Observations of a True LOTRO Newbie

[cmlancas]

Since I couldn't handle feeling like I had been donkey punched every time I logged onto Vanguard, I went out to a local retailer and picked up a copy of LOTRO for my fiance and I. Currently (6:30 EST) I am installing the two DVD-ROMs that comprise LOTRO. I'm anxious to see how the game looks and how it compares to other things I have played, and I figured I'd use this space to give a little insight and review of the game since I hadn't seen one in this forum so far. I'll be installing the game on a e6600/7900GS/2GB and a 3400+/7900GS/2GB, so I'll specify which screenshots came from which computer.

Since it looks like the gang from f13 that is playing LOTRO is on Silverlode, we will be playing there as well. Our names will be Lalande and Arha respectively and I think we will be playing Humans hailing from Rohan.

Cheers, and hope to see you in game.

[cmlancas]

Leaving the digital download to run while I slept, since I couldn't move the game over my network without running into program errors, I finally booted the game up. Kudos on the opening movie-scene. Would've been nice to get Ian McKellen to do the opening voice-over (I mean c'mon, EQ2 got Christopher Lee) but it was nice nonetheless. First thing I started doing was tinkering with the settings, and I figured I would max it out and see how I could do on my first run through the game. I chose to be a Hobbit Burglar, only because I want to play my main with my fiance.

Overall I like it, I think it has some polish, and it looks better than VG on my machine.


Screenshots:

This is the first screenshot I took as I logged into the game.


As I walked out, I took this screenshot of the sky.



Water effects: we all love water effects. They aren't bad. Not the best, but not bad.

A little more on solo mechanics later when I encounter some people and NPCs.

[cmlancas]

On a side note, the sound to this game might be by far the most original I've heard so far. I love the bagpipes in the Hobbit area. <3

[cmlancas]

Well, after spending about three to four hours inside the game itself, I have to say I am quite pleased. It is definitely much better than the same-old grind that I was subjecting myself to in VG. In fact, I've done more talking to people and learning lore of the Shire than I have killing NPCs. It is definitely a breath of fresh air from Vanguard.

Also, people are very helpful in game. For each question I asked, I had more than three responses for each. One player even offered to walk me through all of my quests.

Here's a screenshot of me at level seven.




Definitely liking it so far. I'll be sure to report on group dynamics when I get a chance, but for now, the solo game is working out just fine.

[cmlancas]

Well, the burglar is certainly not the hero of the solo play. At level eight I had a wolf and a swamp fly roll up on me and strike me down. I think a little bit of it had to do with my video card overheating (I think a fan isn't getting maximum airflow through my case) and I sat there for ten seconds while I got wailed on. But all in all, the burglar isn't a stellar solo class so far. Perhaps we become critical hit machines at higher levels, but for now, I'm a little crippled.

But that is okay: there are plenty of other places and methods to progress my character. The mail quests are a ton of fun, and the lore that I am picking up through the Shire is incredible.

I'm on the verge of fanboidom, but, if you are looking for a breath of fresh air, this is it. Well worth my $45 USD so far.


Edit: Good Jesus, I sure know how to ramble.

[Hound]

At 10 you get mischievous glee which is a self heal, made a world of difference in my opinion. Even in the low teens I could solo my burglar against oranges better than I could my Minstrel, Lore Master , or Hunter. Burglars are a frigging blast to play once you get the finer points down pat.  They are getting very popular in groups also for debuffing and even as a off tank.

[cmlancas]

There is certainly some memory leakage in the game itself. I had my first blue screen in God knows how long. Hell, I even played VG for months and didn't get a blue screen.

Boo. There's nothing for me that breaks immersion more than the blue screen. I was getting deed titles too damnit!


Oh yeah, deeds. They're an interesting way to make grinding halfway bearable. I mean sure, it sucks having to kill fifty wolves, but I get a permanent character improvement. I like it.

[cmlancas]

Progressed to level eleven today. I probably have about six to ten irl hours invested into my character so far. The heal that burglars get at level ten is very handy, as is Riddle which functions much like sap (except you can use it in combat -- sexy mez!). I -really- like this class idea; it is definitely innovative. When has the thief-type been the crowd control? Let me answer that for you -- never. Never ever. They are damage machines in every game I have played so far (even MUDs!), but I like the LOTRO spin. WoW only lets you stun lock and sap. Not particularly CC mind you.


