Little Big Battle Guide

[Merowin]

This is meant as a guide to the big battle system and how to get platinum medals in them. It is mostly based on the big battles I have been running with Dallont and will therefore focus on the solo/duo versions of the battles. Expect a solo/duo battle to take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete. The rewards from big battles are jewelry and large amounts of marks and medallions.

Each big battle has one main objective and two to three side objectives, one for each wave of attack. When you complete a side or main objective you are awarded skill points. Bronze, silver, gold and platinum medals each award one skill point, and also counts as completion for all medals of lesser value. E.g. being awarded gold also counts as completion for silver and bronze and will award three skill points. Earning the same medal twice will not award more skill points. Hence, being awarded a silver medal the first time you complete Protect the Horses in Helm’s Dike will give you two skill points: one for bronze and one for silver. Being awarded platinum the second time will give you another two skill points: one for platinum and one for gold, but being awarded platinum again will not give extra skill points. The total number of skill point that can be earned is therefore equal to four times the number of objectives or 120 points for the solo/duo battles, 28 points for the three man, 28 points for the six man and 40 points for the raid, for a total of 216 points.

Being awarded platinum medals will also grant platinum medal points. After 20 points you will be given a piece of teal jewelry of your level with a set bonus. Gold medals will award teal jewelry without a set bonus. In the bottom of the Battle for Helm's Deep panel the amount of medal points you have earned towards jewelry is displayed as yellow bars. Hoover your cursor over the bars to get an accurate number. Click on the little arrow icons left of the bronze and silver bars to forward bronze and silver medals to gold medals, or you will be given a lot of less-than-useful green and purple jewelry. A platinum medal in a side objective will award one platinum medal point, while a platinum medal in a main objective will award 2-3 platinum medal points. The first time you are rewarded a platinum medal in a side or main objective you are also given a one-time bonus of five platinum medal points. Because of this one-time bonus you are better of not running big battles until you are level 95 or you will waste the one-time bonus on lower level jewelry.

Completing a side objective perfectly will award platinum independently of the other objectives, but to get platinum for the main objective you have to complete the main objective perfectly and win platinum in all side objectives.

The objectives are daily quests and can only be completed once per day. However, it is possible to run a big battle several times a day in the attempt to get different side objectives.

The battles involve front lines with soldiers and commanders fighting groups of attacking orcs. During the first few minutes of the battles you are typically setting up barricades and ballistae, firing catapults or simply assisting the soldiers and commanders, keeping them as close to full health as possible, while you wait for the first side objective to pop up.

Traitlines

Unfortunately, other than traiting Officer to set Two-handed Stance and Target Priority - Sappers, the only useful traitline is Engineer; Vanguard is a complete waste of points.

Trait Engineer Rank 1 for Tripwire Traps (Requires 20 points in Engineering) and Engineer Rank 3 to be able to place catapults and ballistae (Requires 60 points in Engineering); a lot of the suggested strategies below make use of player-placed ballistae and catapults. After that it’s more open, but I can recommend Trap Triggercount (Level 4, Engineer), Tripwire Trap Duration (Level 5, Engineer), Heal Order Cooldown (Level 1, Officer) and Heal Order Strength (Level 4, Officer). Officer Rank 3 for Target Priority – Sapper and Two-handed Stance (Requires 60 points in Officer) could also be interesting. One option is to have a second saved trait build with Officer at rank 3, and switch to it when you want to order Target Priority - Sapper or Two-handed Stance.

Siege Equipment

Some battles will have crates with barricades, small ballistae and small catapults which you can pick up. You can carry one barricade, one ballista and one catapult.

Barricades will not prevent enemies from moving through them, but will slow them down. As of Update 12.1, fully repaired barricades can be dismantled and moved. The area affected by a barricade is a square roughly the size of the long axis of the barricade. The graphical orientation of the barricade has no effect on the area. Works well in combination with tripwire traps and ballistae. As of Update 12.1, upgrading a barricade will do 1,100 damage every 3 seconds to emenies moving through the barricade, as well as slowing them down.

Ballistae are used on waves of “active” enemies, but have no effect on enemy formations lined up on the field. Once fully built (and repaired), small ballistae can be dismantled and moved. Faces the way your character faces when you place them. Very effective against large number of enemies. You can use your normal attack skills while loading and cranking the ballistae, as long as you don’t move or use inductions.

