Book 13 Dev Diary Feedback: The Orc Defiler

[Saffron]

Beginning in Book 13, LOTRO players can now play the newest monster class, the orc Defiler! Hailing from lands filled with toxins and disease, the orc Defiler uses his knowledge of these virulent fungi and slime to aid his foes and hamper his enemies. Join Content Designer Orion as in introduces us to this new monster class!

Read the developer diary, then post your comments below!

[Dinara]

Wow! The Defiler sounds pretty cool! Kudo's to you guys and your imagination!

[gildhur]

Curse of the Deadly Sorrows: "Douse opponent with corrosive liquid that weakens their armour and releases a soporific gas that reduces Will, Fate and Might." This is a medium-cost poison-based curse reducing the target's fate, will, might, and armor by a crippling amount. It has a three-second casting time and a thirty-second cooldown and is available at Rank Seven.

FTFY

[absoluum]

whens bk13 released? Hopefully this will be enough of an enjoyment to play as to warrant me paying two different game subscriptions. regardless, sounds fun!

[a99barnsey]

That looks pretty fun, an interesting class that will shake up the moors.

Now get to work making a goblin warg-rider

Seriously, we need a goblin class. And warg-riders would be so awesome.

[Dinatius]

sounds cool I'm a very part-time creep, but it will be nice to be a little more balanced.

Maybe I didn't read carefully enough, but are any of the skills going to be fellowship/raid only?

[Calimmacil]

I have no desire to ever play a Creep, but this will make PvMP more exciting. So thanks to the dev staff! I'm impressed with the way you've tried to keep all the skills based on science (materials, chemicals, pharmeceuticals, flora) rather than anything "magical." I wonder whether the bear skull is permanent, or whether you can have other headgear options.

[Lohi]

Seriously, we need a goblin class. And warg-riders would be so awesome.

I don't know. I'm all for "monster play", and orcs and goblins don't really seem like "monsters" to me. Wargs and spiders fit the bill though.

[TheScyphozoa]

Is it just me, or does the Defiler have only 4 starting skills, while all the other classes have 5?

[RootedOak]

That looks pretty fun, an interesting class that will shake up the moors.

Now get to work making a goblin warg-rider

Seriously, we need a goblin class. And warg-riders would be so awesome.

I say wait until the Rohan expansion. Then we can beg for mounted battles. lol. Seriously though, goblins play very small roles in the stories, and they're obviously weak little fellas compared to orcs and the Uruks. Maybe if Turbine makes it to Gondor we can have a cool battleground there somehow. Probably have to change the appearances of all the creeps so fit that section of middle-earth's lore, but we can be hopeful for the future lol .

[a99barnsey]

I say wait until the Rohan expansion. Then we can beg for mounted battles. lol. Seriously though, goblins play very small roles in the stories, and they're obviously weak little fellas compared to orcs and the Uruks. Maybe if Turbine makes it to Gondor we can have a cool battleground there somehow. Probably have to change the appearances of all the creeps so fit that section of middle-earth's lore, but we can be hopeful for the future lol .

I'd say goblins were featured as much as wargs and definitely more than spiders (not counting Shelob).

Anyway I'm kind of skeptical about mounted combat in general, and the way I was thinking about doing a warg rider wouldn't really be like doing true mounted combat. It would just be like a warg except that it would have a more complex model (animated goblin on its back) and would trade stealth for some ranged attacks and other abilities. I guess the difference is that you wouldn't be able to dismount.

Also the next expansion could very well be Mirkwood/Lonly Mntn, so it could easily be over 2 years before rohan comes out.

[gildhur]

whens bk13 released?

It's on Roheryn, the preview server, as of yesterday (but that's currently down). It goes Live toward the end of the month. Probably the 28-30th.

[ChampionSword]

If Akuhuln is telling everyone to treat Defilers with respect, does that mean that the NPCs will speak a bit nicer to Defilers?

Long shot but...I had to ask.

[NYSEguy1970]

Defilers come from the Sofa Swamps? Pretzel? Where are these Sofa Swamps?

Also, the lower rank appearances have what appears to be Deer Skull Helms...where do they get the deer from. Bears and cows in the ettens yes, but deer? Perhaps, cave claw skulls would have been better helm models? LOL

OH! I see, hostile deer will also be introduced into the ettens right? Sweet!

[Hijynx]

Looks awesome. The defiler should round out the creep side nicely. Now to do something about the session play mechanic...

[dee_fruz]

I was unaware of any need for a second healing class creepside. Can't speak for the balance between creeps and freeps on other servers, but on mine, this is going to mean that no creep is ever going to die again.

Come out with something for freeps for a change, like increased resistances as you rank? maybe pvp-only traits as you rank etc? similar tot he creeps?

We're gonna get slaughtered!

