In this series, I talk about various aspects of The Lord of the Rings Online. This series is meant for newcomers, but may also help veteran players find more to love about the game.
It's time for us to check back in with our seventh character, the dedicated Tanllyd. Our inspiring High Elf from the Second Age has grown up a bit and has had to face the Captain Class Quests. These quests rely on the unique talents of the Captain Class and put every Captain to the test!
Since writing about Tanllyd
seven weeks ago, she's been leveled up to 50 so that I can cover a variety of other basics in this series.
In this entry, we're going to talk about the first two Captain Class Quests that are auto-bestowed at level 15 and level 30. There are others, but they're a bit more advanced and complicated -- and thus will end up in a future entry. Since Captain is a pet class, these class quests will be a breeze!
Class Trainer
The first thing I'll ask you to remember is that I specifically said that the Trainers are NOT obsolete even though we no longer have to visit them to learn our class skills. When you reach level 15, you're going to get some mail called "
Pressing Matters." This mail is going to send you to one of the many Captain trainers scattered throughout Middle-earth, because they want to send you to help someone and learn a lesson.
And as I mentioned in previous Class entries, Trainers have a variety of goods to purchase. In the case of Captain trainers, they have some class-specific items like Standards and a Rally horn (level 40 minimum), as well as Battle Tonic recipes for Scholars, Standard and Herald Armament Recipes for Tailors, and Crest recipes for Woodworkers. Additionally, they sell a Receipt of Armament Exchange for a pittance of 68 silver and some copper, which you can then turn around and Barter with the Trainer for various Armaments of each Herald type, changing the race/gender/appearance of your summoned Heralds. This is really great for Captains since the other pet class (Lore-master) has to spend Mithril Coins, LOTRO Points, or persuade a crafter in order to get their pet appearance alternatives. It's possible that they chose to make it easier for Captains since there are a total of 68 Armaments vs. the 36 Lore-master pet appearances.
Level 15: An Inspiration to Men
The first class-specific quest is going to send you to the West gate of Bree to speak to Hazel Kenton, a Captain well spoken of. Your trainer believes that Hazel can teach you a thing or two, and that Bree needs more Captains like her (which seems a little presumptuous -- you're destined for bigger things, aren't you?). In any case, you can't miss Hazel -- she is right next to the gate itself, weapon at the ready as if orcs are about to show up.
Hazel Kenton
Hazel gets right to the point when you speak to her. She identifies you as someone who is going to fight for the good people and already has a task in mind for you. It would seem that a fellow named Hilton Harper was a stout guardian defending people out on the Bree-fields, but some especially difficult brigand by the name of Aldis Oatbearer took Hilton's badge and left him alive to wallow in shame. Hazel wants you to retrieve the badge and get Hilton back into a fighting mentality.
Brigand's Watch
Unlike other class quests, this first task is NOT in an instance! Once you've finished your dialogue with Hazel, you'll have to ride off to Brigand's Watch where Aldis is holed up. The easiest way to get there is to take the west road out of Bree as if you were heading to the Shire. Once you reach Adso's Camp, however, turn north. Go past the farm and you'll see some fencing up on the cliff above -- that is Brigand's Watch, and you can go up from the western or eastern slope (I usually take the eastern slope since it's closest if I'm coming from Bree).
Once you're there, you'll have to face whatever brigands are in between you and Aldis, so be sure to put your herald to good use as your Blade Brother and hit the heals whenever you need them. You'll find Aldis pacing in a circle along the southern fence of the encampment. Go back the way you came if you want a quick retreat, or go the other way to rack up some brigands for your slayer deed -- just know that the eastern exit slope is faster for taking the retrieved badge back to Hilton.
Hilton is sitting on the edge of Thornley's worksite and comes to life as soon as you give him back his badge. He goes running and you are free to either observe his actions or go back to Hazel. (He will eventually defeat his enemies without any assistance and go back to sitting where he was, though a bit more optimistically.)
When you return to Hazel, she gives you praise, a halberd, and a title. She basically says you're the hero of an after school special because you gave Hilton back his faith in himself by standing up to the bully who bested him. Warm fuzzies.
Level 30: A Captain's Standard
Now, don't let ego get the best of you, but now people are asking for you by name to come solve their problems! For the level 30 class-specific quest, you'll be sent to the dwarven settlement of Othrikar in the North Downs (a little northwest of Esteldin). Your help has been requested by a dwarf named Jarl Copperbrace, and you'll find him along the southern edge of the settlement, up on a building ledge overlooking the expanse of fields below.
Jarl Copperbrace
So apparently your fanboy, Hilton Harper, has been talking up your name around Bree and this Jarl fellow heard about you from him. He decided if you were worth your salt you could come fix a problem for him in the North Downs. Apparently those pesky Dourhands have made themselves at home in the nearby ruins and Jarl would like you to fly some standards of the free people over the ruins -- meaning you have to rout the enemies from inside it to do so. No biggie, right?
Ost Galumar
This one IS an instance, which actually makes the quest easier since the enemies won't respawn on you. I freely admit this was my first time doing this particular class quest and I ended up doing it a little backwards. That said, it doesn't matter which order you use the standard poles, so long as you defeat the enemies and hang up all three of them. You're facing Dourhands and North Hawks.
My only real word of advice is to be careful with the one standard on a round tower that requires you to walk along the battlement -- it is not a flat surface, so you are actually walking on an invisible shape that makes up the structure. You can fall. And you'll have to limp your way back up again. Don't worry about your herald -- they might fall, but you can just summon them back to your side.
Once you're done putting up the standards and return to Jarl, you'll leave the instance and arrive back at Othrikar. He's thrilled that you succeeded and will give you a title, and either a helmet or shield. He also basically tells you that even if it means your death you should stand up against your enemies -- so long as it has the potential to inspire others. Basically, dude says it's okay to be a martyr. I question this, but he
does give you some gear for your trouble. Since you get a +5% Halberd damage at level 30, it makes more sense to take the helm instead of the shield -- but you do you!
A Captain's Role
The LOTRO wiki itself calls the Captain class a Jack of all trades. You can do a little bit of everything with this class, and a lot of it depends on your trait tree, skill use, and overall play style. You'll find yourself welcome in just about any group that isn't looking for a specific class to fill a space, so be sure to explore all of what your class has to offer you!
Crafting Options
There are four Craft Vocation options that Captain players often lean towards:
- Tailor: This is the one I recommend, because you can make your own Standards and Armaments.
- Woodworker: You can make your own Crests.
- Scholar: You can make your own Battle Tonics.
- Metalsmith: You can make your own Legendary Items (Emblems).
Other Class Quests
As I mentioned before, there is a class-specific set of quests that will send you back to your Trainer at level 39, and all of the classes have the same format, so I'll be talking about that set all at the same time in a future entry.
There is also a bigger set of quests at level 50 (available at level 45) that all of the classes get, but they are wildly different and more complicated. You can expect those quests to be in a much further entry in the future after we cover more of the basics. And there are a LOT of basics left to cover!
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