alt="Bree-Town Parkour: Your Guide to LotRO's Rooftops"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100375" />
Bree-town is more or less the central social hub of
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro">the Lord
of the Rings Online. Sure, the Twenty-First Hall
is better equipped for
an endgame staging point, with its superior crafting facilities and
legendary item services, but Bree-town is where it's at when you want
to hang out, meet new people, go on recruiting sprees, et cetera. But
at times, the surface streets can be crowded. Well, surface streets are
for suckers. Real adventurers travel by rooftop.
Parkour is the art of moving form one space to another in the
most creative way, usually by jumping and climbing and that sort of
thing. You see it in Jackie Chan movies when he's running away from bad
guys, or in the French action movie "Banilieue 13" (called "District
13" in North America). Bree-town Parkour is a bit different from these
- it's more about exploration than fleeing from bad guys and getting
into kung fu battles. Also you need a horse.
THE PRANCING PONY
We'll start with an easy roof: The Inn of the Prancing Pony.
From here, you have a nice vantage point of the heart of Bree-town, and
there are usually people mingling around in the open area below. Start
at the northwest corner:
alt="Northeast Corner of the Prancing Pony"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100350" />
You can sort of see the route from here. Follow that low
grassy slope to the patch of grass masked by the shrubs. It hits a peak
and flattens out at the top:
alt="Path to the roof of the Prancing Pony"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100351" />
That's your launch point, and you'll need to be on a horse
(or goat) to make it. You have to angle the approach as though trying
to hit right in that corner, and then jerk a few degrees to the right
just as you hit the jump. This is a difficult angle to hit, and you
will probably need to make several attempts. When you miss the mark,
pull back to the bottom of the slopw and get a running start. Keep
trying until you find the "sweet spot." When you get up on the roof,
follow the peaks to the front of the inn, overlooking the street:
alt="Overlooking the street"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100352" />
You can get up on the taller spires by running along the peak
ridge. For the taller peak at the southwest corner, you will need to
launch from the top of the chimney:
alt="Use the chimney stack as a bounce to hit the taller roof"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100353" />
THREE-FARROW CRAFTING HALL
This one is a bit more advanced and requires picking a careful
path around a closed-in, no-traffic area, which I call the
no-man's-land. Start out at the roof behind
the vendors to the west of the boar fountain. There is a low roof
overhanging an elevated porch there:
alt="The porch, starting point for the rest of the parkour hotspots"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100354" />
Start at the north end of the porch for your run, and hit the
low corner of the roof:
alt="Jump path for the low roof"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100355" />
This is your starting point for other rooftop hijinks, so
master this jump. It's an easy one.
The path to the crafting hall follows the line of the low
roof's peak, with a hop up on the tiled roof just beside the window
dormer:
alt="Get up beside this window dormer"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100356" />
The dormers are going to serve as launching pads for many of
your jumps. Follow the tiled roofs in a gradual curve to the left to
the bigger roofs. If you look down to the left, you'll see the "blank"
area where players aren't supposed to go - try to avoid falling in
there.
Head east across the big roofs to the spot with the three
window dormers. You'll want to get down onto the long, low roofs
overlooking the street. This is a long jump, and you may suffer a
falling injury if you miss your mark, but it's a pretty easy one to
make. Get on the roof with the dormers on each side:
alt="The "chimney-hook" jump"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100357" />
This jump takes a bit of finesse. The roof is too steep to
simply run up the side, so you'll have to make a hook-jump from the tip
of the innermost dormer and try to get around the other side of the
chimney stack, which should bounce you over the peak and down the other
side. I call this move the chimney-hook jump. Get to the cross-shaped
roof and head carefully to the
street-side edge and look down:
alt="Looking straight down at Trader's Gate"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100358" />
You're going to want to drop straight down on the peak of the
Trader's Gate crossing over the street. Sidle up right next to the
chimney stack and dash forward, which should land you squarely on top
of the overpass:
alt="On top of Trader's Gate"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100359" />
From there, the path to the top of the crafting hall is
fairly obvious. Follow the peaks and you'll be overlooking the boar
fountain courtyard and the Trader's Gate.
alt="Atop Three Farrow Crafting Hall"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100360" />
If you want to get to the Town Hall roof, follow the roofs
south instead of dropping down to the overpass. The path to the Town
Hall is relatively uncomplicated.
alt="Atop the town hall"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100362" />
Keep on reading and we'll take you deeper into the city...
alt="Bree-town Parkour: Your Guide to LotRO's Rooftops"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100375" />
DEEPER INTO THE CITY
To reach the top of the Jailhouse and the Auction Hall, you're
going to be traveling some precarious routes. Keep in mind that the
rooftops are not intended to be regular foot-traffic paths, and you
will likely experience some weird hitches and rubberbanding as you run
along the heights. Pathing along here is occasionally glitchy.
Also be warned that there are some areas where a fall to the
wrong side will land you in a place with no exits. The spaces between
the buildings were never intended for player traffic, and have that
unfinished, jagged-hill look. If you land in there, you will have to
map out, or hire the services of a Hunter or Captain to get you out.
