Guest: Grimthold of Estel

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Let me introduce Grimthold, a great champion and fierce defender of Bree. Wherever battle calls he will be there. No matter the cost he will stand and fight to protect what he cherishes. He is a champion, a deadly machine, a well trained warrior that fights against Sauron's hordes with merciless ferocity. Always in the front row of the melee he is the first to jump in and slice everything around. He lives by the sword and surely will die by it. His motto is: "Kill them before they kill you!"

Grimthold said about his outfit: "I wanted my champion to have a real plate armor, something totally crazy with a lot a metal plate. I found some nice stuff for the shoulders, the helmet, the gauntlets and the boots (that I LOVE!!) but couldn't find anything for the chest and leggings... so I decided to go with the Ost Dunnoth pieces for chest, legs and boots that went not bad all together. The first version of my "battle ready" champion was with no cloak and the helmet. He now wears a cloak and withdraws his helm when he is not in the middle of a battle. This way he has a more civil outfit that doesn't scare children:) Later I decided to keep the cloak always on. So here is the final version of my super heavy champ, at least the most heavy I could have made him. I switch helm/no helm whenever I feel the need for role-playing purposes or just because I prefer a look over another."

I saw this outfit on forums a few days before Grimthold sent it to me and it stunned me. Such a perfect heavy warrior's gear! The combination of silver and gold is amazingly well balanced and Grimthold definitely knows how to make astonishing screenshots :) I hope you'll enjoy this outfit as much as I did!

Please let us know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Lesser Blade of the West Breastplate, gold dye (Ost Dunnoth champion level 65 set)
Legs: Lesser Blade of the West leggings, gold dye (Ost Dunnoth champion level 65 set)
Helm: Gongarab, white dye (The Tower of Orthanc, T1 Saruman chest drop)
Shoulders: Hyrde-Axle, default dye (Dunland quest)
Hands: Ceremonial Dragon-scale Gloves, white dye (Skirmish barter)
Feet: Lesser Boots of Dundirith, white dye (Ost Dunnoth guardian level 65 set)
Back: Cloak of the Westfold, default dye (RoI pre-order)

Mount: White-clad Horse of the Gap (RoI pre-order)

Captain of the Greenway Garrison

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

In the days of Elendil and his descendents, the North Road ran from Fornost down through Andrath until it became the South Road at Tharbad. From there it continued all the way to Minas Tirith in Gondor as the primary trade-route between the North and South Kingdoms. The wars with Angmar and Rhudaur that brought the North-kingdom to an end also caused trade between north and south to fail. 

Disused for a thousand years, particularly north of Bree, the Greenway is overgrown with grass and is little travelled except by refugees from the war-torn south. Brigands and ruffians lie in wait alongside the ancient highway waiting to prey on the weak and unguarded. Few now dare the treacherous wilds through which the Road runs.

It's been no secret that criminality has been rising over centuries along the Greenway. With recent years' increase of traffic, caused by warriors and merchants passing north-east towards Rhovanion, the situation has become even worse. The veterans of old battles, seeking to find their purpose when they no longer had strength to fight the armies of Sauron, came up with an initiative very well accepted by Bree-land and North-downs authorities.

They will guard the Greenway, riding along and searching for ruffians, thieves and murderers, protecting everyone trying to pass along the lands the Greenway runs through. It will no longer be dangerous to roam the beautiful fields, because brigands will run or hide on simple sight of the dangerously looking guards. So was the Greenway Garrison formed, with Maney as its captain, to protect the innocent and unleash their rage on all thugs causing trouble.

Since today's Update 7 release, we are able to purchase Rift cosmetic armour in the skirmish camp. After about 4 years since Rift offered the top gear, these armour sets are still some of the most beautiful items available ingame. Of course, I ran to the first skirmish camp to spend my last medallions on what I consider the best plated armour available ingame - the pieces of North Star set.

Playing around with the combinations, I realized I could make it a mount matching outfit. I wanted to make both Rift based outfit and matching outfit for the Reveller's Gilded steed, but in both cases I wanted to avoid superficial combinations of pieces which obviously go together well, but everybody would use them the same way.

