There are some significant enhancements in store for the crafting system in The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Book 8, and we’d like to take time to provide the details for those who love to make stuff in the lands of Middle-earth!

Continuing right along with the goal of creating a better LOTRO experience for players both old and new, in Book 8 we are updating the levels of crafted armour, jewellery, shields, and weapons to improve the frequency at which equipment upgrades are available to users of crafted equipment. To provide a smoother transition for all, we are making special arrangements for all currently-equipped crafted gear. This change will affect most crafted equipment with level requirements up to 50, so we've included some fancy tables below to provide all the information you need.

The second crafting-related update comes directly from feedback we've received from many crafters with regards to optional ingredients. We are happy to announce that optional ingredients for all crafting professions have been completely redesigned! Special new ingredients for every tier and profession will arrive in Book 8, with more ways to find them through farming, gathering, and artifacting (that's antiquing in Scholar-jargon). Crafting trophy brokers located in Michel Delving and Esteldin will accept all existing optional ingredients in exchange for the new ingredients.

For more details, read on!

Improvements for Crafted Equipment, Levels 1-50

Background

For all crafted armour, shields, weapons, and jewellery, there are generally four groups of recipes per crafting tier (the Apprentice tier usually has just two). These are:

1. The auto-granted group of recipes. These are given to you automatically upon gaining access to a new tier of your profession.
2. The vendor group of recipes. These can be purchased from novice and expert profession trainers.
3. The normal treasure group of recipes. These are found as loot on various sentient creatures.
4. The one-shot treasure group of recipes. These are found as loot on various sentient creatures and can only be used once per recipe scroll.

Traditionally, items produced by the auto-granted and normal treasure recipe groups have had identical level requirements. The vendor and one-shot treasure recipe groups also produced items with identical levels. Players utilizing crafted gear could only reasonably expect to upgrade their equipment twice per crafting tier, and would typically have a prolonged gap in levels before they could look to wield an item produced by the next group of recipes. With Book 8, we are shifting some of these recipe groups a bit.

What's New

We are adjusting the level requirements of the items produced by these recipe groups to smooth them throughout levels 1 – 50, and for some 50+ shields. The level requirements on some crafted items will increase, some will decrease, and some will remain the same. The stat bonuses on these crafted items will also be adjusted relative to the new level requirements.

As a crafter, you will have more opportunities to craft desirable equipment for yourself and for others!

Special Note

We are making special arrangements to ensure that the crafted equipment you are using right now does not become unusable!

In Book 8, equipped crafted armour, jewellery, shields, and weapons that will have a higher level requirement than your current level will be given a new minimum level equal to your current level when you initially log on, so you can continue to use your equipped items. Equipped crafted items that will have a lower level requirement than your current level will be given the correct new minimum level.

All newly-crafted gear made during and beyond Book 8 will have the new minimum level requirements.

At the end of this article, you’ll find tables containing the items that will change, their old levels, and their new levels.

New Optional Ingredients

Background

“I just found a Great Claw! Wait, what is that used for? The description says, ‘this item can be used in crafting.' That's not very helpful.”

“What kind of eyes do you need? Where do we have to go and what do we have to kill to get these eyes?”

In those two snippets of chat we are given a clear view into some of the issues with current optional ingredients: The items do not display information on which crafting professions can use them, and the items for some professions may only be retrieved from a relatively small group of creatures.

We are very pleased to say that in Book 8, a totally redesigned optional ingredients system awaits the entire crafting community!

What's New

The rare creature trophies that were used as optional ingredients in many recipes to increase the chance of critical success will no longer be found in Book 8. The professions which have traditionally used these ingredients – Jeweller, Metalsmith, Scholar, Tailor, Weaponsmith, and Woodworker – will have brand new optional ingredients to add to their recipes!

Each new optional ingredient is unique to one specific crafting profession and tier of recipes. The tooltip description on each of these items will allow you to quickly identify the profession and tier it is used with.

All sentient creatures – orcs, goblins, trolls, and the like – will have a chance to drop optional ingredients as treasure. The level of a sentient creature determines which tier of optional ingredient has a chance to be produced. The following table may satisfy your thirst for knowledge.

Optional ingredient tier & sentient creature levels

Ingredient Tier	Creature Level
Apprentice	1-12
Journeyman	13-23
Expert	24-34
Artisan	35-43
Master	44-50
Supreme	51-60

In addition to sentient treasure, resource nodes will also be a source of optional ingredients! Ore deposits and wood branches will produce optional ingredients for multiple professions, while artifacts and crop fields will produce optional ingredients for just one profession each. Generally speaking, you can expect to find optional ingredients for any profession from the same types of resource nodes that you would find required ingredients for that same profession. This table might clear things up a bit.

