Burgs can use stealth, or you later get an ability to do "mischief" that reduces the cooldown on your humanoid cc and does something else that I don't remember right now.
Hunters in this game are like a meele mage hybrid, just replace spells for massive arrow damage. No pet but they do get pretty useful traps. Only issue is that they are super plentiful.
Guards got a damage increase and are a reactive type damager/tanker (when you parry/block an attack it opens up more moves to chain those into). Pretty fun and useful for any fellowing.
Preacher on
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Oh fuck, Preacher plays this game? I'm always up for more means to harass Preacher.
Okay, that's not completely true. But I think I have decided to resub. Just have to decide which class I will go with. I may just decide to keep on playing my old Minstrel, but for some reason I had gotten really sour on that class, even though I had specced him for combat.
Also, does the SoM expansion have anything that I can use before Moria?
I play on a different server from the majority of PA (Vilya). But yes I play, I can't think of any direct SoM content prior to 60+, but SoM did bring a craft revamp, a legacy fix up and switch (all legendary weapons go to 60 now regardless of age), and combat has changed a bit though I don't directly notice the difference.
Same here -- I know they said it's different now, but I really don't see it. I have been able to one-shot the occasional same-level mob with some of my guys, but I think that was happening before the expansion as well, particularly with my hunter, and RK (in cases where I have enough attunement to open with that lightning flash-thingie(*), usually the back half of a 1-on-2 fight).
(*) I really should know the name of that attack, but one of the areas in which WoW has an edge over LOTRO is the names and especially icons for the various abilities. I haven't played WoW for months now, but I could go on a hunter/shammy/druid (or to a lesser degree, pally, and possibly even mage) and not have to re-learn anything. Right now, the only LOTRO class that I have a similar comfort level with is probably Warden, maybe because there are fewer buttons (and the "AoC-like but much better" mechanics). Another part of my problem, though, may be that while in WoW there are only 3-4 (maybe 5) classes that I enjoy playing, I haven't found any LOTRO class that I really dislike, although they tend to fall into three levels of preference -- Warden/Hunter/RK, Guard/Champ, and Min/LM/Cap/Burg (Burglar being the only class I haven't levelled to at least 20 yet).
The main combat difference is that you don't have to stop your special attacks to continue doing damage with your base attack.
Also something about normalizing weapon types.
Yeah, they basically normalized the speed on all weapons of the same type. E.g. all two-handed weapons have the same 2.6 attack speed, now (I believe that's it; should double-check).
It's a big gripe with the captains right now, because captain DPS was (stupidly) based around erratic, massive crit damage from a halberd with devastating blow. The normalization has seen halberds sped up dramatically, with a corresponding drop in damage. The weapon DPS is the same, overall, but with DB's recharge being the same as always, the result is the same frequency of crits with substantially less damage per-crit.
EDIT: Also, halberd +hate is fucking useless. Captains can't tank unless you're comparing them to, I dunno... minstrels. They're such a distant fourth to guardians, wardens, and champions that it's not even worth considering as a class feature.
Burglar, Loremaster. Hunter kind of really though the hunter cc requires a legendary either way to be really effective where as burgs and LM's get theirs out of the gate.
They also debuff mobs, lms tend to debuff groups where as burgs are more single target damage dealt to mobs where as lms tend to reduce damage dealt to the group. Burgs can start fellow ship maneuvers at will, lms can cleanse wounds and disease (burgs get poison removal but honestly? I forgot I had it).
Preacher on
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
So I got an email that there is a free play weekend or whatever starting on the 17nth. I may come have a look, see if I remember what my Hunter was doing.
What does that leave. Runekeeper? The system looks great, but I fear that I'll see a repeat performance of my woes as a hybrid class in WoW: no matter what other awesome stuff I can do, I'll always just be the healer in groups.
What does that leave. Runekeeper? The system looks great, but I fear that I'll see a repeat performance of my woes as a hybrid class in WoW: no matter what other awesome stuff I can do, I'll always just be the healer in groups.
Trust me, no one expects RKs to know how to heal.
Yeah seriously. They expect you to pew pew or do whatever rk's do and then die (as thats the only reliable thing rks do).
