Hello! I recently returned to the game after many years away but have yet to figure out what class I want to play. I'm leaning strongly toward Champion, because it means I can be the heavily-armored dwarf I've always wanted to be.

In MMOs, I enjoy playing extremely survivable characters who can do group quests and dungeons by themselves without needing to find other players to help me. I just find it more fun to do things at my own pace and on my own terms. I've spent a while searching around on various forums and websites for info on the most popular solo classes in LotRO, and I've found that Beornings and Wardens come up the most, with Guardians, Captains, and Champions coming up fairly often too. Since I've decided that a dwarf is my destiny, that limits my selection to Champion and Guardian, and because I don't want to tank in group content (did that for years in another game, and I don't want to deal with the stress anymore), that limits me to Champion.

It seems most Champions build their character for an all-out AoE offense. They enjoy running around and gathering up a small army of foes, then AoEing them down as fast as possible. Is this the only way to build a good Champion? Because I prefer to be more of a lumbering, heavily-armored warrior with a big two-hander who can survive fights against elite enemies. I know this sounds pretty much exactly like a Red-line Guardian, but again, I don't like to tank and as a Guardian I'd be expected to do that when playing with others.

Can Champions build enough survivability to solo fellowship quests and instances near their level? I know Blue Line is pretty unpopular but how is it for doing challenging solo content?

Thanks!