Ninja Me – Volume 2.9.16 Champion Style

I’ve made a few changes on how I play Champion.  Even with the new updates coming out with the Rise of Isengard I’m not sure my playing style is going to change all that much, although I have to admit that testing out the tanking options seems rather tempting.

To get the maximum out of Thinhith I’ve decided to trait four deep in Deadly Storm and three in the Berserker.  I’ll move the traits around depending on what I need or what I’m working on but a few I keep on my permanent rotation.  Two of these are Mighty Blast which increases the damage output of  Horn of Gondor and Bloodlust which removes  any dazes or stuns (very handy in Mirkwood).  In a pinch, Bracing Attack gives a small heal.  Feral Strike, Rend and Blade Wall seem to be the four I use the most.  As such I’ve been equipping any LI traits onto my dagger (oh, yeah – I said dagger!) that greatly improve these skills.

As for weapons, I’ve thrown away the heavy 2H Greatsword that was weighing me down, switching to two 1H-daggers.  This suits my fighting style to a T! and doesn’t seem to have changed my damage output at all. In fact, I’m almost positive I  take things down quicker.   Dressed all in black with two daggers by her side – Thinhith becomes a Ninja! The dragon warrior of Lothlorien!

The test for this fighting style came last night in the Vol 2 Epic instance – a quest I loathe completely.  Rescuing Bori. . . er, or was that Dori??  Either way, the silly dwarf got himself in a pinch that I alone need to get him out of.  I wrote earlier how to do this on Isilwren, my hunter.  How does it change when on a Champion?  Only just slightly.  One thing I noticed being different is that the barrel no longer stays in my pouch as a clickable item. Once used, it is gone and the need to run back to grab another barrel becomes necessary.

I made two attempts at completing this. The first was to grab the barrel and run into the corridor with it ahead of Bori.  The barrel, once placed down, will knock out the two meandering trolls guarding Bori’s cell.  This. . . wasn’t such a good idea.  As soon as I ran out into the corridor I was beset by two Uruk-hai and the trolls, who never let me see the light of day.  That attempt failed within a couple of seconds.  Attempt number 2 went much better.

So, on a Champion here is one way of completing the quest easily.  To get Bori moving, click on him then immediately grab the barrel.  As soon as he steps out into the corridor, set the barrel down and then help him take out the Uruk-hai.  Use Bori as diversion so that they are focusing on him long enough for you to set the barrel down. Once the barrels are placed the trolls will be sleeping happily and no longer a bother. The number of Uruk-hai seems to change. The first time there were just two of them that stood together. The second time there were three that stood  in different portions of the corridor.  Instead of taking them all on at once, I concentrated on helping Bori and then moving on to the other two.  Once they are all dispatched, run back into Bori’s cell, grab another barrel and then follow him a little farther down the hallway.  As soon as you reach him, set the barrel down.  Here I met no Uruk-hai – just two sleeping trolls.  If you start to get overwhelmed, use the Horn of Gondor to give you a bit of breathing room.

At the second stop Bori will say something like “We are almost there” – then he’ll talk to a cell of imprisoned elves which you help release.  Once done, follow Bori to the last chamber where a very large and nasty troll awaits you.  Here is where I relied a lot on Feral Strike, Remorseless Strike and Bracing Attack.  If your health starts to get low either pop a potion, use Dire Need or kite the troll around a bit until your health comes back.   It didn’t seem to take very long to knock him down.  Once the troll is dispatched you are done with this quest and can move on to the several skirmishes awaiting you before Vol 2 is completed.

Hopefully that helps.  I remember thinking, “That was it?” after I completed it.  On the whole, I think it is a matter of timing. Once you have the timing down the instance becomes fairly easy no matter what character you are playing.

 

Estellwyn and the Ride to Rohan

The race is on.  In September Turbine will be releasing the Rise of Isengard expansion whereby my kinship (Lonely Mountain Band) has been planning  a massive ride across the plains with our Rohirrum based characters.  Estellwyn is mine – and the girl is moving!   How close we will actually get to Turbine’s view of Rohan has yet to be seen.

