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Lord of the Rings Online: A Look at the Guardian
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com Lord of the Rings Online Correspondent Malcom Calivar writes this overview of the Guardian class in Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.
Although Lord of the Rings Online currently does not have a large number of classes, they seem to be set up a lot better than in most other games. The truth is, there's no real point in having 25 classes in a game if 10 of those classes have identical skills with different names. Even though classes in Lord of the Rings Online have certain archetypical restrictions, they're all very versatile in both PvE and MPvP. We will take a look at the only class (currently) under the 'tank' archetype today, discussing group play, solo play, and other aspects of the Guardian class. If you're a fan of sword and board classes, then this class is definitely one you should be looking into.
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Read more on The Guardian
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Although it would seem the guardian is an easy class to play, there are a surprising number of tanks even at lvl 50 who don't hold agro very well. Learn your threat skills guardians! A lot of times sloppy groups are simply due to guardians who don't hold agro, and easy runs are due to guardians cleaning house.
Be wary of the Harasser, the Trait that turns one of your basic aggro skills into an AoE. If you have any kind of crowd control in your group (Burglar riddles, Hunter trap, Blinding Flashes) you must take care to not bring them out of mez when using that skill.
If you have a group with good crowd control you are often better off without that trait, because then you can use it against the single target you are working on without having to worry about waking up the adds.
Holding threat is the most important trait for a Guardian, IMO. You can neglect a bit of morale or armor building if you have a good minstrel (healer) behind you and other support from your group. But if you don't hold aggo, you are sunk.
I have two standard configurations for my guardian -- one for soloing/levelling, and one for grouping. Otherwise, your low DPS when focussed on threat makes soloing sooooo slow, but it's completely vital to have every trait and such pinpoint on your ability to hold aggro with a fellowship or raid.
It can also help to group your threat skills on your hotkeys so you can pour it on when you begin a fight, or when the DPS folks and/or healers attract too much attention!
But it is important that you can solo just as well as a Guardian as most classes -- if you are willing to re-slot traits and maybe keep some bank slots in variant equipment for when you are solo or in a group.
Vinca Bounderbuck -- the cutest little tin can on Landroval!
Nice write-up. My guardian is about to hit 35 and so far I've experienced pretty much what you described.
Nice thread. Purple and green lol what a combination of colors for armor.
Haha. When I saw that picture I did a face/palm.
For anyone who hasn't played Lotro, there are much cooler guardian outfits. The one shown here is a newb outfit.
Also, if you haven't played Lotro before, the game has a unique wonderful system whereby you can keep the stats of your best gear, but then use the appearance of any armor you own, to look the way you want to.
"Guardians who don't hold aggro"? Hmmm....
I have played a guardian to lvl 33 thus far just because I wanted to better understand the class (I also play a mini and champ), and I have greatly enjoyed it. However, "holding aggro" is not easy -- especially when you are playing with fellows (hunters, this means you!) who lay on the dps at full throttle.
So, I would say a lot of times sloppy groups are due to dps classes who don't know how to manage their own aggro. Guardians get blamed but the fault for this is shared amongst the fellowship.
The guardian class has a number of ways to get and hold threat, but I sometimes wish it had more, as I often find myself competing more with my fellows (for the attention of the mobs) than with the monsters.
I had half hoped the article would touch on this issue, but it really did not. Still, it's a great class in a very fine game. I also think a guardian's repair bills are pretty daunting, though I am told things aren't as bad as they used to be.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
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Gee, no one complaining about this class not fitting in with the lore which it does very nicely.
I do agree that holding aggro with this class is an adventure, but then again, a poor party with players who are not aware of how to play in a party should not be handed the I win button either.