What do you wish you knew when you started?

[auburnquill]

In the interest of getting some fresh information and opinions on this forums, I thought it would be a cool idea if we could come up with an up to date list of tips, or 'things we wished we had known' when we started playing wardens. Essentially, I think it would be cool to update the information/advice that can be found in the sticky post on this forum. Seeing as the most recent responses date back to quite a few years ago, I figured it might be time to update our little class community with some more recent/relevant information. It might also be worth it to recycle some of the tips from the previous thread, assuming they are still relevant of course.

Ultimately, these tips should be for everyone, not just new players, and can include anything from the more complex concepts we wardens get to play with, down to the mundane everyday things we may forget or simply take for granted.

Also, please feel free to disagree with, and discuss any of the points that are mentioned, the more information/discussion we can get the better.

**I apologize if this type of post has been made in the recent past**

So I guess I'm going to kick it off with my own contribution, in no particular order:

- If at first you feel intimidated by the gambit system, don't give up, the more you use it, the more intuitive it becomes. At one point, most of your skills will become a matter of muscle memory, making it all much much easier.

- Take advantage of the warden's ability to fluidly move from ranged to melee attacks, especially when going up against more difficult mobs.

- Do your class deeds as much as possible, as soon as possible. They will go a long way towards helping with learning the gambit system, not to mention the TP and class traits you get along the way.

Now to you my friends! Tell your fellow wardens what you think. *to the tune of The Faces' song "Ooh La La* What do you wish you had known when you were younger?

[Gladnagl]

I'll be rolling a new Warden by the end of the month (November). Please don't leave anything out for Level 10 wardens and below, since I'll be equipping an XP disabler.

TIA!

[Gibraisia]

Two Words:

Gambit Masteries. My warden is lvl 89 and I only JUST really started using them. I gave up on them at first: they were confusing, hard to remember, difficult to implement, but i can already see the benefits now that i started learning them, and really it is a matter of practice. So something I wish I had known when I started? Gambit Masteries--I wish someone had told me to MAKE myself use them, because they will help.

[Ingiogal]

Earning trait tree points is every bit as important, and possibly more important, than earning character levels. Class trees only get filled now by earning points via skill deeds. Trait trees give you modifications to your skills that are very important to success in any class. You also earn some of the more powerful skills for many classes only from spending trait tree points. It's very possible to get a fully populated class tree and gain access to some of the advanced buffs and skill mods long before you earn all your skills via leveling so I think it pays off very well to put a lot of focus on skill deeds. If you dedicate some time every time you play your warden to knocking down some more deeds, you'll be happier playing the game. Deeds mount up and the number of enemies that count for a deed completion only gets smaller and smaller until you feel like the game is more about the deed than about the fun, especially some of those deeds that have outrageous numbers of skill reps required.

Regarding the way you choose skills in trait trees. Some of the choices are much stronger than others. Some of the choices are very nearly a waste of your tree points. Pay attention to what a choice actually gives you and weigh that choice against how wardens are played in general and most importantly against how you play your own warden. Many people publish their tree builds in the forum and they are always worth a careful read just to see what you can learn. By not spending your points on all traits in a particular tree, it leaves you many points you can spend (at a double cost per skill) in other trees that really can enhance your warden. I don't know any successful players who aren't playing every trait build with at least some hybridization of skills from multiple trees.

It takes a while to mature as a warden between collecting enough tree points and enough skills via leveling to have a deep skill-set. It takes up to lvl 40 to get a solid foundation skill-set when we earn the use of Potency to store gambits and Never Surrender to rescue yourself with a M/P heal. Then it's lvl 60 to get good quality of life skills like Exultation of Battle and The Dark Before Dawn. Be patient. Play for the long haul, not instant gratification.

With a tanking class, you will be blamed for the failings of the group and for the deaths of other characters. People will insist that wardens are hopelessly nerfed. That's hogwash. It is easier to tank nowadays as a young warden than in past years. So tank early and tank often if you intend to become a tanking warden. You can do it and you need the practice. Be tolerant of yourself and others in groups. It's okay to go slowly and learn. Wipes still happen but remember that you're only going to get better with practice and gaining more skills. Play "warden smart" by knowing what your skills do so you can flow with the fight. My opinion: Wardens tank by acting and adapting and flowing to move along with the battle and shape the combat. Guardians tank more by forcing the enemies to adapt to the guardian and let the battle break over them as a stable rock. Both are valid.

