Dar-Gazag

General Notes

• The strength of DG varies with the status of TA, Lug, and TR.  If all three are red, DG has a reasonable defense in terms of dread and NPCs.  With them all blue, DG is not very defendable with many fewer NPCs.
• If in defense of DG, hold back by the Tyrant and attack with it.  Use the tents for cover and if it's distracted, try to pull damage towards it as much as possible.

Grimwood Lumber Camp

Grimwood Lumber Camp is an easier outlying keep to the south.  LC can be used as a staging point to TR/EC Crossroads or a fall back point.

Assaulting LC can be done from either the north or the west (staging from the south hill) entrances.  Typical fights pull all of the NPCs between the raid and the CG then pulling the CG, FM, and LT outside.  Keep it near the keep for credit and to prevent it from resetting.  If you fight the CG inside, it can be very easy to aggro more NPCs when thrown or chasing freep defenders.

Defending LC consists of being at the opposite door of the enemy then moving in when the Tyrant is pulled (or pulling it early with a pet) then trying to overwhelm the assaulting force.  Either kill the minstrels if there are few of them, kill the target of the Tyrant if it's not being kited around, or kill anything squishy to reduce the freep raid.  If the freeps practice careful focus fire, LC defense should go mobile and use both entrances of the keep for cover and to try to beat the freeps at a mobile game around it.  When the freeps move to try to attack you or gain line of sight, quickly move as a mass to their rear elements which typically haven't moved yet.  Crush them quickly then get back around the walls until the freeps move at you again.  Continue until they have aggroed the main NPCs then strike.

Consider using the outpost south of LC as a staging point or as a rally point when freeps arrive to defend LC. 

Isendeep

Isendeep is the easist keep to take and largely out of the way, making it a long trip for defenders for both freeps and creeps.  Isendeep has two hotspots, one south of the main entrance and one to the southeast as the base of the Grothum waterfall.

Assaulting Isendeep requires a fairly easy trip through the cave to the CG and his two LTs.  Clear the two Coldfell NPCs near him and the roaming patrol then select an LT for the kill, offtank the CG and other LT, then kill the second LT, then finally the CG.

Most teams also frequently do the Golloval quest right after this.  Isendeep also requires reinforcement by the small campfire near the Tyrant.

Lugazag

This keep is a frequent first target for creeps on a blue map as it's the closest to Gramsfoot.  Because of this, it's also typically where the majority of freep forces are too in this case.  This keep has a single entrance and has a rez circle for the side that controls it.  It is a critical stepping off point to the rest of the map for creeps.  To capture Lug, the flag must be captured in the room after the CG.

Assaulting

1. Entryway - One patrol wanders around the north and a few NPCs and a Sgt level NPC is at the entrance.  They are easily pulled away around the ruins so they can be taken out without interference from inside the keep.
2. Corridor - One wandering Sgt level NPC can be pulled and will call on the whole corridor to attack.  Wait for the Sgt to move to the back before pulling the Entryway then pull him outside to kill him and the corridor.  Watch for freep charges with this group as it is somewhat strong.
3. Main Room - This large room has three groups of NPCs, two of which are linked together.  The best tactic is to drive the freeps from the corridor then have a ranged creep pull any NPC inside.  Drag them all outside of the keep then deal with them.  By this method, NPC hunters will be drawn into the creep raid instead of being safely back with the freep raid.  This is where your rearguard should be placed.
4. Stairway - It is important to move only one level up at a time.  Aggro the LT on the mid level and kill him either there or downstairs.  Stay together and ready to strike at freeps if they venture down.  If there is a freep champion ball in the mid level or on top of the stairs, a common defensive tactic, throw a banner down at the bottom of the stairs and then rush the ball with everyone and get behind it.  Encircle it to reduce the effectiveness of the freeps and focus tightly to kill them quick.  Defiler fears are also extremely valuable and should be fired everytime they're up
5. 2nd floor corridor - Either charge all the way up the stairs and take a hard right into the alcove or pull the NPCs down to the mid/bottom level.  Ranged should suppress the freeps while melee deal with the NPCs.
6. 2nd floor main room - The two doorway NPCs can be drawn back down to the stairs seperate of the LT group.  Deal with the LT group with melee while suppressing the freeps then move into the main room.  Watch for the patrolling LT and other NPCs.  There is a chance that the FM's may be outside of the room if a previous assault had aggroed them.  If so, be very careful on where your raid goes to prevent an early pull.  With reset FM's, a very careful body pull (walking up to it instead of attacking) can pull only one FM.  Kill them while ranged forces the freeps into the CG room.  Use the corner to break line of sight to kill NPCs safely.
7. The CG will aggro with the FM's in the room and will pursue the creeps even outside of the keep, so be ready for a stiff fight when the pull is made.  The major decision is to fight in the room, with the possible addition of two more Sgts and three hunter NPCs, or to pull it out into either the top or bottom main floor.  Pulling it away gives more manuever room to stay dispersed away from Freep AoE.  In either case, freeps must be dealt with if present and should take priority over NPCs.  Use weaver webs to lock down the more dangerous melee NPCs (FMs or CG) or offtank then with a ranked warleader. 
   • When fighting the CG, watch the CG's target and stay behind it.  It does considerable AoE damage to the forward half.  It also does a 1.5-2k execute so heal up or run off if you are in this range.
   • It is vital to debuff the CG particularily with entangling web, hamstring, sunder armor, and blinding dust.  Watch the debuffs and call for renewals when needed.
   • CJ's are extremely useful if used wisely.  Use them primarily for repowering the raid with yellow combinations.  The Raid Leader should be carefully watching the CG and call for specific members to open up a CJ when their group needs power.  Each CJ used puts up immunity for one minute, so look for when the red shield icon goes away
8. Flag Capture - Immediately move to the next room and send people to capture the flag while the rest of the creeps defend that person from AoEs.  After capturing the flag, track for any stealthed freeps to prevent a reflip.