I'd say as a minnie you should be expected to heal as they are the only real pure healer in the whole f'ing game, its ridiculous I've run across some that are like "I'm a dps." Yet you'll see guards and mins in a group going "need tank and healer..."
Preacher on
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
So true. So far I've seen only one RK who knew how to heal. I'm sure they are other, but the good ones are very few. Which is weird, since well specced RK's are at least as good as Minstrels at healing, and in some fights that require a lot of movement are even better.
on my rk, i can heal, i just dont like to
if i have to heal multiple people, somehow i always wind up putting the big non-HoT heal on the wrong person or by the time it lands, one of the others is in more need of it. at least this is the case when we have no tanks and then i feel like a schmuck
plus he's dead to me as i level up a warden instead now
Time to start thinking about which class I'm going to play. The Minstrel is a strong contender because I already him at like, level 30 or something like that. However, if I had to pick a class to play from scratch, I would not pick a Minstrel knowing what I know now. Not that it's an awful class, but I don't think playing whack-a-mole with health bars is "for me." Looking back, I recall that solo combat wasn't that bad, just a mite slow when my main strategy is healing myself for longer than the enemy can last on its own.
I've always enjoyed tanking in party scenarios, but I hear the Guardian is a mite slow to level. Maybe one of you can elaborate or correct me on this. On the other hand, Warden might be fun.
Burglar looks really really fun. All kinds of cool tricky things to do. But how much does he rely on stealthing? That kind of thing tends to get old for me. But then, maybe I can see past that for a class that's otherwise pretty awesome.
I'm already pretty much set against Loremaster and Champion. I just don't sit well with pet classes. Can't say why.
What does that leave. Runekeeper? The system looks great, but I fear that I'll see a repeat performance of my woes as a hybrid class in WoW: no matter what other awesome stuff I can do, I'll always just be the healer in groups.
Champion isn't a pet class. Captain is.
Burglars get something like a stance, called 'Mischief' at level 20 (?) that means they can't use stealth at all, but can perma-mez an enemy, plus a few more things. So essentially they have two modes - stealthy or 'out for mischief'.
In groups most people go with mischief. I solo a lot and switch between the two depending on the situation and my feeling.
I love my burglar (even though I'm on a LOTRO hiatus atm).
Blasting and Healing are two pretty different playstyles, and I'm sure most RKs got drawn in by being the biggest damagers, so it's not really surprising.
Spent the evening wiping in Sammath Gul. I'm thinking Guard/Mins/LM/RK/Cap/Cap, with the LM level 63 and one of the Caps 61, was not the optimal group makeup.
Sammath Gul is that in Dol Guldur or is that a skirmish? If the latter: it's a 65 instance for crying out loud!
Also, has anyone finished bk9 yet here? What did you think about the story?
I found their whole plan to escort an orc to trade for a dwarf a dumb plan, I expected better from elves. I did enjoy the fact that I can solo the whole book if I wanted to. It did make the whole siege of DG feel less epic than it would have been with 6 or 12 man versions, but whatever
So true. So far I've seen only one RK who knew how to heal. I'm sure they are other, but the good ones are very few. Which is weird, since well specced RK's are at least as good as Minstrels at healing, and in some fights that require a lot of movement are even better.
I expected a RK to know how to heal once, before i knew better.
hmm, i can't remember the last time I was playing with a bad RK, maybe it's because of my relative immortality, but with a RK in the group stuff usually dies before it can kill me or if that would be the case the RK throws some heals my way and we kill the mobs on a slower rate.
Then again, I don't play much outside the kin, lately and if I do it's usually with kids from big Spanish kins or the big Dutch kin and they seem to be raised well or something. I remember killing the Turtle with 11 Spaniards once without even being able to communicate with them outside of "Aldo tank 1 oki?" "ok" when we were running in.
PS: it helps so much if people have their virtues on 10, have relevant class deeds and legendary traits equiped.
Sammath Gul is that in Dol Guldur or is that a skirmish? If the latter: it's a 65 instance for crying out loud!
Also, has anyone finished bk9 yet here? What did you think about the story?
I found their whole plan to escort an orc to trade for a dwarf a dumb plan, I expected better from elves. I did enjoy the fact that I can solo the whole book if I wanted to. It did make the whole siege of DG feel less epic than it would have been with 6 or 12 man versions, but whatever
I'm on the epilogue quests now.
