For us mid level types 35 - 45

[Tatuaje]

I just did a large amout of reading over the last few days, my understanding and playing has grown by leaps and bounds. I completely reset my hot bars, vitues, class traits, reworked my strategies and dying much less. Thanks to all those who take the time to post tips and help. The game has really become more fun over the past few levels and with the re-structuring. I am now taking on 3 - 4 at a time now and surviving and less dependant on being in a fellowship.

I just reached lvl 39. I know at this point I need to buy a book(?), and start looking for/buying pages for it. At lvl 40 I know my armor choices become so much better. A better staff wouldn't hurt either (I'm at work, but I think it's in the 100 - 110 range for damage).

Most of the threads seem more towards lvl 65 and up or for the noobs (which I should have read sooner). So a few things here as I work Dol Dinem and areas north and I am also working the Trollshaws (with my a$$ getting kicked a lot) prior to the last few days. Tonight that may change (I really hate trolls). What should my current goals be? Any good threads I may have missed?

Info on lengendary books, items, etc would be helpful. What and why I should collect? Not sure I have a full understanding of the concept.

Next set of armor/weapons would be helpful. Using mostly other char stuff bought at the AH.

No need to beat a dead horse if there are some good threads already out, just a pointer would be handy.

Thanks

[HumphreyMilkweed]

I just went through that level range, so I'll try to give you the short, but sweet details:

1) Grab the books "Of Leaf and Twig," "The Book of Beasts," and "Lore of the Blade" from the LM trainer.
A) These books unlock quests from which you can earn legendary traits, all of which are useful and will most likely drastically change your playstyle.
B) The pages from the books are random drops from humanoid type mobs like orcs, dwarfs, and humans.
C) I recieved the first 4/8 of the pages of each of the three books from farming human enemies on the bitter stair in the Misty Mountains.
D) I received the last 4/8 of the pages of each of the three books from farming orc enemies in the orc camp in SouthEast Angmar.

At level 41 or so, which is approximately when I had all of the required pages, I slotted sword and staff which allows you to use both a staff and a sword as I imagine you already know. This is an awesome trait which drastically changed how I both played and felt about the class in general.

Of Leaf and Twig allows you to slot the power "Ents Go to War," an AOE with a 6 second stun, decent fire damage, and a pretty long cooldown of 5 minutes.(You can slot three red traits to reduce the cooldown to 2 minutes.)

Noble Savage increases a bunch of stats on your pet.

At level 45 you receive an additional legendary slot, so you can have 2 of the 3 legendary traits I just mentioned. I currently have Sword and Staff and Ents slotted. I'm thinking of removing Ents as the long cooldown doesn't suite my playstyle.

Also, you're at the level where a LM really starts to become one of the most interesting and powerful classes available. It's all down hill from here. Soon, you will get sticky tar, an aoe stun, a high damage lightning attack, an eagle pet if you choose, a ranged, high flanking bog lurker pet if you choose, or a lasting, high damage aoe in the form of Improved sticky gourd.

Hope this helps.

*Edit*

You mentioned armor choices...

I was worried about this as well, but quickly realized a lot of the quest armor you can get at this level is quite good. Right now I have the fem set from the Angmar quests, and I think previously I had ragmirath set that I purchased from the AH.

[PsychobabbleJJ]

Fighting trolls in that level range is fun, although not the most efficient use of your time XP wise. The strat is to use the lynx, make sure you're in position for a sneak attack preferably from behind and send it in while you're casting sop:c. Spend the first 10s or so of the fight letting your pet get more threat - cast debuffs (fire lore, ancient craft, gust of wind) and then start opening up with your big damage skills (lotrd, embers, test of will). Don't forget to be smart with your test of will/lotrd stun, don't cast one when the enemy has stun immunity from the other. Use beacon of hope on your pet when it's getting low and then eventually you're going to get aggro. Cast sop: righteousness on yourself bc stuns suck and switch staff strike into your rotation. If you need some breathing room throw a blinding flash down (really recommend fast loader trait) or herb lore and run away even if the embers dot will break it you should have a couple of secs breathing room. You should be able to take on two trolls at a time with this strat, obviously keeping one of them perma mezzed if fighting 2.

as for the legendary book pages, I don't recommend specifically grinding. Just do quests in angmar/misty mountains including the epic ones. They're good XP at your level range and you'll get the pages as you go along.

[Thorazine]

Make sure you work on your Proof of Ills trait every day...don't hit lvl 50 w/o it

[Darmokk]

If you want to save some cash, wait until you get a quest to get a book. If you buy the books you will end up with a second copy that you will vendor-trash.

[GajiroKeiji]

Make sure you work on your Proof of Ills trait every day...don't hit lvl 50 w/o it

Quoted for truth. It pains me to see Lore-Masters running 6-man moria instances, or worse, SG without it (they tend to learn by the time they hit 12 man raids :P)

As for gear, in all honesty quested rewards will tide you just fine. The Fém set (From Aughaire) will do fine once you're 40, and that'll tide you over until you start getting gear from questing in Eregion / Early Moria. Weaponwise, I remember a staff from Aughaire that was very good (Bloodstone...?), and before that I had been using the Garth Agarwen trade-in staff. Bloodstone (or whatever it was) got me all the way through until I picked up my Legendary Staff at 45.

Sword and Staff is the legendary you really, REALLY want. You will never, EVER take that legendary trait off. Enough said.