So I ended up with combination of silver plate to match white parts of horse's harness, gold dye to match golden gilding and a shade of reddish pink on the cloak to match pink parts of mount's blanket. I think it lets both the horse and the armour shine in their own way.

Check also other outfits I made & guest submissions using Rift cosmetics!
Guest: Lookdyss of Snowbourn (dwarf guardian)
Guarding home (hobbit guardian)
Doom Hunter (dwarf hunter)
Guest: Vindrayeth of Snowbourn (elf hunter)
Guest: Dwalfor of Snowbourn (dwarf guardian)

Please let me know what do you think about the outfit in comments, or simly rate below the post's title :)

Chest: Carn Dûm Breastplate, gold dye (Drop from Carn Dûm)
Legs: Ceremonial Leggings of the North Star, gold/default dye (Skirmish cosmetic barter - Rift heavy)
Head: Strong Westfold War Helmet, white dye (T7 crafted)
Shoulders: Ceremonial Shoulders of the North Star, gold/default dye (Skirmish cosmetic barter - Rift heavy)
Hands: Ceremonial Gloves of the North Star, gold/default dye (Skirmish cosmetic barter - Rift heavy)
Feet: Boots of the Brazen Call, gold dye (Moria level 60 captain teal set)
Back: Pendevig-clog, red dye (Drop from Skûmfil)Mount: Reveller's Gilded Steed (Store exclusive, limited offer until May 24th)

Emotes:
./lookaround
./shakefist
./mountrearup (Store exclusive)

Sir Kay, Knight of the Round Table

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

"Nine nights and nine days his breath lasted under water, nine nights and nine days would he be without sleep. A wound from Kay's sword no physician might heal. When it pleased him, he would be as tall as the tallest tree in the forest. When the rain was heaviest, whatever he held in his hand would be dry for a handbreadth before and behind, because of the greatness of his heat, and, when his companions were coldest, he would be as fuel for them to light a fire."

About Sir Kay

When I first saw the Steed of the Champion, I immediately fell in love with it. The striking sharp lines of its saddlery, unconventional combination of bright red, grey and brown - it all appealed to me very much. Even though my champion is level 11, I had to buy it at least for outfitting purposes (and who knows, maybe one day I'll give Maney a go too :). I've created a matching outfit for it based on knight theme. When I decided the outfit's finished, it was raining all over the Middle-earth, which is not very good for taking screenshots - but I decided I will use it to add dramatic atmosphere to the pictures.

It was fun to combine all the pieces - those of you who have been following my outfitting know that I love impossible combinations. I wanted to cover all unique aspects of the horse in the outfit - sharp lines, red, metallic grey, umber without making it look disturbing. I'm not sure how well did I manage it - I'll be more than grateful for your comments and ideas, so that I could improve the outfit further.

If you want to ride Steed of the Champion yourself, don't forget that you have only until May 3rd (this Thursday) to buy it. Good deal I used myself to get two nice horses in one was buying Mithril Edition on sale, about which Hymne also informed on her blog. For $15 you can get 2000 Turbine points (just enough to buy Steed of the Champion) and a unique Mithril Edition Steed of the Horse-Lords (this one is given to all of your characters).

Please let me know your opinion on the outfit in comments :)

Chest: Chainmail Chestpiece of Fleetness, crimson dye (world drop)
Legs: Leggings of the Brazen Call, red dye (Moria level 60 captain teal set; also available as champion and guardian set parts with very small differences in looks)
Head: Polished Helmet of the Dunland Shieldman, grey dye (Dunland quest)
Shoulders: Scout's Weathered Leather Shoulder-guard, grey dye (Dunland quest)
Hands: Gloves of Forbidden Love, white dye (Great River quest)
Feet: Boots of the Brazen Call, white dye (Moria level 60 captain teal set)
Back: Ceremonial Defender's Cloak, umber dye (Store)
Mount: Steed of the Champion (Store exclusive)

Emotes:
./mountrearup - store exclusive mounted emote

Guest: The Citadel by Argendauss

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Argendauss' reputation as a captain of Free People precedes him. His is most renowned for his versatility - his fellows can always rely on his blade, shield and morale-boosting speeches. To stand as a citadel against waves of enemies, he is properly equipped by armour made of steel and gold, which even the most precise blows with a spear cannot pierce.

