~ Berrie's LotRO Links ~

Partner site: HdRO-Guide

Nadia's lovely blog hdro-guide.de, to which I contribute, too, is a treasure-trove of helpful information for LotRO-lovers. I recommend in particular the explorer and slayer deed guides, which provide meticulously-crafted maps and can absolutely be used by non-German-speaking players!

Goblin-town

[ Deutsche Version ]

Content

• Background
• Maps of Goblin-town
• Quests of Goblin-town: Full Walkthrough
• Deeds of Goblin-town (World Instance)
• Map and Deeds of The Seat of the Great Goblin (Fellowship Instance)

Background

Oh dear, the dreaded Goblin-town! A teeming maze of halls, corridors, tunnels, and caves, in which nearly every one of us has gotten lost at some point. Rumors speak of visitors who never saw the light of day again … To spare you that fate, I made an overview map as well as an ordered list of tasks. Hopefully, you will be able to leave this place of despair behind as quickly as possible.

Lore: Goblin-town is a war camp as well as a strategically important stronghold that watches over the route from Eriador to Rhovanion via the northern pass of the Misty Mountains, posing a significant danger to travelers—as one particular traveling party once found out the hard way.
Fun fact: Bilbo lost his buttons while squeezing his way out through the (now no longer accessible) eastern exit of the town. You can find them again for him!

Maps

To find the hidden entrance to Goblin-town, leave Vindurhal heading north and follow the path in a wide arc along the mountainside to 20.7S, 5.4E. Here, a small trail branches off to the north and leads you directly to the Black Crack. From there, you can reach Glóin’s Camp by continuing east along the pass.
Later on, just ride directly east from Vindurhal and then straight across the plain to reach the camp.

And here is the dreaded interior of Goblin-town.

[ Top ]

Quests of Goblin-town: Full Walkthrough

Ideally, stick with this order, since some of the quests are prerequisites for others.

Before you start out on your journey, you may want to advance the epic storyline to Vol. I, Book 11, Chapter 10, which sends you to Goblin-town:

• MERILOS (Rivendell, The Spire of Meeting): Chapter 10: A Pouch of Gems for a Box of Keys. The gems drop from any goblin in the area, so this quest will not be mentioned again in the walkthrough.

Also, accept this quest from Bilbo at Rivendell:

• BILBO (Rivendell, Elrond’s House, Hall of Fire): Passage to Darkness

If you play the Bingo Boffins story, advance until you can pick up quest no. 21:

• SPALVI DOURHAND (Misty Mountains, The High Crag): An Author Absent

---

Now you’re ready! Travel to Vindurhal in the Misty Mountains and accept this quest:

• NOGMELDIR (Misty Mountains, Vindurhal): Against the Pack
  Bind your milestone here, for you will return to Nogmeldir a couple of times.

Now ride north out of Vindurhal along the mountainside to discover the secret entrance to Goblin-town for Bilbo (see map 1). You don’t need to turn in the quest straightaway; you’ll be returning to Rivendell later anyway.
Then continue riding east to Starkath to carry on Nogmeldir’s quest line: Glorwen’s Fate, Way of the Pack, and Blackfang.
Once that is done, Nogmeldir will send you to Glóin at the main entrance of Goblin-town:

• NOGMELDIR: Down, Down to Goblin-town.

This time, you can ride east out of Vindurhal and straight across the plain to Glóin’s Camp. Here you pick up the next quests:

• GLÓIN: Goblins at the Gate
• GLÓIN: Order from the Darkness

Enter Goblin-town through the main entrance to discover it, and complete Glóin’s tasks in the front area.
Also, in the first area of Goblin-town, pick up the Stained Button ahead on the right, which starts the Bilbo’s Buttons deed (see map).
You can also find a dead Dourhand Surveyor here for the Bingo quest An Author absent.
Return to Glóin and accept the follow-up quests:

• GLÓIN: A Missing Scout
• GLÓIN: Memory of the Wargs

Now make your way to the Slave Pens and defeat wargs along the way. Deep down in the Slave Pens you will find Glorwen for Nogmeldir’s quest, as well as the missing scout Aeglas.
Next, complete the prisoners’ first quests:

• AEGLAS: Other Prisoners, dann Stirring Up Trouble (just accept this one, but don’t start it yet)
• OGHÛK: Keepers and the Kept, dann Drummers in the Deep (accept, but dont start it yet)

Return to Glóin’s camp and pick up the follow-up quests:

• GLÓIN: Rumours of the North
• VIGHAR ROADWALKER: Leaders of the Deep
• VIGHAR ROADWALKER: Drum Keepers

In the second area of Goblin-town, look for Sharpened Stakes for Stirring Up Trouble and take one with you.
From here, make a short detour to discover the Deep-fires, which is part of the Goblin-town Explorer Deed. Return to Aeglas in the Slave Pens and accept the follow-up quest:

• AEGLAS: Plan in Motion

Now make your way to the western side of Goblin-town and enter the War Steadings.
Defeat Dâgal for Leaders of the Deep and Narash for Rumours of the North.
Place the stake prepared by Aeglas into the Mound of Earth
Pick up two buttons (see map).
Now leave the War Steadings, fight your way north into the third area of the town, and descend into the Thundergrot.
Here, defeat trolls for Drummers in the Deep and Kaushar for Drum-keepers.
Collect the button (see map).
Along the way, try to find Zagh and Farmak for Leaders of the Deep (see map). Farmak is a sneaky one—he’ll probably find you first …
Return to the Slave Pens. You will now receive another quest:

• OGHÛK: Matuga and the Jailor’s Key

Speak with Aeglas and head back into the third area of the town to defeat Matuga (see map).
Pick up the button next to him. (You should have collected five buttons by now; the remaining three are dropped by random enemies in Goblin-town.)
Return to Aeglas. This will start the final quest in this series:

• AEGLAS: The Great Escape

Return to Glóin to report in and receive the next quest:

• GLÓIN: Indecipherable

This leads you to Rivendell to see Elrond. On this occasion, also turn in Bilbo’s quest in the Hall of Fire and receive the follow-up quest:

• BILBO: My Dwarf Friends

Bilbo sends you on a long circuit to Glóin, to Dwalin in Thorin’s Hall, then to Gandalf and Frodo in Rivendell. Finally, he gives you his final quests for Goblin-town.

