Rexthalion’s School of Champions
EDITOR’S NOTE: This excellent guide was originally published as a three-part guide by Rexthalion, an Elven Champion of the Landroval server, on his kinship’s website Defenders of the Fellowship. Many thanks are in order for his kind permission to include it in LOTRO Guides!
If you have had any experience with LOTRO at all, you’ve surely run into a Champion of some sort. We are often viewed as the nuttiest of classes as we are understood to die too much or pull too much aggro, but these are signs of inexperience in a Champion. Playing this class is similar to the game Othello, it takes a minute to learn to play and it may take forever to master. I’m writing this to shed some light on what may be the most misunderstood class in LOTRO.
The General Roles:
Champions are commonly brought into fellowships to fulfill a DPS spot or even sometimes simply for their ability to interrupt. A well-played champion is a boon to any fellowship, a versatile warrior in the sense of off-tanking and aggro management. I find the most fulfilling role to be that of the “utility” champion, rounding out the focus of my character and bringing to the group as much as I can.
Focus and Stances:
Champions have various stances to accompany the various roles that they can play in a group. It is quite common for a champion to focus solely on one of the roles and build his character’s stats to fulfill that single role better, I’ll cover the various roles and which stats are crucial respectively.
DPS, the most common of all champ roles in PvE, has a high focus on dealing out as much damage as is possible in a constant fashion. Some champions accomplish this through the use of slow hard-hitting weapons while others may use quick accurate weapons to produce a stream. For those interested in this role Might and Agility are key to build for optimizing DPS. DPS champs are often found in Fervour, or Controlled Burn for bosses.
Survival champs are more commonly found in the Ettenmoors and in end-game raids. These champions are characterized by their high morale and raised B/P/E rates. It is more likely to see champs of this orientation to don a shield and to run without stance, with Ardour, or, when tanking, in Glory. The main focus, I feel, for this type would be Agility and Vitality. Damage for this champion comes from being in the fight longer, more of a slow burn than a wildfire if you will.
The “utility” champion is one of a build somewhere between the Survival and DPS types. Adjusting with the needs of the battle, a champ of this type would be seen switching stances more than once in a long fight and may switch out weapons or gear. This playstyle, I feel, is more diverse and requires more of the user. The focus for this build is as much of a balance in the Might, Agility, and Vitality as possible.
How Damage is Dealt:
A champion knows that more hits equals more damage, and so those wishing to better themselves are always looking for a way to sneak in extra hits. Auto-attacks in this case are your friend, the ~2 seconds between Auto-attacks is all the time a champion should need to show off his skills, this timing is crucial as it promotes combo DPS. Essentially a champion’s attack pattern should resemble this: Auto-attack, wild attack, auto-attack, swift strike, auto-attack, brutal strikes….. or something akin to that. This is often called a DPS rotation and it may vary from champion to champion, mine changes based on a number of things including weapon type and how much aggro I feel I should be generating.
DW vs 2h
It is a common debate among champions whether it is better for DPS to wield two weapons or to swing one big one. I feel it is a matter of comfort and preference, but as a warning the play-style is different for each. Personally, I prefer to dual wield but I do carry my two-hander with me at all times.
Mistakes and Misconceptions:
I must say that I feel a little bad every time I hear someone say something about champions in general that is in error. Champions are seen as the dummy class, the class that you simply hack-and-slash your way to end-game with. This is possible to do with any class, champions just happen to be better at farming a level or two below themselves. The difference between an inexperienced champion and one with experience is night and day.
Champions feel that it is their job to produce big numbers, I feel that this is simply testosterone-driven competition to compete with the numbers of hunters. The idea behind the class is constant DPS, not big numbers, and sure big numbers are nice for soloing but in groups DPS is supplemental to the group, not standalone.
Champion Tanking:
What is a tank?
Well, if you are to be a tank, I suppose you should know what the position entails. A tank, in short, is a set target for NPCs so as to minimize the number of targets the Minstrel must heal. Gaining and holding aggro is more important than damage in this respect, and more often than not, champions confuse the roles. The idea behind tanking effectively is to maintain group aggro while not taking a severe beating(your minstrels will thank me).
The setup:
For the tank role, I highly recommend traiting and slotting your heavy shield(as well as all of your other “green” traits). It would probably be better to focus on equipping armor pieces that have a B/P/E bonus or a heal, should you have to choose go with the former. The stats I would focus on building for this role are Vitality and Agility, avoiding damage with higher evade rates and mitigating more non-common damage is quite helpful, and I would recommend going for as high a morale setup as you can. As for your weapon, I use an Ornate Black Ash Spear as it has a parry buff, an ICPR buff, and is quite fast, I recommend anything with a parry buff that you are comfortable with the timing of(though a slow hard hitting weapon seems silly to me). If you slot no other “green” class traits, slot the heavy shield and Call of the Wild, and for legendaries I recommend equipping both Raging Blades and Ferocious Strikes. Also, make sure you have learned and have slotted both Champion’s Challenge and Rising Ire, you’ll need them.
