Traits of a Rune-keeper

posted this on August 26th, 2010.
Categorized as Deeds and Traits, General, lord of the rings online, lord of the rings online reporter, lotro, lotro reporter, rk, Rune-keeper, Traits.

Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LordOfTheRingsOnlineReporter/~3/lCW0tfjuo4c/

Well, it’s been a little while, hasn’t it?  I hope you’ve all been perfecting your craft as a Rune-keeper since last I wrote.  We’re finally getting around to talking about a very important component of any class: traits.  Thankfully, Rune-keeper traits are generally pretty cut-and-dry.  If you want to heal, you fill most of your slots with Benediction of Peace traits.  If you like to DPS, you pick either Solitary Thunder or Cleansing Fire traits.  And then you cross-pollinate a little with traits  from other sets to suit your playstyle.  If you’re having trouble deciding on which traits to choose, read on!  What follows is my personal take on every individual trait in our major trait sets: which ones shouldn’t be missed, which ones fit more specific situations, and which can be safely ignored.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fraps follow up

posted this on March 31st, 2010.
Categorized as festival, lotro, rk, video.

Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://docholidayj.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/fraps-follow-up/

I posted yesterday about the new Fraps release and while I had tested it out a little bit, I hadn’t actually tried creating a video for upload onto YouTube.  I decided that as I was working on my Rune-keeper I would take a video of the scenery on the way from Saeradan’s Cabin to Candaith at the foot of Weathertop.  This was my first time on that new horse route so I was curious how it would take the player, but I figured there would be some good sight-seeing along the way.  I captured the entire trip on Ultra-high visual quality (DIrectX 9 though) so things do look pretty spectacular, see for yourself below:

Weekend news

posted this on March 29th, 2010.
Categorized as festival, group, lotro, Minstral, PAX, reputation, rk, Skirmishes, Warden.

Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://docholidayj.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/weekend-news/

So things have been a bit slow on the news side, but hopefully now that PAX is done we may hear some things from Turbine on what all they have planned for us down the road.  There were a bunch of folks (including myself) who sent a nice long list of questions to Merric and Goldenstar from CStM and they’re in the process of pulling all the info together. I’m not expecting anything earth shattering after Sapience’s comments on the forums, but we shall see.  However, Patience did chime in on a conversation between me and @wickedpt on twitter “@wickedpt Just because we are not talking about something yet doesn’t mean we’re not working on it. Stay tuned. :) so I suspect they’re just phasing the news updates between DDO and LOTRO.  I would expect to start seeing some new diaries and such starting to filter out as we near the end of the Spring festival, although due to the horse issue that might get extended a bit.

In game for me I’ve been enjoying the spring festival doing the dirty work for the dwarves and their Ale Association.  I just hit the first tier of reputation with them and I’m curious to see what’s available from that kindred vendor.  For this festival, I’m just focusing on my Warden but I may grab a few of the rewards/items on my Minnie as well.  I have saved most of my fortunes, so those titles should be pretty transferable – and they’re also relatively cheap on the AH :)  Sadly though I didn’t get in too much time with my RK so she’s still stuck at 20 (or maybe 21) but I’m interested to not only see the new Lone Lands but also see what it is like to run Skirmishes from the start and not from the level cap :)

Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know…

posted this on February 11th, 2010.
Categorized as attunement, Did you know, enamel, healing, inlay, lord of the rings online, lord of the rings online reporter, lotro, lotro reporter, rk, rune stone, Rune-keeper.

Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://lotroreporter.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/did-you-know-17/

I have a level 24 Rune-Keeper that I have been focusing a bit of energy on lately.  I have been struggling to figure out the balancing act in switching from doing damage to healing.  Since I usually play a minstrel, I am used to having large heals available at any moment they are needed.  I find that with my RK I am not being proactive enough in changing my attunement from DPS to healing BEFORE my morale drops too far, and when I finally realize that things are getting dire, the initial heals (before the attunement is built up enough) are pretty puny and “too little too late”.  Well, purely by chance, I “overheard” in the /advice channel on the Brandywine server something that made my elvish ears perk up.  Apparently there are some items, crafted by Scholars (player characters, not the NPC type), called Enamels and Inlays that can be quickly applied to a rune-stone.

Enamels brighten the colour of a rune-stone, making it attune +3 further in whatever direction it is already moving.

Read the rest of this entry »