Quote Originally Posted by Jinjaah View Post
I'll make a general post since the last couple posts have been on a similar issue that I think is very important to this update.

One thing I would like to see is that the three different lines that exist be more focused on what they set out to do. Berserker to me, is the single target burst damage champion. They pick out a target and then ferociously put all their energy into defeating that opponent whereas the deadly storm creates chaos on the battlefield with his area effect capabilities. Finally the Martial champion. To me, they have a lot of potential to tank in a unique way. They don't necessarily want to mitigate their opponents damage, they want to be hit because it empowers them.

I'd rather not necessarily tie the lines strictly to weapons. There could absolutely be things throughout each tree that encourage specific types of weapons but itemization is such an important choice in LOTRO that it feels unfair in some ways to restrict a player in that regard.

Stances are also an issue that should probably be addressed. Right now it feels like the consensus is that Fervour is the go-to stance. On paper, this makes a lot of sense. To me I think this is the perfect time to take a good look at stances in general and re-evaluate if they still serve a purpose functionally for the champion or if their bonuses are things that champions should just have by default.

-Jinjaah
That's the kind of post that scares me!

There seems to be an obsessive need to make 3 trait trees/sets, and that's just not necessary. We shouldn't have to be retraiting *within* an instance to be able to do proper DPS. I'm fine with the traits as they are, but as I posted in another thread, I'm wary of continuing down the path that tries to make Ardour useful at the cost of Fervour.

Ardour was conceived as a survival/DPS hybrid. Then sometime during Moria development, someone decided 3 was the magic number and brilliant ideas such as splitting DPS into 2 roles, tanking into 2 roles, making special lines just for Burglar Gambles, LM pets, and Hunter CC were born.

The only reason we've had so *little* complaint is because Ardour is a skill that both satisfies the obsession with 3 trait lines, and can be ignored entirely. Trait whatever reds and yellows you want, and play in Fervour. If it gets to the point where we can't ignore Ardour anymore, that's when the happy Champ community you see will become foaming at the mouth like Hunters. See what splitting their DPS into 2 trees has done to them? Even their forum has padded walls.