Tuesday, 1 April 2014

LOTRO Back to Basics 101: Picking a Race

Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) is a fantastic MMORPGthat for a few years now has been free to play (F2P), and continues to attract new players every day. Whether you're a seasoned RPGer or new to games like this entirely, character creation can be a bit intimidating when you first start out. With Back to Basics I hope to give you a few guidelines to help out with your decision.

If you are among those who has read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings or seen Peter Jackson's film adaptations then you will, no doubt, be a bit familiar with the world of Middle-Earth. If not, don't worry. Here's a brief breakdown of the races that people the West of Middle-Earth.

I will be dealing here only with the playable races of LOTRO, although maybe later I'll do something on a wider scale.

The playable races are often referred to as "the free peoples" or "freeps" in LOTRO slang. This is to differentiate them from the races and peoples who are enslaved under the dominion of Sauron or other dark powers.

The Race of Men
I've been told in other RPGs that playing a human means you have no imagination. That is hardly the case in LOTRO. The race of man is specifically the men of the West, not necessarily Dunedain, but typically their descendants or distant relations. There are many evil men in LOTRO, including some from the free people side, but as a rule these nations are opposed to Sauron and the dark powers.
If you select "Man" during character creation, you will be able to choose male or female (gender does not effect or concern gameplay at all, i is purely cosmetic) and will then be given a choice of where your character (or "toon" in game slang) hails from. These options are Bree-Land, Dale-Lands, Gondor, or Rohan. The only effects of your place of origin are some cosmetic options (such as hair colour and skin tone) and the title you will begin the game with ("Your name" of "your place of origin").

A man captain

Men have more class options available to them than any of the other races. As of this writing there are nine classes and men can play all of them except Rune Keeper. They are the only race which can play the Captain class. Men are the dominant race during this period of time and most of the places you visit will be peopled with them.
Men start the game with extra fate and might and bonus to healing but with lower will than other races, however, stat bonuses or deficits typically make little significant difference throughout most of the game. The benefit from healing might make a bit of difference, but by the time you make level 20, no one's going to notice much.

Dwarves
Short, stocky, resilient and gruff (and typically bearded), dwarves are a tough bunch not to love. They live under mountains, drink whenever possible, look great in heavy armour and have the best /roar emote of all races.
The people of Durin  begin the game with bonuses to might, vitality and in-combat regeneration, but suffer from lower fate, agility and out of combat regeneration. They hail from The Blue Mountains, The Iron Hills, The Lonely Mountain, The Grey Mountains or The White Mountains. As with other races the choice of origin only affects minor cosmetic choices.
There are male and female dwarves, but since they are alike in appearance, voice and dress, there is no gender option for dwarves, presumably leaving you open to deciding which your toon is yourself.

Dwarf guardian

Dwarves are limited to Champion, Guardian, Hunter, Minstrel and Rune Keeper as class options. While they do look great with heavy armour and big shields, they are also able to function well in these other roles as well.

Hobbits
Perhaps Tolkien's best known creations, hobbits live almost exclusively in the Shire (or within close proximity thereof), where they eat, drink, smoke and party (in a rural, pastoral sort of way).
There are three branches of hobbits; the Fallohides, Harfoots and Stoors.
Hobbits get a boost to vitality and out of combat power regeneration and have a slight resistance to fear effects, but are less strong than other races and start with less might.

Hobbit burglar

Hobbits are able to play as Burglars, Guardians, Hunters, Minstrels and Wardens.

Elves
The Eldar were once the most powerful and influential race of Middle-earth, but their time is passing as the age of men draws near. This is reflected in their starting stats as they have decreased fate, morale and non-combat morale regeneration. They also have increased agility as well as resistance to disease and poison.

Elf Loremaster

Elves hail from Lindon, Lorien, Rivendell, Mirkwood and Edhellond. They can play all classes except Burglar and Captain.

Sum Up
The choice of race is largely a cosmetic one and will not have any long term effects on gameplay. However, each race does have a unique tutorial instance which helps flesh out their respective Epic Story Prologue, so I'd recommend playing each race at least once and doing the tutorial along the way. Additionally you can do the epic prologue for each race (there might even be a hidden reward for something like that...)

You don't have to be a particular race to visit and quest in the starting zones, only to do the tutorial and introduction.

The most important thing about playing different races is to pick one that fits your tastes and preferences. Of course there will be some class limitations based on your race, but if you don't like how a character looks or feels, the odds are you won't play that toon much anyway, so why bother?

Have fun and I'll see you at the Havens!

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