LOTRO Leveling Guide:
Levels 6 to 15 In the Starter Zones

In this part of the LOTRO leveling guide you are ready to see the open world in Middle Earth. I will point you to the easiest locations for quests. Once you finish the introduction instance you will begin at your starter zone, which depends on which race you happen to have chosen. I advise you to follow the order to complete quests as shown. Based on my experience it is the best order to quest for the fastest leveling. It is of course your game time, so feel free to do any and all quests in any area and order you like!

For this level range you will be questing in the following locations. The information in parentheses is (region, level range of quest).

     • Thorin's Gate (Ered Luin, 6 - 8)
     • Celondim (Ered Luin, 6 - 8)
     • Noglond (Ered Luin, 6 - 10)
     • Duillond (Ered Luin, 9 - 10)
     • Combe (Bree-land, 8 - 10)
     • Gondamon (Ered Luin, 10 - 15)
     • Staddle (Bree-land, 12 - 14)

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Important Note - I highly suggest that you DO NOT do any of the crafting quests you see. They have a ring with an anvil in the middle of it. In the quest log these quests are under the crafting group. Crafting quests are an enormous waste of time. Unless you are really into crafting and aren't concerned with leveling quickly, I'd steer clear of crafting quests.
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Important Note - I highly suggest that you DO NOT waste time on the "epic" line of quests. If they happen to be on your way or you really want to see the story, then you it is of course your choice. I would not go out of my way for them though. They tend to waste a lot of your time running around and are not the most efficient way to level up.
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LEVEL 6 to 8

Thorin's Gate (recommended)
I recommend starting to quest in Ered Luin at Thorin's Gate. This is an easy area that flows nicely in your leveling progression... especially if you follow the LOTRO leveling guide closely. Grab all of the quests in Frerin's Court... kind of like in the introduction instance. There is also a quest or two on the stairs going up to Thorin's Hall. Do as you did in the introduction. Pick up a group of quests, complete them, and turn em' in. Do this until there are no more quests in this area. You should be around level 8 when you are done.

Traveling to Thorin's Gate
Here is how to get to Thorin's Gate for from the starter zone for each race:

Dwarves
The dwarven race starts out in Frerin's Court again - no need to travel for ye' good dwarf! You can pick up the quests in the court and also visit Thorin's Hall to the north. Thorin's Hall is one of the major cities for crafting, auction hall, etc. You'll likely be back here a lot.

Elves
Elves start out in Celondim. For elves you can complete all the quests in Celondim and then go to Thorin's Gate. If you go to Thorin's now you'll likely just be coming back later. To get to Thorin's Gate from Celeondim go to the stable master by the docks. Choose the Thorin's Gate - Swift Travel option.

Men
If you chose to be a Man or Woman, you will start out in Archet like before. I never really liked this area for some reason, so I suggest hot-tailing it out of there ;) Take the path south out of town. Follow it all the way to the next town called Combe. You will see a stable master pretty quickly as you enter town. Talk to the stable master and choose the Thorin's Gate - Swift Travel option.

Hobbits
Nice Hobbitses begin in Little Delving a little way north of Michel Delving. I dislike questing in the Shire and recommend getting out of there quickly! Follow the path out of Little Delving south to Michel Delving. Continue along the path south. You will pass through the town center to the stable master and choose the Thorin's Gate - Swift Travel option.

Celondim (recommended)
If you are following the LOTRO leveling guide, you have completed the quests in Thorin's Gate. I would now travel to Celondim and complete all quests there. This will put you around level 8 - 10 and leave you well prepared for the next areas. In Celondim there are a couple quests to grab near the docks. You then proceed up the hill to a place called Nen Hilith. After completing all the quests in these areas you should be around level 8 - 10.

Traveling to Celondim
To travel quickly to Celondim, go to the stable master just west of Frerin's Court at Thorin's Gate. Use the Celeondim - Swift Travel option. Don't bother trying to save gold by running there ;) It's not worth the time... trust me!

