If you're wondering why your health has been taking a swan dive off a
metaphorical skyscraper, look no further than your lack of an Orc
Defiler in your target="_blank">LOTRO
PvMP group. Whether that lacking comes in the
form of them not being there at all, or slacking off on their job
matters not. If you want to drastically improve your odds against the
whining pansies in the Ettenmoors known as Freeps, then you need a
Defiler.

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everywhere. You never know who will have a quest for you!



Just the name itself sends a shiver down the backs of your opponents.
The heart of the Defiler's power revolves around the ability to corrupt
and desecrate everything around it. To gain its healing powers, the
Defiler twists the essences of distant fungi and spores. Unfortunately
for your opponent's, that's not where it all stops. The Defiler has the
distinct (and dastardly!) ability to curse the body and soul of men and
beast alike.



It's time to discover what makes the Orc Defiler so terrifying.


You Are Not a Tank



Despite the continued insistence of certain parties (my friends), you
cannot attempt to take the role of a tank no matter what class you're
playing with. The Defiler is not, I repeat is *not* designed to be a
tank. You start out with weak armor, horrible damage abilities, and a
suicidal resistance rating. You're likely to get poisoned by a fly
faster than Bubble Boy. Essentially, this all means that you're wearing
little more than paper and have the coordination of a slug in a salt
bath. If you try to go out there swinging for the fences, you're not
going to have a pretty ending.

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Speaking of endings (pretty or otherwise), you must accept the fact
that you're going to be seeing a lot of them. Did I say a lot? Because
what I really meant was a metric crap-ton of endings. Seriously, you're
going to die more times than you can guess. Even though the Defiler
class has been available for quite a while now, your fellow Creeps
sometimes need a reminder that if you die, they're going to be right
behind you, so be sure to let someone know when you're in trouble.


The Necessity of PvE Conquest



I'm sure you didn't start playing a monster because you were excited
about PvE, but in the case of the Defiler, you should be. You may not
get the same thrill from PvE that you get from sending a sniveling
Freep's soul on to whatever gods they may worship, but it's a great
source of Destiny Points, and it's those points that give you the
ability to gain new skills and improve your old ones. So whether you
like it or not, get out there and get questing. It's not all bad
news. 



Even though you have a tendency to get slaughtered like a hapless lamb
in a large PvP conflict, you're a veritable god when it comes to PvE
encounters. You may not do much in terms of damage, but you more than
make up for this failing by your heal over time (HoT) abilities. By
casting Fertile Slime and Fungal Bloom on yourself before the battle
even begins, you can withstand the onslaught of any single non-elite
mob in the Ettenmoors. You're not too shabby against doubles as well.
Until you get some new abilities under your belt, set your targets on
fire with Fire Gourd and beat them over the head with (you guessed it)
the Headbreaker. Continue swapping back and forth between these two
abilities and you'll come out alive in virtually every PvE battle you
engage in.



The first (and easiest) quest to accomplish is called Mash. Even Orcs
need to eat, right? Guess who's just been tasked with going out to grab
the evening meal? That's right, Spiffy... you. This is a great time to
practice your new skills, so head off to the southeast and start
collecting chunks of slug meat.



No matter what keep you're in, always grab every quest you can,
especially those that involve killing any type of mob. By collecting
all of these, you'll find that some NPC's (such as hobbits) can drop
items for three to five different quests off a single kill. This can
save you a lot of time in the long run. And since many of the quests
are repeatable after a cooldown time (two hours or under), continue to
hang onto any yellow (or higher) item you get.





Death to All Freeps!



PvE is all well and good for gaining some quick Destiny Points, but
come on. You know the only reason you're gathering those points is to
gain new skills to employ in your continuing battle against the Freeps.
Before we continue, let me stress one last time that you are *not* a
tank. The Freeps have a distinct advantage over you and your fellow
Creeps, so know your role and fulfill it well. Your primary role is
that of a healer. If you want to be the highest DPS dealer out on the
battlefield, or be able to soak up the most damage in epic scale PvP
battles, you have absolutely picked the wrong class.


