Thread: Class soloing capabilities

Hey All -

I was wondering what players thought about the solo abilities of a couple of classes. I've been playing a captain, champion, warden and guardian and gotten them all into the teens, but just wanted a few opinions. I know the Warden is supposed to be the "go to" solo class, but how would you rate the other three? Thanks!

**I should say that part of my question pertains to the captain - I would think he'd be pretty good having a companion, heavy armor and heals, but he seems to be by far the weakest of the three. At higher levels does it get better?

My highest level captain is only level 46, but I am seeing that it does get better as you go along.

That's true of all of them, though. My level 50-some guardian can pull off some good stuff even with sub-par gear.

Originally Posted by Tunney

Hey All -

I was wondering what players thought about the solo abilities of a couple of classes. I've been playing a captain, champion, warden and guardian and gotten them all into the teens, but just wanted a few opinions. I know the Warden is supposed to be the "go to" solo class, but how would you rate the other three? Thanks!

**I should say that part of my question pertains to the captain - I would think he'd be pretty good having a companion, heavy armor and heals, but he seems to be by far the weakest of the three. At higher levels does it get better?

I've rolled a champ and a guardian. My main is a champ since I just like to go in and kill quickly. Honestly soloing with him has been fairly easy, just keep your weapons updated (in my opinion within 2 or 3 levels) and you'll do fairly well. I've gotten him up to level 38 fairly easily. I've also rolled a guardian, level 25, and there's noticeably a difference but a guardian can also solo well, in his case his armour must be updated fairly regularly as he levels.

I haven't played a captain or warden but a warden on here perhaps could tell you more about them. The only problem I find with soloing with a champ/guard (in my case) has been a lack of self heals, something a warden definitely has.

Wardens start out easy to play, but by the time you're in the low 30's start to get hard fast. If you have trouble I'd suggest checking the warden forums for advice (they're really fun once you get used to it.) As for the captain, a lot of his skills are meant for groups. Most classes skills are, but this is especially true for captains and burglars. I found my captain was pretty much playing the same way throughout the game, but that may have been me playing them wrong. As for the guard, just make sure you keep his armour up to date, and not much can kill him. Same with the champ, keep his swords updated, and you'll be fine when it comes to solo play.

I've played 4 classes to level 40 or above: Captain, Minstrel, Burglar, and Runekeeper. Of the 4, my Captain is hardest to kill and has the easiest time with multiple foes. She has a hard time with anything she can't close to melee, though. At level 75 with my War herald out, I seem to solo at about the same speed as my RK... but that may be because I learned the game with my Captain and don't always scoot when I should.

All the classes were effective at soloing. You just need to learn the tricks that best support each class' playstyle.

LOTRO is basically a very solo-friendly MMO. EVERY class is capable of hitting the level cap without once finding a group.

As someone who played FFXI for over two years, this was very appealing. My Taru White Mage was incredibly fragile, and could not solo anything unless it was 20 levels under you, and even then, you'll still have to play perfect to survive, and EVEN THEN one stray crit from whatever you were fighting might still take you down. Grouping was the only way to grind with any efficiency. AFAIK, there was only one class (the beastmaster job) that could solo all the way to level cap back when I was playing.

But it's also a double-edged sword. Your first real opportunity to do group stuff is when you hit lv20. Then you can run skirmishes, and the GB instances. Not everyone knows about that, or takes advantage of the opportunity to group. After that, most people don't do much group stuff until in their mid-50s when everyone does moria instances (or at least everyone USED to before the level cap was pushed from 65 to 75 - it still gets run, but you might have to wait a little longer than you used to to get a group together).

So not everyone knows what to do in group instances, and unless you have a solid leader who everyone is willing to listen to, sometimes grouping can be a fuster cluck.

As far as playing Captain goes, you CAN solo as a captain, but the class really shines as group support role. In general, no one will turn down a captain in their group as long as there's room for them. But you should have no problem soloing between groups. As long as you're using your On-defeat skills as frequently as you can, you're doing fine. Pop a Battle Tonic if you want a good quick spike to your DPS while your Battle Cry is on cooldown (just be aware that the tonic cooldowns are not very nice...).

I've got an RK and a Guard at 75. My Cappy is my next highest class, at 57 right now. Under that is the first character I started, a Hunter I got bored with stuck in her 40s in perpetuity. Actually, getting through moria was relatively painless for my cappy, compared to my RK.

All the classes are very soloable. But what "soloing capabilities" means is a very vague concept and everyone has a different idea. But you never need worry about the classes you named.

Some potential problems or confusion:

Lore-master takes a bit of thinking and feels squishy at low level but is extremely powerful at higher levels and with a good player.

Hunter is the easy-to-play class and probably easiest to solo in some opinions but too many players never get beyond this "easy" phase and start whining about how hard things are. Best fast-travel options will greatly help out soloing.

Guardian with a shield is nearly unkillable. However the typical player who's played a hunter before will whine bitterly about how it's "slow". But guardian/warden/captain with a good player never has to ask for help and can handle smell fellowship quests much of the time.

Warden and rune-keeper are more complex for a variety of reasons. Things to remember as Warden (not as hard as some say to be fair), stance swapping, etc. Rune-keeper has to depend on a lot of kiting. But both are easy to solo when you get the hang of it.