Presently Estellwyn has  reached  lvl 64.  All of that leveling, from 60 to 64, was done via Moria instances so that she could get her Moria gear and learn how to play in PUG groups (non-kin related random groups).  I don’t care what anyone says about PUG groups. If you find a really good one you can get far in LOTRO.  For example, my Lore-master class quest in Moria took me to the Forges – a nasty instance that can be a nightmare to complete.  On a whim I answered a PUG call to do the Forges, hoping against hope that they were a good one. Not only was the leader of the group excellent but we completed the whole instance, including my class quest without much of a hitch.  Hurrah!  Upon completion I got the cap-stone for Ancient Master, which is something I’ve been wanting for a while.

 Estellwyn is now in Mirkwood, having completed the introduction by way of a trusty kin Gaurdian and Minstrel who also were running the intro at the same time.  Maybe I entered the content late in leveling, but I’m finding it easier to get through the quests than I did on Isilwren (hunter).  I am still traited mostly in Ancient Master and don’t really see me straying from this type of playing anytime soon. For those who don’t know the Ancient Master trait line is all about crowd control (CC).  Since handling large mobs at close range is something I’m not good at on an LM (being that they are light armour wearers) I like to be able to root them to the ground, stun like mad and then use large doses of lighting mitigation to wipe them all out.  So far I’ve been able to handle large groups this way, even when I accidentally pull something with a stray fireball (or two).

As for my pets?  I can use a bog lurker now, but really. . . why?  In order to use it I’d have to be traited five deep in Beast Master, which is a good trait for supporting your pet, but not so much in fighting (at least not in my personal opinion).  The only way I could see myself using him is if I needed something to do crowd control  during a Weatherstock concert where vile crebain can often interrupt a good party.  For the most part, Mirkwood has seen the cunning sneak attacks of my Lynx.  He’s stealthy and has good dps. The only downside is that I can hardly ever see him because I play him in constant stealth – which makes his fur blend into the surrounding atmosphere like a chameleon’s camouflage. 

Here’s hoping I can get Estellwyn into Enedwaith soon so she wil be ready to ride to Rohan when the time comes.  I need to finish her Epic story line while I’m at it too.  So much to do, so little time to do it in. 

As a side note to those struggling with the LM class – don’t give up.  It is a hard class to master in the beginning levels as you constantly die and wonder what in the world made you want to play a Lore Master.  Trust me – it does get better.  So, just keep going and continue to try out different traits to see what suits you best. I almost gave up on Estellwyn several times, but now look at her.  The girl is fierce!

 

Kiting on a LM

I finally did it! I got Estellwyn all the way to lvl 60; something I never thought I’d be able to accomplish.  After reading all sorts of guides to how to play one I managed to find a mixture that works for me.  Classwise, I lean towards Ancient Master which is more or less the crowd control (cc) trait line.  My other three trait spots being occupied with 2 dps and one beast master.

This weekend my goal was to finish Volume one.  It had been a while since I had completed these quests on Isilwren (hunter) so most of the content was all new for me.  I had forgotten how many mobs there were in Book 14.  There are LOTS! The hp on most orcs being around 9,000 hp.  My first thought was to pick them off in groups.  By using Herb-lore I could root most of them, but then they’d start breaking away quicker than I was ready for them.  Even with Fast Loader traited, I couldn’t stun them fast enough.  This is where kiting (and an eagle) came in handy.

There are four skills you can use (by lvl 58) while running.  These are all your “Signs of. . .” skills.  By equipping the eagle you get a higher chance of flanking and doing more damage.  The nice tidbit I discovered is that while you have the eagle attacking and flanking you can keep his health up along with your own just by running through the four ”Signs of. . .” skills so that neither of you die and you can easily take out mobs without even having to root them.  Why is this important?  If you play a lore-master you might have already discovered that trying to perform any skill that involves time (throwing wind, fireballs, even Strenth of Will) gets interrupted too much to effectively work when dealing with mobs.  Trying to rely just on these skills when fighting will quickly get you killed.

