Introducing the Captain: Level 1-20

Captains are melee fighters who can buff and heal their allies. They also have a herald as a companion in battle who can buff the captain as well. They are support characters that really shine in a group situation because of their buffs and versatility. They can heal, tank or dps as needed but are not as good as specialists in those roles.

Here I'll record my experience levelling as a captain from level 1 to 20, talking about skills and specs and anything else that may be useful to know.

Level 1 Woman Captain

Here's our brand new captain and some basic information about her:

• Captains wear heavy armour
• Primary stat is Might
• Captains use a lot of power so Fate (which provides power regeneration) is also quite important
• Captains are the only class that can use halberds, but can also use most one- or two-handed melee weapons
• Starting abilities are: Battle-shout (a cry which buffs damage dealt and activates the "Battle-readied" state) and Sure Strike (a basic melee attack)

The first quest in the introduction provides a satchel that gives you a two-handed sword to wield instead of the one-handed mace you start with. At level 2 you gain two new abilities: Devastating Blow (a strong melee attack that requires the Battle-readied state and reduces damage taken) and Rallying Cry (a heal-over-time ability that affects the captain and fellowship). From now on, when you defeat a mob, Rallying Cry will be more powerful and will be displayed on the auto-skillbar as a reminder to heal up after a battle.

At level 2 you get sent to the Captain trainer who wants you to practise activating the Battle-readied state using Battle-shout and following up with Devastating Blow.

At level 4 you get the Cutting Attack ability which is a bleed that causes damage over time.

Level 6 is pretty important - you can now summon your herald companion and you can choose a specialisation.

You get three abilities so you can choose which herald to summon. You can only have one active at a time and you can give them different names (right-click on their portrait to rename or dismiss herald) and even customise their appearance later on. Call to Arms: Herald of Victory summons a herald who decreases the power costs of your abilities. This may be useful on occasions where you find yourself running out of power, but ideally you would find other ways to avoid that situation (such as having enough Fate, using buff foods or potions and watching your ability usage so you don't waste power). Call to Arms: Herald of Hope summons a herald who increases your mitigations. This may be useful when you're fighting tough mobs or if you're tanking. Call to Arms: Herald of War summons a herald who increases your damage dealt. Until you get the Archer as a herald, this will generally be the most useful companion to summon.

Herald of Hope

Herald of Victory

Herald of War

You get a pet bar to give commands to your heralds. When the herald is set to Passive he just stands near you holding his banner and does nothing but provide buffs unless you tell him to. If you set him to Guard he can help defend and assist you while you fight and if you set him to Aggressive he will attack anything nearby (which can be dangerous). These three heralds are melee fighters with only basic attacks that deal minimal damage. The herald may die occasionally but you can re-summon them in combat. They may also get stuck behind an obstacle such as a wall so there is a Rally! button that will instantly transport them to you if out of combat. Heralds are considered part of your fellowship and will receive the benefits of any fellowship abilities and buffs.

Here are the different specialisations you can choose:

1. Blue = Hands of Healing - increases your healing abilities; you gain Valiant Strike which is a melee attack that also provides a fellowship heal-over-time, and if you use Sure Strike in the Battle-readied state there is a chance of gaining the Focus buff for your fellowship which provides a heal-over-time, increases healing received and tactical mitigation and reduces attack duration.
2. Red = Lead the Charge - increases your damage-dealing abilities; you gain Shadow's Lament which is a powerful melee attack, and if you use Sure Strike in the Battle-readied state there is a chance of gaining the Relentless Attack buff for your fellowship which increases critical rating, physical and tactical mastery and outgoing healing.
3. Yellow = Leader of Men - increases your tanking/defensive abilities; you gain Threatening Shout which is a taunt, and if you use Sure Strike in the Battle-readied state there is a chance of gaining the On Guard buff for your fellowship which reduces damage taken and power costs.

Red is pretty good for levelling - you can still heal and have defensive buffs but the extra damage from traits will help you kill things quicker. Of course, if you feel you or your group need more healing, go for blue, or if you want to protect your group, go for yellow.