Sources for new optional ingredients

Profession	Ingredient Source	Ingredient Source
Jeweller	Ore deposits (Prospecting)	Sentient Treasure
Metalsmith	Ore deposits (Prospecting)	Sentient Treasure
Scholar	Artifacts (Scholar)	Sentient Treasure
Tailor	Wood branches (Forestry)	Sentient Treasure
Weaponsmith	Ore deposits (Prospecting)	Sentient Treasure
Woodworking	Wood branches (Forestry)	Sentient Treasure
Cooking	Crop Fields (Farming)	Sentient Treasure

 

Superior Cooking Love: Order Up!

In Book 8, optional ingredients for Cooking will arrive to allow cooks of all mastery levels to show off their superior culinary skills! Cooks will have the option to use rare ingredients in all Trail Food, Fortifying Food, and Cooked Food recipes – as well as many intermediary recipes like Pie Crusts and Berry Pie Filling.

Special Note

All existing optional ingredients – the rare tails, eyes, claws, and so on – will no longer be found as rare trophy treasure items in Book 8. Any optional ingredients you currently possess will become barter items, which can be traded to special Crafting Trophy Brokers located in Michel Delving and Esteldin. The brokers will accept all existing optional ingredients in exchange for new ingredients.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoy the new optional ingredients and the changes to crafted equipment level requirements that are coming in Book 8. As with all changes we make, our aim is to improve the overall LOTRO experience for you, the player. Your feedback is always welcome.

As Promised...

The following tables display the current and new levels at which crafted light armour, medium armour, heavy armour, shields, jewellery, and weapons can be equipped. Note that equipment levels may increase, decrease, or in some cases, remain the same.

You can use the information within these tables to plan for crafted equipment upgrades in Book 8. Remember, all crafted gear that is not currently equipped when you log on for the first time in Book 8 will be updated to the new minimum levels listed below!

Crafted Light & Medium Armour (Tailoring)
Recipe Tier & Type	Previous Minimum Level	New Minimum Level
Apprentice, Auto-granted	7	7
Apprentice, Normal treasure	7	12
Journeyman, Auto-granted	10	14
Journeyman, Vendor-bought	16	16
Journeyman, Normal treasure	10	18
Journeyman, One-shot treasure	16	20
Expert, Auto-granted	21	22
Expert, Vendor-bought	27	25
Expert, Normal treasure	21	28
Expert, One-shot treasure	27	31
Artisan, Auto-granted	31	32
Artisan, Vendor-bought	35	35
Artisan, Normal treasure	31	38
Artisan, One-shot treasure	35	41
Master, Auto-granted	42	42
Master, Vendor-bought	47	45
Master, Normal treasure	42	48
Master, One-shot treasure	47	50
Supreme, Auto-granted	51	51
Supreme, Treasure set 1	54	54
Supreme, Treasure set 2	56	56
Supreme, Treasure set 3	58	58

Crafted Heavy Armor (Metalsmith)
Recipe Tier & Type	Previous Minimum Level	New Minimum Level
Apprentice, Auto-granted	15	15
Apprentice, Normal treasure	15	15
Journeyman, Auto-granted	18	16
Journeyman, Vendor-bought	21	17
Journeyman, Normal treasure	18	18
Journeyman, One-shot treasure	21	20
Expert, Auto-granted	24	22
Expert, Vendor-bought	27	25
Expert, Normal treasure	24	28
Expert, One-shot treasure	27	31
Artisan, Auto-granted	31	32
Artisan, Vendor-bought	35	35
Artisan, Normal treasure	31	38
Artisan, One-shot treasure	35	41
Master, Auto-granted	42	42
Master, Vendor-bought	47	45
Master, Normal treasure	42	48
Master, One-shot treasure	47	50
Supreme, Auto-granted	51	51
Supreme, Treasure set 1	54	54
Supreme, Treasure set 2	56	56
Supreme, Treasure set 3	58	58

Crafted Jewellery (Jeweller)
Recipe Tier & Type	Previous Minimum Level	New Minimum Level
Apprentice, Auto-granted	8	7
Apprentice, Auto-granted	10	7
Apprentice, Auto-granted	13	10
Apprentice, Auto-granted	15	10
Apprentice, Normal treasure	8	12
Apprentice, Normal treasure	10	12
Journeyman, Auto-granted	18	14
Journeyman, Auto-granted	20	14
Journeyman, Vendor-bought	23	16
Journeyman, Vendor-bought	25	16
Journeyman, Normal treasure	18	18
Journeyman, Normal treasure	20	18
Journeyman, One-shot treasure	23	20
Journeyman, One-shot treasure	25	20
Expert, Auto-granted	28	22
Expert, Auto-granted	30	22
Expert, Vendor-bought	33	25
Expert, Vendor-bought	35	25
Expert, Normal treasure	28	28
Expert, Normal treasure	30	28
Expert, One-shot treasure	33	31
Expert, One-shot treasure	35	31
Artisan, Auto-granted	38	32
Artisan, Auto-granted	40	32
Artisan, Vendor-bought	43	35
Artisan, Vendor-bought	45	35
Artisan, Normal treasure	38	38
Artisan, Normal treasure	40	38
Artisan, One-shot treasure	43	41
Artisan, One-shot treasure	45	41
Master, Auto-granted	46	42
Master, Auto-granted	47	42
Master, Vendor-bought	48	45
Master, Normal treasure	46	48
Master, Normal treasure	47	48
Master, One-shot treasure	48	50

