Legendary item advice

Legendary basics

By now some of you will be thinking about your legendary items. So I thought I would throw some thoughts together. Most of the decent info is covered in the following links:
http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Legendary_Items_Guide
and
http://www.lotrolife.com/legendary_item_system/

RULE 1 - SAVE YOUR SKIRMISH MARKS

1) You can only equip two items BUT you can have a few in your inventory
(different for hunter with his bow)

2) There are 3 ways to level/tier your LI (legendary item)
A - XP from killing mobs
B - tiering up the relics
C - leveling up the legacies

RULE 2 - DO SKIRMISHS IN ORDER TO GET SKIRMISH MARKS

XP - Half the xp from killing mobs gets divided into the equipped LIs.

It takes a LONG time to level your LI and forever in low level areas - BUT with 160 odd SM (Skirmish marks) you barter 15 000 XP. You can also barter for relics to deconstruct and tier up and other LI presents. Including something to then barter again for a weapon you may want from a dwarf in moria.

Relics - Similar to a rune stone or pocket item it has properties that buffs and boosts. Relics - same as crafting but worse - you need 5 tier 1 relics to make 1 tier 2. You need 4 tier 2 relics to make 1 tier 3. etc. You get a few relics from the bartering at skirmish camps once deconstructed at the relic masters. once a relic is slotted it is used, bound and will be destroyed if another relic is slotted over it. It also requires shards to change the nature of a relic to what you may want, the higher a tier, the more shards it requires.

Legacies - properties that the relic master identifies that boosts some of your skill sets
Legacies - general consensus among champs is that unless a legacy has critical multipliers it is not worth it. probably a good idea to find out what your class needs from a LI and find one that suits your character and play style.

RULE 3 - GET KINDRED WITH YOUR GUILD ASAP.

RULE 4 - GET THE BARTER RECIPE FOR THE MINOR SYMBOL OF POWER/VITALITY ETC. AND THEN STACK THEM. you will thank me later.

each of us has the capability of making symbol through our guild. This is useful for slotting into the crafted relic section of your weapon/rune. Once you have slotted one, the rest can be deconstructed into shards that you NEED for changing the tiered relics into what you need. the higher the tier the more shards you will need. so get cracking :)

Please ask Questions, especially if I haven't made myself clear.

Some useful articles to add to Fly's advice:

Choosing a weapon
http://lotro.mmorsel.com/2010/06/cho...ary-items.html
Picking the right properties
http://lotrotools.mmorsel.com/lispender

I just read through those those two linked threads, and I must confess I didn't understand much of them.

I guess I'll just wait until I'm high enough level to start using legendary items, and then worry about understanding what they are...

Legendary weapons are complicated. Even after reading up and getting advice from Fly I am still finding my way. They do add another element to the game-play.

i thought i might add a few explanations:

LI - Legendary Item

Legacy - when your weapon and class item get identified they come with 3 legacies. each legacy increases functions/crit ratings to your skills. for example i have a run speed legacy. if i spend LP (legacy points) gained from leveling up the weapon on the run speed legacy i could eventually sprint for an EXTRA 30 seconds. some legacies are VERY costly ITO LP to level because of rarity and how good they are. (there are ways around that as well)

so you can level up you legacies and hence it is a good idea to know what legacies are important for your class so that you can concentrate on finding the right weapon/item.

relic - a relic is like a pocket item. but you have 4 pockets on your LI - 3 for relics from deconstructed/identified weapons and the fourth for a crafted relic. THUS - the 4 slots are "settings", "gems", "runes" and "crafted" . The relics are tiered - IE the higher the tier, the more buffs/boosts BUT there is no way to "level" the relics. because once slotted the relic gets destroyed when you put another over it. Thus it is my advice to try get at least a set of tier 3 if not a tier 4 relics to slot in. My reasoning is that it does take quite an effort to get (get to ) tier 4. By far the easiest and longest is to take the mob dropped LI's and deconstruct them but it is the longest as it takes 5 tier 1 relics to make one tier 2, and 4 tier 2 relics to make one tier 3. AFAIK, all the other tiers also take 4 from the lower tier.

The quickest way to get higher tiered relics is to go and buy a set of relics from the auction house. The most efficient would probably be to barter you SKIRMISH MARKS for a set of relics but if you do that make sure you get the tier 4 relics - tier 5 is exponentially more costly but doable if yo have the time or the cash. You will also need shards to convert the identified relics into the three versions (settings, gems and runes) of relics that can slot into your item - IE in the deconstruction or forging process you might get two of the same relics, and maybe NEITHER give you the stats bonus you would like. you could use the forge master to convert the relics into the ones you want - BUT you need shards and the higher the tier, the more shards are required for melding. you get shards by deconstructing other relics - BUT you get a whole lot more shards by deconstructing the CRAFTED relic you get from your crafting guild. IE - I barter with my weapon-smith guild to get the minor symbol of vitality, I then have it identified and then either slot it in the crafted "pocket" or break it down into shards (you get quite a shards for it).

http://lotro.mmorsel.com/2010/11/get...ary-items.html

It does all become easier when you have actually tried it out. :)

It is all very confusing until you actually get a Legendary Weapon and use the interface and all its components, as well as the Rune and Forge Masters interfaces. Until then I don't think it is really worth trying to wrap one's head around it. What seems to work is familiarising yourself with the basics, asking for help when you need it, and then reading through the links above so you at least have a tentative grasp of what is being referred to in each case.

From what I can make out, legendary weapons are a feature to enable continued levelling (read: continued interest) after maxing out your character xp advancement. They are very cool and add a different angle or two to the game.

^^
wot he said

BUT - save your skirmish marks

Just in case you're scared to spend your points and don't know which legacy to upgrade, this nifty tool allows you to simluate the effects of your point spending. http://lotrotools.mmorsel.com/

You can also get a scroll off the lotro store that can unset legacies should you want to keep them once you find a nice new shiny legendary weapon that you wish to wield...i.e. your lvl 75 weapon for those who put a lot of effort into levelling their 65 weapon. This made me very happy. I have some awesome extraordinary relics on my 65 weapon I'd hate to lose.