alt="Guide to Angmar"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100606">
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ANGMAR DUNGEONS AND
INSTANCES
These are the spaces outside of the main region map but
directly connected to it. This does not include instances that are part
of the epic books or other quest chains.
INSTANCES
These are private encounters joined via the Instance Join
panel. Currently, there is one instance set in Forochel: Sari-Surma,
the Glacier Fortress ruled by the Gaunt-lord Drugoth.
alt="Carn Dum"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100617">
Don't
be fooled by their casual demeanor - they're about to mug you.
Level Range: 50
Size: Fellowship
Description: Carn Dûm, the capital of Angmar and the
former stronghold of the Witch-king. Angmar's shadow has returned to
this city in the form of the False King, Mordirith, Steward of Angmar.
Tips
& Tricks
Ah, good ol' CD. Good times, good times. Carn Dum is massive
and there is a lot to do. There are boss mobs everywhere with some
excellent loot drops for the level 50 range, and everyone needs to come
here at some point for their level 45 class quest items. Sure, you can
buy all the class items with skirmish marks now, but you get 'em faster
by blasting through Carn Dum.
Most of the bosses require very little in the way of actual
strategy - a strong, over-level group can simply power through the
place without worrying too much about subtlety. There are a couple of
fights, though, that require a bit of forethought and planning,
regardless of level.
Helchgam, the giant squid-thing that lives in the sewers, is
one such fight. There are a couple of ways into Helchgam's chamber -
the quick way is to use the lower gate and fight through the few giant
slugs, which requires the Iron Grate Key dropped from Azgoth (a
Morroval boss up past the sewers), and the slower way is a much more
complex route up the ramps and down through the tunnels behind Urro (an
Uruk boss standing at the edge of the water).
The chamber is a great green pool with a broad ledge running
most of the way around it. The green water, common all throughout Carn
Dum, is Insta-Kill Kool Aid, so avoid it. When you first enter, the
only sign of Helchgam is a few scrawny tentacles lounging around the
sides, in groups of 2. Run around the room killing these and eventually
Helchgam will rear up and start tearing the room apart, knocking over a
pillar in his rage. There are 4 other pillars around the room, and
these will be your battle stations. Head to the nearest one and engage
the 4 tentacles there. Helchgam doesn't take damage during this phase
of the fight.
Once the four tentacles are destroyed, Helchgam will pull down
the pillar and become susceptible to damage. The pillar reaches all the
way out to his giant, bloated, disgusting head, and melee classes can
rush out and hit him, but this is ill-advised. Have the ranged attacker
(Hunter or Rune-keeper works best) stand at the edge of the pillar and
do a hard burn on him while everyone else stays safely back on the
ledge. After taking about 25% of his total morale in damage (around
12k), Helchgam will begin shaking the fallen pillar loose, and the
strike team has a very short window of time to get off before it
crashes down. If you're caught on the pillar when it falls, you drop
into the green water and die instantly, and usually can't get
rezzed.
Repeat this process 3 more times, moving to the next pillar
after each one collapses. At the 4th and final station, everyone can
get out on the pillar and attack Helchgam's face. He will eventually be
too dead to pull that pillar down into the water. Three items of
interest can be looted from this festering corpse: Helchgam's Beak,
which can be exchanged at Gath Forthnir for a good level 50 armor
piece; Tentacle of Helchgam, which can be traded at the taxidermist in
Bree for a... unique housing item; and Putrid Slime of Helchgam, which
is a major class item for Hunters, Captains and Lore-masters, and can
fetch a hefty price at auction.
The other complex fight is the one against Mordirith at the
top of the tower in the castle. Players will have to fight there way
through several lesser bosses to reach him, but for the most part these
can just be powered-through and don't require much in the way of
special strategy. To get into the castle, someone in the group will
need an Ornate Grate Key, which is dropped by Barashal (a Gorthorog
troll boss at the top of the ramps).
Mordirith is a rather long fight. He wants to exhaust every
last resort at his disposal before finally facing his foes in person,
so he sends waves of ghostly adds and then attacks with several weak
mirror-images of himself.
