I heard people saying warsteed system is useless after rohan. Is it true ?

[Sewedi]

So i am wondering, why to introduce a system, just to make it obsolute in the next 2 regions. Legendary items were introduced in mines of moria and they are essential part of the game.
Thanks for the info,
Cheers,

[zaboch]

General populace didn't like it due to the lag and killing class identity.

[Nosdracir]

In a nutshell...

Before Rohan there were a lot of suggestions for adding mounted combat to the game. They added for the Riders of Rohan expansion and most people did not like the implementation. The inertia implemented on the steed was heavily impacted by the lag problems and probably aggravated them. There was not much distinction between classes either, and some classes (e.g. Burglar) had a terrible time on a WS. Then there were several Epic quests that required mounted combat and turned into roadblocks for character advancement.

[Sewedi]

In a nutshell...

Before Rohan there were a lot of suggestions for adding mounted combat to the game. They added for the Riders of Rohan expansion and most people did not like the implementation. The inertia implemented on the steed was heavily impacted by the lag problems and probably aggravated them. There was not much distinction between classes either, and some classes (e.g. Burglar) had a terrible time on a WS. Then there were several Epic quests that required mounted combat and turned into roadblocks for character advancement.

So i basically use it only in rohan and forget it after that ?

[Hallandil]

So i am wondering, why to introduce a system, just to make it obsolute in the next 2 regions. Legendary items were introduced in mines of moria and they are essential part of the game.
Thanks for the info,
Cheers,

There's no massive change to it. You can still use it to fight enemies in parts of Gondor & The Wastes. If you use a level 100 Bridle the damage will be stronger than your starter bridle.
Since they don't imbue they become severely stagnant from 106+

There's Warbands (mounted enemy bosses) in areas after Rohan, but they practically spam the trip skill so its rather besides the point.

[WeirdJedi]

You sure get around in the forums. SSG loves to experiment with new systems with every update. Some of these systems work; some of them don't. Unfortunately, they have this nasty habit of forgoing updating old systems in order to spend more time with new ones.

The War-steed is one of those things that wasn't widely received from the general public. It acts like a car from Tokyo Drift more than an actual horse. In order to gain damage, you had to build up your bridle LI fury contribution and gain momentum in order to output additional damage. Think of it like going back-and-forth like a joust. Unfortunately, people - myself included - usually like to sit still instead of trying to chase after enemies when their AI decides to do a U-Turn. Not moving equals no damage bonus. There is also a huge problem with the server trying to keep up with the war-steed positioning. The few second delay can cause rubber-banding when your client shows you moving forward and the server updates you behind that tiny rock your horse got stuck on. I like to make the comparison of flying through the Death Star when riding one through Minas Tirith - you never know when you are going to crash.

My experience riding a war-steed has varied on all three of my characters. When they were first introduced, my captain adored it. There is something awesome about being able to gain speed and instantly kill targets with the high critical chance abilities. The war-steed felt redundant with my hunter. The amount of damage I can now deal with all the stat updates and hunter changes overwhelms the amount of bottle-necked damage and speed that has been stifled by the war-steed. Then there is my minstrel. I don't know why they decided to cater to a healing minstrel on a war-steed while giving them a shout ability that pulls every mob that you can see on the screen. Regardless, I do know a few minstrels who like the stark contrast in their abilities.

That isn't to say the system is "useless" after Rohan. People will still use the war-steeds to get from Point A to Point B the quickest in open fields. The expansions of Riders of Rohan and Helm's Deep were the forerunners. But you will always be running into warbands (named enemies that circle around you on horseback) far into the reaches of Gondor at level 105. There was an issue that came up when they coded the enemies wrong in Wells of Langflood that brought about the discussion of war-steeds as a level 130. MadeofLions was somehow still surprised to see there were people who would want a revamp to War-Steeds - https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...19#post8004019.

Though there are a few things that "killed" the ability to use war-steeds. First off, their morale has not been bumped with the level cap. Like a ton of other systems (our skirmish soldier to name one), they are just not updated with the overall increased stats for every new zone. People have to use the ability "sacrifice" on a medium war-steed to absorb the damage to their person so that their horse can keep moving. Second, their damage output is still a problem. Unlike other LIs that can be imbued at level 100 and continue to increase in value, bridles cannot. I can still potentially kill stuff instantly going full speed with my captain, but that only works if I was using a light war-steed.

