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!

Shameless announcements and plugins aside, this is the new outfit I designed for my baby Warden. She's not a high enough level to survive a trip to Umbar, so I used my high level one as my screenshot model. I must say the latest patron set has some absolutely gorgeous rewards, from the airy, flowing, and lavish robe to the serpentine spear and exotic aura. All of the pieces from the coffer, except the robe, have a ton of cosmetic potential. The robe, as wonderful as it is, is very billowy in the chest area, making it clip with most shoulder pieces. And then there's the price point, 7995 LP, for the top tier coffer. A bit high, but I had enough saved from previous months subbing to afford the splurge.

I'll be honest. The spear and aura are what initially got my attention. Spears in LOTRO rarely get any attention, considering how they can't be used cosmetically when a spear isn't equipped as an active weapon. Even though they're one-handed weapons, they don't share the same animations as swords, hammers, axes, clubs, and daggers. And the bleed passive isn't as attractive as passive boost to parry, crit, or slow an opponent, making them even less common. But my Wardens have always used spears, with the rare exception for specific blog outfits.

Head: Worn Hood (Burgundy, reward from the Beorning intro)*

Shoulders: Shoulder-guards of Illumination (Burgundy,  Anniversary Festival barter reward)

Back: Cloak of the Sands (Burgundy, reward from the Patron's Luxuriant Coffer of the Sands)

Chest: Robe of the Sands (White, reward from the Patron's Luxuriant Coffer of the Sands)

Hands: Dunland Caretaker's Patched Bracers (Burgundy, reward from the quest To Lhan Colvarn)**

Feet: Boots of Illumination (Burgundy, Anniversary Festival barter reward)

Weapon: Ceremonial Spear of the Sands (reward from any tier of the Patron's Coffer of the Sands)

Shield: Forged Bright Umbari Aegis (Crafted from the Forged Reinforced Umbari Aegis recipe)

Aura: Weapon Aura of the Sands (reward from the Patron Coffer of the Sand - Enhanced or Luxuriant tier)

*For males, Radagast's Hood from the Beorning intro quests will have this appearance.

** There are multiple ways to obtain Dunland skins. Please refer to Devonna's guide over at The LOTRO Stylist

Elite Rider

I apologize for the absence. Most of January and the first week of February weren't kind to me. Having the flu, combined with a case of the stomach flu, left me hospitalized briefly and unable to do very much. Recovery has been slow, but my health has returned to normal. And I'm grateful for that. However, this means I've fallen behind in many aspects of my life, especially this blog. I've run out of scheduled outfits and have had little time for LOTRO. And despite the constant distractions and scramble to catch up, I found time to log into LOTRO and collect the new VIP cosmetic set, the Armour of the Elite Rider. These cosmetics are available to any player on any server so long as he/she is VIP and logs into the game by March 12, 2020.

Sword and Sorcery

I hope everybody's been enjoying LOTRO's Fall Festival this year. I've been a bit of a busybody myself between daily attempts at getting the Painted Skeleton Steed from the Haunted Burrow's not-so-secret chest, touching up future outfits, and preparing for tomorrow's server fashion show on Gladden, Frights of Fancy. In a way, I was glad the past week has been like this. It's given me time to focus on everything LOTRO and clearing my "Countdown to Minas Morgul" checklist. I can't wait to see what gear skins we're getting! I've imagined there will be plenty of spooky-looking ones! And speaking of something spooky...

Travelling in Comfort

Having been away for the entire summer, I found myself out of practice making outfits upon my return in September. Really out of practice. However, one good thing came out of my absence. I haven't relied so much on the current contents of my wardrobe. Instead, I've been looking though my cosmetic storage mules and trying to use (or throwing away) pieces I've either rarely used or not used at all. I've even gone out of my way to craft often ignored recipes for new material. The combinations have been interesting, to say the least. This was actually the first outfit I'd created when I returned, but it was pushed back due to the stream of autumn, Halloween, and Minas Morgul themed attire.

For a couple of outfits, I went back to exploring classic cosmetics. The majority of the pieces here were from the Rise of Isengard expansion. This outfit, in fact, was partially inspired by the release of Isengard on the Legendary Servers. And it can be recreated, except for the shoulders, on those very servers! (I'd recommend the one of the shoulder wrap pieces from the SoA sets, in that case. Maybe even Gwir-palvais!) Overall, it has a wonderfully casual and simple look, fitting in well while roaming Middle-earth. It works well on the light armor classes, even in combat.