Catapults are used on enemy formations lined up on the field. A direct hit in the middle of a formation will do no more damage than a grazing hit. Grazing two formations, hitting both of them, is therefore preferable to hitting right in the middle of one.  Once fully built (and repaired), small catapults can be dismantled and moved. Faces the way your character faces when you place them. Can also be used like ballistae on “active” enemies. Will hit a larger area, but do less damage than a ballista.

I would suggest you try to run a big battle before you start reading the guides on the specific encounters below.

[Merowin]

Helm’s Dike (3 Waves)

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Lost soldier

The solo/duo version has two ramps to the east and two ramps to the west of the gate (the six man version has extra ramps beyond the far east and west ramps). If the enemy attacks the two east (right) ramps first you will get Protect the Horses to the east and Guarding the Watchtower to the west as side objectives. If they attack the two west ramps first you will instead be given A Stone Obstruction to the west and The Statue of Helm Hammerhand to the east. The last side objective can be either Powder at the Gate or Flames at the Gate.

If you’re are soloing focus most of your healing on the two central ramps, since they will be attacked again in the last wave.

In the six man version if you are sent east first you will be given Powder at the Gate to the east and Protect the Horses to the west. If you are sent west first you will be given A Stone Obstruction to the west and Guarding the Watchtower to the east. The last side objective, in the center, can be either Flames at the Gate or The Statue of Helm Hammerhand.

Preparation: Set up two (or more) barricades and a ballista along the palisade at the near west (left) ramp for Guarding the Watchtower and A Stone Obstruction. Set up two catapults above the gate for Flames at the Gate. Set up a ballista on the road between the stable and the gate, aimed at a spot just in front of the barricade ner the river on the road for Powder at the Gate. Set up a couple of barricades between the soldiers at Powder at the Gate and the barricade behind the soldiers. Set up a ballista on the far east ramp, aimed at the left barricade on the ramp for The Statue of Helm Hammerhand.

The solo/duo version has two catapults, two ballistae and two barricades in crates, plus another catapult and two ballistae already placed which can be removed. As of Update 12.1 barricades can be dismantled and moved. This includes all the barricades already placed along dike and gives you plenty of barricades to play with.

The six-man version can be completed by a well-organized duo.


Helm’s Dike – Protect the Horses

Location: The stable along the road behind the gate. Orcs will come from across the river.

Likely Excuse for no platinum:  Horse taking too much damage.

Strategy: Ride down to the stable on your horse to get there faster. Engage the orcs as far away from the stable as possible and kill them as fast as you can. You can use tripwire traps to slow them down, but siege equipment, other than a barricade or two, is overkill and better used for the other side objectives. Ordering Two-handed Stance works well here, since the orcs are not attacking the soldiers. The horses can be healed by a healer.

In the six man version the first wave of orcs will include a few orcs attacking the horses behind the stable. Kill those orcs first. The enemies wil have a lot more morale than in the solo/duo version and Goblin Trappers will place traps. Priorities the trappers and remove any traps they may have placed. It is possible to lose platinum by killing all enemies before they make it to the stable, since you don't get credit for saving a horse unless an orc was attacking it.


Helm’s Dike – Guarding the Watchtower

Location: The wooden watchtower just west (left) of the main gate. Orcs and dunlending will come from the near west ramp.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Tower taking more than 10% damage

Strategy: To avoid damage to the tower you have to stop the orcs and dunlending at the palisade before they get anywhere near the tower. You should already have placed two barricades and a ballista to the left of the palisade. Place tripwires at the barricades and kill the enemies with the ballista while they are slowed down. If one or two should slip by the ballista the soldiers can handle them. As of Update 12.1 you have plenty of barricades, so you could also put down four or five barricades and let the soldiers take care of buisness in Two-handed Stance.

In the six-man version a second watchtower, to the far west, will also be under attack. The first wave will also spawn a couple of enemies directly next to the towers. Be ready for them and kill them before moving over to guard the ramps.


Helm’s Dike - Flames at the Gate

Location: Outside the gate. The war machine will approach along the road.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Gate taking more than 10% damage

Strategy: You should already have placed two catapults on the wooden walkway above the gate. Keep on firing at the war machine until it is destroyed. Only one crank should be necessary when it gets to the gate. If your rank is high enough use spread shells, otherwise use heavy shells. You don't have to extinguish the fire on the gate; the war machine will be destroyed before that becomes a problem. Don't resupply the archers.

