Guide to LotRO's Westfold Crafting

Our 4-part Road
to Level 75 guide
to the new content of Rise
of Isengard
covered a lot of ground fairly fast, but one
of the things that was mentioned that definitely bears more
in-depth discussion is the new crafting tier - Westfold.

Westfold items are useable by characters level 66 to 75 and
cover all the usual bases: weapons, armor, jewellery, food and
other consumables, and new level 75 Third and Second Age
Legendary Items. Any character working on mastery of (or who has
already mastered) the old Supreme tier automatically gains
access to the new Westfold tier. All the materials needed for
this tier of crafting can be found in Dunland, the Gap of Rohan
and Nan Curunir, and some things like hides and Scholar items
will drop from mobs in Enedwaith
and Mirkwood also.

Manufacturing Professions

There are a few things that make this tier different from
previous tiers:

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Skarn Deposit" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;" />

  • No components needed for manufacturing professions (Tailor,
    Metalsmith, Weaponsmith, Woodworker, Jeweller) - all finished
    recipes require is processed resources. This eliminates the
    need to assemble a shopping list of components before creating
    a finished item.
  • Crit items for standard-type recipes are processed from
    resources harvested from nodes. Previous tiers did not require
    additional processing of crit items.
  • The gathering professions (Prospector, Forester, Scholar)
    can craft three types of resources: low-quality,
    medium-quality and high-quality. Low- and medium-quality
    resource recipes are obtained automatically, but high-quality
    resource recipes must be purchased from a Dunlending
    reputation vendor and require Friend standing with that
    faction. This effectively level-gates bulk crafting of
    high-end goods, since you must be high-level to earn Friend
    standing with the reputation factions in Dunland.
  • Farmers and Cooks are mostly unaffected by the level-gated
    components, but Farmers have multiple-output recipes for their
    Westfold crops.
  • This tier sees some changes in recipe drops. Mobs drop
    scroll cases, which can stack up and be traded or sold in
    bulk. These scroll cases typically contain multi-output,
    multi-use recipes, and not single-use recipes like one would
    find in random mob drops for earlier tiers. Single-use recipes
    for Westfold tier are available from the Riders of Theodred
    reputation vendors and require standing with that faction.
  • Cracked Rhi Helvarch Sigils, found in skarn ore nodes, are
    the new mithril flake, used to create top-end single-use
    recipes. So far, these are only found in ore nodes, and they
    command rather hefty prices on the auction house. They take a
    bit of luck to find - one day, I found 3 of them within the
    space of a few minutes, but a kinsman who has been more
    serious about mining has found zero.

Cooks

This profession is more or less "business as usual." Crit items
for food come from crop fields or from mob drops. The recipes
for this tier have some... interesting names. Toad-in-the-hole
and Cock-a-leekie sound more like medical problems than
nutritious food, and if you try to type "cock-a-leekie" in chat
it gets censored by the profanity filter. There are a number of
rep-gated recipes available from the Thodred's Riders and Men of
Dunland reputation vendors. As per usual, all items needed for
Cook recipes can be farmed or purchased from vendors. Unlike the
other manufacturing professions, Cooks do not require
high-quality resource materials to make top-tier items, and have
no legendary items they can make.

Jewellers

There are some outstanding rep-gated recipes for Jewellers
available from both factions in Dunland. Jewellers use Calenard
ingots and Garnets, which are found in Skarn nodes. The crit
item for multi-use recipes is Bit of Pure Calenard, extracted
from chunks of High-grade Skarn Ore.

Tailors

Tailors use Large Hides, harvested from slain beasts in
Mirkwood, Enedwaith and Dunland. The crit item for multi-use
tailor recipes is Drop of Birch Tar, which is extracted from
Birch Sapwood Branches.

Metalsmiths & Weaponsmiths

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Birch Branches" style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;" />

Metalsmiths and weaponsmiths use Calenard ingots for all
recipes, and Bits of Pure Calenard as the crit item for
multi-use recipes. Weaponsmiths are not saddled with useless
2-hander recipes for the Westfold tier - it's mostly off-hand
weapons meant to be paired with LIs for dual-wielding classes,
plus consumables like traps.

