So I know LOTRO servers haven’t even been down 24 hours…but it’s too long. Today was my first real chance in a few days – well…maybe 2 days – to spend some quality time on the game. I suffer from anxiety and depression and lately the latter has been so bad that all I’ve wanted to do is sleep so I’ve been napping a lot. I’ve been feeling a bit better today but alas LOTRO is down for the time being, so I’ve spent most of the day arranging and recording music (another hobby of mine – don’t ask).
But there’s only so much acapella you can take in one day, and I NEED my LOTRO dose, so I’ve decided to post about some of my favorite war steed outfits. I currently have an ongoing power point that I add to every time I make another war steed outfit I like. So I’m going to post a few of my favorites – they’ll be featuring my main champ mostly since he’s the only toon I really spend LPs on for war steed armor.
You’ve seen this one before, but it’s a definitely a favorite of mine. It took me a while to finally buy the Kingstead war steed armor because I’m not a big fan of the halter. Luckily though, I’d already earned the West Rohan set through war bands, and on a whim I bought the Kingstead set and found that it paired really nicely with the West Rohan halter (If you didn’t know about this lovely set, it is available IN GAME as rewards for defeating war bands in West Rohan. If you’re looking for a “battle ready” set but don’t want to spend any LPs or real life money on cosmetics, this is a great alternative).
The only drawback is that the different pieces dye differently, so you might have to play around with colors to find a good match. Here’s the set in blue: I don’t have access to LOTRO right now so I can’t definitively say which hues I used, but I do know I used a couple different ones:
Head: Halter of West Rohan
Body: Kingstead Caparison
Saddle: Kingstead Saddle
Legs: Leggings of Dol Baran
The Esgaroth Set is also a must have in my opinion – while it is a bit unfortunate that you can’t dye the fabric anything other than the default purple, You can dye the leather straps and barding, which – even undyed – cuts a very striking figure. It’s just such a nice set. I personally think it looks best when dyed black, but you can draw your own opinions!
Head: Head-Piece of the Northern Herald (white)
Body: Esgaroth Caparison (black)
Saddle: Dol Baran Saddle
Legs: Esgaroth Leggings (black)
This is a fun one for winter – I combined the items on a whim but I really like the outcome, especially when paired with feathered legs to give the appearance of a draft horse. All items in this outfit were gained through festivals – although going forward they will probably only be available through mithril coins at festivals (I think you can barter a set with festival tokens for two years before it’s retired to mithril).
Head: Wintry Yule Halter (default/white)
Body: Caparison of the Elder Autumn (white)
Saddle: Wintry Yule Saddle
Legs: Leggings of the Gloaming Autumn (black)
Tail: Tail of the Gloaming Autumn (black)
This caparison used to be available for barter via farmer’s faire tokens, but I purchased it with mithril coins. One thing I love about it is how well it dyes – in any color really. I paired it with the dol baran leggings (a favorite of mine) because they dye very similarly, but it’s really a very versatile item. You can use it for wintry looks, for travel looks, etc. It also pairs nice with a bunch of different headpieces, which makes it great for generating new outfits.
In conclusion, save up those Mithril Coins for next time Farmer’s Faire comes around!!!!
The Marauder’s Set is very similar to the Dagorlad set – indeed, if I’m not mistaken. There is one big difference though: The Dagorlad set is available for 1995 LPs all the time in the LOTRO store (sometimes on sale for 1495) and the Marauder’s set only becomes available for limited periods throughout the year (995 LPs though), and only for a week or two. The Dagorlad set also comes with a regular mount, whereas the Marauder’s set is strictly war steed armor. Initially I told myself I could only get one of them, as they are so similar, but then Christmas came around, the Marauder’s set became available, and my resolve broke down.
I’ve paired both of these caparisons with the Osigliath Saddle (available through lootboxes or for barter with Traveler’s quartermaster) and the Head-Piece of the Northern Herald (a favorite of mine, and so far the only halter in gmae that looks like a proper bridle).
The Rhun war steed set was actually the first war steed set I ever purchased from the store. I’d been VIP a few months, and war steed cosmetics went on sale, so after lots of debate I decided on the Rhun Set. I was immediately disappointed that the saddle pad and neck piece always remained orange when the rest of the set was dyed, but I’ve come to appreciate it’s unique appearance (orange is not a color my champion often wears lol). I was even more pleasantly surprised when I bought the Dagorlad set for Christmas and found that the two sets paired quite well together. This set looks good against a black horse hide, but I ultimately decided that blue roan was the best match. After all, blue and orange are opposites on the color scheme.
Head: Halter of Rhun (default)
Body: Caparison of Rhun (default)
Saddle: Osgiliath Saddle
Legs: Dagorlad Leggings (default)
Gear: Dagorlad Gear
This one also pairs nicely with some other pieces:
You’ve seen this one too – but I really like it as a practical adventuring set.
Head: Guardian's Halter (white)
Body: Burglar's Caparison (white)
Saddle: Basic Black Saddle
Legs: Dol Baran Leggings (default)
Gear: Hunter's Gear
Here’s an outfit I think looks really nice for “ceremonial,” “showy” purposes. Admittedly the chicken on the horse’s chest looks a little odd, but the colors pair very well!
Head: Captain's Halter
Chest: Caparison of Plenty
I absolutely LOVE this one, especially when it’s on a black steed. It took me awhile to get the Citadel Guard set because parts of it don’t dye and always stay black, but I’m so glad did. Not only does it give you an armor piece to put over the rear of your horse, but the halter pairs well with A TON of stuff.
Head: Halter of the Citadel Guard (black)
Body: Heavy Caparison of the Norcrofts (black)
Saddle: Saddle of the Citadel Guard
Legs: Dagorlad Leggings (white)
Gear: Gear of the Citadel Guard
Here’s the outfit on my white steed:
It also looks pretty good with the Caparison of Thorin’s Hall (black)
And the Kingstead Caparison (black)
And the Marauder’s Caparison:
Speaking of the Heavy Norcroft’s Set, the caparison is another one that pairs really well with other items. It’s not a ton different from the regular light set, but I think it’s worth it.
The Sea-ward caparison (1st available anniversary 2018) is another great battle caparison. I personally don’t really like the Sea-Ward halter (it’s got this weird plume thing) but luckily there are a bunch of other options:
The Captain’s halter is another one that pairs well with a lot of stuff:
Well. This was a long post. Maybe the servers will be back up by now?
LOTRO Adventurer 