The six man version will have three war machines: one at the main gate, and one at the near east and one at the near west ramps. Somehow the two war machines on the ramps seem to be able to damage the gate as soon as they are about half way up the ramp. Destroy them as far down the ramp as possible to avoid damage to the gate.


Helm’s Dike – A Stone Obstruction

Location: At the gate and the near west (left) ramp. Dunlending carrying stones approach the gate from the west, while massive waves of dunlending attack the near west (left) and near east (right) ramps. The dunlending carrying stones are often outside of clip range and therefore not visible outside the wall, but the archers will still hit them.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: A stone is placed or the west (left) ramp is overrun.

Strategy: To kill the dunlending carrying stones you will have to tell two archers on the wall every 20 seconds to fire at the dunlendings. One person will have to run back and forth between the archer above the gate and the archer on the west platform telling them to shoot. The other can handle the waves of attacking dunlending at the near west (left) ramp with two barricades, tripwire traps and a ballista; it’s very similar to Guarding the Watchtower. The soldiers on the near east (right) ramp can handle themselves since they don’t have to deal with main objective attacks at the same time. With just one player you will have to run back and forth between the archers and hope and pray that the near left ramp isn’t completely overrun. The barricades on the near east ramp will still help the soldiers a lot, even if you are not there to operate the ballista. As of Update 12.1, the soldiers are so strong that you should have no problem doing this side objective solo as long as you have placed a few extra barricades to help slow the enemies down. Order Two-handed Stance if you want to be on the safe side.

In the six-man version the dunlending stone carriers are much tougher, and you will need two players keeping all three archers going to take them down before they place their rocks.


Helm’s Dike – The Statue of Helm Hammerhand

Location: On the platform between the near and far east (right) ramps. Waves of orcs and trolls will attack from the far east (right) ramp.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: 10% damage to the statue.

Strategy: Similar to Guarding the Watchtower, but you don’t need the extra barricades. You should already have set up a ballista aimed at the left barricade on the ramp. Place tripwires at the barricade and kill everything that comes up the ramp. The soldiers can handle the few half-dead enemies that make it through. Order Two-handed Stance if you want to be on the safe side.

The six-man version has a second front at the watchtower to the very far east (right) that you deal with the same way. Put up barricades and a ballista just to the west of the tower and set the commanders to Two-handed Stance.


Helm’s Dike – Powder at the Gate

Location:  At the gate. Orcs will approach along the road inside the gate from the stable area.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Powder keg detonated at the gate

Strategy: Ride down there to get there faster (you can use the rope on the wooden walkway above the gate to get down). You should already have set up a ballista aimed at the ground a couple of steps in front of the barricade near the river. Aim it too close to the barricades and the sappers may get too close and place their black powder. You should also have placed several barricades at the soldiers on the side of the path furthest away from the river. That should give the soldiers time to handle whatever comes on that side. Stand on the road close to the stable, where the orcs spawn, and kill the sappers starting with the sappers closest to the river. It's safe to let the remaining orcs through, althoughg the soldiers might need help with the boss. The ballista is your backup, if you're struggling to take out the sappers at the river fast enough. If a sapper gets through and places a powder cask, defuse it. Ordering Two-handed Stance and Target Priority - Sappers works well here.

The six man version works the same way. Put up barricades leading from the soldiers to the barricade beind the soldiers, stand at the stable and kill sappers; kill the sappers near the river first. Once the boss spawns have one person focus on him while another stays on sapper duty.

[Merowin]

Deeping Wall (2 Waves)

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Lost banner

Start the fight by running up to the catapult on top of the right tower and take out the enemy catapults. Launch a few more rocks at the enemy formations, ideally one rock per formation, to get rid of most of the sappers. The sappers will otherwise go for the banners, and the difficult part of this fight is to not lose a banner.  You have to repeat this at the beginning of the second wave. As of Update 12.1, you will need to crank the catapult at least three times to be able to fire it, making it harder to hit formations close to the wall.