After completing the introduction, don't forget to check your mail for the adventurer's gift. It contains several useful items and starts a couple of quests, including one that rewards 5 Tokens of Salutations which can be traded with the Barterer for a pocket item that increases run speed and some health or power potions. The run speed buff can be quite helpful, especially if you don't have a mount.

At level 7 you get your first trait point to spend in your chosen specialisation. You get additional trait points every odd level from now on, as well as from some quests and deeds.

At level 8 you get two new abilities. Routing Cry is a short range AOE cry that does more damage if you have just defeated an enemy and will be displayed on your auto-skillbar. Make Haste is a fellowship sprint (+25% speed for 20 seconds) with a 2 minute cooldown.

At level 10 you gain some more abilities: Pressing Attack is a melee AOE attack that requires Battle-readied state. Blade-Brother (red spec), Song-brother (blue spec) and Watchful Shield-brother (yellow spec) are spec-specific abilities that lets you buff the stats of an ally or herald. You are also now eligible to take part in Epic Battles such as Retaking Pelargir, but although you get scaled to level 100, without all the equipment slots filled and with limited abilities you will be very vulnerable, so it may not be a very successful or satisfactory experience.

At level 12 you get the Withdraw skill which lets you break out of a daze, stun or knock-down on a 2 minute cooldown.

By this stage, I have started finding the cooldowns on most abilities seem rather long and you can't just go from mob to mob mowing them down - you have to wait for those cooldowns or all you can do is autoattack, which is a little annoying. The lack of ranged abilities also makes initiating combat a little more dangerous - if your Battle-shout is on cooldown then basically you have to run up to the mob and either avoid other nearby mobs or be prepared to take them on as well (and you have limited AOE abilities, some of which rely on Battle-shout with its 20 second cooldown, so you'll be mostly fighting them one by one and needing all your healing). You could send your herald in to start attacking, but they don't always have the best pathing and may pull other mobs.

At level 13 I decided to try the Retaking Pelargir Epic Battle that became available at level 10. I helped kill a few mobs but once they focused on me, I died quickly and then the NPCs got overwhelmed and died so the mission failed. I also decided to do the quests in the Cape of Belfalas housing area (there is a quest-giver in Bree near the fountain). It was a lot of running around but it was beautiful scenery, some nice housing decorations as rewards, and I made about half a level of XP.

Cape of Belfalas

Sailing off into the sunset

At level 14 you learn the Words of Courage ability to apply healing-over-time to an ally.

At level 15 you gain some passive abilities - you can now wield shields or the Captain's iconic halberd. You also get sent a letter to visit your class trainer who asks you to assist Hazel Kenton in Bree, by retrieving a badge that was stolen by the brigand Aldis Oatbearer and returning it to its rightful owner. If you haven't already done Grimbriar's quests north of Bree, they send you to the same area as the class quest so you might want to do them all at the same time.

Aldis Oatbearer at Brigand's Watch

As a reward for completing your class quest, you get a halberd and the title "Inspiration to Men".

Level 16 provides some more group utility - Muster Courage removes a debuff such as disease, fear, poison or wounds from the Captain and allies, while Motivating Speech is a fellowship buff that can be toggled on to give increased maximum morale.

At level 19 I was questing in the Barrow-downs and tried out all three specs. Blue (healing) was pretty good - there was a lot of passive healing so I barely needed to use Rallying Cry (only when fighting multiple mobs or elites) and it didn't feel much slower than in red spec. In Red (DPS) I could take on a few mobs and used Rallying Cry occasionally, but there were still some times when I was waiting for abilities to become available. Yellow (tanking) is supposed to make you tougher but I found I was taking more damage, needed a lot more healing and fights were noticeably longer so it wasn't as enjoyable.

There are no new abilities until level 20 and then you get two resurrection abilities: Escape from Darkness lets you revive an ally in-combat and Inspiriting Call lets you revive an ally out of combat. You also get some passive abilities: a critical defence bonus that reduces chance of receiving a critical hit and you can now use armaments. You can get a Simple Standard of War to go in your ranged equipment slot from the Captain trainer which increases your physical mastery and morale. Tailors can make armaments which let you change the appearance of your herald and give them armour buffs. For more information on how to customise your herald's appearance, see my guide on Captains and Custom Heralds.