JAILHOUSE
Start with the same low roof as you used to get to the
crafting hall. Instead of taking a southern path, go across the roof
towards the west until you can see the Scholar's Stair courtyard. To
the left is a wall. I find it easier to navigate the wall on foot
rather than on horseback - horses tend to be twitchy and it's easy to
over-correct and fall. If you fall to the right, you are at the
Scholar's Stair Archives and you can simply backtrack and get back up.
If you fall to the left, you're in a no-traffic zone. There's a way out
of this particular no-man's-land, which we'll look at later.
alt="Following the top of the wall beside the Scholar's Stair"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100361" />
Follow the wall to the high roof - the jump from the wall to
the roof can be done on foot, or you can mount up and do it that way.
Cross over that roof and keep on until you reach a gap - there's a jump
there to a lower grey-shingled roof:
alt="Following the rooftops"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100363" />
That's a horse jump. Mount up and get to the grey roof, then
the next tile
roof, then the next grey roof. On the last low grey roof, you'll see 2
window dormers facing into the no-man's-land. This is one of the
trickier jumps here - you have to
launch from the very edge of the second dormer at the higher roof
across the no-man's-land. What I usually do is run straight along the
top of the dormer, hit the jump at the edge, and twitch-turn slightly
to angle the jump at the opposite roof.
alt="The tricky dormer jump"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100364" />
Should you miss that jump, you land in the same place as if
you fall from the Scholar's Stair wall. Head northeast up the brown,
empty hill and go to the northeasternmost corner. There is a narrow gap
between the tall buildings on the left and the shorter ones on the
right. The alleyway is too narrow to walk through, but there is a
jagged bump in there that will allow you to jump up on the low roof on
the right. This is another jump you will want to twitch-turn as soon as
you launch, because the approach angle is off by a few degrees.
alt="Escape from no-man's-land"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100365" />
When you eventually make the dormer jump, turn immediately
south.
Follow the line of ridges over the double-dormer roof around the spire,
then angle east. You'll be following the line of houses alongside the
surface street, curving gradually south. There's another chimney-hook
jump along this path, but the way is mostly uncomplicated.
If you fall to the right during this part of the run, you'll
be in another no-man's-land from which there are no tricky escape
routes. Watch your footing and be ready to map out if you fall.
Keep heading south towards the jailhouse until you reach the
last gap. Keep this point in mind, as you'll be using it later to get
to the auction house. Edge towards the gap between your roof and the
auction house and look down - there's a wall below that you will need
to walk across. This one is tricky because the drop is fairly high and
it's difficult to judge where the exact centre is. Luckily, there is a
slightly wider pad just at the base. I have no luck trying to make this
drop with a horse, but your mileage may vary. It seems easier to inch
forward with the camera looking straight down, and keep inching forward
until you drop to the pad.
alt="The wall drop"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100366" />
Dash across the wall, hop up on the next grey roof and you're
on top of the jailhouse. The roofs up there are a tangled mess, but the
path is otherwise uncomplicated. From the jailhouse roof, you can run
across the overpass to the buildings on the far side of the street,
overlooking the auction house yard and the South Bree gate.
alt="Atop the Jailhouse"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100367" />
AUCTION HOUSE
This one is a little more advanced, but is probably the most
rewarding. It will also test your patience the most, because if you
fall during the last leg of the run, you have a lot more backtracking
to do, and there is an increased risk of falling into a no-man's-land
with no trick exit. There are also a number of invisible ledges you
will need to find, involving a few leaps of faith.
Follow the same path as you did to the jailhouse, but instead
of dropping down to the wall, hang a right and follow the roofs that
way. You will be angling towards the Haunted Alley. There are a few
tricky spots here, but you should be an expert at chimney-hook jumps
and ridge-running by now. Follow the Haunted Alley until you come to
the last roof before the Hunting Lodge. There's a wall below, and you
will need to drop straight down on top of it. This is a much easier
drop than the jail one:
alt="The wall leading to the Hunting Lodge"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100368" />
Follow the wall to the roof of the Hunting Lodge and run along
that ridge. Here's the spot where it gets tricky; there is an invisible
ledge here, above the broken section, which you will need to use to get
onto the high wall along the south side of the street. If you miss it,
you land either in the street or, more likely, in the tiny gap between
the high wall and the hedgerow that runs all the way around Bree-town.
Just follow the line up from the broken section and angle your jump
there:
alt="The first invisible ledge"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100369" />
Follow that section of the wall around, hopping over to the
corner tower. There's a break in the wall with another invisible ledge,
and this jump can be a bit tricky because of the angle:
alt="Tricky corner"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100370" />
The wall comes to an end near a house - don't believe
your eyes. There's another invisible ledge here, following the line of
the roof ridge.
alt="Another invisible ledge, following the line of the roof ridge"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100371" />
Hop up and run across the gap to the roof of the house, and
then look for the low stone wall below. That's another invisible ledge
which runs all the way to the wall of the auction house. Get up on that
and it's a straight run to the auction house roof:
alt="Line of the invisible ridge from the house to the auction house"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100372" />
alt="Standing on the invisible ledge"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100373" />
From the auction house roof, you command an impressive view of
South Bree, including the skirmish camp outside the city walls.
alt="Atop the auction house"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/100374" />
Bree-town is not the only place with interesting rooftop
travel, nor is every possible route detailed here. Middle-earth is a
big place, and one of the joys of LotRO is the ability
to explore things off the beaten track.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Lord of the Rings Online Game Page.
