Feedback: New Player Tips for Rune-keepers

[Mezzovhal]

lol nvm, found the answer. Only thing that matters on a rune stone are the bonus to stats, until you get to legendary stones....

Seems like a weird mechanic, but changing it would unbalance things dramatically. I guess it is because they scale your base stats up as you level, so there is no need for gear to scale up as you level.

[Hagen13]

This is actually pretty common in MMOs for casters. Many MMO caster/healer classes use weapons as "stats on a stick" (staff).

On the one hand RKs don't get those nice ranged autoattacks and don't get bonus from weapon DPS. On the other, you can ignore weapon DPS entirely and don't need an autoattack. So it's a pretty decent trade.

Anyway if I had one tip for a new RK it would be to get to level 20 ASAP. Sub-20 the class is underwhelming; very squishy, DPS is almost as good as a hunter but half the range, and your self healing capacity is almost irrelevant. After 20, your DPS will start to grow exponentially, your range will be a non-issue, and so will healing (stone + HoT is enough for most encounters). Also the fun factor goes way up once you get to play with skills like Epic Conclusion, and get some traits to boost your crit rating and damage.

[Thorgrum]

10 tips For those starting out up to lvl 20:

Really take your time in Bree and get the breeland adventurer string of deeds. Remeber these tips as you will likely be solo up until this point:

1. Put ceaseless argument in the easiest place to spam, and move around when creatures attack.

2. When your in the midgewater marshes collect copper! To level the jeweller your going to need as much of it as you can get.

3. get to the bard in the prancing pony and get your traits slotted. Take some out of game time and read about virtues, lots of starter deeds in Bree to kick them off. Increasing fate with idealism and Empathy should be a priority

4. If you are in a Kin, ask for help when you need it.

5. Buy ahead! (major emphasis on this) for rifflers and chisel. there simply are not a lot of them in the auction house, so if you have the cash and see one for lvl 15 and you are at 12, make the buy and store it.

6. Sell low level jewelry at the auction house. At the begining lvl you arent turning out great pieces but you can still recoup costs and get acclumated to pricing. You'll notice there are not a lot of mid level jewelry pieces on the market but plenty of low to mid level toons running around.

7. Buy a horse. You can get the riding skill from the lotro store with TP (if you havent alread) go buy a starter horse and get that chore out of the way.

8. Once you get to lvl 15 go find the quest “An eye in the storm” you will get “tale of storm” which is a class trait and you will get the rune “stone of the storm”. These rune stones will serve you well, you shouldn’t delay in doing this quest when you get to lvl 15, wrap up unfinished business and make this the priority.

9. Throw down “rune of restoration” as often as you can stand it. You’ll see why over time. Sometimes its easier to just spam ceaseless argument and dance around, easy kills, I know. Still, throw rune of restoration.

10. Use the forums. Don’t be afraid to ask questions someone will help.

[ontv319]

I think most of past posts have covered basically every helpful tip out there for a Rune Keeper. though i noticed there hasn't been any talk about stats to look for.

In my opinion Rune keepers really have no need at all for might. Yes some will say that it helps increase your common damage mitigations, but there are much better stats to look for.

Agility is another stat that isn't really very important, asides from the parry and evade ratings you can get from it all else is pretty much junk. There's no need to bother with melee and ranged crit rating because all RuneKeeper skills are tactical.

Vitality, will and fate are really the ones to look for and boost. Vitality because it adds to moral and adds a bit to resistances, (wound, poison and disease) i mean what isn't there to like about that? Though Will and Fate are byfar most most important because thats where all the Runekeepers damage comes from, and as said before a dead enemy is a damageless enemy.

Will and fate boost the raw power pool, tactical offence and crit ratings, outgoing healing, fear resistance, and lastly in combat morale and power regeneration.

All in all i loook to boost fate, will and vitality for core stats, as do all the caster classes it seems.

[Stuntie]

My best tip for any class.

Every now and then go to a zone 5+ levels below you and finish of a slayer deed on normal mobs.
User the time there to both practice tactics (new and old), and to up the traits for new skills.

E.g. Just got a new 5 slot fire spell, then aggro a couple of mobs and spam the weakest attacks to get up to 5 slots and then blast em with the new spell. Ups your trait ticks and slayer count at the same time.

Or try a new combination of roots stuns and such like, with a healing spell, then dpsing to practice getting ambushed. E.g can you stun a mob, run, drop a rock and get a couple of heals off before it recovers and gets to you? No threat here against a -5 level mob so you can train and have it down pat for when you are jumped by a second mob right after a hard fight during normal questing.

it also help spice up those tedious 'kill 10,000 rats' slayer quests.

[thegneech]

Some thoughts on RK squishiness from a freshly-L25 player here:

http://my.lotro.com/user-114195/2011...ot-so-squishy/

Compared to a champ, my RK feels downright tough.

-The Gneech

[Jeroen3219]

My experience:

At lower levels the RK plays squishy, so:

- Keep your gear up level (armor, jewelry, rune stone, chisel), really you can use all the edge you can get.
- Learn to use your rune stone as distraction, when you're fighting more than 1 mob. Get the trait as soon as possible, so it is more enduring. Also trait for being able to cast it at all attunements.
- Use a morale pot. Don't heal yourself while solo in combat. Either that, or run, spamming prelude. Changing attunement takes way too long and you'll end up dead.
- Learn to use shocking touch. Trait for the long version with lesser resistance. Stun one mob, finish the other, get back to the stunned one. At full attunement it won't take long to finish it off.
- Watch your surroundings. Are there more mobs closeby that can be aggroed. Play smart. Pull from a safe distance.
- Use a tool like Combat Analisys. See what rotation gives you the best damage. In solo play there is little need to watch your power, the fights are quick. Get the most out of your spells.