Once I reached level 20 I visited the Skirmish Camp vendors and replaced most of my questing gear with upgrades. Here's how she looks at level 20:

Level 20 Woman Captain

I then went to the training dummies in the Training Hall in Bree and tested each spec's DPS with no consumable buffs active over 3 minutes, and took a screenshot at the end to eliminate the effects of DoTs that kept going after I stopped attacking. For virtues, I had two tiers of Loyalty and one tier of Charity. With my 7 trait points, I focused on damage-boosting traits where possible. For all specs I had the Herald of War summoned for the buff, but set to passive so it didn't contribute any damage.

Here are my DPS results (collected with CombatAnalysis plugin):

Statistics	Hands of Healing (Blue)	Lead the Charge (Red)	Leader of Men (Yellow)
Damage	11,852	16,439	14,249
Time	2 m 20.2 s	3 m 0.4 s	3 m 0.1 s
Average DPS	84.5	91.1	79.1
Minimum Hit	39	39	40
Average Hit	77	78	78
Maximum Hit	265	466	436
Attacks	154	209	183
Critical Strikes (%)	22 (14.3%)	29 (13.9%)	24 (13.1%)
Power (%)	22/1016 (2.2%)	275/1016 (27.1%)	487/1016 (47.9%)
Skill Priorities:	Battle Shout Sure Strike Devastating Blow Cutting Attack Valiant Strike Routing Cry	Battle Shout Sure Strike Devastating Blow Cutting Attack Shadow's Lament Routing Cry	Battle Shout Sure Strike Devastating Blow Cutting Attack Routing Cry

I had to stop the Blue spec assessment early because I ran out of power. I didn't think it would be a fair comparison to use a potion or wait for in-combat power regeneration, but I think the Average DPS gives a reasonable indication of it's potential if you can maintain your power. Red spec was also running low on power (almost down to 25%) and couldn't have kept going much longer without some help. I guess this reflects how Captains are designed more for support than sustained DPS.

My skill priorities were based on activating the Battle-readied state with Battle-shout (which can also be useful for engaging mobs from a distance),  Sure-strike provides a nice buff when in the Battle-readied state, and Devastating Blow requires the Battle-readied state to trigger the Battle-hardened buff. Then I want to get a bleed on the target with Cutting Attack so damage keeps ticking away, apply some burst damage and additional buffs with Valiant Strike/Shadow's Lament and finally, use Routing Cry when a defeat response is triggered or if there is nothing else available.

General Observations

Heralds are weak (they die easily if fighting a mob on their own) and stupid (they run straight into walls and mobs). They're like level 1 newbies, all enthusiasm but no skill yet. Give them some guidance and they can be valuable allies. Plus, it's nice to have some company, especially if you're soloing.

Potions, especially power potions, are very helpful to have on hand.

You can use Marks (Revealing Mark/Telling Mark/Noble Mark) before you enter combat.

Try to keep your buffs up and make the most of the defeat response opportunities.

Specialisations

Blue - Hands of Healing: It's great to be able to heal while dealing damage (health hardly dropped), but it's easy to run out of power. If you're having power issues, try to use Valiant Strike and Rallying Cry only when needed, and/or switch to using the Herald of Victory. Additional methods of regaining power will become available at higher levels too. Power management is the price for having so much utility (healing, damage and buffs). Overall, I think this spec has good survivability and makes you pay attention to how you play, which may help you become a better Captain.

Red - Lead the Charge: The melee DPS is so-so, but you should be able to take on a few mobs at once, with your AOE abilities, buffs, heals and your herald. A 2-handed weapon is probably best for damage output, although a sword-and-board may be useful for facing tough mobs. Overall, I think this is probably the easiest spec to level a Captain with.

Yellow - Leader of Men: Despite the defensive buffs this spec provides, I found myself taking more damage and dealing less damage with more waiting-time than in red or blue specs. While you can get a trait bonus that lets you block with a 2-handed weapon, perhaps sword-and-board would help, or perhaps this spec gets better at higher levels with more suitable gear, abilities and traits. The only good thing I could say about it was that it had no power issues. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this spec for levelling, but it may be useful in some situations.