There's kind of a cheap trick to this fight. As you are facing
into the room, looking towards his throne, you'll see a pillar to the
left near the edge of the stone floor. When facing anything large
(including Mordirith), keep your back to that pillar or the draped wall
directly behind it to avoid being knocked back into the reset zone or
into the lava.
Ranged fighters will be able to handle most of the weak ghost
adds before they get up close and begin to pose a problem, and will be
able to shatter some of Mordirith's illusory doubles before the fight
zone gets too crowded. The ghostly adds can be mezzed or rooted, so
when the giants and trolls spawn in, keep them locked down and fight
them singly.
Mordirith uses fear as a main weapon and will wipe the group's
hope, so make sure everyone has at least one Edhelharn token and figure
out an order to use them. He pumps out 9 dread, which vastly reduces
characters' morale and causes a cowering effect, so burn tokens and
keep hope alive! He also uses a bunch of fear-based debuffs, so make
sure you have a good stock of high-level purple potions.
alt="Urugarth"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100618">
The
Bridges of Urugarth County. Clint would never take pictures of these.
Level Range: 50
Size: Fellowship
Description: Lying on the outskirts of Carn Dûm is the
fortress of Urugarth, home to countless Orcs, goblins, and other curs
of Angmar... The breeding grounds of Angmar's horde.
Tips
& Tricks
Urugarth is smaller than Carn Dum, but still fairly expansive.
A good 3- or 2-man group of level-capped characters can fairly easily
clear this place out, but it is definitely more enjoyable with a larger
group.
The boss fights mostly here fall under the "power through"
category, requiring no special strategies, but there are a few
shortcuts and points of interest that are worthy of note.
The Lhugrien fight can get nasty without a good healer. A
Rune-keeper with a fire-affinity stone definitely helps here, as some
of Lhugrien's fire-based attacks are quite powerful.
After defeating Lhugrien, players can take a shortcut to the
arena. There's a wooden door set in the rocks, which can be opened with
a Steel Key. This leads to a cave jam-packed with orcs, uruks, goblins
and pale-folk. Have the group's tank charge through, and everyone else
follows at a more or less safe distance behind - you don't have to
fight anything here, just run through and get out the door at the far
end. Healers will need to be aware that if the lead runner has any
heals-over-time active on him, the mobs will aggro on the healer rather
than the runner, so make sure the lead runner is HOT-free.
The Steel Key that opens that door drops from Gruglok, the
boss of the arena. Getting to Gruglok the first time to get the key
requires battling your way through the city and takes a fair bit of
time. The fight against Gruglok is rather aggravating - he won't fight
the group himself until they have been softened up by his trolls,
archers and pale-folk, the bodies of whom pile up around the room and
present much temptation to combat-looters. When he finally does come
down to fight, he opens with a group-wide mez and calls in a couple
more pale-folk to run around poisoning people. Prepare for this fight:
bring lots of healing, power and poison potions, and keep your anti-CC
skills at the ready.
The only other really noteworthy fight is against Lagmas, who
presides over the courtyard above the arena. This fight used to require
somewhat more strategy, but a high-level, high-DPS group can just power
through and wipe him out. For an on-level or lower-DPS group, have DPS
focus on the crebain and turn on Lagmas when they are dead.
alt="Barad Gularan"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100619">
Suits
of armor with ghosts inside always remind me of Scooby Doo.
Level Range: 50
Size: Fellowship
Description: Having obtained all the tools they need to
contain a terrible spell, the sorcerers of Angmar retreat to Barad
Gúlaran to fulfil the commands of their mistress Amarthiel, while the
Rangers of the North seek to hinder them....
Tips
& Tricks
This place used to be called BG back in the days before
Mirkwood, when they came out with a new BG - Barad Guldur. Barad
Gularan is now "Old BG."
This dungeon is fairly straightforward up until the last boss.
You'll want a good, balanced group for it, and it can be somewhat
challenging even at level-cap. There are 5 sub-bosses here, 3 of whom
(Coblaith, Afraig and Castellan Wisdan) drop items crucial for
the fight against the final boss, Udunion. The sub-bosses are not
terribly complex fights - general tank-n-spank works just fine.
