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Guide to a fun trial!
smitty0356
Member Posts: 368
I thought I would post something for all of the people giving this game a shot for the first time AND for people comming back after playing at/near release to maximize their enjoyment in beta. I have a few tips and guidelines for mmo trials, and some personal spins on some of the rules with this game in particular.
Basic Trial Guide
1. Always do trials with at least one friend: I think this is a great way to ensure you get some group-based combat, and a wider variation in class and skill (depending on the friend). Plus if you get hung up in the intro-zone, and you start to think the game sucks, maybe your bud can show you the way out.
2. Try at least 2 classes: I suggest one class you plan to play, but do that one second after trying a class you don't think you will like. The experience will make you better at your 2nd class, and who knows... you may be suprised by the first class.
3. Make it an event: I like to make "beta-weekends" or trial weekends to get some anticipation from my friends and myself to help the game be a bit of a party. I enjoy even bad games when I do this, and it keeps me from getting angry when a game doesn't turn out to be that great after playing it for 24 hours.
4. Don't accept trash: If a game clearly isn't doing it for you, or it is just too buggy, don't take the "tough it out" road. Generally if it is buggy in the intro, the end-game is totally unbearable. If the intro is boring, then that can be a different story, because they generally save their "A-game" for the bulk of you leveling process. (in this game it is in your 20's). If you get to 22 and you aren't having fun, then this game isn't for you.
Game specific advice
1: Don't be a Loremaster as your first class: Some people have, and there may be some general disagreement, but LM's are very rough in the early game. They are amazing in the end, and I would reccomend this class to anyone who likes endgame raiding and pvp, but the first 20 levels usually get people to quit on the class. Either way, you don't want this to be your only look into this game. It is a quite advanced class, and it requires a special taste.
2: Choose your class based on what nothing more than what you want in your character: Once you are out of the intro, you can do any quest line (ie human, elf). So if you want to be a hobbit, but you don't like the quests, then you can get around that quite easily.
Race breakdown:
Human: Pros: Versitile and can be all of the classes. Has high fate and strength, and racials that are solid for burgs, guards, lm's. The starting zone is the most polished and gratifying of the races.
Good class choices for human: Guardian, Burg, LM
Bad: Not a great minstrel, or hunter
Hobbit: Pros: Great for specialized classes, bouns to vitality and hope which is nice, lategame
Good classes for hobbit: PVE minstrel due to agro drops, PVE hunter, burg
Bad class for hobbit: Guard due to agro drops
Elves: Pros. Natrual hunters, versatile racial traits
Good classes: Best hunter dps-wise, decent Loremaster
Bad: Guard & Champ due to lower hp and strength and vitality... unless you are bent on this, don't be a melee elf.
Dwarves: Pros, great with shields, Axes... in every class which is pretty huge, Tons of hp and strength... The best of the melee combatants
Good classes: Guard, Champion (hands down best champion), minstrel (no one expects the minstrel, but it's the best pvp build)
Bad classes: Hunter... no agility
3: Starting zones: Your class decides what intro zone you go to, then what zone they dump you out in, but it has no bearing on the quests that you do in the game. If you like the human zone, you are just a 1s horse-ride away from being human in every sense aside from your class choice. This helps to bring friends of different races together, so someone doesn't have to be the dwarf hunter just so everyone can game together.
4: Don't put off the EPIC quests: These quests are books and chapters that contain the bulk of the solo and team-play content for this game. Oddly enough some players drop the ball, and realize that they haven't been doing these quests at about level 20, when they see LFG tells and they don't know what is going on. DON"T be that guy. If you do nothing else while you are on your trial, do these quests.
5. Professions: Professions are a major aspect to the amount of time you will be spending in the game. For the trial, I would suggest a profession that is easy to get into right away, since you have just a glimpse. As such, I would strongly reccomend against SCHOLAR. If you buy the game, then all are decent. I reccomend a tinkerer or yeoman for trial purposes since you can make stuff for your friends (and self) almost right away.
Am I doing something wrong?
If you aren't enjoying the game as much as you thought you would, make sure these aren't happening to you:
I hate the missions that I'm doing: Ask yourself "do I hate errand quests?" if so DON'T go to the shire... or any place containing hobbits... they are not combat oriented. This is a MAJOR mistake... The hobbit class is the staple of LOTR lore, so many people choose hobbits right off the bat, and don't know that they have all of the quests choices.
See a trainer every level: Many of the class defining skills don't come until level 4, so level 1-4 may be a bit of a stretch while you are learning the mechanics of this game.
Use the map: Maps for this game are very easy to use, and can show almost all information needed to quickly find anything with questlog in hand.