Argendauss said about this outfit: "The inspiration for the outfit was the Shield of Endless Heroics, a drop from the Erulian Campaign of skirmishes. It has this sky blue coloring to it that was a challenge to match, but I found that the Cloak of the Silver Star and Head-Cage played very well with it. The chest piece I've chosen even has very faint lines tinted light-blue running across the center of it, though those lines look more silvery in the screenshots I'm submitting. For the rest of the outfit, I have silver and gold. I had to do gold because Head-cage is gold even when dyed white. The pieces from OD all have this fantastic metallic gold coloring which I was happy to incorporate into the outfit."

Chest: Breastplate of the Rallying Shout, white dye (Moria level 60 captain purple set; shares appearance with T6 crafted Armour of the Galadhrim)
Legs: Lesser Defender of the West Leggings, white dye (Ost Dunhoth warden level 65 set)
Head: Head-cage, white dye (Drop from Grand Stairs, Igash)
Shoulders: Lesser Cry of the West Shoulder Guards, white dye (Ost Dunhoth captain level 65 set)
Hands: Stoutheart's Gauntlets, white dye (Moria level 60 captain purple set; shares appearance with T6 crafted Gauntlets of the Galadhrim)
Feet: Officer's Boots, white dye (T6 crafted; available as T6 crafted heavy armour under different names)
Back: Cloak of the Silver Star, white dye (Store)
Shield: Shield of Endless Heroics (Drop from Erulian Campaign skirmish raid)

Guest: Eodread of Nimrodel

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Eodread, a man of Rohan with Dúnedain blood, has seen many battles and enemy's blade has scratched his breastplate countless times. Recently he helped defending Fornost from the terror of Angmar, protecting it from repetition of destiny which has made this once great city a sorrow place. If only he had been there that time - maybe we would now be attending a ball among the decorated castle walls...

Eodread said about this outfit: "The inspiration was to distinguish my character from other ranger outfits, but still keep a Grey Company look." I think he achieved his goal, what do you think? Let us know in comments! :)

Chest: Lesser Cry of the West Breastplate, black dye (Ost Dunhoth captain level 65 set)
Legs: Lesser Defender of the West Leggings, black dye (Ost Dunhoth warden level 65 set)
Head: Fine Grey Company Hood, default dye (Quest: Volume III, Book 5, Chapter 1: Separate Ways)
Shoulders: Fine Grey Company Wrap, default dye (Quest: Volume III, Book 5, Chapter 1: Separate Ways)
Hands: Secret of the West Gauntlets, black dye (Ost Dunhoth burglar level 65 set)
Feet: Battle-leader's Boots, black dye (Barad Guldur captain level 65 set)
Back: Cloak of the Grey Company, default dye (Quest: Volume III, Book 5, Chapter 1: Separate Ways)

Guest: Captain of the Iron Garrison by Urur

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Urur started his carer in the garrison just when the dwarves entered Moria to reclaim it. In the mines he quickly showed his worth as a fighter, as well as a leader, and quickly rose through the ranks. His weapon of choice is his two-handed axe, Nambalanta, which is a gift from the Lord of the Golden Wood himself. He was given the axe after successfully having lead an expedition into the depths of Moria to slay the Mistress of Pestilence herself.

Urur said about this outfit: "It might not be the most creative outfit, but I love it. I have used it for years, I have made several other outfits, but none of them stuck like this one (I think it's those shoulders - dwarves just look so badass wearing them :P)" And I completely agree! :)

Crimson is LoTRO Fashion's colour of the week during the Fashion Week! If you want to recreate this outfit, grab a free crimson dye off the Store! 