Pick up the ballista and the barricade. Place the ballista at the culvert at the base of the wall for Securing the Culvert, but keep the barricade; you will need it if you get Breaching the Hornburg instead. As of Update 12.1 you could dismantle and move the barricade, but after the culvert has been sealed you might not be able to click it inside the pile of rocks. After the first side objective is complete dismantle and pick up the barricade and ballista so they are ready for Vandals in the Tower. Placed the barricade inside the guardhouse on the right side of the wall at the stack of crates between the two far windows and aim the ballista at the stack of crates.

To avoid losing a banner, detach them as tooltips to keep easier track of them. Hoover your cursor over a banner, wait for the tooltip to appear and hit the detach tooltip button (default H). Escape will remove all detached tooltips. If a banner takes too much damage repair it (or heal it, if you’re a healer). You can still attack and use skills while you repair, but you cannot move. Place tripwire traps in front of the banners to protect them. Order Target Priority – Sappers, if you’re an officer. Otherwise keep the number of ladders and grappling hooks down and order the commanders to heal as often as possible. The disarm skill will make you remove grappling hooks faster, and the disable skill will make you remove ladders faster.

You will either be given Securing the Culvert or Breaching the Hornburg as the first side objective. As of Update 12.1, the last side objective will be The Vanguard Defilers or Vandals in the Tower.

The first wave will consist of six formations in two columns of three. Once the first two formations have been killed you will get the first side objective. After the last formation has been killed or after approximately 11 minutes have passed any remaining formations will disappear and the second attack wave will spawn. The second wave will consist of ten formations in two columns of five. As with the first wave, once you have killed the first two formations you will get the last side objective. After you have killed all formations or approximately 11 minutes have passed any remaining formations will disappear and the battle will complete (even if you haven't finished the last side objective yet!).

If you are very effective at removing ladders and grappling hooks, very few orcs from the first formations will be able to climb the wall, and it will take a long time for those first two formations to die. That means that you will be given the side objective very late and might not have time to complete it. This is a very common way to fail the Vanguard Defilers. To avoid this, hit the first two formation a few extra times with the catapult as they approach the wall; leeching powder works well for this, as long as you make sure to only hit the first formations. Once the first two formations are directly under the wall, they cannot be hit by the catapult. Use the middle rock drop instead.

Utleth's guide to the 12-man version can be found here: https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?534224-Deeping-Wall-Full-Platinum-Run-Guide


Deeping Wall – Securing the Culvert

Location: At the inside base of the wall.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Lost worker

Strategy: You should have set up a ballista aimed at the opening. Put tripwire traps in the opening and kill the waves as they come through. Make sure your tripwire trap is not on cooldown as the objective becomes active or you will not be able to catch the full wave with the ballista. After each wave you have time to pick up a stone and bring it to the opening. Ordering Two-handed Stance could work well here, since the orcs are mostly attacking the workers. After the side objective is complete dismantle and pick up the ballista so it's ready for Vandals in the Tower.


Deeping Wall – The Vanguard Defilers

Location: On top of the wall where the main fight is.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Totem pulse or completion of the main battle.

Kill the shamen as soon as they appear. If they manage to drop a totem, remove it immediately (The totems are currently bugged and allow you to keep on removing the same totem over and over and get credit for killing a shaman every time). The biggest risk is that you don’t notice a shaman or a totem in the crowd of orcs and allow the totem to pulse. Stand somewhere, where you can see the entire wall, and try to keep the number of ladders and grappling hooks down so the wall doesn’t get too crowded.


Deeping Wall – Breaching the Hornburg

Location: Inside the guardhouse on the left side of the wall. Orcs will spawn just to the right inside the door, in the corner at the red banner.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Healing supplies lost

Strategy: Drop the barricade in the corner where the orcs spawn and place a few tripwire traps right and left of the brazier in the same corner. Place the traps far enough away from the corner so the orcs don't set them off as they spawn, or you will find that your tripwires disappear very quickly. Ordering Two-handed Stance should work well here, since you want to kill the orcs before they destroy the healing supplies. You might have a hard time killing the orcs fast enough if you’re alone and don’t have AoE attacks.


Deeping Wall – Vandals in the Tower

Location: Inside the guardhouse on the right side of the wall. Goblin Sappers and Vandals will spawn outside on the wall closest to the door and at the three windows inside to the left as you walk through the door (Active as of Update 12.1).

