Guide to get your level 20 Undying title

This post is designed to help players achieve the lvl 20 'undying' title.

So what makes me qualified to write this? I have three [Edit: five now] characters that have achieved the title on the Elendmir server.

There is a lot of complaints about the nature of this title and about what the title say about you as a player. Frankly its all rubbish. The title works the way it works so we all have to play by the same rules to get the title so no amount of complaining is going to change the title's mechanics. Also no amount of sour grapes by other players who do not have the title is going to make me feel like its less of an accomplishment.

The key to this title is questing and quest management. Some player talk about how the title means nothing because all you have to do is do green and light blue quests so it therefore means nothing. Well if you want to waste all your time doing green quests then go right a head but the title will take a lot longer and the longer you work on the title the more likely you will die because of mechanical issues.

The first thing to remember is you have to be prepared for failure. You will likely fail the first time you attempt this. Your choices are to either start again or give up. There is no appeal process. You will either get to level 20 without dying once or you won't. With this title there are no second chances.

So how do you begin to give you the best chance to succeed?

Character management

Make five new characters and progress them through the prologue/intro without dying. If you can't do that then you probably can't do this title. (And yes we all make mistakes I died in the prologue more than once but I was able to get five characters through it without dying. Some classes have an easier time succeeding than others, but no class is easy. If it was easy everyone would have the title. The guardian is the easiest (I think so at least) and the Lore master is the hardest.

Give your 5 character different vocations so that you have all tradeskill covered. You want to do this to take advantage of some easy quests at level 10 and lvl 15.

What you'll want to do once you have your characters out of the intro and have their vocations picked is to get use to the idea of alternating between each of your five characters. one dy you play characer 1 the next day you play character 2 and so on until the 5 day you play character 5 and on the six day you start over again with character 1 and start the process over. Why? Because you want to start generating rest bonus xp for all your characters giving them 5 days min. rest between using them means they have a chance to build up enough blue bonus xp to make your leveling easier.

The blue rest xp bonus means that every kill you make gives you double xp (if effects kills only NOT quest xp) this means you only have to kill 1/2 as many mobs to level then with no rest bonus xp. Take advantage of this benefit. That is why you don't want to work on one character exclusively while you attempt to gain your title. The 5 characters also mean that if you fail with one you still have others that you have been working on so you don't have to start from scratch.

Quests and Quest management.

You should be working on Dark blue, white and yellow quest only (exceptions is when deed farming). Cash in quest that are dark blue first then the whites. DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT cash in yellow or orange quests. Wait for your character to get to the level. A yellow lvl 15 quest doesn’t give you the same bang for your buck at lvl 13. You get roughly the exact same xp but 800xp at level 15 is better than 800 xp a level 13. The reason is that there are always more quest at the lower levels than at the higher levels so if you cash in all your quest when they are yellow you will run out of quests when you get to the high teens.

You also don't want to be working harder by doing light blue and green quest they give less xp and provide you with little xp from the creatures you have to kill. So its a lot more time and effort for little reward.

So do quests that are dark blue, white and yellow. Cash in the blue and whites and wait for the yellow quest to turn white. (the exception to the yellow or higher quests is when you are level 19 cash in all quest at level 19 your goal is level 20 so waiting until level 20 isn't going to help you anymore for the title)

[edit] The above advice turns out to be important for finding solo content later in the game as well. The key to not running out of solo content is not to do quests before they turn white. So it appears the that doing quests that are at your level has other important advantages as well.

[Edit] The game is now just over a year and new zones and increased solo quest content has now beefed up available quests even at the higher levels. So the idea of not cashing in yellow or Orange quests is not as important anymore. I have been told that the high teens can still be a bit lean on quest but it just heresay as I haven't done the quests for ages.

When you do dark blue, white and yellow quests you are dealing with mobs that you can handle and kill solo. But be aware of class limitations a champion can handle multiple mobs better than a hunter. learn your classes limitations. A good rule of thumb is if you fight a battle and your health is down to 50% then that is the max number of mobs you can handle safely and be assured you can win almost always. It also means you can likely handle 1 more mob but the battle will be close and if you make a mistake or are unlucky you could die, So be aware. For example you hunter fights 2 mobs and is reduced to 50% health this means you are likely able to handle these types of mobs in groups of 2 or less. It also means that you should be able to take 3 but there is a chance things could go wrong and you could die. So in battle with 3 or more you have to be sure that you winning and don't need to run. Obviously each class is different and where a champion might be able to take on 3 or 4 no problem and loremaster will not be. Use the rule of 50% to judge how many mobs you can handle.

Potions

Buy/make potions of health and power. Have these potions slotted into you hot keys so you can quickly activate them without having to open your inventory & hunt for them to use them. Hot keys are your friend. [Edit] You should also buy potions that cure wounds in combat and poisons in combat they cost around 5 to 6 silver and you buy them ftom healer npc vendors. These secondary effects in combat can add up quickly and so removing them quickly in key battles can make the difference between success or death. Be liberial in the use of all potions better to use it and live than hoard it and die. [Edit] as other players have said USE your Potions do not save them. Better to use a potion and waste it then not use a potion and die.

Food.