Stats

• Might - your main stat that increases damage and healing
• Fate - increases power regeneration and critical strike chance
• Morale and Vitality - increases survivability
• Mitigations and resistances - reduces damage taken

These stats should help make the levelling process a bit easier in the beginning. Look for heavy armour with might and maybe some jewellery with fate. Morale is always helpful (vitality also increases morale). The best place to get mitigations and resistances at low level is probably from virtues.

Here are some virtues that may be helpful for Captains and how to get them by level 20:

Virtue	Activity	Deed
INNOCENCE (physical mitigation, tactical mitigation, resistance)	Complete 75 quests in The Shire	Life of a Bounder (Final)(The Shire)
COMPASSION (physical mitigation, tactical mitigation, non-combat power regeneration)	Complete 15 quests in The Shire Complete 20 quests in Ered Luin	Life of a Bounder (The Shire) Defender of Ered Luin (Ered Luin)
DISCIPLINE (might, physical mitigation, resistance)	Defeat 90 wolves in Ered Luin Defeat 60 hendrovail in Ered Luin Defeat 60 sickle-flies in Bree-land	Wolf-slayer (Advanced)(Ered Luin) Hendroval-slayer (Advanced)(Ered Luin) Sickle-fly Slayer (Advanced)(Bree-land)
PATIENCE (physical mitigation, resistance, in-combat power regeneration)	Explore Dwarven settlements in Ered Luin Retrieve spoiled pies in The Shire Deliver mail between settlements in The Shire Explore the ruins of Bree-land Explore the Barrow-downs in Bree-land	Places of the Dwarves (Ered Luin) No Place for Spoiled Pies (The Shire) Restoring the Quick Post (The Shire) The Ruins of Bree-land (Bree-land) The Barrow-downs (Bree-land)
ZEAL (morale, physical mitigation, armour)	Defeat 90 goblins in Ered Luin Defeat 90 spiders in Ered Luin Defeat 90 Barrow-spiders in Bree-land	Goblin-slayer (Advanced)(Ered Luin) Spider-slayer (Advanced)(Ered Luin) Brood-hunter (Advanced)(Bree-land)
HONOUR (resistance, tactical mitigation, vitality)	Defeat 60 spiders in The Shire Defeat 90 spiders in Bree-land	Spider-slayer (Advanced)(The Shire) Spider-slayer (Advanced)(Bree-land)
FIDELITY (tactical mitigation, vitality, power)	Explore landmarks in The Shire Explore Dourhand strongholds in Ered Luin	The Sights of the Shire (The Shire) Scouting the Dourhands (Ered Luin)

Pros of the Captain Class

• Versatile - can heal, DPS, tank and provide buffs
• Has a customisable pet (herald)
• Good survivability
• Popular in group situations

Cons of the Captain Class

• Limited ranged abilities
• Not specialised (i.e. don't expect to be the best healer/tank/DPS)
• Power management

I hope this has been helpful. Feel free to leave any questions or advice for new captains in the comments below.

Coming soon in the Introducing X Class series: the Champion.

Captain Stat Priorities

Captains are versatile characters, who can tank, dps, heal and buff groups while wearing heavy armour and mostly staying in melee range. They are the jack of all trades and master of none, but still in high demand for grouping. The following stats may be important and help captains to be more effective in their various roles.

The Basics

Might

Captains are a might-based class so this is the most important stat and increases both offense and defense.

Captains who have chosen the yellow trait tree (Leader of Men, tanking) can gain the set trait Two-Handed Prowess that lets you block with a two-handed weapon (normally a shield is required for blocking).

• Increases physical mastery (more melee damage)
• Increases tactical mastery (more potent cries and healing)
• Increases block (avoid physical damage taken from a frontal attack)
• Increases parry (avoid physical damage taken from a frontal attack)

Fate

Captains rely on critical hits a lot to increase damage generally and to trigger Enemy Defeat Responses which can make certain abilities more powerful.

• Increases critical rating (more damage/healing)
• Increases tactical mitigation (reduces damage taken from spells)
• Increases in-combat morale regeneration (more survivability) 
• Increases power regeneration in and out of combat (more endurance)

Vitality

Vitality increases your survivability.

