[GUIDE] How to get the Guide to Caras Galadhon WITHOUT the Lothlorien quest pack OR being a vip!

[HaVai]

WHY DID I WANT THIS SPELL AND WHY COULDN'T I HAVE IT AS A FREE-TO-PLAY (if you don't really care about this, just read The Alternative Way below):



Alright guys, Caras Galadhon is one of the most beautiful places in LOTRO (personally i think Lothlorien is the most beautiful region in the game). So i wanted to enter the city just to see how it was, explore it a bit and listen to the music inside the city. I also wanted to get the Guide to Caras Galadhon spell for my hunter, because i'd like to have all the Guide spells (kinda a perfectionist on this part).

However, i found out when i got there that i can't access the city. After some search online in lotro forums and google, it became know to me that you can't enter the city at all! The game won't let you access it. In order to do so, you must have the Lothlorien quest pack and complete a quest given to you by the guard in front of Caras Galadhon. After completing it you get the "Trusted in Caras Galadhon" characteristic trait, which allows you to enter the city through the front gate. Keep in mind that the quest doesn't show up at all, unless you have Friend reputation with the Galadhrim.

This is why i coudn't access the city and get the Guide to Caras Galadhon (btw, it's ridiculous how you need Friend to access the city that has the spell, but you can use the spell with only Acquintance). BUT, i found out there's another way later in the game.



THE ALTERNATIVE WAY (requirements):

For this other way to work, there are two requirements:

1) You must have completed the Epic Quest: Volume III, Book 6 (quest is at lvl 75).
When you finish this quest, you are free to roam the city of Caras Galadhon (FINALLY!). That means you can go to the Hunter Trainer that has this quest: His name is Malenfileg and you can find him in a place called "Telain Galadhrim". BUT, even if you go there you'll find that you need 20 Lothlorien Silver Branches to buy it, which you can only acquire through quests given to you from NPCs in Lothlorien (means you have to own the quest pack to do them or be VIP... again failed... NOT). That's where the second thing you must have comes in.

2) You must have the Moria expansion:
(Stay with me, don't leave me yet.) There are some quests in Moria that give you barter items you can exchange with Lothlorien barter items. Keep reading and you'll understand.



THE ALTERNATIVE WAY (process):

Here are the steps that you'll have to follow if you still want to get the spell:

1) Complete quests given to you by 2 dwarves in Zelem-Melek (It's in Moria, below the 21st Hall in the map). The dwarves/ barterers are called Torfi and Burkni:
These 2 dwarves you cand find one next to the other, in Zelem Melek. They give you 3 repeatable quests each (one is for lvl 57 and one for lvl 60, all of them Solo quests). CAREFUL, you might only see 1/3 quests at first for each one of the dwarves. When you accept the first quest, click again to get the other 2.
You can repeat these quests daily. What's so special about them? They give you 1 barter item each quest (a total of 6 items), called "Iron Garrison Resource Token" (IGRT for short).

2) Trade the IGRTs for "Lothlorien Gold Leaf" (=LGL):
When you do finish both of the above quests, trade the 6 IGRTs for LGL.
3 IGRTs = 1 LGL
As for the barterer which you trade them from, she's right next to the Dwarves (sorry, don't remember her name, but she's right there). Actually, the only thing that she trades is IGRTs for LGL. You'll need a total of 4 LGL for the next step, which means that you'll need 12 IGRTs, which means you'll have to complete each of the 6 quests twice (2 days, since you can only do them daily.

3) Trade the LGL for "Lothlorien Silver Branches" (=LSB):
For this step, you'll have to travel to Cerin Amroth in Lothlorien and talk to the barterer called Tharnelleth.
1 LGL = 5 LSBs (do these short names reming you of something? Jk jk...)
If you followed the instructions from step 2, you'll have 4 LGLs, which means you'll be able to buy 20 LSBs, the amount needed to acquire the Guide to Caras Galadhon. (Do i need to tell you the final step? Nevermind, here we go)

4) Buy the Guide to Caras Galadhon from Malenfileg (the hunter trainer, in case you don't remember) inside Caras Galadhon.
I forgot to mention above, that to access the city (since you don't have the trait required to enter through the front gate) you have to use the rope that is near the main gate (it's closer to the guard there). If you haven't finished the Epic quest mentioned above, you can't use the rope (the game won't let you do so).
Pay a visit to your old pal Malenfigel (and useless otherwise in the game, since ppl don't really visit trainers anymore) and finally give him those damn Branches!



NOTES:

I'll have to point out that this post was made at December 1st, 2015 (don't mind the edit at April 22nd, 2017. I just corrected some spelling mistakes, didn't change anything else). This means when you're reading it, changes might have come to pass during this time and some of the above (concerning barterers, locations, items, etc.) might be slightly or totally altered (making this post useless).

Second thing, unfortunatelly i don't think there's a way for Free-to-Play players to get this spell. You'd either have to buy the Lothlorien quest pack, be (or have been at some time) a VIP or be a Premium player with the Moria expansion/quest pack.

Third, i'm currently a lvl 78 Hunter that still is doing the Epic Quest. I don't know if i won't be able to access the city via rope or the Guide spell, once i finish the Epic quest.

I hope this helps other guys/ gals and if you find anything wrong or different from what i've been telling you so far, post it below so we can help others as well.


USEFUL LINKS:

The spell:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Item:Guide_to_Caras_Galadhon
The quest that gives you the characteristic trait:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Quest:The_Paths_of_Caras_Galadhon
The characteristic trait that allows you to enter Caras Galadhon:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Trusted_in_Caras_Galadhon
The quests i've been doing to reach Friend with Galadhrim:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Quest:Aiding_the_Elves_I
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Quest:Aiding_the_Elves_II
The epic quest you must have finished:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Quest:Instance:_Mists_of_Anduin
Malenfileg (the hunter trainer in Telain Galadhrim):
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Malenfileg
Zelem-Melek:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Zelem-melek
Torfi, Burkni and the Iron Garrison Resource Token (IGRT):
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Torfi
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Burkni
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Item:Iron_Garrison_Resource_Token
Cerin Amroth:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Cerin_Amroth
Lothlorien Gold leaf (LGL), Lothlorien Silver Branch (LSB) and Tharnelleth:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Item:Lothl%C3%B3rien_Gold_Leaf
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Item:Lothl%C3%B3rien_Silver_Branch
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Tharnelleth
(Sorry, no link for the Lothlorien barterer lady near Torfi and Burkni OR for the Rope that allows you to access Caras Galadhon)

[Running-Target]

nice free to play guide