Post by Merillas Duvain on Nov 18, 2016 18:10:05 GMT -5
Salvete Dwellers and fellow LMs!
Another LM post you say? Well a LM is a learned person, and learned people know change is the only constant in the (LOTRO) Universe; so, as we move from simpler instances to more complex ones, so we move in our ways of playing LM.
First things first: Why the change from yellow/red to yellow/blue? Well two reasons
1.- Of all three Osgiliath instances, the only real DPS race was the Mumak in DoS, and to be honest that one isn't a lot of trouble these days...however, with the arrival of Silent Street and Throne of the Dread Terror we have lots and lots of fights where, either for challenge or for survival (before a boss gets too strong), we need to have the max group DPS2.- Why then move away from yellow/red? Because, like I said, what we need to maximize is GROUP DPS, not our personal DPS...and an extra buff every 45 seconds does much more for that objective than one lightning storm every one and a half minutes
So, new trait for a new game style, how does it look?
Remember, I have 82 trait points, so that's my great advantage, that's what allows me to trait like this; so adjust accordingly
Anyway, here is my yellow/blue traitline
And now a brief explanation of the blue traits, both the chosen and the forgotten ones:
So many changes! Must my gear change as well?
The answer to this is a big gigantic and enormous YES! This new game style needs you to focus on one thing: MORALE!
This is because as support you want to minimize the rez concerns for your healer, the more morale you have the happier your healer is; also, you give your RKs the chance to put DnF on other people...so basically, in this build, your high morale helps you not to drag your group since you're capable of surviving quite well
Of course you want to have T2 mitigations (around 21k), but once you have them, go for 40k morale, 50k would be perfect.
In terms of pieces of gear, you want 4 Pelennor pieces for the set bonus (extra 5% crit chance for everyone once you use Sign of Power: See all Ends). If your other 2 pieces of gear can be from the T2 raid blue set that would be extraordinary (extra water lore incoming heal buff for when your tank needs it), another good option (which sadly I can't use since I don't own the Isengard Instances) is the 2 bonus set from Orthanc armour (another extra 5% chance on SoP: See all Ends), if not possible, the Featured Instance pieces are good enough, but upgrade them as soon as possible.
Quick note, the new importance of the skill SoP:See all Ends means you'll ideally want a new First Age Legendary Book, more on that later.
And that's another big gigantinormous YES, I'll demonstrate with 2 quick examples.
1.- Challenge bosses in Silent Street (2 minutes timer): mez Earnil, switch focus to Mardil, armour debuff, catmint, SoP:See all Ends while also putting Bendiction of the Raven, put down warding knowledge, put down stricky tar, fire lore, sign of power command and wind lore; by then Mardil should be close to dying, go back and make sure Earnil is mezzed, re-mez if necessary; if needed, return to Mardil and keep fire lore and wind lore; once Mardil dies, repeat the Mardil rotation on Earnil. If there is no captain in your group, use the 12 seconds of catmint to do the following: bendiction of the raven-->dismiss pet-->summon spirit-->put healing mark on the boss.
Total DPS skills used in the fight=0
2.- Rakothas T2C (ideally for this fight you want two legendary books, more on that later): Before the fight starts make sure your tank has air-lore (used the imbued book that gives extra air lore strength), once the fight starts the first skill to use is fire lore on Rakothas (using a non imbued book that gives extra fire lore debuff potency), switch back to your imbued support book, use SoP:Command, use ancient craft, use warding knowledge, use sticky tar, use wind lore in between; keep on perma using SoP:Command and wind lore as well as Stun Immunity on your tank, keep on doing so until the fire lore debuff finishes, switch back to your non imbued book, fire lore Rako again, switch back to your imbued book and repeat the previous process; when adds come, use bane flare, use wind lore to spread Rakos fire lore, use armour debuff, warding knowledge, sticky tar and SoP:Command (all can be done while still targetting Rako); when Rako gets to 30% morale, move with your group and repeat the same rotation as with adds.
Other fights go the same, in terms of almost no DPS skills being used (for example, the biggest change for the Mumaks T2C is that you want to keep one designated tank with permanent Stun Immunity and the Water Lore buff), of course you will throw a few burning embers from time to time, but those are quite negligible.
And that's one last bigantinormous YES!
While also keeping a nice DPS book, my 2 support books are the most important for me while in groups, here they are:
This is because as support you want to minimize the rez concerns for your healer, the more morale you have the happier your healer is; also, you give your RKs the chance to put DnF on other people...so basically, in this build, your high morale helps you not to drag your group since you're capable of surviving quite well
Of course you want to have T2 mitigations (around 21k), but once you have them, go for 40k morale, 50k would be perfect.
In terms of pieces of gear, you want 4 Pelennor pieces for the set bonus (extra 5% crit chance for everyone once you use Sign of Power: See all Ends). If your other 2 pieces of gear can be from the T2 raid blue set that would be extraordinary (extra water lore incoming heal buff for when your tank needs it), another good option (which sadly I can't use since I don't own the Isengard Instances) is the 2 bonus set from Orthanc armour (another extra 5% chance on SoP: See all Ends), if not possible, the Featured Instance pieces are good enough, but upgrade them as soon as possible.
Quick note, the new importance of the skill SoP:See all Ends means you'll ideally want a new First Age Legendary Book, more on that later.
Changed traits, changed gear. Must the trend extend to my rotation?
And that's another big gigantinormous YES, I'll demonstrate with 2 quick examples.
1.- Challenge bosses in Silent Street (2 minutes timer): mez Earnil, switch focus to Mardil, armour debuff, catmint, SoP:See all Ends while also putting Bendiction of the Raven, put down warding knowledge, put down stricky tar, fire lore, sign of power command and wind lore; by then Mardil should be close to dying, go back and make sure Earnil is mezzed, re-mez if necessary; if needed, return to Mardil and keep fire lore and wind lore; once Mardil dies, repeat the Mardil rotation on Earnil. If there is no captain in your group, use the 12 seconds of catmint to do the following: bendiction of the raven-->dismiss pet-->summon spirit-->put healing mark on the boss.
Total DPS skills used in the fight=0
2.- Rakothas T2C (ideally for this fight you want two legendary books, more on that later): Before the fight starts make sure your tank has air-lore (used the imbued book that gives extra air lore strength), once the fight starts the first skill to use is fire lore on Rakothas (using a non imbued book that gives extra fire lore debuff potency), switch back to your imbued support book, use SoP:Command, use ancient craft, use warding knowledge, use sticky tar, use wind lore in between; keep on perma using SoP:Command and wind lore as well as Stun Immunity on your tank, keep on doing so until the fire lore debuff finishes, switch back to your non imbued book, fire lore Rako again, switch back to your imbued book and repeat the previous process; when adds come, use bane flare, use wind lore to spread Rakos fire lore, use armour debuff, warding knowledge, sticky tar and SoP:Command (all can be done while still targetting Rako); when Rako gets to 30% morale, move with your group and repeat the same rotation as with adds.
Total DPS skills used in the fight=0
Other fights go the same, in terms of almost no DPS skills being used (for example, the biggest change for the Mumaks T2C is that you want to keep one designated tank with permanent Stun Immunity and the Water Lore buff), of course you will throw a few burning embers from time to time, but those are quite negligible.
You mentioned having 2 Legendary Books?
And that's one last bigantinormous YES!
While also keeping a nice DPS book, my 2 support books are the most important for me while in groups, here they are:
Phew! That was quite a ride, I sure hope it's worth it
I don't know, you tell me, do you think it is?