Christ, I sound like a fanboy. In all seriousness though, if you are on the fence about this game, you owe it to yourself to shell out the $45 for the free month. It's totally worth it.



And here's a screenshot of my character so far:

[Falconeer]

What I really like so far (level 40) is that the few classes available can easily be played well or bad. I met lots of players stuck with their idea of given class which is, clearly, wrong. On the other hand, looks like some really understood their role and skills actually playing the class to its best.

Same is true for my class (alas, a Champion). Me and a fellow guildmate are both lev 40. I can do things he can't do. He doesn't want any tips and keeps on saying I lie about stuff I kill and so on. Point is, some classes can be played and specced in many different ways (especially when you have lots of traits, and thanks to different kind of equip). And all those different details matter A LOT. Bottom line, I keep suggesting newbies in guildchat to try something different with their skills and traits before labeling their class as useless/weak/boring/underpowered/whatever.

[Xerapis]

What do you suggest for Loremasters?

[Falconeer]

What do you suggest for Loremasters?

Wait for the patch, incoming June, 9th.   

[Venkman]

Welcome to LoTRO cmlancas. Definitely a lot more polished and playable than VG out of the box, though of course the games are somewhat different in playstyle/focus.

And here's a screenshot of my character so far:

<ze screenzie>

You asked in OOC if there's a way to show your weapons in a screenshot :) I believe if you hit Z, you will draw your weapons. In case I'm remembering the command from WoW, you can also enter combat mode by clicking that sword thing on the bottom bar to draw the weapons.

[Xanthippe]

What do you suggest for Loremasters?

Lower your expectations ;)

[Hound]

What do you suggest for Loremasters?

Lower your expectations ;)

Lore Masters are definitely a challenge to play. In my opinion they are the most difficult class I have ever played in any MMORPG. That does not mean they are weak though.  When I am in good form I can handle 2 yellows and a white all at the same time, one wrong click or hesitation and I am toast with even 2 blue mobs. Here is a pic of my lvl 17 LM  in his lvl 15 quest armor



This is not me but here is a link to some vids of the champion kiter of all time

http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=56149

[Riggswolfe]

Same is true for my class (alas, a Champion). Me and a fellow guildmate are both lev 40. I can do things he can't do. He doesn't want any tips and keeps on saying I lie about stuff I kill and so on. Point is, some classes can be played and specced in many different ways (especially when you have lots of traits, and thanks to different kind of equip). And all those different details matter A LOT. Bottom line, I keep suggesting newbies in guildchat to try something different with their skills and traits before labeling their class as useless/weak/boring/underpowered/whatever.

I'm playing a Champion too. How do you set yours up Falconeer? I am trying to get as much +might gear as possible so I can kill things faster. I also  use traits that have might or vitality if at all possible.

Also cmlancas:

I see you're playing a hobbit burgler. I'd suggest going into UI options and turning off the graphics for boots. Hobbits look more hobbity with their furry feet showing.

[cmlancas]

So I finished the newbie questline (Well, I consider it newbie since I didn't have to do hardly any grouping until the very end) and my character is pretty fun to play still. I've logged at least twenty-four hours on my character, I've played through some group dynamics (Aim and Riddle make it unbelievable fun), and I've made my way out into Middle Earth.


This game is still just as fun as when I popped it in. I've rekindled my love of grinding for cash and deeds that I had in the old EQ1 and WoW days (a group of friends that I was in a guild with in WoW would run the ten man instances to see how quickly we could do them. Record for UDStrat was 53minutes), while finally playing a character that is fun and active in groups.


Check it out if you haven't yet. I have two buddy codes I'd be happy to spot you.

[palmer_eldritch]

For the first time in any game I am playing a healer, and I'm enjoying that. Staring at people's health bars instead of watching the fight is a lot more fun than I expected Minstrels are also able to do a few interesting things in easier fights when healing doesn't require their full attention, which is nice. The ballard/anthem system should be annoying in theory, as they are basically buffs which last a very short time and have to be reapplied frequently, but in practice I like it as it keeps you active.

I also like the fact that many other classes get minor heals they can use. I've read one or two complaints from minstrels that healing is actually too easy, but the result of making it fairly easy is that you have a chance to use your other skills (and in a few places it really is hard to keep a group alive).