Widdling Them Down

Once you have gotten the hordes widdled down to just three orcs (or any other nasty) you can stop running.  Root using Herb-lore (which I like more than Cracked Earth), mezzing one.  The one baddie that doesn’t get rooted is the one you want to concentrate on.  This will give you enough time for your mez to complete its cooldown cycle so you can use it again on the rooted baddie that didn’t get mezzed.  Should all three get on you, start kiting again using just the “Sign of. . . ” skills, while periodically running over and using your Staff Strike (A0E) skill.

But, What About Running Out of Power?

Kiting and using your sign skills has an added bonus in that you never run out of power and your health stays practically unchanged.  Not only that, but your pet should never die provided that it can flank a bunch during battle.  For this reason alone I recommend using the eagle because the other pets just don’t flank as well as he does.  If you do find yourself running out of power, using your power draining skill will help, but during a mob fight it is almost impossible to use.

Kiting During Fellowships

Let’s be honest, kiting on a LM should really be left for when you are playing solo.  You aren’t a tank and never will be.  However, there are times when using this same method of kiting does come in handy during groups.  There have been two Moria instances where I have used this method (and have remained the last girl standing).  The first being the second boss in Forges and the second being the final boss in 16th Hall.  Forges is hard by any standards and just because you can kite this way does not mean you will win the fight.  If anything, it will gain your defeated crew enough time to get back into the fight.  However, on 16th Hall this method of kiting seemed to work.

During the final fight kiting and using sign skills on the boss helped to widdle him down, but  periodically I’d stop and destroy a mushroom, resupply the tank with power and then start kiting again.  I stayed as far away from the boss as I possibly could, concentrating mostly on the mushrooms.   Should this be something you do regularily with a fellowship?  I’d have to say no – but if you think it would help, try it. Just make sure that you are also doing your other LM duties as well.

Setting Up Your Skill Bar

This post is going to focus on two things.  The first being how I have set up my skill bar and how it might help you focus on what you need to work on.  Now, granted, my skill bar is not for everyone but if setting up your hunter skills has been a tad iffy for you, then this might give you some ideas.

When I play, I use the number keys on my keyboard to shoot.  Here you will see I use Penetrating shot, Barbed, Swift Arrow and Quick Shot.  These are all my ST skills.  My AoE skills, Rain of Arrows and Rain of Thorns are located next to my STs in case I need them in a pinch. I don’t always use them unless I am trying to take down elites or small mobs.  I have played around with this set up quite a bit and don’t always adhere to the 1,2,3 format as I generally like to pop Swift Arrow (3) first since it shoots of three fast arrows quickly, but you get the idea.

Next to Rain of Thorns I have Bard’s Arrow.  Admittedly, I have not been using this anymore since I got Distracting Shot (yellow key surrounded by horses) as this gives a temporary mez to most targets, effectively rendering Bard’s Arrow a bit useless.  Next to that I have Merciful Shot, and Heart Seeker.  Merciful Shot and Heart Seeker have the longest CDs so they are placed more or less towards the back where they are easy to access, but not necessarily always used.

On the top-most bar I have all my sword skills. I lead off with Eldar’s Grace which enables me to parry more. This line-up I actually do follow more or less down the line aside from Agile Rejoiner which depends on focus level.  Dazing Blow is at the far end here since I don’t always need it, but it comes in handy when I need an interupt.  I admit to being a keyboard/mouse player so these keys are used while on my mouse.  Know your sword skills, though!  There are some sword skills (Blindside, for one) that cause extra damage when paired with an arrow skill so make sure you use them accordingly.

The rest of the set up is based on type of skill.  Traps and Lures are placed together as are tracking skills, hiding skills, focus and stances.  I am constantly tweaking my bars but for the most part, this has been the set up for a duration of my game-play. Already I see a few areas that need some rework (like not having Fleet stance in there twice).