With the current philosophy that every class should be a powerful solo machine, I find that a lot of people are horrible at group tactics. Some people never learned to play well with others. Others think that it's unimportant to have a plan. It's still important to, first, play your class and second, adapt your class play according to the skills your entire group has and to remember and adjust to the tactics of each group as a unique combo of strengths and weaknesses. Tanks should know what other classes bring to combat, how to merge their tanking with the other class, and what things the other classes might do that upset the balance. If you've played another class, use what you know about that class to make you a better warden when you group with that class. Learn how to ask for what you need from others in your group.

As has always been true, death in combat can be a highly instructive tool in educating people who don't respect the roles of the tank, healer, and raid leader so don't be afraid to ignore their cries for help in order to protect the cooperative core of your group.

Most of what you read in the forums as a new member of a class is being written by people who are playing the class at level cap. It can be frustrating and make you feel like you're being left out of the loop. Again, be patient. You may not have the skills to do all that these senior players describe but you can always adopt and adapt tactics and philosophy. Most of the people in the warden group, after they get their warden chest-thumping out of the way (HI GUYS! ), are willing to try to scale back their advice and answer questions around low level problems. Wardens do stick together. They just need to boast because wardens really are special.

[themateika]

Great information so far! I will reiterate some things already said because they are good things to remember. I've been playing my warden for a little over 4 years now, so I hope I have useful things to offer.

Early On

1) I agree that it has gotten easier to be a warden now than it used to be at early levels. That being said, the warden's DPS and tanking abilities still do not really shine until the 4 and 5 builder gambits become available, IMHO.

2) Yes, memorizing gambits do get easy; and for the sake of simplicity you should really dig in to what each gambit does. You don't need to be wasting your time wondering what of your bajillion gambits to use when specific situations call for specific rotations. I.e. tune your memory recall toward situation-focused memory recall. Only with time and practice can you develop this.

3) Early levels are the perfect time to mess around. I may be wrong that the warden doesn't shine at the beginning, but if my perceptions are correct then use your time to really get to know your class. Early levels felt slow in my experience, but it got loads better as I progressed!

Mid-Upper Levels

1) GAMBIT MASTERIES: I went for so long without using these and that was sheer folly. Masteries help you build faster and they are especially useful if you order them on your skill panel according to what gambits you use most. The ones I use most are fist/shield, shield/fist, fist/spear, spear/fist because they constitute the basic ingredients for heavy DOT/DPS gambits (fist/shield and fist/spear), defense/avoidance gambits (shield/fist), and moral-leach gambits (exultation of battle, etc.). At this point, Battle memory is also a huge ally for repopping a DPS or moral-leaching gambit (whatever you require).

Tanking

1) Nope, the warden isn't nerfed and I think tanking got easier. You will want defiant challenge to (almost) perma-aggro mobs, though.

2) It is good to be able to keep an eye on your group, so I prefer to position myself facing my group with the mobs facing me (away from group). This keeps directional-AOE away from the group and lets you keep an eye what everyone is doing.

3) Don't be afraid to order your group around so that you can tank better. Some people don't know that warden's require some prep to do really well. Some group leaders don't know that either, so be prepared to operate as a pseudo-leader. You are part of the group's lifeline, so tell people what you need to be that. They'll thank you later.

4) Sometimes there is another tank in the group and you get to do DPS. Don't put down your guard, though. On a number of occasions now I have been watchful enough to notice that the main tank would die, so I quickly switched my gear and my trait-tree and took over. Backup tanks are indispensable when they are needed. As others have mentioned, a good tank is a fluid tank. Adapt to the situation, however you need.

I like what Ingiogal said about wardens and guardians - Guardians shape the battle around them, wardens shape themselves around the battle. Knowing your players and environment will make you a better warden.

Conclusion: You will always mess up once and a while. If you continuously wipe a raid when you usually aren't that bad, then maybe it is a good idea to hand off tanking to someone else. If you need to learn to tank then let a group know you are new at it. If they scoff then that is their problem. All good wardens have had to start from scratch at some point. The best tip I can give is have fun. The warden is fluid and adaptable. Pump your fist when you accomplish something new, laugh and learn when you die or wipe, and don't let people get you down.

[Glimiril]

Knowing how to turn the sound down on shouts!!! without effecting the other sounds.

