Wonderful Places in LOTRO's Middle Earth: september 2016

Tier 9 and Tier 10 artifacts in Gondor and Anórien

Gondor is a very huge area to look out for tier 9 and tier 10 scholar artifacts. The Gondor region is divided in five parts. In the north (south of the mouths of the Entwash) lies Anórien, with in the east Old Anórien and in the west Far Anórien. The Anórien areas are both tier 10 areas. The southern part of the Gondor area is subdivided in Eastern Gondor, Central Gondor and Western Gondor. The following chests can be found in Gondor and Anorion:

Western Gondor - Tier 9: Adorned Chests
1. Blackroot Vale (level 95 - 97 area)
2. Havens of Belfalas (lvl 96-100)
3. Lamedon (lvl 96-98)
4. Paths of the Dead (lvl 95-100)

Central Gondor - Tier 9: Adorned Chests
5. Dor-en-Ernil (lvl 100)
6. Lower Lebennin (lvl 100)
7. Pelargir (lvl 100)
8. Ringló Vale (lvl 100)

Eastern Gondor - Tier 10: Lavish Chests
1. Lossarnach (level 100 area)
2. South Ithilien (lvl 100 area)
3. Upper Lebennin (lvl 100 area)
4. Osgiliath (lvl 105 area)

Far Anorian - Tier 10: Lavish Chests
1. Taur Druadan (level 100 area)
2. The Beacon Hills (lvl 100 area)

Old Anorian - Tier 10: Lavish Chests
1. Pelennor Fields(level 100 area)
2. Talath Anor (lvl 100 area)

Tier 9 - Western & Central Gondor - Ornate Caches

Like in Rohan, Ornate Caches can also be found in Western and Central Gondor, but these areas are far more dangerous to search for artifacts than Rohan. For easy gathering on high levels (100+) I advise you to search for Ornate Caches in the Rohan areas.

Ornate Caches contain 2 types of raw material:
- Scrap of Rohirric Text
- Piece of Sealed Wax.

Sometimes, especially in heavy ornate caches, you can find the rare Tarnished Crest of Rohan. However, it is stated that this is a very rare drop from scholar artifacts, much rarer than the droprate from wood and ore...

The best spots for scholar artifacts in the Central and Western Gondor areas are still under research, but the Havens of Belfalas belongs definitely to one of the best areas. Rather concentrated locations of caches can be found in the pirate haven of Edhellon, but also in the Hashadîr raider camp. Another rich area to look out for Ornate Caches are the Paths of the Death, but here the node locations are more scattered around the area.

1. Blackroot Vale
A preliminary map can be found below, I will update this map soon with notes and more exact node locations.

2. Havens of Belfalas
I completed my search in the area of the Havens of Belfalas, where I found four locations with clusters of Adorned Chests. The elven city Edhellond and Hashadîr, the Corsair raider camp south of Dol Amroth, are by far the richest locations. Both are dangerous areas, with many corsairs (pirates with turbans ... funny).

Edhellond was once a famous Elven city and port, where the Elves built their ships to sail westward and away from Middle-earth into the Undying Lands. There is also a strange tale of Amroth, Prince of Lórien, who was lost at or near Edhellond in the year TA 1981. As history says so, he was looking for his beloved Nimrodel, but was never seen again. Although you can fancy to find this famous Elven prince, your dream will evaporate soon when you visit in Edhellond. There are no elves anywhere, and the place is swarmed with aggressive Corsairs. Nevertehless, Edhellond is an excellent place to look for Adorned Chests! I found 14 locations, 2 of them where heavy chests (I have marked them with a red circle on the map).

The Elven city of Edhellond, a perfect place for artifact hunting!

To the south of Dol Amroth, the big harbour city, lies the Corsair camp and pirate harbor Hashadîr. Like all Corsair camps, Hashadîr is swarmed by pirates, but there are many chests to be found. An interesting side quest brings you to the treasure chests of five pirate ships, which can be seen in the adjacent Bay of Belfalas.

Looking at the Bay of Belfalas, from the coastal road.
The big city is Dol Amroth; the brown camp in front is Hashadîr.
The island at the horizon is Tol Fennas.

