Shining Star (navy)

2011 Anniversary cosmetic barter item, no min. level required

Tribute to Evandim

Gelmirian arrived in Evandim just after Update 2, and I have been enjoying this region immensely.  The quests have been interesting, but I keep getting distracted because the scenery is simply amazing.
Exhibit A: Lake Nenuial . 

In honor of the region and particularly the beautiful lake, I created an outfit for Gelmirian using pieces dyed with Evandim Blue. The Elven Hauberk with its natural array of blues provided the perfect canvas to reflect the many hues of the lake.

Full Details:

Back: Plain Hooded Cloak (Evandim Blue)

cosmetic item available at all outfitters; no min. level required

Chest: Elven Hauberk (Evandim Blue)

cosmetic item available at Celondim outfitter, no min. level required

Hands: Forge Crafted Gloves (Evandim Blue)

T2 single-use metalsmith recipe that is world drop, min. level 20, heavy armor

Feet: Seeker's Shoes (Grey)

quest reward (The Top Hiding Place; Shire; Lvl. 6); any shoe that dyes solid color will do


One thing I found amusing: I'd never noticed the super-girly bows on the sleeves of the hauberk.  I love the whimsy, especially juxtaposed with the heavy gloves.

Luivia's PAX East Mount Outfit

Luivia was the grateful recipient of a PAX East mount code through a friend of the blog, Casual Stroll to Mordor. The challenge of course was to find an outfit for her to use for riding, and it was a challenge.  The difficulty for me lay in the mix of colors; the horse is a creamy blonde but the mane is grey while the tack is red, pure white, and blue.

My first attempt was simply dying red her starting female hobbit outfit of shirt and leggings.  It almost worked, but the red was too bright.  I went through everything in the wardrobe (Gelmirian has amassed quite a selection that somehow magically alters size when Luivia takes it out . . . can we get one of these magic wardrobes in real life?).  I used the dressing room to check what various pieces would like in the red and blue dye families.  I finally found that the simple hooded cloak in navy didn't clash with the blue on the tack.  And then I clicked on the white ceremonial dress.  It worked.  White with red accents cloaked in blue.

Full Details:

Dress: Ceremonial Dress

non-dyable white cosmetic item, summer festival barter item, no min. level required

Back: Hooded Traveling Cloak (navy)

cosmetic item available at all outfitters, no min. level required