9. Escaping - Sometimes the raid will be unsuccessful, usually with strong freep resistance.  The best escape paths are out the windows on the second floor.  Consider dropping down to the bottom then waiting their momentarily for freeps to jump into massed creeps.

Defending

1. Entryway defense - If there is oil, the entry corridor is a reasonably strong position to hold.  Melee hold in the back corridor/main room and push when the freeps charge in and take damage from the oil.  Weavers and BA's both are on the ground level keeping pressure up on their opponants with Warleaders in the back corridor healing and putting down Banners of Terror as close to the freeps as possible.  Defilers should be fearing the front freep melee line as much as possible.  Once the freeps have pushed into the corridor and have a viable offensive going, it's time to start backing up
2. Main room defense - The main effort is going to be distracting the enemy while the freeps are taking out the NPCs.  Harrass the healing if possible and do not count on the NPCs for defense as they are very weak.  Fall back when the freeps are on the last group of NPCs.   At ths point, any creeps outside should seal the entrance, preventing more freeps from reinforcing the keep.  Keep up communication so that the inside and outside group can indicate which way the freep raid is going (they can push back outside enmass and kill those outside)
3. Stairs - The upper part of the stairs is a reasonable chokepoint against a non-champ heavy raid given the line of sight issues that the freeps will have with healing and ranged targetting.  Defilers should be fearing anything that runs to the top with AoEs attacking anything at the top of the stairs.  Warleaders should be back a bit and safe from attacks while healing the melee.  Creeps should not go down the stairs as there will likely be many freeps down there with all of their healers.
4. 2nd floor main room - If pushed back into this area, it is simply a delay zone.  Creeps outside can advance into the first floor and begin a two-sided harrasement of the freeps, splitting their forces.  Swift assassination attacks should be done against anything left behind or overextended. 
5. Tyrant's Room - In general, wait for the Tyrant to be pulled before calling the full attack.  This Tyrant will reset when pulled out of the room so reign in everyone if he is reset.  When the freeps charge the room they will either kite the CG or focus on it.  If they kite/offtank the CG they will be focussed on the creep raid.  Kill the kiter/tanker as fast as possible to unleash the Tyrant onto the freeps.  Press the freeps strongly as you'll have all the NPCs in the room on them and this is your best opportunity to kill them.  Do not let them reset the CG.  Hinder the Tyrant's target when it starts running out of the room then lock it down with a pounce-CJ and kill it ASAP.  If they focus on the Tyrant instead, kill their minstrels or DPS as fast as possible to slow them down.  Ensure the Guardian on the Tyrant is sundered and wounded.  If the Tyrant is killed, quickly weigh the status of the creep raid vs the freep raid.  Continue the battle to the flag room if possible and AoE on the flag to prevent a flag flip while continuing to drill down their critical members.

