Before going into the levels of 20-30 for my characters, I wanted to give a bit of thought process on how I felt about the leveling of characters through 1-20. Take for granted that these are just my opinions and you can take them or leave them as you wish. Unfortunately, this will be somewhat incomplete as my Lore-master and Guardian were both leveled quite a bit ago time wise (when I first bought and played at release in 2007), so I can’t really tell you what it’s like currently. Perhaps some of our readers can chime in there.
My advice for Guardians would be to stick with a main-hand weapon and shield and always be using Guardian’s Defence as it’s your only real “stance” until 12 when you get Guardian’s Parry (which, good or bad, I never have had much use for) and then level 20 when you can try getting used to Overpower. Just a thought though: If you are primarily going to be tanking with your Guardian, it’s best to use Guardian’s Defence as much as possible with a shield and main-hand weapon as this is what you’ll be using when tanking. A good way to practice tanking is to always fight as if you were actually tanking; albeit a much slower way of leveling.
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For Lore-masters do your best with the Raven until you get Friend of Bears, and then start using your Bear. At least this is a much more preferred way of playing for my own play style. The reason being is that Bears can usually take much more damage and have a taunt which you will need as you progress into higher levels. At lower levels you’re much more apt to take a hit and survive, where as at higher levels you will probably need a pet that can take hits as you damage, buff, de-buff, and mesmerize NPC’s. This is not to say that you will never use your Raven, just that it is more suitable to group play than soloing. You can also use this time to gauge how many buffs and debuffs you can do to an NPC before you pull aggro, which is a very important thing to learn.
Now for those classes with which I have recent experience!
Now, my first goal with all my characters was to level through the tutorial, the introduction areas and then head to Bree. I would do every quest, most especially the Epic Prologues, until I got to the actual town of Bree through the Epic Questline. I have to say that my favorite area for leveling was the Elven area of Ered Luin. I found it to have the most continuity of all the zones and it quickly replaced my previous favorite, The Shire (which I think is the popular favorite). Once I was finished with the racial starting area, I would then divide my time between Newbury in Buckland, The Old Forest and Adso’s Camp. Usually I could get to level 20 and finish Volume 1, Book 1. However, this was not only the case. If I couldn’t finish off Volume 1, Book 1 I would just go ahead and finish up quests in the previously mentioned areas which seemed to be more than enough to get me to level 20. Once I hit 20, I cancelled any quest that was not finished and was not a part of the Epic Storyline.
Although I will go into specifics later, I’ll give my overall perceptions of the classes as a comparison. As I said before, keep in mind that these are my opinions; and experiences may differ depending on how you play the game. Some people are definitely better at play-styles which I might find difficult.
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The Burglar
Much like the Captain, this class feels a bit underutilized without a fellowship. I feel that I can’t really use him to his full potential since I’m missing out on his ability to create Fellowship Maneuvers. Aside from that though, the true strength of this character definitely comes from the use of stealth. Although I am one who doesn’t really like skipping mobs (I find that clearing out areas gives me more room to run away without worry) it definitely comes in handy sometimes. Riddle is an incredible skill which is invaluable to survival as a Burglar, but combined with sneaking behind a target and using Aim, Surprise Strike, and Burglar’s Advantage I was able to take on larger groupings of mobs more easily. I’m looking forward to seeing how this class progresses in the future, plus I’m also fairly excited about seeing how he functions in a fellowship.
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The Captain
I found this class to be kind of “blah” through levels 1-20. It really felt like it was a crippled character through levels 1-20 and I can’t say I was too excited about it by the end. The Herald is neat, and makes a good addition with buffs and slight “healing” and “off-tanking” abilities, but mostly I was bored by the end of my time with this character. Now I will break my silence about 20-30 on this character and say that I had a completely opposite experience during those levels. Levels 20-30 was a blast with this character and I literally had to force myself from immediately jumping into a skirmish with him or finding some other excuse to keep playing hi
m. But I would definitely say this class is a “late bloomer”. But I definitely did not enjoy levels 1-20. My advice for anyone starting a Captain would be to stick with it, and to remember to use your Marks and your on-defeat Cries. This just makes for good practice in later levels.
The Champion
I really expected this class to be “more” than it was, and I can only assume that I’m not playing it the way it’s intended. This character is the next of my alts that I’m going to level to 30 and I’m hoping that I’ll have a different experience than I previously had. But this was also before Mirkwood which meant that the combat changes had not taken place yet, so maybe I’ll be surprised. Of all classes I expected this one to have a definite rhythm to it, but I just can’t seem to find it. Any advice on this one is welcomed on my part. The plusses I found were:
- Dual wielding rocks
- Better potential survivability when compared to other DPS classes
- Being a dwarf damage machine is awesome
- Nothing is as cool as watching 4 goblins who are attacking you die at once due to your massive AOE
I think the problem I’m having is balancing what skills to use in what order and how to generate / manage my Fervour points. Once I get a rotation going that works well I’ll probably feel more comfortable.