Crafted Shields (Metalsmith)
Recipe Tier & Type	Previous Minimum Level	New Minimum Level
Apprentice, Auto-granted	7	7
Apprentice, Normal treasure	7	12
Journeyman, Auto-granted	12	14
Journeyman, Vendor-bought	17	16
Journeyman, Normal treasure	12	18
Journeyman, One-shot treasure	17	20
Expert, Auto-granted	23	22
Expert, Vendor-bought	27	25
Expert, Normal treasure	23	28
Expert, One-shot treasure	27	31
Artisan, Auto-granted	31	32
Artisan, Vendor-bought	35	35
Artisan, Normal treasure	31	38
Artisan, One-shot treasure	35	41
Master, Auto-granted	42	42
Master, Vendor-bought	47	45
Master, Normal treasure	42	48
Master, One-shot treasure	47	50
Supreme, Auto-granted	48	51
Supreme, Auto-granted	50	51
Supreme, Treasure set 1	51	54
Supreme, Treasure set 1	53	54
Supreme, Treasure set 2	53	56
Supreme, Treasure set 2	56	56
Supreme, Treasure set 3	55	58
Supreme, Treasure set 3	58	58

Crafted Weapons (Weaponsmith, Woodworker)
Recipe Tier & Type	Previous Minimum Level	New Minimum Level
Apprentice, Auto-granted	7	7
Apprentice, Normal treasure	7	12
Journeyman, Auto-granted	10	14
Journeyman, Auto-granted	13	14
Journeyman, Vendor-bought	16	16
Journeyman, Normal treasure	10	18
Journeyman, Normal treasure	13	18
Journeyman, Normal treasure	15	18
Journeyman, One-shot treasure	16	20
Expert, Auto-granted	21	22
Expert, Vendor-bought	27	25
Expert, Normal treasure	21	28
Expert, One-shot treasure	27	31
Artisan, Auto-granted	31	32
Artisan, Vendor-bought	35	35
Artisan, Normal treasure	31	38
Artisan, One-shot treasure	35	41
Master, Auto-granted	42	42
Master, Vendor-bought	47	45
Master, Normal treasure	42	48
Master, One-shot treasure	47	50
Supreme, Auto-granted	51	51
Supreme, Treasure set 1	54	54
Supreme, Treasure set 2	56	56
Supreme, Treasure set 3	58	58

(There isn't really anything worth mentioning on the final page, so you probably shouldn't even look at it.)

Super-Secret Book 8 Crafting Information

In addition to everything we just talked about, the following updated to crafting have also made their way into Book 8, and no one knows about them but you!

• New crafting guild recipes for Cooks, Jewellers, Metalsmiths, Scholars, Tailors, Weaponsmiths, and Woodworkers are available from the craft guild emissary in Lothlorien. Note that you must have the appropriate reputation ranks with both your craft guild and the Galadhrim of Lothlorien to use these recipes.
• New Supreme Cooking, Scholar, Jeweller, Weaponsmith, and Woodworker recipes are available from the Galadhrim in Lothlorien. Note that you must have the appropriate reputation rank with the Galadhrim of Lothlorien to use these recipes.
• New Supreme Scholar recipes are available from the Scholar's Guild.
• Special optional ingredients used in level 60 Supreme recipes have been added to the appropriate barter NPCs in Lothlorien.
• Improved stat bonuses on most Supreme light, medium, and heavy crafted armour pieces.
• Improved stats bonuses on “Superb Radiant” and “Exquisite Radiant” Master Tailor light armour pieces.
• All crafting ingredients and components now have a maximum stack size of 100.
• Improved names for many crafting ingredients.
• New recipes to produce Tin Ingots & Khazâd-tin Ingots have been added to Prospecting. Existing Bronze Ingot recipe has been updated to require one Tin Ingot and one Copper Ingot. Existing Khazâd-bronze Ingot recipe has been updated to require one Khazâd-tin Ingot and one Khazâd-copper Ingot.
• Removed unused Mithril-infused Khazâd-iron Ingot recipe from Prospecting. Existing Mithril-infused Khazâd-iron Ingots can be traded to Taddyn in the Bree-town Crafting Hall in exchange for Mithril-infused Khazâd-steel Ingots.
• Barter token costs for some Supreme recipes available from the Galadhrim have been reduced.