Lord of the Rings Online-Classes

When beginning in any mmorpg, choosing your class in one of the most important decisions a new player will face. Your skills, abillities, and role will be forever constrained by what class you choose in The Lord of the Rings Online. What stats, eqipment, traits, and deeds are available to you will be dictated by what class you choose. What race you choose to be can also limit what classes you can play.

Captains are a very versatile class, allowing you to adapt them to your playstyle and the needs of your group. Part tank, part healer, along with strong dps. You can buff, heal, revive fallen comrades, taunt mobs, all while dealing damage to your enemies. You have the option of fulfilling whatever holes exist in your party and must be a strong communicator to play this class effectively.

The most unique aspect to the captain class is the ability to summon a herald. A herald is a human pet that you can direct to further compliment your group. Later in the game you will gain the ability to use a standard. Unlike a herald, a standard will not aggro mobs inadvertently but is much less mobile. However it provides much stronger boosts to your party.

Only humans can be captains in The Lord of the Rings Online.

A champion focuses on effectively using their weapons and wiping through enemies with their powerful AoE's. Champions can wear heavy armor but are much more vulnerable to damage than the tank classes.Champions also have the ability to dual wield, so you will not have to switch from one-handers to two-handers depending on the situation you are in.

If you believe that the best defense is a good offense then champion is the class for you. While grouping it is important to keep your AoE under control in order to not break cc's.

Champions can be played by elfs, dwarves, and men in The Lord of the Rings Online.

Minstrels are the main healing class in The Lord of the Rings Online. Using their ballads, they raise the moral of their entire fellowship. A minstrels words can also strengthen the will of their comrades and strike fear into their foes.

A minstrel is perfect for the player who puts the needs of the group over their own. You may wear light armor, and have a small selection of weapons available, but most of your fighting will be done with your words. No group can survive tough hard conent without some kind of healing, so your class will always be needed if you choose a minstrel.

Minstrels are available to all races.

Lore-masters are scholars who utilize the wisdom of days past to fight the forces of evil in middle earth. Their primary function in group play is to keep mobs under control and to support their team. They do this by using powerful de-buffs to weaken the enemy attacks, many of which also strengthen their own. They are able to single out and hold off foes until their team is able to deal with them, and are thus considered to be masters of crowd control. When lore-masters strike, they are able to harness the power of the nature in order to bring the fury of fire and wind upon their enemies. After combat, lore-masters are able to help injured team mates by healing diseases and eventually reviving fallen comrades.

Perhaps the most unique and exciting thing about lore-masters is their ability to summon an animal companion which will aide them in battle. Pets are a critical ally to Lore-masters, allowing members of this somewhat squishy class to deal damage in addition to de-buffing enemies. Lore-masters only wear light armor and can alter the appearance of their pets by using talismans sculpted by jewelers. Particularly in large fellowships, lore-masters are a welcome ally and can add substantially to any group.

This class is only available to elves and men.

Guardians are the main tanking class in the world of LOTRO. Deploying his sword-and-board, and waering heavy armor, the guardian taunts the enemies and keeps the morale of the fellowship high. He must carefully build aggro and maintain it at all time to ensure the survivability of squishier classes.

Guardians are for people who want to be the center of attention and take responsibility for their entire group. Soloing tends to be a little slower but you will never have difficulty finding a group if you can competently tank. Along with healers, guardians are a class that groups are always looking for.

Guardians are available to all races.

Burglars are a support role whose main talent lies in debuffing.  They have stealth skills that allow to avoid enemies in order to get places another class would not be able to reach. Also, they are also very proficient at initiating fellowship maneuvers.

A burglars main strength lies in the element of suprise. Unlike your typical modern day burglar they only use their skills for good. Their trickery and deception is merely used as a means of stopping the evil forces of Sauron.

Burglars are available to the races of man and hobbit.

The hunter is a master of DPS. At range, they deal devastating shots with their bow, and when the enemy comes near they finish them with their melee skills. Their combination of skills make them the most powerful dps class in LOTRO.

Hunters have a wide selection of fast travel skills for them and their allies. Hunters are also masters at tracking mobs. This collection of skills make them the easiest class for soloing.

Hunters are available to all races.

Wardens are the second tank class behind guardians. Only able to wear lite armor, and fighting with spears and javelins, wardens must make good use of their gambit system in order to combine their skills into a deadly force.

Wardens are perhaps the most difficult class to play and reward players who are looking for an extra challenge and depth to gameplay.

The warden class is not available to dwarves and must be purchased in the LOTRO store for f2p players.

Rune-keeper is another hybrid class that was introduced later on in The Lord Of the Rings Online. It was also the first class to introduce magic into the LOTRO gameplay. Great as a seconadry healer they also powerful nukes that make them a dps threat.

Rune-keeper is the class for you if you are used to the typical magic user. Previously their was almost no magic in LOTRO because it was so rare in Tolkiens middle-earth.

Run-keeper are playable as dwarves and elves and must be purchased separately for f2p players.