Whoever makes those is really good at it, their quest guides are outdated, but there's still a wealth of information on hidden deeds and secret routes to be found.
LOTRE EU has offered a Free-Week return to all former subscribers this week, so I'm taking advantage of it.
Even though the recent chat on Captains has been their odd place in Fellowships, I've rolled one anyway. I find the class intriguing, I guess.
And to top it off, my Obsessive Tendancies have been immediately curbed. I went AFK abruptly at level 7, and died. No worrying about Undying on this toon! With Six (I believe) days to go, I only have one real goal; To level enough to run The Great Barrow at least once.
As for the lack of clear sources, I admit that in WoW it all became a crutch for me. I spent more time tabbed into WoWWiki, WoWhead, MMO-Champ, etc than I did playing the game. It actually became dissapointing that things felt so distinctly meta. So I fully intend to do as much as possible without checking up on databases for as long as possible. Maybe I'll come out at the end feeling refreshed on the MMO scene. If not, then this week will in all likelyhood be my last MMO until Aeon/Champions/WoW-Expansion-Three/Whayever.
Aza, if you roll on Evernight I can help you out with whatever you need. I'd like to advise against running GB with high-levs, they kill everything before you even see what the mobs are trying to throw at you.
Aldo on
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Triple BBastard of the NorthMARegistered Userregular
edited August 2009
Aza, it's funny you mention wanting to try other MMO's. I've been getting that bug recently, as well. I tried EVE again yesterday, and was bored to shit and back. I'm seriously considering trying Champions when open beta starts, and I'm definitely going to try Old Republic. I know it's just a matter of time until I start playing LOTRO again, but I still don't know how long it's going to be.
Aza, it's funny you mention wanting to try other MMO's. I've been getting that bug recently, as well. I tried EVE again yesterday, and was bored to shit and back. I'm seriously considering trying Champions when open beta starts, and I'm definitely going to try Old Republic. I know it's just a matter of time until I start playing LOTRO again, but I still don't know how long it's going to be.
There's a guy I was first introduced to when I played FFXI six years ago. We've over the years each played varied MMOs. I alone have played FFXI, WoW, CoH/V, Lineage II, Guild Wars, WAR and LOTRO now, along with a very brief dabble of Dragonica. He has tried several more. We've basically come to the conclusion that we're chasing that initial buzz of a new world. That first moment of logging into the game, and being swept with "Whoa." sensations.
And yet we both end up pulling back to the MMO we're most rooted in. I figure it's like a kind of Wonderlust, and you're not really able to feel the game for it's values until you see it objectively.
I had to stop playing LOTRO for a couple of months, but I've constantly wanted to come back. I never broke 20, but at this point LOTRO is the closest to my concept of a perfect MMO, so I'll inevitably come back eventually. WoW is, how to put this, the drug I hate, but can't stop.
The point of this ramble? There ain't one. Just a ramblin'. Move along!
Aza, it's funny you mention wanting to try other MMO's. I've been getting that bug recently, as well. I tried EVE again yesterday, and was bored to shit and back. I'm seriously considering trying Champions when open beta starts, and I'm definitely going to try Old Republic. I know it's just a matter of time until I start playing LOTRO again, but I still don't know how long it's going to be.
There's a guy I was first introduced to when I played FFXI six years ago. We've over the years each played varied MMOs. I alone have played FFXI, WoW, CoH/V, Lineage II, Guild Wars, WAR and LOTRO now, along with a very brief dabble of Dragonica. He has tried several more. We've basically come to the conclusion that we're chasing that initial buzz of a new world. That first moment of logging into the game, and being swept with "Whoa." sensations.
And yet we both end up pulling back to the MMO we're most rooted in. I figure it's like a kind of Wonderlust, and you're not really able to feel the game for it's values until you see it objectively.
I had to stop playing LOTRO for a couple of months, but I've constantly wanted to come back. I never broke 20, but at this point LOTRO is the closest to my concept of a perfect MMO, so I'll inevitably come back eventually. WoW is, how to put this, the drug I hate, but can't stop.
The point of this ramble? There ain't one. Just a ramblin'. Move along!
You're right though. Anybody who has ever loved playing any MMO, whether it was back to UO, EQ, or even people who started with newer games, will always chase that initial unjaded feeling of world exploration. I have finally come to grips with the fact that it's never coming back, but each game can offer it's own version of that. With LOTRO, I'm enjoying it because I quit the raiding scene in WoW to take it up, and I feel I'm just enjoying experiencing the story and the world a little bit at a time without any preconceived notions about what it would be like.
Exploring worlds is practically *the* reason why I keep trying out new free MMOs. :oops:
Aldo on
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Triple BBastard of the NorthMARegistered Userregular
edited August 2009
Exploration was about 70% of why I initially took interest in Middle Earth Online/LOTRO six years ago when I heard it was being made. I'm absolutely batshit for the Tolkien rhetoric, and the prospect of finally being able to explore it freely made me happy in places best left unmentioned.
That said, as much as I love LOTRO, I would've done a lot of things differently. It wasn't anywhere near what I was expecting. Before the game came out, I had dreams of exploring Mirkwood, Laketown, The Lonely Mountain, Gondor, Rohan, etc...basically the places I was looking forward to the most didn't even make it into the game. I know there's a chance that some of these places will make it into the game before all is said and done, I only hope I don't suffer the Spore effect** by the time it happens.