Woodworkers

Woodworkers use birch boards and Drops of Birch Tar, all of
which is harvested from birch nodes in Dunland. As with
Weaponsmiths, there are no outmoded 2-hander/main-hand-only
recipes (e.g. non-legendary 2-handed clubs, spears, javelins) -
it's all bows, offhanders and consumables/class items.

Guide to LotRO's Westfold Crafting

Gathering Professions

Prospector

Previous tiers had multiple ore types for different purposes -
at least one for Metalsmithing and Weaponsmithing, and one for
Jewelers. Westfold crafting uses only skarn nodes, which yields
skarn ore and garnets. Skarn ore is smelted and refined into
Calenard ingots, which are used for every metal-using craft.
Pure Calenard is the crit item for all multi-use metalwork
products (heavy armor, weapons, jewellery). The nodes also
occasionally yield Cracked Rhi Helvarch Sigils, which are used
for single-use recipes of all manufacturing professions except
Cook.

Resource
Makes
Refines

to

Refines

to

alt="Lotro Westfold Crafting - Chunk of Low-grade Skarn Ore" />
Chunk of Low-grade Skarn Ore

alt="Lotro Westfold Crafting - Low-quality Calenard Ingot" />
Low-quality Calenard Ingot

alt="Lotro Westfold Crafting - Medium Quality Calenard Ingot" />
Medium-quality Calenard Ingot *

alt="Lotro Westfold Crafting - High-quality Calenard Ingot" />
High-quality Calenard Ingot **

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Chunk of High-grade Skarn Ore" />
Chunk of High-grade Skarn Ore

alt="Lotro Westfold Crafting - Bit of Pure Calenard" />
Bit of Pure Calenard

* Requires 2 Low-quality Calenard Ingots plus 1 Lump of
Rich Coal
** Requires 2 Medium-quality Calenard Ingots plus 1 Lump of
Rich Coal Recipe purchased from Men of Dunland reputation
vendor, requires Friend standing.

Forester

Foresters harvest hides and wood for Tailors and Woodworkers,
respectively. The refined products used Lumps of Rich Wax, which
are sold by Expert crafting vendors. Drops of Birch Tar are the
crit items for both Woodworker and Tailor multi-use recipes, and
are found in birch branch nodes. Hides drop off of beasts of
nature, as usual. Dun Bulls in Starkmoor drop 2-3 hides each.

Resource
Makes
Refines

to

Refines

to

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Large Hide" />
Large Hide

alt="LotRO WEstfold Crafting - Piece of Brushed Leather" />
Piece of Brushed Leather

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Piece of Glazed Leather" />
Piece of Glazed Leather

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Piece of Finished Leather" />
Piece of Finished Leather

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Gnarled Birch Branch" />
Gnarled Birch Branch

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Thin Birch Board" />
Thin Birch Board

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Solid Birch Board" />
Solid Birch Board

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Reinforced Birch Board" />
Reinforced Birch Board

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Birch Sapwood Branch" />
Birch Sapwood Branch

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Drop of Birch Tar" />
Drop of Birch Tar

Farmer

LotRO Westfold Crafting - Hearty Leek Field

style="float: right; margin-left: 10px;" />Farmers now have
multiple-output recipes. The new crops (leeks, bilberries and
black barley) can come from regular or hearty fields. Regular
fields yield fewer crop items but more crit items (Pinch of
Westfold Herbs, Pile of Rich Soil). Hearty fields yield
significantly more crops, but much fewer crit items. The recipe
shows as multiple output, but the two field types require
different seeds, and the ones for the hearty fields are slightly
more expensive. Farmers also get options for bulk processing of
harvested crops - rather than one leek at a time, you can
process 5 at a time for faster ingredient collection. Piles of
Rich Soil drop from mobs in Dunland, and is processed by farmers
into Clumps of Peat, which is the crit item for making
well-tended crop fields. These cannot be purchased from vendors
and must be crafted. Also, processing harvested crops is a 1:1
ratio now, instead of the former 1:4 (raw:finished).

Scholar

Scholars are a little bit more confusing. There are 2 Scholar
items that drop from mobs ore can be looted from nodes. Scraps
of Dunlending Text are the standard multi-use resource
(processed with the recipes under the Research tab), and Pages
of Gondorian Parchment are used alternately as the raw resource
for making crit items (under the Examination tab) and for
certain finished recipes (e.g. scrolls of crafting lore). Some
Scholar recipes require both processed and raw materials, so
don't bother processing everything you gather - you'll need to
keep some raw stuff to make potions and other items.