Learn these things fighting lower level mobs. Up until now, I had little trouble fighting multiple mobs at once, even when they are above my level. I have had no need to kite, but I can see why at times it would come in handy.

After level 20 the RK becomes a blast, litterally. You can now easily blast elite or signature same level mobs. At times, even two at the same time, if played well. The same tips as above go. But in comes grouping... and then some new mechanics come into play.

In fellowships / bossfights:
- Watch your aggro. A RK deals a lot of damage, even while he has to built up attunement. Start slow, with the longer induction spells to built attunement and you also get a nice DoT effect.
- Watch your power. Using only lightening skills, you burn thru power like a blaze. In normal situation that's no problem, but fighting a 22K morale boss you need to make it last. Use self motivation when you're down 30% on power. Use a power pot when you're down 50%. Self motivation will be up when you're power is low again, after that you can use another pot. Switch to fire skills, with the occasional lightening / frost, once your writs are up maximum. In the end you'll achieve a higher DPS and really... without power a RK is nothing. It's no fun having to wait for your power to regenerate.
- When healing, watch your aggro. Heals even built up more aggro then your DPS. Give the tank a bit to gain aggro, while you use mending verse. Drop your stone next to the tank, when he has already started. Otherwise the stone will draw the mobs and the tank has to run after them, wasting his time and resources to regain aggro.
- When healing, the same goes for power as above. Try to get your attunement up as quickly as possible. Use prelude and mending verse. Get a tree tier writh of health on your tank... heal everyone else, when needed, with either mending verse or rousing words (both expensive power wise).

good luck!

[bsc200311]

Then why does the tooltip damage on my lightning skills change when I swap my runestone for a higher DPS?

I'm not trying to be argumentative... I used to think stone DPS did not matter as well. But I just checked a couple of weeks ago and I found that the tooltips do change.

Not sure if this was answered yet as I don't have a lot of time to go through all the posts but when you swap your stone with a stone that has your tact ramped up (healing stone you don't ramp your tact up) then yes you will see your numbers change

[Souldust]

When you need to kill mobs be aware that there are other mobs around him so watch the aggro range to not pull more that you can handle. If you do get more than needed stall them or use frost skills to keep range between yourself and harm.

[rescuerodent]

Simple orcs and gobbies whom I never had to truly dedicate, now kick my butt. I now drop a rock and are consistantly defeated by foes below my level. It seems the area around Standguard are a death trap for me. My Rune of Restoration seems to have no effect. This area previously was minimally confrontational. Three deaths in short order caused me to sign off. VTY, kirsten D

[Raven-EU]

Simple orcs and gobbies whom I never had to truly dedicate, now kick my butt. I now drop a rock and are consistantly defeated by foes below my level. It seems the area around Standguard are a death trap for me. My Rune of Restoration seems to have no effect. This area previously was minimally confrontational. Three deaths in short order caused me to sign off. VTY, kirsten D

What is your level? What kind of gear do you have? What specialization do you use and where have you placed your points?

Without this information it's hard to give advice. Great River was a slight step-up in difficulty compared to earlier zones but it should not stop you in your tracks like it seems to do!

[Calta]

too useful to lose because of a spam storm.

[The_Warg]

I don't understand. Yes, I am new to the game. Yes, I am a VIP. My second character is an RK. I played for a few hours and got her to level 10. No I am not new to MMO's. Looking in here for tips for new RK's I am thoroughly confused. Do I need to shelve her now and play another class until I understand more about traits and the like so I can understand the discussion? I don't have any epic stones or the like and no great attributes.

Should I be concentrating on healing or damage? What basic class skills, traits, etc, should I be concentrating on? Is this a healing class or a dps class? How do I best let others know inviting me to a fellowship how I am balanced?

Should I concentrate on lightning, water or fire, and what do I need to get to be best at that? Is there a technique to casting I should be aware of as in spell rotations as a new player? I find casting a HoT on myself and others in my fellowship before casting dps spells helps me stay alive longer. I have yet to use a battle in game.

I don't have any healing stones yet. All I have are quest rewards. Should I find a place to buy these? When I drop them can I recover them?
Is there an easy way to swap stones? How do you drop them? If they grab agro, should I drop the damage stones to dump agro as well?
I just want some basic help. Epic stones and the like will have to come later.

Any new player advice is sought after and very much appreciated.

Hello! I was new to RK 'bout a month ago. I hadn't used one since before HD, and that was only to see if I enjoyed the class.
I've been playing my RK after I got my Warden set in the Moors and everything, and I'm really enjoying it.
I've chosen to be Fire traited, even though some would advise against it.
I can aggro 7-8 on level mobs with my Rk, and burn them down in a matter of 2-3 seconds using DoTs, AoEs and my Volcanic Runestone.
Before every mob reaches me, I do a Prelude to Hope, then Word of Exahltation for a bubble.
Then goodbye mobs.
I really like fire because of the AoE and Dots, and they're the most effective in the Moors right now.

For rune-stones, I would suggest getting a teal one at intervals (lvl 20, 30, 40, ect) until you get your legendary Rock at 45.
Healing is great, but noneffective unless in a fellowship.
Also! Watch your Virtues! And remember, Will and Vitality are probably the two best stats you'll want.
Good luck!