[Sewedi]

You sure get around in the forums. SSG loves to experiment with new systems with every update. Some of these systems work; some of them don't. Unfortunately, they have this nasty habit of forgoing updating old systems in order to spend more time with new ones.

The War-steed is one of those things that wasn't widely received from the general public. It acts like a car from Tokyo Drift more than an actual horse. In order to gain damage, you had to build up your bridle LI fury contribution and gain momentum in order to output additional damage. Think of it like going back-and-forth like a joust. Unfortunately, people - myself included - usually like to sit still instead of trying to chase after enemies when their AI decides to do a U-Turn. Not moving equals no damage bonus. There is also a huge problem with the server trying to keep up with the war-steed positioning. The few second delay can cause rubber-banding when your client shows you moving forward and the server updates you behind that tiny rock your horse got stuck on. I like to make the comparison of flying through the Death Star when riding one through Minas Tirith - you never know when you are going to crash.

My experience riding a war-steed has varied on all three of my characters. When they were first introduced, my captain adored it. There is something awesome about being able to gain speed and instantly kill targets with the high critical chance abilities. The war-steed felt redundant with my hunter. The amount of damage I can now deal with all the stat updates and hunter changes overwhelms the amount of bottle-necked damage and speed that has been stifled by the war-steed. Then there is my minstrel. I don't know why they decided to cater to a healing minstrel on a war-steed while giving them a shout ability that pulls every mob that you can see on the screen. Regardless, I do know a few minstrels who like the stark contrast in their abilities.

That isn't to say the system is "useless" after Rohan. People will still use the war-steeds to get from Point A to Point B the quickest in open fields. The expansions of Riders of Rohan and Helm's Deep were the forerunners. But you will always be running into warbands (named enemies that circle around you on horseback) far into the reaches of Gondor at level 105. There was an issue that came up when they coded the enemies wrong in Wells of Langflood that brought about the discussion of war-steeds as a level 130. MadeofLions was somehow still surprised to see there were people who would want a revamp to War-Steeds - https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...19#post8004019.

Though there are a few things that "killed" the ability to use war-steeds. First off, their morale has not been bumped with the level cap. Like a ton of other systems (our skirmish soldier to name one), they are just not updated with the overall increased stats for every new zone. People have to use the ability "sacrifice" on a medium war-steed to absorb the damage to their person so that their horse can keep moving. Second, their damage output is still a problem. Unlike other LIs that can be imbued at level 100 and continue to increase in value, bridles cannot. I can still potentially kill stuff instantly going full speed with my captain, but that only works if I was using a light war-steed.

I started playing when mines of moria was released then i left, forget to migrate my character (eu migration) lost the account, had to start fresh ,returned 2016 to try and reclaim my old account with no luck and i left. Bought some expansion when mordor was released then left could not get passed mines of moria, get frustrated with map navigation and because it is in giant cave ( really not fun a big underground areas). So now i returned and started again as a warden, i hope this time i can get passed moria.

[JERH]

It’s only useful for faster movement than steeds if you can get used to riding like a drunk driver in a sprint car with bald tires. With lag I’ve been killed on fences, buildings, and many times just found myself in mid air off cliffs. Riding along, next thing in cemetery. Use a medium bridle with sacrifice to not get one shot dismounted. Only a few classes with specific specs were ever good at mounted combat even in rohan.

[Boraxxe]

...snip... There was not much distinction between classes either, and some classes (e.g. Burglar) had a terrible time on a WS...snip...

I agree we Burgs do much less damage while on a War Steed, but there is one nice attribute that came along with it...

I still use my War Steed on my Burglars, usually when I am scouting out a new area and when I want to zoom through a dangerous zone...untouched...

There is a skill that comes with the Mounted Combat Skills that I am not sure is well known.
It's called Stratagem. : https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Trick%3A_Stratagem

This in-effect puts you into stealth mode. It seems to be just as effective while on your Mount as when you are just sneaking about normally.

