Sometimes in an MMO you might hear “outfits are the real end-game”. But looking good in LOTRO does not have to wait that long, when you can get cheap cosmetics almost straight away!
For once, I’m going to try and keep this guide fluff-free. Let’s see how that goes! Here’s my (I hope to be) concise but complete guide to collecting outfits in LOTRO.
What Kind of Cosmetics Are Earnable In-Game?
There are more ways to acquire outfit items than when I started playing. Expansions typically have them and so do supporter packs. But you don’t need to pay any real money for that perfect appearance. The types of cosmetics you can earn in-game include:
- Individual Slot Pieces: Head, Shoulders, Body, Legs and Feet. (I’ve covered the ‘back slot’ below).
- Whole Outfits: sometimes you can acquire a “whole outfit” item. This slides into the upper-body (chest) slot, but then transforms the whole appearance. Like a onesie, but less onesie-ish.
- Weapons and Shields: You don’t have to keep the appearance of that weathered sword or tatty shield at the start of your adventures. So long as it roughly matches the weapon type, you can put an alternative appearance in the weapon slot of an outfit tab.
- Held Items: In place of weapons, you can show something else! Beat up an orc with a little sparkler, thwack the Dead with a firefly lamp, defeat a wraith with a flower. Use your imagination and have fun.
- Back Items: because the setting is Middle-earth, there are loads of cloaks. But there are other back items to be had too – with backpacks being another commonly-available item.
Weapon Auras
Note: You can apply Auras to Weapons and Shields. Most auras come in Supporter Packs or Expansion Bundles.
There is currently, per the Wiki, one earnable weapon aura:
- Acid Weapon Aura: from the Depths of Mâkhda Khorbo (T5). And it’s a possible drop, even then. (See preview on the Wiki
)
Which Slots Can You Not Change?
- Jewellery and Pocket slots. (Some hand items may display cosmetic jewellery).
- Certain Class Items – e.g. Guardian’s Belt
- Crafting and Gathering Tools. (However see the Hard Tack Event and the Forester Event for custom gathering tools).
- Leg cosmetics if the Chest/Upper Body item includes Trousers.
- Feet cosmetics if the tunic contains shoes and your outfit footwear is too long/tall. Some won’t show footwear at all if you’re a Shire Hobbit (but will force them for River Hobbits.
- Head cosmetics if you have a visible, hooded cloak on. (Set your head item, then switch the cloak on/off as the weather or role-play lets you).
See My Forester Guide
Note: if your cosmetic is a full-body, one-slot outfit, then you usually cannot customise the hands or feet either. A custom hat and shoulders are usually fine, I think.
Where Can You Get Free or Cheap Outfits in LOTRO?
Here’s a summary list, then I’ll go into more detail:
- Racial Starter Gear
- Loot: Landscape loot and dungeon chests
- Deeds
- Quests
- Crafting
- Gift Packs
- Hobbit Presents
- LOTRO Anniversary Gifts
- Outfitters
- Reputation Vendors
- Skirmish Camps
- Festivals and Events
- The Community
- Dyes: Weekly Codes, Quests and Crafting
Totally Free Outfits
Before I list these, by totally free I mean: cosmetics that require no real money, nor in-game items or currency, to unlock.
Racial Starter Gear
Some races have unique starter gear, which can then be used as outfits. Initially you can only use racial gear on the character that starts with it. But if you unlock Shared Wardrobe, then any character can wear it cosmetically. Key races are:
Beorning
There are two sets of Beorning items and the introduction is really quick. By the way, the headband appears as a hood on male Beornings. Goodness knows why.
Stout-Axe Dwarf
Okay, this starter zone is not quick. But equally, if you want free outfits in LOTRO, you have to run the content!
High Elf
There are three sets: Light, Medium and Heavy Armour. Just run the starter instance three times and throw their outfits into your Shared wardrobe! A useful extra for High Elves is that you also get a “Lesser Ring of Power”, whose combat stats level with you. That’s only useful if you choose to keep the Elf, of course.
Note: you still have to pay LOTRO Points to unlock River Hobbits.
Do Any Classes Come with Unique Gear/Outfits?
Yes, but they’re not free. You have to pay to unlock both the Mariner and Brawler classes.
Loot
From your general I-killed-5000 goblins loot, to the gear that comes from instances (dungeons), keep your eye out for new cosmetics. Even the starter regions can yield new weapons.
Other sources of loot are the landscape treasure boxes in enemy camps, and the treasure-caches (those related to deeds).