• Increases morale (health points)
• Increases resistance to debuffs (reduce effects of wound/fear/disease/poison)
• Increase out-of-combat morale regeneration (reduce recovery time between battles)

Agility

Agility is a helper stat that increases both offense and defense, but not as much as might.

• Increases critical rating (more damage/healing)
• Increases evade (avoid physical damage from any direction)
• Increases parry (avoid physical damage from a frontal attack)

Offense Stats

Physical Mastery increases damage dealt. It's one of the most important stats for Captains and melee damage-dealers in general. Even if you're a healer you will need physical mastery because a lot of heals are triggered by melee attacks such as Valiant Strike.

Tactical Mastery increases healing and cries. If you're a healer you will want lots of tactical mastery, but damage-dealers will want some as well to improve abilities such as Battle-Shout and Routing Cry. 

As mentioned above, Critical Rating is important for triggering more powerful versions of abilities, and is useful for both damage and healing. The cap is 25%.

In addition to fate, agility and direct critical rating on gear, essences or legendary item relics/titles etc., the trait trees also provide buffs that increase critical hit chance (Astute Hands in Blue Line for healing and Arterial Strikes in Red Line for dps).

Finesse becomes more important at high levels. It helps weakens your enemies resistance to debuffs and ability to block/parry/evade your attacks. As a Captain who will be attacking in melee range and who has several bleed attacks, finesse will help your attacks to be more successful.

High level enemy mobs, especially in instances or PvP, can also have finesse. Ideally, you want to make the enemy mobs more vulnerable than they make you.

Defense Stats

Physical and Tactical Mitigations are essential for survivability. These reduce the damage you take from physical damage (melee and ranged) and from spells (e.g. light, fire, frost, lightning, shadow damage).

The cap is 60% and you should try to get as much mitigation as you can. Mitigation can be obtained from stats (armour gives physical mitigation, fate and will give tactical mitigation), gear, virtues, essences, legendary item relics/titles etc.

Resistance to wounds/fear/disease/poison helps decrease the damage you take. However, there are also other ways to deal with these debuffs - such as using Muster Courage or potions to remove them, having mitigations to reduce the damage they inflict, or having lots of morale so that they do not significantly affect your health.

As a result, resistance is something that you shouldn't need to gear for specifically. Virtues are a good source of resistance, as well as vitality.

Critical Defense is mainly a tanking stat that reduces the damage taken from critical hits. This can make it easier for healers to keep you alive. It may also be useful when soloing or in PvP. Captains gain some critical defense as a passive skill at level 20. The Yellow trait tree for tanking also provides some critical defense (Shrug Blows Aside). Critical defense can also be found on gear, essences and legendary items relics/titles etc.

Incoming Healing is also mainly a tanking stat that increases the amount of healing you receive. Again, this makes it easier for healers to keep you alive and can be useful when soloing or in PvP. Incoming healing can increases heals by up to 15%. Incoming healing can be found on some gear, essences and legendary item relics etc.

Summary

So the stats Captains need in general:

• Might
• Physical Mastery
• Physical and Tactical Mitigations to cap (60%)
• Critical Rating
• Fate
• Tactical Mastery
• Finesse (at high levels e.g. level 75+)

Please correct me if I am wrong or leave a comment if you have something to add about how stats affect Captains.

Legendary Titles for Beornings (and Might-based Classes)

So my Beorning just got a new legendary weapon and needs a new title. Which titles would be useful and where do I get them from?

Here are a few suggestions that may be useful for might-based classes. Note that higher tier titles are generally available at higher levels and offer higher stats.

Legendary Weapon Titles

Regarding damage types, in general use Beleriand (good against a range of common enemies), use Westernesse against undead-type mobs and Light or Cries against orcs and goblins.

Tip: If you switch between roles in groups and use the same legendary weapon, Might of Eldar Days is probably the best title to use as it increases both physical and tactical mastery as well as avoidance (mainly parry).

DPS Weapon Titles

Recommended while Levelling:
Conflict of Eldar Days - Beleriand Damage and Physical Mastery.

Recommended for Level 100:
Potency of Eldar Days - Beleriand Damage and Critical Rating.