Yea, it sounded like a stupid idea from the moment it was mentioned in book, what, 5 or 7, and I'm glad a lot of the NPCs agreed with me. I tried giving the antidote to the chick. And yea, while I love soloable content. I don't think those skirmishes should have been...it didn't feel right at all. The major battle they put together an entire army for...and it's just me, one person, fighting it? It'd be like Helm's Deep with one person at the wall and 2-3 orcs coming up at a time. I really, really need to 12-man these some time.
Sammath Gul is that in Dol Guldur or is that a skirmish? If the latter: it's a 65 instance for crying out loud!
Also, has anyone finished bk9 yet here? What did you think about the story?
I found their whole plan to escort an orc to trade for a dwarf a dumb plan, I expected better from elves. I did enjoy the fact that I can solo the whole book if I wanted to. It did make the whole siege of DG feel less epic than it would have been with 6 or 12 man versions, but whatever
I'm on the epilogue quests now.
Yea, it sounded like a stupid idea from the moment it was mentioned in book, what, 5 or 7, and I'm glad a lot of the NPCs agreed with me. I tried giving the antidote to the chick. And yea, while I love soloable content. I don't think those skirmishes should have been...it didn't feel right at all. The major battle they put together an entire army for...and it's just me, one person, fighting it? It'd be like Helm's Deep with one person at the wall and 2-3 orcs coming up at a time. I really, really need to 12-man these some time.
Considering how unpopular skirmishes are right now I doubt I can ever get 11 folks together to do that. Maybe people will be more interested once they get their new rad gear complete.
I'm currently doing a running rpish blog if anyone wants to read the ramblings of a crazy loremaster. I'll try to update monday thru friday again if there is sufficient humor for others.
In other news started mirkwood (still doing the foreward) I love the look of the new area so far, can't wait till I actually open it up.
Preacher on
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Picked up the new expansion and downloaded the high rez client. Have a level 10 captain, a level 4 runekeeper, and... nothing else of note. I might switch over to a Champion, cause with the legendary weapon system it just doesn't seem right NOT being one.
Picked up the new expansion and downloaded the high rez client. Have a level 10 captain, a level 4 runekeeper, and... nothing else of note. I might switch over to a Champion, cause with the legendary weapon system it just doesn't seem right NOT being one.
Every class has 2 legendary items, main hand weapon slot and ranged slot. So champions can't dual-wield legendary weapons.
Champions are still kinda cute, I like the way their armour looks, usually very spikey and metal-y.
Every class has 2 legendary items, main hand weapon slot and ranged slot. So champions can't dual-wield legendary weapons.
Champions are still kinda cute, I like the way their armour looks, usually very spikey and metal-y.
It's actually a main hand weapon slot and a class item slot. I have no idea why Hunters and Wardens get 2 weapons instead of a weapon/book or weapon/carving.
I'm really hoping one of these days Guardians get legendary shields. Seems obvious.
Can you imagine cries of overpower-loving guardians? If they wouldn't be able to use one of their LI's in overpower stance (can't use shields in overpower) the cries would be epic.
I'm really hoping one of these days Guardians get legendary shields. Seems obvious.
Nah same reason that dual wielders don't get two LI's it's unfair to the classes that don't dual weild.
Though the dumber thing that I see is that RK's have 2 spell help items aside from their weapons, compared to LM's 1. Even trying to say that LM's can have a sword offhand is a bs argument since that's a legendary trait where as the RK items are something they have by default.
Preacher on
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Sammath Gul is that in Dol Guldur or is that a skirmish? If the latter: it's a 65 instance for crying out loud!
Also, has anyone finished bk9 yet here? What did you think about the story?
I found their whole plan to escort an orc to trade for a dwarf a dumb plan, I expected better from elves. I did enjoy the fact that I can solo the whole book if I wanted to. It did make the whole siege of DG feel less epic than it would have been with 6 or 12 man versions, but whatever
I'm on the epilogue quests now.
Yea, it sounded like a stupid idea from the moment it was mentioned in book, what, 5 or 7, and I'm glad a lot of the NPCs agreed with me. I tried giving the antidote to the chick. And yea, while I love soloable content. I don't think those skirmishes should have been...it didn't feel right at all. The major battle they put together an entire army for...and it's just me, one person, fighting it? It'd be like Helm's Deep with one person at the wall and 2-3 orcs coming up at a time. I really, really need to 12-man these some time.