Chest: Chestplate of Durin's Guard, crimson dye (Moria level 60 guardian teal set)
Legs: Leggings of Durin's Guard, crimson dye (Moria level 60 guardian teal set)
Head: Circlet of the Helmingas, default dye (Isengard pre-order)
Shoulders: Barrow-warrior's Shoulder Guards, crimson dye (Skirmish barter - classic, Great Barrow)
Hands: Barrow-warrior's Gauntlets, crimson dye (Skirmish barter - classic, Great Barrow)
Feet: Boots of Durin's Guard, crimson dye (Moria level 60 guardian teal set)
Back: Wyrmscale Protector's Cloak, default dye (T7 crafted from Draigoch's scales)

Guest: Retarius of Gilrain

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Captain Retarius' linage is very closely tied to the Rangers of the North. He often helps his kin in solving the most thorny problems. His blade is swift and just, so he often brings news of joy instead of sorrow. He has dedicated his life to protecting the Middle-earth and hasn't failed his oath.

Chest: Chestplate of the Gallant Commander, forest green dye (Level 75 captain epic set)
Legs: Lesser Defender of the West Leggings, forest green dye (Level 65 warden epic set)
Head: Lesser Secret of the West Helmet, forest green dye (Level 65 burglar epic set)
Shoulders: Lesser Ward of the West Shoulder Guards, forest green dye (Level 65 guardian epic set)
Hands: Gauntlet's of the Rousing Cry, forest green dye (Drop from raid skirmish or Draigoch raid)
Feet: Boots of the Gallant Commander, forest green dye (Level 75 captain epic set)

Guest: Allamaer of Dwarrowdelf

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Allamaer, a noble captain of Dwarrowdelf, has always liked red and gold. She decided to wear red first upon reading a wise man's advice for a red uniform: if it's red, the blood doesn't show up easily. As a captain, she also needs to shine up the battlefield, so she decided gold trim was quite fitting for this purpose.

This outfit doesn't contain a single BoE piece, which is a great opportunity to search for the item on the Auction Hall and use wardrobe to look very cool even on low levels! For a video guide on equipping high level armour via wardrobe, click here.

Chest: Elven Soldier's Armour, crimson dye (T5 crafted)
Legs: Herald's Leggings, red dye (T6 crafted)
Head: Strong Westfold War Helmet, red dye (T7 crafted)
Shoulders: Enduring Shoulder Guards of Fate, crimson dye (world drop)
Hands: Golden Host Gloves of the Gloaming, red dye (T6 crafted)
Feet: Footman's Boots, gold dye (T6 crafted)
Back: Cloak of Fleetness, red dye (world drop; also available as drop from Skûmfil called Pendevig-clog)

Guest: Armour of Glaurung's Scale by Gerbag

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Glaurung was the first of the ancient dragons bred by Dark Lord Morgoth. Most scholars and keepers of the old texts know that this treacherous walking evil (known also as "The Worm of Morgoth" or "The Deceiver") was slain by Túrin Turambar. But not many know that the dragon already nearly breathed for the last time many years before that, by the hand of dwarven king Azaghâl of Belegost. Azaghâl led the dwarves of Ered Luin into the Battle of the Unnumbered Tears and was slain by Glaurung. In his last moments, Azaghâl managed to strike the worm into his belly and made him flee along with his army.

Read more at Tolkien Gateway

This is how and when dwarves of Ered Luin obtained a few Glaurung's scales as trophies, which they carefully preserved ever since as the memory of their King dying honourably facing the terrible beast. Armour with just one of these scales has unspeakable value. Gerbag, the brave guardian of Whitywindle, has proven worthy of wearing it for his deeds against the Dark Forces, slaying the mighty Draigoch being just one of many.

Gerbag is already a stable contributor of this blog and I am so grateful for him, as he truly has an eye for distinguishable dwarven outfits. I am jealous of the wonderful helmet which I've never seen before and Gerbag also admits he wears it because it's very rare and not anyone can get their hands on it. 