The key to your set up should be focused on two points – how easy is it to find the skill and how quickly can you get them working.  For me this set up works because the keys I use the most are my arrow skills. Putting those on my number keys just made sense for this very reason.  The rest of my skills I don’t have to worry about so much so I have them organized according to type so I can get to them quickly, but basically just need to mouse them when they are needed.

One skill you might notice missing from this set up is Press Onward. I  have this on a side bar located to the right of my screen.  It is a very vital skill to have if you need to save yourself in a pinch, but not so vital that you need to have it on your main skill bar.  Other items important to have are any extra bow and/or one-handed sword damage skills you obtain during your Enmity deeds.

Lastly, I would highly recommend downloading the travel plugin from www.lotrointerface.com.  To date, I have every port known in-game, which takes up roughly 16 quickslots.  Valuable realestate if you need to use those slots for something like tonics, food, potions, etc.  The travel plugin allows you to put all the ports onto one easy to access window which you can then stick in a remote corner of your screen.

So, that is basically how I have my skills set up.  I hope this helps you as you start to sort out your skills and develop your hunter into something fun to play amongst Middle Earth.

Honeysong the Burg

Whenever I want to start working on a class I really like, especially if they are in the 30 range, I’ll pop on a CSTM (Casual Stroll to Mordor) roundtable and open up my skirmish pallet.  Which to work on? Can I handle mobs without trapping them first? How many can I stun? Can I keep them off my healer without any way of pulling aggro?  As I was playing and listening I discovered the answer was – “Why, yes I can!”

When I skirm I use a healer. I’ve tried other warrior pets, but healer seems to keep me fighting longer.  Right now Ms. Honeysong is at lvl 32. Admittedly there are not a lot of skills under her belt right now, but she has enough to keep her fighting.  Based on my experience skills seem to follow under two categories: Sneak and Mischief.  Sneak doesn’t offer a lot for me to play with right now except for “Distract” which turns an opponent away from me, allowing me to perform a VERY powerful sneak attack or “Trip” which stuns and knocks down my opponent.  Mischief, on the other hand, has a few more options for me at this level.

Under Mischief I start attacking an oppenent with a gambit of tools. I’ll generally start with Exploit Opening, which increases the damage the target receives, Dust in the Eyes, Disable, followed by any sword skills available to me by lvl of damage output.  While I’m using my sword skills I will throw in Addle to stop any spell castings, Startling Twist, Counter Defense, Clever Retort and Exploit Opening.  If all goes according to plan, I can keep my opponent stunned the whole time I’m attacking him allowing me to take on characters with a bit more hp than myself.  There are times when I just can’t stun the guy, though, and so have to rely on Riddle, run away to revive hp, come back and fight, Riddle, run away. . . you get the picture.

The biggest problem I’m facing with Burg is the cooldowns each skill requires to use.  Often times I’ll find more than one boss I need to tackle, but have a hard time doing so because I’ve already used my Hide in Plain Site (which does just that) and Trip.  Hide in Plain Sight and Trip each have a 5 minute cooldown.  The next boss will get Exploit Opening which stuns him for a few seconds (in a fellowship this starts a Fellowship Maneuver but in solo play it is just a stun). Exploit Opening has a five minute cooldown as well so that skill is now out of contention. At this point I’m left with Riddle and my swordskills.  Another problem I find is that using Hide in Plain Sight immediately takes me out of Mischief, not allowing me to use any skills under that stance until I’m out of combat and can put myself back into Mischief.

For the most part a lot of my playing has been solo. However there have been a few times where I’ve gotten the chance to do groupwork.  At 32 I’m not completely sure what my role in groups is.  Considering that most of my skills deal more damage when I’m attacking from behind, that is generally where you will find me – stuck behind some troll, jabbing him in the butt over and over again.  It is not the most glamorous roll, to be sure.  Hobbits can get some the nastiest views of Troll behinds!  Ultimately, though, my roll will start to be that of the FM wizard – rolling the damage dice and hoping that others will follow the trail I have set. 