As many have said, learning masteries at lvl21 is really important , and just as important is keybinding them into something that feels natural to you. Because all of a sudden your skills bars are full of red icons, that can take some getting used to.

Never underestimate the power of Physical mastery, Bleed or Light Damage. I would prioritize light over bleed in PVE with damage over time traits (includes both), while leveling.

Never stop Experimenting...so easy to get into patterns of comfort, only to be caught out. Learning various ways of building gambits from different masteries on cool down is fun and why the class for some gets too much, and for others becomes a mighty one race/one player fellowship. Also keep pushing your limits on the amount of foes you feel you can handle, put yourself under increasing pressure, but have an exit route ready. The brain will adapt and learn quicker.

Use training dummies to help complete class deeds, some here will say NO!!!, but there are some Gambits that are so situational, time spent earlier will help you unlock better trait tree later, I got into a routine all be it I wish I had started earlier, of when I needed to have a break (like get a coffee) go craft leave it and come back, start to have a drink, then seek out a dummy and just raise some deeds of skills I used rarely, but practice different ways of building those gambits, not to the extent of just spending loads of time, but to get them ticking in the right direction. Doing that by the time you reach 100, many will atleast be not as daunting a prospect to complete and you would of learned in doing so.

The next bit is going to sound weird to some. Enjoy the way your character looks. If I don't care for my character on screen looks or play the right race for me that fits something in my head (role playing in other words) I tend not to play the character well. When I care and I feel the look fits (what ever I had in mind) I play better.

Oh and be proud to be a Warden if you get the hang of them, you will not be seen as a button smasher gamer, but a gamer that is worthy of respect. Some may tell you how to play, oh well, that's their problem not yours.

Another thing I wish I knew before, was to not have leveled a hunter to a 100 first, in so many ways Warden can rip through things just as quick, and more foes at a time, plus you can still hop all over middle earth.

If you have the time, and not in combat build Gambits as you run. If in combat build Gambits as you run (obviously differently), many Wardens will know what I mean by that, and any new will eventually.

Plus everything everyone else has said.

Edit..For me really important is the use of plug ins. That help to give the UI a sense of order and information. So many gambits have buffs that can be bewildering at first, and leads to confusion. Read in Skills window the gambit descriptions, either get a plugin to help recognize buffs and highlight them, or learn the symbols. Timing them is so important when the content is more difficult, better to learn earlier than later.

Also what can be another problematic concept is to find a way to measure your progress, as the class can be (or is for me having every class) the most rewarding to play, I have deleted wardens in mid 30's to start again, not a really big deal, but I could see instantly I had learned, and my progression from a new start point, accelerated as I began to get confident. There are a lot easier classes in LOTRO, that can with smaller effort achieve as much in certain multiple scenerios, but is the gameplay as rewarding!!!

Warden is almost an anagram of Reward, no other class can say that

[frost702]

I wish I knew how stupidly overpowered it was before I made any other class except Warden.

Because who knew that Warden was an anagram for Bleeds?

[Ethrildar]

Some people don't know that warden's require some prep to do really well. Some group leaders don't know that either.

This was the only part of your post I disagree with, a good warden really does not need any prep, it can run in and tank better than any other class can for the majority of content, with zero warning or prep required, groups don't need to lay off the dps at the start or go easy on the tank because it's a Warden. This is a misconception that has arisen frrom bad wardens (85-97% of them).

[spelunker]

This was the only part of your post I disagree with, a good warden really does not need any prep, it can run in and tank better than any other class can for the majority of content, with zero warning or prep required, groups don't need to lay off the dps at the start or go easy on the tank because it's a Warden. This is a misconception that has arisen frrom bad wardens (85-97% of them).

Perhaps in part, but this was also the actual case with the class before RoI, at least in multi-target tanking scenario's. The game was obviously very different back then, but on a single target a warden could run in and dps could start relatively quickly on dps, in a multi-mob pull however warden's simply did not have crazy strong aggro tools like EoB and Aggression during RoI and RoR, or the Fist Shield Fist line of AoE DoTs like in HD and beyond. After 10-15s the strength of Conviction and DoW meant a warden could be the strongest source of "long term" aggro and dps could go harder with a warden than a Guard (or champ or cappy). Dps absolutely had to start easier with a warden tank than a Guard since you a warden was going to have no battle prep and have to pull the mobs together with War-Cry, goad, and EoB, all of which had the weakest (or second weakest) classification of threat generation of all tanking threat skills. Back then the only warden force taunt was the Defiant Challenge gambit (fi-sp-fi-sp-fi) which had an animation as long as the force taunt, and 99.999% of the time if you traited it, you were by definition a bad warden.