Guardian of the Deep Halls - Ancient Dwarf Damage (tier 1)
From epic quest Vol 2, Book 1, Chapter 10 or from repeatable quest The Training Hall [54] in Dolven-view, Moria.
Scion of the Drowned Kingdom - Westernesse Damage (tier 1)
From epic quest Vol 2, Book 1, Chapter 10 or from repeatable quest The Morroval-outcasts [57] in Dolven-view, Moria.
Hero of Caras Galadhon - Beleriand Damage + Damage to Orc-kind (tier 1)
From barterer in Caras Galadhon, Lothlórien (requires Ally standing with Galadhrim).
Conflict of Eldar Days I - Beleriand Damage + Physical Mastery (tier 1)
From repeatable quest The Defense of Galtrev [75] in Galtrev, Dunland.
Might of Eldar Days I - Beleriand Damage + Might (tier 1)
From Limlight Gorge Rewards Vendor in Stangard, Great River (requires Ally standing with Heroes of Limlight Gorge).

Conflict of Eldar Days II - Beleriand Damage + Physical Mastery (tier 2)
From repeatable quest Parphád: Order of Magnitude [85] in Hytbold, East Rohan.
Might of Eldar Days II - Beleriand Damage + Might (tier 2)
From Eastemnet Miscellany Quartermaster in towns throughout East Rohan.
Potency of Eldar Days II - Beleriand Damage + Critical Rating (tier 2)
From barterer in Forlaw, Wildermore (requires Kindred standing with People of Wildermore).

Conflict of Eldar Days III - Beleriand Damage + Physical Mastery (tier 3)
From Quickbeam in Derndingle, West Rohan (requires Friend standing with The Ents of Fangorn Forest).
Potency of Eldar Days III - Beleriand Damage + Critical Rating (tier 3)
From Dol Amroth Quartermaster in Dol Amroth, West Gondor (requires Friend standing with Dol Amroth).
From Quartermaster (Pelargir) in major towns in Central Gondor (requires Friend standing with Pelargir).
From Quartermaster (Rangers of Ithilien) in major towns in Eastern Gondor.

Tanking Weapon Titles

Recommended while Levelling:
Grace of Eldar Days - Beleriand Damage and Evade.

Recommended for Level 100:
Keeper of Eldar Days - Beleriand Damage and Critical Defence.

Defender of Eldar Days I - Beleriand Damage + Parry (tier 1)
From epic quest Vol 3, Book 5, Chapter 4 or from Limlight Gorge Rewards Vendor in Stangard, Great River (requires Ally standing with Heroes of Limlight Gorge).
Grace of Eldar Days I - Beleriand Damage + Evade (tier 1)
From Limlight Gorge Rewards Vendor in Stangard, Great River (requires Ally standing with Heroes of Limlight Gorge).
Vitality of Eldar Days I - Beleriand Damage + Vitality (tier 1)
From Limlight Gorge Rewards Vendor in Stangard, Great River (requires Ally standing with Heroes of Limlight Gorge).

Defender of Eldar Days II - Beleriand Damage + Parry (tier 2)
From Eastemnet Miscellany Quartermaster in towns throughout East Rohan.
Grace of Eldar Days II - Beleriand Damage + Evade (tier 2)
From Eastemnet Miscellany Quartermaster in towns throughout East Rohan.
Vitality of Eldar Days II - Beleriand Damage + Vitality (tier 2)
From Eastemnet Miscellany Quartermaster in towns throughout East Rohan.
Keeper of Eldar Days II - Beleriand Damage + Critical Defence (tier 2)
From barterer in Forlaw, Wildermore (requires Kindred standing with People of Wildermore).

Keeper of Eldar Days III - Beleriand Damage + Critical Defence (tier 3)
From Dol Amroth Quartermaster in Dol Amroth, West Gondor (requires Friend standing with Dol Amroth).
From Quartermaster (Pelargir) in major towns in Central Gondor (requires Friend standing with Pelargir).
From Quartermaster (Rangers of Ithilien) in major towns in Eastern Gondor.

Healing Weapon Titles

Recommended while Levelling:
Knowledge of Eldar Days - Beleriand Damage and Tactical Mastery.

Recommended for Level 100:
Potency of Eldar Days - Beleriand Damage and Critical Rating.