The other two locations with adorned chests are also Corsair camps, but the abundance of chests is a little bit less. North of Tadrent, there is a camp at the foot of the hills and across the river: Makham Mijann. I found eight chest nodes, two of them where heavy adorned chests. Like all the other Corsair camps in the Belfalas area, this camp is also heavily guarded by Corsairs.

Makham Mijann, the corsair camp north of Tadrent

In the far southeast of the Belfalas area lies an interesting ruin, at the top of a stony mountain slope, Abedec's Watch. If you travel to the south, along the coastal road, you will see the towers of the ruin above your head. Abedec's Watchs is rather big and like Hashadîr you have to explore it quite extensively to locate all the eight chests. If you have found them all, slaying lots of Corsairs, the first explored chests will be respawned. So, if you have time, Abedec's Watch is an interesting place to gather you scraps of Rohirric Texts.

Abedec's Watch as seen from the coastal road.

To the south of Abedec's Watch lies the broken bridge, a huge elven construction. If you have a fast warhorse, be careful when you approach this bridge, otherwise you will drop down quite a distance. The view from the bridge to the Bay of Belfalas is breathtaking, especially at sunset. There are no chests to be hound near the bridge, but it is sure worth to visit this spot!

The end of the coastal road near Abedec's Watch

3. Lamedon
Lamedon is a rather empty area for Adorned Chests. You can find five chests in the bandit infested Tathrendalf, north of the small village Lothgobel. There are some other encampments and ruins in the area, but except at the abandoned camp at 69.7S and 59.3W, there are no chests to be found. The abandoned camp is unguarded, so you can pick easily the one and only chest near that spot. I checked all other places in Lamedon, but I could not find any other Adorned chest locations.

4. Paths of the Death
A preliminary map can be found below, I will update this map soon with notes and more exact node locations.

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8. Ringló Vale
In the woody area of Ringló Vale chests with scholar artifacts are scarce. At first sight, there isn't any adorned chest to be found. If you are doing the Gondorian treasure chest deed, you will find 4 chests scattered around the vale, but these chests don't contain anything worthwile for a scholar. In my hunt for scholar artifacts I checked all the ruins and burned places with enemy's, since there is a good chance that you will find some artifacts there. It was fruitless... The orc infested camps at Gríshru and Lumber Camp where devoid of chests. Even in Dâr Mathum and the adjacent Dead Cave, where lost of dangerous evil spirit warriors dwell, there was absolutely no sign of adorned chests.

Only one location with Adorned Chests in Ringló Vale: inside the Spider Cave

After many hours of fruitless searching, I finally found a location inside the Spider Cave, west of the beacon of Eilendoth. Inside, you will find four chests, one of them was a heavy chest (blue marked in the map). Four chests is not very much for a whole region, so I advise scholars to search elsewhere for Adorned chests in Gondor (like The Havens of Belfalas!).

Four Adorned Chests inside the Spider Cave of Ringló Vale

Be aware at the end of the cave, because this is the lair of a the Weft-Mother, a level 101 spider of of 36.637 morale. Of course, this shouldn't be a big problem for the experienced artifact hunters.

The Weft-Mother, the guardian of the Spider Cave near the beacon of Eilendoth

Tier 10 - Eastern Gondor and Anorien - Lavish Chests

I am still working on these maps, but the locations which are currently known are shown below. In the upcoming weeks I will complete these areas, but for now it is up to you to find the exact locations!

Lavish Chest

Old Anórien: Pelennor Fields
A preliminary map can be found below, I will update this map soon with notes and more exact node locations.

Old Anórien: Talath Anor
A preliminary map can be found below, I will update this map soon with notes and more exact node locations.

Far Anórien: Taur Drúadan and The Beacon Hills
The artifact location maps of both areas are in preparation, the node locations are not known yet...

Eastern Gondor: Lossarnach & Ithilien
I have made the first part of the Lossarnach map, which can be found below. The other regions are still terra incognita ('unknown lands') for me. I hope to publish the exact node locations of all these areas soon.

Lossarnach
A preliminary map can be found below, I will update this map with notes and more exact node locations as soon as possible.

South & Upper Ithilien
The artifact location maps of both areas are in preparation, the node locations are not known yet...

Wonderful Places in LOTRO's Middle Earth

zondag 11 september 2016

Remmirath, the Netted Stars, right above my head.

Tier 9 - Western & Central Gondor - Ornate Caches

Tier 10 - Eastern Gondor and Anorien - Lavish Chests