The Fanatical Swordsman

Every MMO has something that you have to grind. Armor and weapons are a huge grind in most games, and here in LOTRO there is some grinding for weapons and armor, but the main grind is deeds.

Deeds grant a number of things that are useful in game, such as Virtues, Turbine Points, Titles, and Reputation with various groups in Middle-Earth. Not everyone enjoys grinding deeds, but everyone appreciates the rewards.

For now, I will discuss deeding for Virtues and how to maximize your time when doing so.

Virtues are a particularly important facet of your character in the end-game, as they are basically swappable stat bonuses that you can pick individually, separate from armor and jewelry. The cap on each Virtue is rank 10, at least until Isengard comes out on Sept. 27th, 2011, when it will be raised to 12. It is advisable to level at least the most important Virtues for your class to rank 10 and equip them. I even have a few spares for special situations, but that will be saved for future posts.

SPECIAL NOTE: A glancing look at the Virtues in game will tell you that Resistance Ratings like for Disease, Fear, Poison, and Wound effects are specialized for different Virtues. One thing to remember is that Isengard will be eliminating individual Resistances, so a lot of the Virtues will be very similar. This probably means that the Virtues will require rebalancing, and this could mean that the Virtues you pick now might not be the ones you want in Isengard, as stats may be added to or taken away from the Virtues that you choose. Just keep this in mind.

• Find out which Virtues are preferred for your class.
  There are several ways to do this. One of which is to simply ask around in game, whether in Kin chat or in GLFF (or as we call it on Vilya, Unite). Get opinions of people you respect. Kin officers, prominent players on your server, etc. Keep in mind that with the removal of stat caps in Isengard, +30 agility will be a drop in the bucket when players might be able to reach 800 agility.

• Go to Burgzerg.com and map out your route. Find out which zones have your Virtues, which zones have multiple desired Virtues, and find deeds that have more than one rank of a Virtue on it, e.g. Worms in Moria for +2 Valour.

• Empty your bags of everything you can, including things you might normally keep with you, like traps for hunters, Moors potions, stat food, etc.
  You want a lot of room, so you can sell things. The picture at the top of this post has 13 stacks of items that sold for over 2 gold! That was one deed, with about 30 minutes of grinding! Also, rep items frequently drop, which can be used or sold on the AH for even more money.

• Get out-of-combat regen food for power and morale to make grinding go faster.
  The stuff available from Provisioners works, but there are cheap, awesome rep-gated regen foods available from Reputation Vendors, and they only require Acquaintance rep. The thing I really like about them is the 20 minute duration, clearly made for grinding. For example, Traveller’s Turnovers from the Wardens of Annuminas, or the Traveller’s Scone from the Iron Garrison Guards.

• Find a buddy (or 5!)
  This can make deed-grinding go a lot faster, not only because they will kill things quickly, but also because it is just fun to talk to people while grinding. Be sure to stay for others if you get done first!

• Consider buying a deed accelerator.
  Deed accelerators count 1 mob as 2 for slayer deeds, and they are available from the LOTRO Store. They are a godsend for particularly annoying deeds like Crawlers in Trollshaws. Keep in mind that deed accelerators are timed, and you can get them in increments of 15 minutes. They are around 300 Turbine Points for five 45-minute duration ones. If you have the TP to spend, go for it.

• Remember deeding etiquette.
• Be considerate. When grinding mobs, don’t kill the one over in the corner by himself that is a Named mob, because he is more than likely required for a quest. The last thing you want to do is kill a boss mob, just to have a level 30 come in and look around for him, get confused, and leave the area frustrated. The extra kill isn’t worth it. Wait for the rest of the mobs to respawn and go to town.
• If there is someone lurking around, /tell them to see if they would like to join you for your grind. Don’t send a blind invite, don’t steal their mobs, just let them know what you are doing, and extend the courtesy of an invitation if they wish to join you.

The main piece of advice I would give, is to enjoy what you do! If you don’t like deeding, then don’t deed. If you start to get frustrated, stop deeding. If you have any questions on ideal locations to grind, let me know, I have found it. Except for boars in Evendim…can’t find them…