LOTRO Food guide

GUIDE TO FOOD IN LoTRO

Introduction

I have noticed that not many people are aware of the benefits of Food in LoTRO. This is surprising to me, as I, personally, have found food to be indispensable and I never leave home without at least a stack in my bag.

Case in point:
At level 40 and beyond, Lembas will grant 1460 morale recovery over 5 minutes! That's more than double what you'll get from one dose of Pure Athelas Extract (crit version of lvl 45 healing potion), and almost half the morale recovery of the fabled man racial heal. And this is available for use at all times. If you're alert to the timer, you could potentially put yourself under such great effects indefinitely.

Given such massive benefits, I'm not sure why everybody isn't clamoring for food throughout their career.

A cook can craft various items beyond food that is eaten by player characters, such as brewed alcoholic beverages, strings of subtlety for minstrels and oats and honey for lore masters. However, I am only going to concentrate on cooked food and trail food here, because they are the most basic consumable item produced by cooks that can be used by everyone in the game.

This guide is meant to be a very general and basic guide to the benefits of food for the ignorant masses . Many generalizations are made in this guide, as it is meant to be a starting point for people who are not familiar with the benefits of food in this game. Obviously there are niche tips and tricks that many more advanced players may already know about, in which case this guide is not for you.

This guide will not dwell on food that is obtained through crafting critical success. Obviously critted food items grant greater benefits to the user compared to the normal food item of the same level. If you can get your hands on a steady supply of critted food items, then good for you, the benefits of food that you will enjoy are going to be that much magnified. Having said that, the basic mechanics of food is the same, and the principals still apply. No specific mention of critted food will be made from here on out.

At the time of this writing, the expansion Mines of Moria is looming on the horizon. This expansion promises to extend character level limits from 50 to 60. At present, crafted items only extend to level 50, so obviously there will be no mention of level 60 foods in this guide. Although this guide will soon be made outdated, the basics still apply.

Also, I am not going to cover "special" or "limited" recipies like Blueberry Tarts, Strawberry Tarts etc. These are recipies that were given out as part of the Spring Festival event, and not everyone has them. This guide restricts itself intentionally to bog standard vendor available recipies and items which you can get hold of relatively easily. By this I include farmed ingredients and vendor bought ingredients. Despite the fact that farmed ingredients come from a different skill, this is something that most people can exert some degree of control over, by being a Yeoman or having an alt with the farming skill.

Basics of Food

For the purposes of this guide, Cook crafted food come in 2 types: Cooked food and Trail food. Also, all types of food are available from level 1 to 50. They are tiered every 10 levels, so from level 1 to 9 (inclusive) you'll be able to eat tier 1 foods. From level 10 to 19, tier 2; level 20 to 29 tier 3 etc.

Also, be aware that while you can only be under the influence of ONE trail food at a time (more details in the Trail Food Basics section below), you can, however, enjoy the benefits of one Trail Food and one Cooked Food simultaneously. I.e. Eat one Trail Food to boost one chosen attribute, then immediately eat one Cooked Food to get the morale and power recovery, then go pick a fight .

Cooked Food Basics

Cooked food regenerates fixed amount of Morale and/or Power over a fixed period of time. There are 3 types here, the ones that regenerate Morale, the ones that regenerate Power, and the ones that regenerate both. Here is where things get a little complicated so bear with me.

All cooked food will grant 2 types of benefits when eaten. One benefit is an OUT OF COMBAT regeneration of BOTH morale and power. The other benefit is a UNIVERSAL IN OR OUT OF COMBAT regeneration of morale AND/OR power.

The OUT OF COMBAT regeneration only lasts 30 seconds from the time you consume the cooked food. It will not disappear if you get into a fight. You will continue to enjoy this 30 second benefit as long as your fight ends before the 30 seconds is up. However, this benefit will not be active while in combat. This benefit, while not exactly negligible, may not impact most of us in our typical questing activities. Although I personally ignore this factor most of the time, there are certain situations where this out of combat regen can be extremely useful, such as in places where enemies are tightly packed. In such cases, this out of combat regenerative property comes into its own. E.g. You may have just gotten out of a tough fight in tatters, and you want to passively heal up before getting into the next scrap.