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Getting there too slowly, or forgetting to drop a tripwire trap before the objective starts.

Strategy: You should already have placed the barricade at the stack of crates between the two far windows and aimed the ballista at the stack of crates. Before the objective starts you should also have placed a tripwire trap in the near window. The goblins will start coming almost immediately. Take care of the two goblins in the far windows with the ballista, while you help the soldiers with the goblins stuck in the trap at the near window. You don't have to worry about the goblins on the wall, the soldiers outside on the wall will take care of those. Ordering Two-handed Stance works well here, since you want to kill the goblins before they destroy the healing supplies.

[Merowin]

Deeping-coomb (2 Waves)

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Lost banner

Waves of orcs will come through the opening in the wall. Place two barricades as far out in the opening as you can, place a ballista aimed at the barricades and drop tripwire traps at the barricades. One player, ideally someone with ranged DPS, will man this ballista and kill as many orcs as possible. The soldiers will take care of the few orcs the ballista doesn’t kill.

If the enemy moves toward the Glittering Caves first (right) you will be given Searching the Debris and Prepare to Fall Back as side objectives. That means you can drop the third barricades and the second ballista at the opening in the wall as well.

If the enemy instead moves toward the Hornburg (left) you will be given A Pillage Denied and Defilers in the Water. Have the player not operating the ballista at the opening place a barricade and a ballista at the bottom of the first set of stairs to the east (right) for A Pillage Denied

If you’re trying to solo this you may want to drop tripwire traps at the sappers’ favorite banners, which on the left side is the one closest to the wall and one the right side the one second closest to the wall. Ordering Target Priority – Sappers may also help.


Deeping-coomb – Prepare to Fall Back

Location: An engineer will stroll around just behind the lines to the south. Extra enemies will run in with the normal waves and attack the engineer and his constructions.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: None

Strategy: Just keep on shooting with the ballistae you have already set up at the wall opening. Nothing will survive long enough to get to the engineer.


Deeping-coomb – Searching the Debris

Location: South and east of the fighting. Some piles are across the river. Groups of Goblin Vandals and Uruk-hai Marauders will come through the opening in the wall as you search the debris.

Likely Reason for No Platinum:  Nine waves of vandals and marauders die too soon, or the quest times out.

Strategy: Four groups of three debris piles will become active, one group at a time. To get platinum you will need to have searched all the debris piles, healed all the injured rohirrim you find and defused all powder kegs, before nine (?) waves of vandals and marauders are killed. The injured rohirrim will also have to make it safely to the Hornburg. Unfortunately, there is not enough time for the last rohirrim to make it safely to the Hornburg. To still get platinum you will have to exploit a bug that allows you to get double credit for searching the debris piles if two players search at the same time. Do this for all piles and let the soldiers handle the waves of vandals and marauders. If you're lucky you will get platinum. If you're not lucky the soldier will kill the vandals and marauders too fast or a vandal will manage to hide in a corner somewhere and never get killed.


Deeping-coomb – Defilers in the Water

Location: South east in the pool behind the mill.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Darkwater making it out of the pool.

Strategy: Ride to get there faster. Focus on killing the darkwaters before they have time to escape the pool. Kill defilers when there are no darkwaters. It helps to have one person run over to the pool and get in position before the fight starts. It also helps to place barricades and tripwire traps in the path of the darkwaters, if you know where they leave the pool. Getting platinum for this solo could be difficult for a melee class.


Deeping-coomb – A Pillage Denied

Location: In the back to the east. Enemies will come down the stairs nearest the opening in the wall.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Lost supplies

Strategy: Ride to get there faster. You should already have placed a barricade at the bottom of the stairs and a ballista aimed at it. Place tripwire traps at the barricade, and have one person man the ballista and kill the waves as they come. The other should pick up the siege schematics and bring them to the guy behind the water mill. Bringing the schematics to the water mill solo, in-between killing waves with the ballista, might be possible, but not easy. Ordering Two-handed Stance should work well here, since the orcs are not attacking the soldiers.

[Merowin]

Glittering Caves (3 Waves)

Likely Reason for No Platinum: As of Update 12.1 many of the side objectives seem to have been fixed and platinum is now be possible.

At the beginning there are three crates with two ballistae and one barricade; pick them up.

