Thread: Contemplating a 3rd toon and would like some advice...

Currently, my main is a Lvl 36 Elf Lore-master; Profession: Historian (Scholar/Weaponsmith/Farmer). I also play a Lvl 21 Dwarf Hunter; Profession: Tinker (Cook, Jeweller, Prospector).

I'm thinking about starting up a 3rd character and was going to go with either a Hobbit or a Man, since I've got the other two already, and wanted to know what would be easiest to play. I started out playing an LM, only to find it was quite difficult for a beginner (and LOTRO here has been my only MMORPG experience ever). I've gotten the hang of it well-enough, but the biggest difficulty continues to be solo questing when mobs aggro. Even with my companion, I get killed so easily. I didn't realize how easily until I started up my Dwarf Hunter and had a much easier time not dying.

I was thinking Guardian or Champion. But Minstrel seems like it would be really fun too... *sigh* There's just so many choices.

In addition to trying to figure out what race/class to play as my 3rd, I wanted to know what vocation would be most useful. I was leaning toward Explorer since the tailoring skill could make Light and Medium Armour for my LM and Hunter, respectively.


So...basically... what profession would be most beneficial for my other toons?


Or maybe I should try a little monster play?

Any advice would be appreciated!

I would recommend to make a Guardian or Minstrel both are fun to play and are always looked for in groups. Hobbits are a lot of fun to play but you can also choose depending on the race traits. Explorer would be a good choice for profession.

Explorer is a good profession for a tailor, and tailoring will be a big help in keeping your LM and hunter alive. For a class, I'd go with warden if you have it. Wardens give you a good melee tanking class that uses the tailor for its armor. Guards and Champs need heavy armor for most of the game, and that means a whole other crafter.

looking at the levels of your 2 characters i would suggest you actually play at least one of them to a higher level.

You have only seen about 20% of the actual lotro content.

Then you can decide, with more experience with grouping / instances, which class might best fit to your kind of game / playstyle.

Well, Turbine sucked me in and I paid the VIP thing, so now I have 2 new toons and another spot that I'll wait a bit before making. I rolled a Man Champion and a Hobbit Minstrel, an Explorer and Armsman respectively. I'm thinking that when I do roll the last slot, it will be an Armourer-- Race and Class will be determined by my needs later in the game. Thanks for feedback guys!

My LM is my main and the others are being used mostly for crafting at the moment.

So, how are you liking the LM? I'd been thinking of making one after I levelcap my mini (Which I must say, it's tons and tons of fun)

Personally I would have Explorer profession on my main if it the 1st one you are taking to lvl cap. He can then get all the resources from all the regions for your crafting alts

I personally don't think you've lived until you've played a hobbit guardian.

LM is a difficult class at first. Lots of induction time and very squishy in their early career. I have made 3 and all of them were deleted. In fact, I have made at least one character of most classes and races so far.

I tend to like Elves (despite the fact that they were horribly gimped just to even make them playable) because I like the lore surrounding them. It's probably no surprise that my least favorite to play then was a Dwarf but that's more of a personal preference than anything to do with the race itself. they get some nice racial traits.

I have since made a Hobbit Burglar, which I deleted. I now have a human burglar and enjoy that a little more but my Burg sits around level 30 with quite a bit of dust and it seems I mainly pull the character out to do Tailoring as it's become a crafting alt more than anything else.

I really enjoy my Warden. I can solo LLG, though it takes a long time to kill things. Ran it last night with an RK and the two of us cleaned up really well.

Anyway I'll list my favorites in order and give yiou and idea of what I made, how much I like it etc. I don't know if this will help you or not but it should give you some idea.

1. Elven Hunter (WF Tinker) ... This is my favorite. High end DPS, complimentary racial traits. Straightforward.
2. Elven Warden (WF metalsmith)... Second favorite and my second 75. Challenging class that takes time to master. Much easier to solo with than tank in teams but that's simply a learning curve. He has become much more team friendly since the update.
3. Elven Champion (WF Woodworker/WF Farmer)... running through Moria right now with a friend playing a Guard. This character has taken longer because we only play once or twice a week.
4. Human Captain (Supreme Armsman) ... I enjoy buffing other players and the Captain's power-set. However his halberd may as well be a butter knife. Best on teams.
5. Elven Rune Keeper (Explorer) ... Nice to be able to transition between DPS and Healing. I use this guy on teams a lot so he is healing traited. He's survived things that have taken out quite a few other classes.
6. Human Burglar (Explorer / Master Tailor) ... Initiating FM's and sneak attack is fun. The class offers a lot of cool powers.
7. Elven Guardian (WF Scholar) ... Survivability is great. But boring to play.
8. Elven Minstrel (I forget which craft)
9. Hobbit Minstrel (deleted) ... I tried playing these but usually ended up solo and a solo minstrel is only fun for so long.
10. Human Lore Master (deleted)
11. Hobbit Burglar ... Deleted to make room since I initially made him for a group and those players stopped playing.
12. Elven Lore Master (x2 both deleted) ... The class was not intuitive for me. Not that it should be (my #2 is Warden which is about as non-intuitive a class as there is at the start but I didn't seem to mind that because he was tough) Also, it was VERY squishy. I don't mind squishy so much if I have a chance to kill quickly ... but the long inductions and weakness of the pet just made for frustration no matter what race I played. I admire people who have the patience to play Lore masters. Late game they are needed in some raids but they are the class I almost always forget about when setting up a team. Also, in my experience, they are really annoying when you get to LLG. The ones I played with ran into fights like a tank and got upset when they died because they ripped agro before you could lock it. Not a fan of LM's but that is an isolated incident that has made me a bit biased.
13. Dwarf Hunter
14. Dwarf Champion
15. Dwarf Rune Keeper (All deleted. Again, personal preference.)