Ost Ringdyr

Ost is an untakeable freep keep which holds the relics needed to give creeps an infamy boost in the Ettenmoors.  The creeps must enter the keep, kill the CG, then run the relic back to DG without dying or being feared.  A failed attempt results in a 30 minute reset timer.  Additionally killing the CG and FM's is worth 2k Destiny and a title.  It is extremely hard if there are freeps, but doable if taken slowly.

The difficulty of Ost varies with how many of the three central keeps (TA, Lug, and TR) are blue.  This influences the respawn rate and the appearance of FM's along with the CG.  Overall though, the following points are useful in going through Ost.

1. Everyone must stay up with the Raid leader, no one should be firing at range
2. No one releases if killed, they won't make it back through the respawns

3. No one shoots at freeps unless they're told to.  Ranged only on freeps at that point.

Assault

1. Gather everyone up together at the bottom of the Ost ramp
2. Clear the entryway from the outside, pull the FM (it's a fake one) out and kill him
3. Enter and move to the campfire on the right, clear all aggro'd NPCs.  Ranged takes out Coldfell Hunters.
4. Go NE diagonally to the other campfire and clear the NPCs
5. Move to the bottom of the stairs and kill the FM and NPCs
6. Move to the top of the stairs hugging left, kill the three NPCs
7. Clear the rest of that ledge, this is a reasonable rest spot
8. Pull the LT that patrols the hallway and kill him
9. Go straight through the next doorway and go far right.  Kill the adds then the FM.  It is important to stay away from the doorway because the hallway LT will respawn and aggro onto anyone near the doorway.  This is a rest spot
10. Pull the hallway LT and kill it again
11. Hug the left wall and go up the stairs, kill the LT without aggroing the FM
12. Cross to the other side of the room and fight the FM in his corner watching for the patrolling LT
13. Kill the patrolling LT
14. Enter the CG room hugging left and go into the far wall.  This is a rest spot
15. Set up two tankers, one for a FM (if present) and the other for the CG.  Everyone else will be on the last FM.  The raid will pull their FM then the tankers will grab their targets and drag them back to where their spawn point was.  The rest of the raid must stay tight in the corner else the LT in the hallway will respawn and aggro anyone in the doorway area.  As one target goes down, a tank pulls his target to the raid for destruction.
16. To exit, go to the previous FM's room and jump out the window (don't jump too far else you'll end up in the camp)

Outposts

Outposts

There are 5 outposts scattered across the Ettenmoors, two located by Hoarhollow, one south of LC, and two south of Isendeep.  Control of two of these outposts open up the Delving of Fror for that side.  Capturing an outposts requires killing of the boss and the subsequent capture of the flag.  They reset to Delving control after 6 hours.

The Good Grim outpost serves a dual purpose in being close to LC it is a good defensive location and jump off point to attack LC.  The other outposts are in locations too remote to hold or attack from.

Taking an Outpost

Outposts are only moderately guarded and can be taken out by a single group without too many issues.  There are guards at the entrance with two patrols for all three types of outposts, Creep Controlled, Freep Controlled, and Delving Controlled.  Typically the easiest approach is to wait for the patrols to move to the sides of the keep then run inside to the second floor dragging the door NPCs to you then killing them there.  Then move upstairs and engage the boss.  The Delving and CG bosses do reset when they go down the stairs but the Tyrant does not.

Tirith Rhaw

TR is usually the first keep that the freeps will strike at on a red map because it's closest to GV.  But on a blue map it could be the first place that a creep raid strikes as it has a major rez circle and few freeps usually are watching it, expecting the assault at Lug.  This keep has a single entrance and has a rez circle for the side that controls it.  To capture TR, the flag must be captured in the room after the CG.

