LOTRO Hard Tack of Thorin's Hall Guide

The Event now runs from the 1st of every month at 10am /servertime and ends on the 8th of every month at 3am /servertime.

This means the last full day of each run is the 7th of each month.

What’s That In My Timezone?

I hope I got this right! Please let me know if I didn’t.

• 10am Eastern: 2pm GMT, 3pm BST, 3pm CET, 4pm CEST, 11pm JST
• 3am Eastern: 7am GMT, 8am BST, 8am CET, 9am CEST, 8pm JST

A traditional soldier’s ration; they will keep you alive, marching and complaining about the food for a very long time.

So, it’s functional but fulfilling food. On that description it is very similar to the Lembas of the Elves^Ref.

So, Why Do the Dwarves Need It?

Dwarves don’t need a reason to want food any more than Hobbits do! But for it to be this kind of food, there has to be a particular reason.

The reason is a company of Dwarves are going on a long expedition and want supplies. Long-lasting food suddenly makes sense.

Just don’t ask a Dwarf if Hard Tack is inferior to Lembas bread – if you value your head, anyway.

Hmm, more Lembas...Cram...Hard Tack...thing.

In LOTRO (and in LOTR lore), there are two different foods: Dale-man’s Cram and the Hard Tack already mentioned. It feels like there must be a similarity between Cram and Hard Tack.

• This event is a community-friendly one, where prospectors and cooks have direct involvement. However, unlike the Forester Event, if you have neither of these crafting professions, then you can still take part.
• During each run of the event, players can work together to achieve objectives and help each other out.
• As with the Forester Event, you can earn Participation, Runner-Up and Winner’s Ribbons.
• The more quests and sub-quests you complete, the more ribbons you can earn.
• To get the best results, everyone will need to work together.
• It is categorically cooperative and categorically not PvP.

I discuss the wrapper quests a bit later. But, in short, you need to complete 20 quests in 20 minutes and have time to run back to the NPC to hand the wrapper in.

To do this, you will almost certainly need items and/or actions from other players.

• Prospectors can dig up ore that Assistants can deliver.
• Event-specific food made by Cooks reduces channel times (digging, in the case of prospecting) and run speed.
• Assistants can handle nuisance hobbits and sluggard miners, which helps both Cooks and Prospectors.

Teamwork Effect

Where your quest can be improved by others, or can assist another players, I have put a Teamwork Effect section.

Look for where you can help each other complete more quests in 20 minutes. If I’ve missed a synergy in this Hard Tack Event guide, please let me know. I will credit all additions/corrections!

Who Can Take Part in This Crafting Event?

The short answer is “anyone”! The longer answer is that Prospectors and Cooks have their own quests, but LOTRO have added extra event quests for people who don’t have those crafting professions. These are called Assistant quests.

What Tier Crafting Do I Need
for the Hard Tack Event?

You can start Prospector and Cook quests as soon as you’ve trained in those professions. Any Cook recipes you need are Apprentice recipes.

And with Update 41, you can add a fourth profession via the LOTRO Store too. So, once you have your Crafting Profession unlock, you can tag Cook or Prospector onto your existing set if you want!

What If I Only Have One Profession?

The simplest answer is: do the event for that profession! You can also do the Assistant quests if you want a bit of variation!

Also from Update 41, you can add a fourth crafting profession (or “gathering”, in terms of Prospecting) too.

Prospecting/Forester/Farmer are gathering professions, yet all involve an element of crafting. Despite that, CXP boosts and boost events don’t usually buff these professions, only “pure” crafting ones.

Go to the Right Place

Go to Thorin’s Gates. No really! Head pretty much to the huge gates to Thorin’s Hall. Turn left, walk past the door to Thorin’s Hall Inn and through the door in front of you.

Go through the Right Door

Héori Firefeed

Outside is Héori Firefeed, who is the Hard Tack Event Rewards vendor.

Next to him are the different Prospectors Pickaxes you can earn.

Wait for the Right Time

Once you’re in Ukhbab-gair, wait for the event to start. Pick up the “wrapper” for Prospector, Miner or Assistant NPCs.