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The Hunter
I loved this class. Just loved it. Find the Path is probably one of the greatest skills of all time, but aside from that I thought that the class is just outstanding. The only thing I need to improve upon is remembering to use Focus and Set Trap before I pull. The only downside of this character is that he is my Yoeman who is already a Supreme Master Farmer and Cook. So it feels a bit aggravating when I see ore or wood out in the wild and I can’t collect it. This class was definitely a breeze to level.
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The Minstrel
This was definitely my most favorite surprise out of all the classes. I played this class before leveling the Rune-keeper and expected to have a very difficult experience. I was also completely wrong. I found the class to be great at both healing and damage once you got the hang of it. I think what I like most about it, is the easily established rotation one can have with your ballads, intertwined with other skills. The only thing I still need to get the hang of is the cooldown timer on heals. There were a few times where I cast Raise the Spirit and expected to instantly be casting it again and was surprised when it didn’t. Other than that, I had a pretty good experience leveling and really, really enjoyed it as a solo class. It was also, incredibly easy to find groups for most tasks as a Minstrel. 
The Rune-keeper
This class is Goldenstar’s new favored project, but was a hard one to get down for me; so I probably didn’t enjoy it as much as she has. The hardest thing about this class is switching roles. For those who aren’t aware, the more damage you do the stronger your damage spells become and the more damage orientated spells become available to cast, but it also means that your other spells become less effective or even unavailable. So it makes switching between the roles difficult, which in turn can make healing yourself more difficult. I also discovered that this was not something I was very good at (for now) as I died over and over again in The Great Barrows Epic Quest instance. It doesn’t help that you’re a glass cannon either (meaning you do a lot of damage, but die easily to damage), which is something I’m really not used to. However, this is something I hope to overcome in the future through analyzing the class more closely and going through forum and blog posts of more experienced players.
The Warden
Easily the most fun and least troublesome of all the classes I’ve played recently. The class is able to tank a lot of targets from the start, it can heal itself through gambits, it can run fast (with the loss of power pool) outside of combat, it has a decent ranged pull, and it’s a lot of fun. Although the gambits can be a little confusing at times there are some decent charts out there like Harperella’s which can be printed out and hung by your monitor for reference. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention Doc Holiday’s blog is also an excellent reference for aspiring Wardens as well. Back to the point though, this character was really easy to level, was a ton of fun, and was the first time I ever thought about seriously switching main classes at end game. Although that’s not likely to happen, it just goes to show how much I enjoyed the class.
So that’s about it. I could probably go on about resources and such, but that’s pretty much a common thing. I found lots of Copper and Barrow Iron and much less Tin and Silver. I ended up with a ton of Light Hides and a decent amount of Medium. I’m leveling up a couple of crafting characters and I was met with a suitable amount of wood/hide/ore to level all my characters through Journeyman on all their gathering and selected professions. I haven’t been able to take advantage of the new crafti
ng recipes that came with skirmishes, but I will once I’m on the 30-40 track. Otherwise it was a good experience and I can’t say that there’s any class that I’m disappointed with to the point where I dread them. So far, I think most of the drawbacks are the fault of the player and the real challenges will start around the 40’s.
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March 22, 2010 at 10:22 am
Sounds like you had fun. I just dinged 61 on my cappy, and I main healed a load of level 50 instances fully heal traited- they just keep getting better)
As a champion is my main I can probably input or help if you have any specifics
I will say get the ‘stawart blade’ trait asap, this means blade wall as an aoe attack generates fervour like, wild attack and swift strike do. Pull the lowest health mob, or run to the archer as first target, pop your battle frenzy and then pop flurry and exchange of blows (ideally you want to trait this until later levels too) use wild attack and blade-wall (traited) to build fervour and When you get sound the attack (the horn skill) use it asap, When you get sound the attack (the horn skill) use it asap, that short aoe stun really gives you breathing space, also get a crafted horn from a woodworker- that gives you another aoe stun if need.
Use you bracing attack early, rather than waiting until your health drops as its only 30′s CD, and this will give you chance to use it at the end of the fight. If you get in trouble, pop sudden defence, and a pot, if its really bad drop out of a stance or into glory, but not for too long or your power will go.
Really concentrate on might as a stat to hit real hard, and keep in fervour all the time soloing.
It may be a late bloomer, as it was 2 years ago since I was low level, but with champs the definate strategy is you need good weapons as its is really a race- kill them before they kill you. I do remember when I got into the 40′s and got raging blades from teh legendary book (sching sching- 13 tagets very hard hitting aoe, on short CD) and eventually controlled burn from the two class quests, then it went from good, to awesome.
When you eventually ding level 65 with a good legendary weapons then hitting a mob with relentless strike (upgraded to remorseless strike) for 4-8K will make it all seem worthwhile.
March 23, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Sounds great
Thanks so much for the tips Adam! I’ll definitely take these into account. I will have to see what happens when I take him on the next go-around. I’m definitely looking towards this character becoming better. I know that they’re huge DPS machines, but I just couldn’t get the hang of it. 
