Helm's Deep

Helm's Deep
Region:	West Rohan
Area:	Westfold
Location:	[63.7S, 89.5W]

This page is about the location. For the expansion pack, see The Lord of the Rings Online: Helm's Deep. 

This page is about the location. For the Instances, see Epic Battles. 

Location

Helm's Deep is a large valley in the north-western Ered Nimrais (White Mountains) below the Thrihyrne located within the area of Westfold in West Rohan. ^{[63.7S, 89.5W]}. The valley was lined over its entire width by the natural series of hills called Helm's Dike and behind that lay the fortress of Aglarond or the Hornburg, at the entrance to the Glittering Caves. Atop the Hornburg there was a great tower, the top of which consisted of the great horn of Helm Hammerhand. The Deep, which stood next to the fortress, was barred by the long Deeping Wall, which consisted of solid rock except for a small culvert which allowed water from the Deeping Stream to enter; this rendered a fresh supply in sieges of great length.

The various devices to shift time during the Epic Battles

Helm's Deep has multiple versions: "Before Midnight," "After Midnight," "Before Dawn," "Dawn," and "Sunrise". While these versions are visually identical, the game mechanics require that they each have unique "maps" (coordinates) to locate objects and individuals.

• Before Midnight occurs as you first arrive and offers a wide variety of services to prepare you for battle
  • Quests occur Vol. III. Book 13, Chapter 1: The Lay of the Land and Vol. III. Book 13, Chapter 2: Final Preparations
  • To continue to the battle version and the quest Vol. III. Book 13, Chapter 3, Night Deepens click on the Map Table - "Helm's Deep, After Midnight"
• After Midnight occurs at the same time as the Epic Battle: Helm's Dike, Epic Battle: The Deeping Wall and Epic Battle: The Deeping-coomb
  • none of the services are available, except Gamling and Gléowine ^{[68.9N, 47.5W]}
  • To return to the normal game world, click on the Grain Sacks - "Helm's Deep, before Midnight"
  • To continue to the next time click the Tipped Barrel of Swords - "Helm's Deep, before Dawn."
• Before Dawn occurs at the same time as the quest Vol. III. Book 13, Chapter 7, Defending the Deep and Epic Battle: The Glittering Caves
  • There was originally no map of the inside of the Glittering Caves, but that was later provided, see Maps below. The entrance is at coordinates 71.3S, 142.2W
• Dawn occurs at the same time as the Epic Battle: The Hornburg
  • none of the services are available except Gamling and Gléowine ^{[68.9N, 47.5W]}
  • To go back before Dawn click on the Tipped Barrel of Swords
  • To continue to the next time click the Leaning Banner - "Helm's Deep, Sunrise"
• Sunrise occurs at the time of the quest Vol. III. Book 13, Chapter 10, The Hornburg

Lore

Helm's Deep was the largest fortress of Rohan, where the guards of the Fords of Isen lived. Originally named Aglarond, it was, with Angrenost (Isengard), one of two Gondorian strongholds built to guard the Fords of Isen.

During the War of the Ring the fortress guarding Helm's Deep again became the refuge of some of the Rohirrim, now under King Théoden, and the Battle of the Hornburg was fought there.

Epic Battles

Defence of Rohan

Name	Size
Helm's Dike	Solo/Duo, Fellowship (Six)
The Deeping Wall	Solo/Duo, Raid (Twelve)
The Deeping-coomb	Solo/Duo
The Glittering Caves	Solo/Duo, Small Fellowship (Three)
The Hornburg	Solo/Duo