If you are questing in Ered Luin and don't want to see this message every hour then untick Event Broadcasts in your chat filters.

Prospector

Skuld Scentlode (Prospector Questgiver)

NPC: Sculd Scentlode (he can smell a vein of ore miles away?)
Quest: Hard Tack Event: Prospecting

Cook

Ingúl Ovestock | Cook Quest-giver

NPC: Ingúl Ovestoke (stokes the oven…)
Quest: Hard Tack Event: Cook

Neither

Velgard Kilnwarden |

NPC: Velgerd Kilnwarden (approach the kiln at your peril)
Quest: Hard Tack Event: Assistant

Wrapper Tier Rewards

1. Tier 1: 10 × Participation Ribbons
2. Tier 2: 10 × Participation Ribbons
3. Tier 3: 20 × Participation Ribbons
4. Tier 4: 5 × Runner-up Ribbons
5. Turn the Quest In: 1 × Winner Ribbon

Basically, your aim is to complete as many quests as possible in the 20 minutes the event is live.

Note: apart from the turn-in, your ribbons are awarded when you complete a tier, not at the end. Make a note of how many ribbons you have before a round before deciding whether you received your next ribbons or not.

How in Middle-Earth Can I Do 20 Quests in 20 minutes?

This is why it’s called a cooperative event. Working with others will work better.

More specifically, cooks make event-specific boost foods to either increase run speed, or reduce channeling times etc.

Hard Tack Event Map

Here is my in-development Hard Tack at Thorin’s Hall Event Map. I’ve shown NPCs, different mining nodes, where to fish, where to find mushrooms and a few other bits and pieces.

Please do let me know if anything has changed. Although I’ve done my best here, if anything is out of place, do let me know. I like the LOTRO community contributing to content.

Hard Tack Map (Version 1b)

This is important! Tiers 1-4 of the wrappers complete automatically. However to get your 1× Winner Ribbon, you have to manually turn in the quest at the same NPC you picked up your wrapper from.

By this point, you will have done 20 quests. To do 20 quests you’ll have had to have help from a cook to increase the speed of mining and running. But you likely won’t have much time left.

You need to beat the clock to claim that final reward. “You have no power here Auto the Complete”.

Teamwork Effect

Try to get some run-speed food from Cooks. These can only be made inside the event and consumed only inside the event area. You should be able to pick some up from the tables, if Cooks are running the event.

All other running speed modifiers are disabled, including racial and combat abilities.

These quests involve you finding and/or digging ore of different types. The quests auto-complete once you’ve hit the objective. Where digging is involved, do not interrupt the channelling of the skill. This is a bit of a patience game, but you’re smart enough to slow down yes?

Note: you’re prospecting, you just need to let the digging run. Only one “use” action is required on your part. Your character does the hard work.

Teamwork Effect

Reminder: digging/channel times can be reduced with food from cooks! As far as I can tell you can cook your own food in one event to use in the next one, too.

Admittedly this is from day 1 and when food made by others could not be consumed.

But it seems to me that these quests make for about 1-1½min/task average (without buffs):

1. Discover Nodes (1/round)
2. Rich Nodes (see Map of Ore Nodes)
3. Medium Ore Delivery
4. Weak Nodes (see Map of Ore Nodes)

Do You Have Tips?

If you have insights to share, let me know and I’ll credit any I use. Thanks!

When you’re in the vicinity of ore you can /look at, you’ll see the following pop-up (and in chat):

Look at this vein for Ever-burning Ore.

You do not need to target the ore before doing the /look emote. Simply ensure that you have the above message.

If the message below is the last one you received, you need to keep searching.

You are too far from an ore vein to search.

⛏ Laden, Rich & Weak Node Quests

There are three “nodes” quests that can be done at the same time: Laden Nodes, Rich Nodes and Weak Nodes.

See my Map of Ore Nodes.

You need to head into the tunnels and mine from nodes relating to those descriptions.

But before you do, pick up one of the Ore Delivery Quests.

