Learning LOTRO: Lesson Thirty-Nine - Guardian Class Quests

 

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 eighth character, the valiant Ogoforen. Our fierce little hobbit has grown up a bit and has had to face the Guardian Class Quests. These quests rely on the unique talents of the Guardian Class and put every Guardian to the test!

Since writing about Ogoforen seven weeks ago, he'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 Guardian 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. 

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 Guardian 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 Guardian trainers, there's very little to see: There's a kit to apply shield spikes, and to remove them. There are some Weaponsmith recipes. And there are the 3 class books for the level 39 class quests. Yep, that's it. Guardians are pretty simple!

Level 15: A Shield Against Adversity

The first class-specific quest is going to send you to the NORTH gate of Bree (yep, the one nobody uses) to speak to a Guardian by the name of Oswin Leek. Oswin should have a thing or two to teach you about being a Guardian! 

Oswin Leek

Oswin is standing guard just outside the gate, looking like any other guard of the town. He claims to be super busy staying alert for any brigands that he knows to be riled up in the area, so he wants you to go protect a farm -- on the opposite side of Bree, just past the South gate. This is meant to help you become stronger.

Burle Pierson

If you leave Bree through the South gate, and follow the road, there is a right-hand turn just past the edge of the Skirmish Camp which turns into a small farm. You'll see the owner, Burle Pierson, standing next to the main building. 

This is not an instanced quest, and you can tell by the green marking at his feet. He's going to start moving once you continue the quest with him, asking you to patrol around his farm to protect it from brigands. 

Brigands

This is an extreeeeeemely easy class quest. You will face only five enemies in total. There are four common brigands of the Blackwold variety. You'll encounter two as you walk east from Pierson's starting spot. Pierson's son will shoot down another as you walk west along the back side of the building, and one more will come at you from the western side of the building. Pierson will then pick up the pace and head into his crops, telling you he thinks there are brigands within it. After dispatching that one and emerging from the crops, you'll be attacked by Cole Culvert himself who is a little tougher than the rest were. Once beaten, you're done!

Back at Oswin (who seems not to have moved the whole time you were gone -- super busy guy, yeah?), he seems able to tell that you defended the farm successfully and offers you a helm and a title for your troubles.

Level 30: A Guardian's Duty

Have you been reading Learning LOTRO for a while? This class quest overlaps with three others we've discussed!

Your trainer informs you that a man named Severin Wheeler has sent word everywhere that defenders are needed in Trestlebridge to prevent orcs from crossing through and reaching Bree. (This makes no sense to me since there ARE orcs in the Bree-lands -- specifically the northern Bree-fields to the west of the Greenway, and in the eastern Bree-fields around Nen Harn. But I guess they're worried about free passage...) In any case, you're off to Trestlebridge!

Severin Wheeler

If that name sounds familiar -- it should! Severin is one of the people that enters the cave with you in the Minstrel Class Quest "A Minstrel's Hope" to convince the refugees to shelter in Trestlebridge. And that is exactly what Severin says he's about to take care of when he needs you to take up a defensive position in his absence. Once you're ready to enter the instance, he'll take you to the far side of the Trestlebridge itself and tell you to speak to the other defenders there. They look familiar, too!

Defenders of Trestlebridge

Remember Burle Pierson's farm from the Level 15 quest above? Well, Pierson and his son are two of the defenders who decided they wanted to come fight the orcs from getting to Bree. After speaking to both of them, yet another familiar face will appear -- Hilton Harper. He's the sad guardian you helped in the Captain Class Quest "An Inspiration to Men." It would seem after reclaiming his badge for him that he's still fighting and going strong -- and you're going to have to rely on that in this instance!

Orcs!

Pay attention to the information from the NPCs, but don't worry about them. This is not an escort quest. Stay where you can prevent any enemies from reaching the bridge. Use any taunts or attacks you can to get enemy attention. Don't move far away from the bridge or enemies will sneak past your defenses easily. So long as you defeat all of the incoming enemies and none reach the bridge, you'll succeed!

When done, you'll speak to Severin again and he'll reward you with either a shield or chest piece, and a shiny new title. Me, personally... I would opt for the shield because of its great stats. Heavy shields are harder to come by than chest pieces!

Heavy Shields

It might be that I just don't play Guardian enough to sense where to find heavy shields consistently, which is why I suggested above that you take the shield offered as a quest reward. If you're like me, I offer this helpful link to the LOTRO wiki of (most) of the heavy shields you can find in the game. (A bunch of the newer content sort of slips through the cracks because it's an older game. But if you're already playing at the end-game level, then you're likely bartering for your gear or getting drops from raid content.)

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!

Was this entry helpful? Let me know! The series continues next Monday!

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