The Method:
Well, for starters, any champion that intends to tank should be in Glory, extra threat generation for everything you do is rather nice. The opening move here should usually be your Champion’s Challenge, this will give you ample time to start building your threat. Once in melee range, if it is possible, position your enemy between yourself and the rest of your fellowship, this minimizes the damage they take and maximizes the damage they can do.
Much like dishing out DPS, Tanking uses a skill rotation, and as such building fervour pips should be done through the use of Wild Attack and Blade-wall. Once available Raging Blades should be the first of your legendaries to pop off, and once the cycle is completed repeat it but alternate Raging Blades and Ferocious Strikes.
Threat Management:
As a champion is it harder to maintain aggro than it would be if you were a guardian, most classes will not be able to pull aggro from you but you must be wary of other DPS classes. It is important to instruct the rest of your group on how you intend to be tanking, that means to tell hunters to be in endurance and tell other champions to use Ebbing Ire on you after going through their skill rotation once or twice. Other than the initial pull, Champion’s Challenge should be reserved for mobs that find their way to the Minstrel, since you are getting more Minstrel love than most Guardians whilst tanking, its important to take care of them. While you are tanking, since you are facing the group aren’t you, it would be quite beneficial to use Rising Ire on the second most threatening person(usually a hunter) but if no other DPS class is in the group the Minstrel should be the prime target.
The Purpose:
I feel that it is important for every champion to know how to tank, even should they never have to apply these skills. I chose this as the first of my lessons as Champions are known for pulling aggro from guardians, and by placing yourself in the shoes of one you will develop a second nature for how aggro works in-game. Threat management is a higher level skill in terms of champion ability but at this point it is important to note how you can still dish out the damage and let the tank do his job.
DPS is an acronym for damage-per-second, which in turn is an average amount of damage done per unit of time. This average can be reached in one of two ways, large numbers with lower frequency or smaller numbers with higher frequency. What I aim to do in this article is tell you how you can optimize this number and maybe even a few ways that you can improve upon it.
DPS is the mainstay of the champion, the arguement over the DPS dispute between champs and hunters can be explained through a further application of the two methods above. A hunter has the capability of putting out higher numbers but cannot maintain consistency for extended periods of time, this is opposite of the champion who is built to have power left over when everyone else tires out. Fervour is the sole reason behind the longevity of a champion’s DPS, it allows us to increase damage output and maintain it through boosting base damage and in-combat power regen, ICPR.
Champion DPS:
DPS Rotation:
Damage is optimized in the form of skill combos a champion uses through the course of the fight. In order to form these combos a champion must time his skills to work with his auto-attacks to promote as constant a stream of damage as he/she can. The general idea behind these combos is to build fervour pips, then use the higher damage skills, and do it all over again. The rotation is slightly different between dual wielding and using a two-hander.
DW:
Dual wielding is something that every champ should be familiar with. One weapon in each hand with an attack speed that is the average of the two weapons. Heavy hitting main hand with a slightly faster off-hand is the usual way to go for a dual wielding champion. The damage rotations of DWing focus on skills that utilize both weapons such as Wild Attack, Blade-wall, and Relentless Strike. Flurry can be used to speed up the rhythm of the rotation but generally I find it to have diminishing returns with faster weaponry. The pattern I suggest for DWing is auto-attack, wild attack, auto-attack, traited blade-wall, auto-attack, relentless strike…. rinse and repeat.
2-hander:
Using a two hander is a lot like swinging a really big stick, if we could use clubs then we really would be swinging big sticks…. anyway, you hit hard but it feels kinda sluggish. Flurry comes into play a lot more with a 2-hander than when DWing. Building fervour with a 2-hander can be done the same way as with DWing but usually champions opt to use Swift Strike rather than Wild Attack to build fervour when 2h-ing. Due to the recovery time of swift strike I recommend using a traited blade-wall in rotation, it is faster than wild attack and hits more than one thing(unless you’re near mezzed targets, then use WA). In the way of striking it is better to opt for built in combo moves like Brutal Strikes and Savage Strikes if you prefer(got an idea that I will come back to later). The rhythm is AA, Swift, AA, Blade, AA, Brutal.