When looting the sub-bosses, be aware of what is being
rolled-on. The three items need to be split among 3 characters, so
anyone that has won one of them should not roll on the other items.
Ideally, the items should go to ranged fighters (Hunters, Lore-masters,
Rune-keepers, Minstrels) rather than melee fighters. If the healer must
take one of the items because there are only 2 other non-melee members
of the group, give him the Horn of Arnor.
Udunion's chamber is a big squarish room with three platforms
(West, North, East) and a flaming grate in the middle, over which
Udunion hovers. The person with the Staff of Dark Shadows (looted from
Coblaith) will head over to the west, the guy with the Horn of Arnor
(from Castellan Wisdan) will head north, and the wielder of the Scroll
of Ruin (from Afraig) will go east. Slot these items in a quickslot for
easy access, but do not stand on the glowing rune on the
floor.
The tanks will want to approach Udunion from the north,
pulling him just off the flaming grate, and the ranged guys will want
to stand back by the runes for the entire fight. Watch for timed
debuffs over the course of the fight - of the Affliction Through
Flame/Shadow debuffs are not removed within 10 seconds, they deal
massive damage and can one-shot weaker characters.
Periodically throughout the fight, Udunion will cast powerful
magics which he announces with a call-out. There are 3 of these moves,
and each can be countered with a timely application of the special loot
items. When he calls out, the guy with the appropriate item
steps onto the glowing rune and uses the item, preventing the spell
from occuring:
- "Shadow take you!" - guy with the Staff (west station). If
not prevented, entire group takes 3000 shadow damage. He uses this one
a lot. - "Burn!" - guy with the Horn (north station). If not
prevented, entire group takes 3000 fire damage. This one is rarely
called out, which is why this station is best suited to a healer. - "Come dark fire!" - guy with the Scroll (east station). If
not prevented, Udunion heals himself for 30k morale. He uses this one
often, and this is probably the most important one to prevent.
Powerful level-capped groups can pretty much power through the
Udunion fight, healing through the big attacks or mitigating them with
Rune-keeper skills and Destiny perks, and overcoming the self-heal with
overwhelming DPS. 70k morale used to mean a lot more than it does now.
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100620">
In
order to face your fears and defeat Nightmare, you must first pass
through the Disco Inferno.
Level Range: 40 - 65
Size: Small Fellowship
Description: The Hillmen of Angmar have discovered an
ancient barrow hidden away for centuries. The leaders of Aughaire have
called for adventurers willing to brave the tomb rumored to be filled
with wealth and riches. Markings surrounding its entrance bear an
ominous warning; twisted creatures and slumbering warriors at the foot
of a powerful sorcerer
Daily: Facing Your Fears - Defeat Terror and Panic,
Defeat Nightmare
Tier 2 Challenge: Do not harm any tortured spirits.
Tips
& Tricks
The new kid on the block, the Halls of Night was introduced with Update
3. Strategies and tips can be found in our
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/update3/halls-of-night">Halls
of Night: An Illustrated Guide.
Angmar is pretty huge. There are more instances on Page 2!
alt="Guide to Angmar" src="images/LOTRO_ANG_HDR.jpg">
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BATTLE INSTANCES
These are the three quests available at Gath Forthnir. These
are precursors to the skirmish system, but do not scale. They do not
offer skirmish marks, but completing the quests gives the player a
special mark redeemable at the barterer standing just beside the three
quest NPCs. Players rarely ever run these anymore and it can be
difficult to drum up any interest, so availability may be limited.
alt="Battle for Aughaire"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100621">
"No,
Firingal, the attack will come from BEHIND y--. *sigh* Just go back up
the hill and watch the gate, we'll take care of things down here, m'kay?
style="font-style: italic;">"
Level Range: 50
Size: Fellowship
Description: Mordirith, the Steward of Angmar was
believed defeated, but such hope was in vain. According to the armies
of Angmar, Mordirith has returned and now stretched forth his hand to
crush the Trév Gallorg in Aughaire....
Tips
& Tricks
This is similar to a "defense" skirmish - there are three
stations which will be randomly attacked by invading forces and must be
defended. Occasionally, Firingal (who waits up the hill closer to
Aughaire) will be attacked by the leader of the assault, and must be
defended.
