Best vocation for a first time charater

[Zugo]

Hello all. I recently started playing LOTRO and was wondering what would be the best vocation for a first time player? I created a Hobbit hunter on Creekhollow (I think that's the name of the server). I have read a few opinions and, of course, they vary. As of now, I plan to take things slow and enjoy the "newness" of the game; in other words, very casual. From what I have read, it seems like Explorer would be a good route to take, particularly for a hunter, but I would like to gather some opinions from the vets out there. Thanks in advance for your replies and hopefully I'll bump into some of you in-game later!

[Witch0King]

For hunters I'd say woodworker for practical reasons. Main weapon

[Valamar]

Hello all. I recently started playing LOTRO and was wondering what would be the best vocation for a first time player? I created a Hobbit hunter on Creekhollow (I think that's the name of the server). I have read a few opinions and, of course, they vary. As of now, I plan to take things slow and enjoy the "newness" of the game; in other words, very casual. From what I have read, it seems like Explorer would be a good route to take, particularly for a hunter, but I would like to gather some opinions from the vets out there. Thanks in advance for your replies and hopefully I'll bump into some of you in-game later!

Best starting vocation is always Explorer -- you can gather any materials you need for other occupations (except Historian).
In the case of the Hunter, the Tailor (part of the Explorer triad can craft armour for the character. -- The forester can process the hides needed by the tailor.

[Zugo]

Thank you. I appreciate the replies. I had read that the hunter learns something that gives them the ability to travel easier/quicker than other classes. Explorer sounds like it would go hand in hand with the hunter's ability, particularly for creating armor and gathering mats. Witch0King mentioned woodworking for the main-hand weapon. Would that be the better investment for a first character (my only reference is WoW, so I'm assuming something along the lines of an epic bow/gun) or will there be drops that make for sufficient main-hand weapons? I apologize for my "newbieness".

[HardestyGrimwall]

well, you know you can change vocations any time

so what I did was started the vocation that included a wood worker , and a weaponsmith and one other

made my Rowan Bow, a nice bronze sword and finished the other skills, got the three pack material reward, then I changed to explorer and finished all those chores and got another 3 pack bonus

and with those 6 material packs I made a complete set of medium armor


by doing this I walked out of the crafting area with a Rowan Bow, A Bronze Sword, and a full set of new top quality (for starting levels) medium Armor

and was an explorer craft gathering copper, skins and wood

That may not be exactly what the game had in mind, but it worked for me


In an other thread someone mentions the benefit of running alts (alternative characters) and have them specialize in in differnt skills. My Lore Master makes wood weapons from Himself and the Warden, the hobbit and wardens are tailors as three of my 4 either wear light or medium armor, and my Dwarf is a weaponssmith for himself and the ministrel. Once you make these you can use the mail system to send them to your other characters

[Vilan]

Although true that you can switch at anytime, you lose any progress you made in vocations that you abandon. So if you start Explorer (tailor/woodsman/prospector) and switch to Yeoman (tailor/cook/farmer), you keep your progress in tailor since that is present in both vocations, but should you ever switch back you will have lost any progress you made in woodsman and prospector previously. Not a problem at the very beginning levels, but beyond that it becomes impractical to switch back and forth.

To the original question, any vocations that craft stuff you can use is great. Woodworker for your bow, tailor for armor, jeweler for jewelry, cook for food, scholar for potions/class books/various other things are all fine choices. Whatever sounds like fun to you.

[Thundertrain]

I would go with Explorer for your first character, especially because it happens to be a hunter. You'll have the ability to collect resources for future woodworkers, weaponsmiths, and jewelers. More importantly, you'll have the ability to craft your own armor. Being able to make a bow and melee weapons is nice, but you can usually find reasonable options for these in the auction house or as quest drops. It's a lot harder to find all 6 pieces of armor at a given level.

At later levels, the hunter's ability to port all over the map makes it easy to get to whatever resources (wood, metal, hides) you need to collect.

Go with Explorer, you will not be disappointed. And if you're on Arkenstone, let me know and I'll be happy to help out with bows, weapons, jewelry, etc.

[Witch0King]

Explorer is well and fine, but that depends on him having multiple alts and be kind of lazy with his other alts. Guides alone don't make hunters an explorer class. One can easily navigate through swift travels from zone to zone as VIP. At least with the woodworker he can craft items for himself. AFAIK explorer has no such thing. Besides, he can obtain other vocation items through backpacks and drops under way (nm: was mixing up explorer and yeoman)

Actually, I checked it out. I mixed up the crafting vocations. Explorer or tailor as I call it to avoid mix ups like this is an equally good fit. If you have a 2nd alt which you make a woodworker you will fulfill both hunter requirements. Medium armor and bow. And explorer also let you grab ore under way. Either way, you can't go wrong with explorer, but then I'd recommend a woodworker too. Followed by a scholar and a weaponsmith, no rush

[Zugo]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. I think I will go with Explorer. It shouldn't be too long before an alt sprouts up and the idea to have that alt as a woodworker makes a lot of sense.

[DidIHurtYou]

Yep I was going to say explorer.


It makes sense... especially for a hunter. They can teleport around to get the mats later on ... very helpful. That is what my first hunter was

Also, do the mastery. it's a pain, but in the end its worth it because when you get to the higher tiers sometimes its a pain in the bum to get mats and the 'crit' can be nice to get the extras of something.

[Zugo]

Now I see why there are restrictions on posting in the main forums- that's a bunch of spam threads, lol. DidIHurtYou, what exactly are you referring to when you say "do the mastery"?

[Witch0King]

Now I see why there are restrictions on posting in the main forums- that's a bunch of spam threads, lol. DidIHurtYou, what exactly are you referring to when you say "do the mastery"?

As you craft you gain experience in the current tier. The exp is put into the bronze bar, once that is filled up you unlock critical craft for that tier aka the yellow bar is unlocked. However at this point you can just move on to the next tier's bronze bar instead of finishing the yellow bar. However, once the bronze bar is filled up you can't unlock the yellow bar before you've finished it in the previous tier.

His recommendation is finish Bronze and Yellow bars before you move on to the next tier. Personally I don't think it matters in professions such as forester or prospector as its quite the extra work for a small amount of benefits. However, it is very important in the section you craft your items like the 'Tailor' tab in your case.

[Zugo]

Great explanation. Thanks Witch0King! I appreciate everyone's helpfulness.