Most likely the enemy will attack the two fronts on the western island first, and you will be given Stalactites Over the Bridge and Spider Assault. If the enemy instead attacks the two fronts in the eastern tunnels first you will be given Cave In and Bombs and Bats. The last objective can be either Civilian Defense or Preparing the Charge.

Goats are allowed, but not horses.

The three-man version can easily be done by two players.


Glittering Caves – Stalactites Over the Bridge

Location: West of Gamling, between the two fronts

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Lost supply box or barricade

Strategy: You should have brought a ballista and a barricade. Before the side objective becomes active you should place the barricade in between the pair of green banners furthest to the west along the path and aim a ballista at the barricade. I usually place the ballista right next to the barricade and aim it directly into the stalagmite on the right side of the path. When the objective becomes active, place tripwire traps at the barricade and kill the waves of enemies as they come. When you are done, dismantle the barricade and ballistae and bring them for the next objectives. If the dismantled barricade or ballista end up in the water on the right side, you can jump down and get them. If they end up beyond the Invisible Wall of Death, you're out of luck. You could order Two-handed Stance just in case something slips by.

In the three man version the main objective attack waves are fully capable of completely overrunning the right and left fronts, so you want one person running back and forth between the two fronts hitting heal orders on the commanders and placing tripwire traps.


Glittering Caves – Spider Assault

Location: The cave opening just south of Gimli and the big crystal.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Timed out (Working properly, as of Update 12.2)

Strategy: You should have set up a ballista pointing at the cave opening. Place tripwire traps at the opening and kill the spiders as they come; best done by a ranged DPS class. Have the other person run through the cave, open all cocoons (it’s very easy to miss a few) and kill the big spider at the end. You need to find five rohirrim in the cocoons before you kill the big spider in order to get platinum. You will struggle getting platinum for this one solo.


Glittering Caves – Civilian Defense

Location: Just south of the eastern front.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: A troll slips by, and you lose a barricade.

Strategy: Before the side objective becomes active place a barricade down the side path the enemies approach from, at the white crystal protruding from the left wall, and aim a ballista at the barricade. As the side objective becomes active place tripwire traps at the barricade and kill the enemies as they are caught in the trap. If a troll gets by you, it will most likely destroy a baricade. You could order Two-handed Stance, but it might not be enough to handle a troll.

In the three-man version trolls will also attack Gamling's front to the west. Have one player drop a barricade at Gamling's front and help him out.

(Works properly, as of Update 12.2)


Glittering Caves – Bombs and Bats

(As of Update 12.1 this side objective is now also active in the solo/duo version)

Location: West of Gamling, between the two fronts

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Lost supply box or barricade

Strategy: Identical to Stalactites Over the Bridge. You should have brought a ballista and a barricade. Before the side objective becomes active you should place the barricade in between the pair of green banners furthest to the west along the path and aim a ballista at the barricade. I usually place the ballista right next to the barricade and aim it directly into the stalagmite on the right side of the path. When the objective becomes active, place tripwire traps at the barricade and kill the waves of enemies as they come. When you are done, dismantle the barricade and ballistae and bring them for the next objectives. If the dismantled barricade or ballista end up in the water on the right side, you can jump down and get them. If they end up beyond the Invisible Wall of Death, you're out of luck. You could order Two-handed Stance just in case something slips by.

(Update 12.2 introduced a new bug, where the quest does not award credit if you kill too many Goblin Sappers. You need to end up at exactly 12/12 sappers. If you kill four sappers in one shot with a ballista and end up at 14/12 sappers the quest will not complete. Kill the last two sappers one at a time to avoid this)

In the three man version the main objective attack waves are fully capable of completely overrunning the right and left fronts, so you want one person running back and forth between the two fronts hitting heal orders on the commanders and placing tripwire traps.


Glittering Caves – Cave In

(As of Update 12.1 this side objective is now also active in the solo/duo version)

Location: Just south east of Gimli and the big crystal.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Lost barricade.

Strategy: Set up a barricade inside the room to the south east between the two groups of white crystals. Aim a ballista or two at it and place tripwire traps at the barricade. You don't want the tripwire traps directly on the spawn point, instead you want them placed so they are set off as the enemies start moving. The enemies will spawn on top of the barricade between the two groups of white crystals. Kill them with the ballista as they spawn. You could order Two-handed Stance just in case something slips by.

