Traveling
| Game Guides Topics: Getting Started, Commands, Grouping, Music, Traveling |
|
Old-Fashioned Running
Your feet are the most common method of travel in Middle Earth. You can toggle the run/walk option with the Insert key, and you can lock yourself in running mode (so you don't have to hold a key down) with the Numlock key.
All characters run at the same speed, and there is no encumbrance penalty. However, some monsters can inflict wounds that give you a movement speed debuff - especially wolves. Under such a debuff you might move very slowly. If you injure yourself by falling, you will receive a 60% movement speed penalty that also prevents you from avoiding damage for up to 1 minute, depending on the distance of the fall. Should you fall farther than that, you will be defeated. Captains get a brief, fast speed buff for escaping danger at level 8. Hunters gain a 15% out-of-combat speed buff, which applies to their whole fellowship if close enough at level 14. Wardens get a 25% out-of-combat speed buff at level 14. Champions get a 125% speed buff for 15 seconds on a 5 minute cooldown at level 28. Guardians get a trait that grants 5% increased movement speed while equipped.
You can spend destiny points on a buff which increases your run speed for a limited time.
There are a few items that increase run speed while equipped. Normally, the increase is by 5%, but there are some rare items that increase run speed by 8%.
To run from Ered Luin to the Misty Mountains takes roughly 45 minutes.
Milestones
Milestones, or "homes", are the places you can return to if you use your skill Return Home. To bind to a new milestone:
- Double-click (or right click) on the Milestone.
- A pop-up will appear "Select a Milestone."
- Select the Milestone you wish to bind to (you will probably have only one item to select).
- Click "Bind" at the bottom of the lower left. (The "Get destinations" button will take you to the LOTRO store... see "Acquire additional Home Locations" below.)
- A message will ask you, "Are you sure you want to select this location as your bind point for your Return Home Skill?"; answer "Yes".
- A message will appear in the chat panel, "This location is now your home".
When you use the skill, Return Home, you will return to this milestone. The skill can be used once per hour (per half-hour with purchase of the Hurried Traveler from the LOTRO store).
By default, you can only have one milestone marked as your home. If you choose a new milestone, that will be your new home and you can only return to the old milestone by walking there. You can change your milestone as many times as you like.
How to acquire additional "Milestone Locations"
Once you have reached level 10, it is now possible to bind to more milestones by purchasing up to 5 additional milestone skills from the LOTRO Store for 350 Turbine Points (TP) each.
If you have purchased additional Milestone Skills, when you click on the Milestone, you will see a pop-up window allowing you to select which Milestone you wish to bind to. Select the appropriate Milestone, and at the bottom of the Screen, select "Bind."
These Milestone Locations will appear in your Skills Panel as "Milestone Skills." They can be slotted in your "Quickslot bars" or accessed from this panel. You can also access them from a Lua script such as the "Travel Window."
- See milestone for locations within cities.
"Return To" Traits and Skills
"Return To" skills allow a character to return to a specific location once an hour (one hour cool down).
Once obtained, each skill can be found in your Character screen - Skills, Common Skills. You can add them to your Quick Slot bar, or access them via one of the Lua plugins, such as Travel Window.
Each race has a "Return To" racial trait (skill) which they automatically gain for completing certain deeds.
- Hobbits: Return to Michel Delving
- Dwarves: Return to Thorin's Gate
- Race of Man: Return to Bree
- Elves: Return to Rivendell
The use of the racial skill requires visiting a Bard and slotting of the matching trait.
- The skills: Return to Thorin's Gate (for non Dwarves) and Return to Bree (for non Man) can also be acquired by achieving Kindred status with the Dwarves of Thorin's Hall and Men of Bree respectively, and the purchase (with additional reputation items) of a scroll,
Return to Thorin's Gate Return to Bree , which grants this skill. See their respective pages for details on acquiring these skills. Neither Return to Michel Delving nor Return to Rivendell can be acquired in this manner.
Additionally there are other "Return To" Reputation skills available.
- Obtaining Kindred with the Eglain automatically grants you Return to Ost Guruth
- Obtaining Kindred with the Malledhrim allows you to acquire Return to Mirkwood
- Obtaining Kindred with the Algraig, Men of Enedwaith allows you to acquire
Return to Enedwaith
- Obtaining Kindred with the the Men of Dunland allows you to acquire Return to Galtrev
- Obtaining Kindred with the The Riders of Stangard allows you to acquire Return to Stangard
All of these Skills can also be purchased from the LOTRO Store for 295 Turbine Points (TP). [Travel & Housing - Maps & Skills - Travel Skills]
- When purchased from the LOTRO Store, this skill can be used by any character and any race above level 10 and it does not require any reputation standing.
- Note that they can only be used AFTER you have visited that location.
- NOTE ESPECIALLY: All Races can acquire and use these skills from the Store instead of equipping the Racial Trait described above!
Travel to Personal or Kinship House
If you are a member of a Kinship, you will receive a Travel Skill -- "Travel to Kinship House".
Similarly, if you purchase a home in one of the LOTRO housing developments, you, and all characters on your account, will receive a "Travel to Personal House" skill.