• BILBO: Preparing for the Dark
• BILBO: The Undiscovered Path

Return to Glóin’s Camp, turn in Elrond’s quest, and accept the quests for theGoblin-town Throne Room. These are intended for a Small Fellowship, but you can always scale the instance down to solo it:

• GLÓIN: A Great Goblin
• TRALLI GEMFINDER: The Emissary
• TRALLI GEMFINDER: Aklash, the Leader of Soldiers
• TRALLI GEMFINDER: Rakothúrz and Horm

Now head all the way to the northernmost part of Goblin-town. In the northwest, approach an instance portal to discover the Great Goblin’s Den.
Don’t enter yet, instead go northeast to discover Gollum’s Cave and map it for Bilbo. Admire the Goblin-town graffito that shows you the way :-)
Now you can either return to the instance portal to the Great Goblin’s Den or, alternatively, enter the instance via the Instance Finder. Make sure to select the “Throne”, not the “Seat” of the Great Goblin—that’s a different encounter, see below.

One word of caution about the instance: If you want to complete the quest The Emissary, don’t dawdle for too long before engaging him. The Great Goblin is no man of patience and might beat you to it otherwise. If you want to see what happens in this case, don’t engage the Emissary; instead, go into the central room and wait by the pit, opposite to the throne. Don’t move past the pit. Then just wait and watch!

Once you’ve defeated all enemies, you have survived Goblin-town! Return to Glóin’s Camp to be celebrated :-)

[ Top ]

Deeds in Goblin-town

The following deeds can be completed in the area:

Goblin-town

Discover:

• the Slave Pens
• the Deep Fires
• the War Steadings
• the Thundergrot
• Gollum’s Cave
• Eglanúr
• The Great Goblin’s Den (= Goblin-town Throne Room; you don’t need to enter, just find the entrance)

Rewards: 10 LotRO Points, 30 Marks, 2000 Virtue XP, 500 Reputation (Elves of Rivendell)

The Throne Room is not to be confused with the Seat of the Great Goblin, which is a different instance. See below.

Bilbo’s Buttons

Start the deed with the Stained Button in the entrance area of Goblin-town (see the map). Five buttons can be picked up, three more drop from random enemies; these are marked with an asterisk *.
Find:

• Stained Button: in the entrance area in a Debris Pile
• Scratched Button: in the War Steadings in a Battered chest at the bottom of some stairs
• Shiny Button: in the War Steadings in a Discarded Pouch
• Polished Button: in the Thundergrot in a Refuse Pile
• Broken Cufflink: un Eglanúr in a Ruined Bag next to Matuga
• Bent Button *
• Blackened Cufflink *
• Tarnished Button *

Rewards: 10 LotRO Points, 30 Marks, 2000 Virtue XP, 500 Reputation (Elves of Rivendell)

There are more deeds inside the instance The Seat of the Great Goblin. For details, see the next chapter.

[ Top ]

Map and Deeds of The Seat of the Great Goblin (Fellowship Instance)

The 3-person instance Seat of the Great Goblin can only be accessed by the Instance Finder, not from Goblin-town itself. It is part of the Erebor Instance Cluster, which you therefore must own. It can be played starting at level 20.

The area will look familiar from your visit to Goblin-town, but the map is modified, and you will face different enemies, as the instance represents a different point in time. It takes place after the death of the Great Goblin in The Hobbit, after a new Great Goblin has taken power. (The instance within Goblin-town itself takes place later, again featuring a different Great Goblin.)

This map gives you an idea of the strategy, which is basically: Follow the dotted lines and see what happens!

Four deeds can be completed here. The first three are combat deeds, the fourth is an explorer deed.

Combat deeds

• Challenge: Seat of the Great Goblin: Defeat all three bosses in the Throne Room in under 4 minutes after engaging in combat. The instance must be run at maximum level for this deed. (Reward: 30 Medaillons)
• Complete the instance on Tier 1 (Reward: 20 Medaillons)
• Complete the instance on Tier 2 (Reward: 20 Medaillons)

Completing all of these plus the explorer deed below auto-completes the meta-deed Usurper of the Great Goblin’s Throne (Reward: 30 medaillons).
This meta-deed contributes to the meta-meta-deed The Road to Erebor.

The Tale of Goblin-town

For this deed, you must discover five Goblin-murals. These are their locations; make sure you stand close enough to them to trigger the deed update!

1. in the first room, just past the first ramp on the right, near a campfire
2. on the left ramp, at the back on the left
3. in the pit in the northern passage, on the way to Gollum’s Cave
4. on the right ramp, only accessible when leaving the pit
5. in the Throne Room, on the left

Behold the glorious Goblin graffiti, which, by the way, can also be found in Moria. I just love them.

[ Top ]

---