Looted Weapons I still have in my Wardrobe are:
Deeds
Here is not the place to talk about aaaaaall the free cosmetics you can get from LOTRO deeds. But a simpler example I can give would be that ticking off some Birding deeds eventually unlocks a deed-specific outfit.
Quests
I certainly don’t intend on listing every quest here that contains an outfit item! But a few more easily-reachable ones were worth adding.
Generic Quests
Some quests may offer armour as a reward, others a cosmetic item only. But do make a note of quests that have rewards you think suit your character. I am L149 at the time of writing, but in my Wardrobe I still have the Bear-hide Shirt from the Trollshaws.
This is one you earn by picking up the quest Bear-hide Armour from a loot item. You then turn in the quest at Rivendell for your outfit item.
Tip: if gearing isn’t an issue, remember to Shift+Click armour quest rewards to preview them for possible free cosmetic outfits.
Specific Yule Quests
Each year you play the Yule Festival you can redo A Final Act. Depending on your choices, you receive one of two outfits you can only earn this way.
Also, after a character’s first Yule Festival, if you sided with the poor, another quest item will be mailed to you. This triggers Good Deeds at Yule-time. The rewards for that quest are a red robe and a red dress.
Scavenger Hunt
Another example is the Anniversary Scavenger Hunt. While that is related to the festival, you acquire outfit items as part of the quests themselves, rather than by exchanging tokens. There are some free cosmetics in the Eriador Scavenger Hunt, but more in the main one.
Tale of the Shipwrecked Mariners
While the Tale of the Shipwrecked Mariners is an event in LOTRO, and some cosmetic items are acquired via bartering, it also has quest rewards.
By completing the storyline you can obtain a set of mariner/pirate cosmetics.
Other Notable Examples
Two others that spring to mind all relate to content in Dunland and Isengard. You will need to run the Epic on two different characters to obtain all three sets:
Anniversary Gifts
During the LOTRO Anniversary, players receive bonuses based on how many years they’ve had an active account. While it’s not always true, sometimes these do contain outfit cosmetics – which may include clothes for your current or future war-steed.
A good example is the 4-year gift-box:
But there are cosmetics in the 7th, 8th and 14th years too.
Gift Packs
When you start playing LOTRO you receive an item which is a box entitled “Gift Pack”. As you level up, you unlock other gift packs.
While I cannot recall how many of those contain cosmetics, I know that the Circlet of Men is in the Gift for an Adept.
Did You Lose Yours?
If you lose Circlet of Men, you can re-acquire it for Steel Tokens at the next LOTRO Anniversary.
Silver Hobbit Presents
I had to look this one up, but yes the Rare Mathom-hunter’s Armour drops from Silver Hobbit presents. These are the daily freebies available to all players whether you’re Free-to-Play or VIP.
Because the box containing the armour opens at your level, it can function both as gear and as a cosmetic. This is true whether you have Wardrobe unlocked or not, as it binds to you.
Can You Dye the Mathom-Hunter’s Armour?
Yes. The areas that are not the heavy teal colour are mostly dyable.
Crafting
Sometimes Free, Sometimes Cheap
There is no doubt that you can craft outfit items for your character. The early levels of LOTRO Crafting may not look like much, but later they markedly improve. Once you hit Expert level and join a crafting guild, very often guild recipes have unique cosmetic appearances too.
Free Craftable Outfits
You can craft armour and outfits for free if you have Universal Ingredient Pack. When you do so, the item is bound to account initially, then usually bound to the character once equipped.
Please don’t confuse this with 
Universal Optional Crafting Ingredients, which are totally different!
You need only to craft the item using the kits, assuming you have enough of them anyway.
Why “Sometimes Cheap”?
Aside from “no such thing as a free dinner” and other cynical sayings…
Crafting’s Other Costs
Even if you gather almost all your ingredients from the landscape, many crafting recipes require you to purchase ingredients from the Supplier NPCs. Also, if you’re not a LOTRO VIP, you will have repairs to make on your gear after crafting, too.
Reputation Gating
Because, in later levels, crafting recipes are locked behind Reputation tiers, or “Rep-gated” I think some say. But this is no different from cosmetics being earned through reputation really. In this case, if your outfit or recipe is rep-gated, once you have hit the correct standing, you’ll have to turn over coins or local currencies/tokens to acquire it.
Cheap Cosmetics from Vendors
Let’s move from “free” to “pretty darned cheap”. Using the various earnable in-game currencies, you can acquire outfits for silver, or tokens, or Marks and medallions.
Outfitters
Outfitters are the unsung heros and heroines of cheap cosmetics. They were the reason my first ever character looked okay in his early adventures. I was able to expand the outfits once I started playing events and festivals.
