Captain to Guardian Questions

[HerrDave]

Howdy-ho, Guardians!

Ol' Aval here, I've been struggling on landscape ever since the Paths of the Dead, and I've been having some thoughts about changing over to a Guardian for a couple reasons.
- You guys have bows, which is infinitely better than screaming once every 10 seconds.
- You guys have shields the size of doors, that looks more condusive to surviving a Troll Hammer than a minstrel's buckler.
- You guys don't have to rely on a nearly brain-dead Herald (Mind you, I would have defended Heralds to the death, but recently they've been really bad)
- You guys seem like the perfect fit for the classic Adventurer character!

But first some questions from a hesitant 130 Red Captain.



[1] - How well can the Guardian sustain himself in a difficult solo fight?
As the Captain, once I got to level 85 I was caught in a brutal slog of "Switch to Yellow to fight an Elite or die" and it only got worse in Mordor until I was carried by a kind Kin.
At 130, I'm decked out in Raid Gear and I feel like I'm on-par for landscape content as a solo Red Captain :[

[2] - Does Guardian have enough AoE to make Slayer Deeds less painful?
Us Captain-folk only have 2.5 AoE attacks.
- Routing Cry, low tactical damage, hits ~8 targets
- Pressing Attack, low physical damage
- If we combo Cutting Attack and Grave Wound, it spreads a chunky bleed around, but can't be used on lower level targets because it 1-shots them

[3] - Is it easier to hold aggro as a Guardian?
I'm a Red Captain, but now and then I'm called upon to tank as a Yellow Captain, and good Lord do I hate the Yellow Captain's awkward rotation x_x
2 single-target forced taunts and 1 AoE taunt with a long cooldown don't help when you have swarms of little stabbers coming in all at once! D:
Combine that with very little AoE attacks/stuns, and it gets plain silly - I can see a Captain being a good tank for a Raid Boss, but nothing else.

[4] - How does the Guardian's Red Tree compare to the Captain's Red Tree?
Most of a Captain's Red rotation is about '+% Damage for x Seconds' Buffs and the odd Bleed.
What is Red Guardian like, is it stronger on it's own than a Red Captain would be, or about the same in AoE/1v1 situations?

[5]- Are Captains more, or less useful, in smaller Fellowships?
My understanding is that Red Captains on their own are meh, but they amplify the strength of other players, so more players = more value of a Captain
In a fellowship of 3-4, would a Guardian be a better fit to hold the line?

[6] -What troubles do Guardians have to overcome while leveling?
As a Captain, it was killing things before they killed my escort, or recovering lost HP when an Elite would pound me into the ground like a nail.
My Champion struggles with Mana (level 93), and my Minstrel with dealing any amount of damage (level 38)
At what level do Guardians face what challenges?

[7] - Shield Spikes?
What are these for?

[8] - What is the difference between a Blue Guardian and a Yellow Guardian?
From what I can tell, Blue Guardians use shields, and Yellow Guardians tank with a 2-hander?

[9] - Do Guardians struggle with Mounted Combat?
I was told a while back that Captains excelled at Mounted Combat back when RoR first came out, but after having finally got there I must have missed the fireworks, no ranged, no AoE, and I'd argue 'meh' damage :I

[10] - Dwarf or Man?
Comparing the racials, Dwarves have a very powerful damage resistance ability, and Men have a passive +incoming healing ability, which one would you say is more useful for a Blue Guardian?
Damage prevention, or Health Recovery?


Extra Credit
What kind of Pizza do you like to eat while exploring Middle-Earth?

Thanks for reading, Guardians!

[WeirdJedi]

I might not be able to answer some of your questions, but there are some things you might not know about. If yelling is bothersome, you can always use your Sound Filter (Alt R) to tune out the screams. This can also be used to filter out other player yells. Also, shields can be applied cosmetically no matter what the size is. You can be a minstrel and still show off a guardian or warden's shield out in the world.

[Murtanion]

[1] - How well can the Guardian sustain himself in a difficult solo fight?
Quite well in solo landscape fights. You have thrill of danger, warriors heart, and catch a breath to heal you up. WH and CaB both have beneficial LI legacies to boost their magnitude.

[2] - Does Guardian have enough AoE to make Slayer Deeds less painful?
Absolutely. You have low CD AoE skills in Whirling Retaliation, Sweeping Cut, Vexing Blow, and War Chant. Plus you can boost the AoE radius range of War Chant to really ball up mobs.

[3] - Is it easier to hold aggro as a Guardian?
You just click stuff. Multiple force taunts on low CD, filter in your shield skills in between. Plus you have a good catch up skill in Engage.

[4] - How does the Guardian's Red Tree compare to the Captain's Red Tree?
Guardian red tree is still underwhelming because they have no general crit mag legacy. That being said you can do some decent damage when built for it. Guardian red line is currently about stacking bleeds, with the benefit of guard skills being all fast/immediates.

[5]- Are Captains more, or less useful, in smaller Fellowships?
Captains are far more useful, full stop. Better buffs, plus you have 3 well rounded trees to choose traits from.



[7] - Shield Spikes?
They change the damage type, as well as crit chance of your "shield" skills

[8] - What is the difference between a Blue Guardian and a Yellow Guardian?
Blue guardian is generally the sturdier more well thought out trait line for tanking. Yellow has more utility and the benefit of using 2h to block.

[9] - Do Guardians struggle with Mounted Combat?
Skip this if you can. Mounted combat is a universal scrap heap and disgrace.

[10] - Dwarf or Man?
Many people argue for the Man Incoming healing bonus. I always view it as damage reduction is rarer than Incoming healing. You can get IH from essences and gear. Plus I really enjoy using Endurance of Stone + Redirect + tome of defense to boost my damage mitigation in tight spots. Dwarf vitality bonus hasn't scaled all that well vs. Duty bounds flat 5% morale.


Extra Credit
What kind of Pizza do you like to eat while exploring Middle-Earth?
Buffalo chicken pizza with waffle fries baked on top.

[HerrDave]

Couple more questions for you guys :>

[1] - What is the best Skirmish companion for a Guardian?

[2] - Can a level 130 Guardian solo the Tower of Orthanc?

[3] - Does the Guardian have any broken or useless skills?

[4] - What advice would you give to a New Guardian?

Thanks again