Don't doddle: You should be level 10 in about 2 hours if you make good time. This is an accelerated pace for most mmo's, but in this game, the story develops quite fast, so they get you to level 10 after just barely leaving the intro zone, and get your professions and skills going. Until then, don't be too quick to judge the game... much of the story, pvp, professions, and skills don't show up until level 10.
Do special events: Be sure to hit a spring festival if it is going or visit a house, or play an instrument... This game puts a lot of it's value as an mmo in it's immersion and out of combat systems. Maybe farm a little (literally farm, not in the mmo sense).
Summary
Considering there is no MORDOR yet, this game has a suprisingly large world and it's only going to get bigger as the deals have been made to extend this game out to at least 2014, so LOTRO will be around for a long while to come. I hope you have as much fun as I have had with this title, and decide to stick around if you think it's for you.
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Comments
Is a minstril a good class to play in the trial. Also, I know the minstril is a buffing class but what kind of offensive abilities does it have.
Minstrels are actually one of the most offensive classes. The classic healer rulebook is out the window with this class... they are great in pvp and do incredible bursts of damage.
I think they are great for the trial... hunters and champs are good too. I would initially reccomend against a LM and maaaaybe a burg... the lack of dps can rub people the wrong way if you are expecting a rogue. Both are great late game.
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"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
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Ya, these seem to sound fairly common sense, but fundemental things like this can really impact your outlook of a game.
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On the other hand , if you ever wondered - how would it look like to level in MMO withouth doing any combat.
Try Shire (hobbit area) for some of funniest most original quests you will ever see in a MMO.
Some people love it.
anyway, great guide
I've always recommend new players, especially those from other MMOs, give the Champion or Hunter a try. They're pretty straight forward dps classes. I like the Hunters in the game because they're not gimped to allow for a pet. And Champions are just melee badasses, a great deal of fun to play. Anyone I know who has started with one of those 2 in a trial has continued to play the game.
I don't know about a minstrel as your first class, especially if you're used to faster-paced combat in MMOs. The minstrels are all about timing and rhythm and if you're not used to that it's a PITA. Although the Minstrel is the first, and to date only, healing class I've ever leveled and truely enjoyed in an MMO. Once you understand the mechanics and have your rhythm down you can be extremely versatile. It's a great deal of fun.
Oh, and if you do play a minstrel, don't heal like you do in other MMOs. Worry about keeping people alive, not full on health. If you heal enough to keep people full you will get aggro and you will die. Every time.
On the other hand , if you ever wondered - how would it look like to level in MMO withouth doing any combat.
Try Shire (hobbit area) for some of funniest most original quests you will ever see in a MMO.
Some people love it.
anyway, great guide
So true. I hated it but my wife loved it. Go figure.
So either you must suck at being a Minstrel or the other players in fellowships you join suck at CC and keeping mobs off you....I play a lvl 50 Elven Minstrel myself and hardly ever get aggro keeping everyone full at all times.
However I do agree with this class being extremely awesome and very fun to lvl. Many of times I've been in an area fighting several enemies at a time and have a guard or champ come along and see me handling 3+ mobs and they try it only to have to run away to survive. Minstrel rock at multiple mob encounters and at lvl 50 have 4 very powerful AoE attacks they can blast off in fairly rapid succession!
...oh and for the record everyone should play through the entire hmm 120+ quest line in the shire just for the storylines.... Most of them are so damn funny or just bizarre its so worth it!
Kemih ~ 13 Red Mage | Currently playing FFXI & LOTRO, awaiting Warhammer Online & Aion...
Hey a trial thread,
I'm looking at downloading the trial right now, even though its huge and I have slowish internet. Whats the difference between the High Res and the Low Res downloads? Graphics going to be worse on the high res ones?
One of my fella minstrel in our raid kin (guild) go max strength (500+ after buff and 500 is cap). He does not even use his offensive spells (which does some good damage). He save all his mana for heals, and use a heavy hitting mace to deal damage, inch by inch and with best food he can buy, he can solo pretty much all the named ones. Unfortunately, he spend over 10 minutes soloing it.
If you have the patience to collect all the gear, food and stuffs, you can pretty much solo the most extreme mobs as a minstrel. Beat them with the max DPS mace and max STR till you run very low in health, then caste a heal. RINSE. Max the resistance against the big named you choose.
Unless your PC is very bad, I would suggest the high resolution version. There are many options in the display setting that you can pick to offset display lags. Watch the technical forums in LOTRo official forum web. So long as your display card is reasonable, LOTRo will look good on your PC.
Yeah I have a pretty good setup graphics wise. The reason I mentioned connection speed was that I only download at about 70kbs so It'll take me awhile to get this done....