Hunters are a DPS class but can die fast when heavily attack. The one true solo class is the Warden. A Warden can often solo small fellowship content with ease. Mostly because they are also a tank that has many self-heals and buffs, but they also still deal lots of damage, and they have AOE. (mostly damage-over-time skills you can stack a mile high)
Also the Warden is the only other class with similar Hunter teleport skills. The thing with the Warden though is…it is much more complex to actually play well. You don’t just have simple cooldown skills…
The Instances in the Instance finder panel usually require 3, 6, or 12 people (raid). However I’ve noticed the most recent ones have an official solo/duo tier. No inspiration buff required.
dwinn
3923
That makes sense - the 3 man would be small and 6 regular.
Razgon
3924
IF you want to solo instances, Hunters are unfortunately a bit tough to do so with, since they are rather fragile once someone approaches you.
In general, Wardens, Guardians and Champions have it easiest, soloing instances.
So just to reiterate since I might be restarting this soon, Wardens and Champs are good soloers, right? How are Runemasters for soloing? And I guess I might as well ask about Loremasters!
I’m interested in a character that can solo pretty well, that has good survivability, and that doesn’t require using a ton of crazy mechanics. Also, I do love me some pet classes.
As far as group play goes, I seem to recall Wardens are not much desired in groups. Is that still true? How about the other classes listed above, are they welcomed in groups?
dwinn
3927
The red line for LoreMaster is the equivalent of a magical hunter. Sic a bear on the target and burn it down from distance. You can get in there and hack away with your staff and sword like Gandalf if you like (you start staff only and get dual wield sword ~40 or so). (all the above is all IMO; I haven’t done blue line, which is animal mastery, or yellow, which is support)
Ya, I have a bunch of characters I’ve created over the years but none of them are higher than level 20. I do have a level 18 Loremaster I created maybe six months ago who I vaguely recall was doing the sic-the-bear on baddies thing. I don’t recall his specialization though.
The giftboxes are account-based aren’t they? So there’s no downside to deleting a character and reusing the character slot if you hate the name, right? You can get the giftboxes on a new toon if I understand correctly.
I can only speak for Wardens. I believe they are the best soloer in the game. However I suppose they have ‘crazy mechanics’
Using 3 skills to create specific combos to unlock other more powerful skills, in which there are literally dozens, some unquie to different stances, and then on top of that knowing how to chain those skills to be most effective…replete with ‘combo shortcuts’ that have their own cooldowns.
It’s an advance class for a reason.
As tanking rules have changed in the past years, Wardens can get groups too, or so it seems in world chat. They may not be great group mob tanks, but they’re very good single-target tanks for sure.
Yeah, as a Warden in fellowships I always go primary blue line. As an off-tank it means the entire fellowship can die while only I survive.
In late game I am basically perma-blue line AKA I went through all of Minas Morgul in blue line, and remain so. The extra shield gambits are worth it. Also the incoming damage was just too high in red line.
Although in reality it is more purple. It’s a Blue/Red Warden vs Red/Blue Warden.
dwinn
3932
I’ve had my legendary weapon for a while now but I’ve finally hit the point in Moria where they’re dropping as loot. The relic system looks pretty daunting re breaking these things down, combining them, shards, etc, but I’m guessing I shouldn’t really worry about a lot of major customization since I’ll be replacing my weapon with better ones every 5-10 levels or so?
The LI system is actually a good one. For now (like, until you hit lvl 100 anyway), just worry about slotting and leveling 6. Do not deconstruct any LI until it maxes out, then decon for sweet sweet XP runes.
Once you hit level 100, the whole ballgame changes. Then you have to start worrying about aligning your legacies to your play-style, maximizing the legacies, adding star-lit crystals, imbueing… it’s a whole thing.
DTG
3934
Yeah, LI’s are a separate mini-game within LOTRO. One with 2 parts; pre-100 and post-100.
Pre-100 is as Gladguy notes. Reforge every 10 levels, and for the first 3 reforges pick legacies that match your play style (the next 3 up to lvl 60 just upgrade one legacy of your choice). If you have the slots, level up other LIs just to deconstruct them at the Relic Master when they hit 60. That’s why you should keep LI loot drops that can be slotted by your character, even if you never equip them. There’s usually a big step-change in the main legacy (i.e., dps or healing) every 5 levels so swap them out. Deconstructing outdated LIs give you IXP runes that you can use to level up new LIs instead of relying 100% on in-game IXP awards.
Post 100: Whole new game. Imbued LIs that require an epic grind, but you don’t swap them out (unless you want 2 sets of gear for different trait lines). HOWEVER, I continue to slot and level up non-equipped LIs so I can deconstruct them for IXP and relics. Way down the road you can refine the relics for shards, which come in handy.
dwinn
3935
Thank you both! In summary, and just so my understanding is correct –
Keep all LIs I can use and slot them to begin leveling them all up (for the purposes of d/c later). Any LIs I find for other classes should be d/c for relics to put in the currently used weapon/objects. Repeat above until 100.
tl;dr; Up to 100 - just level as many LIs as you can and deconstruct them, level new ones, and keep all the mats - do not spend ANYTHING on your LIs.
at level 100, get a first age Legendary item, then do the Doctorate in Imbuemenet, write down a detailed plan in a notepad for how you want it to work, check multiple guides on how to do it, then do the actual process - slowly and well researched. DO NOT MESS IT UP
One of the big hurdles is getting a lvl 100 First Age Weapon/Secondary for your class.
- You can craft it if you have the appropriate crafting skills, and your guild status is maxed in order to get the recipe…but you’ll still need some rare materials.
- You can acquire it from the Roving Threats vendor (requires killing a whole bunch of them though in order to get enough tokens)
- You can buy it from the Auction House if it is available and you have the gold.
Doing all the Gondor Quests sort of sets you up for your final Legendary weapon. After you imbue…it is the long and grindy road of trying to max it out. It’s why people still do Pelargir runs to get Stars of Merits for more Crystals to power up their LIs.
None of my characters have maxed out LIs…
dwinn
3938
“I looked in the trap, Ray.”
Figured I’d hit 130, get some gear, then go back to the lower level quests I been wasting time on last few weeks. Couldn’t remember where the quest zone was, but found it eventually after porting to Osgiliath and traveling east.
This place still looks kinda neat…
FYI
That isn’t the proper Minas Morgul expansion starting point. It starts at the Hall of Beorn in the Vales of Anduin. Do you have The Black Book of Mordor quest line? (this may require the Mordor Expansion but everything is free now…) I am not sure if you can skip ahead if you haven’t already progressed through it though.
You first time travel to Mordor during the 2nd Age siege prior to entering the Morgal Vale…which is entered from the gate near the tower of Cirith Ungol.
