Breeds of Middle Earth

A very warm welcome my friend!

Sit down, even though today it may seem like just chatter. I was talking to these fine gentlemen about horses and breeds. I myself have not much idea about these themes, since I barely own two horses. But the whole discussion started by a letter of my dear friend Nimreidhreth, the elf that now prowls in Moria and, as far as I understand from his words, in beautiful forests beyond:

“Dear elf-friend!

   Battles have been fought in the deeps of Moria, and I must say they ended with a certain degree of success. Now I have continued my travels to the far end of the dreadful mines and caves and have finally stepped out to breathe the fresh air of woods and valleys. As soon as I went out the gates I knew: I am close to elven land! Lothlórien lies beyond; I feel the wind welcoming me, the whispers of the voice in the distance, the glow of our magic.

   Also, I got finally to call my old friend again, War, a trusty steed the Council of the North had entrusted to me. There is nothing finer than this horse, clad in red. He missed me and we first went out for a good ride, to enjoy the sun and just having the freedom to be together again.

   I heard you had gotten your own steed, friend. I hope you take care of it, for it will be your faithful companion throughout the battles you are about to face. And not only that, the far places you will visit will seem shorter with them carrying you to your goals.

   Well, now I am to see my cousins of the east, I hope they receive me as one of their kin! May the stars guide your ways.”

   So there came about a question of breeds and which are better and so on. It has been a lively talk. Always with a cup o’ tea. Oh you are going? Well, then have a good trip, we may see each other again.

   Until then, fare well.

From left to right: War, an angmarim reputation steed, Yuleson,

a winter festival steed, and Donnar a regular bay steed.

[Horses is the topic today. This is inspired by some advice chat I have been following while getting some stuff from the festival grounds. Turns out one of the main questions I could read there was: “Which horse is best?”

   Because of the context there, the question was directed towards only two kinds of horses most could get in this area: the Henstacer’s Farm horses or the Festival horses. It may seem like an obvious question to most of us, but for a new player, it is a vital question to understand, so I’ll answer it for them, since for him these choices can be overwhelming with all the options available in LOTRO.

   There are different kinds of horses in the game, although, to be honest, most are just a skin. To start with the first, there is the starter steed, I think the weakest possible. Usually only available for VIP, since it is part of a quest chain, it is obtainable at level 20. But since the LOTRO store is there, many people don’t wait up to that level: most buy the riding skill that you obtain for these quests for 95 TP (or even less!). Remember that this skill is necessary. So many move on to the next range of horses.

   These are the five basic colored ones, with no details or adornments. You could say they are the most “popular”, since they only cost some silver (I don’t know how it applies on the starter horse, but for the first horse you usually pay 500s and then 200s subsequently).

   Next come the festival horses, which you only get at certain moments of the year. Usually you get a choice between two horses per festivities, obtainable for a ownership document (buyable, same rule applies as with the above mentioned horses), a race token you only gain winning, well, duh, a race (Bree-Land and Michel Delving, Shire) and 20 tokens of the corresponding festival.

   Up to here we could already start answering the question: which is better? The answer, if we do not count that starter steed, is none. Both have the same stats: 162% speed, 100 morale. You can think of those horses as different skins for the same horse. Someone once complained that the horses weren’t able to be customized with armor and stuff. Well, think of each kind of horse as one customization option. Once you buy them, you may use any look you like. The only difference will be the name you can give each steed. None is better. Some players like to collect the different looks. Others get two or three and then try to alternate them from time to time (my approach). If you don’t care for looks or collection, you may as well just buy the first one, no matter what kind of horse, and then ride it forever. The main function is still the same, and sometimes moving in Middle Earth without an own horse can be a real pain.

   But then there are other steeds, the reputation ones. Once you get certain reputation with certain faction or get certain (huge) deed done, you get a horse: may it be free or may it be for a price that generally is above 5 gold. Now, those are different, although it may take you a while to get them. Their morale is usually increased to 250 and sometimes some have another 6% more speed to boost.

   Finally, there are some sold in the store, but generally at a price close around 1000-2000 TP. I wouldn’t really buy them unless I had a ton of TP, but some like them for their looks. Stat wise… well, some are as good as a reputation horse, but some (even those you can get for gold in the game) are as strong as a normal horse you get for a festival or in Henstacer’s Farm. In other words, sometimes they are worse than their in-game versions. Which ones are better? Depends if you want to use TP or not. I usually buy them with gold. Those in the store might sometimes be neat, but most of the times they are worse than the one you bought from the faction or just equal to my angamrim reputation horse. You could say they are glorified skins for your horse.

   What do I recommend? Well, it depends on your play style, but to be honest, with one normal and later on a reputation one is more than enough. Anything extra from there is just because you want to show-off, just like me.

   Again, for your first horse, there is no real difference between a festival one and a normal one. I usually choose a festival one; again, just to show off. The good horses come as soon as you get kindred with any faction on Middle Earth.

   But there is a good webpage dedicated to the horses you may take a look at Steeds of Middle Earth. It will give you a list of horses and also the goats, of which I haven’t talked about because I don’t own one.

   All Hail!]