Reported Quest Difficulty Levels and Recommendations

[Hluill]

QUEST: Eliminating the Train
CATEGORY: Misty Mtns
JOURNAL LEVEL: 47
JOURNAL ICON: Solo
ACTUAL LEVEL: 47
ACTUAL ICON: Small Fship.
REASONS: The quest is one where it may be possible for classes that are hi DPS,but its impossible for classes like Guards or Minstrels due to the insane respawn rate of the mobs.
The Wind masters are at the very bak of the camp, are always near other garudan wolf born and their dogs.
You cant pull them singly and when you fight one , you end up with 4 mobs plus their dogs on you.
As a L48 Guard I can just take on 4 mobs plus 2 dogs at once, but it uses up all my cooldowns and I then cant fite all the respawns without a long wait.
Either adjust the respawn rate to allow for low DPS classes, or indicate that low DPS classes need a group.

I had the same problem with Eliminating the Trail. We had just finished duoing several orange (level 48+) quests and thought we'd do this one since it was only yellow to us. They respawned faster than we could kill them. We had no trouble killing Wolf-borne out in the open, but once we got into the camp... Well, it was a good fight, but we never killed one Windmaster.

[Silverlocket]

QUEST: Hobgoblins Recipe
CATEGORY: Shire (Oatbarton)
JOURNAL LEVEL: 29 (I think)
JOURNAL ICON: Solo
ACTUAL LEVEL: It may be doable at 28 with a fellowship
ACTUAL ICON: Small fellowship at least
REASONS: Mob density is horrendous in this area. It's a tiny camp full of mobs with long wandering patterns. This leads to a situation that whereever you choose to fight, you wind up with at least 2 more mobs charging in before you are done with the first two you tackle. There also seems to be very few torch items available in the area leaving you very few choices about where to fight. Classes without AoE attacks (such as my Burglar) are effectively defenseless against the Boggart swarms, so the only option is to avoid them.

QUEST: Setting the Trap (Defeat Bonefang)
CATEGORY: Shire (Oatbarton)
JOURNAL LEVEL: 27
JOURNAL ICON: Solo
ACTUAL LEVEL: ?? - I was able to solo it at lvl 31 after several attempts
ACTUAL ICON: Small fellowship
REASONS: Bonefang is manageable alone, but the mob density in the area and bonefang's ability to call in support from outside the normal aggro range makes this nigh impossible to solo. I attempted if four times at level 28. The mob density in the area is so high that I was able to clear a space to fight Bonefang, but respawns would immediately commence upon summoning Bonefang.

I attempted both of these quests the other day with my 34 Minstrel. I had done them with my burglar, but I wanted to see if they were as hard as I remembered. Answer: yes.

Setting the Trap is extremely hard to complete with a non-AOE class of even- or slightly above-level. An even-level with, what, four instant adds? Come on.

The Boggarts in Hobgoblins' Recipe make what would be a fairly difficult quest into something ridiculous. The last time I went by there to try the quest there were four(!) patrolling parties outside the camp and at least one party inside. I made the mistake of aggroing a party on the other side of a hill and ended up with 12 Boggarts and a Goblin beating on me. (Yes, I died.)

I don't think I'll be trying these quests any more -- at least, not solo. They're not worth the trouble.

SL

[Elrondorn]

QUEST: Unpaid Debt
CATEGORY: Bree-Land
JOURNAL LEVEL: 6
JOURNAL ICON: Solo
ACTUAL LEVEL: 6/12+
ACTUAL ICON: Fellowship/Solo
REASONS:Lockbox is surrounded by 2 lvl 8s and 2 lvl 9s, but its a lvl 6 solo? ###?

QUEST: The Lodger's Ledger
CATEGORY: Bree-Land
JOURNAL LEVEL: 7
JOURNAL ICON: Solo
ACTUAL LEVEL: 7/12+
ACTUAL ICON: Fellowship/Solo
REASONS: see above

I agree 100%, the only way I was actually able to finish both of these at the specified level was after some other poor soul had drawn the mobs by running away. I have only been able to complete it straight up at lvl 8 with company, or lvl 12 or better alone.