The recipe for the Tome of Wisdom is purchased from the Men of
Dunland reputation vendors. The single-use crafting journal
recipes are available from the Theodred's Riders reputation
vendors.

This is the first tier that offers craftable pocket items, and
Scholars can make them.

Resource Makes Refines to Refines to

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Scrap of Weathered Dunlending Text" />
Scrap of Weathered Dunlending Text

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Scroll of Insight" />
Scroll of Insight

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Book of Knowledge" />
Book of Knowledge

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Tome of Wisdom" />
Tome of Wisdom*

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Page of Gondorian Parchment" />
Page of Gondorian Parchment

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Inspired Note" />
Inspired Note

* Note that the Scholar's Guild improved recipe, which
makes 3 Tomes of Wisdom, uses 2 Pages of Gondorian Parchment
instead of Books of Knowledge

Reorganized Guilds

With the new crafting tier comes a new tier of reputation for
the various crafting guilds, and new titles to go with it. Those
who were previously Kindred with their crafting guild will now
be Artisan of the Guild, and will want to reach the new top
tier, Master of the Guild. There are 3 new guild rep items to
craft, and the large Westfold items require high-quality
materials which can only be made with the Dunlending-rep-gated
recipe. However, it is possible to gain Master of the Guild
standing fairly fast - two complete sets of guild rep items
(minus the large Westfold one) plus one mid-tier small or medium
item is enough, and this can be accomplished in a week or less
(by trading in lesser items for greater ones). It is then
possible to craft the high-quality resource items without
Dunlending rep, but you can only make 3 every 3 days.

Masters of their respective guilds will be able to craft new
level 75 Legendary Items of the Third and Second Age variety.
There are no level 70 LI recipes - there's a straight 10-level
gap between Supreme and Westfold LIs. Third Age LIs typically
require 3 of the high-quality materials, 3 Legendary Fragments
and one Cracked Rhi Helvarch Sigil, and Second Age LIs require 4
material pieces, 5 fragments, a sigil and a Worn Symbol of
Celebrimbor. This item can currently be obtained only through
raiding - either the Draigoch raid or level 75 12-man
skirmishes.

Crafted vs. Raid

Turbine said in their Itemization Dev Diary that they wanted to
give players a solid option for crafters in terms of endgame
gear. Players who don't want to grind out endless 12-man
skirmishes for the barter tokens for the raid armor set can
craft gear with the new Finesse stat, and thereby have viable
gear for running the Draigoch raid.

Well, this is certainly a welcome and valid idea. Having
crafted pocket items is a neat new addition, and some of the
crafted gear is very, very good. As for whether or not it is
comparable to the class-specific raid armor set, that's going to
be up to the individual player to decide. Here's the Hunter
raid-set and the two level 75 craftable medium armor chest
pieces for comparison:

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Hunter Raid Armor" />

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Level 75 Medium Armor" />

alt="LotRO Westfold Crafting - Level 75 Medium Armor" />

Raid Armor Crafted Armor, Option 1 Crafted Armor, Option 2

Compare these with the Hunter class in mind. As you can see,
the raid armor has over twice the amount of Agility bonus of
either of the crafted sets, but at a rather steep cost to any
other bonuses. The Vibrant armor is surely excellent and would
work well for Hunters or Burglars, but has no Finesse rating.
Unfortunately, the Resilient armor with a Finesse bonus seems
better suited for a Warden (Hunters and Burglars have very
little use for Might - their damage comes primarily from Agility
and Fate for the criticals). Crafted armor seems better for
players seeking a more balanced build (though still not as good
as some of the older armor), but raid armor is great for those
seeking to jack their primary stats through the roof. You may
not need a whole lot of Fate or boosted Critical Rating when you
have 1200 Agility and +10% Heartseeker damage. The choice will
ultimately be up to the players.

A final reminder for those budding craftspeople who are in a
fevered chase for crafting materials: nodes respawn, there are a
lot of them, and there's no reason to be a jerk about
resource-collecting. Ninjas are cool, node-ninjas are not. Let's
all be excellent to one another.

See you at the crafting hall!


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Lord of the Rings Online Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

Comments