A Guide to the Ettenmoors on Eldar

[Gwyndor]

Now that we are all firmly entrenched on the Turbine forums, and much of the all old material was lost with the transition from Codemasters, it’s high time we had an ‘official’ (in a loose sense) guide to the Ettenmoors on Eldar – as well as an update, because the map for one thing has changed a bit. This is also inspired by similar guides on other servers.

New freeps and creeps arrive all the time, maybe not in the numbers they used to, but there’s still plenty of occasions where questions arise from new players, and even old players, or just visitors from other servers that perhaps aren’t used to the Eldar way of doing things, reporting things in ooc etc, (every server has its own variations on the jargon).

So this is the Ettenmoors in a nutshell, Eldar style. If you are completely new to the Ettenmoors and PvMP in general, best to refer to http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Monster_Play first.


THE MAP





(some info below taken from lotro-wiki.com)

Glân Vraig (GV)
Glân Vraig is the starting location for all Free Peoples (Freeps) in the Ettenmoors and a primary stronghold that cannot be attacked by Monster Players. The entrance gate prevents any Monster Player from entering it.
Within Glân Vraig are trainers, many vendors and quest givers for Freeps. It is located in the South East of the Ettenmoors.

Gramsfoot (Grams)
Gramsfoot is the starting location for Monster Play Characters (Creeps) in the Ettenmoors and a primary stronghold that cannot be attacked by the Free Peoples. The entrance gate prevents any non-Monster Player from entering it.
Within Gramsfoot are trainers, many vendors and quest givers for Creeps. It is located in the North West of the Ettenmoors.

Principal Zones

Coldfells
The eastern portion of the Ettenmoors, stretching from Hithlad and the Grimwood Forest in the south to the base of the Misty Mountains in the north and the Hoarwell River in the west, is called the Coldfells. Indigenous life teems throughout the area, bolstered by the presence of the Free Peoples and their allies. Features: Glân Vraig, Tirith Rhaw, Ost Ringdyr
Arador's End
Though Aragorn’s grandfather was taken by Hill-trolls in the Coldfells, the beasts dragged him back to their camp nestled in the bosom of the Misty Mountains. The lands to the north, stretching along the shelf of the Misty Mountains, have been called Arador’s End ever since. Features: Grothum, Isendeep Mine
Hoardale
A valley through which the great Hoarwell River flows, Hoardale is the site of Tol Ascarnen, a long-ruined keep once held by the kingdom of Rhudaur. The Hoarwell River here cascades from the edge of the Misty Mountains in a massive waterfall, providing the war-torn land with a beautiful backdrop. Features: Tol Ascarnen
Hithlad
In the south, with the Coldfells at its eastern border and the Steps of Gram to its northwest, you will find Hithlad, and the Grimwood Forest. Features: Grimwood Lumber Camp, Hoarhallow
Steps of Gram
Moors rise in ever-increasing swells in the shadow of Mount Gram. The land here is harsh, rocky, and sparsely covered with trees. Features: Dâr-gazag, Gramsfoot, Lugazag

Principal Locations (in brackets: OOC name)

Ost Ringdyr (Ost or OR)
Nestled far to the east, surrounded by a deep trench with only a few paths into its heart, Ost Ringdyr stands as the main keep of the Free Peoples. It is from here that the leaders of the Free Peoples army have reached out to the Eagles and Bears in the north to stand against the tide of Darkness swelling from Angmar.

Tirith Rhaw (Tir)
Atop a rise to the west of Ost Ringdyr, but not yet to the eastern bank of the Hoarwell, you will find Tirith Rhaw’s silhouette rising above the treeline. This tower affords the Free Peoples a long view of the forest, and allows them to see down to the waterway

Tol Ascarnen (Tol)
Central to the Ettenmoors and positioned on an island in the middle of the Hoarwell River, Tol Ascarnen is a defensible stronghold. Bridges lead to the island from the east and from the west, and forces may be able to find purchase through the river. To the north, a magnificent waterfall towers high above the fortress at the foothills of the Misty Mountains and Arador's End.

Hoarhollow (HH)
This town lies at a quite large island in the middle of Hoarwell river, in the far southwest of the Ettenmoors. Under Mayor Wat Mudbottom the hardy and proud hobbits refuse to give up the land they own to the forces of Angmar.

Grimwood Lumber Camp (LC)
The Hobbits of Hoarhallow are primarily gardeners and hunters. A goodly number were also builders, and until the arrival of Angmar's army they had a thriving lumber camp in the Grimwood. Now the camp is constantly under siege as the Free Peoples and Angmar fight for control of the location and the rich wood that it supplies.

