style="width: 640px; height: 242px;" alt="LotRO Warden Guide"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92648">

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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/overview">OVERVIEW
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/solo">SOLO
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/group">GROUP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/pvmp">PvMP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/endgame">LEGENDARY
ITEMS | href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/92663/page/2">TRAITS
| VIRTUES
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/skills">SKILLS

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SOLO
PLAY AS A WARDEN

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alt="A Warden soloing"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92659">

Proof
positive that Elf Wardens CAN jump.

Wardens are very capable soloers, capable of taking on content
designed for groups with no assistance. This is arguably their
strongest suit, and they seem custom-built for running solo. They have
a broad array of self-buffs and self-heals that can keep them standing
in very tough fights, they can get around quickly anywhere they need to
go without being weighted down by extra passengers, they have strong
ranged and melee attacks and a big old shield to hide behind when they
need to get defensive.

In this respect, they are very much a generalist class,
combining aspects of several other classes into one. Basically, they
are a one-man fellowship. While they will never be able to out-DPS a
Hunter or Champion, or soak up the kind of damage that a
heavily-armored Guardian can, or heal as well as a dedicated Minstrel
or Runekeeper, they can do a little bit of everything without having to
make a lot of crippling sacrifices. This is what makes them such
excellent soloers.

Approaching fights takes a bit of planning: do you Ambush or
run in and start building Gambits straightaway? Ambushes work great for
fights that aren't going to take a long time - single mobs, small
groups of on-level normal mobs, etc. - but are potentially dangerous in
some situations. When used against a group, the Ambush will only
incapacitate one member of that group, and all the other ones will be
free to wail on you while you beat on the dazed guy. On the other hand,
Ambush plus Critical Strike is a deadly combination. At lower levels,
this might be all you need to take down on-level normal mobs. This mad
rush loses a little bit of its lustre at higher levels, but it is still
a fine opener for many fights.

style="border: 0px solid ; width: 240px; height: 408px; float: left;"
alt="A Warden soloing"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92660">

It's
not always easy to perform when you're under the spotlight. Unless
you're a Warden, and the spotlight is a Gambit effect.

When not opening with an Ambush, it's generally a good idea to
start fights with a strong defensive buff Gambit like Shield Mastery,
which dramatically increases block, parry and evade ratings for a full
minute. Once a good defensive buff is in place, alternate between
big-damage attacks and self-heals, stacking a bunch of DOTs and HOTs.
An Unerring Strike followed by a Restoration is a pretty good Gambit
rotation: big hit, large DOT, average hit, good HOT. A solo Warden
doesn't have much use for threat-building Gambits, but many Fist
Gambits do damage over time, so quick Gambits like Goad are perfectly
valid. And keep in mind that DOTs from different Gambits stack - the
paltry bleed damage from one Gambit doesn't look so bad when it's
repeated three or four times right on top of one another.

For groups of lower-level normal mobs, Recklessness stance is
your friend. There is usually not a lot of risk involved when fighting
small groups of on-level or lower-level regular creatures, so a strong
offensive approach will make the fights go quicker. And if speed is the
deciding factor, consider slotting all three Master of... traits from
the different lines. This will allow the Warden to quickly build long
Gambits with fewer clicks.

When fighting tough elites with induction skills that can be
interrupted, build up an interrupt Gambit early - Spear, Shield, repeat
- and hold it until the induction starts. This can be quickly followed
by a self-heal and then another buildup for a fresh interrupt. This
works just as well in a group as with soloing, though in a group the
Warden will likely be paying more attention to threat-building.

A useful "trick" for long fights where power will be an issue
is to try to maintain the Warden's morale at around 50%. Use just
enough self-heals to stay around this level, and then when power starts
dropping low, hit The Dark Before the Dawn. It will require a bit of
practice to find that delicate balance between sustainability and doom,
but the payout is worth it.

Sometimes,
when situations get a little too hot, the Warden may want to run... or
at least kite. Wardens are excellent kiters, and with the Master of...
"shortcut" traits, can build self-heal Gambits on the run. Building up
a few good HOTs while on the hoof can prolong a tough fight in a good
way.  Keep in mind, however, that this only applies to
soloing;
kiting in a group can be dangerous and unpredictable. When soloing, the
Warden is pretty much guaranteed to have all the aggro all the time,
but in a group this is far less certain and much more challenging to
maintain.

For
new Wardens, and even some experienced ones, it may help to have a
"cheat sheet" handy. Knowing what Gambits have what effect and knowing
when to use them is what separates the good Wardens from the poor ones.
There are a lot of Gambits to memorize, and they cannot be
quick-slotted like regular skills, so having some kind of quick visual
reference may make all the difference.

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Understanding Gambits

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alt="A Warden building a Gambit"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92661">

The
Warden strings together a deadly rebus for her enemy.

