Thread: Captain set-up and why I am making yet another thread for it

Hey guys, I was just wondering - What are your captains status sitting at at lvl 75? And why?

I understand that a captain requires might to do damage, yet that is not the main purpose of the captain, so might is good but not as important as it is for a champion. I understand vitality is important for a captain as it is for every class. And I also understand that Will is rather important because captains use up alot of power and having a big power pool helps. Also, ICPR should be something to have as high as possible for longer fights.

What is, in your opinion, a fair balance of this?

I was thinking of starting a captain, dont wanna make a minstrel just yet, so... (besides, I like the fact that captains are an awesome class to play with in a group. I don't know... I get the feeling that their heals are capable of literally saving the healers pwoer pools, yet they can still pull off decent damage and buff every1s damage. Definitely interesting to play in a 6 man set-up ^^)... trying to inform myself as best as I can.

I also happen to have read that captains healing ability is very much crit-dependant. How exactly does it work? From inspecting a couple captains I saw a few class traits that granted + crit multiplier for heals, but... Well, I'm not very familiar with the class overall so need some help.


Finally, my biggest concern: Pre RoI, whenever I played with captains, they tended to always run out of power really quickly. That was incredibly annoying cause, at some point, they were only spamming auto attacks and rallying cry, not doing anything else. Pretty much being fairly weak.
Did power management improve with RoI? i saw a video of the Orthanc Raid Saruman fight and the captain, albeight not being spamming alot of skills, was still hitting 1 skill every 2 seconds or 3 and could keep his power pool fairly high (He was definitely max geared though)...

Rambling over, hope it wasn't too boring :P
Thanks in advance for the help,
Reikur, Light of the (Put awesome, epic word here)

IMO might is most important, not only is it melee offence but it is also outgoing healing, tactical offence, block (if you use a shield or trait LoM for halberd blocking), physical mitigation and parry ... basically higher survivability and better heals and dps all in one.

ICPR is important for all classes, no more or less so then for a cappy, however we have several additional things we can do to help with power.
1. victory banner
2. power return on rally cry trait
3. blade/song brother skills
4. misc. power reduction traits/legs

I myself do not find power an issue and I have a rather low ICPR (something I am working on) between banner and brother skill dancing I can go for a long long time with an occasional pot thrown in.

There is a trait that increase crit heal magnitude by 50% ... think its self explanatory why crit can really help a healing cappy (also if you crit on the first attack of pressing attack or devastating blow you get a free defeat response).

I myself do not purposely stack any will.

If a cappy is actually finding him/herself with free time they are doing something wrong.

off-heal or pocket heal or main heal if healer goes down
off-tank or kite as needed
to arms
strength of will
fear removal
dps in general
blade of elendil
banners
in-combat rez
rebuffing
telling/revealing/noble marking
in harms way/last stand to save a dying raid
Rally cry + in time of need + rally cry when heals need help
brother skills dancing depending on situation and raid needs
oath breakers (if traited)

often multiples from that list need to be done at the same time. If you do all you can do on your cappy you should never have enough time or be bored

I'll echo Catisa and say might is most important. In fact Catisa's pretty much got it right in every area. I'll add to that and say I wouldn't recommend making yourself a glass cannon. To me, a ratio of 3:2 for might to vitality feels right. Third highest for me is agility, then fate, then will at dead last.

I don't believe will is that important. It gives you as a captain power pool and resistance. I feel like ICPR is a better investment--I'd get fate to about 225-300 then focus on raw ICPR. At 1100 ICPR I still need a little assistance with my power regen, either from Song/Blade brother or Victory banner. I've got a healing build in mind with 1400 ICPR, and I'll soon see how well that works.

I try to keep my crit around 15% without being traited red. Thats before you factor in the traited +1500ish crit rating to your two skills that can open up on-defeat skills or the +crit skirmish training.

Wow, awesome replies! Thank you guys so much. That pretty much explains everything ^^

I had no idea they had added the tacticall offense to might on captains. Thats amazing. The class must be so much better now

I'll go ahead and make a captain as soon as I have time for it. Am really excited (don't read as #####) about and can't wait to get that captain to the lvl 50s (as I heard thats where they really start to shine) ^^

Even though they are slower to level than champions or other main DPS classes, I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Thanks again.

