I haven’t been to the Ettenmoors for LOTRO’s PvMP since October of last year, I think. Mostly because I was busy working on my Lore-master prior to the release of Mines of Moria, then of course I went on a total MMO break in December until this month.
I had read a little bit of the state of PvMP post-Moria and the general consensus was that the Free Peoples (freeps) were once again extremely over-powered with buffs and Legendary Items while Monsters (creeps) were back to being free kills.
The recent Volume II, Book 7 update addressed several key issues with PvMP and gave the creeps some significant buffs. They’re still under-powered compared to freeps but many feel Book 7 has finally ushered in a new era of play. To quote Bicep, leader of The Immortals tribe on my server (who led several of the raids I was in this weekend; just have to mention what a great leader he is and he seems to be an all-around cool guy!):
The mechanics of PvMP are profoundly well balanced now. For the first time in two years there is parity and equity. Tactics, communication, and a bit of luck will be the determining factor between victory and defeat. For the first time in the history of the game players will have to learn how to play their class; they will have to find unprecedented ways to overcome powerful adversaries.
I took Severakth, my Defiler, out to the ‘moors for a stupid amount of time this weekend, but I had the most fun I’ve ever had there! I had to go out and find the new outposts so I’d have them on my map, and made two runs into the Delving of Frór dungeon to get Spirit Stones. I have enough to get my first racial trait once I achieve Rank 5 now. Spending a little time checking out all the vendors in Gramsfoot makes it obvious that the Delving of Frór is not merely a change of pace activity; it is essential to advance your creep. In addition, Severakth completed all of the Tier 1 map deeds for each point except for the Grimwood Lumber Camp, so he’s got crude maps for the most-frequented bases, and is only a few quests from the Tier 2 Tirith Rhaw deed for the poor map. Reading the item tooltips for the maps, it seems the only difference is that each higher tier has less of a cooldown but I learned that each type also has its own spawn point, so it’s useful to keep every type of map.
Most importantly, the ‘moors were very busy this weekend! Plenty of fighting going on, and Severakth earned enough Infamy to reach Rank 4 (he started at Rank 2, so yeah, that was a lot of Infamy!). I’m sure I should have saved my Destiny Points but my “inner role-play” sensibilities demanded I spend some on the appearance trait with each rank. I love the look of Defilers and each rank just looks better and better! Here’s Severakth in Gramsfoot immediately after reaching Rank 4:
I did have enough Destiny Points to buy all the new active skills, and a few traits. I still need the final passive skill that will give Severakth more power but at 12,000 DP it’s the most expensive skill I’ve encountered. In addition to the extra percentage of power, that final passive skill transforms him into signature status and is therefore top priority now.
Despite the changes, the same old patterns are still prevalent in the ‘moors. Creeps whine that the freeps always turtle inside the elf camp (EC) south of Tol Ascarnen (TA). Freeps whine that the creeps turtle inside TA. It’s a circular effect: TA is the central keep. Freeps go to EC because creeps are at TA. Creeps go to TA because freeps are in EC. Around and around we go… Saturday night, the freeps mounted a late-night (3am or later!) raid on Lugazag and took that keep. We had all day long to recapture it and could have easily done so but we intentionally left it alone because that alone dramatically changed the entire dynamics of the battles. It was better to have more variety and more fun than recapturing Lugazag and ending up doing the EC/TA dance again.