Food is your friend use food to gain health and power heals every 30 seconds. This means you are able to handle things better when things go bad like an unexpected respawn or add. Food is so helpful do not go without. [Edit] While working on the title I was always using food. Its a powerful tool, use it.

Grouping

Grouping is helpful but you have to be careful who you group with. If you are with idiots leave. Conversely when grouped you have an obligation to your group you can't suddenly map home because things are tough that’s unfair to them. So be clear what quest people are working on and research the quest first to see if its a level you and your group can handle without dying. If it isn't DON'T group with them. Its not fair to a group to have a player unwilling to take risks. So know before hand what the risks are, and if they are acceptable to you while working on your title.

Crafting quests and taking advantage of them.

Ered Luin 9 quests - Thorins gate, Celondim and Gondamon all have three quest each at level 10 (Celeondim has 3 quest but one is level 6).

Shire 5 quests – Michel delving has quest at level 10, frogmorton has 1 as does overhill.

Bree 4 quest – bree has 4 level 15 quest one is between bree and combe, two are in the crafting hall and one is outside the prancing pony.

Bree-land 4 quests – 2 level 10 quest in combe, 1 lvl 10 in combe lumber yard. I lvl 15 on the road to the lone lands.

The level 10 quest are enough to get you all of level 10 and a significant amount of level 11. Take advantage of a free level. The level 15 quest will give you are large boost at level 15 and get you well on your way to completing that level.

Zones & your level

You should stay in your own starting zone until you reach level 10. Then do all the lvl 10 crafting quest and more to the Bree-land zone. Do quest there until level 15 then move to the lone lands after doing the 5 level 15 crafting quests.

Aslo’s camp has some nice early teen quests as does the old forest and the barrow downs.

The Forsaken inn has enough quest to get you to level 18 most likely 19. Finish things of with deeds and any quest lvl 20 or higher you have completed.

Deeds & traits

Do not forget deeds and traits. Take advantage of traits and remember they stack so going to all the newbie zones to kill a mob to get traits is very helpful. Just concentrate on getting the ones you will use until you get to level 20 then go back and farm all the other deeds. The reason for this is time. If you spend all that time farming every possible deed in all the newbie zones and then die you will be that much more angry. Go back once you have reached your goal.

Take advantage of deeds for the Xp as well. Many deeds can be completed for a nice boon in xp. This is especially true for the barrow downs and the lone land deeds.


Patience & other concerns.

Remember that it is not a race to see how fast you can get to level 20 but to see if you can get to level 20 without dying. So WAIT for your health and power to max out before starting combat again. Do not play when you are tired. Do not play when you are frustrated. If you are tired or mad you are far more likely to be distracted and die. So show prudence and wait. Comeback to the game refreshed you will be less likely to screw up then.

Use your destiney points to give yourself bonus rest xp. You get 5 uses but then it recharges at 1 per day approx. back up to 5 charages. So don't be affraid to spend destiny points for rest xp bonuses if you run out of rest bonus xp.

I had tried to get this title before and failed. It was using this method that I have achieved success. This is how my 5 characters measured up with the title

My characters with the title

Elf Guardian – tinker
Elf Champion – Armourer
Elf Hunter – Historian
Man Captain - Woodsman
Elf Loremaster – explorer

Reserved for any other points players or myself come up with to help you achieve your goal.

Money management

I would suggest also that player do not buy thier lvl 5 instrument skills or weaponskills for weapons they are NOT using. Nor should you buy a Last name or anyother frill until you achieve your goal. If you die and plan to start with a new character all the money spent on weapon skills and instruments and names is lost. So be conservative in buying passive skills. BUT DO BUY the passive skills that increase your accuracy and defensive skills. There just is no point buying 2handed hammer or great axe if you never uses those weapons. Buy these skills after you get your goal. The more time and money you invest in a character the more upset you will be if you have to make a new character so don't invest in unneeded skills or time in your character.

Instances

it is my opinion that you should skip all instances until you get to level 20. Most instances are either success or death style and many don't have the ability for the player to retreat.


Traits

Its been mentioned by others that you should work on vitality/moral giving traits. I have also read other arguements seperate to the undying titles that the benifits to these traits far out weighs the benifits of other traits. While i don't know if this is true i do see the wisdom of getting as much "health" as possible. I would say that this is a significant tip for the title.

Time investment

Do NOT invest any more time and emotion into a character pre title. Far too many players think they will get the title for sure and invest a lot of time and effort in other things with the character only to make a mistake and die losing the title. The less Time, emotion, and money you invest in a character the less upset you wil be when its dies. Its far easier to reroll a character you have invested the least amount of time to than one that you invest a lot of time into. Remember that the vast, vast, vast, majority of the game is post lvl 20. So you are not losing out by waiting until you get the title to fully explore and expand on your characters. It is this simple tip that most people ignore and which causes them the most grief when they do ignore it.

Going AFK

In a word DON'T. Many areas may appear safe but wandering mobs could mean the area is not safe. Some rare spawns also spawn in out of the way places that you may think is safe. An area could have a slow respawn rate and was cleared out by other players so going afk is dangerous. The only places that are safe to go afk in are places protected by guards. If there is no guard nearby then logout first.

Post by Godfather @http://forums.lotro.com