Anduin Spear-shaker

The biggest break I'd ever taken from LOTRO was started in 2014, when I was utterly disappointed with Helm's Deep. I clung to the game, making outfits. That's it...just outfits. When January 2015 arrived, I wrapped up my affairs, tired of waiting for LOTRO to turn itself around, shut down my blog, was gone by February, and intended never to return....but it didn't go as planned.

And I hadn't expected the chain events that led to this outfit's delay.

When I came back some eight months later, I was overwhelmed. There was so much to do to simply catch up. Eastern Gondor had been released and Minas Tirith was almost here. I spent most of 2016 getting myself from Snowbourn to the gates of Minas Tirith with three level capped characters. And don't get me started on imbued LIs--those weren't around when I'd left. Honestly, I could have gotten there faster if I hadn't stopped to make outfits along the way! I had to put all those new cosmetics, starting with Western Gondor's, to good use!

Then the worst possible thing had happened. My PC failed, leaving me LOTRO-less from November 2016 to April 2017. I was crushed. I'd missed the window of opportunity to run the Osgiliath instance cluster for gear. I'd been excitedly looking forward to it pre-PC death. Everyone had moved to farming the Pelennor cluster and North Ithilien's flowers. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't gather enough players to run Osgiliath...not even to complete the Ashes and Stars chain. "If only I hadn't taken that break..." and similar thoughts were running through my mind.

For a long time, I stared at pictures of the light, medium, and heavy Osgiliath sets, wondering if I'd ever get them. Then Mordor arrived. Once I raised some characters to 115, properly geared, I was able to start farming them. I was just too squishy at 105. Over and over again, for a few weeks, I reliably soloed Ruined City and Dome of Stars on T2, level 50. Sunken Labyrinth was impossible, due to the immediate gate/lever mechanics. With some effort, I collected the helm, shoulders, chest, and hand pieces. One LOTRO wish that finally came true after overcoming all those obstacles.

So that's the story that sets up this outfit and the one coming in two weeks. I knew there was a point, somewhere, to this already lengthy blog entry! There's always a history behind my outfits, but who'd have expected there was a tale spanning a good three and a half years. I've been excited just thinking of sharing this. I'm convinced that this "Anduin Spear-shaker's" appearance is the best one I've made for a Warden, although any shield-bearing class could easily use it.

Shoulders: Shoulderpads of the Osgiliath Shield (Walnut brown, Dome of the Stars T2 Warden class armor)**
Back: Radiant Cloak (Dark clay, T5 Tailor recipe)
Chest: Jacket of the Osgiliath Shield (Belegaer blue, Ruined City T2 Warden class armor)**
Hands: Heavy Plated Dunlending Gauntlets (Walnut brown, Dunland landscape quest reward)***
Feet: Lesser Mark of the West Shoes (Dark clay, Rune-keeper class armor bartered from the Novice's Quartermaster in Harndirion)

Main-hand: Reforged Warden's Spear of the Second Age, level 100 (or the level 100 First Age one, both crafted)
Shield: Bridge-warden's Shield (Random T2 drop from any Osgiliath cluster chests)

**Shares skins with the Hunter's, Burglar's, and Beorning's class armor dropped in the Osgiliath instances. Will not drop for light and heavy classes.
***Dunland's quests reward the same gauntlet skin under multiple names. Check out Devonna's Cosmetic Guide to RoI Quest Rewards at LOTRO Stylist and learn which ones.
****Dark clay and walnut brown can be substitued with sienna, which provides a warmer brown more in line with the hem and sleeves of the jacket.