Without going into all the issues that PvMP has always had such as balance and equality in rewards between factions, I will make one suggestion: Turbine needs to take a page from Mythic’s book and create some type of “open grouping” system. I don’t know if it would have a use for the normal PvE game or not, but for PvMP it would be incredibly helpful. Every creep logs into the ‘moors and immediately starts asking for invites. The invitations may or may not come at all. Sometimes it feels like pulling teeth to get an invitation. The ‘moors is in dire need of an open group system so people can come and go at their leisure without having to spam chat for an invitation. That means there won’t be a dedicated “leader” but if someone needs to be dismissed from the group or whatever, the FPS genre has gotten by perfectly fine for well over a decade with a voting system. For that matter, a voting system could be used to elect (or impeach hehe) leaders. That system was used in Battlefield 2142, for example…
Some of the creep classes don’t need to be in groups; specifically the Blackarrow and Reavers, both high dps classes that do not need to be in a group to earn good Infamy. As a Defiler, however, I have the lowest dps of all so I cannot contribute much to a fight. I am a dedicated healer, so I’m relying on being in that group and keeping you up to earn maximum Infamy. People were also claiming that Defilers earn less Infamy anyway regardless of solo or grouped because healing takes a lower precedence over dps in the Infamy calculations or something along those lines. I heard Blackarrows routinely saying they were getting 30-40 Infamy per kill, while I was averaging 7-17 per kill. At no point for any reason have I ever gotten more than 17 Infamy per kill yet. Now, consider that Rank 5 takes 9000 Infamy to achieve. That’s a lot of dead freeps!
All in all, I personally feel that Book 7 helped bring the balance between creeps and freeps a little closer but it still needs some love from Turbine. Creeps are still pretty much limited to the basic class abilities, while freeps have gotten even more buffs plus a huge boost in dps, etc. from Legendary Items. Creeps don’t get any gear at all and I’m not certain that would be the answer, although the concept of an evil counterpart to the Legendary Items does sound attractive…
Tangent: I was just griped at awhile ago for not healing someone who was not in my group. I may be “green” to PvMP and all but I’m a damn good PvE healer, and sorry but there’s just too much action with creeps, freeps and NPC’s running, jumping, stealthing, etc. for me to be able to keep track of it all. If you’re in my group, guess what? I can see your morale right there on my screen. If you’re not in my group then the only way you’re getting a heal is if no one in my group needs one and if I happen to see you and I bother to mouseover you to view your morale. Otherwise, too bad. Any advice, opinions or tips on this from any of you PvP healers out there?
Tags: Lord of the Rings Online, PvMP
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I don’t have any advice for a pvp healer other than make sure someone has got your back (preferably a guardian if you are a minstrel, or a war leader if you are a defiler.) But I do have something to say about open grouping. I agree its a good thing and frankly, it IS in the game. But (and here’s a big but) nobody knows and nobody uses it except a scant few who have figured it out so it is almost as if it was NOT in the game. So is it as good as Warhammer’s open grouping if you know how to use it? yes. But is it as good period because nobody knows how to use it? No. I encourage you to try it out though its in your options somewhere, my brother showed me how to do it some time. I am still trying to figure out the quest tracking system. They need a better way of finding options in their mountain of options.
LOTRO doesn’t have an open grouping system but it does have an LFG tool. It’s practically the same one used in DDO only it doesn’t show the class icons. Problem is, as you’ve noticed, the LFG tool is a bit hidden. I considered doing an article just on Turbine’s LFG and how they botched it with LOTRO. Maybe I will in a few days.
I do want to slap the crap out of everyone whining about the quest tracker. The “quest tracker” has been in the game since launch. It’s the list of active quests on your screen.
The new AoC/WAR-esque “blob” thing is a Quest Guide.
Nitpicky, yes, but jeez… I can’t believe so many people in the forums and OOC are that clueless that “quest tracker” has been staring them in the face both in the options and right on the quest log.
UPDATE: Forgot to mention that by Monday night I had managed to earn the 12,000 Destiny Points for the final passive skill, so Severakth now has signature status! Next goal: Rank 5 where he gets his next heal spell and first racial trait! That 9,000 Infamy is going to hurt though; if I recall he’s only 600 or so into it…
What server are you on again, Scott? I’m doing that thing again that people tell me not to do, you know think…and I’m thinking of trying LOTRO again and getting Moria…I know it will be years before I see that content, but was hoping to join a good Kinship if I get back in.
I’m on Arkenstone. Shoot me a message and I can recommend some good kinships.
This post has gotten me really interested in creep play again. I’ll start looking for you on the moors.
Lord of the Rings: Online does have an Open Group(ing) function and has it for some time now. Many LoTRO players simply don’t know it exists, or worse simply don’t use it.
Patch – Rank 7 Warleader
Meneldor Server
@Patch: Nah the LFG tool (which is unfortunately hidden) isn’t what I mean by Open Grouping.