**they take so long putting it out that I don't give a shit anymore by the time it's released.
Isn't it due to them not actually having permission to put Rohan in yet?
Shens on
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Triple BBastard of the NorthMARegistered Userregular
edited August 2009
I actually thought they had the rights to *only* LOTR-related material, which would indicate that Mirkwood, Erebor, etc...will probably not make it into the game at all. Which would be a shame, because the areas from The Hobbit are the ones I kinda want to explore the most.
I hope I've got this all wrong, and every area I want to see will make it in eventually.
what's "in" LOTR is kind of sketchy anyway. I mean, Dale is vaguely mentioned once, as are the southern lands. Where do they draw the line? I hope they can put in Dale, in LOTR they say there is heavy fighting there as well and it would give Turbine the opportunity to write more epic story lines without running into the problem that you can't be the ultimate hero, because Aragorn already is. In Dale Turbine would have the complete freedom to create their own heroes and villains.
Last night, someone was asking where Mirkwood was, and someone answered them. I was balls deep in organizing a fellowship for DB so I wasn't paying that much attention.
Also, I LOVE healing as a Rune-keeper! I really can't wait for endgame to see exactly how good my healing is.
Southern Mirkwood has been stated to be added to the game some time this year. (link) And the general consensus seems to be that the next expansion is going to be Rohan, but that's all speculation. Turbine seems to be playing this one close to the chest (although they also have admitted that the switch-over of DDO to free-play is taking a fair amount of marketing resources that would otherwise go to LOTRO).
I actually thought they had the rights to *only* LOTR-related material, which would indicate that Mirkwood, Erebor, etc...will probably not make it into the game at all. Which would be a shame, because the areas from The Hobbit are the ones I kinda want to explore the most.
I hope I've got this all wrong, and every area I want to see will make it in eventually.
I was under the impression that the rights and everything extended to essentially "It was mentioned in the books" otherwise Annuminas and Angmar made seriously no sense whatsoever. Also, it was directly in the Hobbit, which is where Goblin Town came in. I know in a lot of people the Lonely Mountain would inspire a feeling of Moria 2.0 as a dungeon, or the new version of the dwarf capital as a city... but as long as I get to wander around in Smaug's lair, happy dwarf.
Completely agree with you on the desire to see a rebuilding Lake-Town btw. Burned to the ground (lake) by Smaug, rebuilding... then the mayor runs off with your cash just to die in the wastes. Also a lot of the citizens left to found Dale with Bard the bowman... I imagine it would not exactly be the most cheerful of places to live, but the people who did stay I'd imagine would have to be pretty determined ballsy people.
Dale would be a rather sad kinda place for me to visit though.
Just because we know how their story ends. Burnt to the ground again, and never going to be rebuilt fully.
edit:
The possibility remains though, that we are actually changing the whole "extended history" put forward by Tolkien... as we have already usurped the place of Durin VII as 'the dwarves returning to Moria after the fall of Durin's Bane'. Unless these idiots in here atm are all doomed to a horrible fate. It's a pleasant thought, considering the trainers all have the firking radiance armor enough to equip all of us, but refuse to cough it up unless we pay them in platinum. Whoops, tangent! Regardless, if we accept that we *are* outside of the whole extended history written by Tolkien, then the whole battle of Dale and Erebor in the war of the ring would be awesome to me, since we'd have the chance to actually change the outcome as Aldo already put it.
I mean technically we're already heroes for having put a stop to Amarthiel, Mordrambor, and Mordirith... and I guess for making the dwarves safe to continue in Moria (as long as they can realize that Balrogs aren't made of mithril and they stop digging for them) but Moria? It felt less like a heroic effort and more like urban reconstruction or something. Not really defending a city, just defending a group of idiot midgets that decided that having 2 billion orcs as neighbors sounded like a good idea.
I like the gradual exploration of LOTRO, I mean if the game opened with moria, rohan and gondor there wouldn't be much more to "expand" on. If I recall their licensing right they've got permission for all of LOTR, and I think they just got an extension till 2012?
Preacher on
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I like the gradual exploration of LOTRO, I mean if the game opened with moria, rohan and gondor there wouldn't be much more to "expand" on. If I recall their licensing right they've got permission for all of LOTR, and I think they just got an extension till 2012?
Well the bigger issue is that for real fanatics places like that would be fun to explore, but for more casual fans places not covered in the movies will not be as attention grabbing.
Preacher on
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Aza, it's funny you mention wanting to try other MMO's. I've been getting that bug recently, as well. I tried EVE again yesterday, and was bored to shit and back. I'm seriously considering trying Champions when open beta starts, and I'm definitely going to try Old Republic. I know it's just a matter of time until I start playing LOTRO again, but I still don't know how long it's going to be.
Right now I'm looking into LotRO again because CoX has probably lost my interest until Going Rogue, Champions turned out to not be the kind of game I was expecting, and TOR is a long ways away. From what I remember of the beta it might be decent enough to keep my interest for a few months.
There likely to be any lowbie PA teams for me to join?
There likely to be any lowbie PA teams for me to join?
Yeah, there are about 4-8 of us in our low to mid thirties who can run with, and I make an alt every day basically trying to find a second character to dick around with/craft things.