The UNIVERSAL IN OR OUT OF COMBAT regenerative property of cooked food is the main benefit that will be most useful and noticeable. This benefit is a fixed amount of morale and/or power recovered every 30 seconds for 5 minutes. Certain cooked food grant only morale regeneration, some only grant power, and some grant both. I have tried all 3 types, and to be honest, I always default to the type that grants both morale AND power regeneration. While classes like the Hunter will intuitively tend to need power more than morale, and you would think classes like the Guardian will tend to need more morale than power, both classes have their routine moments when both morale and power are needed. Since food tends to be the sort of augmentation that is fire and forget in nature, and one is unlikely to change food types depending on specific fights that you are getting into (the act of eating can only take place while out of combat by the way), I suggest most people default to the types of cooked food that regenerates both morale and power.

One more thing, Cooked Food all have a duration of 5 minutes. I speculate that many people find this duration somewhat short, especially as one gets into the higher levels; one would expect longer durations commensurate with the more challenging content. Fact is, this is a restriction placed on all of us by the powers that be, and we'll just have to live with this restriction. Typically though, 5 minutes is usually enough time to cover half to three quarters of a normal combat based quest. As such, though 5 minutes may be shorter than ideal, it is not a huge show stopping hassle. This is a rough estimate based on my own personal opinion, and obviously this estimate does not fit end game raid content.

Trail Food Basics

Trail food grants a bonus to one character attribute for 20 minutes. E.g. If you eat a Hobbiton Omelet, your character will get +18 Might for 20 minutes. You may only choose to eat one type of attribute boosting trail food at any time. You cannot eat 3 different types to get bonuses to 3 different attributes. You'll need to figure out which attribute is of most value to you, and eat that particular trail food e.g. Hunters typically want a boost to their Agility, so they only carry and eat the +Agility type trail foods.

There are 3 different basic types of trail foods, granting bonuses to Might, Vitality and Agility. There is also a fourth type that grants bonuses to Will. However, they require fish to produce. Unless your cook is also an accomplished fisherman by hobby, the ability to produce Will boosting trail food is going to be uncertain. As such, I will not include this type of food in this guide.

Cooked Food Details

There are many different types of cooked foods here, and as mentioned in the section about Cooked Food Basics, I am only going to highlight specific information about the types of cooked food that regenerates both morale and power.

Level 1 to 9 - Hard Biscuits
16 Morale and 18 Power every 30 seconds for 5 minutes.
+3.2 non-Combat Morale Regen for 30 seconds.
+4.3 non-Combat Power Regen for 30 seconds.
Summary: Minimum of +160 Morale and +180 Power recovered over 5 minutes.
Morale Comparison: Lesser Essence of Athelas +120 to 140 Morale on use for level 1 to 14.
Power Comparison: Lesser Celebrant Salve +120 to 140 Power on use for level 1 to 14.

Level 10 to 19 - Coney Pie
41 Morale and 35 Power every 30 seconds for 5 minutes.
+8.1 non-Combat Morale Regen for 30 seconds.
+9.9 non-Combat Power Regen for 30 seconds.
Summary: Minimum of +410 Morale and +350 Power recovered over 5 minutes.
Morale Comparison: Essence of Athelas +220 to 240 Morale on use for level 15 to 24.
Power Comparison: Celebrant Salve +220 to 240 Power on use for level 15 to 24.