Isendeep Mine (Isen)
Long ago, it may have been a troll-hollow; now, the Isendeep is a contested area, where the Free Peoples fight Angmar's army for precious metal resources. Its location near the goblin village of Grothum makes holding the location difficult for the Free Peoples. Besides the threat from goblins and other lurking beasts of the mountains, one must be on the watch for trolls at all times.

Lugazag (Lug)
A grim shadow is cast by this ruined tower at the foot of the Steps of Gram. From within the walls of this tower, Angmar's forces send raiding forces into the Ettenmoors in search of food and sport. Lugazag is located very near the Hobbits village at Hoarhallow, and serves as the main threat to the furry-footed folk

Grothum (Groth)
Mount Gram, once the dwelling-place of Golfimbul and now of the Snowreap goblins, serves as the true home for the goblins of Grothum. Moving from the relative safety of the great mountain to the border of the Isendeep was by the order of the mighty warriors of Angmar, and like the good servants they are, the goblins obeyed it. The village stands far to the northeast of the Hobbit village, above the mountain source of the mighty Hoarwell.

Dar Gazag (DG)
Towering far to the west, surrounded by huge walls of wood and stone with only a few paths into its heart, Dar Gazag stands as the main keep of the Creeps. Here you can enter DOF from just outside the entrance to the east.

****

Other common OOC references on Eldar

East River (East ford, East water, East crossing)
This area denotes the water between Tol and Tir road. There appears to be stones and rocks in the water, possibly the rubble of a bridge that once stood there.

East Ruins
Above the ford, on the Tol side, is a series of dilapidated ruins, and a partially collapsed wall. This is often referred to as ‘East Ruins,’ or even just ‘Ruins’ – the assumption being, without any further explanation required, that the player is implying the east ruins of Tol.

Tol Water (Tol Crossing)
The water crossing on the west side of Tol usually goes by various terms, depending on how much time one has to write in ooc. The most generic being Tol water, ie the water crossing adjacent to West bridge.

Delvings Of Fror (DoF) or (ED – Ettendeeps)
The Delvings of Frór, is a public dungeon located beneath the Ettenmoors. It is accessible to both Freeps and Creeps. The three main bosses in this zone are Rottenroot, Grodris, and Gaergoth, who provide both sides with a Renown/Infamy buff.

Orc Camp (OC)
The Orc Camp is located west of the Poor Map to Tirith map spot, in the old Tir gy rez circle.

Elf Camp (EC)
The Elf Camp is located on a plain, west of Tol, and roughly between Lugazag and the River Outpost, close to the spot of the old Lug gy rez circle.

Outposts (OP)
The 4 Outposts are River Outpost, Hoarhallow Outpost, Isendeep Outpost, and Arador’s End Outpost. When controlled by either side they provide a Tactical and Physical Mastery buff. If any given OP remains ‘unflipped’ for too long, a third faction hostile to both sides, called the ‘Forces of the Delvings of Thror,’ will occupy them.



****
Abbreviations and slang names on Eldar, and used in OOC

Map locations
Tol1, Tol2, Tol3 – Crude map, Poor map, Good map, to Tol Ascarnen
Tir1, Tir2, Tir3 – Crude map, Poor map, Good map, to Tirith Rhaw
Lug1, Lug2, Lug3 – Crude map, Poor map, Good map, to Lugazag
LC1, LC2, LC3 – Crude map, Poor map, Good map, to Grimwood
Isen1, Isen2, Isen3 – Crude map, Poor map, Good map, to Isendeep