The biggest problem I have faced is with aggro, particularly in groups where the tank focuses on one mob only - any other mobs which have not been stunned or whatever will tend to jump on the healer, as just seeing him heal the tank upsets them. But I would guess this is an issue in all similar games and possibly down to bad tanking? (Corrections/advice is very welcome).

[Riggswolfe]

Aggro control seems to be an issue in the groups I've been in. When we have a guardian he only holds aggro on one mob, and in the Great Barrows for instance, you might get attacked by 4-5 mobs at the same time. I'm sure groups will adjust eventually.

[Johny Cee]

The simple fact is you aren't going to find many guardians at low level who really know their role:  get all the mobs on them, and keep them there.

Having a poor healer or a poor tank makes things painful,  especially with some encounters.  Did Masters of the Black Tide last night,  and that had as many as 5 elite orc mobs of your level coming in.  Our guardian was good, so he kept the non-cced ones off us, but such potential for wipe with a bad guardian!


Wasn't sure where to put this:

Potential Easter Egg.  One of the npcs in North Downs is Colbert the Mad,  who's color chatter goes on about the evils of bears.  Reference to Stephen Colbert?

[Hound]

The biggest problem I have faced is with aggro, particularly in groups where the tank focuses on one mob only - any other mobs which have not been stunned or whatever will tend to jump on the healer, as just seeing him heal the tank upsets them. But I would guess this is an issue in all similar games and possibly down to bad tanking? (Corrections/advice is very welcome).

- make up aliases (macros) to target and perform your lvl 1 heal Raise the Spirit on each member of the fellowship, one through six then bind those to six convenient keys permanently. A Logitech G11 is frigging wonderful if you have 50 bucks burning a hole in your pocket

a link to how to make aliases, shortcuts etc

http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Aliases_and_Quickslot_Shortcuts

- use Bolster Courage sparingly it generates more agro

- avoid use of Inspire Fellows ( group heal) unless it is a emergency and you need to heal more than one person, this will get every mob in the instance pounding on you fast, it is also very inefficient as power usage goes

- if you are lvl 24 or above don't forget Anthem of Compassion

pretty much just use common sense, judge the rate the tank or DPS class is taking agro and time your heals accordingly. Yopu probably already know this but if you do get agro run up next to the tank and stop and let him know so he can peal the mob off. Another macro bound to a convenient key that shouts " GET THIS FUCKER OFF ME" in fellowship chat works wonders. Of course be prepared for the hunter/champ that get agro and then decides he can out run the mob while you franticly chase him trying to get him in range so you can heal his ass. I have found the best way to reenforce that he needs to stand still is just let the asshat die.Works on ninja looters also.

Oh and just my opinion and play style here but the traits I recommend to have slotted are Wisdom, Loyalty, Confidence, and Charity .

[DraconianOne]

I'm playing a Champion too. How do you set yours up Falconeer? I am trying to get as much +might gear as possible so I can kill things faster. I also  use traits that have might or vitality if at all possible.

I know this wasn't addressed to me but I thought I'd chime in anyway as I have a champion too.  The virtue traits I've primarily gone for are Determination and Tolerance (agility and in combat morale regen), Discipline and Valour (might and some extra morale) and either Empathy or Idealism for the Fate (can't remember which - possibly Empathy for extra armour)

Thinking behind why I didn't go primarily for Might is that I don't evade or parry because of fervour and I dual wield rather than use a shield which leaves me just extra damage.  Agility improves my crit chance and reduces my miss chance.  The Fate one is just because any IC morale regen is better than none and it can increase crit chance of self heal from Bracing Attack.

However, I haven't done any maths on the agility vs might damage output and the points in Fate could well be wasted.

[Falconeer]

I am still learning my Champion and I am pretty sure I'll tweak it to death for the next two months. Traits are especially tricky as sometimes they are good but they make a slightly noticeable difference.
I went for vitality for the first 35 levels as I loved to have high morale.
Now I am slowly switching to agility and might for maximum damage. In groups my role is usually dps, and I can offtank pretty good even without tons of HP (morale).

Anyway, I wasn't especially referring to builds when I talked about different ways of playing characters, it was more about comobos, habits and stufff like that. took me lots of level to decide and settle on a few kind of "combinations" to kill as faster as possible green to white mobs, while I usually try to mix it up a little with orange or reds, as fights get tighter and the amount of armour and HP those mobs have makes a lot of difference.

