Lord of the Rings Online Forum » General Discussion » How is the end game raid in Lotro ?

Currently I'm playing Aion, sooner or later i will find Aion bored as im a pve guy. So i would like to try lotro, how is the end game raid compared to wow ? Are there a lot of raids ? Was it as unique and interesting like some of the wow raids ? This is 1 of the major factors i will consider before buying lotro.

Originally posted by Shiseiten83

Currently I'm playing Aion, sooner or later i will find Aion bored as im a pve guy. So i would like to try lotro, how is the end game raid compared to wow ? Are there a lot of raids ? Was it as unique and interesting like some of the wow raids ? This is 1 of the major factors i will consider before buying lotro.

I'm sure many LotRO players will disagree with me as I have quit , but I feel that your question might need an answer from someone who quit because of the (in my opinion) lack of end game.

Currently, the end game is getting the Radiance gear. When you get a full set.. there isn't that much to do. After getting the full set i ran the dungeons and raid that gives you it repeatedly to help my guildies and MvP'ed quite a bit. But a couple of months later, having explored and done everything in then newly released Lothlorien, I just sat back one day with the feeling I had beaten the game, and never logged back on. 

Don't read me all wrong, it's a great game, and if you are a PvE guy, you HAVE to try it. For me it gave 6 months of entertainment, two hours a day on average, before I burned out.  

Since you're a PvE guy, worry about that first then once you make it to the the level cap worry about the raids!  There is so much to see and do if you've never played before.  That is if you take your time, read everything and do all the quests!  There is so much to see and the landscape is really beautiful..with several locations that don't really have much there except the view!

However, if you plan to just rush to the cap to do the very few raids there are, you won't enjoy it!  This is PvE and solo/small group through and through!

all right i will give it a try then. I'm downloading the client. The free trial last for 7 days right ?

Originally posted by Shiseiten83

all right i will give it a try then. I'm downloading the client. The free trial last for 7 days right ?

It should be 10 days.

End game ,don't know haven't reached mordor yet ...

When Moria, ie volume 2 books 1-6, was released there were six 6-man instances and one 12-man raid that is locked behind a radiance gate.

When Lorien was released with volume 2 book 7, a new 6-man instance and 12-man raid were added.  The instance is locked behind a reputation gate and the raid is open to anyone.

Book 8 introduced two 3-man instances, one 6-man instance, and one 12-man raid that is lock behind a radiance gate.

When Siege of Mirkwood, the new expansion, comes out in December there will be three new 3-man instance, one 6-man instance, and one 12-man raid.

So the total as of Mirkwood  for end game instances/raids is:

3-man instances: 5

6-man instances: 8

12-man raids: 3

Two notes:

1) The level cap will be increased from 60 to 65 with Mirkwood, making most of the "old" Moria instances somewhat trivial.

2) The "Skirmish system" is being released with Mirkwood. These are basically customizable instances for 1,3,6, or 12 people. There are roughly 10 skirmishes available with Mirkwood. The level range for the skirmishes are 30-65.

EDIT: Three new 3-man instances with MIrkwood

Originally posted by Shiseiten83

Currently I'm playing Aion, sooner or later i will find Aion bored as im a pve guy. So i would like to try lotro, how is the end game raid compared to wow ? Are there a lot of raids ? Was it as unique and interesting like some of the wow raids ? This is 1 of the major factors i will consider before buying lotro.

As far as pve, LOTRO is a better game than Aion. Quite frankly, aside from my complaints and pet peeves, it is one of the better mmo's out there provided that you can allow yourself to sign into a game that is based on a book (with all the restrictions that that can bring) and that you read the quests.

In LOTRO, more than any game out there, the quests really need to be read.

As far as end game, LOTRO was never really an "end game" type of game. There are raids and apparently a doozy of a raid coming up in the next expansion but it's not a raiding game.

 Really not that much end game raiding, but the journey there is a blast if you are more into PvE :)

LotRO is the only game, where I enjoyed the leveling. Alot.

Why?
Because I love Tolkien's world, and it was just awesome to journey through the middle-earth. The endgame and instances... well, to be honest, I am not even 60 yet (57 warden atm.) and not really interested in doing that. What ive heard from my guildies, its just same and same over again, after you get the radiance gear. But the leveling and the storyline, its epic.

We'll see later about the endgame.

If you're a hardcore raider, you will burn through LOTRO's end-game pretty fast. IMO the content is excellent, but you will probably find that there isn't enough of it. WoW has a much bigger end-game raid progression, and is a better game for raiders (again, IMO).