Are you correct with the mid-RoI and beyond warden, and especially the warden of the last 2 expacs? Absolutely. But seeing this post just reminded me of how much more challenging and fun both the class and general inter-class dynamics were in PvE "Back in the Day".

[12qw]

Perhaps in part, but this was also the actual case with the class before RoI, at least in multi-target tanking scenario's. The game was obviously very different back then, but on a single target a warden could run in and dps could start relatively quickly on dps, in a multi-mob pull however warden's simply did not have crazy strong aggro tools like EoB and Aggression during RoI and RoR, or the Fist Shield Fist line of AoE DoTs like in HD and beyond. After 10-15s the strength of Conviction and DoW meant a warden could be the strongest source of "long term" aggro and dps could go harder with a warden than a Guard (or champ or cappy). Dps absolutely had to start easier with a warden tank than a Guard since you a warden was going to have no battle prep and have to pull the mobs together with War-Cry, goad, and EoB, all of which had the weakest (or second weakest) classification of threat generation of all tanking threat skills. Back then the only warden force taunt was the Defiant Challenge gambit (fi-sp-fi-sp-fi) which had an animation as long as the force taunt, and 99.999% of the time if you traited it, you were by definition a bad warden.

Are you correct with the mid-RoI and beyond warden, and especially the warden of the last 2 expacs? Absolutely. But seeing this post just reminded me of how much more challenging and fun both the class and general inter-class dynamics were in PvE "Back in the Day".

This. I actually traited Defiant Challenge because I thought the animation was cool ... Way of the Warden wasn't useful anyway. I also traited Way of the Shield and JoDF (this was super useful for getting the mobs to clump up around you just after you pull). Ah, good memories

[spelunker]

This. I actually traited Defiant Challenge because I thought the animation was cool ... Way of the Warden wasn't useful anyway. I also traited Way of the Shield and JoDF (this was super useful for getting the mobs to clump up around you just after you pull). Ah, good memories

I was always shield or spear capstone depending on role, and then JoDF and Way of the Warden. WotW was awesome back then if the group was responsible enough to let you stay in combat continually, both for keeping buffs up and having gambits ready for a new pull, and because WotW would stay active until you dropped combat. The reflect on DC was always nice in those massive mob pulls though.

[Vikverjar]

Ah yes, back in the day. I started playing the warden before Rise of Isengard, before update 6. If I was giving advice then, I would have said that the most important piece of equipment for a warden would be a big backpack full of batteries for power. Things have certainly changed from when I first learned to play them. Some things still hold true though, not just for wardens, but for all classes.

I have spear on key 1, shield on key 2, fist/shout on 3, and kick off with 4. Others may have different setups, of course.

1. With all the talk of masteries, I have to admit that I didn't use them much for a long time, but they certainly speed things up when you need a gambit fast. On the other hand, the basic builders do have the advantage of hurting your target. In fact, you can kill things without ever using a gambit, just by bashing, stabbing, and shouting at things. Wardens are the ONLY class that can heal things to death. The Shield-spear-shield> line kept me going through some really tight battles when soloing early on, just by working 21, 212, 2121, and repeat. Once you have the Heal over Time pulses going you can do more dps, or get your shields up and then just refresh the HoT gambits. Keep in mind that gambits don't stack with themselves, so you don't waste power by doing a double 21 gambit for instance.

2. Like other's have said, class deeds are not optional. They are mandatory. If you go to your deed log there is an option to put deeds on the quest tracker. Do so. Work the deed until the counter stops ticking. (Means you've progressed as far as you can that day.) Remove the deed from tracker, select the next deed. The simple deeds like jab, shieldbash, and shout work themselves as you build gambits, so just focus on the gambit deeds. Repeat until all deeds are maxed for the day. As stated in point 1, you can kill by just using gambit builders, so if you are working a non damage gambit like the heals, or shield up/mastery, you just have to blast the builders over and over, with some HoT's mixed in if needed.

3. Virtues. As a tanking warden, I favor the morale and physical mitigation virtues. Zeal, Valour, Innocence and Compassion. Others may have different alternatives, and of course, it's all up to you if you want to focus more on might, agility or vitality.