Level 20 to 29 - Steak and Kidney Pie
76 Morale and 35 Power every 30 seconds for 5 minutes.
+15.1 non-Combat Morale Regen for 30 seconds.
+18.3 non-Combat Power Regen for 30 seconds.
Summary: Minimum of +760 Morale and +350 Power recovered over 5 minutes.
Morale Comparison: Greater Essence of Athelas +320 to 340 Power on use for level 25 to 34.
Power Comparison: Greater Celebrant Salve +220 to 240 Power on use for level 25 to 34.

Level 30 to 39 - Shire Rations
111 Morale and 85 Power every 30 seconds for 5 minutes.
+22.1 non-Combat Morale Regen for 30 seconds.
+26.3 non-Combat Power Regen for 30 seconds.
Summary: Minimum of +1110 Morale and +850 Power recovered over 5 minutes.
Morale Comparison: Refined Essence of Athelas +420 to 440 Morale on use for level 35 to 44.
Power Comparison: Refined Celebrant Salve +420 to 440 Power on use for level 35 to 44.

Level 40 to Beyond - Lembas
146 Morale and 110 Power every 30 seconds for 5 minutes.
+29.1 non-Combat Morale Regen for 30 seconds.
+34.7 non-Combat Power Regen for 30 seconds.
Summary: Minimum of +1460 Morale and +1100 Power recovered over 5 minutes.
Morale Comparison: Pure Essence of Athelas +520 to 540 Morale on use for level 45 to Beyond.
Power Comparison: Pure Celebrant Salve +520 to 540 Power on use for level 45 to Beyond.

Trail Food Details

As mentioned in the Trail Food Basics section, I am omitting mention of Will bonus trail food.

Level 1 to 9:
Eggs and Onions - +2 Might for 20 minutes.
Cooked Carrots - +2 Vitality for 20 minutes.
Fried Mushrooms - +2 Agility for 20 minutes.

Level 10 to 19:
Coney Stew - +6 Might for 20 minutes.
Complete Hobbit Breakfast - +6 Vitality for 20 minutes.
Pork Sausage - +6 Agility for 20 minutes.

Level 20 to 29:
Pork Chops - +12 Might for 20 minutes.
Vegetable Medley - +12 Vitality for 20 minutes.
Delicious Crispy Bacon - +12 Agility for 20 minutes.

Level 30 to 39:
Hobbiton Omelet - +18 Might for 20 minutes.
Roasted Chicken - +18 Vitality for 20 minutes.
Salted Beef Delights - +18 Agility for 20 minutes.

Level 40 to Beyond:
Feast of Rohan - +24 Might for 20 minutes.
Masterful Mash - +24 Vitality for 20 minutes.
Delicious Steak - +24 Agility for 20 minutes.

Summary

Cooked and Trail food are a valuable source of augmentation for the progressive and active player. Most people under estimate the effects of food. Think about it, the bonus to attributes that trail food grants is like wearing a third ring, and the morale recovered over 5 minutes is more than one dose of Essence of Athelas (AKA healing potion) of equivalent level. It's like going into a fight with almost one or two healing potions dribbled into your mouth at intervals.

As mentioned in the Introduction, Lembas for level 40 characters is a massive supply of healing over time. Even if you're participating on end game raid content where duration of fights might be longer than duration of food, just think about the amount of healing that you'll save the minstrel by eating one item of cooked food before you go into a tough fight. That's pretty crucial especially for tanks, where you might be able to save the minstrel from healing you in the beginning of the fight so you can generate threat and leave everyone else without threat.

At level 50, the trail food to boost attributes routinely grants almost half the benefit of most rare (purple) level 50 jewelry. Just think about how much money you spent on end game jewelry, and what you're missing out on if you do not use trail food.

And if you think that it's a hassle to remember to eat food, just look at it this way. Take the effort to pack food in your bag and put them in your quick slots when you go out adventuring. When you're low on morale or power, you'll automatically look for means to replenish yourself. That's when you'll notice them, and then the routine starts automatically. In no time flat, you'll get into the habit of augmenting yourself with food before and during questing and adventuring.

Be aware of the benefits of using food items in LoTRO and maximize your performance today!

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