I have a couple Warden related questions, since after getting my Guardian to 32 I've been playing my Warden a bunch(up to level 20) and finding that I may in fact want to make him my main instead of the Guard.
First, do you use the short gambits a lot? I have a few 3 part gambits now and they replace a couple of the 2 part ones, but I guess I'm wondering if all the 2 part ones get a 3 part 'replacement' and so on, or are there some 2 part gambits that remain important to use even as you get higher level. I suppose the question extends on to whether when you're level 60, do you only use 5 part gambits, or are there shorter ones you have to remember and use too for different situations?
Second, is running out of power an issue for the class? I find when I'm mowing through enemies I have to use rations and pause sometimes to regen power, which I am not used to on my Guardian. I suppose once I get the stance for power regen that will make a difference, and I don't mind it because I'm killing things fast, but I just want to get a feel for all angles of the class so I can make an informed decision on making it my main or not.
Thanks!
Joshmvii on
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Triple BBastard of the NorthMARegistered Userregular
Mirkwood is in the LoTR saga. It's where Legolas is from for god's sake.
Yet the area itself has absolutely no presence whatsoever in the LOTR books, is the point. A point that is fairly moot, seeing as Mirkwood looks to be added soon.
Well the bigger issue is that for real fanatics places like that would be fun to explore, but for more casual fans places not covered in the movies will not be as attention grabbing.
So like, Evendim, Forochel, and Eregion. I think Erebor would do just fine.
Eh I was more saying that Mirkwood had enough mention in the book to merit entity in the game. Thusfar from what I've seen whether our not a locale featured in the film matters little. Take old forest for instance, and the barrow downs. Hell all of the game that people played until Moria expansion wasn't in the movie save The Shire, Bree, and Rivendale. There certainly were no Shadows in Angamar.
I have a couple Warden related questions, since after getting my Guardian to 32 I've been playing my Warden a bunch(up to level 20) and finding that I may in fact want to make him my main instead of the Guard.
First, do you use the short gambits a lot? I have a few 3 part gambits now and they replace a couple of the 2 part ones, but I guess I'm wondering if all the 2 part ones get a 3 part 'replacement' and so on, or are there some 2 part gambits that remain important to use even as you get higher level. I suppose the question extends on to whether when you're level 60, do you only use 5 part gambits, or are there shorter ones you have to remember and use too for different situations?
Second, is running out of power an issue for the class? I find when I'm mowing through enemies I have to use rations and pause sometimes to regen power, which I am not used to on my Guardian. I suppose once I get the stance for power regen that will make a difference, and I don't mind it because I'm killing things fast, but I just want to get a feel for all angles of the class so I can make an informed decision on making it my main or not.
Thanks!
32 so far on my warden (Calliopa), a couple thoughts...
There are trends in that some of the longer gambits are similar to the ones that come before it; but their effects also stack with the lesser ones, so it does pay off to remember (and use) the shorter ones...also animation times seem to vary quite a bit. In particular, fist -> spear remains essential for threat through the endgame, as it's the closest thing to non-legendary-slotted snap aggro wardens have.
After I got the power regen stance (conservation), power management became a non-issue. I had similar worries up until I got it, but it + ICPR equipment has done me just fine...a benefit of the longer gambits, is their cost / effect ratio is better than the shorter ones.
I have a couple Warden related questions, since after getting my Guardian to 32 I've been playing my Warden a bunch(up to level 20) and finding that I may in fact want to make him my main instead of the Guard.
First, do you use the short gambits a lot? I have a few 3 part gambits now and they replace a couple of the 2 part ones, but I guess I'm wondering if all the 2 part ones get a 3 part 'replacement' and so on, or are there some 2 part gambits that remain important to use even as you get higher level. I suppose the question extends on to whether when you're level 60, do you only use 5 part gambits, or are there shorter ones you have to remember and use too for different situations?
Second, is running out of power an issue for the class? I find when I'm mowing through enemies I have to use rations and pause sometimes to regen power, which I am not used to on my Guardian. I suppose once I get the stance for power regen that will make a difference, and I don't mind it because I'm killing things fast, but I just want to get a feel for all angles of the class so I can make an informed decision on making it my main or not.
Thanks!
See flammie's post above.
All I can add is that the gambits that get replaced are typically the damage-dealing ones. Healing stacks with other healing, and a good number of the threat gambits retain their usefulness.
Also, pick up a sword. Something about spear animations being bugged at the moment; a sword with a lower base speed will still allow you to execute gambits faster.
As for power, Conservation helps tremendously and will see you through the solo game just fine. Later in the game, though, doing some of the more difficult instances, you're really going to want a Captain or (better) a Lore Master around to handle your power issues.
s3rial one on
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Triple BBastard of the NorthMARegistered Userregular
Eh I was more saying that Mirkwood had enough mention in the book to merit entity in the game. Thusfar from what I've seen whether our not a locale featured in the film matters little. Take old forest for instance, and the barrow downs. Hell all of the game that people played until Moria expansion wasn't in the movie save The Shire, Bree, and Rivendale. There certainly were no Shadows in Angamar.
Yeah, the film is irrelevant when speaking of LOTRO. Though some part of me wishes they'd gotten a better voice actor for Gandalf.
I have a couple Warden related questions, since after getting my Guardian to 32 I've been playing my Warden a bunch(up to level 20) and finding that I may in fact want to make him my main instead of the Guard.