4. With the big changes in all classes due to the trait tree implementation there is one thing to keep in mind. You will lose/gain gambits and skills depending on which tree you specialize in. For example, Shield up/mastery 213/2 is ONLY available in Detemination stance. Check on your gambit tab in the skills panel which gambits are available in the different specializations.

5. Shield spikes are your friend. They seemed like some fun extra thingies that I messed around with for a bit, then forgot about. Their purpose is to change your shield damage from common (that pretty much everything is resilient against,) to Ancient Dwarf (good against worms, drakes, and necessary to go into the deeper parts of Sarnur,) Beleriand (good against insects, spiders, and ancient evil like Merrevail and Nameless in Moria,) and Westernesse, which is good against the dead. Since shieldbash is part of so many gambits, it doesn't hurt to make it sting a little more for your victims. As I said, anything is better than common damage, and doing bonus damage to certain things is always nice. They are made by weaponsmiths.

6. Skirmishes are a great way to learn some tanking. For soldier, the Sage, archer and warrior are good choices. You won't need a herbalist with your leeches and self heals. The goal is to keep your soldier from dying, of course.

Anyway, I am tired. Time for bed. I might get carried away and dump a wall-size post on you folks later.
V.

[Ingiogal]

I had some other thoughts to append:

Be the total toon, not just the class. When you pick the race of your warden, integrate that choice into the play-style you develop for that toon. Human wardens have a decent big heal that they can access lvl 30-wise, incoming healing buffs, a Block/Parry/Evade racial skill, sword dmg buffs, and start with good boosts to fate and might. Hobbits get club buffs, a boost to early might, a stealth trait and a flop to drop aggro fast (better to flop and start a bad fight over than die and have to run back). Elves have sylvan shadows for another use of stealth, a sword dmg bonus, early boosts to fate and agility, and a parry racial skill. A lot of those fade away over time but give some nice boosts to you that you will feel in early days so exploit them. Some stay strong the life of the toon.

Also, feel free to use the racial weapon with your warden to get those bonuses. You can't really go wrong sticking to spear and javelin but it's worth it to experiment with swords and clubs in your main hand. I play hobbit wardens and human wardens and so I've enjoyed using clubs, swords, and spears.

I also like shield spikes. When you want to give yourself or your party every possible advantage, use spikes. Of course, as Vikverjar stated, using spikes requires you to know which damage types are appropriate for a given fight. They're a slightly expensive consumable item but they have good durability over time so that cost shouldn't be holding you back. If you go into combat and the damage type on your LI isn't the best damage match, you can offset some of that by equipping the appropriate shield spike.

The biggest drawback I find in using them is that they take up lots of real estate in my inventory bags and it's double the space if you have both critted and uncritted spikes in there. (I really wish that consumables didn't crit into a second variety of the item and that they all behaved like battle and warding lore and a crit just gave more of them.) So while I like them enough to try to keep a few on-hand, I don't get upset if I don't have them. A warden is still going to survive and probably win the fight.

On the topic of battle hymns, the other warden consumable, I don't know anyone who recommends them. I've never used them. I think I've only crafted them once for a warden who wanted to experiment and he never came back for more. So, once again, I just don't find it necessary to waste the bag space on these. If anyone has tips on getting good use from these, I'd love to read them.

Strangely enough, I also have to agree with the earlier advice from Glimiril about your warden's appearance and being proud of how your toon walks the warden walk. I don't want to sound too girly-fashionista when I say it but it really does make a difference if you feel like your class looks the part and looks like how you perceive them. Plus, if you are getting disenchanted with your warden, change up their appearance and refresh your outlook. Funny as it sounds I struggled with my first hobbit warden until I dressed her all in black and she started to look "Mad, bad, and dangerous to know" .

Because I play multiple wardens at multiple levels, I keep a 5 inch by 8 inch index card for each of my wardens and on it I put down, as they acquire them, the gambit name, the builders needed and a note about their effect. I have a column on the card for Determination and another for Recklessness. There's room for Assailment but I don't use Assailment on my girls. I also mark the with F for finishers and draw a circle around the number of (targets) the gambit can affect. I highlight the gambits that have a healing effect or a Morale Tap effect. That way, when I start playing for the day, I can give a quick refresh of my mind on their available skills and avoid the frustration of firing gambits that this warden doesn't have. I keep that card where I see it while I play that warden. I'm going to update all the cards I have with the shield spike affect information at the bottom because I have the space and it's just that valuable to me. There are a lot of other charting systems people use to try to learn gambits and they're good to read but I find them hard to update as my wardens level up so my index cards are my go-to tool.