A typical strategy is to keep the group in the middle by the
campfire, ready to quickly move to any of the three bulwarks (North,
Central or South) when they get attacked. The group can stay mounted in
the middle between the assaults for quick deployment. The group will be
divided into two groups: a 4-man team to defend the bulwarks and a
2-man team to defend Firingal when the main gate falls under
attack.
The bulwark assaults are generally large groups of mobs (orcs
and uruks, goblins and wargs, spiders and merrevail, Angmarim and
Hillmen, orcs and trolls) with one or two stronger leaders. The Gallorg
Hunters, Archers and Healers will engage the mobs, but it's usually
best to have a tank pick up the aggro and hold it - lose too many
Gallorg soldiers and you fail the instance. Healers may need to keep
the NPCs healed up if they pull aggro off the tanks. The entire group
defends the bulwark unless and until the main gate gets attacked, at
which point the 2-man team races up the hill to defend Firingal. When
the bulwark is defended, the rest of the group can help fight off
Firingal's attackers. Beat on Firingal's antagonist, Priestess Avair,
until she has had enough and bails. She is never actually killed,
always fleeing when she's down to just a few hundred morale.
This battle instance lasts for exactly 30 minutes, and then
abruptly ends.
alt="Battle Before Rammas Deluon"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100622">
It's
probably a good idea to complete Volume 1 Book 6 before attempting this
battle instance...
Level Range: 50
Size: Fellowship
Description: The might of Angmar rallies to defeat the
Trév Gallorg. Reinforcements from Urugarth and Carn Dûm march through
the swamp of Malenhad towards Rammas Deluon. It falls to the Champions
of Eriador to stop them....
Tips
& Tricks
Similar-but-different in structure to the Battle for Aughaire,
there are four defensive bulwarks (South, Faelbenn's in the centre,
North and Northernmost). It follows a similar pattern - assaults on the
buwarks - but
with the added requirement that the group kills the five sorceresses
casting spells beyond the battle lines.
The sorceresses stand behind a "curtain" of glowy red doom
just beyond the line of watching stones, maintaining the barrier with
intense concentration. The enemy will rally around one of the
sorceresses and stage an assault, picking one of the bulwarks and
charging in. As with the Battle for Aughaire, if the ranger NPC dies,
the group fails the instance, so defense of the central bulwark is
crucial. Unlike the Battle For Aughaire, the other NPC helpers are
expendable.
The assaults weaken the sorceresses, causing them to slump
and become vulnerable to attack. The group is notified when this
happens, and can attack them then. They are marked on the radar with a
bright pink dot when the enemy rallies around them, and when the
message pops up saying she is weakened and vulnerable, head to that
pink dot.
There is a 30-minute timer for this battle instance, but you
can fairly easily kill all 5 sorceresses well before the time runs out.
alt="Battle of Rhundendin"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100623">
DENIED!
Do the other ones 20 times first.
Level Range: 50
Size: Fellowship
Description: Another battle-instance!
Tips
& Tricks
This one only unlocks after the other two battle instances
have been beaten 20 times. Since no one runs these things anymore, this
one is rarely ever available, and it resets after a few days.
It's been a long time since I've seen this one. It is
considerably more difficult than the other two (or at least it was at
level 50!), and there are more trolls and more danger to the NPCs. It
has not been available on Arkenstone server for quite a while.
RAID
LotRO doesn't have a whole lot of really big raids, but the
Rift of Nurz Ghashu is the biggest and, arguably, the baddest.
alt="The Rift of Nurz Ghashu"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100624">
You
know you're in for some good times when the first thing you see is a
troll with a booming voice punt a dude off this platform and into the
abyss below.
Level Range: 50+
Size: Raid (12)
Description:Within the Rift of Nûrz Ghâshu, Angmar mines
for the ore they need to arm their legions. In their search for iron,
they have uncovered the home of the Eldgang, as well as a hidden evil,
ancient beyond knowledge....
(And when the narrator says that last part, he totally
whispers it in the most sinister way...)