However, he was kind to provide an alternative which also works well for this outfit and is much more easily acquirable. 

Chest: Chestplate of the Indomitable Protector, forest green dye (Level 75 guardian epic set)
Legs: Leggings of the Keen Blade, forest green dye (Level 75 guardian purple set)
Head (rare): Westernesse Winged Helm of Vigour, forest green dye (Rare world drop)
Head (easy): Scowling Helm, forest green dye (Skirmish heavy armour barter)
Shoulders: Pauldrons of the Indomitable Protector, forest green dye (Level 75 guardian epic set)
Hands: Gauntlets of the Indomitable Protector, Rivendell green dye (Level 75 guardian epic set)
Feet: Sabbatons of the Keen Blade, forest green dye (Level 75 guardian purple set)
Back: Dwarf-make Prostpector's Pack, Rivendell green dye (Yule festival - dwarf gift box)

Guest: Dwalfor of Snowbourn

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Dwalfor travels a lot more than other dwarves. Since his previous appearance on this blog his adventures have taken him to Dunland, Rohan and Forochel, where he acquired new pieces of armour from the locals as thanks for the aid he has provided for them. And recently a group of adventurers even called for his help to defeat a terrible ancient evil sleeping deep within the land of Angmar: a Balrog of Morgoth. Thanks to his bravery and his deadly skill with an axe, Dwalfor emerged victorious with something to show for it: a pair of beautiful shoulder guards he took from the balrog's hoard.
 

This guest submission is very special for me, because this outfit was originally designed as a wish together by Dwalfor and myself. Only the breastplate, leggings and gauntlets remained until now and obviously, I like this enhanced version so much!

Chest: Chainmail Chestpiece of Fleetness, navy dye (world drop)
Legs: Steel Leggings, navy dye (T3 crafted)
Head: Strong Helmet of Théodred, navy dye (T7 crafted)
Shoulders: Rift-defender's shoulderguards, default dye (Rift level 50 guardian teal set)
Hands: Defender's Gloves, navy dye (T3 crafted)
Feet: Boots of the Charging Stag, navy dye (Dunland quest)
Back: Cloak of the Raven's Claw, default dye (Drop from Sari-Surma)

Experience counts

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Maney has already seen many battles. Some call him Champion from the Lonely Mountain, because he has toughness, endurance and hard hit of a dwarf. He only smiles after hearing such remarks, because he is indeed a friend of dwarves and often visits Thorin's Hall for a few lagers with old friends. But however merry, he is never caught off guard and never lets go of his sharp blade and good old plated armour.

It's been quite a few weeks since I wanted to create an outfit for "The Borg Helm", a.k.a. Jeweller's Helm obtained during Treasure Hunt event sneak peek. First, I wanted to create an inspiration of the Borg from Star Trek, as this helm so much resembles their implants, but I've been unsuccessful so far. I wanted my first outfit in this year to be at least decent :), so no Borgs for today, I'm sorry. I experimented a bit anyway, because I've never tried mixing plated chest piece with cloth leggings so far - please let me know if you like the result in comments :)

Chest: Carn Dum Breastplate, black dye (Drop from Carn Dum)
Legs: Tattered Leggings of the Dunland Sage, black dye (Dunland quest)
Head: Jeweller's Helm, black dye (Treasure Hunt event)
Shoulders: Dwarf Leather Shoulder Guards of Might, black dye (world drop)
Hands: Hyrde-folme, black dye (Dunland quest)
Feet: Rusted Boots of the Dunland Berserkers, black dye (Dunland quest)
Back: Warden's Wrap, black dye (Warden's of Annuminas reputation barter)

Guest: Gerbag of Whitywindle

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Gerbag is one tough dwarf. He manages his time perfectly - after handling some business with Uruk-hai and other handsome guys, Gerbag has still time to play around with his outfits and come up with new dangerously looking armour. This one bears Draigoch's mark and is a clear sign of this guardian's dominance over any foe, no matter how dangerous.