⛏ Ore Delivery Quests

The preparations for the Dwarves necessitates large quantities of ores to keep the ovens burning. To that end there are three Ore Delivery quests:

1. Large Ore Delivery (Laden Nodes)
2. Medium Ore Delivery (Rich Nodes)
3. Small Ore Delivery (Weak Nodes)

I have marked Mining Carts on my Map of Ore Nodes.

Tip: to complete two quests back-to-back, couple the delivery quest with the related 'node' quest.

Teamwork Effect

Assistants cannot mine the ore, but they can deliver it. Team up with an assistant so that you can both use the dug-up ore before it de-spawns.

Map of Ore Nodes

I can’t claim to have mapped all of the nodes, but there are a lot here to get you started.

Node (and Cart) Locations Map

The three node types take different lengths of time to mine, and yield different sized ores:

• Weak Node: 4 × Small Chunks of Ever-burning Ore.
• Rich Node: 3 × Medium Chunks of Ever-burning Ore and 1 × Small Chunk.
• Laden Node: 2 × Large Chunks of Ever-burning Ore, 1 × Medium Chunk and 1 × Small Chunk^Ref.

So Laden > Rich > Weak.

This also means a node drops more ore than is required for the turn-in, should you be stopped by Sluggard Miners!

Sluggard Miners

If you get tripped by a Sluggard Miner, you fail the quest. Rush back to the NPC then return to your Ore before it despawns!

⛏ Large Ore Delivery

With Large Ore:

• Deliver 1 × Ever-burning Ore to a mining cart.
• Avoid Sluggard Miners

⛏ Medium Ore Delivery

With Medium Ore:

• Deliver 2 × Medium Chunks of Ever-burning Ore to a mining cart.
• Avoid Sluggard Miners

⛏ Small Ore Delivery

With Small Ore:

• Deliver 3 × Small Chunks of Ever-burning Ore to a mining cart.
• Avoid Sluggard Miners

Teamwork Effect

Mining Laden nodes is slow. Get event food from a friendly Cook to reduce mining time!

Delivery Runspeed

Different sized chunks of ore affect your movement speed. Cooks make Thorin’s Hall Hearty Meals to improve your runspeed while carrying event items.

Firstly, you’ll need to learn the new Apprentice cooking recipes.

To do this, pick up the one-time quest called… Recipes. I can feel your shock and awe from here.

Grab recipes from the excitingly-entitled Recipes quest!

• Thorin’s Hall Brew
• Thorin’s Hall Hearty Meal
• Thorin’s Hall Mushroom Snack

Each of these relates to a Cook-specific quest.

Only one Cooking quest may be active at a time.

These recipes appear in the crafting panel under Apprentice → Event

Cook Crafting Recipes for the event are under 'Apprentice'

Collect Ingredients

Spices and Mushrooms are here, the ale ingredient is in the Rohan-themed keg just to the left.

Pick up spices and mushrooms from the nearby crates. Grab an ale from the suspiciously Rohan-imported keg nearby.

Cook Recipe

Carry out the crafting in your panel as per normal. However, before you leave the oven in a hurry:

Collect Ale from the Oven

Unlike other recipes, the item is not automatically placed in your bags. The quest text clearly says:

Collect your brew from the oven and deliver it to a brew table.

Right-click/Use the oven again to collect your freshly-cooked items.

You then have to avoid Sneaky Hobbits to get the Special Brew to a table before the timer runs out. If your drink gets spilled, you’ll have to restart the quest.

Note: Sneaky Hobbits might actually still end up right by the delivery table. In the past they could there for quite some time. You’ll have to wait, or try to sneak around them. Better still, ask an assistant to help with Feeding Time.

Have I Totally Lost the Item?

If this does happen to you, you should still have your item for personal use in your bags.

But it cannot be used for a future quest completion, as far as I can see.

The remaining two quests follow exactly the same process, except for a change in ingredients – and potentially which table responds to you.

Teamwork Effect

Sneaky Hobbits can be distracted by players who complete Feeding Time.

If you’re about to do your cooking quests, see if an assistant is able to run Feeding Time for you first!