[roberto88810]

QUEST: Dark Raiders
CATEGORY: Angmar
JOURNAL LEVEL: around 44
JOURNAL ICON: Fellowship
ACTUAL LEVEL: same
ACTUAL ICON: small fellowship
REASONS: have never needed more than 2 to complete a round through this dungeon

QUEST: Dark Hunters
CATEGORY: Angmar
JOURNAL LEVEL: around 44
JOURNAL ICON: Small Fellowship
ACTUAL LEVEL: 44
ACTUAL ICON: Fellowship
REASONS: Have always needed full group, elite master at the end monsters in groups of 3+ at almost all times

[timgrifjr]

I don't know why it needs to be reported. Granted I'm pretty new here, but I've only encountered one time (of course, for about 2 days--but then I just did other smaller quests) when I couldn't find anyone to help me out.

Normally people are glad to help out and just love to kick some butt and show what they can do and/or know.

Maybe I'm the tree-hugger here, but just explore with the quests, if you die, you die and go back and try again. XP come up again.

[emdy]

QUEST: Thorgests last hope.
CATEGORY: MM
JOURNAL LEVEL: around 47
JOURNAL ICON: Solo
ACTUAL LEVEL: 47
ACTUAL ICON: Small Fellowship
REASONS: Jakka is L47 Signature at very bak of garudan camp.
Due to the insane rate of mob respawn classes with low DPS like Guards or Minstrels simply cant get to jakka alive unless someone else has cleared the camp for you.
Jakka has a l46 dog and 2 L46 garudan bodyguards.
Its a really tuff fite , even if you could actually get to him alive.

[Strongbow]

QUEST: Thorgests last hope.
CATEGORY: MM
JOURNAL LEVEL: around 47
JOURNAL ICON: Solo
ACTUAL LEVEL: 47
ACTUAL ICON: Small Fellowship
REASONS: Jakka is L47 Signature at very bak of garudan camp.
Due to the insane rate of mob respawn classes with low DPS like Guards or Minstrels simply cant get to jakka alive unless someone else has cleared the camp for you.
Jakka has a l46 dog and 2 L46 garudan bodyguards.
Its a really tuff fite , even if you could actually get to him alive.

Agreed. In a duo, this one is not too dificult, but solo it is all but impossible. Respawn was horrid, and when you aggro one mob, be prepared for at least 2 more to join the fight, not counting summoned mobs.

I was on a 50 LM and barely got past the first set of mob camps.

[Eclipsse]

Agreed. In a duo, this one is not too dificult, but solo it is all but impossible. Respawn was horrid, and when you aggro one mob, be prepared for at least 2 more to join the fight, not counting summoned mobs.

I was on a 50 LM and barely got past the first set of mob camps.

I actually soloed this on my 50 Guardian. Granted it was VERY tough, and after I killed Jakka I jumped off the cliff to the water. I then looked again at my quest log, and despite seeing his corpse, and targeting it I was S.O.L. It did not give me credit for killing him. I got the experience, and the note in my log that I had killed him, yet the quest never updated. Wasn't about to try again, as I was frustrated. I bug reported it, but don't recall any answer.

[LagunaD]

I've played my first and only character (a LM) mostly solo, so I can relate to many of the solo quest issues posted above:

Unpaid Debt: This was the first really tough one, especially since I was new to the game. If I were playing it again, I might try putting Sign of the Wild: Rage on my Raven, parking it on the other side of the mobs from me, and using it to pull the mobs away while I grab the item. Another possibility might be to take down one of the guards, run away before being killed, and hope to come back for a more managable 2-on-1 fight before respawn. But it seems way underrated in level regardless, especially given that many players will be facing it early in their LOTRO experience.

Master of the Lash: I was able to solo this one, but only because there were so many other groups running through the ruins and killing things.

Setting the Trap: Even getting to Bonefang was sheer suicide at the advertised level. I finally solo-ed it about 8-10 levels higher. I can't imagine what they were thinking with the rating here.

Loremaster Non-Combat Pet Quests in Agamaur (Friend of Hares, Turtles and Sparrows): L29 solo rating is absurd. Nothing is solo in there until all of the mobs are gray and don't aggro, especially since you have to explore essentially the entire area to find the locations.

Treasure in the Ruins: Didn't know about looting through walls, so I only got the last two with help from a 40 Minstrel after multiple solo failures near the advertised levels. The problem here is the respawn rate more than anything else, I think.

