Newbie question about the tank "meta"

Greetings

I have some of questions that a couple of experienced players might be able to help me with. I've played every now and then since Dol Amroth, but basically haven't played any group content since then. I noticed that captain are the absolute number one when it comes to tanking. But since there was a weakening of the captain recently with a patch, I would be interested in how up-to-date the "meta" for the tanks looks. Is the captain still the number one unattainable or are the other tanks closer to him. I'm not talking about the Champion/Warden, they are probably to far away. I think the 3/6 man instances will be more my area than the raid because of my shift work. What about the highest levels of difficulty (T5 if i got it right)

And while I'm at it, how is it currently seen by the healers on the same content? So what is the current status there?

Thanks in advance

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Originally Posted by Malaras

Greetings

I have some of questions that a couple of experienced players might be able to help me with. I've played every now and then since Dol Amroth, but basically haven't played any group content since then. I noticed that HM are the absolute number one when it comes to tanking. But since there was a weakening of the HM recently with a patch, I would be interested in how up-to-date the "meta" for the tanks looks. Is the HM still the number one unattainable or are the other tanks closer to him. I'm not talking about the Champion/Warden, they are probably to far away. I think the 3/6 man instances will be more my area than the raid because of my shift work. What about the highest levels of difficulty (T5 if i got it right)

And while I'm at it, how is it currently seen by the healers on the same content? So what is the current status there?

Thanks in advance

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It is going to be very hard to answer your question especially if you aren't at the level cap. Dol Amroth is a long ways away from Blood of Azog, even before reaching the imbued legendary weapon stages. What's worse is that I don't recognize what an HM is. A captain was definitely the favored class after the captain changes at level 120 with Vales of Anduin. They have only now been adjusted to be more in-line with the other tanks. Beornings, Captains, Guardians are all good tanks and can perform better than the others depending on the circumstances of the raid. It is very rare to see a warden or champion tank nowadays.

But this is all going to be moot because Gundabad is coming out with a new level cap before the end of this year, maybe in a couple months. We have the LI Revamp that is going to change everything! Not to mention that we will have a new class - the brawler - that might become the best tank of them all. We don't know. But unless you are able to get through 4 years worth of content in 3 months, I wouldn't worry about it.

Minstrel, rune-keepers, and beornings are all great healers. It is rare to see a captain in blueline with their preferred roles being in tank or support.

Thanks for the answer. I have a guardian at lvl cap (a warden and loremaster too), but dont play much and no group content. The HM i will edit. Sorry for that. I asked the question in the german Sub forum but got no answer the last days, so i decided to ask here. German forum seems to be dead.

If it is interesting for you. I used HM, because it is the shortform of Hauptmann. So yes, i meant the captain. Sorry for that again.

I asked because i consider playing an alt on another server for experience the hole leveling again. I am not sure which tank to level as captain isnt so fun for me personal, so when the tanks are now closer together i think i will go with the guardian.

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Originally Posted by Malaras

Thanks for the answer. I have a guardian at lvl cap (a warden and loremaster too), but dont play much and no group content. The HM i will edit. Sorry for that. I asked the question in the german Sub forum but got no answer the last days, so i decided to ask here. German forum seems to be dead.

If it is interesting for you. I used HM, because it is the shortform of Hauptmann. So yes, i meant the captain. Sorry for that again.

I asked because i consider playing an alt on another server for experience the hole leveling again. I am not sure which tank to level as captain isnt so fun for me personal, so when the tanks are now closer together i think i will go with the guardian.

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But still take WeirdJedi's advice, the whole Class Balance has a LARGE amount of changes on the horizon so if you play a character from Level 1 to the new Max Level in the near future it might be certain Classes won't be as good as they are now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Malaras

If it is interesting for you. I used HM, because it is the shortform of Hauptmann. So yes, i meant the captain. Sorry for that again.

I asked because i consider playing an alt on another server for experience the hole leveling again. I am not sure which tank to level as captain isnt so fun for me personal, so when the tanks are now closer together i think i will go with the guardian.

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It is interesting. I kind of wondered if you were making some sort of reference to the captain class from another game by accident. Things fluctuate for the classes as you level. And it isn't a big deal for the legendary servers since the difficulty doesn't change for instances, the instances have not been adjusted for the newly inflated gear, and the higher tiers aren't available for older instances.