Special Meal

Hard Event Quest: Special Meal

As with the previous recipe, grab your ingredients from the nearby crates. There are three for this one: Fish, Spices and Mushrooms.

Head to the oven and craft your Thorin’s Hall Hearty Meal from Crafting Panel → Apprentice → Event

Don’t forget to collect it from the oven.

Deliver it safely to a table, avoiding Sneaky Hobbits.

Mushroom Snack

Collect Mushrooms and Spices from the crates in front of the ovens.

Craft a Thorin’s Hall Mushroom Snack from Crafting Panel → Apprentice → Event.

Use the oven again to collect the food.

Deliver it to a tabled area while avoiding Sneaky Hobbits.

Teamwork Effect 1

Now, as an Assistant you cannot mine the ore, even if you’re a prospector by crafting profession. This means you must team up with a prospector.

Anything they dig up, you can carry for a delivery run.

Teamwork Effect 2

The quest Served Cold puts Sluggard Miners to sleep. Work with another player so that you can deliver your ore safely.

Alternatively, look out for sleeping Sluggards for safe routes!

What They Look Like

Deep Mushrooms

Map for Harvesting Mushrooms

Map | Deep Mushrooms

Location of the Crate

Map | Crates of Mushrooms

Once you have them, by whichever method, you need to deliver them to the cooking section in the main event area.

Teamwork Effect

This is one of those long channel times where you really want food from cooks!

I think it’ll only take a few rounds before people realise at least befriending a cook will be…advantageous!

If You Don’t Want to Rely on Others…

For Pure Solo: as it stands, I believe you can do a round as a cook, make food, then use that food in a different round as an Assistant. You cannot switch wrappers mid-round.

However, it appears that, unless you fail to deliver your item, it isn’t in your bags. You can cook food, and pick it up from the table straight away though, I think.

Teamwork Effect

Doing this puts the sluggards to sleep for a time, which helps Prospectors and Assistants with Ore Delivery Quests.

Put another way:

Objective

Catch 5 Fish and deliver them to the cooking area.

Process

This quest is a simple case of going, catching fish and returning them to the main area. It took me about 7 casts for 5 fish, last time I tried which is time-consuming.

You may have to try at different angles to get to the water that’s deep enough to fish in. However, I was able to cast from somewhere along all the highlighted area on the map. So please spread out if others are fishing!

Sneaky Hobbits are trying to interfere with Dwarves keeping the furnaces hot.

Apparently, the answer to this is to feed them a bit too much spice in their food. I guess a burning mouth would be something of a distraction? Pick up the ingredients and go deliver them to one Sneaky Hobbit!

Collect Spice

Where to find Jars of Spices.

You can find Spice in the Northern Chambre in both of the two ‘rooms’.

Jars of Spices (that look too much like the pots of crawlies from the Haunted Burrow...)

Collect Mushrooms

Where to find **Crates** of Mushrooms. (Fishing for mushroom is South-East of here)

These are also found in the same area as the spices.

Crates of Mushrooms

This quest distracts (despawns?) Hobbits, clearing some space in the middle zone for Cooks doing food delivery.

It’s also a bonus for any Assistants running Served Cold, because they need to avoid Sneaky Hobbits.

Note: Due to the way the deliveries are made, you cannot fail Served Cold while doing a mushroom snack delivery! As far as I can see, LOTRO have done very well at making sure clashing quests cannot be taken at the same time.

Collect Spice

Jars of Spices (that look too much like the pots of crawlies from the Haunted Burrow...)

As with Feeding Time, Spices are in the above sections of Ukhbab-gairu.

Deliver to Spice Rack

Delivering spice to the cooking area.

In reality, you’re collecting from a spice rack and delivering to a spice crate.

The crate is in the oven section of the main area and you have to wait for the channel time to count down.

Teamwork Effect

Cooks can craft food to reduce how long you spend crouched down putting stuff in boxes. Look on the tables for event food. Put a call out if there isn’t any on the tables. Cooks can’t give you the food directly.

The food item is bound to character, so it cannot be sold or traded. Only your character can use your food. You can collect and use any of the food on the tables, however.