Definitely expect an update from 20 – 30!
March 22, 2010 at 11:30 am
Merric, I actually did give in to the darkside after trying out the warden. I still get nostalgic for my LM every now and again, but I don’t think I would/could ever switch my main from a warden. They are just to darn fun/useful/awesome!
Your post makes me want to go back and try my captain again, at least get him past twenty before I move on. I’, also wanting to get back to my burglar.
March 23, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Feed into your altoholism! Trust it… Nurture it… Cuddle it softly…. er… what?
March 22, 2010 at 7:06 pm
I have a level 30 RK alt, and I still can’t really master switching roles. I think my problem is that the only other clothie I have played is a Warlock in WoW, and I play my RK for the pure damage.
March 22, 2010 at 11:29 pm
The trouble with the Rune-Keeper is that, often, shifting attunement means using items made by Scholars (enamels and such). You do get a skill to help you with this, but it does have a fairly hefty CD, IIRC. So few scholars bother making these enamels and listing them on the auction house because more than a few of them actually require metal ingots to make. Those resources are often better served by making and selling weapons, which usually gain you more money.
This seems to have lead to something of a Schism for Rune-Keepers. In GLFF, they will often identify themselves as either a DPS RK or a Healer RK, because switching attunements is enough of a pain to not make it worth it to try to do both.
As for the Champion class, it really doesn’t start getting good until about level 30 or so. By then, you have more attacks, access to much better armours and more stances.
My suggestion for skill rotation is to use traits that allow certain skills that don’t normally allow it, such as blade wall, to build fervour that will allow you to use some of your harder hitting skills. And while dual wielding is very cool, you may wish to experiment with 2 handed weapons. They tend to hit harder and be much more efficient in longer fights.
March 23, 2010 at 7:11 am
For RK:
Enamels- use ingots and prevent things being interrupted, which is very nice for the big heal with a loong induction- its like 4.5 seconds or something.
Inlays- these step you 3 attunements whichever way you are and are even worse to make. They use rare crit materials from farming saffron/Bluebottle fields and the like- the products of which are no use at all for anything, except the crit materials, which schlaors also can make dyes with. They are very usefull (I use them), but bloody awfull to get. The only saving grace is the supreme tier ones which use chunks of lime which drop from tier 6 prostpecting nodes and can also be used for white dye. but seriously- make the fields some use for something, or increase the drop rate slightly.
March 23, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Thank you, Adam.
Well, there you have it. Shifting attunement is even more of a pain than I remembered, and rather expensive if you don’t have a Scholar.
March 23, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Thanks guys for all the tips! I definitely need them.
March 25, 2010 at 8:01 am
Definately mate,
I love the attunement system, and its needed becaus the dps is lethal anyway, without being able to just jump to healing with no penalty.
I do feel maybe making inlays a little easier to craft may be a better way to go, or at least make the mats drop a little more frequently, because as it is they are a nightmare and I can be barely be bother to invest time to make my own, never mind make spares to AH.
March 23, 2010 at 8:49 pm
I must mention I also have a Guardian alt (level 24) which I love, but have not played for eons. It seems that he has been the only melee, and definitely only tank class, that I have had any success with in an MMO. I have played each class except the Burglar, but it seems most are stuck on about level 10. I have this tendency to love a class until I get out of the first zone (level 5-10) then all of a sudden I discover the weaknesses in the class.
March 25, 2010 at 8:59 am
I can see that, but I think every class needs some kind of weakness in order to make it balanced. I admit the most frustrating for me is not being able to “take a punch”. So if the character isn’t made for melee I usually have a harder time. I would encourage you to look for what makes them stronger instead.
March 23, 2010 at 9:19 pm
I’ve totally got to disagree with you Merric. Guardian’s Parry is roughly 3X better than Guardian’s Defence. You always talk about how you kill things so slowly with your shield out, and here’s why: You aren’t opening your Parry chain up enough. Guardians need to be opening their Parry Chain consistently and DoTing their targets up (the aggro transfer from whirling retaliation can be nice too). It kills things faster, the Parry chain doesn’t cost as much power, and it opens up To the King, which can open a Fellowship Manuever. Guardians never have trouble getting blocks. So try stacking your +5% into your Parry rate instead and see how it goes.
March 23, 2010 at 9:41 pm
I’ll definitely try that for sure. I agree that blocks are not much of a problem and the parry chain is nice for DPS. I’ll give it a try and see how it goes. Thanks Dhagnus.
January 11, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Aww and here I was hoping that you were gonna tell me how I could be cured of my altoholism. . . . . Thanks for the info, I don’t need much tempting to create yet another but if I did then this would be the best place to decide on what’s next…. hmmm now I just need a name….
January 12, 2011 at 9:29 am
hehe, the only way to cure your altoholism is to level every character to 65. Then they become “mains” and not “alts” >:)