Monster Manual

A Newcomer's Guide to Creepside

Welcome to the Ettenmoors, Maggot! Being freshly culled from the weaklings, we expect you to learn quickly and die well for the Eye. This section is a quick overview of the Ettenmoors and your primary objectives as a Creep, before leading into further sections which cover these topics far more in depth.

The Ettenmoors is a Player vs Monster Player zone, the players are the Free Peoples ("Freeps") and the Monster Players (affectionately called the "Creeps"). The 'Moors is where you may appease your blood lust against other player characters, falling upon your opponents with blades swinging and emerging victorious or dying gloriously in the midst of your foes. Because your foe is driven by human intellect, not some raid boss NPC, the Moors provides the greatest challenge -- and fun -- in LOTRO.

If you have never tried PvMP before, above all, don't be intimidated! Since players directly compete against each other, it may feel like there is more stress or ego at stake, but the population here is the same mostly helpful and fun players from the rest of LOTRO. And while you may feel embarrassed not knowing how things work at first, remember everyone here once started out brand new, a "Greenie" in the Moors, just like you. And hopefully just like you, once they tried it, they were hooked.

You will need a bit of patience and a thick hide to survive as a new Creep. You will die a lot at first. And then die some more. But as you gain levels (called "Rank" on creepside) you will quickly become a powerful Servant of the Eye. Creeps require both Infamy and Commendation Points (CP) to become more powerful.

To gain ranks, you must attain certain amounts of Infamy, which you earn mostly from kills and a small amount from quests. Most ranks give you additional skills and corruption traits that can be purchased with CP. Additionally, money must also be acquired (by vendoring loot) to slot traits and to purchase consumables: both are extremely valuable to fights in your favor.

So what do you do first? The first step is to find out which creep class you want to play. There are six: the Black Arrow, Defiler, Reaver, Stalker, Warleader, and Weaver; each with their unique strengths and weaknesses. CP and Infamy are both precious commodities and you should concentrate on spending those on one character to make him or her powerful. Creeps begin very weak compared to the Freeps and it takes at least a Rank 3 to compete, or a Rank 5 to be a strong contender on the battlefield. So choose carefully by playing each creep a bit without spending any CP and finding one that fits your playstyle. After you decide on your class, buy your active skills first, then passives with what CP you have and subsequently gain. See the respective Creep class section for more details and ratings for each skill.

Where to go first?

The next step should be to pick up the quests that have you explore and uncover the Ettenmoors map. Right next to the War Tyrant in Gramsfoot are a series of quests to go to various keeps and locations. Also in the big yellow tent there are keep-take quests if any of the keeps are held by Freeps. Every time you log in, you should check the big yellow tent for these quests and keep them in your quest log. Venture out into the Moors with your eyes open, read /ooc to start to get a feel of the zone, and even better, see the section about how to log on to free Creepspeak to listen to what is going on. If stuck, ask in /advice for guidance.

Find these quest locations, complete your quests, then return to Gramsfoot for your very first map: a map to Gramsfoot. Creeps do not have mounts and can never gain them; their mobility lies in gathering maps which are attained by doing quests. Maps set a capable creep apart from one stranded at Gramsfoot. When there are few freeps around, work on your map quests.

After you gain your Gramsfoot map, you can throw yourself into the fray and learn the aspects of combat. Other NPCs in Gramsfoot will let you buy pots (morale, power, root-break, stun/mez-break), which are all very very useful and you should try to keep a supply of them stocked. Additionally, food helps sustain combat. Any time a big fight is brewing, eating some food beforehand will greatly help keeping your morale and power up.

Work with your fellow creeps by both listening and communicating over /ooc or creepside voice (Teamspeak). Learn who are the leaders and who is knowledgeable about their classes, and learn from them. You will have then taken the first steps to fulfilling your oath to the Eye as part of the Great War against the Freeps invading our Ettenmoors. Now go, Maggot!

Contributing to the Monster Manual

Your help is critical in keeping our manual up to date and useful  This has been built upon the labor of many creeps and we appreciate any help we can get!  To help edit, simply register onto this site, navigate to the page you'd like to update and hit edit!  If you screw up, we can always revert to a previous version.