A few I didn't see mentioned that I couldn't solo:

Quest: Fruits of the Earth
Category: Angmar
Journal Level: 41 solo
Actual Level: low-mid 40 fellowship? I did it at L41 with an L50 Hunter kinsman packing the best gear in the game.
Reason: The plants are in the middle of an area full of signature or elite Morrevals (sp?) deep inside Angmar. As an added bonus, the quest information you are given is very vague as to the location, requiring you to explore areas where unwinnable pulls are likely.

Quest: Trouble in Dwaling
Category: Evendim (listed in Lorebook as the Shire)
Journal Level: 32 solo
Actual Level: low-mid 30's fellowship or small fellowship?
Reason: This is another virtually impossible solo quest at the advertised level. There are many densely packed mobs that respawn almost instantly.

As a general comment, many quests in Angmar and Misty Mountains have confusing or very vague directions even when the bestower supposedly knows the exact location. In cases like these, I really wish the map could show the location - it would help avoid a lot of wasted time fighting nuisance mobs while trying to figure out where you're going.

There are a couple that I think are not as bad as people have suggested, though:

Hobgoblins Recipe: Succeeded in solo-ing, but one or two levels above. If I had figured it out sooner, I might have been able to do on-level. The first trick is figuring out exactly where the torches and pots are, because they are difficult to find with the Dread effects after you go in. You should aim to do one pot, then run away and come back for the next after healing and eating, not try to do them all at once. Second trick is to come in from the back of the camp. There is an area where you can pull two mobs next to a torch at the bottom of a sloping entrance. I mezzed one, pull and killed the other outside the camp (so no adds), and then the second charged out of the camp at me when it unmezzed and I killed it. Once you kill them, the way in is open and you have easy access to a torch and the first pot. You come in the same way for pots #2 and #3. There is a pot near the middle you can get to pretty fast if you know where it is - you have to kill another group of 2 after the ones near the torch. You may not make it out alive after doing this one, but you can get the pot even if you wipe. For the third pot, there is one near the edge of the camp at the back. I got this one by taking the same torch, going outside the camp (you can do this without aggroing anything if you run near the edge of the cliff) and then re-entering on the other side of the back gate. I don't think this one is more than one or two levels under-rated, it just requires the right plan.

Relics/Robbers in Barad Tharsir: These are probably under-rated by a couple levels, but doable. As before, finding the right plan probably takes a few tries. You should aim to find one artifact or kill one target leader and then get out, heal, and come back. If something goes wrong, you run away (into the river) and try again. The patrol patterns are such that the mobs patrol down to the river and back in narrow bands. So you only have to take out 2-3 of them (one at a time) to open a way into the complex in front of your target. Then you will fight 2-3 inside, which is tough but not impossible, accomplish one goal, and then run back to the river until the pursuit gives up. Anyway, it is important to dash straight in from the river and avoid lateral movement (parallel to the river) as much as possible.

Gauredain Artifacts/Wards: I solo-ed these one or two levels below the advertised ones. One key, I guess, is that you can go around the pond that's full of wolves without aggroing any of them. Also, except for the Shamans with pets, I found the wolves didn't aggro when I pulled a Gauradan next to them with a ranged skill. So you pull the Gauradan, kill it, then kill the wolf.

An End to the Enterprise: I solo'ed this several levels below the advertised one, but it takes a lot of patience. There are places you can pull 1-2 mobs away from the ruins to collect figurines in winnable fights. And the Ritualists patrol with a pet where they can be pulled without aggroing anything else, if you are careful.

Scholar L25/Tier 3 crafting quest: I made it to Rivendell on foot at L27 a week or two ago. Obviously, you cannot fight anything you encounter at that level, you just have to outrun it. I could see making it L30, although that isn't going to make a big difference since you will still need to evade and run away. The Tier 2 and 4 quests were quite similar, since the target item was surrounded by red/purple mobs.

[Yiren]

Hopefully the developers are still reading this, as I do have a small though slightly ambitious suggestion.

I am a casual player who love the game. I'm just a busy executive, so I can't spend as much time playing as I liked. I also generally have a few days lag between a couple days of playing (i.e. play 2 days, stop for 10 days etc), which is quite detrimental to arranging fellowships.