You don’t have to wander the mines long to find sluggards. They’re just “causing difficulty” per Ingúl.

Again, mushrooms seem to be the, uhm, dare I say it, “magic”?

Collect Mushrooms

Where to find **Crates** of Mushrooms. (Fishing for mushroom is South-East of here)

Deliver to Sluggard Miner

You can find these roughly in the West and South-West sections. This is where many of the ore nodes are.

The path from the North to the West, and from the South to the West are also okay locations, I believe. Here’s what one said after I fed him snacks.

Thorin’s Hall Brew

Buff: -67% to all Hard Tack Event induction actions (Improved Efficiency).

• Most Benefits: Prospectors (Picking up ore), Assistants (pickup, too)
• Restriction: Cannot use if under the effect of a Brew already.

Thorin’s Hall Hearty Meal

Buff: +100% movement speed when carrying items in the event space (Encumbrance Reduction).

• Most Benefits: Assistants, and Cooks. (Prospectors only get limited benefit from carrying ore because of the limited distances between Ore Nodes and Carts)
• Restriction: Cannot use if under the effect of a Mushroom Snack.

Thorin’s Hall Mushroom Snack

Buff: +20% movement speed in the event space (Movement Boost).

• Restriction: Cannot use if under the effect of a Hearty Meal.
• Most Benefits: All roles

1. Get Your Basic Pick

Your first step is to acquire a Modifiable Prospector’s Pickaxe.

To do this, earn – or exchange ribbons to match: 1 × , 1 × , 50 × .

Exchange these with Héori Firefeed outside of the event’s entrance.

2. Choose Appearance

Before you can build stats, you’ll have to decide on your tool’s appearance. See Pickaxe Designs below.

Acquire a Cosmetic Design item matching your desired appearance. e.g. Cosmetic Dwarf Design, Cosmetic Westernesse Design.

This is a crafting ingredient and costs: 1 × , 1 × , 50 × each.

3. Craft Initial Designed Tool

Before you can equip your newly-designed pickaxe you need to craft it. And to craft it, you’ll need the recipe.

Look through the barter rewards and get the recipe that matches your Cosmetic Design item from step 2.

You want the first one where your design is mentioned in the list. So, if you went for a Cosmetic Elf Design item, you need the Elf Prospector’s Pickaxe Recipe.

The recipe for this stage costs: 1 × , 1 × , 50 × .

Now you have all you need to make your first themed pickaxe. Your Modifiable Prospectors Pickaxe and your Cosmetic Design are the “ingredients” to make your themed pickaxe.

Ribbon Costs

So, the total cost to this point is: 3 × , 3 × , 150 × .

Upgrades after this point are to increase its stats and bonuses.

1. Acquire ribbons for the “next level” crafting recipe. Your first upgrade is the “Fine Prospector’s Pickaxe”.
2. Acquire ribbons for Luck-stones (and buy them).
3. Make sure you have your old tool in your bags, equip a basic tool then craft your new tool.

Tier Order

You craft your pickaxe in the following order:

1. Fine
2. Superb
3. Splendid
4. Exceptional
5. Extraordinary

Each recipe requires the tool from the previous step as an ingredient. That means you have to do them in order.

Cost Changes

While the process is the same, what does change is the number of Luck-stones you need for each tier.

The Extraordinary Tool Recipe requires 10 × ;

And the recipe costs themselves increase too. The Extraordinary Tool Recipe costs:
5 × , 8 × , 50 × .

If you were only able to obtain Participation Ribbons, the cost looks crazy, hah! But bear in mind, the idea is not to get your Max-Level item on the first run of the event. Unless you actually enjoy doing it that way, of course.

Remember that ribbons are shared between all crafting events present and future. Also the barter vendor remains in place even when the event is not on. That means you can earn ribbons in, say the Forester Event then come and spend them on your Pickaxe.

There are eight different designs for you to choose from:

1. Dwarf
2. Elf
3. Gold
4. Hobbit
5. Mithril
6. Ornate (Lossoth)
7. Primitive
8. Westerness

Where Can I See the Designs In-game?

