style="width: 630px; height: 200px;" alt="LotRO Guardian Guide"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/89449/">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/overview">OVERVIEW
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/solo">SOLO
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/group">GROUP
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/pvmp">PvMP
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/endgame">LEGENDARY
ITEMS |
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/89468/page/2">TRAITS
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/89468/page/3">VIRTUES
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/skills">SKILLS
GUARDIAN CLASS OVERVIEW
alt="A Dwarf Guardian"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/89469">
OT:
Original Tankster
One part inevitable force, one part immovable object, the
stalwart Guardian is the heavy tank of
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro">the Lord
of the Rings
Online. With heavy armor and stout shield, the
Guardian stands on the front line of every fight, roaring his defiance
into the face of his enemies and refusing to buckle
under crushing blows that would fell so many others.
In a group, he is a protector of his fellows, putting the
safety of others ahead of his own and keeping the enemy focused on his
actions rather than the actions of his comrades. In solo
play, he is a juggernaut of brute force, bowling through any obstacle
that stands in his way. In PvMP, the Guardian can charge
headlong into an enemy raid, with a better chance than most of getting
all the way through to the other side.
The Guardian class is available
to every race. At
lower levels, race plays a more significant role in the overall
effectiveness of the class. Dwarves, with their innate resilience and
strength, racial buffs from traits and higher in-combat morale and
power regeneration, are a
natural choice for the class. However, at the highest levels, no single
race has a
distinct advantage over any other.
KEY
ATTRIBUTES
Depending on the role, Guardians are all about soaking up
damage or dishing it out. Either way, Strength and Vitality
are crucial.
A "sword-and-board" Guardian will want the best heavy
shield available to him, and a solid one-handed weapon.
The shield will soak up a portion of incoming damage and
enable a few extra threat-generating skills, and make for more
effective tanking at the cost of DPS. An "overpower" Guardian
will forego the shield in favor of a higher-damage two-handed
weapon. With the two-hander, he will be hit more often, but
his
damage output will be significantly increased.
Guardians typically have more morale than any other class,
receiving a larger bonus for high Vitality scores than most other
classes. Morale is king, and Guardians generally equip and
trait for the highest possible number. Also important is the
ability to shrug off damage by boosting Melee, Ranged and/or Tactical
Defense through virtues, traits and gear. Bearing the brunt
of the enemies' assaults is the Guardian's job, and the more damage of
any type he can effectively ignore, the longer he can perform that job.
SECONDARY
CONCERNS
Playing a Guardian effectively, particularly in groups, can be
very
challenging. In smaller groups, the Guardian can often get
away with being a bit lazy, but raids require stricter attention to
detail, and this task can be a bit overwhelming for some people.
When tanking for a large group, there are more group members
to potentially steal the Guardian's hard-won aggro, and often more very
dangerous enemies to keep more tightly controlled. When
Guardians fail to do their jobs properly, groups wipe, and the pressure
to perform can be much higher for Guardians than for flightly Hunters
or megalomaniacal Champions and Wardens.
Tanking comes at a cost to DPS, and DPS comes at a cost to
tanking
ability. The Guardian must usually choose one or the other
and stick with that role until his situation changes. And
unlike some other classes, changing from one mode to the other often
requires a change of gear - swapping out the greatsword to axe and
shield, for example - so this means carrying two sets of gear... or at
least two main weapons plus a shield. This can make things
interesting when leveling legendary items at later levels, as space on
the LI panel can feel a bit limited compared to other classes who only
need one main weapon and one class item.
Power consumption for Guardians is high-average, but they do
have a few
ways to keep power consumption more or less in check through traits and
skill use. DPS is also around average, though running in
Overpower bumps this up to high-average. However, the
strength of the class is not necessarily measured in DPS, but in its
ability to survive unaided for much longer than most other classes.
IN SUMMARY
Even with the popularity of newer, flashier tank-type classes,
the Guardian is still high on the list of player favorites.
They are rugged and dependable enough to star in their own
pickup truck commercials narrated by Sam Elliot, and they are
invaluable for running endgame group content. They are one of
the easiest classes to get into at low levels because of their
survivability, and this aspect does not diminish over time.
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/overview">OVERVIEW
|
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/solo">SOLO
|
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/group">GROUP
|
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/pvmp">PvMP
|
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/endgame">LEGENDARY
ITEMS |
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/89468/page/2">TRAITS
|
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/89468/page/3">VIRTUES
|
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/guard/skills">SKILLS
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