An Autumn Fashion Show

Autumn is my favorite time of year. On one hand, there's the cool crisp air, freshly picked apples, and the symphony of colors as the leaves fall from the trees. All images of peace and relaxation. On the other hand, there's the tricking and treating, conjuring spooky images and atmospheres, and wearing costumes ranging from the lighthearted and adorable to the gloomy and ghastly. And then there's my favorite event--LOTRO's Fall Festival and all of the wonderful rewards that come with it. Each of the outfits below features a barter reward from the festival.

As some of you may know from Twitter or the Issue #132 of the Beacon, Rangers of the West, is hosting the server-wide fashion contest, Frights of Fancy, on Sunday, October 27th. Both Makaia of Style of Middle-earth and myself will be presiding as judges. There are two main categories--"Scariest Outfit" and "Autumn-themed Outfit." We also had a third theme planned, the "Look-a-Like," but after much debate, it was dropped from the program. This part would have had players dressing up like major characters from the lore, specifically from the time period between The Hobbit and Return of the King. Seeing as Gladden's not the busiest server, we didn't want to risk having too few people for too many categories. (This could be brought back if we have enough interest on the forums! *cough cough*)

Even though I can't enter the contest, I plan on dressing the part on my Minstrel and changing outfits with each theme. The first outfit, featuring an elegant red dress, falls into the Autumn one. The second outfit, featuring a black dress embroidered with barren branches, fits in the Scariest one. (This is a modified version of an old outfit.)  And the third outfit? This is my interpretation of Eowyn, for the scrapped Look-a-Like, before she secretly joins the ranks of the Gondor-bound Rohirrim.

Enjoy the festivities! I hope to see many fellow Gladdenites at next weekend's fashion show!

Head: Circlet of Fresh-picked Flowers (Sunset Orange, Farmers Faire barter reward)
Shoulders: Songmaster's Shoulders (Orange, bartered from the Minstrel class trainer in Ost Galadh)**
Back: Cloak of the Autumn Sun (White, Fall Festival barter reward)
Chest: Long-sleeved Summer Dress (Red, Summer Festival barter reward)***

**Shares same skin as the Shoulder of the Lady's Grace, bartered from the Minstrel class trainer in Lothlórien for an elf-stone from Dâr Narbugud.
***Sunset Orange is a wonderful alternative to red. The dress looks slightly, but noticeably brighter.

Unfinished Appearances & Outfitting Reflections

Every now and then, I've made an outfit that leaves me with mixed feelings. I've let those sit for a few weeks then revisit them and reassess the work I've done. Sometimes they've made it to this blog. Sometimes they haven't. Sometimes an outfit's sat there indefinitely because something feels off, but has the potential to be finished without any indication as to how. And that would be this outfit. The Watchman of the Northern Lands, which was posted last month, was the redesigned product. I still have this original version saved to an outfit slot, still not quite sure what to do with it, but my hopes of completing it have dwindled. Since Material Middle-earth is a blog for outfit ideas, I've uploaded it should someone want to make something out of it.

Bow-master of the Dark Wood

Here's a blast from the past. I haven't seen this outfit since early 2012. While cleaning out my portable hard drive's picture folders, I stumbled upon this. I would have loved to upload the picture, but it's so small, grainy, and had such poor lighting that it wasn't worth it. Back then, I played LOTRO on a non-gaming college laptop, which seldom handled more than very low graphics. As a special treat, I've recreated it for this "vintage" entry with a period-appropriate Mirkwood background! It took a few days to determine what pieces and colors I'd actually used. And I've even enhanced it with cosmetic weapons.

Bare-chested Bard

It all started in September of 2016 when Gamutdorok, of Crickhollow's amazing Second Breakfast kinship, started the LOTRO hashtag #NakeDwarfGo on Twitter. (Of course, it's safe. I wouldn't intentionally link questionable content on this family-friendly blog!) What was a completely innocuous joke then has transformed into a cheerful, hilarious, and addictive subculture showcasing any and every dwarf encountered using the Bare-chested cosmetic. It's filled with dwarves parading in hot pants, dwarven bands singing and strumming shirtless, dwarves proudly displaying carefully sculpted beards, dwarves that...well, the list is endless. Frankly, I'm surprised nobody started the racy "Dwarves of Middle-earth" calendar, which would have better funded the expedition into Ered Mithrin! (If anyone asks, you didn't hear that from me!)