• AEop – Arador’s End Outpost.
• AFK – Away From Keyboard, meaning the player is not currently present or available. Often you will die when AFK, even in your own Keep. So beware. In these instances I like to think AFK stands for ‘A Fair Kill’.
• Aud – Audacity, a passive statistic available to both sides, that reduces incoming damage, crowd control durations and power cost while in the Moors.
• Auto/Auto-flip – An unpredictable and automatic mechanism whereby keeps will flip over to the other side without either Freep or Creep involvement.
• BA – Black Arrow.
• BD – Back Door, or Back Hatch (to a Keep, ie ‘Tir bd’, ‘Lug bd’ etc). Example: "Where's the action?" "Tir bd." "So, bd action?" (cue the sniggering).
• Bub – Bubble, the ‘healing/protecting bubble’ available to several classes, administered in several ways and having different effects.
• Buff – A positive effect that provides various bonuses to a player, or boosts a statistic.
• Burg – Burglar.
• BV – Bear Valley, wide area (populated by bears) in the valley between GV and Tir.
• CC – Crowd Control. For example a Stun, a Mez, a Root, a Fear, or a Slow, are several examples of Crown Control effects.
• CJ – To ‘corpse-jump’, and the ignoble deed of ‘corpse-jumping’. Jumping on a dead player is usually considered an act of disrespect.
• CG – Captain General, the leaders of the keeps when held by Freeps.
• Clubbing – (also known as Rank Farming) Turbine defines this as "the intentional surrender of your character to an enemy; resulting in a purposeful defeat and a gain of Infamy or renown to increase rank." It is an offence which is potentially bannable, and severely frowned upon by all honest, well-intentioned players. It is technically a different issue to sparring (imo), but there lies a grey area which has been debated by players since the beginning of Lotro.
• Cookie Rock – First coined at the very beginning of Lotro on creepside by Silvergoku, when there were at that time no level 50s and thus no Freeps to fight. Cookie Rock was the object of a race. The first to get their character to this rock won a cookie. Cookie Rock is now often a hotspot for fights taking place between Tir and GV.
• Comms – Commendations, the chief Ettenmoors currency available to both sides, and used to barter for various goods, as well as skills (creepside) and Audacity.
• Cows – The ‘cows’ in question are the Aurochs that roam between the Tol3 map spot and Old EC, amongst whom is Rockwithers, (or rocky), a signature Auroch, who in the past was the subject of a daily quest for creeps.
• Cpt (Capt, Cappy) – Captain.
• Craid – Creep Raid.
• Creeps – Monster Players.
• DC – Dwarf Camp, a camp close to the west entrance of the Mines, entirely inhabited by dwarves.
• Def – Defiler.
• DF – Desperate Flight, a Hunter skill which returns the Hunter to home camp. (Only usable Out of Combat).
• DG – Dar-Gazag.
• Dot – Damage over Time, a damage pulse of usually small value delivered to a target which accumulates over time.
• DP – Destiny Points.
• DPS – Damage Per Second.
• Eagle Valley – The Eagle Pass between GV and Ost.
• EC – Elf Camp, west of Tol, and north of Rop.
• Flip – A flip is when a Keep (or an OP) changes hands and ‘flips’ over.
• Flipper – One who flips sides, usually to the side that is winning/on top.
• Flank – A sly manoeuvre employed by usually a raid, that will hit usually another raid from the side, and often without detection, with sometimes devastating and hilarious results (depending what side you’re on!)
• Flonk – A term peculiar to creepside which is also a flank. It was an ooc typo from a quite a while ago now that kinda just stuck. Sometimes a shout will be seen declaring, "Flonk inc!"
• Flunk – A flank, that (often hilariously) goes completely and utterly wrong.
• Freaver – A Free-To-Play Reaver.
• Flop – Refers to the Minstrel skill ‘Feign Death’, in which the Minstrel will ‘flop’ to the ground as if dead, leaving the combat state. They are not attackable in this state. Hobbits have a racial skill, ‘Hobbit Silence’, which has basically the same effect. With a Hobbit Minstrel one may on occasion observe a ‘double flop’.
• Fraid – Freep raid.
• Freeps – Free Peoples.
• Gank – Contraction of a ‘Gang kill’, usually multiple players that target and kill a solo player, or smaller group of players. A slightly lesser type of zerg.
• Gary – An occasionally used nickname for Gaergoth, the Fire Boss in the centre of DoF.
• Goldie – Old Goldhead, an elite bear that resides in a den generally northeast of Tir, and who can be used by Freeps to attack Tir. He is also the subject of a creep quest.
• Gollo – Golloval, an eagle southwest of Isen, a quest for creeps, and who can be used by Freeps to attack Isen.
• Grams – Gramsfoot, the home camp of the Creeps.
• Grd – Guardian.
• Greendot/Greenie – A new player or a low ranked player who takes it upon themselves to speak in ooc as if they know something about Ettenmoors and Pvp strategy.
• Groth – Grothum, a village populated by goblins (and a commonly frequented quest area), to the far northeast of the map.
• Grp – Group, anything less than a Raid, usually.
• GV – Glain Vraig, home camp of the Freeps.
• GY – Graveyard, an area protected by one-shotters, to which you retreat after succumbing to your wounds. Also known as a Rez Circle.
• HD – Helm's Deep, the latest expansion of the game.
• HH – Hoarhollow, a village populated by Hobbits (and a commonly frequented quest area), to the far southwest of the map.
• HIPS – Hide in Plain Sight, Burglar skill, but a term that is often used for Wargs too who have the ‘Disappear’ skill.
• HHop – (sometimes Hop) Hoarhallow/Hithlad Outpost.
• Hot – Heal over Time, a skill that can be administered by various healing classes which casts a heal pulse of usually small value on a target, but which accumulates over time.
• HS – Hotspot. There are several hotspots, like ‘old OC hotspot’. The common usage of HS usually refers to the grassy plain between the wolves east of SB, and Tir Rock, known as "Tir Hotspot".
• Hunt – Hunter.