Archet and Michel Delving (optional)
You can complete quests in Archet and Michel Delving/Waymeet/Hobbiton for this level range if you wish. I personally avoid the Shire for leveling, so it is optional in the LOTRO leveling guide. The quests there are very spread out and time consuming because of all the running around. However, if you like exploring, enjoy the story, or want to work on deeds as you go then you may want to hit these locations up now. Otherwise, I'd move on to the level 8 - 10 part of the LOTRO leveling guide.

LEVEL 8 to 10

You should now be ready to move on to a couple of new areas. I recommend going to Noglond and Duillond. The LOTRO leveling guide will make these areas easy if you follow it in the order shown.

Noglond (recommended)
In Noglond you will get a great bunch of quests to complete in the surrounding area. Complete all of these and you'll be around level 9 - 11.

Traveling to Noglond
To reach Noglond you have two choices: a stable master or traveling by foot. I'm lazy so I like to take the horse! Either way you need to be back in Frerin's Court at Thorin's Gate. If you don't remember how to get there, find any stable master and choose Thorin's Gate - Swift Travel. Once at the Thorin's Gate stable master, talk to the stable man again and choose Noglond.

Duillond (recommended)
Duillond will give you a few more quests in the 9 - 10 range. Complete these and you should be around level 10 - 12. Remember if you are going to follow the LOTRO leveling guide closely it will help to stay very close to the suggested level. If you are not at or above the shown level, you may want to go grind some deeds for xp!

Traveling to Duillond
To get to Duillond it is easiest to go back to Thorin's Gate - by horse or on foot whatever you prefer. At the Thorin's Gate stable take the Celondim - Swift Travel option. Once you reach Celondim you can either take another horse to Duillond or follow the path north until you reach it.

Combe (optional)
You will likely not need to complete the quests in Combe, but it has some good quests if you need to catch up in levels. If you complete the quests in Noglond and Duillond you should be able to skip this area.

Traveling to Combe
Combe is back near Bree town, just south of Archet.

LEVEL 10 - 15

Gondamon, Thrasi's Lodge, and Haud Lin (recommended)
Now is the time to venture deeper into Ered Luin. Your destination is a fortress of old called Gondamon. Gondamon has a large number of quests to pick up. Make sure you get them all. There are a few right when you enter and more located up on the higher levels of the fortress.

Also near Gondamon are Thrasi's Lodge and Haud Lin. Once you've picked up all the quests in Gondamon I would head two those two places and grab the quests there. Most of the quests are in the same areas so it is more efficient to get all the quests first.

Once you complete all the quests in Gondamon, Thrasi's Lodge, and Haud Lin you should be around level 14 to 15.

Traveling to Gondamon
To reach Gondamon you need to be in Noglond or Duillond. At one of these locations go to the trusty stable master and choose the Gondamon option. If you're penny pinchin' or the option is not available (or you want to walk to Gondamon) I recommend starting from Noglond. At Noglond follow the path south and east. Just stay on the path and you'll walk right to it.

Staddle (optional)
If you haven't quite reached level 15 I recommend heading to Bree-land and completing the quests in Staddle. Staddle is a small village just north of the main town of Bree. You may not need to do this set of quests, but I usually do them myself. Staddle has a good set of quests that will take you further north to the Midgewater Marshes. There is also a ranger camp in the marshes that you'll visit during your questing.

After completing all the Staddle quests you will be level 15 - 17. I highly advise you to quest in Staddle if you're not level 15 - 17. It will make the LOTRO leveling guide much more effective if you stay in the suggested range.

Traveling to Staddle
To reach Staddle go to Thorin's Gate or Celondim. Once there, take the good ol' stable master to Bree. When you arrive at the Bree west gate, follow the path on the map to Staddle. When in doubt keep heading north!

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At this point in the LOTRO leveling guide you should be ready to finish up the higher level areas in Bree-land. Congrats so far... See you over in the nest section of the LOTRO leveling guide!