As you cross the Anduin River to join the company escorting Mazog to the gates of Dol Goldur, it's hard to miss the dreary blight of Mirkwood. Cherish the memories of younger days scampering in the sunshine of The Shire. You are now on the front lines in the war against Sauron and the battle rages around you.

You'll need to own both the Mines of Moria and Siege of Mirkwood expansions to reach and enter Mirkwood, a large zone that offers plenty of quests to take you from 60 to 65, the new level cap.

Getting to Mirkwood

There is another requirement for entering Mirkwood, besides owning the expansion - having enough reputation with the Galadhim elves to pass through Lothlorien to Mirkwood. If you've completed Volume II, Book 8 of the epic story, you should have sufficient reputation to pass through Lothlorien safely, otherwise you'll need earn "Acquaintance" standing through the repeatable quests from Echad Andestel and Talan Haldir.

Next, you must finish the Foreword for Volume II, Book 9 to unlock Mirkwood access. The quest starts with Haldir in Lothlorien (16.2S, 73.5W). He'll send you to Braiglinn at Imlad Lalaith, where you'll be asked to complete a number of tasks in an expedition zone version of Mirk-eaves, just inside Mirkwood. When you finish, you'll be able to enter the normal version of Mirkwood, again at Mirk-eaves.

Quest Hubs in Mirkwood

Mirkwood is a large zone with many quest hubs. So what order should you tackle them in? Let Volume II, Book 9 guide you. It will take you through the major quest hubs and quests from these will help you find the others.

This map shows the quests nodes for Mirkwood in progression, A to M, and points of interest, 1 to 21 (legend next page).

	Loc	Levels	Quest Hub	Vendor	Stable	Mailbox	Milestone	Notes
A	15.2S, 61.5W	60-61	Echad Sirion (Expedition)	x			x
A	15.2S, 61.5W	61	Echad Sirion (Regular)	x	x	x	x	Malledhrim barter vendors
B	16.5S, 60.3W	61	Echad Glamodud
C	16.0S, 60.0W	61	Amon Angened	x				Forge and relic-masters
D	13.5S, 58.1W	62	Echad Mothelen					Camp site
E	13.5S, 56.1W	62	The Haunted Inn	x	x	x	x	Forge and relic-masters, Malledhrim barter vendors
F	16.9S, 54.7W	63	Estolad Mernael	x	x	x	x	Forge and relic-masters
G	14.3S, 51.2W	63	Ost Galadh	x	x	x	x	Bard, class trainers, crafting facilites, forge and relic-masters, Malledhrim barter vendors, reflecting pool, vaults
H	16.4S, 50.5W	64	Iavassul's Watch
I	12.5S, 50.9W	64	Ivorel's Camp
J	12.8S, 46.4W	65	Thangulhad	x	x	x	x	Camp site, forge and relic-masters, Malledhrim barter vendors
K	17.6S, 48.2W	65	Mithechad	x	x	x	x	Malledhrim barter vendors
L	17.4S 44.5W	65	Barad Angol
M	16.1S, 44.4W	65	Helethir	x	x			Camp site

Points of Interest in Mirkwood

This map shows the quests nodes for Mirkwood in progression, A to M (legend previous page) and points of interest, 1 to 21.

	Point	Location	Notes
1	Durburz-stazg	14.3S, 61.6W	For the Evil Strongholds of Mirkwood deed
2	Tirnhirion	17.2S, 61.7W	For the Uncovering the Ruins of Mirkwood deed
3	The Wind Stones	16.0S, 59.2W	For the The Wilds of Mirkwood deed
4	Dannenglor	11.9S, 54.8W	For the Uncovering the Ruins of Mirkwood deed
5	Pack-howler's Hill	15.4S, 56.0W	For the The Wilds of Mirkwood deed
6	Pool of Creeping Death	16.8S, 57.8W	For the The Wilds of Mirkwood deed
7	Sad Meryrn	18.8S, 57.6W	For the The Wilds of Mirkwood deed
8	The Wild Ruin	15.2S, 51.2W	For the Uncovering the Ruins of Mirkwood deed
9	The Crawling Water	11.1S, 51.4W	For the The Wilds of Mirkwood deed
10	Gorogrod	8.8S, 51.2W	For the The Wilds of Mirkwood deed
11	The Tree of Suffering	12.6S 47.4W	For the The Wilds of Mirkwood deed
12	Burzkala	11.0S, 46.4W	For the Evil Strongholds of Mirkwood deed
13	Sad Morangol	19.1S, 48.7W	For the Uncovering the Ruins of Mirkwood deed
14	Garmadh-maudhul	16.6S, 46.7W	For the Evil Strongholds of Mirkwood deed
15	Anghum-maudhul	19.9S, 45.3W	For the Evil Strongholds of Mirkwood deed
16	Sad Doldur	18.6S, 43.9W	For the Evil Strongholds of Mirkwood deed
17	Warg-pens of Dol Guldur	14.8S, 44.3W	3-man instance
18	Sword-hall of Dol Guldur	14.8S, 42.2W	3-man instance
19	Dungeons of Dol Guldur	14.6S, 41.6W	3-man instance
20	Sammuth Gul	13.5S, 42.1W	6-man instance
21	Barad Guldur	13.9S, 42.2W	12-man raid instance

Reputation in Mirkwood

While questing in Mirkwood, you'll earn reputation with the Malledhrim elves. You'll also receive barter currency, Malledhrim Bronze Feathers and Malledhrim Gold Star Emblems, which can be traded for gear, potions, recipes, legendary items, even a Return to Mirkwood skill or a Smoky Black Steed depending your reputation with the Malledhrim. Barter vendors are located at Echad Sirion, The Haunted Inn, Ost Galadh, Thangulhad and Mithechad.