Assaulting

1. Entryway - One patrol wanders around the south and a few NPCs and a Sgt level NPC is at the entrance.  They are easily pulled away around the ruins so they can be taken out without interference from inside the keep.
2. Corridor - One wandering Sgt level NPC can be pulled and will call on the whole corridor to attack.  Wait for the Sgt to move to the back before pulling the Entryway then pull him outside to kill him and the corridor.  Watch for freep charges with this group as it is somewhat strong.
3. Main Room - This large room has three groups of NPCs, two of which are linked together.  The best tactic is to drive the freeps from the corridor then have a ranged creep pull any NPC inside.  Drag them all outside of the keep then deal with them.  By this method, NPC hunters will be drawn into the creep raid instead of being safely back with the freep raid.  This is where your rearguard should be placed.
4. Stairway - It is important to move only one level up at a time.  Aggro the LT on the mid level and kill him either there or downstairs.  Stay together and ready to strike at freeps if they venture down.  If there is a freep champion ball in the mid level or on top of the stairs, a common defensive tactic, throw a banner down at the bottom of the stairs and then rush the ball with everyone and get behind it.  Encircle it to reduce the effectiveness of the freeps and focus tightly to kill them quick.  Defiler fears are also extremely valuable and should be fired everytime they're up
5. 2nd floor corridor - Either charge all the way up the stairs and take a hard right into the alcove or pull the NPCs down to the mid/bottom level.  Ranged should suppress the freeps while melee deal with the NPCs.
6. 2nd floor main room - The two doorway NPCs can be drawn back down to the stairs seperate of the LT group.  Deal with the LT group with melee while suppressing the freeps then move into the main room.  Watch for the patrolling LT and other NPCs.  There is a chance that the FM's may be outside of the room if a previous assault had aggroed them.  If so, be very careful on where your raid goes to prevent an early pull.  With reset FM's, a very careful body pull (walking up to it instead of attacking) can pull only one FM.  Kill them while ranged forces the freeps into the CG room.  Use the corner to break line of sight to kill NPCs safely.
7. The CG will aggro with the FM's in the room and will reset when it exits the room.  This makes killing the FM's an easier affair without the CG.  But this forces the creeps to enter the room to strike at the CG.  Decide whether to concentrate on the CG or to kill the freeps while tanking the CG.  Use weaver webs to lock down the more dangerous melee NPCs (FMs or CG) or offtank then with a ranked warleader. 
   • When fighting the CG, watch the CG's target and stay behind it.  It does considerable AoE damage to the forward half.  It also does a 1.5-2k execute so heal up or run off if you are in this range.
   • It is vital to debuff the CG particularily with entangling web, hamstring, sunder armor, and blinding dust.  Watch the debuffs and call for renewals when needed.
   • CJ's are extremely useful if used wisely.  Use them primarily for repowering the raid with yellow combinations.  The Raid Leader should be carefully watching the CG and call for specific members to open up a CJ when their group needs power.  Each CJ used puts up immunity for one minute, so look for when the red shield icon goes away
8. Flag Capture - Immediately move to the next room and send people to capture the flag while the rest of the creeps defend that person from AoEs.  After capturing the flag, track for any stealthed freeps to prevent a reflip.

9. Escaping - Sometimes the raid will be unsuccessful, usually with strong freep resistance.  The best escape paths are out the windows on the second floor.  Consider dropping down to the bottom then waiting their momentarily for freeps to jump into massed creeps.

Defending

1. Entryway defense - If there is oil, the entry corridor is a very strong position to hold.  Melee hold in the back corridor/main room and push when the freeps charge in and take damage from the oil.  Weavers and BA's both are on the ground level keeping pressure up on their opponants with Warleaders in the back corridor healing and putting down Banners of Terror as close to the freeps as possible.  Defilers should be fearing the front freep melee line as much as possible.  Once the freeps have pushed into the corridor and have a viable offensive going, it's time to start backing up
2. Main room defense - The main effort is going to be distracting the enemy while the freeps are taking out the NPCs.  Harrass the healing if possible and do not count on the NPCs for defense as they are very weak.  Fall back when the freeps are on the last group of NPCs.   At ths point, any creeps outside should seal the entrance, preventing more freeps from reinforcing the keep.  Keep up communication so that the inside and outside group can indicate which way the freep raid is going (they can push back outside enmass and kill those outside)
3. Stairs - The upper part of the stairs is a reasonable chokepoint against a non-champ heavy raid given the line of sight issues that the freeps will have with healing and ranged targetting.  Defilers should be fearing anything that runs to the top with AoEs attacking anything at the top of the stairs.  Warleaders should be back a bit and safe from attacks while healing the melee.  Creeps should not go down the stairs as there will likely be many freeps down there with all of their healers.
4. 2nd floor main room - If pushed back into this area, it is simply a delay zone.  Creeps outside can advance into the first floor and begin a two-sided harrasement of the freeps, splitting their forces.  Swift assassination attacks should be done against anything left behind or overextended. 
5. Tyrant's Room - In general, wait for the Tyrant to be pulled before calling the full attack.  This Tyrant will not reset when pulled out of the room so do a full charge on the freeps when they pull the Tyrant.  Do not let them pull the Tyrant into the stairs as the AoEs in an enclosed area will be very painful.  Concentrate on the Tyrant's target and burn them down as fast as you can.

