Masterpieces of Middle Earth

Guide to Crafting Mastery Items in Lord of The Rings Online

By Darkgolem

Crafting in Middle Earth is a complex, usually fun and often profitable system which has genuine rewards for members of the Free People who learn to craft, and those who purchase their wares.  Some of the best wares you can make as a crafter in Lord of The Rings Online are mastery items.  Mastery items occur infrequently, but using special trophies, magical enhancements and high quality tools can increase the chance of you making a mastery item to well over 50% per attempt.  For selling finished products in the auction house, being able to create mastery items is an absolute must.

The Basics

Crafting is simple to understand, though it has many possible complexities to achieve specific goals.  Basically all professions have 5 tiers of craftsmanship, these being Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, Artisan and Grand Master.  Each tier is divided into proficiency and mastery.  Proficiency allows you to make items of that tier and reach proficiency of the next tier, mastery allows you to make mastery items for that tier and reach mastery of the next tier.

How Mastery Works.

Mastery items are improved versions of regular items of the same tier.  For example, you might make a set of Heavy Bronze Boots if you follow the appropriate recipe without getting a critical success, but if you successfully “roll” a critical success, you will get Hardened Bronze Boots.  The Hardened Boots are better armor and provide better statistic bonuses.  In addition, these mastery items often are of “tough” durability, meaning they take less damage in combat, reducing repair costs.

Without any other bonuses, one has a 5% chance to gain a critical success when making an item.  You must, as mentioned, have reached completed mastery level of proficiency in the tier of the item you wish to make (I.e. both anvils are filled in on your crafting screen).

Gathering Professions

In the case of all the gathering professions except farming, you only have a 5% chance of gaining a critical success, and this cannot be improved by using trophies, scrolls (magical enhancement) or better tools.  In each case with these professions, you gain three processed resources rather than one with a critical mastery affect.  For example, normally making a boiled medium leather recipe gives you a single boiled medium leather out of two medium hides.  A critical success gains you three boiled medium leathers rather than one. In the case of all resource professions, including farming, there are no magical scrolls available to improve your critical chance, and special tools increase the speed at which you do your resource gathering work rather than the likelihood of you getting a critical success.

With the gathering profession farming, you can ensure you get a critical success.  In the case of farming, a critical success means you create a superior crop, which provides more crops and rarely unique crops such as onion peels (which are used for making dyes by the scholar profession)  To ensure you gain a critical success with farming, you must purchase and use improved soil additives, such as the soil of Rivendell.  The amount and type of soil is detailed in the recipe for any particular crop, and always moves your chance for a critical success from 5% to 100%.

Crafting Professions

When cooking, there are no trophies to be used to increase the chance of a critical success.  Of note though, the intestines of certain animals, which are crafting trophies, are used for making lute strings. In these case they are just a component of making magical lute strings rather than increase the chance for a critical success.  For example, you can make superior blueberry muffins instead of blueberry muffins, and by using better tools and magical scholar scrolls you can increase your chance of rolling a critical success, but there is no trophy you can add which increases that chance even further.

For of all the remaining professions (scholar, tailor, metalworker, weaponsmith, woodworker, jeweler) in most cases, you gain a mastery item when you successfully roll.  In a few cases, especially with the scholar profession, you gain more items rather than better items.  This is usually in the case of consumable items, such as crafting scrolls (made by scholars) or class items (such as fire oil for hunters).  Jeweler amulets (such as amulets of the bear, etc.) cannot have a critical success, there are no mastery items for these amulets.

Tools of the Trade

Magical scrolls that increase your chance of gaining a critical success are created by the scholar profession.  These scrolls are usable by higher and higher levels, are available for all crafting professions (but no gathering professions), and provide a 1%, 2.5%, 3.5%, 7.5% or 10% bonus (for tiers 1-5 crafting scrolls, respectively).

Crafting tools provide bonuses to crafting depending upon their quality.  Tier 1 Crafting tools provide a 1% bonus (2% for the superior bronze tool), all the way up to Tier 5 crafting items (ancient iron crafting tools provide a 14% bonus, and the superior version, ancient steel crafting items, provide an 18% bonus).  These bonuses stack with scrolls items and crafting trophies plus the base 5% of gaining a critical mastery roll.

Crafting trophies provide a 44% bonus to your chance to get a critical success with a crafting attempt.  There are no “tiers’ to mastery bonus items, they simply are present or not, and one crafting trophy is consumed per attempt.  To use a mastery bonus item, simply check off the box in the recipe when you craft an item.  A single mastery bonus item will be used each time you attempt to craft an item.

Crafting trophies are pieces of animals that rarely drop as loot when creatures are defeated.  For example, if you wish to gain a critical success for tier 4 scholar recipes (which use the grey eyes crafting trophy), you need to defeat creatures that drop grey eyes in Middle Earth, and rarely these will drop as loot.  These items usually drop from level appropriate creatures.  Not all creatures drop crafting trophies, and not all critical items drop at the same rate.  Furthermore, some tiers or professions use different items for different products, but all recipes only use one item.  Finally, single use recipes do not have crafting trophies (so you can use scrolls and tools, but not an item to improve the chance to increase of your gaining a mastery item).

Below is a list of all crafting trophies and where they are found.  Note that there are other locations where these crafting trophies have been reported to drop, however, in the interest of confirm ability, only those the author has been able to verify with at least reasonable certainty are included.  Tier 4 and higher drops have not be personally confirmed by the author, but instead gathered from multiple sources.

