While we’ve discussed some of the more beautiful parts of LOTRO’s Middle-earth, we haven’t really talked about the scarier or more inhospitable locations.
ALICE
Starting from the fact that I’m always scared when I’m not in the Shire, I found some inhospitable places along my journey.
The Barrow-downs are unsettling, but fortunately I visited them when my level was high enough to not being attacked by the evil creatures dwelling there. At the beginning I was scared by the road between the elves settlements and the Thorin’s Hall, because everything looked like so desolated and dangerous.
But now the place that mostly scares me are the Lone Lands. They are deserted, unsettling, dangerous and they seem to not have an end; when I was questing there I was always stressed and nervous, and the anxiety was always with me. Once I went to meet Radagast at Ost Guruth and I felt a little bit better, because there were people, vendors and so on, but just next to that settlement there were some bloody marshes populated by spirits, freaky creatures and weird bald orcs… well, I couldn’t wait to finish my quests and run away!
BRITTA
The two dreariest places in LOTRO are, in my opinion, Angmar and Mirkwood. While I do love both regions of the game, and always look forward to visiting them, they tend to be quite depressing. Angmar’s sky is almost always blood-red and features intense lightning storms; Mirkwood is always dark and rainy. Both, I feel, are reasonably accurate adaptations of Middle-earth locales. But as eager as I am to visit them, after a few handfuls of quests, I am equally as eager to get out.
Isengard is pretty bleak, too, but I am usually in and out of there pretty quickly!
MARIA
My explorations of Middle-earth a rather limited so my “scariest places” are rather not too scary compared to other places. Generally, I have to say that every place where the enemies are several levels above my characters is scary. But in terms of atmosphere, I have to say that the North & South Barrow Downs are very scary. And I love it. The first time I’ve entered them by accident I ran around hysterically, trying to find the exit. I was visiting Tom Bombadil and somehow got lost while trying to escape wolves and bears in the Old Forest and ended up in the Barrow Downs. I thought the Old Forest was eerie, but the Barrow Downs creeped me out.
I can’t wait to level up in order to be able to go to Angmar. I have no idea what to expect from LOTRO Angmar, but my guess is that I won’t be disappointed!
MYLA
I’m a little embarrassed over what freaks me out the most. It’s the Old Forest. Even though I’m at a level where nothing attacks me, I still don’t like going there. I get so anxious, there the music, Bombadil skipping about… Old Man Willow! Yeah, I run as fast as I can when I’m near that tree. I haven’t been to Angmar or Mirkwood yet, I hear those places can be really creepy. But as of right now, the Old Forest is my top choice.
Which LOTRO locations freak you out? Let us know in a comment below!
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