[darthhager]

I've been looking at this thread for awhile and I would like to offer up my $.02. A Warden user operates on muscle memory and the UI must set be up initially and used over and over until you are comfortable with it. Once you obtain the gambit masteries, set these up in your UI in a way that is purposeful and easy to memorize. Once you have these down, do not change your UI. You will have to use each of the gambits and the masteries over 1000 times. Do you hear me-1000 times?!? to memorize these to be an effective Warden. Once you are up to higher levels you will know each of the gambits by name and on demand you will be able to perform each of them. Do not feel overwhelmed with all of the gambits because at higher levels you will not need all of them (we kill stuff too fast). So take the the time to "read" what each gambit does, primary and secondary abilities, i.e. "Surety of Death" does DOT but it also increases your evade, block, and parry ratings.

So know all of this and find comfort in the fact that the Warden is still the ultimate killing machine in the game, in blue line the Warden is unkillable and red line puts out some of the best dps in the game. On level three-mans are easy and on level 6-mans are doable.

[Jammermon]

Knowing how to turn the sound down on shouts!!! without effecting the other sounds.
Oh and be proud to be a Warden if you get the hang of them, you will not be seen as a button smasher gamer, but a gamer that is worthy of respect.
Some may tell you how to play, oh well, that's their problem not yours.

I concur with Glimiril here.

Have a basic rotation, & a more advanced flexible rotation.
If you've been alting off Warden awhile; start with the basic...
Then as the comfort flows back, kick up your game. People who tell you you can't have other alts as a warden are wrong if you understand this...

And if anyone tells you how to play this, or any alt, be sure & point out they forgot to pay your fees yet ONE more month... so they can shout their opinion up their own a$$... Play the way that rewards you the most.

Jammer

[FerPac]

Hello fellow Wardens of Middle Earth. Been playing this game for a long time...over the past few years I've left the game a few times and have come back every time. Have three main toons all geared at the moment and just started a Warden which I'll be playing as I help my daughter through the game on her Beorning. Just wanted to stop by and say thank you for all the recommendations and helpful guidance. Very appreciative to have a thread like this. The gambit system feels daunting right now...and very foreign. I have a Lore Master, RK, and Guard which I've used for PvP and PvE/Raiding for a long time - and this little warden is extremely fun to play (so far). Look forward to taking on extremely hard challenges as I move through all the group raiding content with my daughter as a two person wrecking crew. Can't wait to see what this little warden can do! Again, thank you very much for all the guidance and tips.

[themateika]

This was the only part of your post I disagree with, a good warden really does not need any prep, it can run in and tank better than any other class can for the majority of content, with zero warning or prep required, groups don't need to lay off the dps at the start or go easy on the tank because it's a Warden. This is a misconception that has arisen frrom bad wardens (85-97% of them).

This is a good point and I do agree with you. I do also find that tanking has gotten a lot easier nowadays and there is a bit less excuse for wardens to mess up. In other words, we build aggro better than we used to and Defiant Challenge works wonders.

That being said, I still stand by my point about prep. All wardens have their personal play-styles and I respect that, but I do prefer to make sure I got my battle prep, buffs, etc. on before a big fight. It gives the group a bit more....how do I say it?...guarantee. Like I said, I do agree with you...A player that knows their warden can run in and do their thing without much trouble most of the time. One thing I am reminded of is when players start a boss or big fight without warning and few are ready for it. A well played warden can do wonders in situations like this.

I like what Glimiril said about pushing limits...it prepares you for any situation. We all make mistakes in groups and solo, but having experience with tough fights is indispensable.

I like the stuff everyone is coming up with so far!

[Euclis]

Definitely echo what others have said about forcing yourself to get used to masteries and do your class deeds every day.

I'll add that I wish I knew that when using battle prep, your masteries have no cooldown (i.e. if you want to prep surety of death, just tap the fist/shield mastery twice, and it can still be used immediately at the start of battle). Blew my mind, and made battle prep much more useful.

[Nebster]

What I wish I knew was that there is a pattern to the gambits in terms of their effects. I only realized this when I wrote down the gambits and their effects in an organized fashion. It made things a lot clearer and made it easier for me to memorize a gambit and know what they do. Plus the prospect of memorizing all these gambits became less daunting.

