With Mines of Moria officially out, you were probably expecting a screenshot from one of the new areas. Sorry!
I actually spent my time playing in Forochel yesterday. My brother has a Guardian he’d really like to get caught up and he isn’t getting Mines of Moria until later today. I figured the least I could do is help him out. Plus, in the meantime, I get some rep points with the Lossoth.
You also have the bonus of a free rant!
I like the concept and culture within Forochel. Being there is quite different from being in the rest of the game. It even has a far different feel than the other snow covered area in the game, the Misty Mountains. Still, I have to admit the quests in the area drive me pretty crazy. It’s pretty much the only area in the game where you’re noticeably being asked to go kill the same things over and over. You can overlap your quests so you can take out two birds with one stone (getting Sabretooth teeth and furs at once, for example), but unfortunately it didn’t go that way this time.
Most of it did go relatively quickly, except for one quest that required moose antlers and meat. LotRO is extremely good about drops of this sort, typically giving you almost a 1:1 ratio. This unfortunately also creates situations where rarer drops become extremely noticable. Is it as bad as getting lynx hides in World of Warcraft was for me? Probably not, but the contrast makes it feel like it.
There’s also a few quests in Forochel that I feel are not given the proper level or group size. We did a couple of them: taking out Pikta-hammas (a signature cat) and bringing a Lossoth off an island littered with cats. A lot of this depends on your class, obviously … but these two are quite difficult for their level.
Pikta-hammas itself is flanked by two additional cats that you cannot avoid. Soloing her at the recommended level is difficult. Soloing her at the level when you can actually get the quest is essentially impossible. I’ve finished her off by myself, but only once I was a few levels stronger and wanted vengeance on the thing.
The second quest is more just frustrating. You’ve probably wound up on the island I’m talking about if you need cat-gut or if you’re saving Johari. Since you know saving Johari will be a escort quest, you’ve also probably cleared the path to him. Good enough.
The entire way down, new cats spawn specifically for this quest. They usually come in pairs, you’ll take them out together. Right after you take out one group, he continues down and another appears. This happens about four times before he decides to take a rest. If you’ve survived up to this point (and were lucky enough to do this before the normal cats respawned) it’s an absolutely necessary break.
Then you continue, with more cats appearing. A stray area of effect spell will probably pull in a hind, who will then scream for a buck to show up. If you’re really unlucky a bear might also be in range. Luckily Johari is safe around this time and you might be lucky enough to have him run off before he notices the aggro of the bear.
It’s doable, but dying during it is maddening and frequent. Keep in mind this is supposedly a Level 47, soloable class. I’m Level 50 and I couldn’t do it myself; something would always go wrong. We barely did it together.
I’m sure certain classes can manage this better (say, if you can heal quickly or reliably stun an enemy), but those two have been big frustrations for me. Frankly, I’m surprised neither of them have been adjusted .… Maybe that just means I’m in the minority? 
Avoiding Eregion this week is not such a bad idea. The place is mobbed and every quest objective is multiply camped. Mind you I am still having fun — you just have to accept the crowds and be prepared to form impromptu pugs for those kill ten foozles quests.
I remember the island escort quest, soloed it with Throg my level 50 Champion. I know I let Johari tank a bit of damage for me while I concentrated on killing.
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Yeah, the area is definitely swamped. I was there a bit yesterday in the afternoon and while I could get things done, the mad dash for enemies and items wasn’t exactly doing it for me lol.
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