Crimson Valiance - Aldebaraan of Gladden

For once I left the safety of the starter zones on this mule character. It wasn't easy making it to the southern regions of the Trollshaws, as everything had purple names. Despite that, this was the place most connected to the outfit...and it was worth dying a few times on the way for several screenshots. Anyway, I had been toying with the idea of another elven sentinel's garb. Unlike my first one, which was fully dyed indigo, I thought something reddish would do nicely. It's great for characters of an elven heritage or any allied character while progressing storywise from Rivendell to Mirkwood. With the exception of the Mines of Moria, it'll help your character blend in wonderfully with the high volume of elves you'll encounter on the way.

During the last festival, I completely restocked my supply of dyes. Crimson (the main color for this outfit) is one of the most popular colors, but also one of the most aggravating dyes to make. It requires Juicy Strawberries from farmer fields and Pieces of Sienna, which can only be mined from copper deposits. However, with the influx of new players, those ore nodes have been increasingly difficult to find. I spent a whole afternoon of mining and collected maybe a dozen of them. Having a guilded scholar made it possible to produce nearly sixty dyes from that dozen.

Despite having a full compliment of dyes and currently having outfits planned through September, I've found myself being incredibly particular when bartering for cosmetics. My marks and medallions have gotten low, as I haven't actually played since the Spring Festival. I'm focusing exclusively on outfits now and will continue to do so until my final day in LOTRO arrives. I know I've said it multiple times here, but the clothing system in this game is vastly superior to any of the MMOs I've played over the past fifteen years and that means I'm going to explore it to the fullest!

In other cosmetic news, I have two things to report. The first being the Erebor armor sets found in the skirmish camps. If you missed but of news, go back to the previous entry to view pictures of all sets when they're died. Second, without any notification from the devs on patch notes, you can only talk to the class vendors in the Ox-clan Camp in Nan Curunir if you're of the matching class. Yup, no cross-class bartering at that location any longer. Prior to U14, for at least two years, you could talk to any of the vendors and barter for whatever Orthanc armor you cosmetically needed, regardless of your class. This makes building outfits using those pieces about ten times more difficult.  And I used to like mixing and matching those sets too!

Shoulders: Berserker's Shoulders (Crimson, Ost Galadh Champion class vendor)
Back: Cloak of the Silver Birch (Crimson, LOTRO Store)
Chest: Breastplate of the Deathstorm (Red, classic skirm camp vendor, Barad Guldur heavy armor)
Legs: Ceremonial Leggings of Command (Default, Lalia's Market)**
Hands: Ceremonial War-captain's Gloves (Red, skirm camp cosmetic vendor, Helegrod heavy armor)
Feet: Hall-general's Boots (Sienna, Moria Captain class vendor)

**Available at the time this post was drafted. Also, dying these leggings will produce a somewhat muted color. I don't know why considering how brilliant the default hue is.