The Burg class has been a lot of fun to play thus far.  I am still toying with the Burgle ability which allows me to steal treasure from baddies while in Sneak. I’ve also just received (and used) Find Footing which allows me to get out of a stun quickly.  I can’t wait to see what is in store for Ms. Honeysong as she continues to improve her sneaky burgler antics.

*About Ms. Honeysong – She is a young Hobbit with wild red hair and cute features. She has used her cute, innocent features to get her out of tough scrapes with the authorities.  The niece of Farmer Maggot, she was raised on his farm until her antics could no longer be tolerated any longer.  During one night of walking in the Shire forests she happened upon four Hobbits running towards the Brandywine Bridge in haste.  She has been following them ever since.

Tips and Tricks for Getting Through Vol 2, Book 9, Chapter 16

I loathed this quest. Loathed might be saying it lightly. I almost called the whole epic Vol 2 storyline quits after attempting this the first time.  It is, in a word, hard. Still, if I could do it, anyone can.  These are some tips and tricks to use before heading in and what to do once you get there.

The quest begins in Thangulhad where an elven lady tells you to go help free Bori from his enslavement.  When you arrive you find yourself amongst a LOT of Elven warriors who you think are going to help you in this cause. Well, yes and no.  While you head down the corridor to Bori’s cell the Elves head down another corridor.  I believe the first thought in my head was, “Hey! Where are you going??”  Essentially, freeing Bori is up to you.

This is where prep comes into play and why it is important to have a few items with you before you click on Bori to start the quest.  Keep in mind that these hints are geared for hunters only and won’t work on other classes.  Before you click on Bori  lay down the strongest triple-trap you have. I used a level 55 triple trap.  Also equip fire oil, your favorite supreme bow-chant, and any food you brought with you. I also made sure I had some wound reduction soup to help keep me fighting a bit longer.

When the quest starts Bori will tell you to pick up one of the barrels behind him.  The barrel will slot into any free space you have in your bags. When I play I have one bag constantly open with all my hunter goodies – food, potions, bow-chants, etc.  There is seldom any room for anything else. So, for easy access to the barrel I made sure only one other bag had an empty space and left it open next to my “hunter” bag.  You can also hotkey it, but this was the easiest for me to do at the time.

Click on Bori again so he can help you fight.  Before you can say, “Holy Uruk-hai!” there are three upon you. The triple-traps will keep them at bay but there is always one that will evade them.  They don’t have a very high hp so they are fairly easy to take down. Focus on the one that didn’t get trapped first.  Next, stun the last one still trapped and then focus your attention on the second to be released from the trap.  I would not use fears in this instance as they can trigger the other trolls when the baddie is running back.  As your situation might end differently, keep in mind that your main focus is to crowd control the Uruks so they don’t gang up on you all at once.

During your first battle you might have noticed two trolls walking behind the Uruk-hai.  You don’t want to fight these guys as thier hp is much higher than yours. What you want to do is place the barrel in the hallway where they are walking. Do this AFTER you have dispatched the Uruk-hai. The barrel will cause the trolls to go to sleep. Once the barrel is placed continue running forward. Place another barrel for the next batch of trolls.  The only problem I had here was that the barrel was on a cooldown timer which was not ready for me by the time I got there.  As soon as it was, however, I set the barrel down.  You don’t have to run back to Bori’s cell to grab another barrel as it is now equipped in your pouch.

Three more Uruk-hai will come in to attack you. Before they get to you, set a trap, use a stun arrow (or Stunning Blow) on another one and then concentrate on the one that is closest. Again, these don’t have a high hp so you should be able to widdle them down fairly quickly.  In all situations I highly recommend using Merciful Shot because it takes a HUGE chunk of thier hp away, making the fight end much quicker.

After my first try in this instance I started reading about how to master this chapter because it seemed very confusing.  Most blogs said that you would have to lay down three barrels as there were three sets of trolls along with three sets of Uruk-hai.  In may case I didn’t find this to be true. After the second battle was over I just kept running until I got to the main room where the quest started. Instead of finding the Elven company waiting for you (hurray! your done! – let’s get out of here)  You find a big nasty Troll waiting for you.  Yay.