Knowledge of Eldar Days I - Beleriand Damage + Tactical Mastery (tier 1)
From repeatable quest The Defense of Galtrev [75] in Galtrev, Dunland.
Might of Eldar Days I - Beleriand Damage + Might (tier 1)
From Limlight Gorge Rewards Vendor in Stangard, Great River (requires Ally standing with Heroes of Limlight Gorge).

Knowledge of Eldar Days II - Beleriand Damage + Tactical Mastery (tier 2)
From repeatable quest Parphád: Order of Magnitude [85] in Hytbold, East Rohan.
Might of Eldar Days II - Beleriand Damage + Might (tier 2)
From Eastemnet Miscellany Quartermaster in towns throughout East Rohan.

Knowledge of Eldar Days III - Beleriand Damage + Tactical Mastery (tier 3)
From Quickbeam in Derndingle, West Rohan (requires Friend standing with The Ents of Fangorn Forest).
Potency of Eldar Days III - Beleriand Damage + Critical Rating (tier 3)
From Dol Amroth Quartermaster in Dol Amroth, West Gondor (requires Friend standing with Dol Amroth).
From Quartermaster (Pelargir) in major towns in Central Gondor (requires Friend standing with Pelargir).
From Quartermaster (Rangers of Ithilien) in major towns in Eastern Gondor.

Legendary Class Item Titles

Class item titles generally provide extra mitigation and a choice of offensive or defensive stats.

Recommended while Levelling:
Ardent Might - Physical Mitigation and Might.
Enduring Might - Tactical Mitigation and Might.

Recommended for Level 100 DPS/Healers:
Ardent Strike - Physical Mitigation and Critical Rating.
Enduring Tactics - Tactical Mitigation and Critical Rating.

Recommended for Level 100 Tanks:
Ardent Shield - Physical Mitigation and Critical Defence.
Enduring Support - Tactical Mitigation and Critical Defence.

Stout Defender - Physical Mitigation (tier 1)
From repeatable quest A Flight of Drakes [54] in Echad Dúnann, Eregion.
Firm Resolve - Tactical Mitigation (tier 1)
From repeatable quest The Training Hall [54] in Dolven-view, Moria.
Ardent Warrior I - Physical Mitigation + Physical Mastery (tier 1)
Enduring Force I - Tactical Mitigation + Physical Mastery (tier 1)
Ardent Counsel I - Physical Mitigation + Tactical Mastery (tier 1)
Enduring Wisdom I - Tactical Mitigation + Tactical Mastery (tier 1)
From repeatable quest The Defense of Galtrev [75] in Galtrev, Dunland.
Ardent Defence I - Physical Mitigation + Parry (tier 1)
Ardent Hope I - Physical Mitigation + Evade (tier 1)
Ardent Strength I - Physical Mitigation + Block (tier 1) *not good for Beorning*
Ardent Vitality I - Physical Mitigation + Vitality (tier 1)
Ardent Might I - Physical Mitigation + Might (tier 1)
Enduring Might I - Tactical Mitigation + Might (tier 1)
From Stangard Rewards Vendor in Stangard, Great River (requires Ally standing with Riders of Stangard)

Steadfast Protector - Physical Mitigation (tier 2)
From repeatable quest The Siege of Barad Morlas [57] in Echad Dúnann, Eregion.
Iron Will - Tactical Mitigation (tier 2)
From repeatable quest The Ghost-Forge [57] in Dolven-view, Moria.
Ardent Warrior II - Physical Mitigation + Physical Mastery (tier 2)
Enduring Force II - Tactical Mitigation + Physical Mastery (tier 2)
Ardent Counsel II - Physical Mitigation + Tactical Mastery (tier 2)
Enduring Wisdom II - Tactical Mitigation + Tactical Mastery (tier 2)
From repeatable quest Parphád: Order of Magnitude [85] in Hytbold, East Rohan.
Ardent Defence II - Physical Mitigation + Parry (tier 2)
Ardent Hope II - Physical Mitigation + Evade (tier 2)
Ardent Strength II - Physical Mitigation + Block (tier 2) *not good for Beorning*
Ardent Vitality II - Physical Mitigation + Vitality (tier 2)
Ardent Might II - Physical Mitigation + Might (tier 2)
Enduring Might II - Tactical Mitigation + Might (tier 2)
From Eastemnet Miscellany Quartermaster in towns throughout East Rohan.