Hence, I would like to suggest that key storyline quests that are small fellow / fellow, be also given a solo option. If this expensive to implement, maybe they can just be done for some key storyline quests. This need not be done for side quests.

The solo option can have significant penalties in XP gained etc, since the aim is really to allow a casual gamer to get through & have a chance to enjoy the main storyline.

This will allow players to get through the key storyline, even if they are not in a kinship and find it hard to get a fellowship for certain key storyline quests, especially if they are generally online for a short time.


Yiren.

[Mafia]

Thorgest's Last Hope is listed as a lv47 Solo quest. it should be at least a lv49 solo quest. Fighting your way through a tightly packed camp of Gauradan to fight a lv49 signature and 2-3 adds is rough.

[Falda]

QUEST: Into the Rift
CATEGORY: Rift of Nurz Ghashu
JOURNAL LEVEL: 50
JOURNAL ICON: Solo
ACTUAL LEVEL: 50 is fine
ACTUAL ICON: Fellowship or Raid
REASONS: I would think that it would be extremely difficult, even for a player with
stealth capabilities, to solo this quest. Someone several pages back
(I forget who) suggested that as this leads into a raid zone, it should
be labelled as such; I would agree with that wholeheartedly.

[Shilling]

Quick grumble from a bad night in the Shire yesterday. I'm running through solo at a high level for the quests I'm supposed to be doing because I want to get the deed and rep while I still gain a bit of experience for it.

So a lvl 14 Lore Master:
Solo attempt at Old Odo's Leaf Farm - a Level 11 quest marked for a full fellowship. Never attacked by more than two or three brigands. Mezz one, pet tank the other, kill the third. Easy as pie.
Solo attempt at Gift of the North - a Level 8 quest marked for a small fellowship. Consistently mobbed by groups of 5 or more things. Barely survived each encounter til the end where I was swarmed by 6 or 7 plus a signature dwarf. They destroyed my pet almost instantly. Spent a lot of time running away til my potion cooldowns expired, etc... Still died.

Days like that make me wonder how accurate the difficulty recommendations are. 3 levels lower, smaller group quest handed me my butt repeatedly, while the higher level full fellowship quest didn't even need a potion or food. (I expect that Old Odo's difficulty needs to be revised, and maybe Gift of the North scaled a bit differently...)

[RobinThorp]

QUEST: Scattered Belongings
CATEGORY: North Downs (Meluinen)
JOURNAL LEVEL: 26
JOURNAL ICON: Fellowship
ACTUAL LEVEL: 26-28
ACTUAL ICON: Solo
REASONS: I did this quest solo with a 30th level human burglar, however I could have easily done this at a lower level. I ran into a few mobs, but never multiple mobs or particularly high level mobs. I could understand if the quest required engaging with one of the trolls from the area, but I never found that I had to go anywhere near the trolls. There are similar quests in the area that are listed as solo (Herbs and Simples for instance) so I really do not understand why this one is considered fellowship.

[LurtzArcher]

QUEST: Pushing the Panic
CATEGORY: Angmar
JOURNAL LEVEL: 49
JOURNAL ICON: Solo
ACTUAL LEVEL: 49
ACTUAL ICON: Small Fellowship
REASONS: Two of the crates are surrounded by 3-9k Elites. Two other crates are located near the Cargûl with some marksmen added in.

[Silverlocket]

Thorgest's Last Hope is listed as a lv47 Solo quest. it should be at least a lv49 solo quest. Fighting your way through a tightly packed camp of Gauradan to fight a lv49 signature and 2-3 adds is rough.

I'm currently getting my little level 48 Hobbit tail kicked just trying to finish Eliminating the Trail, one of the precursor quests for the one you mentioned.


SL

[Drachenfel]

Well I've posted this before and it never was changed so I doubt it will now.

Bounty: Andy Idden
35 lvl
Evendim
Should be level 36 (signature mob is 36, only makes sense)
Should be small fellowship NOT marked for solo questing
Reason: Try it on level with no help from another player and you won't need to ask the reason.

[Silverlocket]

Well I've posted this before and it never was changed so I doubt it will now.

