Words of Replicant Jesus

I decided to play some Lord of the Rings Online (LoTRO) again to fill in the gaps when I am not raiding/playing World of Warcraft (WoW).  In LoTRO I play a hobbit Guardian, a tank class… sense a pattern here?  I find the class to be very defensive minded and very tough, but I also find building threat in LoTRO to be a severe pain in the ass.  Most likely because I have not played in like four months and I am rusty as a pile of day old shit, but still it is rough.

It does not help that most DPS classes slam the engaged mobs within .0001 seconds of the fight starting.  So yeah it is a much more frustrating and crazy affair then paladin tanking in WoW ever is.  I find that the Guardian tends to be a very reactive and interactive class, which unlike a tankadin relies on the player to react to incoming blocks and parries which open up various return maneuver chains. 

Blocks open up chains that allow you to generate more threat on single targets and several mobs at once.  It also has an ability that allows the Guardian to heal back a small amount of Morale, which is analogous to Health in WoW.  In LoTRO you never actually die, you are just defeated… but not dead. 

Parry attacks open up more damaging attacks, which are much more useful solo then they are for grouping.  There is no “taunt” ability per se, there is an ability that allows you taunt up to three mobs temporarily but it is just a debuff; at the end of the duration the threat table goes back to normal which means if you did not build up enough threat during it’s duration it will turn back to whomever has highest threat. 

But unlike a paladin and more like warriors this class has some nice ‘oh shit’ buttons; abilities to regain power, analogous to mana, based on how many foes you are facing.  The more foes you face, the more Power you regain… this would be sick for AoE paladin tanking.  They also have a Last Stand like ability, and an ability that greatly enhances there defenses for a short time.

I suppose that in some ways I wish I had some of these tools on my paladin in some kind of fashion.  In no way am I replacing my love of the tankadin with my guardian, but I do enjoy the new dynamic of playing a similar but different tank class.