Oh, even folks who have Guardians as their mains know that fighting with and levelling as a GRD is slow as Time growing a beard. GRDs aren't designed to kill quick; they're designed to take the damage while the wimpy little HUnters hide behind trees and kill from afar with no fear of getting a terminal case of cranial-abdominal inversion. And because of this, the Hunters strut around and talk about their high damage numbers.

Guardians? We just talk about how long we've survived. And we do survive. Sometimes we even get so bored while in combat waiting for mobs to finish killing us, we can have lunch, brunch AND early tea without dropping a crumb.

Wardens are medium armour forever, but if well-played they're pretty unkillable. The downside is that it's the class least likely to be useful at end-game, so if that's important to you, you may want to roll something else.

Guards get heavy armour, at I think, 16, champs and cappies get it at 20, and that does change things a lot. Champs and captains become very survivey creatures at that point, and a well-played guard is hard to kill, too, but has even lower DPS than the captain does. I think warden DPS may be the lowest, though the reckless stance gives it a bit of a boost.

But any class can solo. I've gotten the undying title (surviving to level 20 with no deaths) on everything except my burg and my LM, albeit those deaths were due to the suicidal elven architecture in Duillond, not to mobs. Once you know the game, though, it's fairly easy.

LMs are very squishy at lower level, maybe the squishiest, with minis and RKs not far behind, but minis and RKs can heal themselves, which makes them a tad easier than the LM - that's probably the class that takes the most patience to figure out how to play properly, but if you like the class, it will be able to do brilliant things once it comes into its own.

Short answer is play what you want, any class can solo well in this game.

No class is truly a "bad" soloer, but some are easier than others

Hunters have great DPS and can have a mob half dead by the time it reaches you, however they have almost no self heals and are not very mobile. They are also best at 1V1 because once 2+ mobs are hitting you the inductions are difficult.

Lore Masters are very potent for their ability to CC everything in sight. However, it does require alot of strategy to pull off big fights, though if you're good there's not much that can beat you.

Minstrels are incredibly powerful in solo, they can dish out great damage, kite excellently, and heal themselves easily. So far it feels like the most powerful class I've played.

Runekeepers are quite potent, however they lose much of their healing when they start doing damage and most of their damage when they start healing. They seem to be particularly squishy.

Wardens are very powerful as well, provided you keep what gambit does what straight. So far it's my second favorite after the Minstrel.

I've had 3 classes so far: my main Captain, secondary Loremaster, and the new start-up Ministrel.

My Captain easily is my favorite so far. His survivability is awesome, and I love how he can practically take on an entire camp of mobs without dropping even to half health.

I've just started my Ministrel, but he seems pretty cool. I'll slot the Medium Armor trait once I get it - until then, I'll be playing a little carefully. The great thing about them is War-Speech (amazing at solo) which gives me some big numbers, and healing, which gives them great survivability, though not nearly enough as my Captain.

The Lore-master is definitely the one I'm having problems with. Being at Level 16, I'm just gritting my teeth and trying to believe that he will get better eventually. At first, I died dozens of times - mainly because I was still in Captain-hat mode - but after reading through dozens of online guides, I started getting better. A little. Even now, the only thing that makes me keep on going is that Level 45 legendary Sword and Staff trait.

If it helps any, the mini level 15 class quest is the quickest and easiest of the bunch. The LM one makes you want to pull your hair out, and the champion one is an indirect advert for 'buy the riding skill now'.

Originally Posted by Elementerm

I'll slot the Medium Armor trait once I get it - until then, I'll be playing a little carefully.

When was the last time you looked to see if it was still available? They took this out last year, did they put it back in? Now it just increases your light armor.

Originally Posted by Chanah

If it helps any, the mini level 15 class quest is the quickest and easiest of the bunch. The LM one makes you want to pull your hair out, and the champion one is an indirect advert for 'buy the riding skill now'.

Not really. The Loremaster one is easily doable once you know where the bookcase is. I didn't see/do any of the other things, neither fought the goblin. Saw the pic where it's located, went in, got it, went out. Very simple.

Originally Posted by -LoNgHiLL-

When was the last time you looked to see if it was still available? They took this out last year, did they put it back in? Now it just increases your light armor.

What?!? No medium armor for Minis? I just based it off of the (out-dated) guides I read. That was one of the reasons I chose to play as a Minstrel. I had no idea...

Now the trait gives you +20% armour contribution from *all* sources, including shield and traits.It's somewhat better than ever, because you won't have to find (non existant) medium gear fitting minies needs.The only drawback is the mitigation cap at 50% instead of 70% for medium armour, but it's unlikely you will hit it

Originally Posted by Elementerm

Not really. The Loremaster one is easily doable once you know where the bookcase is. I didn't see/do any of the other things, neither fought the goblin. Saw the pic where it's located, went in, got it, went out. Very simple.




What?!? No medium armor for Minis? I just based it off of the (out-dated) guides I read. That was one of the reasons I chose to play as a Minstrel. I had no idea...

I wouldn't worry too much about it, as that +20% from all Armour sources gives you effectively the same as a medium class, maybe more. And that is without trying to get a med armor set at all.

Cool. That's much better

Originally Posted by Strikerin

I wouldn't worry too much about it, as that +20% from all Armour sources gives you effectively the same as a medium class, maybe more. And that is without trying to get a med armor set at all.

I think they did that to make itemizing easier. No need to make medium with caster stats now.