A Burglar can travel unseen through just about any area that Mounted Travel is allowed. Super-fast travel while stealthed. Quite handy.
Not much good for back-stabbing and such because the damage you do from a Warsteed is miniscule compared to what we can do while un-mounted, and the minute you dismount you are exposed, but it is still a great way to travel vast distances while avoiding detection.

Oh, and by the way...this is a fantastic method of travel while in Mordor!

[Elmagor]

Lag issues and most of classes very weak on warsteeds leads to enrage and developers decide stop upgrade that feature. Basically LM, RK and Hunter works great in mounted combat, Mini and Captain mediocre, and all other classes working very weak and not impressive. It's hard to understand how you must work with warsteed if you melee class. In ideal, they use Captain, who have mix of closed attacks and ranged shouts. But he lacks of heals, making all fights with mobs with Captain too long and forced to kite mounted mobs. Also, most of classes with good gear can just kill mounted mobs without warsteed in all. You need it only to chase target and dismount it. Also, since warsteed have 60 level cap, but monster level rises with every update, they able to one-shot your warsteed. In our days, people use it just as very fast mount if they don't bother with lags. Of course, developers CAN upgrade them, but they don't sure if they spend huge amount of time for them many people change from hate to love with this feature.

[Blato]

why to introduce a system, just to make it obsolute in the next 2 regions

The same can be said for a lot of other systems in any MMO
It would be stupid to fix a system that fundamentally broken, i would be in favor of just removing it for faster normal horses

[wrath247]

Let's be honest if they didn't add some sort of mounted combat we'd be complaining just as much.

MC was a good idea on paper that suffered from the systems at the time/even now being unable to handle it properly.

What they tried to emphasize was a back and forth type of combat but two issues with that were:

1. Clunky movement made it feel like a car than a horse.
2. Lag. Alot of it. Had us zoom or bwoosh to areas where we weren't initially in.

What they could do as some improvement if ever they decide to go revisit it and have it featured with maybe khand or harad:

1. Have the turns and reactions to slowing down be quicker, and smoother. I ride horses as a hobby and they have a faster reaction to turning then they do in-game.
2. Make two types of MC combat types, stationary and on the go. Historically you wouldn't always be able to do the back and forth charges since sometimes cavalrymen would be bogged down in the fighting or just get surrounded.
3. Have the damage scale and add more skills. It feels to slow for what its worth especially for some classes, combat should feel more fast paced and on the fly.

[DavidmeetHal]

I always stop mounted combat in Central Gondor. It's kinda needed in Pelennor Fields, but I despise mounted combat so much I leave the mounted mobs alone.

[Nosdracir]

So i basically use it only in rohan and forget it after that ?

You use it when you absolutely must, which is mostly some specific quests in Rohan. Otherwise you only use it if/when you like it.

A lot of this depends on whether or not you like mounted combat. I loved it and used it from Rohan all the way through Mordor. It's a different style of combat. Melee classes do well to gallop until they have a full fury bar then circle around and try to make your first attack against a target from the rear. My Champ and Guard could get about 10% one hit kills that way and about 70% two hit kills. Ranged classes have to circle the target and pepper it with arrows or spells.

A lot of people didn't like it at all and would often just stand still and fight in place if they had to remain mounted.

Most players generally like the War Steed just as a fast but quirky horse that's less vulnerable to random attacks when passing through groups of mobs.

[CloudCastle]

I really enjoy my warsteed and it pains me that the devs couldn't have at least scaled their health and other abilities so those of us who enjoy them can continue to use them.

[Flaxie]

IMO, warsteed is useless, period.

[Maximilan]

It’s only useful for faster movement than steeds if you can get used to riding like a drunk driver in a sprint car with bald tires.

I love the comparison and I liked the good drift action on some of the curves in Mordor.

I agree we Burgs do much less damage while on a War Steed, but there is one nice attribute that came along with it...

There is a skill that comes with the Mounted Combat Skills that I am not sure is well known.
It's called Stratagem. : https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Trick%3A_Stratagem

That is the sweetest ability with the Burg - ride through thick and thin without being noticed, most times.

