Originally Posted by
Iluvata
Hello Lotro Team,
I hope that you will take a moment to hear my thoughts on the state of the Beorning class. I will keep it short, but can expand on my thoughts if you would like. I know there isn’t much chatter about nerfing the tank line, but this is partly because there are still so few players with a Beorning at cap level.
I believe the Beorning tank-line is too powerful at the current time, outclassing all other tanks (even the Guardian).
First, we are able to achieve a staggering 75% physical mitigation. A physical hit that would inflict 150,000 to a Guardian would inflict only 125,000 to us. This size hit would inflict an astounding 200,000 to a Captain tank. Not only do we take 20% less physical damage than a Guardian class, but we are able to achieve morale levels rivaling that of Captain tanks. Well geared Beornings and Captains can have close to 400k morale, whereas a Guardian struggles to reach 300k.
Second, we have far too powerful self-heals. I am able to easily achieve over 10k heals per second on myself (16k with Thickened Hide). Combined with the ease of which enemies can be kited, this makes us extremely survivable in certain boss fights, even on T2/3 difficulty. Further combined with the higher mitigations, this makes us nearly indestructible.
Third, we have far too many force taunts. I avidly play all 5 tank classes (yes, that includes champ and warden), and I can say with certainty that maintaining aggro on a Beorning is too easy. We have access to three AOE taunts on very short cooldowns. If chained properly, it becomes literally impossible to lose aggro on enemies. Even if we do (which we don’t), we can use our ranged single-target taunt to pull them back. Furthermore, two of our taunts confer large incoming healing bonuses. Given the sturdiness of the class, this seems excessive.
Fourth, we are able to chain our 20 second long +10% evade buff into a 25s Thickened Hide back into another 20 second long +10+ evade buff. This rotation makes the Beornings “emergency skills” last longer than that of a Guardian and Captain, and mitigate more damage over that period of time.
Fifth, we are able to provide the Armour Crush and Bee Swarm debuffs onto our targets, vastly increasing the damage our fellowship does. While these buffs do not match those that a Captain provides, they are still present while a Guardian does not provide any buffs/debuffs of value to increase a fellowships DPS.
Sixth, we have two interrupts on relatively short cooldowns. This far outclasses the Captain interrupt, and also surpasses the Guardian interrupts, as one of their interrupts is locked behind a series of response skills.
Seventh, our Down But Not Out passive skills is currently broken. Regardless of which form you are in, it will provide a 20% morale heal when you reach 20% morale. This equates to a free 70k heal every time you drop below 20% (on a one minute cooldown).
The recent changes to the Beorning have had a number of important effects in the game.
(1) Captain tanks have become obsolete. We are only taken for our ability to keep up a second mark/banner. We take far too much damage compared to the other tanks, given our lack of Mitigations.
(2) Guardians have lost their ability to serve as viable main tanks. Friends of mine are not even let into the Anvil T2/3 anymore on guard if beornings are available. We cannot aggro as well as a Beorning. We cannot provide any boosts to our group. And a Bear is far more survivable.
I am not suggesting a large nerf, but some aspects of the Beorning tank should be looked at again. I have no incentive to play my other tanks when I can just stand there on Beorning and rotate taunts to easily maintain aggro while being more survivable than the other tanks simply because of my passive Mitigations and massive self-heals.
The class currently is sure fun to play, but it takes absolutely no skill for how powerful it is. It is so powerful that it can reliably tank T3 Glimmerdeep without a healer. Guardians can also do this, though it is much more difficult.
Despite personally playing a Beorning tank, I believe that we are too powerful at this time. That is why I am asking you to consider a nerf of the Beorning tank. You have done a good job scaling back the Healing Beorning, and I think its time to look at the Tank line too. I would love to at least hear your feedback!
Thank you!
Poster of Note
.
