As if we weren’t already addicted to cosmetics and housing decorations, mounts are another part of LOTRO that really captivate us. With so many starter, reputation, festival, and exclusive in-store mounts available, it can be a real challenge to save our money and not buy them all!
AMANDA
One of my favourite aspects of playing LOTRO is seeing all of the different mounts running around Middle-earth! Many are considered exclusive and are not very easy to obtain so in a way they are like carrying around a giant trophy to show off. Though unlike a trophy, these exclusive mounts are quite beneficial to your character as well as providing for awesome bragging rights.
My Dwarf Hunter, Rumki, has her eyes set on only one prize. As stated in previous weeks, her main goal in life right now is to become the proud owner of a Prized Thorin’s Halls Goat. This particular mount can only be obtained by reaching Kindred status with Thorin’s Halls. Slowly but surely those reputation points keep rolling in. Despite being somewhat far from reaching that goal, it will be a glorious day when it finally occurs.
Rumki recently encountered a Hobbit with one of these fine goats while browsing the auctions in Thorin’s Halls. She stared in awe and basked in the majesty of this beautiful creature.
ARWEN
MOUNTS. You *might* say I’m a bit of a collector when it comes to mounts, especially the ones that I can get during festivals. As a matter of fact, the only mount I bought with TP is the Mount of the Hunter, for my main Elf hunter. I regret nothing.
Of all that I own, some of my favorites include the Fireworks Laden Steed, Steed of the Jester, my prized Thorin’s Hall Goat, and my Noble Grey Steed (from Steam). While I own quite a few lottery steeds, anniversary steeds, and festival mounts, I covet and hope to one day acquire the Painted Skeleton Steed and the Steed of Night.
BRITTA
It wasn’t until I started levelling my second toon that I took a serious interest in mounts. Between my 5 main characters, I have about 40 different steeds, a majority of which have been obtained through festivals or expansion pre-purchases. Among my favourites are the Steed of Night, Steed of Minas Ithil, the Prized Inn-League Horse, and my Bone Set of warsteed cosmetics.
Because I’ve been playing my higher level (and warsteed riding) characters, I haven’t been collecting mounts as consciously as I used to. At some point, I’ll likely go back and purchase some more reputation steeds to enhance my collection. And I’ll continue to save my Turbine Points so I can purchase some of the in-store exclusives later down the road (I would love that Snowbeast warsteed set!).
My only issue with the mounts available in LOTRO is the increasing lack of creativity when it comes to festival rewards. Going through all of my steeds, I am quite fond of my steeds from several years ago; the more recent ones, such as the Spooky Steed of the Bat, are disappointing – especially when you get into the warsteed cosmetic sets. Instead of getting multiple pieces (leggings, halter, caparison, etc.) to complete the set, most festivals now only offer the caparison, which is a shame after working so hard for the necessary amount of tokens.
MARIA
I’ve only a few mounts at the moment so I can’t claim to possess an expertise on mounts. At the moment, my main has five ponies. Two normal, two purchased during the Yule Festival, and a Mathom pony. I think my favorite is the Mathom pony. First of all, it looks adorable (yeah I judge a pony by its appearance), but it also took me ages to become kindred with the Mathom society (I neglected quests in the Shire and was way over level 20 when I began increasing my reputation). So possessing the Mathom pony after all that tedious labour was something special.
For the future, I’d love to possess a goat and a war steed. I’m so in awe with the war steeds I can’t wait to own one myself. That, however, will take ages for me.
MYLA
I have quite a few favorite mounts, and I wish I could have ALL OF THEM. I currently have over 10 mounts for my hobbit guardian and my all time favorites are the Prized Mathom Society Steed, the Steed of the Guardian, and the Prized Tundra Steed. As for the mounts I most desire, that’s a long list. I’ll try to make it quick: the Steed of the Jester, the red Fireworks Laden Steed, the Prized Smokey Black Steed, Prized Thorin’s Hall goat, well, all the goats, the Prized Eglain steed (which will be mine!! one day) and the Steed of Michel Delving (sigh). There’s more that I’d like to have but if I listed all of them, it would go on forever.
One of the issues I have with the mounts is the reputation steed for Bree. It’s so… boring. Well at least compared to all the others. And I’m not a fan of the mounts I see that are covered up a lot, for example, the Wintry Yule Steed. One of the other issues I have are the festival mounts. Lately all I’ve seen are ones that look like a decorative blanket has been thrown over them. Nice blankets for sure. But I’m a bigger fan of the past mounts, they seem to have more of a design. If that makes sense.
I’m impatiently waiting for the time when I can finally get a war steed, I still have about 13 more levels to go unfortunately. It’s going to be hard to not buy many dyes and cosmetics for her. Yeah, I’ve decided my war steed will be female, but her name hasn’t been decided yet.
What are some of your favourite or most-coveted steeds? Let us know in the comments below!