Chest: Chestplate of Indomitable Protector, white dye (Level 75 guardian epic set)
Legs: Lesser Ward of The West Leggings, white dye (Ost Dunhoth level 65 guardian epic set)
Head: Workers Helm, white dye (Quest: Opening the Waterways)
Shoulders: Lesser Blade of the West Shoulder Guards, white dye (Ost Dunhoth level 65 guardian epic set)
Hands: Gauntlets of Indomitable Protector, white dye (Level 75 guardian epic set)
Feet: Lesser Blade of The West Boots, white dye (Ost Dunhoth level 65 guardian epic set)

Guest: Gerbag of Whitywindle

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

In every fellowship there must be one light bearer, who brings hope even into the darkest places. When the one all of group's lives rely on is also the hope-bringer, the courage to face the evilest of evils is twice as strong. Fear not, if you have Gerbag on your side, because then you can feel perfectly safe.

Chest: Chestplate of Indomitable Protector, Evendim blue dye (Level 75 guardian epic set)
Legs: Lesser Defender of The West Leggings, Evendim blue dye (Ost Dunhoth level 65 warden epic set)
Head: Scowling Helm, Evendim blue dye (Skirmish classic barter - Halls of Night)
Shoulders: Lesser Blade of the West Shoulder Guards, Evendim blue dye (Ost Dunhoth level 65 champion epic set)
Hands: Gauntlets of Indomitable Protector, white dye (Level 75 guardian epic set)
Feet: Weathered Leather Scout's Boots, Evendim blue dye (Dunland quest)

Guest: Gerbag of Whitywindle

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Do you remember Gerbag's King of the Mountain outfit? For me, it's one of the most original and fitting roleplaying outfits I have ever seen. Now, Gerbag decided to share its updated version with us after including Rise of Isengard items. Behold, the King of the Mountain returned!

Chest: Scout's Weathered Leather Jacket, crimson dye (Dunland quest)
Legs: Dwarf Steel Leggings, washed (T4 crafted)
Head: Helm Of Rallying, gold dye (world drop)
Shoulders: Strong Defender's Shoulder Guards, washed (T3 crafted)
Hands: Heavy Plated Dunlending Gauntlets, umber dye (Dunland quest)
Feet: Weathered Leather Scout's Boots, umber dye (Dunland quest)
Back: Cloak of Silver Star, gold dye (store)

Wish: Courageous and noble warrior

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

This outfit was wished by Vikuuta, level 38 champion of Firefoot more than two weeks ago. It is an example of outfit which doesn't contain any quest rewards - only not bind-on-acquire items, which can be crafted or purchased at any level and equipped cosmetically via wardrobe. Basically, if you have gold or good friends (or both :)), you can wear it from level 1 (more or less - after you can access the wardrobe) until level 75 and it looks pretty good in most colours.

Vikuuta asked for following criteria to be met by his outfit:

• Armour should show the metal parts, but still show the colour of the armour
• Colour of the armour:  grey (the metal), green and, if possible, some details in gold
• A helmet that doesn't show the face of the warrior
• Some big boots
• Some giant shoulder guards
• Some big gloves, too

I sent Vikuu the first design:

...and I was really surprised by his amazing reaction, he loved the initial design very much and didn't want to change anything! But I myself wasn't still confident that this outfit is something that would really make him stand out in the crowd, as he wanted to.

I played with other cloaks and gauntlets. I didn't want to change the boots, which might not be big and badass looking, but it was my purpose. I wanted to make them "disappear" and kinda compensate for the upper part of the outfit being very broad. This way, the whole body creates a V-shape so typical for well-trained warriors.

I sent Vikuu the variations of gloves and cloaks, as well as colour switch - I tried Ered Luin blue just because of the noble feeling to it. And voila - to me, it clicked absolutely!

Vikuu liked it very much also and agreed blue one is better, because it adds to the 'warrior' feeling. However, he also mentioned beautiful symbolics he wanted to express by colour of his outfit - green being the colour of courage. So in the end, we decided to show you, readers, both variations :)

It might take Vikuuta some time until he gets all the pieces necessary with the help of his friends, so he asked me to publish his outfit with screenshots of my character. I hope we will be able to update this post with Vikuuta's own screenies soon!