But my favorite 'Trick' is to use Stratagem and when riding by some unsuspecting mob - Impugn the highest level one and just keep riding

I couldn't help doing that with Bugud a few times and watching him slaughter his groupies.

[elianidd2]

Yes and no. Mounted combat dies after Gondor but the warsteed itself remains a great and very fast mount which you can dress up in different liveries and accesories.

I love MC. When it works it's exhilarating and gorgeous to see and participate in, specially with a group. The horse animations for the different speeds are very well done and it all conveys a great sense of speed and action. I was watching a friend participate in MC on a 3-monitor setup the other day and it was super cool.
I really wish the system had been further expanded to give classes more depth and personality on horseback and it would go a long way to make them interesting but historically, I think the lag coupled with people having trouble learning how to control the speed of the mount (they have several speed settings which you can tap to access) and how they aren't initially very good at turning made them, for a lot of people, more trouble than they were worth. They weren't also very well supported damage or systems-wise I think. MC lag has improved a lot since those days, but it hasn't completely gone away. Here's hoping it can be revived in the future.

[Braer]

If you've been brought up on the likes of FZero, Wipeout and Colin McRae Rally (me) they will suit you better than if had been My Little Pony, not that they don't offer lots of choice to not look like everyone else on the latest Pick-a-Mount offering or Figment mount.

They were mostly implemented by a dev with only a limited understanding of class roles; melee, ranged and healing then a cursory nod to some aspect of each class. None of our on foot role nuances were on the table. Lots of quirks just confused folk too, gave up on it far too soon.

But they are mostly a requirement for pure speed of travel and because they are unwieldy you need to take the time to l2p them. There's always somewhere in the game that a fast mount comes in handy. Right now it's the Nazgul weekly and if you're forever slowing down a raid farm or too slow to contribute, can you cope with that reputation or miss out on the rewards and progression?

I prefer them to any standard mount, even the unpredictability. It's kind of a challenge to complete a gallop through Minas Tirith successfully without getting hooked up on a turn or fall through ground or find buildings have enclosed around you in an impenetrable prison. You have to be quick though...

As much of a fan as I am there are things that I still haven't done to improve their utility. I've maxed out the bridle and purchased some emotes and colour options from the store but held back on the tomes, it was bad enough buying them for my characters and see them be made all but worthless through neglect.

Yes neglect, if only someone had a check list to follow for each level increase to update all the older game mechanics. But the devs are to be indulged, "new" can be hyped because it isn't tainted as a failure, yet. The problem is sometimes our "feedback" determines the worth of doing a further polish or righting it off all together. Inept vocal minority and poor class implementation had the devs choose the latter course and so missed an opportunity. The game has so many missed opportunities, because of who they've listened to rather than play it for themselves. Maybe one day someone who plays will be put in charge of store pricing and I'll get to see how much the tomes add.

As to Sacrifice, removes the challenge for me, makes you lazy. I'd rather get better. Too many make their choices and form their opinions before the due diligence these days...

[Marancil]

I wont add a lot to this, a few have already said very good things about War Steeds and Mounted Combat before this post.

Do not expect your War Steed to help you kill mobs at your level, above 100'sh. Up to that it works well, even rather well up to level 85'sh. After that the updates of the game did not include War Steeds so unless you outlevel by about 10 it is mostly transportation, I agree to that. Putting effort in gearing your War Steed with proper LI and all that, will make it possible for you to kill green leveled mobs, but dont expect it to be safe or fast or easy. If you gear, pay attention to power, and never fight near level mobs at full speed, that will drain power faster than hits.

I use my steeds, I fight with my steeds, but I am also putting time and effort in gearing them, but don't expect much at end game levels.

[Froyo_K_Baggins]

One thing to add is that the different types of steed fall by the wayside above 100. The steeds aren't leveling up their stats, so if a mob sneezes you get dismounted. The only steed that matters at high levels is Medium, and you use Sacrifice to absorb the damage so you can ride faster than standard horses.

[Celebrawn]

Combat is pretty much useless after Gondor, due to their skills being stuck at level 100 and being one-shotted off of them. They are still good for getting around faster.