Lord of The Rings Online Crafting Trophy List
Tier One
Profession	Trophy Name	Creature	Location
Cook (*)	Crushed Intestine	Boars	Falathlorn, Ered Luin
Jeweler	Small Treasure	Mound Wights	Haudh Lin, Ered Luin
	Dismissal Treasure	Barrow Wights	Barrow Downs, Bree-Land
Metalsmith	Blackened Tail	Wargs	Lone Lands, Annunlos
		Barghests	Barrow Downs, Bree-Land
	Torn Claw	Burrowing Shrews	Frogmorton, The Shire
Scholar	Clouded Eye	Sickle Fly, Neekerbreeker	Midgewater Marshes, Bree-Land
Tailor	Torn Claw	Burrowing Shrews	Frogmorton, The Shire
Weaponsmith	Clouded Eye	Sickle Fly, Neekerbreeker	Midgewater Marshes
Woodworker	Torn Claw	Burrowing Shrews	Frogmorton, The Shire
	Delicate Wing	?	?
Tier Two
Cook (*)	Small Intestine	Boars	East, North Bree-Fields, Bree-Land
Jeweler	Tarnished Treasure	Ancient Bog Warden	Harloeg, Lone Lands
	Dusky Claw	Lynx	Nain Eidh, Lone Lands
		Crows	Nain Eidh, Lone Lands
Metalsmith	Broken Heartwood	Wretched Barrow Maples	Southern Barrow Downs, Bree-Land
		Warped Oaks	Southern Barrow Downs, Bree-Land
	Dusky Claw	Lynx	Nain Eidh, Lone Lands
		Crows	Nain Eidh, Lone Lands
Scholar	Dark Eye	?	?
Tailor	Blackened Tail	Wargs	Lone Lands, Annunlos
		Barghests	Barrow Downs, Bree-Land
	Broken Root	Wretched Barrow Maples	Southern Barrow Downs, Bree-Land
		Warped Oaks	Southern Barrow Downs, Bree-Land
Weaponsmith	Blackened Ear	Wolves	Midgewater Pass, Lone Lands
		Wargs	Annunlos, Lone Lands
		Barghests Levels	Barrow Downs, Bree-Land
	Dusky Claw	Lynx	Nain Eidh, Lone Lands
		Crow	Nain Eidh, Lone Lands
Woodworker	Broken Heartwood	Wretched Barrow Maples	Southern Barrow Downs, Bree-Land
	Flawed Heartwood	Warped Oaks	Southern Barrow Downs, Bree-Land
Tier Three
Jeweler	Stained Treasure	Ancient Bog Warden	Harloeg, Lone Lands
	Large Treasure	Wight Dread Warrior	Nan Tornaeth, Trollshaws
Metalsmith	Ragged Tail	Warg	Kingsfell, North Downs
		Hoar Mantle	Kingsfell, North Downs
		Warg	Fields of Fornost, North Downs
	Large Skull	Ancient Bog Warden	Harloeg, Lone Lands
Scholar	Red Eye	Sickle Flies	Meluinen, North Downs
		Spiders	Kingsfell, North Downs
Tailor	Ragged Tail	Warg	Kingsfell, North Downs
		Hoar Mantle	Kingsfell, North Downs
		Warg	Fields of Fornost, North Downs
	Scarred Tail	Hoar Mantle	Nan Amlug, North Downs
		Warg	Nan Amlug, North Downs
Weaponsmith	Scarred Tail	Hoar Mantle	Nan Amlug, North Downs
		Warg	Nan Amlug, North Downs
	Flawed Claw	Lynx	Kingsfell, North Downs
		Bear	Kingsfell, North Downs
		Hawks	Kingsfell, North Downs
Woodworker	Scarred Heartwood	Huorn	Agamaur, Lone Lands
	Black Heartwood	Huorn	Agamaur, Lone Lands
Tier Four
Jeweler	Great Claw	Tundra Bear	Forochel
	Dusty Tail	Warg	Angmar
		Mammoth	Misty Mountains
Metalsmith	Grey Ear	Warg	Tyrn Fornoch, Evendim
		Moor-Stalker Scavenger	Trollshaws
	Colorful Eye	Deadly Blight Worm	Trollshaws
		Spiders	Haudh Iarchith
Scholar	Grey Eye	Cold Worm	Ram Duath, North Downs
		Norbogs, Sand Lurkers	Barandalf, Evendim
Tailor	Dusty Tail	Warg	Angmar
		Mammoth	Misty Mountains
	Grey Tail	Hill Hind	Tyrn Fornoch, Evendim
Weaponsmith	Dusty Tail	Warg	Angmar
		Mammoth	Misty Mountains
	Grey Claw	Swift Crag Hawk	Ford of Bruinen, Trollshaws
Woodworker	Tough Leg	Spider	Haugh Iarchith
		Cave Claw	Ram Duath
	Grey Claw	Swift Crag Hawk	Ford of Bruinen, Trollshaws
Tier Five
Jeweler	Great Claw	Tundra Bear	Forochel
Metalsmith
Scholar	Colorful Eye	Deadly Blight Worm	Trollshaws
		Spiders	Haugh Iarchith
Tailor	Great Claw	Tundra Bear	Forochel
	Dusty Tail	Warg	Angmar
		Mammoth	Misty Mountains
Weaponsmith	Great Claw	Tundra Bear	Forochel
Woodworker
(*) - All cooking crafting trophies refer to the intestine ingredient for magical lute strings, which do not provide a critical success bonus.  There are no crafting trophies for cooks past tier 2.

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