Originally Posted by AndiraelKorvi

Well, Turbine sucked me in and I paid the VIP thing, so now I have 2 new toons and another spot that I'll wait a bit before making. I rolled a Man Champion and a Hobbit Minstrel, an Explorer and Armsman respectively. I'm thinking that when I do roll the last slot, it will be an Armourer-- Race and Class will be determined by my needs later in the game. Thanks for feedback guys!

My LM is my main and the others are being used mostly for crafting at the moment.

You need to be very careful at this point. Contracting alt-itis can be quite serious. Play the toons you have now to level cap as someone suggest earlier -- really get to know the capabilities of the classes you're already playing.

Don't become like some that have so many alts they have to use a spreadsheet and a super-computer to keep track of them.

(guilty -- 22 toons on three servers. Hey, there are a couple I don't play regularly )

Originally Posted by Feraxks

You need to be very careful at this point. Contracting alt-itis can be quite serious. Play the toons you have now to level cap as someone suggest earlier -- really get to know the capabilities of the classes you're already playing.

Don't become like some that have so many alts they have to use a spreadsheet and a super-computer to keep track of them.

(guilty -- 22 toons on three servers. Hey, there are a couple I don't play regularly )

awww stop talking about me please!

I got LM lvl 21 and its one of these classes that have issues with higher lvl mobs, meaning the bear will die or the LM will get hit much. That probably get better though

Maybe Guardian isnt so basic a class a turbine want us to believe. I wouldnt recomend it for a beginner, getting aggro aint exactly that basic. They are good though with a shield, you can always take down 3 mobs with the prober gear. But they are pure melee, no fancy spells or anything.

Burglar seems to be a good class. You throw a trick(debuff)and you can riddle an add- like 'mesmerize', kinda like the sore master. You also can stun but its on longer cooldown. I was quite dissapointed how stealth attacks dont deal any good dmg but that can be traited later on.

Pets in Lotro dont seem like tough as in they are in other MMO's.

There seems to be a gazillions of Champions in the game and almost as many Hunters. Maybe they play well and is therefore popular.

I myself havent stuck to a class purely yet but the Guardian class is one of my favourites. It takes practice but you will learn if you keep trying.

Originally Posted by UwS-Harledir

awww stop talking about me please!

We could start an Alts Annonymous. But I don't know who would actually set it up as I'm too busy playing all my toons to do it myself!

First; what craft to choose.

You have: Tinker (Cook, Jeweller, Prospector) and Historian (Scholar/Weaponsmith/Farmer). This means you do not yet have a Forester, Metalsmith, Tailor or Woodworker.

To get all 4 will take two more characters. Only Armorer (Prospector/Metalsmith/Tailor) has metalsmithing, so if you want to have all crafts, this will be one of them.

This leaves Forester and Woodworker to get. Woodsman (Farmer/Forester/Woodworker) has both of those.

So, if you're going for all the crafts, get either Armorer or Woodsman next. Since you have a LM and a hunter, I'd go with Woodsman first to make staffs and bows for them.


Now for class/race.
I've played every class up to level 41 or higher.
For some reason, I don't have much fun with Burgs, Captains(low dps here), or Wardens, so I won't recommend them.

That leaves Mini, Guard, RK, and Champ. Champs and Minis were the most fun to level so far.

Guards in Overpower stance have lower dps and less survivability than a champ with bubbles and self heals and in blocking stance they are survivable, but very low in dps. So of the two I suggest Champs.

RKs are great at either healing or dpsing in group content, but solo their best abilities are unusable because of the attunement requirement. Enemies die before we get to use our good skills and we get back to neutral attunement before the next fight.

Minis can't really dps in group content because of the cooldown on many of their skills, but it's perfect for fighting in the open world. They can use their best abilities nearly every fight. This makes minis more fun to level, for me. So I suggest Mini.


If you were to follow my class suggestion, and still wanted to have a hobbit and a man, then you'd have to be a man champ and a hobbit mini, since hobbits cannot be champs.