First, do you use the short gambits a lot? I have a few 3 part gambits now and they replace a couple of the 2 part ones, but I guess I'm wondering if all the 2 part ones get a 3 part 'replacement' and so on, or are there some 2 part gambits that remain important to use even as you get higher level. I suppose the question extends on to whether when you're level 60, do you only use 5 part gambits, or are there shorter ones you have to remember and use too for different situations?
Second, is running out of power an issue for the class? I find when I'm mowing through enemies I have to use rations and pause sometimes to regen power, which I am not used to on my Guardian. I suppose once I get the stance for power regen that will make a difference, and I don't mind it because I'm killing things fast, but I just want to get a feel for all angles of the class so I can make an informed decision on making it my main or not.
Thanks!
Piercing Blow (Fist-Spear) will remain very useful throughout your career. AIUI it puts the most Threat on a single target. Boot (Spear-Shield) will also remain useful through your career, as it's the quickest way to interrupt someone. Some people also like using War-Cry (Fist-Shield) throughout to add to threat generation.
At level 60, I still use a lot of the three part gambits. Keep in mind that you can stack Heal-over-Time and Damage-over-Time as long as the gambits are different lengths. So I could do a Restoration healing (Shield-Spear-Shield-Spear-Shield) and than add a Safeguard (Shield-Spear-Shield) and I would get heals from both while they lasted. Same with Exultation of Battle (Fist-Spear-Shield-Fist-Shield) and then stacking Fierce Resolve (Fist-Spear-Shield) on top of it, using both morale drains on top of each other.
I found I had power problems on and off, and started having big problems somewhere between level 55 and level 60 I really started getting power problems. From perusing the official forums it looks like the really good Wardens (of which I am not one) will continue to have power problems when going against really tough enemies (for example level 60 Wardens trying to solo monsters which were meant to be handled by full level-50 fellowships or even 12-person level-50 raids). There is a power-regeneration gambit available at 50 -- Darkness Before the Dawn -- but it requires you to have half-health to run it, which can get a bit scary if you don't have that much health to start with (level 60 Wardens can have anywhere from 3500 to 5000 morale to start with depending on how good their equipment is). From what I've been told, Wardens aren't very good at handling sudden large amounts of damage, which is particularly problematic if you're running at half-health for Darkness before the Dawn. Guardians are supposed to be much better at this. What Wardens are good at is tanking large crowds.
The Fist line is particularly power-intensive, but is very useful particularly when fighting large numbers of mobs at once. Pay particular attention to Fierce Resolve (Fist-Spear-Shield), Resolution (Fist-Spear-Shield-Fist), and Exultation of Battle (Fist-Spear-Shield-Fist-Shield) which drain morale from up to 10 targets and give it all to you. Using Exultation of Battle you could be regenerating over 600 morale per pulse if you're facing ten critters.
I've mostly solved my power problems by retraiting specifically to reduce power consumption. I've got Efficient Thrust which reduces my Spear Quick Thrust cost to 40% and have enough spear traits to get the -5% bonus. You can also throw in the Efficient Shieldwork which will reduce Shield Gambits. Also don't forget to pickup a Carving (special class-slot item) which can further reduce your power consumption for either Spear, Shield, or Fist gambits.
It's like they're talking and gargling salt water at the same time.
also I'm pretty sure they're going to open up Mirkwood. One of the NPCs somewhere in Lothlorien mentions some elves getting ready to cross the river at some point, and it's clear that there is actual STUFF on the other side of the Anduin. They could have just made the whole other shore into cliffs but there are clearly places you're meant to be able to swim ashore.
They just put level 65 enemies there so you CAN'T.
Htown on
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Triple BBastard of the NorthMARegistered Userregular
edited August 2009
Logged in tonight for a few minutes to see if I could maybe try to get the spark back, and...yeah, there's absolutely nothing there. I was disgusted at the mere sight of the game. This is disappointing.
Logged in tonight for a few minutes to see if I could maybe try to get the spark back, and...yeah, there's absolutely nothing there. I was disgusted at the mere sight of the game. This is disappointing.
I know exactly how you feel. I log in now, and it takes like 5 minutes before I just have to log out.
Nothing left to do but finish my radiance gear. Not much fun.
I use 2-gambits a lot, their power cost is very low and they are rather efficient. I also have the trait equipped that gives my warcry a #% (10?25?) chance to fear mobs, which is great in fights with loads of guys, because the more time they waste on running away the more time my FS has to pick them off one by one.
The gambits I try to avoid are with a length of 3: their power cost is through the roof and they're often exact copies of 4-gambits minus additional effects (like the +parry rating on sp-sh-sp-sh) anyway. I only apply sp-sh-fi during long fights and fi-sp-sh to keep my healing on mark. OK, and I of course use sp-fi-sh a lot, but that is because Turbine thinks it's a cool mechanic to make you debuff your enemies all the time. =/
Power remains a problem, but with some creative use of changing stances you can circumvent it. I also checked out the legendary trait you get from completing your l45 class quests and the stance that gives you sounds especially awesome because it gives both icpr and icmr.
Also, I dinged 59 yesterday without noticing, only when my dad poked his head around the corner and said 'hey, 59 already!' and I said 'no...oh...hey ' was when i noticed. I think I dinged while a column of fire was set on me by those pesky elementals in Flaming Depths.