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Search
everywhere. You never know who will have a quest for you!

If you've ignored my advice and skipped all the PvE quests in an
attempt to get right into the thick of things, I can't blame you.
That's what PvMP is all about! But when you're first starting out,
you're not that great of a healer, at least not in terms of spot heals.
Both of your HoT spells can be cast on the same target (see the above
PvE section) and you have a truly impressive amount of power to cast
them with for quite some time. Far longer than most PvP battles last in
any case, so feel free to cast away.



Fertile Slime is an insta-cast
that heals for 173 Morale (health) initially, and then continues to
tick away for 173 every 10 seconds for a full minute. Fungal Bloom is a
two second cast spell that heals for 438 Morale initially and then
heals for 173 Morale per tick, but does so every 5 seconds for a total
of 30 seconds. Here's the big difference between the two and what makes
it so important to you. If, and I do stress the word "if", you are in a
bind, and your friendly target can't keep from getting beat down or
giving the HoT's you've cast on them time to actually work, you can
chain cast the two. It's not very efficient, but it's extremely useful
in a pinch. With cooldown times, it means that every four seconds, you
can heal your target for another 616 Morale. The only thing that allows
this to be remotely viable is that enormous power pool of yours that I
mentioned earlier.



After concentrating on healing your allies, feel free to hurl a few
Fire Gourds at your enemies and giggle appropriately as they run around
covered in flames for some added damage. If anyone gets into range, hit
them over the head with Headbreaker for some instant damage and a
chance to give them a small poison DoT. Don't become so caught up in
damage dealing that you ignore a skill that may be virtually useless in
PvE situations, but is critical in PvP: Curse of the Sticky Feet. At
first, it will reduce the run speed of any target by 10%, making them
easy targets for pursuing Creeps. As you grow in strength, you'll gain
the ability to improve this Curse (among others) and add a fire
mitigation reduction component to it.


Newfound Powers



The first thing you want to do when you gain some Destiny Points is to
improve three of your passive abilities. Some will argue that you
should improve your damage but I disagree. Did I mention you're not a
tank? Damage dealing is not your primary concern and the first boost is
only 1%, so ignore it until later in your career.



First up, increase your Avoidance. Not only will this allow you to
avoid being hit quite so often, but as a result, your spells will be
interrupted less. Uninterrupted spells are a priceless commodity no
matter who you are, but especially as a healer. Next, increase your
Armor skill. Everyone gets hit, so you may as well be able to withstand
some of the damage you're going to invariably be in for. For the last
passive skill, increase your Resistance. As with Avoidance, anything
that assists in your quest to be interrupted as unoften as possible is
a good thing.



After boosting those three initial passive skills, grab your first rez
ability in the form of Fell Sacrifice. It can only be used out of
combat and has a hellacious Morale and Power cost, but in case you
hadn't figured it out by now, you're a healer. It may seem like more
hassle than it's worth, but this can save large amounts of times for
your fellow players, and thus you, so grab it as soon as you can.



As you progress through the ranks (by killing Freeps), you'll gain
access to progressively more powerful skills. Your heals will improve
not only in terms of effectiveness, but in casting times and cost as
well. Further study of your Curses will grant you extraordinary
abilities to aid your friends. Through the use of hallucinogenic
spores, Curse of the Coward's Soul will send any enemies surrounding
you scurrying off in a debilitating fear, allowing your fellow monsters
to more easily deal with their current targets.



Your powers will continue to grow in ways you can barely imagine, so
stick with it. Without a doubt, the early life of a Defiler is rife
with hazards and death at every turn, but for those that persevere,
they'll find the Defiler becomes a truly terrifying addition to any war
party. Stripping resistances, shattering discipline, and decimating
attribute points are just some of the skills the dedicated Defiler
brings to the battlefield.



To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Lord of the Rings Online Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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