Bounty: Andy Idden
35 lvl
Evendim
Should be level 36 (signature mob is 36, only makes sense)
Should be small fellowship NOT marked for solo questing
Reason: Try it on level with no help from another player and you won't need to ask the reason.

Yeah. I went through this one with my main, a Burglar. I think I finally got it when I went there at the same time as a high-level was working on his goblin deed. That's the only way I stood a chance.

I tried it again with my Minstrel the other day. Still obscenely hard solo. Should be small fellowship.

SL

[Falda]

Quest: Chilled to the Bone
Category: Misty Mountains
Journal Level: 47
Journal Icon: Solo
Actual Level: 47 is fine
Actual Icon: Should be small fellowship

I found the respawn rate near-impossible to deal with when soloing. At minimum
a duo might be able to handle it, but a solo quest it is not.

[dhatcher1]

Quest: All quests in Goblin Town.

I think all goblin town quests marked as "solo" should be marked as "small fellowship".

Reason: I dont see how a solo (even level 50) player can get anywhere inside GT and do these quests without other player traffic in the area clearing stuff.

[Big_H]

Quest: All quests in Goblin Town.

I think all goblin town quests marked as "solo" should be marked as "small fellowship".

Reason: I dont see how a solo (even level 50) player can get anywhere inside GT and do these quests without other player traffic in the area clearing stuff.

Eh, I wouldn't object to them being listed as small fellowship, but they're very much soloable (other than the ones already listed as small fellowship), though difficult.


QUEST: Book 6 Chapter 6
CATEGORY: Angmar
JOURNAL LEVEL: 46
JOURNAL ICON: Small Fellowship
ACTUAL LEVEL: 45/46 Solo, 44 Small Fellowship
REASONS: Pre-Book 12 using the shrine summoned a signature spirit with massive dread. Post-Book 12, it's a normal level 45 (or possibly 46) spirit with minor dread. Easily soloable by most (if not all) classes at 45.

[JeanCarlo]

Quest: All quests in Goblin Town.

I think all goblin town quests marked as "solo" should be marked as "small fellowship".

Reason: I dont see how a solo (even level 50) player can get anywhere inside GT and do these quests without other player traffic in the area clearing stuff.

*shrug* I was able to do quite a bit of the solo quests as a L47 Grd. Pretty much stopped when I started seeing L50 Sigs. Hardest part was finding my way around lol. At L50, I don't see how difficult these would be.

[LagunaD]

Well I've posted this before and it never was changed so I doubt it will now.

Bounty: Andy Idden
35 lvl
Evendim
Should be level 36 (signature mob is 36, only makes sense)
Should be small fellowship NOT marked for solo questing
Reason: Try it on level with no help from another player and you won't need to ask the reason.

I soled it on-level with a Burg. Difficulty rating is low, to be sure. Took several wipes, scrolls, potions, food and token, but I think a Burg has a chance to solo it. I only had to fight Idden, his wolf and the goblin closest to him. Fighting your way in alone w/o stealth would not be fun, though.

[pholtz9]

QUEST: Off to Staddle
CATEGORY: Bree-land
JOURNAL LEVEL: 10
JOURNAL ICON: Solo
ACTUAL LEVEL: 13 or higher
ACTUAL ICON: solo
REASONS: The quest requires a player to enter the Old Forest, possibly for the first time and fight wolves of level 12 and 13. With the chance to get lost and run into higher level monsters, the quests is underleveled. I'm not sure if I've ever had a character complete this quest before it was grey.

[reductant0]

QUEST: Reclaim the Lost Maiden
CATEGORY: Garth Agarwen
JOURNAL LEVEL: 35
JOURNAL ICON: Fellowship
ACTUAL LEVEL: 40+
ACTUAL ICON: It's fine
REASONS: It's simply not possible to control aggro while fighting the mobs during this boss fight when only one minstrel is present. The battle gets way out of hand and there are too many elites at once for a level 35 group to handle.

QUEST: Ivar the Bloodhand
CATEGORY: Garth Agarwen
JOURNAL LEVEL: 34
JOURNAL ICON: Fellowship
ACTUAL LEVEL: 37+
ACTUAL ICON: It's fine
REASONS: Again, there are too many elites and Ivar's ability to heal makes this battle nigh impossible for the groups it's intended for.