Aldo on
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Alfred J. Kwakis it because you were insultedwhen I insulted your hair?Registered Userregular
edited August 2009
Just a few short question: Which of the these two classes do you think offers more versatility and variety - the Captain or the Lore Master? The other classes don't really interest me as much as they seem to be pretty straight forward at what they do, but perhaps is there another class that covers more then just one role in a group? Preferably something that's not simply tanking, healing or nuking? And last but not least, how well do the Captain and the Lore Master do when they're up on their own?
Loremaster is truly the swiss army knife of the classes, he has a pet, he has some small heals, he has crowd control, he has dps and he can summon an ent to curbstomp bitches.
Captains wear heavy armour (so they can slightly tank) have a pet and have some small heals. They mostly excel buffing, though.
Another swiss army knife is the Runekeeper (nuking/healing).
Thanks for all the information about Wardens. I am definitely leaning towards taking him over as my main over my Guard. The funny thing is, I came into the game knowing that I was going to be the tank for my group of friends I play with, so I picked Guard, not realizing they could do anything but tank. But now that I've played my Guard, I really enjoy it only when I'm duoing with my wife and I'm in Overpower destroying stuff with a 2 hander.
When it's time to actually tank things I find the Guard's system of spam reactive moves just to hope to keep agro on 5 dudes very troublesome. I think the Warden offers a lot more versatility as a tank in the ways that I prefer.
Last night was dead on Vilya, usually see groups looking for volume 2 book quests not last night, must have been the wow patch.
As far as using gambits, there are two 4 strokes I always remember to use Mighty blow (spear, shield, fist, spear) you get that around 30 and surety of death (fist, shield, fist, shield) Both are solid initial applications of damage with a dot component. The dot is good especially for moria enemies who stack defense buffs on themselves as your physical damage will be reduced but the dot won't be.
One thing to pay attention to is lower gambits are more power than higher gambits (some of them) so power strike costs more to use than mighty blow. Also don't worry about having WPS (Warden Panic Syndrome) early on, especially since as a warden remembering all the important gambits in a panic situation can be difficult.
Preacher on
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Just a few short question: Which of the these two classes do you think offers more versatility and variety - the Captain or the Lore Master? The other classes don't really interest me as much as they seem to be pretty straight forward at what they do, but perhaps is there another class that covers more then just one role in a group? Preferably something that's not simply tanking, healing or nuking? And last but not least, how well do the Captain and the Lore Master do when they're up on their own?
The captain has a modicum of healing, damage, and tanking ability. Solo, though, they're probably the worst class in the game. They can solo, but the combination of not being able to use your single target heal on yourself and having no heavy-hitting attacks kind of sucks.
The captain's got a pet, too, but it's easily the worst combat pet ever featured in a MMO. It's terrible. No damage, virtually no useful abilities, and aside from the hope herald, the thing keels over dead if someone so much as breathes on it.
Captains are known as the buffing class, and they're quite popular for end-game content, but I think that's because people don't realize just how small our buffs are.
The class is incredibly back-loaded, too. You get some decent abilities from 1-20, then from about 20-50, it's this great morass of garbage with a few odd useful abilities (that won't see any use until towards the end of the game). Then from 50-60 you can get some useful skills and traits.
There's also some grumbling about captains being able to tank, but I assure you, it is absolutely not true. Captains have no snap-aggro. We have a threat shout (on a 20s cooldown, and it's resistable) and a melee attack that improves our threat by 10% (on a 30s cooldown). That's it. If we're lucky, we can hold some mob's attention, but it's limited to 1) one mob at a time, and 2) low-aggro situations; if someone out-aggroed the MT, there's no way the captain's getting that mob's attention. Further, because we can't self-heal worth a damn and have very few defensive or preservation tools, we tend to require a lot more healing than a guardian/warden/champion.
Obviously, I'm not a big fan of the class. I played it to 60, hoping it would all sort of come together. It's a class that definitely starts to come together in the end of the game, but I feel the insubstantial buffs combined with the lack of any role to play (beyond, maybe, battlefield ambulance and raid wipe prevention) really hurt the class. Adding insult to injury are the asinine cooldowns we have on our abilities.
Shield of the Dunedain: -75% to all vulnerabilities on one ally for 15s, 10 minute cooldown.
Oathbreaker's Shame: +35% to all vulnerabilities on one foe for 10s, 5 minute cooldown.
Valiant Strike (untraited): ~175 group heal (at level 60) plus a so-so melee attack, 2 minute cooldown.
Valiant Strike (traited): ~175 group heal (at level 60) plus a so-so melee attack and a 900-point HoT over 45 seconds, 1.5 minute cooldown.
For reference, at level 60, my captain's got ~4k HP. And Valiant Strike is subject to BPE, which means the damned thing might not even work.
Captain really appealed to me too, until I researched them. Captain to me looks like a class every group would want, but that nobody would ever want to play. Just like you said, it's like jack of all trades, but super weak jack who is only really there because of their buffs. It would be like playing an enhancement shaman in WoW if their personal DPS was equivalent to a holy paladin.
Give the captain a pass. Let someone else suffer through it. Play a class with something more to contribute than being the group's cheerleader.