 The raids are there to be set pieces for the lore, not the other way around. They're usually interesting (assuming your group actually gives a crap and doesn't just yawn and powergrind/skip half the things to get it over with for the reward) but they're definitely more about furthering the story and letting you take part in a "epic" battle than to serve as something to repeat over and over for loot. 

Basically, raids are there, and they are interesting. But if you're goal is purely to "tier grind" then you're going to be disappointed fast as that's not really what it's all about. 

that's unfortunate. I have found the game to be interesting so far but in the end I'm really a raider. I actually raided on WoW for a while but found it boring/easy compared to raiding on EQ2.

I'll most likely keep playing, at most twice at week unless I really get into it, but I'm really not into roleplay/lore that much.

End-game content is lacking to a great extent. Most of the instances are just not good enough to meet the standards -> everything is either a weirdly made alien-like dungeon which has nothing to do with Middle Earth (Dark Delving, Skumfil, VM, Giant Turtle!?) or is somewhat lacking in variety (16th hall looks exactly like the indoor areas of Carn Dum, GS,..).  Aside from those, there's nothing much to do.

Additionally, the raid is a gating content - in order to participate for watcher or VM, you will need to collect radiance gear (each class has one set of 6 items from which 3 items have 2 options - in the end everyone who raids wear exactly the same). This radiance gating system was a target of a year-long taking forum discussions and made quit the game lots of previous players - including lifetimers.

Originally posted by Kordesh

 The raids are there to be set pieces for the lore, not the other way around.

While I can see Watcher as being part of the lore, saying raids are there to enforce lore is a lie.

Vile Maw - which is the main raid in MoM has absolutely nothing to do with lore. Middle Earth was never a place of strange alien-like creatures that looks like a Lovecraft monsters and mindflayers. Vile Maw is full of creatures that would make it to Necromonicon instead of Middle Earth.

Another raid giant gurtle is again a way off of any lore. There was never ever any sort of a giant turtle in any book I read. It's ridiculous to even have it as a raid boss that drops second age weapons.

Originally posted by Thillian
no clue about the lore

www.scribd.com/doc/21301131/J-R-R-Tolkien-Beren-and-Luthien  have fun :)

Originally posted by Thillian

Originally posted by Kordesh

 The raids are there to be set pieces for the lore, not the other way around.

 

While I can see Watcher as being part of the lore, saying raids are there to enforce lore is a lie.

Vile Maw - which is the main raid in MoM has absolutely nothing to do with lore. Middle Earth was never a place of strange alien-like creatures that looks like a Lovecraft monsters and mindflayers. Vile Maw is full of creatures that would make it to Necromonicon instead of Middle Earth.

Another raid giant gurtle is again a way off of any lore. There was never ever any sort of a giant turtle in any book I read. It's ridiculous to even have it as a raid boss that drops second age weapons.

Eh actually the Vile maw is the Watcher raid :p

Im not a big fan of the Foundation of stone in Moria either but the lore gives them alot of freedom to make it pretty much any way they like. The creaures down there are supposed to be wierd and dont look like anything you normaly find in middle earth. Just wish the pace was darker..

And I dont understand why a giant turtle is more wierd than then monsters in the books. You know there are giant turtles in RL aswell, not that big thou ;)

I think this is still on topic. At least I don't think it deserved it's own thread.

How much of the content becomes redundant with a new expansion? I just started playing again and am only level 20. But with 2 expansions to which I have never really taken part in (well end game SoA and MoM). Am I just going to miss out on alot of what was included in these due to the Mirkwood release? Do some people still cover the older content at or around the old caps?

Thanks.

Originally posted by R4WkU5

I think this is still on topic. At least I don't think it deserved it's own thread.

 

How much of the content becomes redundant with a new expansion? I just started playing again and am only level 20. But with 2 expansions to which I have never really taken part in (well end game SoA and MoM). Am I just going to miss out on alot of what was included in these due to the Mirkwood release? Do some people still cover the older content at or around the old caps?

 

Thanks.

i do personally. this is the only mmo where i have enjoyed every level. with SoM being released, and the adventure pack, we are getting two more character slots, so that means i have 8 alts to play, as an alternative to my main. as for end game content, there isn't nearly as many raids as say WoW, but i've found them all to be more entertaining. turbine has done an excellent job of making the instances and raids feel more cinematic. you don't play them for the reward, you play them because they are a lot of fun. then, there is the legendary item system, which some people hate, but i personally love. even when your at your cap, you still have weapons and class items, that need to be leveled. so even if you are 60, or 65 in a couple of weeks, your weapons still need you to play, and though, it is indeed just a treadmill, it's something to keep working for.