In the three-man version the enemeies will spawn on the black mound in the middle of the room instead, but they still have to run through the barricade between the two groups of white crystals. The side objective used to bug out if you killed the waves too slowly and would not complete.


Glittering Caves – Preparing the Charge

Location: Between the two fronts.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Out of time.

Strategy: Ride your goat to get there faster or wait at the barricades for the side objective to become active. Remove barricades, burning debris, burning barrels and tripwire traps and kill the enemies. The tripwire traps are very easy to miss, since they are not highlighted on the ground. They look like your own tripwire traps when placed: two short sticks with a wire between. Right click to remove them. The barrels explode if you get too close so stand at arm’s length when you remove them. As of Update 12.1 you only need to remove about half of the barricades, debris, barrels and traps to get platinum which is quite manageable even solo. As of Update 12.2 you need to remove most of the debris, barrels and traps; it could be a stretch to get platinum solo. The barricades take the most time to remove so don't remove any more barricades than you have to; remove the barrels, traps and debris instead. Utilize that you can use skills with no inductions to kill enemies while removing barricades, barrels, traps and debris. Killing the last boss will complete the objective. If you still have time left when you get to him, remove a few extra barricades or whatever else is close by, then kill him.

[Merowin]

The Hornburg (2 Waves)

Likely Reason for No Platinum:  Lost banners (Will, as of Update 12.2, correctly award platinum for a perfect run)

Start at the catapult on top of the right tower. Launch one rock at each of the enemy formations to get rid of most of the sappers. The sappers will otherwise go for the banners, and just as in the Deeping Wall the difficult part of this fight is not to lose a banner.  You have to repeat this at the beginning of the second wave. As of Update 12.1, you will need to crank the catapult at least three times to be able to fire it, making it harder to hit formations close to the wall.

To avoid losing a banner, detach them as tooltips to keep easier track of them. Hoover your cursor over a banner, wait for the tooltip to appear and hit the detach tooltip button (default H). Escape will remove all detached tooltips from your screen. If a banner takes too much damage repair it (or heal it, if you’re a healer). You can still attack and use skills while you repair, but you cannot move. Place tripwire traps in front of the banners to protect them. Order Target Priority – Sappers, if you’re an officer. Otherwise keep the number of ladders and grappling hooks down and order the commanders to heal as often as possible. The disarm skill will make you remove grappling hooks faster, and the disable skill will make you remove ladders faster.

The first side objective will be on the left side, either Bring Down the Siege Ladders or Repair the Portcullis. The last side objective will be on the right side, either Protecting the Gatehouse, Winches in the Windows or the Final Blockade.

The first wave will consist of eight formations in two columns of four. Once the first two formations have been killed you will get the first side objective. After the last formation has been killed or after approximately 11 minutes have passed any remaining formations will disappear and the second attack wave will spawn. The second wave will consist of ten formations in two columns of five. As with the first wave, once you have killed the first two formations you will get the last side objective. After you have killed all formations or approximately 11 minutes have passed any remaining formations will disappear and the battle will complete (even if you haven't finished the last side objective yet!).

If you are very effective at removing ladders and grappling hooks, very few orcs from the first formations will be able to climb the wall, and it will take a long time for those first two formations to die. That means that you will be given the side objective very late and might not have time to complete it. To avoid this, hit the first two formation a few extra times with the catapult as they approach the wall; leeching powder works well for this, as long as you make sure to only hit the first formations. Once the first two formations are directly under the wall they cannot be hit by the catapult anymore.


The Hornburg – Bring Down the Siege Ladders

Location: On top of the right tower. Enemies will climb over the wall and come up the stairs.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: lost supplies

Strategy: Drop tripwires between the catapult and the ladders to catch sappers carrying black powder. Focus on killing sappers. When there are no sappers around, knock down the ladders. To knock down the ladders you have to “kill” the hook points first, but don’t “kill” a hook point until the ladder is fully up against the wall and a goblin has climbed off. If you “kill” a hook point too fast you will not be able to knock down the ladder and the quest will bug out and not complete. If you are two, one person can focus on the trolls coming up the stairs. Ordering Two-handed Stance works well here since the orcs don’t focus on the soldiers.