Edit: What's the difference between a long 30-second cooldown and a regular 30-second cooldown?

[HorkeOME]

...uses his knowledge of these virulent fungi and slime to aid his foes and hamper his enemies...

There's a typo in there. I think the writer meant to say the Defiler aids his friends and hampers his foes.

[KainXI]

...uses his knowledge of these virulent fungi and slime to aid his foes and hamper his enemies...

There's a typo in there. I think the writer meant to say the Defiler aids his friends and hampers his foes.

No you've just discovered the devs secret plans. The defiler helps freeps and hurts creeps, who would have suspected?

[Kayel_Natas]

Ok maybe it's just on meneldor, but the freeps on my server never win longer then an hour or two, typically we get slaughtered due to the raid and a half of creeps + troll to our 1/2 to maybe a raid of freeps.

I'll be all for the defiler class if you remove trolls. Sure they're no problem if you dite, drain, lore them and it's only 3/4 to a raid of creeps. But if you miss it by a second then it's game over. Lets not even go into when we finally get control of the moors and two trolls come out to play.

BTW out of curiousity, there a reason burglars can't use all of our skills in the moors? Defilers better not be able to rez/heal trolls is all I'm gonna say.

[Wisdomandlore]

Ok maybe it's just on meneldor, but the freeps on my server never win longer then an hour or two, typically we get slaughtered due to the raid and a half of creeps + troll to our 1/2 to maybe a raid of freeps.

It's the opposite on Elendilmir. Usually there are 2-3 raids of Freeps versus 1/2 - 1 1/2 raid of Creeps. I don't think they will be able to achieve balance just by classes; they need mechanisms to help offset population differences.

[DaSpug]

It's the opposite on Elendilmir. Usually there are 2-3 raids of Freeps versus 1/2 - 1 1/2 raid of Creeps. I don't think they will be able to achieve balance just by classes; they need mechanisms to help offset population differences.

Yeah, they need NPC-like attackers for when the population is low on one side... kind of like TR, only cooler.

[Dell8400p4]

It's the opposite on Elendilmir. Usually there are 2-3 raids of Freeps versus 1/2 - 1 1/2 raid of Creeps. I don't think they will be able to achieve balance just by classes; they need mechanisms to help offset population differences.

Yes... I remember the good old days when creeps ruled.

But the problem is creeps quit to play freeps and now we have so many freeps it's crazy.

This defiler will harm the creep body (1 good warleader healer > Rank 0-4 Defiler) because people will be getting slaughtered.

[one1one]

Oh, I guess I should address the topic of the thread too. The reason the creeps get a second healing class is because they need it to keep their out matched and out gunned buts in the fight. The orc defiler is a band-aid meant to maintain peoples interest long enough for the devs to figure out how to fix the pvmp balance problem.

[dee_fruz]

Ok maybe it's just on meneldor, but the freeps on my server never win longer then an hour or two, typically we get slaughtered due to the raid and a half of creeps + troll to our 1/2 to maybe a raid of freeps.

I'll be all for the defiler class if you remove trolls. Sure they're no problem if you dite, drain, lore them and it's only 3/4 to a raid of creeps. But if you miss it by a second then it's game over. Lets not even go into when we finally get control of the moors and two trolls come out to play.

BTW out of curiousity, there a reason burglars can't use all of our skills in the moors? Defilers better not be able to rez/heal trolls is all I'm gonna say.

It is close tot his on firefoot as well. Almost alwasy lots of creeps. And they usually come out of nowhere. A typical evening would involve 2 large creep raids vs 1 organized freep raid plus small roaming groups. Not terrible but usually frustrating. I think the defiler will only exacerbate the problem for our server.

[zednem79]

It is close tot his on firefoot as well. Almost alwasy lots of creeps. And they usually come out of nowhere. A typical evening would involve 2 large creep raids vs 1 organized freep raid plus small roaming groups. Not terrible but usually frustrating. I think the defiler will only exacerbate the problem for our server.

LMFAO! Total BS.... You freeps want to continue with the easy mode. It is okay. I understand you like to win like playing Atari and all, but come on...

Our server, Firefoot, is usually overrun by freep zergs. It has gotten slightly better lately because we actually win sometimes. The way Pessot is talking is like he is whack on crack! Maybe he is related to Whitney... It is only frustrating when they have to come out of the Delving to kill off creeps because we took a keep and they can't get back in. The defiler just gives us the dedicated healer that we always should have had.

Oh yeah, the damn defiler has barely been out a day (not even live yet) and people are crying. What are you freeps going to do when Turbine totally revamps pvmp and makes it even across both lines? Go play AoC? Warhammer? Cry some more? Can't understand why anyone would want a easy button except for an 8 year old. All creeps have ever asked for is a level playing field and we are heading in that direction. Sorry if you freepies don't want it, but it is coming anyway.