I’ve currently put my Warden on hold as the static group I’ve joined require the furious damage services of my Champion, but I’m certainly wanting to carry on with the Warden at some stage, and it’s good to know that they do eventually become a more capable tank at the later levels.

Wardens differ from Guardians in the way they tank, and what they excel at – Wardens just love big pulls, Guards are better at sopping up big spike damage – but that the end of the day, if i’m grouping with a Guard, the Guard is off-tanking in Overpower mode using their 2 hand weapon while i’m Main Tanking the boss.

Wardens *really* excel at tanking, but the trade-off is that Warden dps at 60 is the *lowest* of any class. i can solo things on my Warden that i’d never dream of trying on my Lore-Master, but it will take some time to kill it :) . My LM clears the crafting instances in 10-12 minutes; my Warden takes 16-18 minutes to do the same instances.

Below the mid-40s, Wardens dont make great tanks: their threat creation/ threat holding skills dont really start until 46 (?) when you get Dance of War – below this point, yeah, they’re off-tanks/ ranged dps. but that’s ok: you’ll spend a *lot* more time at the lvl cap than you will lvls 1-46, and you’ll have completely forgotten that yr anything other than the Main Tank before you even realise.

This may also explain why I am also enjoying the combat in Champions Online so much, where many others have decried it. I’m very much a hybrid gamer, I like console games and PC games equally, so a more energetic and frantic game is not necessarily anathema to me.

@Chadmango: Thanks for the view from a higher level, it is a shame if somewhat predictible that a more hybrid class is misunderstood and overlooked. However, I’m not sure the end game in LotRO is something that interests me – I’ve never been a raider – so with any luck I can find a happy place in the odd fellowship and continue to enjoy my adventures while levelling for now. And thank you for the feedback.

I agree with you it is a terrific system. Being able to get a wide range of abilities from such a limited number of buttons is very clever.

One thing I did notice is that there is a lot of rapid button pressing going on. Each gambit requires at least three key presses. This is not a class for those with arthritic fingers :).

Yeah.

It’s a fair point, but like any general rule, there are always those exceptions that prove it. If I would like to play the exception rather than the rule, why do MMOs always seem to have this desperate need to stop me?

One of the great things about most pen and paper role-playing games is that you can create any character that you like; even the restrictions presented in the rules can be worked around if you can make a case for it with a suitably open-minded GM.

MMOs won’t be as flexible as pen and paper for a long time due to the sheer enormity of trying to cater to every person’s imagination, but I’m just not sure why they persist in adding extra, often arbitrary, constraints on top of their already limited character choices.

I love the idea of the Champion, and I have to say I was torn between my splendid looking, dual-wielding, heavily armoured dwarf damage dealer and the Warden, but the actual game-play mechanics of the Warden are just compelling enough for me to ignore the fact that I’m not playing a brash bearded barrel of brawn and beer.

Duoing with someone is definitely that much better than soloing, you’re right: you still retain most of the flexibility of soloing, yet you have someone to back you up in those really tight spots, and to share those special moments with. Too many times I’ve made a joyous discovery, or found a beautiful vista, and had it tarnished ever so slightly because there was nobody to turn to and share it with.

Anything less would be rather undwarflike.

In defense of Champions, my main is a Champion, but I duoed with my better half playing a Captain. That pairing worked really well for us, with me beating things into submission and her making sure the monsters didn’t do the same to me. I noticed the times I didn’t have her along were a lot tougher on me, because doing your best damage means having much reduced defense. Quite easy to get in over your head as a solo Champion.

I think the Warden is relatively advanced, but probably less complex than the Loremaster, having read of your adventures with kiting multiple enemies. At least at the level I have reached my basic tactic is to use my block buff gambit, start a heal over time, and then alternate a few damage gambits before renewing the heal. This generally allows me to tank a few mobs at a time without too much effort. However, more difficult foes will cause me to attempt to use my stuns and DoTs as well as various buffs.

I don’t tend to read a lot about a class, or theorycraft much, because I like to discover the class as I play, but from what I know at the moment I would say that the Warden’s role in a group would be a mix of off-tank and off-DPS. They have many taunts, some debuffs and some self-heals, which makes them ideal for drawing aggro and holding their own, but they are only able to wear medium armour and wield Warden shields, and so I’m not sure how viable as a main tank this will make them at higher levels. My guess is that they could probably hold their own, what with debuffs and heals, but that they would be very vulnerable to large amounts of consistent damage, or heavy spike damage.

As to the Warden’s rarity, I’m not sure why this would be. Perhaps there are already many at the end-game, or the class is hideously underpowered and I just haven’t reached the level where this comes into effect yet. They probably don’t tank as well as a Guardian, or DPS as well as a Champion, or do ranged DPS as well as a Hunter, so perhaps there is not really a well defined role for them. For now, I’m certainly happy to be a slightly scarce entity.

Let me know what you think if you give one a try!