The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a game filled with many mysteries, taking a hands-off approach that lets players figure things out for themselves.
At some point, you’ll probably be wondering where some items are, as many of them are sorely needed for progression. We at Niche Gamer had to deal with that too, so we are willing to share the knowledge.
Below are detailed instructions on how to find some of the most elusive items in your early game exploration of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria:
Steel Ingots:
Steel ingots will be the first roadblock players will encounter in The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. No matter how much you search, there doesn’t seem to be any steel vein, so how do you even acquire them?
Well, it turns out that steel is just refined iron. The problem is that there’s no recipe to be found in your smelter, right?
It seems that the regular smelter just doesn’t pack enough heat to turn iron into steel, so players will need to make their way to the Elven Quarter, where they’ll find the Great forge of Narvi, which allows for smelting steel, a key requirement for the masterwork equipment.
Keep in mind that steel Ingots are made by heating up iron ores and coal. Don’t make the same mistake we made at first and smelt all of your iron into ingots thinking you are saving time.
Ubasam Wood:
The second roadblock that players will most likely encounter is Ubasam wood, an elusive resource that doesn’t seem to be found anywhere.
Players can see their forge and smelter upgrades taunting them in the construction list, but no matter how much they explore, that wood is nowhere to be seen.
Ubasam wood can be first found in the Lower Deeps by breaking down the tall mushroom trees. Yes, as it turns out, Ubasam wood was mushroom wood all along, who knew?
The way to the Lower Deeps is by fixing the great elevator, so you better start collecting materials to fix it before getting down there and harvesting those sweet upgrade materials.
Orc keys:
This one is not necessarily a progression stopper, but players may struggle with it. Very often you’ll find a chest that requires a key. The first time you find one, the key can be built in the forge, so naturally, that’s how all keys work, right?
Not really. Players will find themselves amidst a cleared orc camp, staring at a chest and wondering where the plans to make the key are. It turns out that orc keys are not built, but they are instead found.
Whenever you clear an orc camp and find a chest, look for a distinct orc standard with a red banner on it. Breaking the banner will make a comically large orc key drop, and that’s how you open those chests.
Orc chests have a chance to contain black diamonds, which are an integral item needed for making fast-travel points all across the game. If you left some orc chest unopened, it may be time to backtrack and start breaking things until you find that key.
Well, there you go, those are some of the early game items you may have had trouble finding in The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. We hope you are having a great time with the game, and that you haven’t gotten too lost with its more hands-off approach.
If you want to know more, consider reading our review for the game (we really liked it!).
We’ll be covering the game further, so keep an eye out for more Niche Gamer guides, and make sure to always keep a torch and some ale handy.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is now available on Microsoft Windows (through the Epic Games Store). PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S ports are set to release December 5, 2023, and Early 2024, respectively.