• Inc – Incoming, as in 'Raid incoming!'
• Inv – Invite, as in an 'invite' to a group or raid.
• Infamy – A cumulative score that tracks Freep kills.
• Isen – Isendeep Mine.
• Isen op – Isendeep Outpost.
• KB – Killing Blow.
• LC – Grimwood Lumber Camp.
• Leech (or Leeching) – A leecher, (not necessarily a derogatory term), is one who stands by, outside of a raid or group, but contributes to the kill, either by supplying DPS/Debuffs etc, or heals to the targets making the kill.
• LoS – Line of Sight. Usually a player will have to have a target within his or her 'line of sight', in order to attack them, heal them.
• LM – Loremaster.
• Lug – Lugazag.
• Main, as in Tol Main, Tir Main etc – The main entrances/frontages of a keep.
• Mini (Min, Mincer) – Minstrel.
• MoM – The first big Lotro expansion, the Mines of Moria. Considered by many as Lotro's best ever xp, against which all others are measured. This was the 'golden age' of Lotro.
• Ninja – To ‘ninja’ is often to supply/create a sudden and sometimes unexpected effect or action, like ‘to ninja a Keep’ right under the opposition’s noses, or to steal a killing blow.
• Ninja Invite – An unsolicited invite (to a group) from a player you may or may not know (most often a Greendot).
• Norbs – Refers to those lil critters called Norbogs grazing in the marshes surrounding Tol. The most commonly referenced Norbogs habitat, the default being 'Norbs!', is the area between South Bridge and the East Crossing (of Tol).
• NPC – Non-Player-Character.
• Nutter’s Rock – a very special location, oft overlooked, which is north of Lug and flanked by trolls. This is where Somenutter, the Defiler, does his ‘sermon on the mount’ speeches, to any who will listen (sometimes even when there is no one there to listen). These sermons involve such nuggets as the correct way to hold a Defiler’s shaft, the virtues of boiled haggis, and the many mystery objects that Nutter keeps under his kilt (loin cloth). Bring Iron Bru, and lots of it!
• OC – Orc Camp, north of Tir, near Tir GY.
• Old EC – The location of the old Elf Camp adjacent to SB.
• Old OC – The location of the old Orc Camp, approximate to Tol1 (Crude Map to Tol Ascarnen map spot).
• OOC – Default chat channel, standing for ‘Out of Character’ (as opposed to ‘RP’ - role play.)
• OOC – Can also stand for 'Out of Combat', as in 'tag that cappy, he's rezzing ooc!'
• ON Buff – Out-Numbered buff, which grants +20% Renown/Infamy to the side the game decides is outnumbered.
• Op – Outpost.
• Op – In addition to Outpost, this could (depending on context) refer to 'overpowered' as in 'that class is soooo overpowered'.
• Op – In addition to Outpost, and overpowered, this could mean 'Overpower', which is the name of a Guardian stance.
• Ost – Ost Ringdyr (sometimes OR).
• PVE – Player versus Environment: any quest that provides a player with Infamy/Renown, Commendations, and Silver, and usually involves collecting an item/s or killing NPCS.
• PVP – Player versus Player. Fighting and defeating other players to acquire Renown/Infamy points. What the Moors is all about really.
• Rat – Raid Assist Target. You should always be following the Rat!
• Renown – A cumulative score that tracks creep kills.
• Rez – Resurrect, meaning to revive a player who has been defeated.
• RFI – 'Ready for Invite', something players will say when they're ready to be invited to a raid or group.
• Rk – Runekeeper.
• RoI – The Rise of Isengard, an expansion to the game that followed the Siege of Mirkwood.
• Rop – The River Outpost.
• RoR – Riders of Rohan, an expansion to the game, following the Rise of Isengard.
• R v R – Raid v Raid.
• SB – South Bridge, south of Tol.
• Seeds – If someone shouts ‘Seeds’ in ooc, they mean the farmer’s field in HH where Hoarhallow Brittleleaf Seeds grow, a quest item.
• SI – The effect of Stun Immunity, whereby a player is immune to various negative combat states, (sometimes known as AS – Anti-Stun). It is often provided by a Loremaster’s ‘Sign of Righteousness’ skill, or for a more limited period by a pot or a brand.
• Slugs – Usually the slug pool closest to grams. There are various other pools, which would require a more involved description in ooc in order to specify the right one.
• SoA – Shadows of Angmar, the name of the game when Lotro first released. Many will mention 'SoA' in game chat with fond memories.
• SoM – Siege of Mirkwood, an expansion to the game, following Moria.
• SoP – Southern Outpost, or rather the location of where the old southern outpost used to be.
• Spars – A 1v1 area located usually at LC3. This is not an official spot, so those who choose to spar, or just watch spars, should recognise that it is not always a safe spot. Once you leave GV or Grams there are no safe spots (even GYs, which can flip over any time).
• Tagger/Tagging – Similar to leeching, but usually to ‘tag’ NPC kills for quest items/silver.
• Tol –Tol Ascarnen.
• Tol Beach/Lawn – reasonably self-explanatory locations around Tol, (there are others) but in this case the wide sward of grass in front of Tol, and the beach below it next to the river.
• Tir –Tirith Rhaw.
• Tir Road – The road that connects Tir Main with the East Crossing to Tol, and bisects Tir Hotspot.
• Tir Rock – The large rock directly west of Tir main.
• WB – West Bridge, west of Tol.
• WL – Warleader.
• Wrd – Warden.
• Xroads – The crossroads between LC and SB.
• Yroads – Not a crossroads exactly. It is the convergence of three roads, forming a vague ‘Y’, hence the name Yroads. It is located up the hill from WB towards Lug.
• Zerg – Originating in the game Starcraft, small weak 'zergs' could defeat superior forces by swarming them in large numbers. Adopted by other MMOs the term usually means to assault an enemy with sheer numbers, rather than any defining strategy. Thus in Lotro you can take it to mean an attack employed by a large group or raid against a small group, or even individual solo players, completely overwhelming them with numbers and devastating DPS. Against a zerg there can be no victory…