Please let us know you opinions on the outfit :) Do you like green or blue version better?

Final result:
Chest: Elven Soldier's Armour, Ered Luin blue/Rivendell green dye (T5 crafted)
Legs: Elven Steel Leggings, Ered Luin blue/forest green dye (Heavy armoursmith vendor in Rivendell)
Head: Strong Westfold War Helmet, Ered Luin blue/forest green dye (T7 crafted)
Shoulders: Dwarf Leather Shoulder Guards, Ered Luin blue/forest green dye (Medium armoursmith vendor in Thorin's Hall - only the one near the throne sells it)
Hands: Resolute (or Sustaining) Gauntlets of the Galladhrim, Ered Luin blue/forest green dye (T6 crafted)
Feet: Defender's Boots, Ered Luin blue/Rivendell green dye (T3 crafted)
Back: Ceremonial Wig-feld, Ered Luin blue/forest green dye (Store)

Guest: Hydarnes of Maiar

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

A knight in a golden armour is who many little girls dream of. Shiromir managed to impersonate this in this astonishing outfit and described process of its creation: "When my warden reached level 75, I got the Rohirrim Shield and was fascinated by its design. So I decided to build an outfit, which has the same golden color and which was also inspired by the easterling warriors in the Lord of the Rings movies. A proud infantry soldier in glittering gold, marching with his comrades in close formation and fighting the hordes of the enemy."

With help of his kinship, Shiromir managed to gather various Ost Dunhoth armour pieces and put together a great selection of matching items, which is quite a challenge for golden dyed armour. Now he can fearlessly march into any kind of fight, because even a Nazgûl would be mesmerized by the glitter of his battle garb.

Chest: Blade of the West Armour, gold dye (Champion level 65 Ost Dunhoth set)
Legs: Arrow of the West Leggings, gold dye (Hunter level 65 Ost Dunhoth set)
Head: Strong Westfold War Helmet, gold dye (T7 crafted)
Shoulders: Ward of the West Gauntlets, gold dye (Guardian level 65 Ost Dunhoth set)
Hands: Gloves of the Riddle Teller, gold dye (Burglar level 75 Dunland set)
Feet: Boots of Dungon, gold dye (Captain level 65 Ost Dunhoth set)
Shield: Combat Shield of Théodred (T7 crafted)

Phoenix

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Out of my ashes
will rise a new phoenix.

A soaring being
returning from death
proving once again
that life is eternal.

I live forever
because the spirit
never dies.

Phoenix by Carmen Colombo

For a long time I've been struggling with finding a good outfit for my captain. As I mentioned several times, I love crimson and red colour. I wanted to build a battle-ready outfit with a beautiful, dangerously looking helm. When I first previewed this helm after getting the recipe on my metalsmith, I yiked with joy :) It is just a simple Westfold crafted helm, worth a few bucks for ingots, but has design comparable to raid helmets of champions I've always admired. I don't know why, but it reminds me of bird beak a little - so I imagine this outfit as manifestation of Phoenix within every captain - who is able to rise undefeated out of the most perilous situations. The stag cloak is then my tribute to the ancient Stag-spirit, who represents wise decisions a leader of men must make.

Chest: Herald's Armour, crimson dye (T6 crafted)
Legs: Malledhrim Leggings of Rejuvenation, red dye (T6 crafted)
Head: Strong Westfold War Helmet, crimson dye (T7 crafted)
Shoulders: Dented Pauldrons of the Dunland Clansman, crimson dye (Dunland quest)
Hands: Rusted Dunland Berserker's Gauntlets, crimson dye (Dunland quest)
Feet: (Superior) Sellsword's Boots, crimson dye (T6 crafted)
Back: Threadbare Cloak of the Dunland Healer, crimson dye (Dunland quest)

Wish: Éomer inspired outfit

Rate:

{[["☆","★"]]}

Let me use a way-back machine and take you to long forgotten pre-Isengard era of outfitting :) Today I present you brave guardian Tomeoric of kinship The Westfold Marshals on Riddermark server!