I am not sure what you were expecting. To be the best healer while in heavy armor? To be the best tank with extra support skills? The captain is a jack of all trades. It gets very difficult to balance them without it seeming incredibly overpowered. The buff argument is silly. We could argue it, but I really don't feel like jumping on that ride. I agree with you that the cooldowns on so many of the captain's useful skills are very annoying. Add in the fact that Valiant Strike can miss and it makes it seem all but useless to rely on. There are plenty of changes that could make the captain more appealing, but drastic changes to the class role probably wont happen.
Aside from the castable group buffs and heals:
Telling Mark (up to +10% damage to a mob for anyone hitting it) and Revealing Mark (health returned via damage on mob to anyone hitting it) are very useful.
A Banner that buff the groups morale by 700 hit points and increases ICMR by 170+ is nothing to scoff at. (also +1 radiance if no tokens are out)
Shield-brother damage and healing buffs on small cooldowns with a small hot.
If you really want a definitive role in the scheme of DPS/TANK/HEAL then Captain probably isn't for you.
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Even though the recent chat on Captains has been their odd place in Fellowships, I've rolled one anyway. I find the class intriguing, I guess.
And to top it off, my Obsessive Tendancies have been immediately curbed. I went AFK abruptly at level 7, and died. No worrying about Undying on this toon! With Six (I believe) days to go, I only have one real goal; To level enough to run The Great Barrow at least once.
As for the lack of clear sources, I admit that in WoW it all became a crutch for me. I spent more time tabbed into WoWWiki, WoWhead, MMO-Champ, etc than I did playing the game. It actually became dissapointing that things felt so distinctly meta. So I fully intend to do as much as possible without checking up on databases for as long as possible. Maybe I'll come out at the end feeling refreshed on the MMO scene. If not, then this week will in all likelyhood be my last MMO until Aeon/Champions/WoW-Expansion-Three/Whayever.
There's a guy I was first introduced to when I played FFXI six years ago. We've over the years each played varied MMOs. I alone have played FFXI, WoW, CoH/V, Lineage II, Guild Wars, WAR and LOTRO now, along with a very brief dabble of Dragonica. He has tried several more. We've basically come to the conclusion that we're chasing that initial buzz of a new world. That first moment of logging into the game, and being swept with "Whoa." sensations.
And yet we both end up pulling back to the MMO we're most rooted in. I figure it's like a kind of Wonderlust, and you're not really able to feel the game for it's values until you see it objectively.
I had to stop playing LOTRO for a couple of months, but I've constantly wanted to come back. I never broke 20, but at this point LOTRO is the closest to my concept of a perfect MMO, so I'll inevitably come back eventually. WoW is, how to put this, the drug I hate, but can't stop.
The point of this ramble? There ain't one. Just a ramblin'. Move along!
You're right though. Anybody who has ever loved playing any MMO, whether it was back to UO, EQ, or even people who started with newer games, will always chase that initial unjaded feeling of world exploration. I have finally come to grips with the fact that it's never coming back, but each game can offer it's own version of that. With LOTRO, I'm enjoying it because I quit the raiding scene in WoW to take it up, and I feel I'm just enjoying experiencing the story and the world a little bit at a time without any preconceived notions about what it would be like.
That said, as much as I love LOTRO, I would've done a lot of things differently. It wasn't anywhere near what I was expecting. Before the game came out, I had dreams of exploring Mirkwood, Laketown, The Lonely Mountain, Gondor, Rohan, etc...basically the places I was looking forward to the most didn't even make it into the game. I know there's a chance that some of these places will make it into the game before all is said and done, I only hope I don't suffer the Spore effect** by the time it happens.
**they take so long putting it out that I don't give a shit anymore by the time it's released.
I hope I've got this all wrong, and every area I want to see will make it in eventually.
Also, I LOVE healing as a Rune-keeper! I really can't wait for endgame to see exactly how good my healing is.
The Raid
I was under the impression that the rights and everything extended to essentially "It was mentioned in the books" otherwise Annuminas and Angmar made seriously no sense whatsoever. Also, it was directly in the Hobbit, which is where Goblin Town came in. I know in a lot of people the Lonely Mountain would inspire a feeling of Moria 2.0 as a dungeon, or the new version of the dwarf capital as a city... but as long as I get to wander around in Smaug's lair, happy dwarf.
Completely agree with you on the desire to see a rebuilding Lake-Town btw. Burned to the ground (lake) by Smaug, rebuilding... then the mayor runs off with your cash just to die in the wastes. Also a lot of the citizens left to found Dale with Bard the bowman... I imagine it would not exactly be the most cheerful of places to live, but the people who did stay I'd imagine would have to be pretty determined ballsy people.
Dale would be a rather sad kinda place for me to visit though.
edit:
The possibility remains though, that we are actually changing the whole "extended history" put forward by Tolkien... as we have already usurped the place of Durin VII as 'the dwarves returning to Moria after the fall of Durin's Bane'. Unless these idiots in here atm are all doomed to a horrible fate. It's a pleasant thought, considering the trainers all have the firking radiance armor enough to equip all of us, but refuse to cough it up unless we pay them in platinum. Whoops, tangent! Regardless, if we accept that we *are* outside of the whole extended history written by Tolkien, then the whole battle of Dale and Erebor in the war of the ring would be awesome to me, since we'd have the chance to actually change the outcome as Aldo already put it.