Services

The following services be found within Helm's Deep Before Midnight version

Mailboxes

• Mailbox ^{[63.8S, 89.5W]}
• Tasks Bulletin Board ^{[63.8S, 89.5W]}

Crafting

• Forge ^{[64.1S, 89.9W]}

Travelling

• Milestone ^{[63.8S, 89.5W]}
• Stable-master ^{[63.7S, 89.5W] [63.7S, 89.5W]}

Helm's Deep Stable-master destinations

Destination Region Cost Prerequisites Bree-land South Bree (Swift) Bree-land 71 50  Min. Level: 85 Moria Twenty-first Hall (Swift) Zelem-melek 71 50  Min. Level: 85 Rohan - Westemnet Aldburg (Swift) Eastfold 66  Min. Level: 85 Aldburg Eastfold 60  Min. Level: 85 Edoras (Swift) Kingstead 66  Min. Level: 85 Edoras Kingstead 60  Min. Level: 85 Grimslade (Swift) Westfold 66  Min. Level: 85 Grimslade Westfold 60  Min. Level: 85 Isengard (after) (Swift) Nan Curunír 66  Min. Level: 85 Stoke (Swift) Broadacres 66  Min. Level: 85 Stoke Broadacres 60  Min. Level: 85 Woodhurst (Swift) Stonedeans 66  Min. Level: 85 Woodhurst Stonedeans 60  Min. Level: 85

NPCs

Aragorn at the Hornburg

Riders at Helm's Dike

Inside the Hornburg

• Quartermaster (Helmingas) ^{[63.8S, 89.4W]}
• Quartermaster (Eorlingas) ^{[63.8S, 89.4W]}
• Quartermaster (Veterans of Helm's Deep) ^{[63.8S, 89.4W]}

• Merit Committee (Battle Decorations (Standard Honors)) ^{[63.8S, 89.3W]}
• Merit Committee (Battle Decorations (High Honors)) ^{[63.8S, 89.3W]}

• Forge-master ^{[64.1S, 89.9W]}
• Bard of Rohan ^{[64.0S, 89.9W]}

• Gléowine ^{[63.9S, 89.9W]} and his Map-table (Helm's Deep, after Midnight) exist to transport you into the Battles.

• Supplier ^{[63.8S, 89.8W]}
• Healer ^{[63.8S, 89.8W]}
• Provisioner ^{[63.8S, 89.8W]}

• Vault-keeper ^{[64.4S, 89.3W]} -- up the stairs on the second level
• Auctioneer ^{[64.5S, 89.7W]} -- up the stairs on the second level

Trainers

• Hunter Trainer ^{[63.9S, 89.9W]}
• Rune-keeper Trainer ^{[63.9S, 90.0W]}
• Lore-master Trainer ^{[63.9S, 90.0W]}
• Minstrel Trainer ^{[63.9S, 89.9W]}
• Burglar Trainer ^{[63.9S, 89.9W]}
• Guardian Trainer ^{[63.9S, 89.9W]}
• Captain Trainer ^{[63.8S, 89.9W]}
• Warden Trainer ^{[63.8S, 89.9W]}
• Champion Trainer ^{[63.8S, 89.8W]}

Quests

The Epic Battles of Helm's Deep are initially encountered during the Epic Quest Line associated with the Helm's Deep Expansion. Unlike previous portions of the Epic Quest line, the Helm's Deep Expansion is a required purchase to continue the Epic Quest line.

These battles are found in the chapters of Vol. III. Book 13: The Battle of the Hornburg. They are accessed via the Defence of Rohan User Interface (UI).

Maps

Notes

Notes on the new Game technology and the implementation of the battle

• "Turbine said that while Peter Jackson's vision of Helm's Deep made a serious impact on how fans saw the battle, "LOTRO is the game of the books" and as such is striving to provide a more accurate representation of the conflict as depicted in the original books. So while there will be no Elves showing up or Gandalf charging in to save the day, we will experience many events of the books that didn't make it to film, such as clashes at the dike and the glittering caves.

• "The outcome of the "Big Battle" of Helm's Deep is fixed in lore and won't be impacted by the player, but each player can make a difference in how they contribute to that victory through their efforts.

• "Part of a player's contribution will depend on how his group coordinates (if he is in one) and what role he decides to pursue. There are three roles in the defense of Helm's Deep: vanguard, engineer, and officer. Vanguards are focused on wading into the battle and doing some personal damage, engineers fire siege weapons and interact with environmental objects, and officers give orders. Seems there's a little something there for all interests."