December 18, 2017

LOTRO New Player Tips and Hints

I posted this before back in 2013, but I'm deleting that spot. SOOOO I'm reposting without checking if it's still current. Pretty sure I just stole this from somewhere else.

Ways to Gather Information
1.Don't be afraid to ask for help! LOTRO has several chat channels that you can use at any time by typing ‘/’ and the name of the channel, such as /ooc, /advice, or /regional. These channels are great sources of information.
2. Turn on voice chat, even if you don't have a microphone. It allows you to hear people who do have microphones give friendly fellowship instructions. You can do this in your options by selecting Audio, then checking “Voice Enabled.”
3. READ! Make sure you read quest dialogs and instructions. These will generally give you all of the information you need to complete whatever task you are on.
4. There are many ways inside the game to find information.
The Quest Log - Use the shortcut key “L” to open your Quest Log and review the objectives for each quest.
The Mini Map - Located in the top right corner of your play screen, the mini map is a great way to see what’s located right around the corner. Right-click on the mini map to see a list of filtering options to help you find exactly what you’re looking for or reduce the clutter.
The Lorebook and MyLOTRO - Your mini-map has a button labeled “Lorebook.” Click this to open an in-game panel for the LOTRO Community Site, which has a multitude of resources for players including a wiki with information about every quest, area, NPC, and creature in the game.
Full Map - You can access the Full Map by using the shortcut key “M”, it will show you the whole region you’re in and locations throughout the game. You can click on regions of the map to zoom in, or right-click to zoom out.

Basic Tips and Hints
5. If you get stuck and cannot move, typing “/stuck” will free you and teleport you to the last Milestone you set as your Map Home. Milestones are located in most big cities and towns.
6. When selling excess items to a vendor NPC, take note of the lock icon (the padlock symbol). Once an item is locked you cannot sell it until you unlock it. This will keep your valuable items from accidentally being sold. You can lock and unlock an item by clicking on the padlock symbol when in the Sell panel at a vendor NPC.

7. The “Insert” key will toggle your character between run and walk.
8. Below are some commonly used shortcut keys. For a more extensive list in-game, look in your Options panel under Key Mapping. Once there, you can change the key associated with each shortcut.
  • Press Alt+F10 to turn on a personal light in some areas.
  • The Numlock key will toggle Autorun so you don't have to hold down the W key. Your character will run forward until you press Numlock again to make them stop. You can still steer while autorunning.
  • Hit the N key to toggle the floaty names of characters, creatures and items.
  • Use the Del key to select the nearest object.
  • The U key will use the item you have selected.
  • Use the Tab key to select the nearest creature.
  • The F1-F6 Keys will select the members of your fellowship. F1 is always your character, with F2-F6 being the members of your fellowship in the order they appear on your screen.
  • The F7 key will open the Help panel.
  • The F8 key will select the nearest member of your fellowship.
  • The F9 key has many uses: pressing F9 will select the nearest Player Character, pressing Shift-F9 will select the next closest player character and Ctrl-F9 will cycle through players from farthest the nearest.
  • The F10 key will select the nearest NPC/corpse. Pressing Shift-F10 will move to the next closest NPC while pressing CTRL-F10 will select the previously selected NPC, or if no NPC is selected, it will select the NPC farthest from you.
  • The F11 key or the PRT SCR key will take a screenshot.
  • The F12 key will hide your user interface. Press F12 again to restore it.
  • The ESC key will bring up the game menu. It can also be used to quickly close any open UI windows.

Integrated System Tips
9. The color of a creature’s name or quest name indicates the relative difficulty for your character. The difficulty scale listed here is from easiest to hardest. 
 Gray: Well below your level; should be easy to kill/complete (for quests, you will not gain any XP from a quest that is gray in your quest panel).
Green: Still below level; should still be easy to defeat/complete.
Light Blue: Below level; slightly tougher than a green creature/quest.
Dark Blue: Only slightly below level; can provide some challenge.
White: Same level as your character. Will provide adequate challenge. 
Yellow: Slightly over your level, but still possible.
Orange: Over your level, but not impossible. Will provide a good challenge.
Red: Well over your level. More often than not, you will not be able to complete/defeat it. Creatures that show as red to you will be nearly impossible for most solo players to damage and kill.
Purple: Run away! You have no chance, not even in a full group.
10. The Traits System helps improve and customize your character. There are four main categories: Virtue, Race, Class, and Legendary, with a limited number of available slots for each. As you gain levels, more of these slots open or you can purchase them through the LOTRO Store. You can view your current Trait assignments in the Traits panel which is accessible at any time by pressing the J key.
Combat Tips
11. In the Options Panel under Combat Options you can check "Show Vitals of Selection's Target," which will put a bright purple circle around whatever your target currently has selected. It will also display the vitals of that target next to your target’s own vital display.
12. Fellowship Maneuvers (some players refer to them as conjunctions) are opportunities for your fellowship to work together to trigger special moves that may inflict heavy damage on your target, or restore morale or power to your fellowship. There are many different Fellowship Maneuvers. Experiment with different color combinations and learn their effects!
13. Press "H" while hovering over an icon to create a static tool-tip by popping it out into its own window. This is a great way to learn about buff/debuff effects at your own pace.
14. Cooldowns indicate the length of time you need to wait between using certain skills, potions, and foods. Learning ahead of time what these different times are will be helpful in the heat of battle. The cooldowns of most skills and consumable items will be noted in their tooltips.
Tips for Making Money
15. Almost every item you happen upon in your journeys through Middle-earth is worth something, no matter how great or small. Make sure to keep your bags clear of items your character doesn’t need by selling them on the Auction Hall or to a Vendor.
16. When you run out of room in your inventory and need to clear some space, check the values of your unwanted items before destroying them (you can destroy an item by dragging it out of your inventory). Remove those items worth the least amount of money or that do not stack.
17. When traveling on foot, kill everything along the way! It may take longer, but the money you make will be worth the time spent.
UI Changes
18. You can change the colors of your in-game chat text
  • Right-click on the General tab on your chat window
  • Select “Change Text Colors”
  • Then select the colors you like for each of your chat channels.
  • Hit Accept to save your changes when you are done.
19. You can re-arrange your User Interface by simply pressing Ctrl + \. This will cause many of the UI elements to be adjustable.
20. You can lock your Quickslot choices by checking “Lock Quickslots” in the Quickslot sections of your Options panel. This way you won’t accidentally lose a skill on the bar during the heat of battle.
21. You can change the key mapping of any hotkeys by going to Options, then “Key Mapping”.
These are just a few tips that should help you along your way as new player in Middle-earth. We hope this has been helpful, and that you’ll share this information with other new players you encounter in your adventures. Good luck and have fun! 

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