Gambits are the lifeblood of the Warden. In a nutshell,
Gambits are various different combinations of three basic attacks
(which are, unfortunately, also called Gambits; in order to avoid
confusion, I'll call the basic attacks "Tidbits", and use "Gambits" to
refer to strings of Tidbits).  They work like a rebus: small,
simple attacks are strung together in a specific order to form a more
complex attack. Most of the skills that Wardens
learn from their trainers are new Gambits, which go on a special,
separate skill panel from regular, clickable skills.

Gambits cannot be quickslotted like normal click-to-use
skills. They only become available when the correct string of Tidbits
is sequenced and the icons are added to the Gambit panel, and once they
are fired off, they must be re-built in order to be used again.

At low levels, Gambits are few and simple. The Warden begins
his career with a few 2-icon Gambits, and as he grows in level, longer
Gambits can be learned. The longest Gambits are 5 icons long, requiring
sequences of 5 Tidbits in the correct order, and these are the most
powerful of the Warden's skills. However, even when the Warden can
compse 5-icon Gambits, sometimes shorter, quicker Gambits are a little
bit more effective; for example, though less powerful than the 4-icon
Spear of Virtue Gambit, the 2-icon Goad Gambit can be built very
quickly and used repeatedly to quickly build up threat.

Here's how they work: 

1. The Warden targets an enemy and attacks with a Tidbit. This
   first Tidbit dictates the Gambit type -  style="width: 26px; height: 25px;" alt=""
   src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92043">,  style="width: 26px; height: 25px;" alt=""
   src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92042">
   or  src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92041"> - which
   determines whether or not the Gambit will be affected by items or
   traits that the Warden has equipped. For example, if the Warden has a
   Minor Fist Carving equipped, Gambits starting with a  style="width: 26px; height: 25px;" alt=""
   src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92041"> will
   cost less power to use. If he has several Way of the Spear traits
   slotted, Gambits starting with a  style="width: 26px; height: 25px;" alt=""
   src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92043"> will do
   more damage.
2. The Tidbit icon is added to the queue in the Gambit
   panel. 
3. The Warden uses a 2nd Tidbit on his opponent, and that icon
   is added to the panel. A 2-icon Gambit is now available. The exact
   Gambit that becomes available depends on which 2 Tidbits were used and
   will be one of nine possible combinations for a 2-icon Gambit.
4. The Warden can either fire off the available 2-icon Gambit
   or build up a more powerful one with 3 icons. He elects to use another
   Tidbit to build a stronger Gambit.
5. The 3rd Tidbit may or may not change the available Gambit.
   If the sequence of Tidbits does not match a Gambit that the Warden
   knows, the avalable Gambit will be the same as if he had only done a
   2-icon Gambit. For example, alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92041"> style="width: 26px; height: 25px;" alt=""
   src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92043"> results
   in the gambit Precise
   Blow. Adding another  alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92041">
   makes Piercing Strike available, and the
   Gambit would change to that. Adding another  style="width: 26px; height: 25px;" alt=""
   src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92043"> does not
   make a new
   Gambit, so the Precise Blow Gambit would remain unchanged.
6. The Warden can fire off the 3-icon Gambit, continue
   building a lengthier Gambit or clear a mistake from the Gambit queue in
   order to build a proper Gambit or start a different one. He is
   satisfied with his 3-icon Gambit so fires it off.
7. The icon queue empties and the Gambit button reverts to the
   Default Gambit triangle. The Warden can now begin building a new Gambit.

Building Gambits is not all that hard. But go back up to
number 3 there and read that again...

"One of nine possible combinations for a 2-icon
Gambit." All of
which do different things. And longer ones get more complicated.
 Don't worry, though; after the 2-icon Gambits, they don't
increase exponentially in number. But there are quite a lot of them,
and the list can be difficult to memorize. To make matters worse,
though they are categorized in the game by type according to the first
icon in the sequence, not all types of Gambits do the same type of
attacks. For example, not all Fist Gambits do damage-over-time, and not
all Shield Gambits increase defense ratings.

To help yourself keep all of these Gambits straight,
especially during those times when you need to make the right decision
quickly, you may want to make yourself a cheat-sheet. Personally, I
organize them according to specific effects into four columns: damage,
buffs, heals and threat-building (which is how I have categorized them
in the Skills section). Sorting through the skill panel on your
character journal is a horribly inconvenient way to pick a good Gambit
for a given situation, so a quick-reference "cheat sheet" can help you
quickly find the right Gambit to use without having to rely on copious
memorization. After playing the class for a while, you may reach a
point where you no longer need such a reference. But in the meantime,
it can't hurt to have that extra edge.

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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/overview">OVERVIEW
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/solo">SOLO
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/group">GROUP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/pvmp">PvMP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/endgame">LEGENDARY
ITEMS | href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/92663/page/2">TRAITS
| VIRTUES
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/warden/skills">SKILLS

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