Shamus Plays: LOTRO, Part 22
- Thread starter Shamus Young
- Start date
I can't wait for this game to go free-to-play.
You make it sound pretty good. Although...you're a bard class right? How the hell is the bard class so good at killing all these things?
You make it sound pretty good. Although...you're a bard class right? How the hell is the bard class so good at killing all these things?
I imagine it's an issue of balanceOnyx Oblivion said:
OT: This was awesome for the following reasons
1) Shut up.
I love reading these, so funny. The things Lulzy get's involved in, all for nice clothes, Sheesh.
Onyx Oblivion said:
Plus, minstrels are (one of) the primary healing class in LOTRO. They basically heal themselves while chipping away at their foes' health.Amarsir said:Loudest possible eyeroll.
On the ease of killing, I suspect he's somewaht outleveled this material by now.
You can never trust bards...ajbell said:Onyx Oblivion said:Plus, minstrels are (one of) the primary healing class in LOTRO. They basically heal themselves while chipping away at their foes' health.Amarsir said:Loudest possible eyeroll.
On the ease of killing, I suspect he's somewaht outleveled this material by now.
OT: Also, ajbell, you can rearrange your badges to *flame* exe.
You're right! But even more awesome, I can spell fecks! Sort of. A bit. If you squint. And are British enough to get "feck" in its full Father Ted glory.SlyderEST said:You can never trust bards...ajbell said:Onyx Oblivion said:Plus, minstrels are (one of) the primary healing class in LOTRO. They basically heal themselves while chipping away at their foes' health.Amarsir said:Loudest possible eyeroll.
On the ease of killing, I suspect he's somewaht outleveled this material by now.
OT: Also, ajbell, you can rearrange your badges to *flame* exe.
EDIT: Although it hasn't taken yet. Damn. Watch this space.
*imagines a Matrix style bullet time eyeroll*
Very funny, as usual.
And your feelings on the F2P change are pretty much in step with those of the rest of the LOTRO playerbase (or at least the ones on the official community boards). A little bit of wondering why and a lot of fear for the community, mixed with the regular worries about continued content delivery and what aort of stuff we're going to have to (or even be able to) buy at the cash shop.
As for Minstrels killing things, yes Shamus is overlevelled for the area. Minstrels, however, are actually surprisingly good at killing things. They are primarily a healing class so just chipping away while kiting and self healing is a perfectly viable strategy. Once they advance a few levels, though, they also become a very capable burst DPS class when set-up to be one. At level cap my moderately set up minstrel is fighting standard enemies with about 4500 hp, and it's not uncommon for her to hit for 1000 to 1500 in a single attack. Well set-up minstrels can hit for over 2000 on a critical hit, and we get them rather often. Sure you can't keep that up for too long without running out of power/mana but minstrels are very capable combatants when set up for the role.
Very funny, as usual.
And your feelings on the F2P change are pretty much in step with those of the rest of the LOTRO playerbase (or at least the ones on the official community boards). A little bit of wondering why and a lot of fear for the community, mixed with the regular worries about continued content delivery and what aort of stuff we're going to have to (or even be able to) buy at the cash shop.As for Minstrels killing things, yes Shamus is overlevelled for the area. Minstrels, however, are actually surprisingly good at killing things. They are primarily a healing class so just chipping away while kiting and self healing is a perfectly viable strategy. Once they advance a few levels, though, they also become a very capable burst DPS class when set-up to be one. At level cap my moderately set up minstrel is fighting standard enemies with about 4500 hp, and it's not uncommon for her to hit for 1000 to 1500 in a single attack. Well set-up minstrels can hit for over 2000 on a critical hit, and we get them rather often. Sure you can't keep that up for too long without running out of power/mana but minstrels are very capable combatants when set up for the role.
As someone who played a LOTRO minstrel to the upper 30s, I have to say that at least "back in the day", they were some of the best solo classes in the game.ajbell said:Onyx Oblivion said:Plus, minstrels are (one of) the primary healing class in LOTRO. They basically heal themselves while chipping away at their foes' health.Amarsir said:Loudest possible eyeroll.
On the ease of killing, I suspect he's somewaht outleveled this material by now.
Their burst damage comes later in form of shout attacks, some of which are AoE. Their usual approach to fighting - "playing the chosen musical instrument at someone's face with an occasional whack of whatever weapon you might be holding" - provides some steady damage, but nothing serious.
Later on, at about level 20, Minstrels get a stance that halves their healing but allows them to use a few more offensive attacks which do quite some burst and crit often.
And with self heals, they can practically go on forever anyways.
Their damage might not be anything close to the hunters' damage in LOTRO (who are rather squishy, but certainly destroy everything very quickly) but given their survivability, they can easily solo group content.
And at higher levels you can literally turn your minstrel into a mini-tank with huge amounts of avoidance, self-healing, and so on which makes you very good at soloing tough monsters.
These are really, really funny.
Having played both DDO and LOTRO, I have to say DDO is really a much better game. LOTRO is just another reskinned World of Warcraft.
Having played both DDO and LOTRO, I have to say DDO is really a much better game. LOTRO is just another reskinned World of Warcraft.
Love this series and this game. I hope you're right about the Free-To-Play thing, though I can certainly agree on the size and quality of the userbase. I'm on Nimrodel, a medium-sized server, and it's nice and lively, with new people coming aboard regularly. The F2P thing is probably just to make more money, and since it doesn't seem to be endangering the quality of the game, I don't see anything wrong with it.
Since going F2P, per Gamasutra, DDO has gained a million players, and "The company says that its players transact in the new store at three times the industry average, and that the franchise's revenue has grown 500 percent since the change-over. "
I'd say that revenue growth at 500% is a pretty compelling reason to change.
And the community in DDO hasn't really changed much as far as I can tell. Still get people asking stupid questions, but you still get very helpful people too.
I'd say that revenue growth at 500% is a pretty compelling reason to change.
And the community in DDO hasn't really changed much as far as I can tell. Still get people asking stupid questions, but you still get very helpful people too.