On the other hand, my friend was focusing on different skills/moves, different timing and we were achieveng different results. I guess that must be true for other classes too.

Anyway, to cu it short, my most used Attack Routine is:

FERVOUR ON (no need to say that)

- Swift Attack
- Wild Attack
..wait 1 sec to build up the 4th fervour..
- Relentless Strike
- Battle Frenzy (to get 4 fervour again and instantly)
- Relentless Strike (again)

rinse repeat

Sometimes I need to throw in a bracing attack to heal myself and I have to admit I make huge use of Exchanging Blows. That's pretty much it.


On the aggro topic, I must agree that aggro is an issue, and it's hard to manage no matter what the tank does. But after a firts couple of weeks of shock and indignation, I think I am liking it more like this, as in lots of other games it was pretty easy to manage aggro and things were so annoingly repetitive (EQ2 anyone? I was a tank there, and it was so easy to look like a good tank when all you did was just spam your taunts... meh..)

[cmlancas]

I have a question I'd like to pose to those of you who have been following this thread: Do you think that two burglars in a group would be more functional than stacking the holy trinity?

[Tebonas]

Two people more functional than three people? That would certainly beg for a nerf!  :-D

[DraconianOne]

I have a question I'd like to pose to those of you who have been following this thread: Do you think that two burglars in a group would be more functional than stacking the holy trinity?

Partly I think it depends on the rest of the group. Provided you're both over level 12 then you can at least both initiate conjunctions and essentially get half the cooldown time.  It also seems (but can't really speak for anything other than Champion) that it's far easier for classes to be multi-purpose if you're not in  PUG and actually prepared.  For example, with the right trait and gear set up, a Champion can either be used DPS or to tank (although it won't be as good as a Guardian).  I believe that Burglars can split debuffs and DPS between them too but don't quote me on that. 

Simply put, I'm getting the impression that there's no one class that is absolutely essential to a groups survival (with the possible exception of Minstrel because I'm not aware of any other class having quite as useful healing capabilities).

[cmlancas]

Fair enough, but the reason I ask this question is because my fiance really wants to play a burglar, and I already have one started. Generally we play a healer/tank so we never have problems starting groups, but we both really like the burglar class. I'm more or less worried that we will severely gimp our chances of getting to do things together in the long run. Evidence showing one or the other will help us in our decision.

[palmer_eldritch]

Groups with two burglars can be great, as you get fellowship manoeuvre after fellowship manoeuvre and good crowd control. The manoeuvres really help with fighting multiple elites. I've been in groups with two burglars in Dol Dinen, which is a nasty elite area in North Downs, and I'm sure they've let us do things we couldn't have done otherwise.

I'm not sure how easy or hard it would be to get groups. People tend to want a minstrel and a guardian for hard stuff (even if they could do it without those classes they tend to want those classes), and they think of hunters or champions for the DPS, which limits the available slots for you. Having said that, fellowship manoeuvres can do massive damage.

[Hound]

I saw a group consisting of three lore masters working with each other to swap the aggro around, it worked pretty good. 2 Burglars, sure why not?

[Khaldun]

I did Retake Weathertop in a group of 2 champions, 3 burglars and a captain. The three burglars didn't just do cc, on the big fight, we used them as our primary healers by timing all-green conjunctions for when we were getting ground down in morale.

I think there's a lot of hidden flexibility in the game in this respect: folks are scared to move away from the holy trinity, but you can definitely do without it a lot of the time as long as people are on their game. I was in a group with three champs last night doing North Downs group quests, and one thing we did that worked was to ping-pong aggro with our taunts, to keep any of us from getting ground down too much.

There are a lot of things that are pretty weak about LOTRO: the economy, the crafting, some of the grouping dynamics, but the class design is nicely done and feels different than WoW.

[Cheddar]

Since I couldn't handle feeling like I had been donkey punched every time I logged onto Vanguard, I went out to a local retailer and picked up a copy of LOTRO for my fiance and I. Currently (6:30 EST) I am installing the two DVD-ROMs that comprise LOTRO. I'm anxious to see how the game looks and how it compares to other things I have played, and I figured I'd use this space to give a little insight and review of the game since I hadn't seen one in this forum so far. I'll be installing the game on a e6600/7900GS/2GB and a 3400+/7900GS/2GB, so I'll specify which screenshots came from which computer.

