It pleases me to be able to play LOTRO, as intended, once more. Whatever was done in the past week or two server-side has corrected my issues with the game. Lag is gone, as well as the large ping and loss values, and the characters that were parked in housing instances were finally freed from their virtual confinement. I'll finally be able to sit down and create more blog-worthy outfits again!
In the meantime, I've only had one character free to roam around Middle-earth. Seeing how little I could actually do, I started making my way through Central and Eastern Gondor for the first time. What I didn't expect was the inclusion of the Dawnless Day, a time in which Sauron used smoke and fumes from Mordor to conceal the sun from most of Rohan and Gondor. Although this particular event lasts only five days in lore, LOTRO has made it seem dreadfully permanent. Even though I've only gotten to Bâr Húrin, I can't take much more of the atmosphere. It's difficult to spend so much time in a gloomy area when most LOTRO's landscape consists of clear, cheerful skies and lush vegetation. (I often rush through Angmar and Mirkwood for similar reasons.) In light of that, I was compelled to make a colorful outfit before I return to the doom and gloom of Eastern Gondor.
Originally, I was going to dye everything a brilliant purple. Unfortunately, the shoulders I ultimately settled upon wouldn't let me keep those plans. The Shoulders of the Nimrodel (and its similarly skinned counterparts) have a cool, almost metallic base color. If I dyed them purple, I'd have a purple closer to a royal blue. If I had done that to the shirt as well, it would have been somewhere on the warmer spectrum, between a byzantine and plum. Sometimes, the palettes and base tints in LOTRO's cosmetics clash in usual ways.
To bring the colors of this outfits together, I chose a combination of rose and violet. Rose for the shoulders to approximate the color of the cloth sleeves and to make the cloth in the gloves stand out less. Violet for the chest that way is could sync with the rest of the pieces. Here's an odd fact about the chest--the emblem has a yellowish base that changes appropriately when dyed. Using violet allowed me to match the emblem's color to the Elven Leather Legging's belt straps and leggings.
Alternatively, violet can be used for the shoulders as well. In that case, you'll come closer to matching the cloak and boots instead of the sleeves and gloves.
In the past, I've posted many outfits that require raiding or bartering from higher level class-specific vendors. I've been trying my best to refrain from creating them. Like last week, I wanted to post another creation that could be mostly obtainable by lower level players. I can't say it enough, but playing my Beorning has helped me to appreciate the earliest skins of the game in ways I had never expected, whether they're crafted, landscape quest rewards, or creature drops.
Also, I'd like to take a moment to welcome another LOTRO cosmetic blogger into the fold. Please stop by Adventures in Outfitting and show Mori your support. She's kicked off her blog this month with some lovely outfits!
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Nimrodel (Rose, pre-50 world drop)
Back: Cloak of the Windsinger (Violet, LOTRO Store)
Chest: Elven Warrior's Armour (Violet, T5 Metalsmith recipe)
Legs: Elven Leather Leggings (Grey, Rivendell Medium Armour vendor)
Hands: Elven Officer's Resolute Gloves (Violet, T5 Metalsmith Recipe)
Feet: Ceremonial Boots of the North Star (Violet, skirm camp cosmetics vendor - Rift heavy armour)
that's a very pretty outfit for a deadly beauty :D the symbol on the chest that matches the legging in colour is a very nice touch, and the shoulders and bracers give a nice shape to her arms. The rift boots, I use them so few times as I think they always look kinda odd, but here they also match well with the whole costume, very nice!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gloredh! I honestly wasn't expecting the chest and leggings to match as well as they did in terms of color and style. It's strange because you wouldn't expect those legs to be dyed grey. When I first bought them, I thought the decorative indigo areas were what changed color with the dyes. Instead, it's the belt and leggings that do. And as for those North Star boots, I couldn't think of anything better to match the overall feel of the outfit. There might be better elven-themed ones, but the curves and leaves in the ones I had didn't hold up too well.
DeleteThis is a lovely outfit! And I do like that it uses more easily obtained cosmetics! Nice touch in using different dyes on the shoulders and the cloak - some pieces are kind of hard to dye and there are so many different colors on this outfit. Thanks for mentioning my blog as well, I look forward to making more outfits, after years of admiring all that all the lovely bloggers in the community have done :)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Mori! With all the low level players I've seen adventuring across Middle-earth lately, I've been trying to get into the habit of using the more accessible items in the game. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way. I also agree that it's difficult to dye some items, especially the early cosmetic of the game. Those were truly unique, in terms of design and detail, and quite often more than one area would change color when dyed. That chest is the perfect example. It just makes the process all the more rewarding!
DeleteCompletely in love with this outstanding outfit, you truly did a great job! I'm always jealous of the medium-weight armor characters as mine are mainly light armor exclusives. It's a shame how the appearance possibilities shrink with that restriction, but my halfling minstrel is always trying to do her best to remain stylish in Middle Earth ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I've often found the variety in light armor to be restrictive as well, as the majority of it revolves around robes, hauberks, and the like. If we had a larger selection, especially top and bottoms instead of the latest style of "onesies," it'd be much easier. If you're having trouble with sticking to light armor, may I make a suggestion? There are quite a few medium skins that can pass as light armor, whether crafted, dropped by a creature, or purchased at a vendor.
DeleteI've often had difficulty clothing my Hobbits. After working with the races of elves and men for so long, it's difficult to get past the compression of cosmetics on smaller bodies, especially hobbit females. Perhaps I'll give it another try!