And when I say cheap, I mean, really low cost, because these vendor offer outfits for just a few silver. You can earn that within a few quests on a new character.
Where are Outfitter NPCs?
- Bree-land: Weapon and Armour Shop (South)
- Ered Luin: Celondim, Thorin’s Hall
- The Shire: Michel Delving Vendor Hall, The Golden Perch (Stock)
- North Downs: Trestlebridge, Othrikar
- Trollshaws: Rivendell (Market)
Similarities and Differences
While there are similarities in what they offer, each region has some unique products you purchase. And, as a bonus these cheap cosmetics are usually not bound to your character. So you can share them with all your characters or, once you’ve created your LOTRO cosmetic outfit, you can sell the item again for a few copper. For a new player, storage can be an issue, so you can save a slot this way.
Example Outfits
The LOTRO-Wiki lists the unique items for each Outfitter.
Reputation Vendors
While earning reputation is itself a task, very often there are cosmetics to be earned too. And if there aren’t cosmetics directly, you might earn an crafting recipe whose appearance you can use.
The example here is the Men of Bree Reputation Vendor. Even without scrolling, there are actual cosmetics, crafting recipes (though these are decorations) and weapons that are gear but can also be used cosmetically.
Example Cheap Cosmetics
Virtue-Restricted?
With some reputation items, you may find you are unable to purchase them due to the level of specific LOTRO Virtues. This is not your actual virtue rank for specific traits, but which are equipped or slotted.
Slot the relevant virtue, buy the item, and then return your Virtues to how they were before! Once an item is in the Wardrobe it is pretty much unrestricted. No, you can’t use a bow like a sword, nor fire a staff from your bow. Sorry.
Skirmish Camps
Once you begin completing deeds and Skirmishes, you will earn 
Marks and 
Medallions. These can be exchanged for a huge array of items at a Skirmish Camp. Though you can use Marks and Medals to upgrade your combat gear, there are also various cheap cosmetics for you and your Skirmish Soldier.
Some cosmetics and gear are not cheap, especially once you start to exchange Medallions. But a Skirmish Camp does have some unique offerings.
Festival Cosmetics
When I first started playing The Lord of the Rings Online, I was surprised (in a good way!) at how many free outfits you can obtain just by playing the game. Nothing epitomises this than the LOTRO Events Schedule every year.
The outfit cosmetics available at events are available every single time that event runs. They do not get moved to the “money shop” (LOTRO Store). All you need to do is earn the tokens at the event and buy clothing items for your character from this year, or a decade ago!
Browse Festival Cosmetics Now ↓
Some cosmetics screenshots are old from computers past. Please excuse any blurry ones. The LOTRO Cosmetics database I have here is kinda huge now and re-taking that many screenshots is too great a task for me.
All recent shots are as sharp as I can make them being too slow to load.
If you feel like retaking any old screenshots, please do forward them to me on social media and I’ll credit you when I get around to sorting it out. Thanks!
Steel Tokens
Steel Tokens are earned by defeating enemies while the LOTRO Anniversary is on.
There is a separate Steel Tokens Vendor for you to exchange for a variety of goods. While these include items like torches and special fireworks, there are loads of cheap cosmetics there too.
Festivity Token Cosmetics
While Festivity Tokens can only be earned during Seasonal Instances, they always have unique outfit cosmetics.
And Festivity Tokens are not restricted to specific events. Any event that has a Seasonal Instance also has a vendor where you can spend those tokens.
Give and Take in the LOTRO Community
Note: any items crafted with Universal Ingredient Packs are bound to the account of the crafter. If you are sharing with another player, create the item with regular materials.
While many cosmetic outfits are locked to the character or account, this is not true of everything. The biggest route to sharing cosmetics in my mind come through crafting. This is because crafted items are often not bound until they are equipped.
If you research an item and it turns out to be a higher level than you are, you may try asking someone in your Kin, or in World Chat for help. If someone is available and kind enough to do this for you, please remember to pay it forward in the future.
If someone lifts us up, there is someone else in your life now, or there will be, who may need you to lift them up.
Motes of Enchantment
While 
Motes of Enchantment can be used for gearing at various places in Middle-earth, they serve two purposes in helping you obtain outfits.
- Directly for Gear/Cosmetics
Look for the snappily-entitled “A Quartermaster Who Deals in Motes of Enchantment Traveller’s Gear“. There you can obtain on-level gear up to L140 (the current level cap is L150). But the gear itself is a unique appearance you can use in outfits. See the armour pieces on the Wiki. - Exchange for Figments of Splendour
Whichever
Figments of Splendour vendor is active, you can exchange Motes for Figments. The same is true for 
Embers of Enchantment, also.