Captains was the slowest to level and looked upon as the jack-of-all-trades. The developers made them more desirable with the ability to make them as High Elves, increase their level instantly with Valars, and pretty much reduced the time it took to use all of their abilities - https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Upd...August_6,_2019. However, their perk of increased vitality and survival skills in yellow-line blew their survivability out of proportion. They were adjusted with Blood of Azog, but they are still desirable with their now Motivating Speech, Muster Courage, and Haste all being raid-wide. A red-line captain also has the raid-wide Routing Cry.

This was their response to the changes of the captain class: https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...23#post8074423. As regards to changes for the other tanks, they pretty much reduced that to "check in when we do the LI Revamp."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Malaras

Greetings

I have some of questions that a couple of experienced players might be able to help me with. I've played every now and then since Dol Amroth, but basically haven't played any group content since then. I noticed that captain are the absolute number one when it comes to tanking. But since there was a weakening of the captain recently with a patch, I would be interested in how up-to-date the "meta" for the tanks looks. Is the captain still the number one unattainable or are the other tanks closer to him. I'm not talking about the Champion/Warden, they are probably to far away. I think the 3/6 man instances will be more my area than the raid because of my shift work. What about the highest levels of difficulty (T5 if i got it right)

And while I'm at it, how is it currently seen by the healers on the same content? So what is the current status there?

Thanks in advance

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Well right now, for 3/6 man endgame instances best tank is Captain, no doubt. No other tank (not even warden) can tank it and self heal, heal others and offer such utility as captain - and we are talking about higher tiers (t3+).

To be clear - almost anyone can tank stuff, agro is not the problem. But in 3m with captain, you dont need healer, just bring two dps along. (you can also go healer+2dps for ago/woe, but chambers need regular tank).

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Originally Posted by Harvain

But still take WeirdJedi's advice, the whole Class Balance has a LARGE amount of changes on the horizon so if you play a character from Level 1 to the new Max Level in the near future it might be certain Classes won't be as good as they are now.

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Yeah, thats right. I now consider leveling the minstrel on this server. Maybe a bit better for me.

For my main server i think, i will try out my captain a bit. He is in Mordor, so also not so far away from endgame. For tanking it will be 1h sword with shield, or am i wrong?
The guardian is at max level so i bit easier to test out.

Thx for all the answers

Do not worry about the coming changes, play the class you enjoy. Just looking at tanks as the best it would be the Guardian, the Captain, the Beorning, then Champion or Warden. Unless, you are talking specific instances, then there is no real order for the best tank.

The Guardian, Captain, and Beorning are single target tanks with some AoE. On the other hand, the Champion and Warden are AoE tanks with a little single target. Between the Champion and the Warden, though both are AoE, they operate in very different methods. A Champion can shing-shing all day, until their stuff is on cool down, then it gets dicey. A Warden is an AoE tank, that now needs assistance in healing, if tanking, with few ways to instantly grab agro, and they do better with 6, 8 to 10 mobs at once. However, interrupts and most Bosses are deadly to a Warden. Wardens are medium armour.

My two coppers...

I have two additional questions.

1.) In case of the same gear, which is better at solo play in terms of Survival/Damage. Played a bit my level 130 guardian, dont have good gear yet, but he seems very squishy. Is it the same with the captain? And wenn trying solo challenges, which is able to survive better?

2.) How important is the "pet" of the captain for the soloplay. Because i dont like the herald of the captain (pets in general because of AI problems. Same with loremaster). So does he have a big influece? I mean for things like the "blademaster" bonus you get etc.

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Originally Posted by Malaras

I have two additional questions.

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I'd like to believe that as long as a person has the proper stats in their equipment, they would be able to survive as a tank. Just because one might have traits to taunt or increase their durability doesn't mean they would be able to endure a hard fight. A friend of mine is capable of using and swapping the same armor for his captain, guardian, and champion for all the raids. Many people felt like my captain would not make a good tank because I never developed a one-handed legendary weapon. But even without a shield, they are still capable of utilizing the block mechanic with a two-handed weapon. This might not be good enough for something as difficult as Remmorchant, but it can do well in many other situations.

A captain's herald is essential for solo-play, especially if you are looking for challenging fights. You are practically cutting off about a dozen stat modifiers without it. You can totally make them stay passive as long as you bond with something in order to utilize your fellowship abilities. They do very little damage but are able to keep enemies at bay much longer than you expect if you command them to do so. With soldier landscape tokens, it is possible to juggle between three enemies. It is also extremely entertaining to have two archers follow you around while in red-line.