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Choosing a class
Death1942
Member UncommonPosts: 2,587
ok so i spent a month or two playing LOTRO when it first came out. i got a (dwarf) guardian to lvl 20 and had a few alts all lower than 10.
i have ruled out hunter as i cant stand them anymore (WoW really killed that kind of class for me).
Loremaster is ok but i tend to solo alot and they seemed a tad boring to solo with
Burglar appealed to me but grouping was a tad hard and the class was boring (got up to lvl 10 i think)
Minstrel is ok (i do like healing in games as i like to instance grind) but the lack of kill power really hurt levelling
havent really looked into the other classes much. what are your thoughts?
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
Comments
They added 2 AoE's and a DoT to Minstrels in Book 11 (I think) Minstrels are now beast solo.
Guardian is nice, especially since B12. It was a little dull before that, but the new DPS capabilities actually make guardian a fairly decent, albeit somewhat limited AOE class.
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im to lazy too use grammar or punctuation good
It always amazes me the amount of people who want to pay homage to a subscription-based MMO to solo.
There's been a lot of class balancing and 'love' since you've been in the game, but maybe what you should try to do is apply yourself to group with others, seek out a kinship to belong to and be an active member. Depending on that, you may enjoy just about any class that the game has to offer.
It amazes me that some people can't understand not everyone plays mmo's the way they do.
I love to solo, I love playing MMO's. When somebody else pays my subscription I'll consider playing their way. Until then I'll play the way I enjoy.
Hunter is completely different from the WoW equivalent. The Loremaster is the closest class to hunter from wow I think.
Try each of them out and try different classes. The starting area can have a HUGE impact on your enjoyment. I know people that LOVE the hobbits starting area and others that absolutely despise it. Very little combat there.
Find a good Kinship and that will help also. The right group of people can make your forays into grouping a lot more enjoyable. And ignore those who think your style of play isn't as good as theirs. Eventually they will accept that everyone doesn't think the way they do.
Solo content is important since you are not always going to have a group ready-made when you log in.
Waiting around with an LFG flag isn't much fun.
i dont like hunters because (and i have experianced this) WoW kids come across, see Hunter and instantly think of them as the best class
i like playing the underdogs (hence why i love healing and to a certain extent tanking).
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
Loremaster is a master of messmerize and a debuff. That's what you will do most of the time in groups in end-game. Replenish mana to others, debuff mobs and messmerize incoming adds. For solo purpose it's one of the best class that can handle more enemies at once, but also one of the slowest class for grinding.
Burglar is obviously not the best option for soloing either. Yes he can survive almost anything, but his killing speed is slow. In groups it's not the most needed class either. Burglars can open conjuctions, but their DPS is lower than hunter/champion, he has no buffs, weak debuffs (that were nerfed every patch) and messmerize duration is shorter than it's cooldown.
Minstrel is far best for soloing from these classes. Not only he can solo elite and signature mobs, but also multiple mobs with ease. And it's obviously the most needed class for groups.
REALITY CHECK
Champions: great AoE, and fast killer if you got someone to heal him. Great as a protector of the targetted classes in PVP, say Champions AoEing on top of a minstrel to keep the creeps away.
Hunter: great sniper, can kill an even con at range with hardly any damage taken, so if he can pull them solo, he can kill non stop. With traps and some skills using terrain and whatever else, he can kill up to 3 mobs with little trouble. In PVP in a group/zerg, hunters are great in hurting or finishing off a runner.
Guardian: excellent survivability and decent DPS, but less needed in mass in PVP.
Loremaster: exceptionally survivable soloing. Can handle 3 mobs easily using mezz and pet and heals.
Minstrel: surprisingly soloable against 1 mob, against a few, well it might be tougher
Burglar: great in groups, I have less idea how well they solo at high levels, at lower levels they rock if ambushing single mobs.
Captain: great soloist if speced for combat. Got heavy armor, great weapon (the best craftable weapon in terms of stats is the captain's halberd), good pets or banner, heals, DPS and the best legendary skill (Defense of the Middle Earth). Actually, he is like a jack of all trades, with good unique skills such as summoning players.
I have 5 x level 50l (no burglar and Loremaster), I would say if you want to solo, hunter is your man. He is not the strongest, but a fast killer of non elites, use your terrain well and plan ahead, he can kill non stop for hours with little need for potions, handling 2 at a time. If you want to solo elites slowly, a captain or a minstrel would be a good choice. If you want to solo multiples and have patience, a LM at high level is a crazy soloist.
I don't influence "MY" style of play on anyone, it's the credence of the basis of what an MMO is, which consequently stands for Massive Multiplayer Online. What my point was is that you generally go online to these style of games to not only interact with the game environment, but moreso to interact with the gaming community to form groups, friendships, etc.
It's not MY style, it is generally though the way MMO's work. My point now and will forever be that if you want to get into a game to solo, there are a lot of great console games that could fit that bill. If you choose to log into an MMO and solo, well that's your choice as well, but typically that means that people like you would be the first ones to complain if a quest or a mob wasn't soloable.
And much like you, your opinion and your slam won't change how I feel about that. So let's agree to disagree and be civil to one another.
That MMO's have to be group orientated is a 5 year old fashion and simply "OUT" now.
Modern MMO's have to be solo friendly.
Turbine has understood that and thats why i play LOTRO. Sick of standing around LFG.
Barbara
When in doubt always choose the black mage.