For example, 21, 212, 2121, and 21212 is HoT and it gives me block. No other combination that starts with a shield will give the same effect (23, 232, 2323 gives mits and crit def).

As a further illustration, the way I organized mine is on page 1 are gambits that start with spear, page 2 starts with shield and page 3 starts with fist. On page 1, i wrote:

11 - Deft Strike - damage, potency

12 - Boot - damage, interrupt, daze
121 - Onslaught - damage, interrupt
1212- Wall of Steel - damage, interrupt, parry

123 - Power Attack - damage, bleed
1231 - Mighty Blow - damage, bleed
12312 - Unerring strike - damage, bleed

etc.

On masteries, I made like a tic-tac-toe and wrote them down like this:

33	31	32
22	21	23
11	12	13
1	2	3

Then, I use arrows to figure out the best combinations, like 3-12-32 EOB, 31-23 Resolution, 3-13-1 SOV and so on.

Also, I use color code instead of 12 or sp-sh to memorize them and to write them down (RGY=123). It's a personal preference. Hope this helps.

[haendas]

Knowing how to turn the sound down on shouts!!! without effecting the other sounds.

How do you do this? I would love to know!

[DRNA]

What I wish I knew was that there is a pattern to the gambits in terms of their effects. I only realized this when I wrote down the gambits and their effects in an organized fashion..

Also, I use color code instead of 12 or sp-sh to memorize them and to write them down (RGY=123)...

This post is very helpful. Thank you. I am new to the class, am taking it slow, and enjoying it so far.

The first question I had, however, was why the Spear/Shield/Shout skill icons themselves are not color coded, as well as any additionally earned skills specific to Spear/Shield/Shout.

Also, I understand that there are plug-ins available. Still, it would be helpful for a newcomer if there were a shortcut to accessing the Gambits panel instead of having to go through the Character and then Skills panels.

[Gibraisia]

This post is very helpful. Thank you. I am new to the class, am taking it slow, and enjoying it so far.

The first question I had, however, was why the Spear/Shield/Shout skill icons themselves are not color coded, as well as any additionally earned skills specific to Spear/Shield/Shout.

Also, I understand that there are plug-ins available. Still, it would be helpful for a newcomer if there were a shortcut to accessing the Gambits panel instead of having to go through the Character and then Skills panels.

Good job on starting a Warden, firstly

To answer your question, I don't know why the skills themselves are not color coded and can only explain it by saying the devs never got around to it or haven't thought of it. I might in fact have to post that as a suggestion. In the meantime, know that if you use Battle Preparation then the gambit builders become color coded while you are preparing, which is very helpful.

[Nebster]

This post is very helpful. Thank you. I am new to the class, am taking it slow, and enjoying it so far.

The first question I had, however, was why the Spear/Shield/Shout skill icons themselves are not color coded, as well as any additionally earned skills specific to Spear/Shield/Shout.

Also, I understand that there are plug-ins available. Still, it would be helpful for a newcomer if there were a shortcut to accessing the Gambits panel instead of having to go through the Character and then Skills panels.

Based on the background behind the icons, Spear is Red, Shield is Green and Fist is yellow. So for the Wall of Steel for example, instead of writing 1212, I write RGRG instead.

For the shortcut to skills, you can change the settings on your toolbar using options - ui settings. The first thing you will see is "Toolbar Slots" - Toolbar slot 1 is assigned to "Systems". Click on the dropdown arrow and reassign it to skills. Also, if you look at options-keymapping, you will see that the shortcut for Skills is "K".

[ksbsgw]

This has been incredibly useful, so thank you for posting it and for the others in responding. I started a Warden on a new server last week and have been really liking it so far. Then I got to level 20 (or 21, I don' remember which) and all of a sudden a ton of new skills showed up (the skills that give you your gambit builders two at a time). I was feeling overwhelmed by those and all of the gambits and am glad to know that is normal and that I need to just practice with them (and set up good hot keys.) I just wanted to say thanks to you guys for all of the comments!

[freedaemons]

As a new L50 warden, I'm glad I started using masteries early.

One question though, how important is it to use gambits from gambit trees in order? You know how the tooltips say using such and such a gambit tree in order boosts the later gambits in the tree, but a lot of the talk in the forums here seems to overlook this, when so far I've been using gambits are though I *have* do use them in that order for it to be worth the time getting them out.