I couldn't resist and joined the fun, adding my own to the Twitter collection!

Garrison Commander

Can I say how much I've loved having Bullroarer? Whenever I've finished testing what I wanted to test, and after giving appropriate feedback of course, I like to indulge my outfitting urges. Thanks to the Eyes and Guard Tavern located in Archet and Thorin's Hall, many of LOTRO's currencies are infinite. I've created or transferred multiple characters and completed the dailies found in the Tavern to cap my commendations, stockpile mithril coins, or collect whatever else I've desired. I'd been waiting for an opportunity to create this outfit, one that complimented the Great Axe of the Khazad-dûm Vaults, a weapons periodically available in the LOTRO Store.

Simple Fashion - Hauberks, Part 2

The Simple Fashion series has returned this week with three classic hauberks. It's been years since I've seen these used in LOTRO. And it's been years since I've used these as well. Actually, I don't think I've ever used the Hauberk of Rhûn before. That particular cosmetic has collected dust since I purchased it back in 2012, not knowing what to do with it. I bought it with the intention of using it someday, but I'd never have expected it would take six years for that to happen!

Anyway, I've decided to keep this week's blog entry short and sweet. Enjoy the outfits below!

Picnic Power

There's a bit of a story behind this outfit. My kinship, Rangers of the West, hosts what we call Open Group twice a week--once on Friday evenings and once on Sunday afternoons (server time, at least from my perspective) when we are the most active. Basically, this is when we encourage players of all classes and levels to speak up if they need certain content run. Sometimes we have several groups running at once and we try to keep them all within a certain level range to avoid facerolling the content.

One week in October of 2017, we decided to shake up Open Group a bit. You see, our lower level players had felt a tad neglected. Lots of high level dungeons were being run. What we decided was to make this a sort of free for all event that would preserve the challenge/fun for our low level kinnies. Everyone was told to bring starter weapons with them that way DPS and healing would be level across the board. I chose to add some humor to our special event. A 115 champion dual wielding Butter Knives from the Mathom-house overlayed with Baskets of Apples from the Fall Festival. I didn't stop there. I made an outfit specifically to go with those apples! (By the way, those apples never seem to fall from the basket, no matter how wildy they're swung!)

Anórien Honor-guard

Running my High Elf Captain through Gondor Epic quests for trait points has allowed me to collect some exclusive cosmetic rewards I've foregone on previous alts. Volume 4 Book 4 offers some skins you can't get anywhere else for light, medium, and heavy armor classes. Originally, I thought the Epic rewards would share the same armor skins offered by the reputation vendors on the main level of Minas Tirith. It turned out that their appearances were quite different. Part of me wishes I could endure the reputation grind. The rest of me tells me not to bother. Why? Whenever I've been in that city, I've crashed to the desktop every ten or so minutes. I've only completed the main story on my alts and nothing else.

Shire Plum Shenanigans

This month's entry, though posted later than usual, features three outfits using the seldom seen shire plum dye. Shire plum, like purple, yellow, sunset orange, is a very bold, very bright color. When working with these dyes, it's best to remember the phrase "less is more." Depending on what clothing or armor you're dyeing, you'll stand out like a sore thumb on a earthen-toned of muted landscape. You might blind yourself standing in bright sunlight. You might blind your fellowship. You might even blind Durin's Bane in the dark depths of Moria. You may not even need the Phial of Galadriel to stand toe to toe against Shelob!

Originally, I had some overly complicated outfits put together in the dressing room when I began using this color...and they were downright obnoxious. I took a couple of them to the landscape for a few days, curious how they would appear in practical landscape use. Needless to say, that first wave failed. For the second wave, I scaled back this particular project and found the next set of outfits to be far more visually appealing. It's this wave you'll find featured here. If you're on Gladden, you might get lucky and see me adventuring in these!

At this point, I can safely say I've had my share of bright colors for now! I don't even want to think what kind of work yellow (the one dye I've refused, so far, to use) will require if shire plum was this difficult...