Maybe you should broaden your perspective a bit? Not everyone has the time to dedicate several uninterrupted hours on a consistent enough basis to be a reliable group member. Maybe these people group when they can, but need to solo quite a bit in order to progress at a resonable pace? Maybe some of these people just prefer to solo? They pay the same sub fee as everyone else... Maybe this is a video game and the slight variances of play style between people really has zero impact on anything of real importance?
Maybe you should broaden your perspective a bit? Not everyone has the time to dedicate several uninterrupted hours on a consistent enough basis to be a reliable group member. Maybe these people group when they can, but need to solo quite a bit in order to progress at a resonable pace? Maybe some of these people just prefer to solo? They pay the same sub fee as everyone else... Maybe this is a video game and the slight variances of play style between people really has zero impact on anything of real importance?
I can and have, at least I believe I have broaden my perspective on MMO's. I will admit that LOTRO has gone to great strides to assure that there is a good bit of soloable content in the game, but I still maintain that despite that there may be a mass amount of people who want to solo and not interact in any way with anyone else, the very idea of an MMO was for group orientation.
I've said in an earlier post that I'm one of the lucky ones who actually get to game with his wife online, there's no competition there and quite frankly I don't go LFG nearly at all, but we try to make ourselves available to solo people who may need help accomplishing a quest that they obviously cannot solo.
I have a perma-group at any time when I get online, and yes I consider myself one of the lucky ones. If for some reason we both can't get online, it's not nearly as fun for either of us. We have our own kinship, which has been around since 6 months after the original Everquest released to the public.
Unfortunately my opinion still stands, there is no debate on it simply because it is my opinion, just as much as you're entitled to yours. I respect the fact that people want to get online a massive multiplayer game to solo, but that doesn't mean that I have to agree with it.
If this situation has had 'zero impact on anything of real importance', we would not be having this conversation right now.
Like I said, I respect your vision in how you see and wish to play an MMO, and I know you will do the same for mine.
LOTRO is a great game, my wife and I enjoy it when we're not interacting with our two children, attending school online or just doing family things. Now if I can just get my kids more involved we'd have a huge perma group at our disposal!
Take care, and enjoy your game!
I've never met anyone who NEVER groups. So the second M gets used by everyone. The fact of the matter however is that, particualrly as games mature, it becomes increasingly difficult to find groups for low-level content. As that happens, the "soloability" of the game becomes an even more important consideration for new players.
Add to that the fact that not everyone plays from 7-10 PM Eastern Standard Time and it is you who comes accross as unimaginative by being "amazed."
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
theres always that debate about group vs solo.. but to be honest, MMO's are not "group-orientated camp fests" anymore (everquest).. The focus is on community which means regardless of group or solo, we each do our own thing.. forge our OWN names wether it be from travelling alone from town to town helping others or teaming to take down a foe, it is not written on HOW we achieve our goals but IF we achieve them..
Some prefer to do things alone and thats fine and if there comes a time when they would like some help in defeating an enemy, they need not look any further than the nearest outpost of adventurers to seek help.. Its not a rule, simply ANOTHER solution to the problem..
We're adventurers, we do what we want..
To Donavyn:
You have your views about how a MMO should be played, other people have their views. They differ from yours. Well that is it, no big deal.
Imagine MMOs as a toy, every customer who buy a copy of that toy has his own view about how to enjoy the item. Some plays alongside the spec of the designer. Some (babies) tear it apart to see what the joints are made of. Some people shelf it, just for the heck of it. Some people frame it, for display. To each his own.
I agree, MMO provides a sharable world. That does not mean we all must group in quests. The Central Park is sharable too, but we do not need to go there together for picnics. I can still go there alone to feed the pigeons and leave on my own schedules. Same for MMOs. We have chat rooms, trade and other fancy facilities (imagine dancing together? emoting passer bys?), AH, crafting, Guilds and Guild halls. All these are alternate forms of social contact. Not everyone want to meet each other just to bash some AI mobs who are perpetually waiting at some fixed spots for you to go pull them with an arrow or a fireball.
I always enjoyed the guardian when i played. One of the best solo classes for LOTRO. I enjoyed the hunter also if you take the woodsman trade skill.
Played : WOW, LOTRO, COH/COV, EQ2, SWG, and WAR.
Playing EVE Online and AOC.
Wtg for SW:TOR and WOD
LoTRO Hunters play a lot closer to a WoW mage than to a hunter. Think a mage with traps and tracking and you'll have a good idea. They certainly don't get some 'roided out pet that can solo an even con while they go AFK and make tea.
A WoW kiddie that expects them to solo like a WoW hunter will be in for a world of hurt and disappointment.
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
You know what truly amazes me, is how people respond to the question posited by the op and do not even answer the guys question. There are about 8-10 posts in this thread that have very little to do with the ops question; just a bunch of ranting and flaming each other about solo this and not solo that and which is better blah blah blah..
Op, I have been playing LOTRO for about 3 months now, about 10-15 hours a week. I have a level 30 captain and a 16 elf hunter. Although I have not experinced the other classes, I must say I am loving the captain. As someone else mentioned he/she is a great jack of all trades: great armor, buffs, weapons, pet/ally, healing. I rarely have trouble finding a fellowship, and when i would like to solo is not that hard at all. (i am not debating whether to solo or not, or if this class is the best for it. Only commenting on my experience thus far.) I have played wow, eq, gw, l2, ddo. There is not one class in these other games that I could or am going to try and compare the captain to, but I can say I do not remember another character I have had in another MMO in a long while in which I have had as much fun with as my captain. Hope that helps.