As for page farming, you might not NEED to do it, but it wouldn't hurt to do so :P. The first 4 pages of every book drop in snowy places (Misty Mountains / Forochel), and the last 4 pages drop elsewhere (Angmar / Eregion). All 8 pages of any book will drop in Moria, so you'll finish up books in there as you quest along (assuming you haven't already done so).

Protip: If you're not done, finish your Wisdom of the Council, Beacon of Hope, Power-Drain, Ancient Wisdom and Share the Power deeds. The traits those give you are stupidly important, but they come from skills that you might not use all that often. It's easy to finish all your other traits, but for some reason a lot of LM's skip those for obvious reasons: You tend to save Wisdom of the Council, you're usually soloing so you don't get much Beacon of Hope use, You usually don't want to stand still and let an enemy hit you to drain power, You only recast Ancient Wisdom every 30 minutes, and you don't see a need to share power with your pet.

Super Protip: You don't have to let the full induction for the power drain skill finish, to get the deed advancement. All you need to do is hit it, and the moment it taps and the blue power-drainy lines appear, you can take a step out of it and cancel it. :>

[Tatuaje]

Quoted for truth. It pains me to see Lore-Masters running 6-man moria instances, or worse, SG without it (they tend to learn by the time they hit 12 man raids :P)

As for gear, in all honesty quested rewards will tide you just fine. The Fém set (From Aughaire) will do fine once you're 40, and that'll tide you over until you start getting gear from questing in Eregion / Early Moria. Weaponwise, I remember a staff from Aughaire that was very good (Bloodstone...?), and before that I had been using the Garth Agarwen trade-in staff. Bloodstone (or whatever it was) got me all the way through until I picked up my Legendary Staff at 45.

Sword and Staff is the legendary you really, REALLY want. You will never, EVER take that legendary trait off. Enough said.

...

Protip: If you're not done, finish your Wisdom of the Council, Beacon of Hope, Power-Drain, Ancient Wisdom and Share the Power deeds. The traits those give you are stupidly important, but they come from skills that you might not use all that often. It's easy to finish all your other traits, but for some reason a lot of LM's skip those for obvious reasons: You tend to save Wisdom of the Council, you're usually soloing so you don't get much Beacon of Hope use, You usually don't want to stand still and let an enemy hit you to drain power, You only recast Ancient Wisdom every 30 minutes, and you don't see a need to share power with your pet.

Super Protip: You don't have to let the full induction for the power drain skill finish, to get the deed advancement. All you need to do is hit it, and the moment it taps and the blue power-drainy lines appear, you can take a step out of it and cancel it. :>

Thanks for all the tips guys... I don't seem to have this Proof against all Ills... Maybe I'm not looking in the right places. The Drain power I do a lot in fellowships, I try to keep the Mini and tank charged up, Becon of Hope I am always slapping on my pets so I should be good there. WoC and Ancint Wisdom I need to look into. Some lvl 40 trinkets and armor would really be nice - It would make soloing better.

Not a lot of people grouping in Northern Downs and Trollshaws. The quests I'm down to really need 2 - 3 or at least some crafty and skillful playing. But as I said, my playing has greatly improved since reading one particular thread that I have now lost. No longer just spaming spells, trying to use them with more consideration as to what the effects are.

[MrGurgeh]

Look in your deed log under class deeds. Click "Completed" to see the ones you've already finished. The others should show up They're skill repetition deeds that unlock good traits. The Draw Power one gives you a bonus to will, power drain and cooldown, for example.
Some of the traits you might rarely if ever use, but you'll want to unlock them all, of course. In idle time, get in the habit of using skills like beacon of hope, leechcraft, tend the sick and power share on your pet every time they cooldown. You can use Storm Lore and tar anywhere without needing a target.
Some, like Study of Fire-Lore, etc., require a target -- so you need to work those skills into your attacks if you don't already use them regularly.

[PsychobabbleJJ]

the proof against all ills is an awesome trait, especially for grouping, and don't forget that the healer trait (also from casting leechcraft, but it opens up at earlier levels) halves the induction on it which is really useful in a lot of group settings. You should have the option "show dispellable effects only" on in your UI options which means that the only debuffs you'll see on your other fellowship members are wounds/disease (and stun for SOP: righteousness) and make it your job to clear them as quickly as possible.

[amanjiria]

Don't forget that some of the skill grinds can be done on your pet. There was many days I would just sit a Beacon of Hope my pet for the trait. Kinda cheating but it helped to get it done.

[Darlgon]

If you want to save some cash, wait until you get a quest to get a book. If you buy the books you will end up with a second copy that you will vendor-trash.

I must admit, I am a lil confused about this comment, as i got a quest as soon as I hit 39 when the books are first available to see my class trainer, I had to buy my book from a vendor, it was VERY cheap, I was unable to purchase a second book by accident and all the pages were mob drops.

[Tatuaje]

the proof against all ills is an awesome trait, especially for grouping, and don't forget that the healer trait (also from casting leechcraft, but it opens up at earlier levels) halves the induction on it which is really useful in a lot of group settings. You should have the option "show dispellable effects only" on in your UI options which means that the only debuffs you'll see on your other fellowship members are wounds/disease (and stun for SOP: righteousness) and make it your job to clear them as quickly as possible.

I need to try this... The remove disease is easy to spot - yeoolw box... Spotting the wounds is harder for me.