Head: Circlet of Fresh-picked Flowers (Shire plum, Farmers Faire barter reward)
Shoulders: Supple Wildermore Shoulderpads of Tactics (White, T8 Tailor's Guild recipe or Wildermore reputation recipe)
Chest: Elegant Formal Dress (Shire plum, LOTRO Store)

Ashen Wastes

As you may have noticed, I purchased the Ultimate Fan bundle for Mordor. I was doing very well resisting the call of the new and exclusive cosmetics, but as the release date grew closer, I caved and purchased it. So far, I have no regrets. Two sets of exclusive cosmetics--the Alliance and Ash Plains sets--and their respective steeds and war-steed sets, the High Elf, the Aria of the Valar (made a High Elf Captain you'll eventually meet), a housing item that takes the user deep into Mordor, and other things. The expansion content and packages haven't disappointed me yet...and neither have the landscape cosmetics! The new Mordor skins have breathed much needed life into the pool of clothing options.

Tribal

With the release of Mordor on Wednesday, Aug 2, I considered uploading some of the combat outfits I would be taking through the Morannon. However, a lack of time for taking and editing screenshots combined with heavy questing and exploration prevented me from doing that. As much as I wanted to show my newest creations, I decided to keep my scheduled outfits as they were. As a result, my Beorning has taken the spotlight with another tribal-themed outfit.

Uch-lûth Skirmisher

I've been wanting to take pictures of my Beorning's outfits for a very long time. Before I could do that, I made myself a promise first. That promise was to get her to Dunland. This outfit, even though it was assembled mid-2016, I had a particular place in mind to model it. That would be Barnavon in Carreglyn, however she was thirty levels too low at the time. I've put in a significant amount of work with my Beorning since my return and it's been wonderful experiencing landscape content and exploring locations I seldom have reason to visit.

Anórien Herald

It felt so surreal writing this outfit entry. My last set of them was posted in November. Before then, July. I'll admit that outfitting in LOTRO isn't what it used to be. Material Middle-earth has been around since 2012 and it's become progressively more difficult to find original combinations of attire and color. However, it's certainly not been an impossible task. I've spent some time pouring through other cosmetic blogs for LOTRO, looking at what others have used (or not used) that way I could create something unique. And this, at least to me, qualified as such. I've never seen anyone use a particular reward from the Volume 4 epic line, the Robe of Anórien Mercy. Thus, it became my central piece.

Red Arrow of Gondor

Turbine's ability to reskin old cosmetics has been hit or miss the past couple of years. Festival robes. War-steed caparisons. Various crafted items from the Eastfold and Westfold tiers. Sometimes there have been amazing successes, like the Robe of the Five Rivers featured in my previous entry. Sometimes there have been complete and utter failures, like the aforementioned 2013 and 2014 festival robes. Then there have been those that leave you feeling neither impressed nor unimpressed, but somewhere in the middle. Forlong's Ill-fitting Armor, another skin earned from multiple quests in Eastern Gondor, fell into that third category.

Whispers of Forodwaith

The Forochel Epic quest reward, the Breastplate of Voima, has finally seen some use. Would you believe it's been sitting in Nathrien's vault since early 2011? I've held on to this for so long because it's a unique skin from the Shadows of Angmar. It probably would have continued to collect dust had I not found it's counterpart leggings, Golubadanir, while deeding in Angmar. I honestly wasn't sure what I could create with the set, but I gave it my best.

Beacon of Calmindon

The name of this outfit is borrowed from Calmindon, the great First Age lighthouse sitting in the Númenórean Bay of Rómenna. I may not be the best at recalling the lore from the Unfinished Tales or The Silmarillion, but I believe it was erected as a warning not to defy the Ban of the Valar. For the Númenóreans, it meant they could never sail so far west that their own lands would disappear from view, for attempting to see or visit the Undying Lands was forbidden. This lighthouse, along with Númenór, was sunk into the sea towards the end of the Second Age by Eru Ilúvatar, when the Númenóreans corrupted by Sauron and Melkor challenged the ban and tried to forcibly reclaim the immortality they felt they were denied. Only the Faithful, a very small group of Númenóreans loyal to the Valar, were allowed to escape destruction and found the kingdoms of Arnor and Gondor some years later.

I think that's enough of a history lesson for now. Hopefully, I interpreted the lore correctly.