I mean technically we're already heroes for having put a stop to Amarthiel, Mordrambor, and Mordirith... and I guess for making the dwarves safe to continue in Moria (as long as they can realize that Balrogs aren't made of mithril and they stop digging for them) but Moria? It felt less like a heroic effort and more like urban reconstruction or something. Not really defending a city, just defending a group of idiot midgets that decided that having 2 billion orcs as neighbors sounded like a good idea.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Lord of the Rings Online: Corsairs of Umbar.
Pirate hats for everyone!
pleasepaypreacher.net
Right now I'm looking into LotRO again because CoX has probably lost my interest until Going Rogue, Champions turned out to not be the kind of game I was expecting, and TOR is a long ways away. From what I remember of the beta it might be decent enough to keep my interest for a few months.
There likely to be any lowbie PA teams for me to join?
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Yeah, there are about 4-8 of us in our low to mid thirties who can run with, and I make an alt every day basically trying to find a second character to dick around with/craft things.
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First, do you use the short gambits a lot? I have a few 3 part gambits now and they replace a couple of the 2 part ones, but I guess I'm wondering if all the 2 part ones get a 3 part 'replacement' and so on, or are there some 2 part gambits that remain important to use even as you get higher level. I suppose the question extends on to whether when you're level 60, do you only use 5 part gambits, or are there shorter ones you have to remember and use too for different situations?
Second, is running out of power an issue for the class? I find when I'm mowing through enemies I have to use rations and pause sometimes to regen power, which I am not used to on my Guardian. I suppose once I get the stance for power regen that will make a difference, and I don't mind it because I'm killing things fast, but I just want to get a feel for all angles of the class so I can make an informed decision on making it my main or not.
Thanks!
Yet the area itself has absolutely no presence whatsoever in the LOTR books, is the point. A point that is fairly moot, seeing as Mirkwood looks to be added soon.
So like, Evendim, Forochel, and Eregion. I think Erebor would do just fine.
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32 so far on my warden (Calliopa), a couple thoughts...
There are trends in that some of the longer gambits are similar to the ones that come before it; but their effects also stack with the lesser ones, so it does pay off to remember (and use) the shorter ones...also animation times seem to vary quite a bit. In particular, fist -> spear remains essential for threat through the endgame, as it's the closest thing to non-legendary-slotted snap aggro wardens have.
After I got the power regen stance (conservation), power management became a non-issue. I had similar worries up until I got it, but it + ICPR equipment has done me just fine...a benefit of the longer gambits, is their cost / effect ratio is better than the shorter ones.
PSN: LucidStar_BC
See flammie's post above.
All I can add is that the gambits that get replaced are typically the damage-dealing ones. Healing stacks with other healing, and a good number of the threat gambits retain their usefulness.
Also, pick up a sword. Something about spear animations being bugged at the moment; a sword with a lower base speed will still allow you to execute gambits faster.
As for power, Conservation helps tremendously and will see you through the solo game just fine. Later in the game, though, doing some of the more difficult instances, you're really going to want a Captain or (better) a Lore Master around to handle your power issues.
Yeah, the film is irrelevant when speaking of LOTRO. Though some part of me wishes they'd gotten a better voice actor for Gandalf.
At level 60, I still use a lot of the three part gambits. Keep in mind that you can stack Heal-over-Time and Damage-over-Time as long as the gambits are different lengths. So I could do a Restoration healing (Shield-Spear-Shield-Spear-Shield) and than add a Safeguard (Shield-Spear-Shield) and I would get heals from both while they lasted. Same with Exultation of Battle (Fist-Spear-Shield-Fist-Shield) and then stacking Fierce Resolve (Fist-Spear-Shield) on top of it, using both morale drains on top of each other.
I found I had power problems on and off, and started having big problems somewhere between level 55 and level 60 I really started getting power problems. From perusing the official forums it looks like the really good Wardens (of which I am not one) will continue to have power problems when going against really tough enemies (for example level 60 Wardens trying to solo monsters which were meant to be handled by full level-50 fellowships or even 12-person level-50 raids). There is a power-regeneration gambit available at 50 -- Darkness Before the Dawn -- but it requires you to have half-health to run it, which can get a bit scary if you don't have that much health to start with (level 60 Wardens can have anywhere from 3500 to 5000 morale to start with depending on how good their equipment is). From what I've been told, Wardens aren't very good at handling sudden large amounts of damage, which is particularly problematic if you're running at half-health for Darkness before the Dawn. Guardians are supposed to be much better at this. What Wardens are good at is tanking large crowds.
The Fist line is particularly power-intensive, but is very useful particularly when fighting large numbers of mobs at once. Pay particular attention to Fierce Resolve (Fist-Spear-Shield), Resolution (Fist-Spear-Shield-Fist), and Exultation of Battle (Fist-Spear-Shield-Fist-Shield) which drain morale from up to 10 targets and give it all to you. Using Exultation of Battle you could be regenerating over 600 morale per pulse if you're facing ten critters.
I've mostly solved my power problems by retraiting specifically to reduce power consumption. I've got Efficient Thrust which reduces my Spear Quick Thrust cost to 40% and have enough spear traits to get the -5% bonus. You can also throw in the Efficient Shieldwork which will reduce Shield Gambits. Also don't forget to pickup a Carving (special class-slot item) which can further reduce your power consumption for either Spear, Shield, or Fist gambits.
