Garth Agarwen

Most of the time when I log into Lord of the Rings Online, I set a goal for myself, like complete some solo quests, work on a Book, or try to PUG some fellowship quests. Last night I rolled up my shirt sleeves and turned my attention upon the Garth Agarwen quests in my log.

Garth Agarwen is the second lowest major dungeon in Lord of the Rings Online after the Great Barrows. It’s balanced for players in their lower to mid thirties. Located in the northeast corner of the Lone-lands, it has a surrounding outside zone and an inside instance. It’s also the scene for part of Book 2. However, like most Book quests, you are portaled to the relevant quest areas.

I made my way to the Lone-lands and quickly put up a LFF notice for a GA run. I got nothing but crickets. Undaunted, I sauntered over to the western side of Weathertop and started grinding birdies for an uncompleted deed. About fifteen minutes into that, a 36 captain indicated he needed a GA run. I pm’ed him, but we couldn’t get anyone else to join us.

Another fifteen minutes passed and then it dawned on me that a ton of my kin was logged in, which is not the least surprising. At any given time, The Exploration Society has ten plus toons involved in everything from crafting to questing to raiding to freeping. On a whim, I advertised a GA run in kin chat. Irindi, a level 48 lore-master immediately responded. Symphmonkey and another kin hunter answered the call as well and soon we were off to GA.

Irindi was an awesome guide. He knew GA inside and out. Before we started, he had me get two quests I didn’t have yet, both in Bree-land. The fellowship waited patiently as my stubby legs ran back and forth fetching quests. It took the entire evening to complete just the outside GA stuff. Many were chain quests where we would run back to camp to turn them in and then venture back for more monster-whacking goodness. Despite the fact that Irindi had already completed all these quests, he cheerfully guided us to all the key mobs and bosses we needed.

So here on out, I need to spam my kin chat before I resort to pugging. Time and again, the kin has helped me complete the big stuff, like Books 1 and 3, Great Barrows, and now GA. I still have the inside portion to complete, but Irindi already indicated willingness to run us through. I got two upgrades, one for my headpiece, the second a bracelet and I’m anxious to raid the inside of GA for more of that.