Next to Héori Firefeed outside the event hall. He’s also the rewards vendor so do give other players space as you browse his wares, please.

The different Prospectors Pickaxes on display.

Prospecting-Themed

• Is an Ore-digger
• Competitive Prospector
• Fearsome Prospector
• Cutthroat Digger
• Champion Prospector
• Tireless Prospector

Cooking-Themed

• Is an Oven-boss
• Competitive Cook
• Fearsome Cook
• Cutthroat Cook
• Champion Cook
• Tireless Cook

Hauler

LOTRO Hauler Emote Hard Tack Event

• Command: /hauler
• Cost: 50 ×

Prospector 1

LOTRO Prospector1 Emote Hard Tack Event

• Command: /prospector1
• Cost: ×2, ×5, ×100

Prospector 2

LOTRO Prospector2 Emote Hard Tack Event

• Command: /prospector2
• Cost: ×5, ×10, ×100

1. Craft Basic Toolset

The Wanderer's Toolset recipe works similarly to the starter Pickaxe one. You're making an item first, then upgrading it.

Obtain and craft the Extraordinary Wanderer’s Toolset. This is like your first basic Forester or Prospector starting point.

The recipe costs: ×5, ×8, ×50

Note

This recipe solely merges the tools into one for convenience. There is currently no additional stat bonus for your extra Luck Stones.

2. Get the Correct Theme Upgrade

Don’t waste ribbons! LOTRO’s barter system still does not have a confirmation dialog.

Check the theme of your Prospector and Forester tool and obtain the relevant Extraordinary (description) Wanderer’s Toolset Recipe. So, for example, if you have the Elven tools, yours would be: Extraordinary Elven Wanderer’s Toolset.

The recipe costs: ×5, ×8, ×50

3. Craft It

Taking the Elven example from earlier, the recipe is as follows:

• 1 × Extraordinary Elf Prospector’s Pickaxe
• 1 × Extraordinary Elf Forester’s Hatchet
• 10 × Luck Stones

Both tools will need to be in your bags, so grab a basic tool from the vendor to craft the toolset.

And here is a combination shot of the combined Forester and Prospector tool I just mentioned. As with Universal Toolkits or Metalsmith-crafted combination tools, you just need to equip one item to go chopping and digging.

Party Foul

Get tripped up by your first Sneaky Hobbit.

Title: Party-fouler

Bean-spiller

Get tripped up by a Sneaky Hobbit “several times”. Number not known yet.

Title: Bean-spiller

Clod

Be tripped up by “many” Sneaky Hobbits (number not known yet), so you shall “be known as a clod forever more”!

Title: the Clod

• Cook:
  Crafting snacks is the fastest recipe to execute, but its still important to make a brew every once in a while to keep the induction reduction buff up. Remember, the induction buff reduces the time it takes to gather ingredients and place food on the table. (Tarbel)
• Assistant
  Clearing hobbits is the best and the fastest quest to do. No need to take other quests. (Except) if there are plenty of miners then you can do ore delivery. (Arabani)
• Assistant
  I have seen Miners doing their “Digging up nodes” quests only. You can tell if they move straight from one node to the next. So, if you see a nearby miner and there’s a lot of their “cast” time left, do take that ore for a delivery quest before it despawns. (FibroJedi)

• Prospector:
  If few others are playing, take the laden node quests and dig the node nearest to the quest-giver. Go hand it in, pick up the new quest and get back to your original dig spot. You should be able to grab a chunk you’ve already dug up. (Arabani)
• Prospector:
  WeirdJedi suggested alternating nodes. This is because the mined nodes contain a mixture of different-sized ore. The focus is around the Medium Ore Delivery, with an alternating between Rich and Laden nodes. Read their full, suggested pattern/rotation here.
• Cook:
  If you’re VIP make sure you’ve used your Subscriber’s Jug. The current thought is that Cooks will struggle to fulfil the T5 requirements in time mostly due to the time spent cooking and needing to eat some of what you make. At least VIP-ers get near-instant crafting, saving a few seconds/recipe. (A couple of players agreed on this fact).