Find out which food best suits your appetite in LOTRO...
If you cook well enough, even the no-good Dourhand Dwarves will be your friends...
Good day to you, fellow Middle-Earthers! Today, we'll be doing a LOTRO version of Gordon Ramsay. The topic is...food. Which one's the best, what to get, what not to get, and how to get it!
We'll cover it all. Let's first explain the essence of food in LOTRO, before we jump into the Top 10 race.
First of all, I must admit that food in LOTRO isn't a critical element of your efficiency as it doesn't provide you with any groundbreaking changes in stats. However, it does make a difference in certain tough situations, such as demanding raids, or difficult landscape circumstances.
But, even if it doesn't change your life completely, you'll find making your own food extremely fun, immersive, and oddly satisfying. You can also get food from the Auction House, some quests, reputation vendors, and such, but making your own food tops all of that by a mile!
My recommendation for creating your food is to choose a Yeoman vocation which consists of three professions: Farmer, Cook, and Tailor. This combination is great for cooks since as a Farmer, you can create all the ingredients that you need for your cooking leveling and recipes. In fact, cooking is the only profession in LOTRO that you can level just by standing near an oven. No roaming the landscape is needed!
Now that we got that out of the way, let's see what types of food there are.
In LOTRO, there are three types of food: Cooked Food, Trail Food, and Fortifying Food.
Cooked Food removes an enemy debuff, such as Wound, Poison, Disease, or Fear effects. It lasts for a short time but can remove strong impairments to your stats and battle efficiency. It also boosts your in-Combat Morale and Power regeneration which helps you heal faster while fighting, so it can get you out of a tight spot.
Trail Food is a stat buff. You eat it, and for a longer period of time (20 to 30 minutes) you get a +statincrease. It can up your game a bit before you enter a hard raid or a crowded dungeon.
Fortifying Food ups your Resistances. To be honest, nobody uses this type of food, since it's practically useless. The percentage of Resistance you get is insignificant and you get no actual difference in your gameplay. So, for the upcoming Top 10 list, I'll be ignoring Fortifying Food completely.
10) Superior Complete Hobbit Breakfast
A decent entry-level boost. It's a level 10 Trail Food, that gives you Vitality. Vitality is a stat that every class loves and at that level, this boost feels like you've just grown a turtle's shell. It's a 'critical success' version of Complete Hobbit Breakfast, but when you're cooking big batches, it's quite easy to mass up a decent amount of crit food. Also, it's made by Hobbits, so that's an automatic recommendation, right?
Food Stats:
+28 Vitality
How To Get Superior Complete Hobbit Breakfast:
- Journeyman (Tier 2) Cooking Recipe
- Quest: Orc Out-riders
9) Superior Roast Pork
It always reminds me of the famous "Salted pork..." Gimli quote. Other than that, this level 10 Cooked Food removes 1 Wound/Poison debuff from you and gives you some in-Combat Morale and Power Regeneration. Again, when you're a noobie, this regeneration stat makes you feel like you're Wolverine, growing back limbs and stuff...
Food Stats:
Removes up to 1 Wound, Poison effect with a maximum strength of 10 from the target.
+22 in-Combat Power Regen
+23 in-Combat Morale Regen
+617 non-Combat Morale Regen
+726 non-Combat Power Regen
How To Get Superior Roast Pork:
- Apprentice (Tier 1) Cooking Recipe
- Quest: Gísli's Favourite
8) White Pudding
This level 75 Trail Food buffs a perfect combination of stats - Vitality and Critical Defence.
I always liked it since it noticeably boosted my sustain. It's also universally useful and easy to make.