Virtue Deeds in Mirkwood

Deeds for Mirkwood sort to "Southern Mirkwood" in your deed log. At this point in your character's development, you should have a pretty good idea of the virtues you are still looking to get to rank 10. See Choosing Your Virtues if you are looking for guidance.

Type	Deed	Virtue	Ranks	Requirements
Quest	Into the Black and Twisted Forest	Loyalty	1	Complete 10 Quests
Quest	Into the Black and Twisted Forest (Intermediate)	Fortitude	1	Complete 20 Quests
Quest	Into the Black and Twisted Forest (Advanced)	Honesty	1	Complete 30 Quests
Exploration	The Wilds of Mirkwood	Wisdom	1	Explore 7 Places
Exploration	Uncovering the Ruins of Mirkwood	Idealism	1	Explore 5 Places
Exploration	Evil Strongholds of Mirkwood	Valour	1	Explore 6 Places
Slayer	Orc and Uruk-Slayer (Advanced)	Compassion	1	Kill 360 Orcs and Uruks
Slayer	Warg Slayer (Advanced)	Empathy	1	Kill 360 Wargs
Slayer	Spider Slayer (Advanced)	Tolerance	1	Kill 360 Spiders
Slayer	Beast-Slayer (Advanced)	Determination	1	Kill 360 Beasts
Slayer	Dead-Slayer of Southern Mirkwood (Advanced)	Fidelity	1	Kill 360 Shades and Wights
Slayer	Sorceror Slayer (Advanced)	Justice	1	Kill 360 Sorcerors

The Epic Story in Mirkwood

Volume II, Book 9: Fortress of the Nazgul starts again with Haldir (Lothlorien 16.2S, 73.5W). Quests for the Foreword happen in an expedition zone version of Mirk-eaves. You may want to finish the Headcount deed before completing the Foreword - you won't be able to return to the expedition zone once you complete the Foreword.

Volume II, Book 9 will guide you through Mirkwood, visiting each of the major quest hubs in order, so it's a good idea to advance the epic quest line while you level. Another feature of Volume II, Book 9 is that several chapters require you to complete skirmishes. Once you've completed a skirmish chapter, that skirmish is unlocked and can be run again from the Skirmish Join panel. The skirmishes unlocked in Volume II, Book 9 are:

• Chapter 4, Strike Against Dannenglor (60-70)
• Chapter 14, Protectors of Thangulhad (60-70)
• Chapter 15, Breaching the Necromancer's Gate (65-70)
• Chapter 15, Assault on the Ringwraiths' Lair (65-70)
• Chapter 18, The Battle in the Tower (65-70)

With a foreword and 18 chapters, Volume II, Book 9 will seem like a hefty bit of content. Yet when you complete it, you'll discover there is also a 12-quest Epilogue and deed. Rewards from the epilogue include some nice teal gear, Medallions of Dol Guldur, Malledhrim Gold Star Emblems and legendary item accessories, including a Scroll of Empowerment. Well worth the effort.

Crafting and Mirkwood

Gathering in Mirkwood is strictly Tier "6b" - Mallorn branches, Khazad-iron and Khazad-gold deposits, Extraordinary hides and Sage Caskets are all plentiful.

The real attraction for crafters is in Ost Galadh, where Malledhrim barter vendors offer new recipes for every profession. You'll also find a compact crafting hall there, complete with superior stations, mailbox, vault-keeper and even a Farmer vendor (but no fields!).

Instances in Mirkwood

Mirkwood offers five new instances, all clustered in the fortress of the nazgul, Dol Guldur. In addition to quests for these from Helethir, each has deeds associated with it and a daily (or per-lock for the raid) challenge quest you'll obtain upon entering.

The Sword-hall of Dol Guldur is a popular level 65+ 3-man small fellowship instance that takes less than 30 minutes to run with an experienced group. Normal mode has you kill three bosses and their minions in succession in an arena setting. In challenge mode, you face all three bosses at once. Loot includes Medallions of Dol Guldur, IXP runes and a few gear drops.

The Warg-pens of Dol Guldur is a level 65+ 3-man small fellowship, dungeon-crawl style instance. To complete challenge mode, wargs must eat every lump of meat lying around, which they do when their health gets to about 1000. The meat heals them to nearly full. Loot includes Medallions of Dol Guldur, IXP runes and a few gear drops.

The Dungeons of Dol Guldur is a 65+ 3-man small fellowship, puzzle dungeon instance. There are no quests for this one, only deeds. See this walkthrough if you want spoilers. Loot includes Medallions of Dol Guldur, IXP runes and a few gear drops.

Sammuth Gul is a challenging level 65+ 6-man fellowship instance. Whatever else you do there, try not to step on any bone piles! See this guide for a walkthrough. Sammuth Gul is one of only two places in game where the Symbol of Celebrimbor drops, the component required to craft level 65 Second Age legendary items. Other loot includes Medallions of Dol Guldur, IXP runes and some teal gear drops.

Barad Guldur is an extremely challenging level 65+ 12-man raid instance. You'll need 115 radiance from gear just to fight the first mob, and more to succeed against the final boss, The Lieutenant of Dol Guldur. See this guide for a walkthrough. Loot includes dark emblems, which can be bartered for 30 radiance armor pieces. Other loot includes Symbols of Celebrimbor, Medallions of Dol Guldur, IXP runes and some nice teal gear drops.

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