Actually, they made sure to point out your part in the epic story wasn't the main battle. They said in the quest text that the Golden Host would be doing a big battle to draw attention, a "kinship of note" or something would be going to fight the boss of Dol Goldur or whatever (obviously a reference to the raid content) and that the Hidden Guard would be sneaking in to deal with the Zigilburk situation. Storyline-wise, it's always just the HG and you, supposedly.
oh, my class slot only holds a little wooden figurine that lowers power costs and increases damage/defences. I thought this was roughly the same for all other classes. The More You Know.
--
The whole Legendary Items and Radiance gear thing does annoy me, though. There's not a lot of different items any more, everyone is sporting two LIs, as much rad gear as possible ... only jewellery is different, although the crafted stuff from Lothlorien is the most popular.
oh, my class slot only holds a little wooden figurine that lowers power costs and increases damage/defences. I thought this was roughly the same for all other classes. The More You Know.
--
The whole Legendary Items and Radiance gear thing does annoy me, though. There's not a lot of different items any more, everyone is sporting two LIs, as much rad gear as possible ... only jewellery is different, although the crafted stuff from Lothlorien is the most popular.
There's a lot of hope that the devs will (have to) move away from radiance as a means of raid gating in the next expansion or two; lore-wise, Dol Guldur is second only to Barad-dur in terms of being evil, nasty places. i.e. The gloom you experience elsewhere in Middle Earth has to be less than that of DG.
I also personally hope that they've reached the end of LIs. I just don't see what more can be done with the system, and there's an awful lot of Middle Earth left yet to cross.
Yeah, I've heard a few suggestions that a lot of systems currently in place are all looking forward towards Rohan mounts and mounted combat. Changing mounts to a skill, the LI system to test upgradableness, the skirmish soldiers being the next iteration, etc.
Posts
Hunters in this game are like a meele mage hybrid, just replace spells for massive arrow damage. No pet but they do get pretty useful traps. Only issue is that they are super plentiful.
Guards got a damage increase and are a reactive type damager/tanker (when you parry/block an attack it opens up more moves to chain those into). Pretty fun and useful for any fellowing.
pleasepaypreacher.net
(*) I really should know the name of that attack, but one of the areas in which WoW has an edge over LOTRO is the names and especially icons for the various abilities. I haven't played WoW for months now, but I could go on a hunter/shammy/druid (or to a lesser degree, pally, and possibly even mage) and not have to re-learn anything. Right now, the only LOTRO class that I have a similar comfort level with is probably Warden, maybe because there are fewer buttons (and the "AoC-like but much better" mechanics). Another part of my problem, though, may be that while in WoW there are only 3-4 (maybe 5) classes that I enjoy playing, I haven't found any LOTRO class that I really dislike, although they tend to fall into three levels of preference -- Warden/Hunter/RK, Guard/Champ, and Min/LM/Cap/Burg (Burglar being the only class I haven't levelled to at least 20 yet).
Glorntisms
Also something about normalizing weapon types.
Yeah, they basically normalized the speed on all weapons of the same type. E.g. all two-handed weapons have the same 2.6 attack speed, now (I believe that's it; should double-check).
It's a big gripe with the captains right now, because captain DPS was (stupidly) based around erratic, massive crit damage from a halberd with devastating blow. The normalization has seen halberds sped up dramatically, with a corresponding drop in damage. The weapon DPS is the same, overall, but with DB's recharge being the same as always, the result is the same frequency of crits with substantially less damage per-crit.
EDIT: Also, halberd +hate is fucking useless. Captains can't tank unless you're comparing them to, I dunno... minstrels. They're such a distant fourth to guardians, wardens, and champions that it's not even worth considering as a class feature.
Burglar, Loremaster. Hunter kind of really though the hunter cc requires a legendary either way to be really effective where as burgs and LM's get theirs out of the gate.
They also debuff mobs, lms tend to debuff groups where as burgs are more single target damage dealt to mobs where as lms tend to reduce damage dealt to the group. Burgs can start fellow ship maneuvers at will, lms can cleanse wounds and disease (burgs get poison removal but honestly? I forgot I had it).
pleasepaypreacher.net
Trust me, no one expects RKs to know how to heal.