This wish-based outfit has made it to this blog's book of records - as longest time between a reader made a wish and its publishing :) It was still hot summer (July 30th), when I received a wish from a reader who was listening to CSTM cosmetics roundtable and noticed that I'm trying to fulfill readers' wishes for their desired outfits. The process of outfit creation took approximately a month and it was another two months until publishing - we wanted to publish Tomeric's and his daughter's outfit at the same time, but in the end didn't finish the second one (private life & RoI came in the way :)).

Tomeoric gave me very specific and interesting requirements (which I am thankful for :)):

• outfit inspired by Éomer and Théoden battle armours
• brown, burgundy and crimson tones with gold highlights (also typical for Rohirrim battle armours)
• matching to Prized Angmar's Free Peoples Horse

The first design I created seems a little bit funny now - although at that time, I found it quite decent :D I was trying to imitate Théoden's hauberk, which was pretty difficult considering I could work with pre-RoI and non-class specific pieces only:

Tomeoric provided a very detailed feedback, which helped me learn a lot - we discussed many peculiarities of Rohan armour design and I enjoyed it very much. I must quote one of his comments on the design above, because it made me laugh very hard: "I think the color/design from neck to waist and from elbow to shoulder is great - near spot on. From the waist to boot top, if you look quick, it looks like he is wearing an apron.  Now that I've seen that, I can't not stop seeing it!  Give him the Prized Pie to carry around and it would be the perfect Mr. Mom of Edoras." He was so right :)

I created second design, abandoning the hauberk attempts (as most of keen LoTRO fashionistas know, the pre-RoI hauberks were not manly at all and didn't resemble Rohirrim design even remotely). This basically meant getting closer to Éomer than Théoden from the initial idea. I also mentioned there are leggings ingame with plates on thighs similar to Éomer's, but they don't look good, so I used the elven ones:

Tomeoric and his home jury (all family playing together and helping him look the best :)) gave thumbs up for this design, but had particular remarks. The helmet hid character's hair (unfortunately headgear in LoTRO hides hair - I already had a small rant about it when I was designing Link inspired outfit), and he wanted the cloak to match the burgundy more than bronze/silver parts of the outfit. We agreed I will try more helm & cloak combinations. He was also interested in the "ugly plated trousers" I mentioned, so I showed them to him:

As you probably noticed, I didn't try more helmets due to hair hiding and we discussed that using just a circlet or no headgear might work better in the end. Tomeric picked his final cloak and I sent him the final design we agreed on:

Key features of this final design (besides remote inspiration by Éomer's battle armour) were matching the burgundy, silver and bronze parts on all armour pieces and introducing as much plate as possible. I also sent Tomeoric the "shopping list" with pieces used, and he started the journey to obtain them all. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get Gaerdail - boots used in this outfit dying very solid burgundy (similar crafted boots dye differently). So we decided to switch boots for the ones available in the store.

Tomeoric liked this outfit very much and since he collected all the pieces, he even received a lot of ingame compliments. I was a little worried because of how close we got to Kedwyr's Elven Defender's outfit, but you readers can see yourself how long was the process leading there :) Now, even though the fashion trends in Middle-earth have changed a lot with Isengard, we are both interested in your opinions about about the outfit :)

Final result:
Chest: Breastplate of Orod-Na-Thôn, burgundy dye (world drop)
Legs: Leggings of Orod-Na-Thôn, burgundy dye (world drop; also available from Rivendell heavy armoursmith)
Head: Circlet of Helmingas, default dye (Isengard pre-order)
Shoulders: Shining Dwarf Leather Shoulder Guards, burgundy dye (world drop)
Hands: Gauntlets of Orod-Na-Thôn, burgundy dye (world drop)
Feet: Brushed Leather Boots, burgundy dye (Skirmish cosmetic vendor or store)
Back: Ceremonial Defender's Cloak, burgundy dye (Store)