Stalwart Guardian - Physical Mitigation (tier 3)
From repeatable quest Midnight Raid [60] in Echad Dúnann, Eregion or from Legendary Vendors in Enedwaith.
Resolute Heart - Tactical Mitigation (tier 3)
From repeatable quest The Spider-nest [60] in Dolven-view, Moria or from Legendary Vendors in Enedwaith.
Ardent Warrior III - Physical Mitigation + Physical Mastery (tier 3)
Ardent Counsel III - Physical Mitigation + Tactical Mastery (tier 3)
Enduring Force III - Tactical Mitigation + Physical Mastery (tier 3)
Enduring Wisdom III - Tactical Mitigation + Tactical Mastery (tier 3)
From Quickbeam in Derndingle, West Rohan (requires Friend standing with The Ents of Fangorn Forest).
Ardent Strike III - Physical Mitigation + Critical Rating (tier 3)
Ardent Shield III - Physical Mitigation + Critical Defence (tier 3)
Enduring Tactics III - Tactical Mitigation + Critical Rating (tier 3)
Enduring Support III - Tactical Mitigation + Critical Defence (tier 3)
From Dol Amroth Quartermaster in Dol Amroth, West Gondor (requires Friend standing with Dol Amroth).
From Quartermaster (Pelargir) in major towns in Central Gondor (requires Friend standing with Pelargir).
From Quartermaster (Rangers of Ithilien) in major towns in Eastern Gondor.

Crafted Halberds Gallery Now Available

It's been a little while since I added any more crafted weapon galleries. I've been collecting images for the legendary weapons galleries and I discovered you can't preview minstrel instruments in the wardrobe, so I'll have to get some action shots for those.

Halberds are unique to Captains and I think the Crafted Halberds Gallery shows that they are pretty cool looking. There's a lot of variety in shape and style and I can't imagine why a Captain would want to use anything else.

I think for my Captain, I have three favourite crafted halberds that would look good with her outfit, but I also have to give a shout out to the Galadhrim Halberd - usually Galadhrim weapons are copies of another crafted weapon skin, but this one is unique and beautiful.

Favourite 1	Favourite 2
Favourite 3	Galadhrim

Captains and Custom Heralds

My captain

I've been leveling my captain recently and finally found out how to get the buffs from the standard and the variety of herald appearances from the armaments. Previously I thought you had to sacrifice the physical mastery and morale buffs from the standard and equip the armaments (which only buffs the herald) if you wanted a different looking herald, such as a Swordswoman or a Squire. Fortunately, that's not the case. I hope the following information will be useful for other captains too.

To preview all the different herald appearances available, visit Lotro-Wiki.com - Herald.

1. Equip your Standard of choice of the appropriate level in your ranged slot (e.g. Intricately Woven Supreme Standard of Hope, minimum level 60).

   

   Standard is in the middle, in the Ranged slot

2. Make, buy or receive any Herald Armaments (e.g. Minor Commoner Herald Armaments, minimum level 20, made by tailors). Level doesn't matter. The type of herald armaments doesn't matter.
3. Talk to the Captain Trainer and barter your herald armaments for a Receipt of Armament Exchange.

   

   Barter Armaments for Receipt of Armament Exchange

4. From the drop-down list of barter filters, select the "Token to X Armaments", where X is the herald pet you want to change the appearance of (i.e. to change the appearance of the herald summoned when you use Call to Arms: Archer, select "Token to Archer-Armament"). Swap your Receipt of Armament Exchange for the Herald appearance you want and are eligible for (note: Lossoth requires Kindred reputation standing and Oath-bound require minimum level 58).

   

   Barter Receipt for the Herald appearance you want

5. You receive the Armaments in your bag. Right click to learn the skill.

   

   New Armaments skill item

6. The Skills panel will have a new option in the Call to Arms section. Drag your new ability to your quickslot bars and enjoy. The original herald will still be available as well. If you wanted to, you could repeat this process and collect the whole set of appearances so you could switch from using a Commoner to a Pilgrim or a Defender or a Maid-at-arms or a Footsoldier and so on.

Before

After