Here is where kiting will come in handy. For those who don’t know what kiting is, it is basically running like mad to keep your health up while stopping every once in a while to shoot at the big guy.   What? Hunter’s are not supposed to run?  Well, yes, I would normally agree with you when the guy you are fighting has about the same hp that you do. However, when his hp is twice that of yours – run!

Initially Bori will stand up to the troll and take him on.  Find a good corner and start shooting like mad. If he starts coming at you, use Beneath Notice to get the attention off of you and back onto Bori. Bori’s health is higher than yours so he can take it.  Eventually that troll is going to come after you, though.  Start running. When you run, make sure you stay close to Bori or make running sweeps that bring you close to Bori so he can deal damage when the troll gets close.  Periodically stop, shoot the most damaging arrow you have, and then start running again, making another sweep close to Bori. Lather, rinse, repeat until the big guy goes down.  Once the troll is down the Elves will appear (thanks for showing up guys) and the quest is over.

Some things to think about before you get started.  Trait high in hp and power renewel on your LI weapons and make sure your bow can deal a lot of damage in a short amount of time.  Prior to doing this quest again I had a friend craft me a lvl 65 second age bow. On top of that I started traiting like mad for in-combat power and health regen, improved crit rates on skills I used often, improved agility as well as Beleriand/Troll damage.  My off-hand blade also has in-combat power regen (a little trinket picked up with Algraig Ally standing).

I will not kid you. This quest is a royal pain. I think I even shouted something akin to, “I hate this stupid quest!” several times while I was doing it. Once it was done I felt relieved and a bit empowered. If I could tackle this bad boy, there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do!!  Chapter 16 doesn’t end Vol 2. Instead there are two more quests to do after rescuing Bori that ties up the whole Bori/Mazog storyline.  What ensues afterwards is well worth all the trouble it took to finish Chapter 16 (and a cakewalk in comparison).

Good luck! Happy Hunting!

Not Another Gambit!!??

My Warden, Leloria, is still a bit new at her profession.  She keeps hoping that when she meets her trainer he’ll give her another skill to learn. Alas, she generally finds yet another scroll for gambit memorization handed to her.  She almost loathes going to meet him now because she knows what is in store. 

Today I  started in on Leloria for her miniscule leveling from 30 to 35. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing a Warden. I mean, what isn’t there to love? You get to bash things around with your shield, wack with your sword and yell your frusterations out throughout Middle Earth, AND your character is based on Haldier’s roll under the Lady’s care.  Win-win all around!  Still, with that said, Warden is not a bash and slash toon.  There is quite a bit of thinking involved when playing one namely because of how many gambits one has to memorize.

Before she started questing, I opened up her class deeds to see which ones she needed to work on the most. With Warden the class deeds focus on different gambits and how often you have used them.  Once each gambit deed has been accomplished you open up a more advanced version of that gambit.  I was shocked to see that most of mine were next to nill on the completion cycle. Most looked as if I had not swung a single sword or that my shield was still shiney and polished for the lack of hitting anything with it.  My first thought was, this is going to be a long, long road - and so far it has been.

For those not familiar with Warden, there are basically three skills you will use the most.  Though they come with their own fancy names you will quickly come to know them by thier gambit line-up: fist, spear, shield.  From those three skills you get a plethura of gambit combinations fit to tie your brain into knots.  Tonight I worked on two of them.  The trick, I have realized is to do each one of these deeds so often that my brain clicks the sequences into memory.  Fist, Spear. . .Precise Blow. Shield, Spear, Fist. . . some sort of force field. . . wash, rinse, repeat.  The goal is to repeat these two skills so many times that I have them clicked into memory and instantly know how to call them into play when I need them. Once I have completed the deed, I’ll move on to the next two class deeds in line.

Maybe by going down the class deed list I will understand this class more and become a more adept player.  My approach could be completely off but if I don’t start somewhere I’ll never start learning.  Tonight she managed to hit 32 before I called it a night.