As everybody knows, the two end-game 12-man instances at the moment are gated – that is, you need a certain minimum level of radiance in order to even enter them. Personally, I think this is a poor design approach, and it’s no secret that most players feel the same way. However, we’re stuck with this situation for the foreseeable future.
Fortunately, Book 8 introduced some new paths to achieving the minimum requirements, which are currently +50 radiance for the Vile Maw (the Watcher), and +70 radiance for Dar Narbugud. What follows are some suggestions as to how this can be achieved as expeditiously as possible. Keep in mind that raiding is a cooperative affair, and that in order to get anywhere you’ll need to join a Kinship, or at least find a reasonably steady group of players - solo play doesn't enter into the debate at all.
To quickest way of achieving the +50 radiance necessary for the Vile Maw is to complete the first two (and easiest) of the 6-man instances which drop a single BoA coin when completed in Hard Mode. These are the Grand Stairs (dropping a Platinum Coin of Courage, exchangeable for Boots) and Forges (Platinum Coin of Strength, for Chest). Each of these armour items gives +10 radiance, for a total of +20.
The two new 3-man instances each drop three Glistening Elf-stones every time they are completed; four of these can be exchanged for tier 1.5 radiance armour items, each of which has +15 radiance. Completing the Mirror Halls of Lumul-Nar and the Water Wheels of Nalad-Dum four times each will net you Gloves and Leggings respectively, for a total of +30 radiance. Add these to the Boots and Chest from the earlier 6-man instances, and you have the +50 radiance needed to enter the Vile Maw.
Achieving +70, however, is harder. You will need to either complete the two toughest 6-man instances of the tier 1 series, namely 16th Hall (Iron Coin of Fortitude, exchangeable for the non-set Shoulders) and Dark Delvings (Iron Coin of Knowledge, for the non-set Helm), each worth +10 radiance, or acquire either of the two tier 1 set armour items which drop from the Watcher (Helm or Shoulders, each worth +20 radiance). Note that with the exception of the Dar Narbugud bosses, Gurvand, final boss of the Dark Delvings, is reckoned to be the toughest fight in LOTRO to date.
One further short-cut is to complete the Filikul instance (Nornúan the Turtle) as often as possible, since he sometimes drops Platinum coins exchangeable for tier 1 armour pieces. Nornúan is something of a pushover, and can easily be downed by even a halfway competent PUG (pick-up group).
Finally, it must be emphasised that +50 radiance for the Watcher and +70 for Dar Narbugud are the minimum necessary to avoid cowering; you will still have dread, with the resultant reduction of morale and skills. The more radiance you have, the better; this includes the extra +10 you can buy with Destiny Points, which stacks with whatever you get from your armour.
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Great rundown.
Nice summary!
So, it's called the Dark Maw over there in Codemasters-land? Weird, since I'm pretty sure "vile" has the same meaning over there that it does over here, and it's called the Vile Maw in the North American release. I wonder why they made that change...
Anyway, nice post. Linked to from the LOTRO Vault. :)
Sorry, jdw, It's Vile Maw here in Europe too - that was just me suffering from brain-fade. Like I keep thinking of RKs as "Runemasters", which I still reckon sounds better... Now corrected!
Actually, we have discovered that the rounding is a bit cleverer than first assumed. It "rounds to the middle". Say you have one 15 radiance piece along with 5 +10 pieces for a total of 65, and you are overall negative in dread, because DN gives 70. This will effectively round "up" and you will have an 70 radiance.
If you were in the positive on hope, it would again round to the middle, but this time "down" so you are wearing 60 rad.
It's confusing, but I think it makes sense, giving you the benefit when most needed, but not equivalent to a +20 piece.
Thanks for the info Kevin.
Not sure whether I'm stating the obvious here but there's a +20 Radiance helm (well cap) available very early in the game as a reward to the Bounder quest line.
Of course the rest of the stats on the item are poor :)
The Bounder's cap does indeed give +20 radiance. Unfortunately, it doesn't stack...
I heard the non-stacking issue of the bounder's cap several times already. As a faithful bounder, I still kept it in the bank. Today I tried it out myself. Radiance +10 chest, leggins, gloves and boots, on top of that the bounder's cap.
Voila, I got 60 radiance. Did I miss something?
On a totally different note, did they change the 15 radiance barter tokens? Today I did a hardmode in one of these the first time (halls of crafting) and received not three stones, but just one strange barter-thing (sorry, don't remember the name).
About the Bounder's Cap I wouldn't know, never having been a Bounder myself - but it seems as though they've quietly made it stackable, and a good thing too.
The Halls of Crafting don't drop stones, let alone three of them, but one Glistening Elf-stone per participant; you will need seven of these to get the tier 1.5 chest-piece. As a side-note, if you have the time it's not a bad idea to get all three tier 1.5 items, even if you've already got a complete tier 1 set, because the three of them together give +720 Shadow damage mitigation, which will come in handy both in Dar Narbugud and, quite likely, in Dul Guldur.
Thanks for the quick answer on this not-quite-recent blog entry of yours.
So I just misunderstood the way the instances hand out the rewards.
Regarding the bounder's cap, I suppose it is a viable way to boost one's radiance if one is wearing light armor anyways (I'm a minstrel). The cap being a head-piece helps too, as the corresponding set-piece can only be obtained from the watcher.
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