The voice actors that make me cringe are the ones they got for Moria. I cringe every time I talk to a Moria dwarf. I hate those voices.
also I'm pretty sure they're going to open up Mirkwood. One of the NPCs somewhere in Lothlorien mentions some elves getting ready to cross the river at some point, and it's clear that there is actual STUFF on the other side of the Anduin. They could have just made the whole other shore into cliffs but there are clearly places you're meant to be able to swim ashore.
They just put level 65 enemies there so you CAN'T.
I know exactly how you feel. I log in now, and it takes like 5 minutes before I just have to log out.
Nothing left to do but finish my radiance gear. Not much fun.
You know Htown, I think that's a pretty accurate description
The gambits I try to avoid are with a length of 3: their power cost is through the roof and they're often exact copies of 4-gambits minus additional effects (like the +parry rating on sp-sh-sp-sh) anyway. I only apply sp-sh-fi during long fights and fi-sp-sh to keep my healing on mark. OK, and I of course use sp-fi-sh a lot, but that is because Turbine thinks it's a cool mechanic to make you debuff your enemies all the time. =/
Power remains a problem, but with some creative use of changing stances you can circumvent it. I also checked out the legendary trait you get from completing your l45 class quests and the stance that gives you sounds especially awesome because it gives both icpr and icmr.
Also, I dinged 59 yesterday without noticing, only when my dad poked his head around the corner and said 'hey, 59 already!' and I said 'no...oh...hey
Captains wear heavy armour (so they can slightly tank) have a pet and have some small heals. They mostly excel buffing, though.
Another swiss army knife is the Runekeeper (nuking/healing).
When it's time to actually tank things I find the Guard's system of spam reactive moves just to hope to keep agro on 5 dudes very troublesome. I think the Warden offers a lot more versatility as a tank in the ways that I prefer.
As far as using gambits, there are two 4 strokes I always remember to use Mighty blow (spear, shield, fist, spear) you get that around 30 and surety of death (fist, shield, fist, shield) Both are solid initial applications of damage with a dot component. The dot is good especially for moria enemies who stack defense buffs on themselves as your physical damage will be reduced but the dot won't be.
One thing to pay attention to is lower gambits are more power than higher gambits (some of them) so power strike costs more to use than mighty blow. Also don't worry about having WPS (Warden Panic Syndrome) early on, especially since as a warden remembering all the important gambits in a panic situation can be difficult.
pleasepaypreacher.net
The captain has a modicum of healing, damage, and tanking ability. Solo, though, they're probably the worst class in the game. They can solo, but the combination of not being able to use your single target heal on yourself and having no heavy-hitting attacks kind of sucks.
The captain's got a pet, too, but it's easily the worst combat pet ever featured in a MMO. It's terrible. No damage, virtually no useful abilities, and aside from the hope herald, the thing keels over dead if someone so much as breathes on it.
Captains are known as the buffing class, and they're quite popular for end-game content, but I think that's because people don't realize just how small our buffs are.
The class is incredibly back-loaded, too. You get some decent abilities from 1-20, then from about 20-50, it's this great morass of garbage with a few odd useful abilities (that won't see any use until towards the end of the game). Then from 50-60 you can get some useful skills and traits.
There's also some grumbling about captains being able to tank, but I assure you, it is absolutely not true. Captains have no snap-aggro. We have a threat shout (on a 20s cooldown, and it's resistable) and a melee attack that improves our threat by 10% (on a 30s cooldown). That's it. If we're lucky, we can hold some mob's attention, but it's limited to 1) one mob at a time, and 2) low-aggro situations; if someone out-aggroed the MT, there's no way the captain's getting that mob's attention. Further, because we can't self-heal worth a damn and have very few defensive or preservation tools, we tend to require a lot more healing than a guardian/warden/champion.
Obviously, I'm not a big fan of the class. I played it to 60, hoping it would all sort of come together. It's a class that definitely starts to come together in the end of the game, but I feel the insubstantial buffs combined with the lack of any role to play (beyond, maybe, battlefield ambulance and raid wipe prevention) really hurt the class. Adding insult to injury are the asinine cooldowns we have on our abilities.
Shield of the Dunedain: -75% to all vulnerabilities on one ally for 15s, 10 minute cooldown.
Oathbreaker's Shame: +35% to all vulnerabilities on one foe for 10s, 5 minute cooldown.
Valiant Strike (untraited): ~175 group heal (at level 60) plus a so-so melee attack, 2 minute cooldown.
Valiant Strike (traited): ~175 group heal (at level 60) plus a so-so melee attack and a 900-point HoT over 45 seconds, 1.5 minute cooldown.
For reference, at level 60, my captain's got ~4k HP. And Valiant Strike is subject to BPE, which means the damned thing might not even work.
tl;dr
Give the captain a pass. Let someone else suffer through it. Play a class with something more to contribute than being the group's cheerleader.
Aside from the castable group buffs and heals:
Telling Mark (up to +10% damage to a mob for anyone hitting it) and Revealing Mark (health returned via damage on mob to anyone hitting it) are very useful.
A Banner that buff the groups morale by 700 hit points and increases ICMR by 170+ is nothing to scoff at. (also +1 radiance if no tokens are out)
Shield-brother damage and healing buffs on small cooldowns with a small hot.
If you really want a definitive role in the scheme of DPS/TANK/HEAL then Captain probably isn't for you.