Fleet-feathered

 

Two weeks ago, I gave my readers a hint for this week's outfit at my previous entry's end. As much as I love Belegaer blue, which was used in those teaser screenshots, it too closely resembled what I used for Silvered Whispers. I felt that a splash of a darker color, one almost complimentary, would let the Jacket of the Wilds Hills and accompanying pieces shine. Crimson works well, lavender looks nice, but colors that fall into the spectrum between blue and green work best with the cooler silver found in the chest, gloves, and boots. This all goes to demonstrate how versatile any cosmetic piece can be when paired with the proper color.

I've tried to be as unique as possible with my outfits over the years. I may not be the first, but I'll admit I've overused certain combinations...and that's been a hard habit to break. But, at the same time, I can't deny when it works well for the umpteenth time. Like the boots and gloves from the Great Alliance set. I enjoy having cosmetic pieces refer to each other. I like pairing clothing from sets for uniformity or consistency. And when there's a theme, like the swan one here, combinations can feel limited.

That being said, there was another reason why I opted for these gloves and boots. The Jacket of the Wild Hills can feel bulky on certain bodies. It wasn't made to be form-fitting, which was the trend back in 2019. That, sadly, leads to clipping issues. In this case, the lower legs and arms are where the clipping often occurs. On males, it's not so bad. On females? Having equally bulky boots and gloves will help. 

Anyway, I've been using this appearance almost exclusively while questing through Swanfleet and Cardolan for the first time. Before the Shadow is an interesting alternative to LOTRO's intro after having gone through Shadows of Angmar countless times these last seventeen-ish years. But it's given me an alternate path for playing the game, exposing me to some new cosmetics! I have plans to quest in the Angle of Mitheithel and the Wildwood before delving deep into Moria. I'm curious what those new zones--at least they are to me--have to offer!

Head: Lesser Arrow of the West Helmet (Umber, Novice's Quartermaster in Harndirion)

Shoulders: Lesser Shoulder of the West Shoulder Guards (Turquoise, Novice's Quartermaster in Harndirion)

Back: Swan-cloak (Turquoise, LOTRO Store) 

Chest: Jacket of the Wild Hills (Turquoise, bartered from the Curator)

Hands: Gloves of the Great Alliance (Shire peach, Minas Morgul Collector's Edition)

Feet: Boots of the Great Alliance (Shire peach, Minas Morgul Collector's Edition)

Swords: Strong Calendar War Sword (T7 Weaponsmith)

Bow: Sealed Reshaped Hunter's Bow of the First Age, level 85 (T8 Woodworker recipe)

Silver Whispers

It's a shame that cosmetics bartered with Figments of Splendor don't see much use, at least from what I've observed. I have a handful of them myself from over the years, generally bartering for them as the seasonal vendors change or from the elusive Curator, who only appears at specific times of the year. Honestly, I think the Curator should be available year-round that way good cosmetics don't go to waste. It would encourage players to convert excess motes and embers into figments for bartering, versus holding onto them and wasting them when currency caps are reached. However, that's my humble opinion. SSG has been petitioned in the past, but to no avail. I can remain hopeful that it may change someday, but I won't hold my breath.

Whimsical Autumn

I apologize for the unexpectedly lengthy absence. Unfortunately, there's only so much I can control between two jobs. I'm often exhausted when I get home. I seldom have the time or energy for gaming, let alone LOTRO. Despite that, my desire to continue making new outfits is still going strong. I'm on vacation in the upcoming weeks and I plan to upload as much as I can for scheduled content.

If you've been lucky and are on the LOTRO Official Discord server, you may have noticed I'm periodically dropping screenshots of new outfits either in progress or completed.

Brief Blog Update

 Greetings everybody!

I apologize for the lack of posts here lately. I haven't stopped blogging. In fact, I've had little time for LOTRO. I've been working multiple jobs, a sign of financially supporting a family in this precarious US economy. Keeping a roof over our heads comes first and foremost, which I hope you understand.

As such, I generally have two specific times that I don't work. Sunday afternoons and Wednesdays. Not the most convenient windows for gaming, I assure you. Sundays have gone towards leveling for my kinship's upcoming progression raid, The Anvil of Winterstith. Wednesdays are LOTRO's weekly maintenance day. And, as of late, those maintenance days have become extended maintenance days (ugh), where either all servers or specific servers are down into the late afternoon or early evening. When that happens, I can't play. As a result, I've neither had time to craft new outfits nor time to screenshot ones I have yet to share here.

I'll be back eventually. Hopefully, sooner than later.

~Nath

Crimson Sands

Recently, I rolled a fresh Warden. With the smoother performance of the 64-bit servers and a noticeable reduction in skill lag, this class is once again, at least to me, viable to play. There is an upcoming Rift of Nûrz Ghâshu raid on June 1st for Perwethien's birthday celebration and I'll be bringing a red line Warden to the event! This event will be run on the Peregrin server on-level with a group of level 50 players. At the time of writing this, there are some spots still open. The group is looking for a second  tank and three DPS. Hopefully we'll get it filled by then!