Is there a way to bypass Moria?

[Herohtar]

As long as you can Access Moria (i.e. finish V2B1) which includes getting your 1st LI, you can get to Lothlorien without "physically" going through Moria.

That is a good point... you can technically skip Moria by only doing the intro quests, then getting a summon and you never have to step into the mines; however, you can't skip "Moria" and get by without visiting the gates, and you certainly can't go any further without a LI as Ualtar was asking.

[FyreBrand]

That is a good point... you can technically skip Moria by only doing the intro quests, then getting a summon and you never have to step into the mines; however, you can't skip "Moria" and get by without visiting the gates, and you certainly can't go any further without a LI as Ualtar was asking.

The intro, especially the expedition quest rewards are worth the time anyway. That gear is good into the mid 50s and you can start the quests at 45 and get the gear and LIs by 46+.

[Eliel]

That is a good point... you can technically skip Moria by only doing the intro quests, then getting a summon and you never have to step into the mines; however, you can't skip "Moria" and get by without visiting the gates, and you certainly can't go any further without a LI as Ualtar was asking.

Technically, when Volume 2 Book 1 ends, you get dumped into the Moria threshold. So you have to at least step into the mines.

It's certainly possible to skip Moria, but it's hardly the ideal leveling path. Those intro Lorien quests are going to be rough at 55. You could grind out Eregion mobs and deeds all the way up to level 60.

Bottom line: It can be done, but you have to really want to do it. I don't think it's worthwhile.

[Rhoric]

There are no muster points or campfires in Lothlorien so you have to go thru Moria to get there. If there was then I wouldn't have to go to 21st hall first then to the 1st hall then into Lothlorien

[KitsuneGirl]

Getting the muster/hunter camp in the Mirkeves would be more ideal than porting to 21st hall all the time. And you can always mapbind to any of the milestones in Lorien.

[Herohtar]

There are no muster points or campfires in Lothlorien so you have to go thru Moria to get there. If there was then I wouldn't have to go to 21st hall first then to the 1st hall then into Lothlorien

Not if you have a captain summon you (or anyone who has the barter summoning horns).

[Theowa]

Will there be a way in the future to use alternate routes of leveling, ie. other 52-60 areas, instead of being forced into the Mines? I mean, we can level 20-30+ in either the North Downs or the Lone Lands, we can level 40+ in either Forochel or Angmar, but we're forced to go through Moria to get to 60.

I sympathize and wish there were an alternate route. Like many others, I feel claustrophobic in Moria and was constantly lost my first time through. It was frustrating to have to take a half-hour to do a simple quest simply because I couldn't find my way through to the object/mob I needed. I also agree wholeheartedly with those who point out that the developers really hit the nail on the head with Moria in terms of how it feels and looks; it's magnificent in its scope - it feels like a real dwarf kingdom, and the many dark twists and turns filled with mobs seems "right" in terms of how Moria would be.

That being said, perhaps the devs created the game w/o an alternate route to mimic what the Fellowship went through. Moria was their last choice of route, and they were forced to go through it to get to the other side. It sure feels good getting out into Lothlorien, though the first time my reaction was, "What the....?!?" because as soon as you get outside it's still rocky and brown instead of green and lush. Thankfully the green comes a very short distance away

[Amonceleb]

I wrote this almost a year ago, and it still seems to be relevant. Wish it wasn't, but... Maybe in time, an alternate leveling path will be made available.

http://my.lotro.com/amonceleb/2009/0...a-confessions/

[Finnore]

I leveled to 60 on my Lore-master before I took on Moria. After I brightened the darkness in the Options UI, I could see much, much better!

My only complaint about Moria was that I got lost all the time...When I enter a region I like to hightail it to every stable-master available within that region. I find then I am better able to take on higher level mobs because I know where everything is; psychological advantage perhaps. Moria doesn't really afford me this luxury due to broken paths and dead ends into deep caverns ... and I hate getting lost, LOL !