Food Stats:
+179 Vitality
+410 Critical Defence
How To Get White Pudding:
- Westfold (Tier 7) Cooking Recipe
- Quests: Vol III. Book 6. Chapter 3: Daughter of Suvulch and Vol III. Book 7. Chapter 7: Shadow of the Argonath
7) Baked Flounder
There are several reasons why I love this level 40 dish. Firstly, apart from removing 1 Disease, Fear effect, it has a unique effect that removes the Gnawing Cold debuff (it lowers Frost mitigation) that exists in the Forochel area (an icy paradise that I loved leveling in). Secondly, you have to actually catch the Flounder fish to make this Cooked Food. This requires your Fishing Rod and no lack of luck and it makes this food dear to its maker.
Food Stats:
Removes up to 1 Disease, Fear effect with a maximum strength of 45 from the target.
Warmth dispels Forochel's Cold
+291 in-Combat Morale Regen
How To Get Baked Flounder:
- Master (Tier 5) Cooking Recipe
- Quest: Ice at the Water's Edge
6) Partridge Hot Pot
This level 95 Trail Food was the best stat buffer before the Feast of Anorien dish hit the Middle-Earth restaurants. It increases your Vitality and Critical Defence at a point in leveling when every mob can murder you in a blink of an eye (leveling around 95 was hard).
Food Stats:
+221 Vitality
+471 Critical Defence
How To Get Partridge Hot Pot:
- Westemnet (Tier 9) Cooking Recipe
5) Superior Feast of Anorien
This is the ultimate Trail Food. It's a 'crit' version of the Feast of Anorien and it gives you...everything. Good for all classes at level 100.
Food Stats:
+367 Agility
+367 Might
+367 Fate
+367 Will
+432 Vitality
How To Get Superior Feast of Anorien:
- Anórien (Tier 10) Cooking Recipe
4) Potato-stuffed Waybread
We have to cover some class-specific Trail Foods. This level 121 Trail Food increases Might. It increases the hell out of it. So your hack-and-slash toon can swing blades and wreak havoc without ever getting tired. This is the ultimate endgame food for the Might stat.
Food Stats:
+40616 Resistance Rating
+2% Poison Resistance
+2% Disease Resistance
+2% Fear Resistance
+2% Wound Resistance
+3,432 Might
How To Get Potato-stuffed Waybread:
- Minas Ithil (Tier 13) Cooking Recipe
3) Chicken-stuffed Waybread
This is the same tier and level Trail Food, only for the Agility stat. Your endgame Hunter will eat this and sing songs of joy. By the way, the Superior Feast of Anorien had far more impact on the game when it came out, but these class-oriented foods are currently the best and therefore must be at a higher spot.
Food Stats:
+40616 Resistance Rating
+2% Poison Resistance
+2% Disease Resistance
+2% Fear Resistance
+2% Wound Resistance
+3,432 Agility
How To Get Chicken-stuffed Waybread:
- Minas Ithil (Tier 13) Cooking Recipe
2) Seven-star Stew
It was nothing but Trail Food so far, right? Make no mistake, Cooked Food is considered much more useful since its' removal effects are more efficient and impactful and that's why top spots are reserved for this category of food.
Seven-star Stew was the perfect level 100 addition to the Superior Feast of Anorien. It increases your in-Combat Regen, making you more self-efficient, making a perfect addition to the stat buff of the Trail Food.
This duo was my Holy Grail of the LOTRO kitchen for a long time.
Food Stats:
+520 in-Combat Power Regen
+711 in-Combat Morale Regen
+5170 non-Combat Morale Regen
+3630 non-Combat Power Regen
How To Get Seven-star Stew:
- Anórien (Tier 10) Cooking Recipe
1) Nine Star Pie
This endgame Cooked Food for level 121 removes 1 (incredibly strong) Wound or Poison effect while increasing your in-Combat Regen immensely. This is the latest of the LOTRO chef's masterpieces and your endgame toon will love to try it.
Food Stats:
Removes up to 1 Wound, Poison effect with a maximum strength of 135 from the target.
+25200 in-Combat Power Regen
+18240 in-Combat Morale Regen
+136800 non-Combat Morale Regen
+75600 non-Combat Power Regen
How To Get Nine Star Pie:
- Minas Ithil (Tier 13) Cooking Recipe
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