Figments of Splendour
Figments, which you can earn in a variety of ways, are exchanged for a variety of “cosmetic” items – i.e. not gear. That includes pets, mounts, decorations aaaaaand, yup, outfit cosmetics.
Every few months the “rotating Figments of Splendour” NPC changes with each one carrying different wares. These are: Filbert Fig, Myrtle Mint, Rowan Raspberry and The Curator.
Missions
I’m excluding the Delving system here because I’ve never used it. See the Wiki for Delving Rewards
There are various mission centres in LOTRO these days. Missions are short, one or two-person instances. Many mission centres have their own Reputation faction attached, so in many ways it works the same as a regular reputation. You do the missions, earn the tokens and can purchase rewards with the tokens at different levels.
But don’t underestimate the loot factor either. Missions are on-level. This means you have a chance for gear or crafting recipes to drop as loot during the missions themselves.
How to Get LOTRO Store Cosmetics for Free
If you’re new to The Lord of the Rings Online this statement may sound like a bad salesperson cold calling you. Aaaaand I’m a little blogger unaffiliated with LOTRO so I have no self-interest in “cold calling” you!
Earn, Don’t Buy
LOTRO lets you earn its in-game currency (LOTRO Points, or “LP”) when you complete certain deeds. Sometimes these can be generous, and other times you only get a few LP.
But if you do not spend those earned points, you can bank them up and browse the LOTRO Store later to buy a free outfit.
Look Before You Buy
Just check with the LOTRO-Wiki first, though. This is because some LOTRO Store items have similar appearances to clothing you can make or earn another way in-game.
Dyes
Dyes allow you to modify an items colour from its original look. One dye can be active on an item at once, unless it is in the Shared Wardrobe, then you can make multiple colours for yourself.
However, with LOTRO there are limited ways to acquire dyes in-game. In both SWTOR and FFXIV any crafter can make them, and FFXIV has some dyes available for the generic quest-reward currency. In LOTRO, only Scholars can craft them and then they’re sperad out over the different crafting tiers.
Crafting dyes can be a long, drawn-out process. This is probably why some people make their in-game gold and silver from selling dyes – they genuinely have to earn it.
–>
How Do I Get Free Dyes in LOTRO?
- Crafting: If you have a scholar and you only need to craft for yourself, then you can use Universal Ingrediant Packs. This makes them both easy, quick and free. If you’re in a Kin, you may have access to boxes that give you free Universal Ingrediant Packs. Otherwise UIPs can only be obtained for free through Hobbit Gifts and special Yule Festival Hobbit gift boxes.
- Gift Packs: some of those early gift packs contain the common, generic dyes like Navy, Olive and Violet
- Weekly Codes: Keep an eye on LOTRO’s official social media, forum announcements and Discord. Sometimes the Weekly codes are free dyes. The last one I remembered to snag was the purple dye.
- Starter Quests: When you complete some of the racial starter questlines, you can choose a dye from the quest rewards:
- Race of Man / Hobbits
- Dwarf / Elf
- Stout-Axe
- High Elf
- I’ll need to confirm this, but I don’t think dyes are a reward during the River Hobbit introduction. But I’ll double-check that.
- Race of Man / Hobbits
Basic Dye Examples
Dye Wash
Dye wash removes a dye from an item, returning it to its original appearance. These aren’t free, but can be acquired for a few silver from Supplier and Tailor NPCs.
Note: occasionally, when I’ve applied it to older items, dye wash hasn’t reset the appearance, but has washed all colour out. If this happens to you, and it’s not in your Wardrobe, you’ll need to re-obtain the item. The alternative is a help ticket, but doing it yourself might be quicker.
Dye Wash is Optional
You don’t have to use a Dye Wash to apply a new dye. The new one will replace the old one. But it’s niggles like this that make the Wardrobe so much better.
TL;DR Go Spruce Yourself up with Free and Cheap Cosmetics in LOTRO!
While I only have experience in three MMOs, LOTRO has by far the widest range of easily-accessible, cheap cosmetics from the early levels. The festivals and events are not FOMO – if you didn’t grab an outfit this year for tokens, you can get it next year. And the fact that you can quickly get something pretty good-looking from an outfitter to cover up that gross early-level armour is still a great go-to.
So, I hope this guide helped either as a first reference or a refresher! If I’ve missed anything, do let me know so it can be as useful as possible.
Thanks for reading and enjoy your time in Middle-earth.
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