I would not say a Cappie is slow to level then a champ. I see champs that go into battle and rest after words. As a Cappie, I have not need to rest. Even if a champ beats an encounter faster they usally have to rest more after. So in the mix of things both level about the same.

Originally Posted by Omen_Kaizer

I'll echo Catisa and say might is most important. In fact Catisa's pretty much got it right in every area. I'll add to that and say I wouldn't recommend making yourself a glass cannon. To me, a ratio of 3:2 for might to vitality feels right. Third highest for me is agility, then fate, then will at dead last.

3:2 might:vitality seems a bit high to me. I keep my cappy's max morale between 10.5 - 11.5k morale and my might is just under 2k. Out of curiosity, why Agility third most important? You get just as much crit from fate but icpr as well from fate. Am I missing something as to why Agility would be preferred over Fate?

I'm experimenting around with a LoM soloing build, and find it an interesting one... improved herald of victory combined with the legacy-strengthened +x% incoming damage mark and +to arms duration, I tend to survive better in this build plus take down single targets reasonably well... anyway, the reason why I go for this type of playstyle is because I play with two other friends, and we lack a proper tank... so I find ways to incorporate my small fellowship role to my soloing adventure...

as far as stats go, I would agree that might is the stat that I put biggest weight on... as a secondary plus, it increases my block rating in addition to all the other improvements it gives... vitality is second, although I have it up high, quite close to my might rating only because of my small group role as a tank... third is agility, and I have a reason for it being more important to me than fate... agility increases parry and evade, which is a boon to my BPE rating to take hits... and if what I hear is correct, it also increases hit-chance, though I'm unsure of this bit of info... my ICPR is quite high with my improved herald/banner of victory, and watchful shield-brother gives another ICMR boost... therefore, fate is not as important to me as agility, and will is only something I'd put some importance in if I'm low on power, which isn't the case with my improved herald/banner of victory...

@Catsia: Any chance you could post some of your build/equipment details for reaching 11k morale and almost 2k might?
The my.lotro link for your char does not seem to be up to date.
I'm trying a crit build at the moment, and am struggling to get might much over 1300 (but crit is over 25% at least) and am looking for some ideas. I don't think I've ever been able to get might even close to 2k, at least with morale that high as well!
Thanks

I value agility over fate based on agility's contribution to hit chance and evade vs fate's contribution to ICPR (severe diminishing returns) and ICMR (not something I worry about).

Once you get to 225 fate, each subsequent point in fate gives less than one point in ICPR. I just don't like that.

You know, you're probably right in that might and vit are probably a little too close in a 3:2 ratio. I've got a healing build in mind; I just need the Breastplate of Menestaid and another Knights Platinum Stud. And a way to work in more agility. A Bracelet of Howling winds in place of the Vibrant Bracelet of Theodred, maybe?

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?5d5riiy9v4a915b
Here's my spreadsheet and my builds. The stats of the build "HealSave" are currently displayed on the first tab "Captain".

Might - Crit - Vitality. My most important stats in that order. Remember that you only need morale when you get hit.

I roll with 1400 ish might at the moment and a 20.5% critchance. With always having 2 red traits and relentless optimism a critbuild is simply amazing. I can unlock my gated skills more often than pure might/morale built captains and heal/dps perhaps even better because of my significantly better critchance.

When I need to tank or when I have to kite I can always swap to morale gear. But having a high focus on morale/vitality is generally nothing but a nerf to yourself. Everytime when I see a captain with 10k+ morale and 3.5k+ power unbuffed I can't help but feel sorry for his group, because he'll be nowhere near as effective as me.

Yeah man, thats great in scenarios with no environmental damage. In Lightning wing, I want some survivability. Fire&Ice? I want survivability. Saruman? Hell yes I want to survive. But your statement is true that it only matters if you get hit, and I'm gonna look into what it would take to increase my 14% crit to your 20% for other instances.