Getting Started

Game Guides Topics: Getting Started, Game Terms, Commands, Character, Grouping, Music, Travelling

Character Creation

Choosing a Race

The first step in character creation is choosing what race your character will be.

The Free Peoples ("Freeps") races available include:

See Guide to Races for detailed descriptions / bonuses for each race.

Choosing a Class

Once you have decided what race your character will be, you must choose their class.

The classes available include:

* These two classes are only available...

- with the Mines of Moria expansion, or

- from the Lotro store.

See Guide to Classes for an in depth look at each Class.

Race and Class Correlation

You may want to take a look at the table below to help figure out which race and class to choose as sometimes you cannot be the class and race you want. Example: You cannot play a Dwarven Burglar or a Hobbit Captain.

	Beorning	Dwarf	Elf	High Elf	Hobbit	Man	River Hobbit	Stout-axe
Beorning
Brawler
Burglar
Captain
Champion
Guardian
Hunter
Lore-master
Mariner
Minstrel
Rune-keeper
Warden

See the discussion Winning Race & Class Combos

Choosing an Origin

Your character comes from one of a few regions which are determined by their race. Choose a region. Each origin (or region) affects your character with slight changes in their appearance, most notably the hair and skin tones.

Dwarf	Elf	Hobbit	Race of Man
Blue Mountains	Edhellond	Fallohide	Bree-land
Grey Mountains	Lindon	Harfoot	Dale-lands
Iron Hills	Lórien	Stoor	Gondor
The Lonely Mountain	Mirkwood		Rohan
White Mountains	Rivendell

See Guide to Origins for detailed information about each origin.

Choosing an Appearance

Another step in character creation is choosing what your character will look like. There are many different options and it is best to scroll through each one to become familiar with what each race has available. Keep in mind that later you can make changes to some appearance items at a barber shop (i.e. hair style, color, facial hair, etc). Take your time and prepare to dazzle others as you enter Middle-earth.

Choosing a Name

This can sometimes be the most difficult part of character creation for some people, a name and an appearance is what gives your character life. First, make sure that the appearance and other features are the way you desire. Then, take your character's name seriously and do your best to follow the examples given for the race. The only way to check whether a particular name is already claimed is to enter it and try.

Monster Play

While Monster Play is not part of character creation it is worth to be mentioned now. Once one of your characters reaches level 10 you are able to enter Monster Play where you may choose to play with the forces of Army of Angmar ("creeps"). The following races / classes are available:

See Monster Play Character for details about each race and class for monster play.

Entering Middle-earth

Introduction Sequence

Once you create your character and enter Middle-earth you are put into a prologue sequence, an instance, that teaches you the very basics of movement, attacking, looting, and so forth. Each race will face a different sequence and storyline according to how they relate to the epic tale in LOTRO.

Introduction Quests

After the prologue a new character must complete a series of Epic Introduction Quests. These quests are very simple and generally they do not require any assistance.

Introduction Areas

The introduction quests take place in one of two separate areas. Dwarves and Elves begin in Thorin's Gate while Hobbits and Men begin in Archet Dale. Each of these places are somewhat different than their counterparts once the introduction is completed.

The Aftermath

Upon completing the Epic Introduction Quests a new character enters the lands of Middle-earth where the world awaits. Now he or she starts the true adventures, now s/he may meet up with others who have left the introduction areas, and now s/he may be invited to a Kinship.

At this point, each race continues their epic quests in different regions, however a character is not stuck with that region if he or she decides to travel elsewhere. Eventually a new character is guided by quests to explore all of the other areas as well.

The beginning areas include:

Game Overview

So, your character made it through the introduction and now you're really excited about starting the real adventure. But, where to begin? Middle-earth is vast and there is so much that needs to be done! Well, do not worry about the big stuff yet, the character just started out and has to prove itself first.

Things a new character may want to check out and become familiar with:

Class Trainer - find one in the starter town
Stable-master - click on each and every stable-master you find
Mailbox - send friends and alts items/silver/etc (also connected to Auction House)
Bank Vault - store items for later use (not essential in the beginning)
Auction House - buy and sell items here (limitations apply)
Bard - equip traits as they are earned

Prologue Quests

To begin adventuring within any one of these areas your new character must start the Epic Prologue Quests by speaking with the person mentioned in the quest log from the Epic Introduction Quests that was just completed.

It is also wise to pick up interesting quest rings found in the current area. Happy adventuring!

Continued Character Overviews

We hope you have enjoyed our article to get you started. More about how your character works, including its stats, traits, weapons, and armor proficiencies is detailed in the Character article.

Continued Game Guides

For a new character the Character Stats article details statistics and proficiencies for weapons, armour, and of course the musical instruments. It is important to remember that the starting stats do greatly change between race and class.

Technical Information

System Requirements

	Minimum	Recommended*
Template:RH Processor:	Intel Pentium® 4 1.8 GHz or equivalent	Intel Pentium® 4 2.8 GHz or equivalent
Template:RH Video:	64 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 3 or ATI® Radeon® 8500	128 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® FX 6800 or ATI® Radeon® X850
Template:RH DirectX:	DirectX® 9.0c	DirectX® 9.0c
Template:RH OS:	Windows® XP	Windows® XP / Vista
Template:RH RAM:	512 MB	1 GB
Template:RH Disk Space:	7 GB available	10 GB available
Template:RH Internet:	56kbps Modem	Broadband DSL/Cable
Template:RH Optical Drive:	2x DVD-ROM	2x DVD-ROM

* The recommendations are Turbine's and are somewhat outdated (comment dated: 30 Aug 2011)

FAQ

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