 |
| |
Introduction
So, you've rolled your first Minstrel. Congrats! You're about to join the ranks of the most desired grouping class in all of Middle Earth. So, are you ready to start grouping and killing all manner of foul creatures in those awesome looking instances?
Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding "no."
Most of the great grouping fun is to be had in the endgame. The road to there and back again, unless you have a permanent partner to roam with, is going to be a mostly solo endeavor. Fear not, though, because a well-played Minstrel is a breeze to solo throughout nearly every quest in the game.
Contents |
General Leveling Tips
Before we begin, however, we should establish a few general tips for making your way to the level cap in an efficient manner:
- Quest, quest, quest. Don't do anything that you haven't been told to do by someone with a glowing ring above their head.
- Don't ignore the Epic Quests. You know those fiery quest rings that give quests with a Chapter and Book in the title? Follow them.
- Don't spend a thin copper on equipment while you're leveling. Quest rewards are more than sufficient. The only exception is an instrument.
- Don't waste time crafting until level cap.* Grab Explorer as a vocation to collect materials from resource nodes, which will make you quite wealthy.
- You want to work on your Class Deeds as you go. When a deed line is yellow in the Deed Log, it means you can't increase it any further that day. Some class deeds can take over 7 separate days of play to complete.
- Virtues will be important, especially later in the game. You can save yourself some grinding later on by grabbing the easier virtue-rewarding deeds as you level.
(* Respectful Counterpoint: If you're having trouble with quests, if you are drinking too many healing/power potions or simply running too often, if combat is taking too long, or you just want to have all the stats and bonuses and safety net you can get, Crafting provides THE best gear you can get until ~Lvl 45 or so. Drop loot is not only significantly inferior, it's random; you'll (probably?) want to boost Will (then Fate, then Vitality) over other stats, and with Crafting you can choose those vs. stats that don't help nearly as much. If you just don't like Crafting, you don't have to do it, but you're volunbtarily passing on a great boost. Tailor (Explorer) or Jeweller (Tinker) is suggested, as those have 7 slots for bonuses vs. only 1-2 for any other craft item; for your instrument (which wouild be Woodworker), you only need a new one every 10 levels or so, and can easily find sources for that.)
Equipment
The equipment you can choose to use will be based upon the quests you complete. Here are some tips for maximizing the utility of your choice:
- Will and Fate are your two key stats, be sure to choose equipment that maximizes these stats. It's debatable which is optimal*, but people generally choose the following priority in which stats to maximize while leveling: Will > Fate > Vitality > Morale/Power > In-Combat Morale/Power Regen.
- Due to update 4 (rise of isengard) minstrels can no longer wear medium armour.
(* Expansion:
Much depends on your playstyle and gaming savvy - what works for one player may be too dull and conservative (or risky and out-of-control) for another, and vice versa.
o Will: Power Reserve, Tactical (Spell-like) Damage, Out-of-Combat-Power-Regen (OCPR*), Resistance to Fear/Dread
+1 Will = +3 Power, +2 (half) Resistance, +5 Tactical Mastery, & ~+12 Non-Combat-Power-Regen (NCPR*)
o Fate: In-Combat-Morale-Regen (ICMR*), In-Combat-Power-Regen (ICPR*), & increases the % chance and
magnitude of Criticals on Tactical skills (both damage & healing spells)
+1 Fate = (approx) ~+2 Tactical Crit, ~1.5 ICMR*, ~7 ICPR*.
(* All "Regen" values in Lotro are per minute)
At low levels (thru 25 or so?), quests and boss-monsters (aka "elites") are moderately forgiving - pure offense is the way, and for a Minstrel that's Will. At end game (starting around Level 50+ to end @ 75), Quests and Bosses can be brutal, and you want survivability - that's Vitality (and armour, morale, mitigations, resistances, etc.) Between those two (maybe Level 25-50?) is a gradual shift from one approach to the other. Ymmv, but that's the general approach most find successful.)
Class Traits
A soloing minstrel relies on their class traits to determine the time it takes to kill an enemy, which is inversely proportional to the general level of safety. This is a matter of personal preference. The balancing factor is how many of the Warrior-Skald, or "Red" traits that are equipped. A minstrel with five red traits will kill much faster, but they will only be able to heal for a small fraction of the amount when times get tough. The reverse is true for a minstrel deep in the Watcher of Resolve, or "Yellow" set. The key turning point for the balance is at 3 and 4 traits in the Warrior-Skald line, which both reduce your healing and increase your damage capabilities significantly.