Tol Ascarnen

TA is the central point for many battles due to it being squarely in the center of the map.  Owning TA gives a good jump off point to either rez circle keep.  Assaulting TA has OC as a buildup point for creeps and EC for freeps.  TA has multiple routes for both defenders and attackers, making resistance and reinforcements available to the defenders throughout the battle. 

Assaulting

1. Outside - Press against either the OC/EC bridge or the ramp leading to TR, depending on which way is most convenient.  The bridge defenders are weak and after those are dispatched, any defending freeps will be out in the open.  If the OC Tyrant is activated, it will assault the west entrance
2. West Entrance - Typically the entry point from the OC side.  Shoot and pull the NPCs out to simplfy the battle.  If hunters are upstairs or on the wall itself, either fight right up against the wall or pull them out a bit.  Freeps may run into the quest room,either clear the quest room and kill them or leave a rearguard.  If they pull the Tyrant into the quest room, it will get killed.
3. South Entrance - If this is the entry point, pull the NPCs around the corner to kill them, watch out for oil
4. East Entrance - This is largely the same as the OC side without the quest room.  Poor TA drops in right here and is convenient to strike from
5. Inner Courtyard - Use the walls to break line of sight and pull the stair NPCs towards you, killing them away from the freeps.  As soon as these are down, charge the stairs and go up either the left or right ones.  The rearguard should be left here
6. 2nd Floor East/West - Suppress the freeps while destroying NPCs or freeps running into the creeps.  Push them into the CG room

7. CG Room - Pulling the closest FM will pull the closest two and the CG who will reset at the doorway.  Subsequently shooting the CG after those are down will pull only the CG and the closest remaining FM.  Clear these outside of the room while ranged is suppressing the freeps.  It's best to offtank clear all four FM's if possible to prevent the last FM from aggro'ing onto the raid.  At this point, rest up, eat food, then charge the room placing banners all around it.  Offtank the CG and burn down the freeps.  When they are gone, take out the CG.  Ensure that all members of the raid stay inside of the room during this else the CG may reset.  Note the respawn rate of the FM's is extremely fast.  The pulls must come right after another else they will respawn by the time you start on the CG.

Defending

• Against equivalent opponants, resistance can be made all the way up to the Tyrant.  Against stronger forces, move directly to the Tyrant room and seek cover.  There are hiding spots in both the SE and SW corners where creeps can avoid being hit until the freeps enter the room.
• If defending each component stage, let the NPCs be pulled then move with them and strike.  Fall back when the NPCs are vanquished.  Harrass minstrels to keep their power levels down and get those TA hotspots flipped red ASAP.
• The stairs offer an interesting area to defend.  Against an equivalent opponant, don't stand on the stairs, be on the seocnd floor behind the walls.  If the freeps charge the stairs, creeps can drop on top of them and cause chaos or when the stairs are pulled, the raid can charge forward in support.  Try pulling freep melee or pets to the outer areas of TA to aggro even more NPCs.  If the hornblower is up, do everything possible to aggro it and not let it get killed before it can summon reinforcements.  Once the stairs are taken, anyone who succumbs should meet outside of the walls and wait for the Tyrant to be pulled
• Tyrant Room Defense - In general,, the chieftans are too weak to strongly influence a raid vs raid battle but their respawn rate does complicate the freep's issues.  If the freeps do not pull and kill all the chieftains before charging, draw them into the remaining ones.  Target through the Tyrant with maximum DPS with wargs pouncing and silencing minstrels.  Each kill that the Tyrant gets gives it a significant buff which is cumulative so build it up as fast as you can.  In general, hold all the way in the back on the ledges or corners until the final call to attack is made.  If the Tyrant is reset, consider quickly whether to press the attack or to fall back and wait for the next pull.