Yeah seriously. They expect you to pew pew or do whatever rk's do and then die (as thats the only reliable thing rks do).
I'd say as a minnie you should be expected to heal as they are the only real pure healer in the whole f'ing game, its ridiculous I've run across some that are like "I'm a dps." Yet you'll see guards and mins in a group going "need tank and healer..."
pleasepaypreacher.net
So true. So far I've seen only one RK who knew how to heal. I'm sure they are other, but the good ones are very few. Which is weird, since well specced RK's are at least as good as Minstrels at healing, and in some fights that require a lot of movement are even better.
if i have to heal multiple people, somehow i always wind up putting the big non-HoT heal on the wrong person or by the time it lands, one of the others is in more need of it. at least this is the case when we have no tanks and then i feel like a schmuck
plus he's dead to me as i level up a warden instead now
Champion isn't a pet class. Captain is.
Burglars get something like a stance, called 'Mischief' at level 20 (?) that means they can't use stealth at all, but can perma-mez an enemy, plus a few more things. So essentially they have two modes - stealthy or 'out for mischief'.
In groups most people go with mischief. I solo a lot and switch between the two depending on the situation and my feeling.
I love my burglar (even though I'm on a LOTRO hiatus atm).
Even though you can trait heralds to give better buffs than banners of the same level?
That extra buffing will generate, for example, like an extra 25 HP on a Guardian (who will have 8-10k HP, buffed) at level 60.
It's not worth giving up the bonuses on the standard or dealing with retard-pet pathing.
Also, has anyone finished bk9 yet here? What did you think about the story?
I expected a RK to know how to heal once, before i knew better.
It lead to a several hundred silver repair bill.
Then again, I don't play much outside the kin, lately and if I do it's usually with kids from big Spanish kins or the big Dutch kin and they seem to be raised well or something. I remember killing the Turtle with 11 Spaniards once without even being able to communicate with them outside of "Aldo tank 1 oki?" "ok" when we were running in.
PS: it helps so much if people have their virtues on 10, have relevant class deeds and legendary traits equiped.
I'm on the epilogue quests now.
I'm currently doing a running rpish blog if anyone wants to read the ramblings of a crazy loremaster. I'll try to update monday thru friday again if there is sufficient humor for others.
In other news started mirkwood (still doing the foreward) I love the look of the new area so far, can't wait till I actually open it up.
pleasepaypreacher.net
the place I get mine only has cards for Shadow of Angmar.
Will these still work, or are there Mines of Moria/Siege of Mirkwood specific time cards?
Angmar would work, all you are doing is buying a time card for their game.
pleasepaypreacher.net
I know, but I've seen other time cards with the expansions on them. I just wanted to double check before I bought them, you know?
Champions are still kinda cute, I like the way their armour looks, usually very spikey and metal-y.
It's actually a main hand weapon slot and a class item slot. I have no idea why Hunters and Wardens get 2 weapons instead of a weapon/book or weapon/carving.
Can you imagine cries of overpower-loving guardians? If they wouldn't be able to use one of their LI's in overpower stance (can't use shields in overpower) the cries would be epic.
Nah same reason that dual wielders don't get two LI's it's unfair to the classes that don't dual weild.
Though the dumber thing that I see is that RK's have 2 spell help items aside from their weapons, compared to LM's 1. Even trying to say that LM's can have a sword offhand is a bs argument since that's a legendary trait where as the RK items are something they have by default.
pleasepaypreacher.net
--
The whole Legendary Items and Radiance gear thing does annoy me, though. There's not a lot of different items any more, everyone is sporting two LIs, as much rad gear as possible ... only jewellery is different, although the crafted stuff from Lothlorien is the most popular.
There's a lot of hope that the devs will (have to) move away from radiance as a means of raid gating in the next expansion or two; lore-wise, Dol Guldur is second only to Barad-dur in terms of being evil, nasty places. i.e. The gloom you experience elsewhere in Middle Earth has to be less than that of DG.
I also personally hope that they've reached the end of LIs. I just don't see what more can be done with the system, and there's an awful lot of Middle Earth left yet to cross.