Since it looks like the gang from f13 that is playing LOTRO is on Silverlode, we will be playing there as well. Our names will be Lalande and Arha respectively and I think we will be playing Humans hailing from Rohan.

Cheers, and hope to see you in game.

I do not like your e-handle.  How is it pronounced?  I pronounce it chumluncast.  Delete your name and start fresh.

[cmlancas]

Since I couldn't handle feeling like I had been donkey punched every time I logged onto Vanguard, I went out to a local retailer and picked up a copy of LOTRO for my fiance and I. Currently (6:30 EST) I am installing the two DVD-ROMs that comprise LOTRO. I'm anxious to see how the game looks and how it compares to other things I have played, and I figured I'd use this space to give a little insight and review of the game since I hadn't seen one in this forum so far. I'll be installing the game on a e6600/7900GS/2GB and a 3400+/7900GS/2GB, so I'll specify which screenshots came from which computer.

Since it looks like the gang from f13 that is playing LOTRO is on Silverlode, we will be playing there as well. Our names will be Lalande and Arha respectively and I think we will be playing Humans hailing from Rohan.

Cheers, and hope to see you in game.

I do not like your e-handle.  How is it pronounced?  I pronounce it chumluncast.  Delete your name and start fresh.

c + m + lancas.->see em lancas

[cmlancas]

Figure I'd update this thread since there wasn't much else to do this morning.

I've finally made it to level 20, and the grouping has started. I went with a few others close to my level (20-25) and tried to do the Great Barrows instance. We were doing pretty well until we got to the Onyxia style boss and got our asses handed to us. We just couldn't keep up with 9.25khp with two guardians, a minstrel, a burglar, and two champions; his buddies mashed us down as far as mana went when they spawned and we continually failed.

That sucked. My traits, however, seem to improve and greatly influence my character. I have something like +6 extra agility and +3% crit chance at level 20. That's pretty handy at that level. I'm interested to see how the group mechanics work out, considering (if any of you have read some of my other posts, I take this stance too) that my burglar seems like the most easily replaced character. Sure, conjunctions are nice, but being able to perform one every five minutes just doesn't seem worth it to me. If I were a group leader, I would rather have an extra champion for more damage. That's not really this thread though.

Overall, I'm still pleased, but my marginal utility is certainly less than what it was when I first picked up the game.

[Slayerik]

Figure I'd update this thread since there wasn't much else to do this morning.

I've finally made it to level 20, and the grouping has started. I went with a few others close to my level (20-25) and tried to do the Great Barrows instance. We were doing pretty well until we got to the Onyxia style boss and got our asses handed to us. We just couldn't keep up with 9.25khp with two guardians, a minstrel, a burglar, and two champions; his buddies mashed us down as far as mana went when they spawned and we continually failed.

That sucked. My traits, however, seem to improve and greatly influence my character. I have something like +6 extra agility and +3% crit chance at level 20. That's pretty handy at that level. I'm interested to see how the group mechanics work out, considering (if any of you have read some of my other posts, I take this stance too) that my burglar seems like the most easily replaced character. Sure, conjunctions are nice, but being able to perform one every five minutes just doesn't seem worth it to me. If I were a group leader, I would rather have an extra champion for more damage. That's not really this thread though.

Overall, I'm still pleased, but my marginal utility is certainly less than what it was when I first picked up the game.

Thats weird, as a guardian i friggin LOVE having a burglar as one of my 3 running partners. Debuffs + conjunctions + decent DPS + and a friggin mez? Yeah, you guys suck.

[gravdiggr]

The conjunction on demand is seriously overpowered.

You probably had the bad luck of ending in crappy groups. With people breaking your mez or wasting the conjunction, it could explain why you feel so useless.

That said, in terms of debuff, you can almost remove 50% of a single target dps.

I'm pretty convinced that adding a burglar to my trio of guardian-minstrel-champion would allow us to do all the game's content with 4 instead of 6 (been able to do it with 3, but i know it will end eventually).

[palmer_eldritch]

Burglars take more skill to play, and more skill to play *with* if you are one of the other members of the fellowship. If you haven't grouped much yet, it's possible you haven't quite realised your own power, and other players haven't either.