The Fanatical Swordsman

Sypster over at Massively posted a preview of Rise of Isengard expansion, and here are some of the things he had to say.

The expansion is filled with dozens of small improvements as well. Classes will not only be expanded as players level to 75 but receive skill and trait overhauls as Turbine strives to give players “more meaningful choices” in how they build and play their roles. Scaling instances will have their caps raised to 75 and will stock their coffers with better and more shiny loot. Crafting will head into Tier 7 with plenty of new recipes to boot.

We also learned that the virtue cap will be raised from 10 to 12, giving players more ways to increase their character’s stats.

Wow, do I have a lot to do! I have to get all five of my 65s ready for this expansion! Here is my checklist of what I need to do:

Geldarion (Hunter, main)

• Crafting: Supreme master woodworker, guild kindred (no need for work here)
• Virtues: Full 10s on preferred grouping, soloing, and Moors sets, but I might want to see if I can get a headstart on the raise of the cap to 12.
• Epic Books: Volume II, Book 9 is still undone, but I am completely caught up on Vol. III, which is what’s important.
• Gear: Pretty much have the jewelry I want, and I have the Helegrod set of armor.
• Legendary items: My primary 65 2nd age bow is almost perfect, just needs a few more Scrolls of Empowerment. My 65 2nd age Moors bow is pretty good, Scrolls would help, but it works. My second PvE 65 2nd age bow needs a crit legacy and Scrolls of Empowerment. My 65 2nd age sword is pretty awesome, just need to finish leveling it.

Khelernil (Warden, 2nd main)

• Crafting: Supreme master tailor, guild kindred
• Virtues: I have 10s on all but one of my chosen virtues, and I haven’t decided whether I want Empathy or Discipline. I have 9 on Empathy, so I may want to raise that, and I think 6 on Discipline.
• Epic Books: Sad state, I need to do all of Vol. III
• Gear: There are a few armor pieces I want, and I need to run Halls of Night and Inn of the Forsaken a few more times for the jewelry. Luckily, I can solo them. 😀
• Legendary Items: My 2nd age spear is looking nice, but I need a sword to swap to if there are mobs that heal on damage (spears bleed). I am still using the javelin from the LI intro, it was that good. I will get a 65 2nd age one from the Vol. III, if I ever do it.

Ardaheru (Captain, top priority alt)

• Crafting: None, just explorer. It might not be a bad idea to start Metalsmithing on this character, as some of the best shields for my warden come from this. My current metalsmith is my level 22 Guardian, and he isn’t going anywhere right now. I have plenty of ore…we’ll see if I have time.
• Virtues: They aren’t terrible, around 7 or 8 on all of them, but they still need work.
• Epic Books: Volume III is completely done.
• Gear: I would really like the Helegrod set, but the Vol. III gear was really good, and I’m hoping that trend continues. Jewelry needs to be looked at.
• Legendary Items: My 65 2nd age two-handed sword is pretty sweet, and I have a great level 60 1st age buff sword with the crit, parry, and motivating speech legacies. My emblem has great legacies, but is level 60, and the level 65 2nd age emblem I have is okay, but it needs some essential legacies (such as Rallying Cry cooldown!)

Degana (Champion)

• Crafting: Supreme weaponsmith, need to master it. Guild kindred, though!
• Virtues: Really bad. I got tired of the Shire quests after doing them on my Warden, and I still need to do Discipline. I might try to get together with some kinmates from Southern Cross and get those done!
• Epic Books: Volume III, Book 1 is complete, still working on Book 2.
• Gear: I have a mish-mosh of gear, mainly for the stats, but I’m pretty happy with it. Jewelry could be improved with the Hall of Night stuff.
• Legendary Items: I have a fantastic 65 2nd age 1-handed sword that I crafted pre-Update 2, so it has 7 legacies, and if I remember correctly, 5 of them are major. 🙂 My rune is pretty good, but still level 60. I need to get the Volume III books done so I can replace it with a better Incoming Healing Rating. I only really require one legacy on my rune, which is the Bracing Attack Heal one. Easy to get, or I’ll pull it off of another item.

Nendagar (Loremaster)

• Crafting: Supreme master scholar, guild kindred
• Virtues: Pretty terrible; I think I have a couple of 9s, and everything else is 3 or 4
• Epic Books: I need to do all of Volume III.
• Gear: The Lothlórien crafted armor is actually pretty good for my LM, though I see a few pieces I could replace. Jewelry, as usual, needs work.
• Legendary Items: Both of this character’s legendary items are level 60 2nd age, though I think the staff is the top priority. The Tactical Damage Rating will be important. I probably have the Superior Third Mark on this character to go barter for the Symbol of Celebrimbor, so I should just go do that, then Geldarion can craft it easily.

So with the new expansion coming, I will be very busy! I may even abandon my minstrel for a while, and concentrate on preparation!

What will you need to do before the expansion?

Namárië,
Geldarion