The Hornburg – Protecting the Gatehouse

Location: Inside the left gate house, use the trapdoor to get down to the gate which is being attacked by a battering ram.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Damage to the door

Strategy: Place tripwire traps close to the opening in the walll, but don't get too close to the opening or you will die. Destroy the battering ram first and then kill the enemies as they run in and get stuck in the trap. It’s extremely important to get down there and destroy the battering ram as fast as possible. You might have one person to wait down there, if you can afford it. Fortunately, this objective can be completed with platinum even with some damage to the door (As of Update 12.1, this might not be true anymore). Ordering Two-handed Stance works well here since the soldiers are not taking damage. Can the gate be healed by a healer before it drops below 10%?


The Hornburg – Winches in the Windows

Location: Inside the left gate house. Kill goblin vandals before they construct winches

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Don’t remember

Strategy: Place a tripwire trap at the healer just to the left of the Retreat from Battle table, but then focus on the Goblin Vandals building winches at the inner windows in the right and left cubby. The soldiers should handle the rest, but as Georgion said, the soldiers will mostly ignore the vandals. Stunning the vandals will make them stop building winches and make them attack the soldiers instead, which works just as well as killing them. Two-handed Stance works well here.


The Hornburg – Repair the Portcullis

Location: Inside the right gate house.

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Damage to the portcullis mechanism

Strategy: When you get this side objective, run to the left gatehouse first, pick up a crate of supplies each and bring them to the engineers working on the portcullis. Place tripwires at the engineers and protect them from the waves of attacking orcs. Kill the sappers in each wave and leave the the orcs for the soldiers. In the mean time run back and pick up another crate of supplies. There are a total of six crates: three in the left gatehouse and three in the little shack overhanging the inner courtyard at the stairs. As of Update 12.1 two of the supply crates have been moved to the sides of the two stairs on the wall. Ordering Two-handed stance and Target Priority - Sappers works well here. The portcullis mechanism is easily damaged, but the objective can still be completed with platinum even with some damage to the mechanism (As of Update 12.1, this might not be true anymore). Can the portcullis mechanism be healed by a healer?


The Hornburg – The Final Blocade

Location: On left side of the wall, on top of the gatehouse, at the two medium ballistae (Active, as of Update 12.1 or 12.2)

Likely Reason for No Platinum: Damaged ballista

Strategy: Orcs will spawn on the right and left of both of the two medium ballistae, while trolls will come up the stairs. The orcs tend to destroy the ballistae very quickly, and the ballistae cannot be repaired. They can, however, be healed by a healer. You should already have upgraded the armour on both ballistae (Requires Engineer Rank 1). Have the commander order Two-handed Stance, take a ballista each and place tripwire traps on one side, while you guard the other side. Kill the orcs on your side as fast as possible, stun or challenge them if you can, then help the soldiers with the orcs caught in the tripwire traps. After the orcs are dealt with, heal the ballistae back up (if you're a healer) and deal with any trolls that made it up the stairs. This objective is very hard to get platinum on without a healer.

[Georgion]

This is a magnificent guide.  Thanks, Merowin!  (And Dallont!)

 

On the Winches quest in the Hornburg, the soldiers will simply not engage the vandals that are at the windows building the winches, so you have to focus on picking those guys off first.

[Merowin]

Here's a link to a guide on the 12-man version of the Deeping Wall written by Utleth https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?534224-Deeping-Wall-Full-Platinum-Run-Guide

[Marithil]

Thank you so much for this Mero/Dall. Truly excellent work.

[Merowin]

Monday's Update 12.1 changed a lot of things in the big battles, so the guide might not be as accurate as it was.

 

EDIT: I have tried to keep it updated

[Finnok]

*bump*

For those of you looking for help w/ Big Battles, this guide, written by Merowin, is 95%-ish as accurate today as it was when he wrote it back in 2013.  Essential reading for figuring out all that stuff!

Also, posted a map for the Glittering Caves (in the Guides gallery) that I've used and found really helpful.

Knowledge is power, and I've found that BBs are really fun once you figure out this stuff!

BTW - I've run tons of BBs, and I *still* have this guide printed out right beside me, and use it often.

-Finnok

[Mortanah]

As usual Mer you take the cake when it comes to detailed info and direction. Absolutely superb !!!