Ferocious Strikes is a great move to substitute in in either method of attack. Class traits have a great way to add onto the amount of damage a champion can do. Deadly Strikes adds 25% more damage to critical hits of Strike skills, Deep Strikes adds a bleed on critical hits of Strike skills, and Vicious Strikes adds 4% to the critical chance of Strike skills, these traits can add to the damage output of a champion. Other traits will help with the generation of fervour pips which will allow for damaging skills to be accessed faster. As with all things involving champions it is best to find out what works best for you.
AOE Damage:
Area-of-effect skills are another thing that champions are renowned for. Effectively killing multiple targets at the same speed is what separates the champion from the other classes in LOTRO. To effectively use AOEs you must know three things:
1) The range of the attack
2) The number of targets you can hit
3) Your ability to handle all of the targets that you attack.
It is not uncommon for a champion to forget about these things and often reaches behind his/her capability. Effectively knowing the range of your attacks and the targets can place you far ahead of other champs in terms of group dynamics. Breaking mezzes is probably the top reason most champions are deemed unfit for end-game raids, by knowing your range and attack limit you can AOE effectively even when there is a mezzed mob in the area.
The AOE of a champion differs from most AOEs in game because a champion’s AOE is based on the location of the Champion and not the target. With a few steps to the side, or back, a champion can pull his/herself out of range of a mezzed target and AOE, though I would recommend lots of practice before trying this out. AOEs can be chained just like strike skills.
AOE chains are similar to strike chains the only difference being that you are focusing on multiple targets. Stalwart Blade is essential to any champion that expects to be decent at AOEs, this trait allows a champion to generate fervour by using blade-wall (but you knew that already). Also, slotting Fervent Rage and Eye of the Storm allow for even more AOE damage to be dealt. A typical AOE chain would look like this: AA, BW, AA, WA, AA, BW, AA, Blade-Storm, Cleave…. rinse and repeat.
Using Raging Blades or Sound the Attack are both plausible alternatives to the Blade-Storm/Cleave combo. If you have Fervent Rage slotted and Raging Blades slotted, a personal favorite is AA, BW, AA, WA, AA, BW, AA, Sound the Attack, Battle Frenzy, Raging Blades. Sound the Attack stuns the targets and keeps them from avoiding Raging Blades, you could very well do the same with Blade-Storm and Cleave….. or even link them all together but we’ll keep it simple for now. As a note, Cleave is more effective when 2h-ing than when DWing.
Adjusting your Champion:
It is not that uncommon that you will find a champion traited as either an AOE champ or a Strike champ. Focusing on one will greatly improve your effectiveness in your chosen category. Personally, I lean more toward the Strike skills, like most end-game champions, as your AOEs are still very effective even when you aren’t traited to use them all the time. Stalwart Blade is one trait that I recommend you always keep on you, a 180 AOE that generates a fervour pip is quite awesome(it costs less than swift strike and hits faster than wild attack). Of the Strike traits I would recommend Deadly Strikes, an extra bit of damage on crits doesn’t hurt and it adds 1% to all damage while in Fervour. I recommend trying out different trait sets and find one that you like.
Sneaky Damage:
Sure, we have all of that damage on the front end. Toe-to-toe with a mob and you are just exchanging blows, but what if you could sneak in more damage? In game I often like to say that I’m a “bleed effect” when I’m fighting, I have a set amount of damage I do with my DPS rotation and it stays constant. After experimenting a bit I’ve actually found ways to sneak in more damage. Some of the underused skill of champions may in fact be blessings in disguise. Exchange of Blows is a skill that will reflect damage back to its attacker at least half of the time, Cleave might leave a bleed effect on the target, and it stacks with a Deep Strikes Strike skill critical hit. So if you have all of those effect on a target at once, you’ll be doing an extra 60 damage in bleeds every 3-4 seconds and another ~30 every other hit you take. This is all on top of the damage that you are already doing.
Another way to sneak in some damage is to throw in a Clobber. After messing up my skill queue one day I actually found out that Clobber stacks on top of other skills. My personal favorite for my 2-hander is sneaking a Clobber in just after my Swift Strike, I end up with a 4 hit string in under 3 seconds. Clobber can also be snuck in behind any Strike Skill to change that 2 to a 3 or that 3 to a 4. Clobber can be strung together with Wild Attack or Blade-wall but I don’t recommend it as it lags the combo by about a half second(and we don’t want that).
In addition to these single target DPS bonuses Champions also get the ability to sneak in a bit more damage with their AOE attacks, you can set up your Champ to deal an extra 8% damage with your AOEs. This does knock a little damage off of the top end of Fervour but I do recommend trying it at least once. At Level 26 your Champion can learn a skill called Fighting Dirty, this skill is only usable when the target is under 25% morale but in turn it adds 25% total to your next AOE attack. I recommend practicing with this skill and chaining it with Raging Blades or Blade Storm.