These two skills will appear in your Skills panel under "Housing."
Stables
The Stable-master is a class of Non-player Character. Stable-masters are found in all major settlements. Players can travel between locations by renting a horse, pony or goat.
Renting a horse from a Stable-master is the fastest and one of the simplest forms of travel. To be able to take a horse to a location, you must already have talked with the master at the destination location to activate that location for future travel. Not activated Stable-masters have glowing blue icons rather than the standard. (Note that this activation requirement also applies to the various Writs of Special Passage available in the Lotro Store.
Using a rented horse, you may only travel to other Stable-masters you have already spoken to (aside from some starter area locations) and along predefined routes. You may dismount a rented horse at any point in the travel. Some travel routes require a certain level, Reputation or quests to use. Long-distance routes are usually available as Swift Travel. Achieving "Friend" status with various factions will grant you a 10 per-cent discount on travel costs at related Stable-masters.
Many Stable-masters are named. However, many, especially in the newer expansions are simply identified generically as "stable-master."
Swift Travel
Swift Travel is a feature for some routes that significantly reduces travel time. For example, traveling from Thorin's Gate to Bree with the normal travel horse would take a long time, but Swift Travel reduces that to approximately 15 seconds. Prices range from 1 silver for Swift Travel between starter areas to 30 or 45 silver elsewhere. It is also the only way to reach the Ettenmoors if you don't have the map there yet. There are level-based restrictions on some of such routes.
- See Stable-master for a list of stable masters and prices.
Stable-masters that offer Swift Travel are marked with doubled horse-head icons at the world-map and at the radar.
Characters who are Free-to-Play, and Premium characters who have never been played during VIP, may access Swift Travel by buying Writs for Special Passage at the LOTRO Store. Swift routes between starter areas are available for anybody.
Player owned mounts
Get a steed of your own!
Getting your mount
Your character needs to do two things: acquire the Riding passive skill, and purchase a mount.
You can acquire the Riding skill in two ways:
- Purchasing it at the TP store at any level, as soon as your character has the Novice trait (that is, as soon as they finish the Introduction quests, usually at level 5-6)
- If you have a VIP account you can get the Riding skill for free at level 20, by completing a quest with Éogar, son of Hadorgar, at Hengstacer Farm, which lies north of Bree (Look for the horse on the map).
You can purchase a mount in several ways:
- The standard mount can be purchased as soon as you have the riding skill, from Éogar. He has several types (colours) available. The first one you buy is 500
; with the first one, you get a trait that gives you a 60% discount in any other you buy from him, so the price drops to 200 . You will get either a horse if you are Elf or Man, or a pony if you are Dwarf or Hobbit.
- There are other types of mounts as festival mounts (purchasable during festivals), faction mounts (purchasable after achieving reputation levels with a specific faction), etc. More details at the Mounts page.
You can test the mount system at an early level for free if your character was created after the introduction of F2P. The character will receive a Gift Box which will give a Temporary Horse item. This item allows you to call a special horse for a real-time day, anytime you want, without the need for the Riding skill.
Riding and Combat
- You cannot fight while mounted, and you can't mount your steed in combat.
- Taking direct damage reduces the mount's morale bar. It disappears after 4-5 hits or 1 crit, and you get dismounted. Some mounts are sturdier than others.
What else should I know?
- Your mount is a skill, so you mount (and dismount) your steed by clicking on the skill icon. This icon can be dragged to a quickslot.
- You dismount also by clicking the Dismount button that appears when you're mounted.
- You can also configure a keyboard-toggle to mount and dismount. In-game, visit "Options/Key Mapping" Scroll down to the "Miscelaneous" section (about 2/3 of the way down) and find "Dismount/Remount". Click on that, and the next key you press will be selected as your keyboard Mount/Dismount toggle. This toggle "remembers" what mount you last used and will automatically select that mount for you.
- You'll get dismounted if riding through water that is too deep.
- Mounted movement speed is slowed by falling injuries; however falling while riding a horse doesn't cause you to dismount.
- You can make your mount jump by pressing space while moving.
- You can't ride indoors or inside a dungeon.
- You can interact with an NPC, mailbox, or door while mounted.
- If you have completed the "Proving Your Quality" race and have purchased a mount by accident that you do not want or cannot use, you are now in luck! Horse-master Éogar has a quest that allows you to swap your mount for a receipt that can be used to purchase a different mount. Once you have your receipt from Éogar, speak to Cam Applewood, Éogar's stablehand, to select a different mount.
The Middle Earth Taxi Service
The Hunter has the unique ability to travel to various locations around Middle Earth taking the members of his fellowship, "along for the ride".
For the Hunter, these skills are called "Wayfaring". Members of the Hunter's Fellowship frequently call it the "taxi service!"
The Hunter also has a skill called "Find the Path". When a hunter is in your Fellowship and has this skill selected, the entire Fellowship (if within range of the Hunter) gains a boost to their run speed.
Guide to ... skills cost the hunter between 2 and 5 travelling rations, but are free for the rest of the fellowship.
