Skip to main content

Lotro: Trying a Warden

Melomoth's recent article about playing a warden in Lotro caught my eye so I decided to roll a hobbit warden and have a look for myself.

I got my warden to level 6 in about an hour of playtime. This is not enough time to get more than the briefest idea of the class but it did at least allow me to sample the gambit system where combination of three basic keys are used to launch a wide range of higher level skills. I have to agree with Melmoth it is very very clever and I loved it.

One big surprise for me was that there was a lot of button mashing going on because each gambit requires at least three key presses and all the skills are on short cooldowns. Its not mindless button mashing however - you need to be constantly thinking ahead and planning the gambit you want. It is high speed tactical play which contrasts with the low speed tactical play of a Lore Master. I imagine this makes playing a Warden quite intense at higher levels.

I was also surprised that the Warden's signature Javelin weapon seems underused. At level 6 it is really only used for pulling because all of the gambits require melee range. Perhaps this changes at higher levels.

I cannot really comment on the wardens role in groups - I imagine they are a "hard to hit" off tank / damage dealer but they may have other roles.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm glad you enjoyed trying the class!

Just remember to do your finger exercises before you start; the Warden is the finger marathon of MMOs.
mbp said…
Hi Melmoth. What a contrast to the Loremaster where almost every skill has a long induction time and cooldowns in excess of 10s.
I read both Melmoth and your post. I think I'm going to write a "Why I Love The Warden" post sometime soon, just for the heck of it, on MMeOw. :D
mbp said…
Hi Victor, much as I love the concept of the warden the frenetic pace has put me off a bit. I'll stick with my geriatric Lore Master for the moment :)

Popular posts from this blog

Portal 2 two screen coop on one PC.

I mentioned before that I intended to try Portal 2 in "unofficial split screen co-op mode. Well split screen on a small computer monitor is a recipe for a headache especially when the game defies gravity as much as portal. However a minor bit of extra fiddling allowed us to drive two seperate screens from one PC. The Steam forums describes a complicated method of doing this that I couldn't get working so this simpler method which worked for me might be of use to someone. 1. First I followed the instructions in this post to get split screen multi-player working: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1847904 A minor issue not mentioned is that you need to enable the console from the keyboard/mouse options menu I am using keyboard and one wired Xbox360 controller as suggested. Getting the controller to switch to channel 2 was tricky at first but as Chameleon8 mentions plugging it out and in again during loading works. The trick for me was to do the plug / p

Return to New Eden and a Secret Confession

I feel a growing temptation to return to EVE but having been away from mmos for quite a while I am not quite ready to resubscribe.  Instead I started a disposable character on a free trial to test my resolve.  Knowing that this character will be thrown in the bin in a couple of weeks is actually quite liberating. Freed from the fear of gimping my character I feet no necessity to min max anything. I picked a Gallente because I think they have cool looking spaceships and went from there. First obvious change since I last played is being able to walk around my Captain's quarters. Its a nice idea but hardly a game changer. Can you decorate your quarters I wonder and if so do these home improvements move around with you wherever you go? The second obvious change is the much improved tutorial. I managed to make it through the first steps introduction without having to resort to on-line help or the  chat channel which is a first for me in EVE. Even better once you have finis

Lotro: The Forgotten Treasury

Throg joined a Kinship group for the Forgotten Treasury instance last night. It was an enjoyable change from the solo questing that the now level 55 dwarf champion has been mostly doing so far in Moria. Some members of the group had tried and failed to clear the Treasury before so we knew it would be challenging but we were lucky enough to have a well balanced group with Guardian, Minstrel, Lore Master, Hunter, Burglar and Champion (Throg). Throg (level 55) and the minstrel (53) were both below the 56ish level of the instance but the others were all higher so it more or less balanced out. [SPOILERs ahead] It is a well designed enjoyable instance set in a circular chamber with balcony around. As you enter, a boss absconds to a locked side chamber with his treasure leaving the fellowship to clear trash ringed around the balcony. Once the trash are cleared you have access to a puzzle which must be solved in order to open the locked door. Clearing the (including six mini bosses) also get