However, I found Moria art design brilliant, a very "underground" feel to it, and by the time I got to Lothlorien I actually felt like I had come out of the dark and dank and could breathe fresh air again. I know that sounds odd but it's true, LOL !

Since I haven't yet bought the MoM pack (which, i think, as a vip one should have access to all), I did minimal exploring other than to get to stable-masters along the path to the dell entrance.

[Silchas]

Maybe there will be an early spring up on Caradhras.

Seriously though, it always makes me sad to hear ppl hate Moria

[Etheladren]

It's no fault of the devs. I think the people that dislike Moria, dislike it simply because it is Moria and if Moria was real I doubt any of us would willingly go there :P

Having said that, I for one love Moria's atmosphere and believe it has the best world design in LOTRO.

Finnore, you got to 60 BEFORE going to Moria? That is quite the accomplishment and shows that you don't need to enter Moria if you really don't want to. My Warden is on lvl 53 right now and still has half of Angmar, all of Forochel and Eregion, plus Annuminas, the Rift, Helegrod and loads of Skirmishes to do before heading into Moria! So it is certainly possible if you take your time doing all the content in Eriador instead of skipping most of it. Of course if you want to race to max level, then you'll have to enter Moria.

So to conclude, I don't think the devs should go back and create an alternate lvl 50-60 zone, it would be a poor use of resources and would go against the lore since Moria was the only way to cross the Misty Mountains at this time. So it's supposed to be a bottleneck as far as heading east is concerned.

[Hoppa_Joel]

I don't know what it is, but every time I get a character into Moria, I hate it. I love everything pre-Moria, and love Lothlorien and Mirkwood, but there's something about Moria that makes me dread leveling a character through there. Maybe I'm claustrophobic, I don't know...

Will there be a way in the future to use alternate routes of leveling, ie. other 52-60 areas, instead of being forced into the Mines? I mean, we can level 20-30+ in either the North Downs or the Lone Lands, we can level 40+ in either Forochel or Angmar, but we're forced to go through Moria to get to 60.

Its a tough road, but if you can get yoru character to level 54, ( 53 for a couple quests ) You can skip it.

I did not care for this either, some Moria quests were fine some just had me feeling claustrophobic. I wanted to like them but could not.

So here is what I did:
I did deeds in Eregion, I did all the quests, I even did some Forochel back and forth until I got level 53.
I work as a team with my girlfriend, she ran a captain for this particular deal and I was hunter.
So, a friend of ours summoned her to First Hall, and she used her captains skill and summoned me.
We then collected horse/goat routes along the missing places just so we could travel back and forth.

We then went out into the Pre-Lothlorien area, and there was 2 quests available and a sea of red orcses and purple ones.
We did a few quests, and killed red orcs until level 54, ( that was a long road though )
But we was outside!
Level 54 opened up a bunch more quests and made it much easier going, red and orange critters then...

Once we hit level 55, we was able to do the rep repeatable and then we was in Lothlorien!

As for 52-60 areas I would love to see some alternatives.
I do not like skirmishes, so I avoid them.


My hopes is that at some point the South Farthings of the Shire open up, and my hopes is the content, ( that heads towards Rohan ) starts about level 17-ish, and rolls onwards to about level 55.
There are a lot of areas where this would work perfectly. and a gradual increase towards Rohan there in level content would be very cool.
I think, by 55, there should be a connecter into North Eregion and Enedwaith and then it would be a complete package so to speak.

Thats my "hope" for the furture, who knows though what we will get

[auximenes]

However, I found Moria art design brilliant, a very "underground" feel to it, and by the time I got to Lothlorien I actually felt like I had come out of the dark and dank and could breathe fresh air again. I know that sounds odd but it's true, LOL !

I think everyone gets that rush when they first exit the eastern gate of Moria and see the Mirrormere and the sky and trees ahead. /deep breath

[Odinshaw]

I have to admit I have a hard time wrapping my beard around the concept of not liking the big dungeon in a dungeons and dragons type of game.