If you know of any more that could be added to the list, by all means post them.

For more in-depth information on the Ettenmoors, all resources concerning it, the classes, PvP in general, etc. refer to www.lotro-wiki.com

[Brinswith]

Gordi i love you thankyou for this

[Gorgonites]

Thanks for the great work!

[Rattkille]

Very nice work here Uzfang 5*

[Creepkilla]

great job man, much appreciated

[Haruno]

maybe put in clubbing?

[EmyrSelyf]

"With a Hobbit Minstrel one may on occasion observe a ‘double flop’."

Occasionally even a triple, if they have Basic theater lesson #13 still on them.

(Also, if you are traveling, on some food-oriented servers, such as Crickhollow you will notice your HHop is called IHOP... and LC=LY on some, maybe Silverlode?)

[Gwyndor]

I'll add a line about clubbing..

And what does IHOP and LY actually stand for?

[Brinswith]

I'll add a line about clubbing..

And what does IHOP and LY actually stand for?

International House of Pancakes... LY ... no idea.

[Ieledor]

Very helpful after being away for sooo long! Thankyou!

[BiteMarks]

And what does IHOP and LY actually stand for?

LY = Lumber Yard maybe

[Sapience]

Stickiefied as requested.

[Gwyndor]

Thank-you Sapience, much obliged..

[GalelValdan]

Good work Gwyndor, very usefull for new players. We usually called Troads to Xroads form early times in this server but none does it now, anyway there isn't many people from early times playing now or maybe none.

Perhaps Golloval and eagles location, Goldie, etc, will help some new players too.

[Dingu]

Open Group:

I noticed the other night that there's people who don't know what an "open" group is, or an Open wargpack.
It's a group, open to everyone, who can just go to Social panel, on the Open group tab (bottom of the dialog), pick the group and ask to join.
The leader of that group will then receive a messagebox informing him/her of your wish to join. It is then unnecessary, to ask for an invite.
It is of course still up to the group-leader's discretion to let you in or not.


(.) = a dot in chat = you wish to join a group that is advertising. (also (°) can be used by some.

Dingu

[Deniorona]

Open Group:

I noticed the other night that there's people who don't know what an "open" group is, or an Open wargpack.
It's a group, open to everyone, who can just go to Social panel, on the Open group tab (bottom of the dialog), pick the group and ask to join.
The leader of that group will then receive a messagebox informing him/her of your wish to join. It is then unnecessary, to ask for an invite.
It is of course still up to the group-leader's discretion to let you in or not.


(.) = a dot in chat = you wish to join a group that is advertising. (also (°) can be used by some.

Dingu

gud advice altho I don't think its becuz peeps don't know how 2 join. sometimes it gives u a message that player is busy so its just as easy 2 ooc "inv" or as we tend 2 use + symbol.

[Sizz_the_sock]

This thread is amazing!