Tips
& Tricks
The Rift is big. Like... really big,
beyond-the-scope-of-a-general-area-guide big. Back in the day, you used
to plan a weekend around it, because it would take multiple sessions to
get from one end to the the other. Of course, now that the increased
level cap has all but trivialized the Rift, groups are able to do full
runs in much less time.
There are 8 bosses in the Rift, the least of which (Zogtark, a
level 51 orc) has over 138,000 morale. But most people don't come to
the Rift for the lesser bosses. Or the spectacular level design,
complete with massive, horrifying colliseums crowned with giant swords,
or high lava-falls cascading down to either side of a forbidding
portcullis, or chasms yawning down to the misty, smokey depths. Nope.
Most people go to the Rift to see the 'Rog.
Thaurlach is his name, a great and terrifying, corrupted Maiar
known as a balrog. He has been sealed away in Nurz Ghashu for a very
long time, growing every angrier as the centuries rolled past. And now
it's time to put an end to his suffering and send him out into the void
with his old buddy Melkor.
A separate, full guide to the Rift of Nurz Ghashu will be
written at some point in the future. Back in early 2009, Martuk wrote a
4-part guide to the armor sets, which is still relevant and can be read
here:
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/60894">Part 1
| Part 2
| Part 3
| Part 4
SKIRMISHES
There is one skirmish set in Angmar, Rescue in Nurz Ghashu. It
is tied to Volume III Book 1 Chapter 8, the final chapter of that book,
and does not become available until the player reaches that part of the
epic line.
alt="Rescue in Nurz Ghashu"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100625">
There's
nothing not awesome about a giant underground sword-crowned colliseum
in the middle of a lava lake.
Level Range: 65
Type: Escort
Size: Solo, Duo, Small Fellowship, Fellowship, Raid (12)
Description: Taken by some madness, Golodir has ventured
into the Rift. The air is thick with menace, and the stench of
Thaurlach lingers...
Tips
& Tricks
This skirmish is rather unique and difficult to categorize. It
is split into two parts.
Duing the first part, you assist Corunir in following Golodir,
crossing the metal walkways over the lava. Corunir focuses on dealing
with the giant fumaroles that pop up to block your path, and you must
deal with the enemies that rush in to try to stop you. After each wave
of mobs is defeated, you help Corunir smash the fumarole. Each fumarole
is stronger and takes successively more smash attempts, and there are
random encounters to deal with on the way up to the colliseum.
When you reach the colliseum, you find Golodir inside,
inconsolably mad with grief over the loss of his daughter, plus a bit
extra added from the forces of darkness that still linger here. You are
then tasked with destroying the rogmul that appears in the lava
puddles.
When soloing this one, all you have to do is lead the rogmul
to the ice traps laid by Corunir, attacking him when he is weakened by
the cold and kiting or tanking him while waiting for a new trap. Be
sure to avoid the lava pools.
When running this with a group, the caerog who sit dormant
around the room during solo runs will awaken and attack. DPS needs to
be focused on the rogmul when he is vulnerable from the ice traps, but
the caerog also need to be dealt with. How you handle this will depend
on the group's size and makeup and the types of soldiers each person has
DUNGEONS
These are smaller spaces entered via doorways in the main world,
usually tied to quests but available for exploration at any time.
Angmar has a couple of these, both populated mostly by orcs
alt="Morfil" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100626">
Location: 0.3N, 36.7W
Level Range: 42 - 44
Mobs: Orcs, Wargs
Description: A tunnel packed with orcs. You need to go
here for one of the early Fem gear quests. Not a bad place to hammer
through the Angmar Orc-slayer deed.
alt="Burzum Pushdug"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100627">
Location: 4.2N, 35.0W
Level Range: 43 - 45
Mobs: Orcs, Wargs, Spiders
Description: Just around the corner north from the
Hillmen fort, Tor Gailvin. One of the quests from the Fem gear chain
requires going in here and killing some orcs, but for the most part you
don't need to go beyond the first couple of rooms. The cave system is
actually fairly large, and one of the tunnels is densely-populated by
big spiders. This cave is a decent alternate farming spot for people
looking for legendary pages.
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