Below are some key class traits that you may want to consider for your solo minstrel. Be aware that some of these will not be available until you complete a lengthy deed requiring repeated casting of a high level skill.
Useful Watcher of Resolve Traits
- Focused Performance - This reduces the amount of time that enemies have to interrupt you while you're casting an induction skill. Generally, the most common induction skill that you cast while soloing is Bolster Courage, your main healing spell.
- Power of Song - This increases your power pool.This is slightly less valuable, since soloing minstrels rarely have problems with power.
- Life-Singer - This reduces power cost for healing skills. If Power of Song isn't enough to keep your power level in check, consider this.
Useful Protector of Song Traits
- Battle-Hymn - This modifies your area-of-effect Anthem of the Valar to include the same regeneration that Anthem of the Free Peoples does. If you only slot one Protector of Song trait, make it this one.
- Strength of Voice - When you're cycling through your tier 1 and tier 2 ballads, this will keep those valuable buffs up much longer.
- Heralded Resolve - Herald's Strike doesn't fit much into the rotation described below, but if you use it often then consider traiting this for a small self-heal effect.
Useful Warrior-Skald Traits
- Unrelenting - This should be the first Warrior-Skald trait you reach for. It adds stun and extra critical chance to one of your most powerful damage skills, Piercing Cry.
- Light in the Dark - Additional ballad damage, which is always welcomed.
- Enduring Morale - If you find that you get a little too close to death for comfort, try boosting your morale a bit with this trait
- Tempo of Bravery - Like Enduring Morale, this is useful if you find yourself on the losing side a little too often
- Powerful Voice - This is the Warrior-Skald equivalent of Life-Singer, reducing the power cost of your cries and ballads. If you have power problems, reach for this.
- Herald's Hammer - Like above, if you happen to enjoy Herald's Strike, you will want to use this to double its damage.
Virtues
Like equipment, you'll want to focus on Will, Fate, Vitality, and Morale/Power. Generally, you'll want to equip the highest virtues that you have that give the bonuses you want. A level 1 Wisdom is not nearly as valuable as a level 10 Fidelity. Here is a suggested list of virtues to equip while you're leveling your minstrel, in order of value:
Again, this is just a suggested list, but it should help to keep you on track while you're leveling.
Minstrels in Combat
Now that you're out in the world, with a host of quests in your log to complete, you should understand some tips for completing them as a Minstrel:
- After level 10, you should always be in War Speech mode for soloing.
- After level 22, you should also have Tale of Heroism active for the Will and Fate bonus.
So, you're geared up and ready to kill. Here is how many people take on a single enemy. Don't worry if you don't have all the skills yet, just use what you have:
- 1. Ballad of Resonance
- 2. Timeless Echoes of Battle
- 3. Call to Oremë
- 4. Piercing Cry
- 5. Call of the Second Age (Situational)
- 6. Call to Fate (Situational)
- 7. Start rotating through your Tier 1 and Tier 2 ballads
- 8. If Call to Oremë, Piercing Cry, or Ballad of Resonance finishes its cooldown, use it again then continue ballading.
You can stand toe-to-toe with most enemies this way, and come out fine at the end. While you're standing toe-to-toe with an enemy, be sure that you give a split-second in between your ballads for your auto-attack to kick in. It only takes a tenth of a second lag time or so. If you stack your ballads so that they're queued up then you may skip the auto-attack. Auto attacks with a decent weapon can contribute 10-20% more damage over the course of a fight.
Harder enemies can be feared using Cry of the Valar to put them at maximum distance. This lets you get in a few more ballads as they run towards you, who should be running backwards while shouting/ballading at the enemy. Keep fearing when you can, which gives you more I'm-not-being-smacked-up time.
If you're fighting more than one enemy at a time, you can either try and tough it out by using area-of-effect attacks such as Call to Oromë or Anthem of the Valar, or you can fear the second one with Cry of the Valar while you work on the first. Three enemies gets a bit more tricky, but the basic tactics are the same.
If all else fails, or you feel that you're in over your head, try removing your Warrior-Skald traits so that you're more effective at healing yourself in War Speech. You may have seen posts on the forums or Wiki about timing when to drop War Speech, but they're mostly outdated. Dropping War Speech, since a somewhat recent change, takes 10 seconds to return you to your full healing capabilities. If you're in a situation where you need to heal, 10 seconds means you'll be clicking the "Retreat Now" button. If you just remove your Warrior-Skald traits, you'll still have 50% of your healing capabilities while in War Speech, which is more than enough for a solo minstrel.
