When I first tried the Champion class I was pretty excited, but soon I found that I really didn’t care for it that much. I had imagined a character that was a swirling mass of blades, and instead I felt he was swinging bricks and just mucking through the content. The combat changes that came with Mirkwood certainly helped, but obviously I wasn’t playing this character to the fullest of his abilities and in plain speech “I was doing it wrong” (my words). Thankfully we have some great readers who play Champions and gave me some good suggestions for rotations and skills to utilize.
However, I can’t say that I strictly stuck to those suggestions as I tended to modify my rotation to try and get some Class Deeds accomplished. That being said, my normal rotation was:
This rotation was mainly for one or two targets; as I wasn’t able to really feel out a good AoE rotation. Anyway, after the rotation was complete I would usually go back to Blade-Wall, but most times the target was dead. Also, if I ended up with extra Fervour at the end of a fight I would try to use Blade-storm or Blade-Wall to burn off the Fervour to advance their associated deed. Once I get the Stalwart Blade trait, I’ll probably switch up this rotation; most likely focusing on Flurry and Blade-storm. When leveling from levels 1 – 10 I did use Flurry and Exchange of Blows quite a bit, but as I’ve leveled from 20 – 30 I’ve kind of neglected them. I think the buffs are pretty important and definitely have their uses, but while soloing they seem to actually extend fights.
I had a much more pleasant time this go around with the Champion and I have to say I do like him. However, he is a bit of a glass cannon (although less than the Minstrel or the Rune-keeper) and I found him to be much more gear-reliant than any of the other classes. I was able to make it to level 30 on all my other characters by equipping them as well as I could at level 20, but I found that I had to upgrade the Champion again at 25 in order to keep him from dying repeatedly. Once I upgraded his armor and his weapons, he was all set to move on.
I really see this character shaping up to be an AoE powerhouse, but I can definitely tell that I have a ways to go before I get there.
Skills from level 20 – 30
| Skill | Skill Icon | Skill Effect | Personal Opinion | Level Earned |
| Horns of Valour |  |
Allows for the use of Champion Horns. | I was really looking forward to this skill, but in my opinion the horns stink; at least at this level. 2 targets within 5m are stunned for several seconds. It has a 15 minute cooldown which makes it feel just utterly useless. | 20 |
| Let Fly |  |
Single-target, Common-based, Ranged Attack. | It’s the standard pulling tool, which I think is fairly essential for groups, however with my Champion I really tend to just “body pull” since I usually want several mobs attacking me at once. | 20 |
| Relentless Strike |  |
Single-target, Common-based Melee attack that hits with both the Main and the Off-hand weapons. The primary attack can only be evaded (not parried or blocked) and “will never mess against on level targets”. | This is definitely a good finishing move as well or if you are good at generating Fervour (which I’m not yet) a good way to quickly burn something down. It’s pretty expensive Fervour-wise (4), but it does hit for a ton of damage. | 20 |
| Champion’s Challenge |  |
Single-target, Cry-based taunt. Forces the target to attack you for 10 seconds. | I don’t use this very much soloing, but it’s a good skill for groups; especially if you have to get something off of your healer or Lore-master. The downside is that it’s a “forced attack” meaning that you don’t actually increase in aggro. So if you want to keep the mob on you when Champion’s Challenge wears off, you’ll need to do a lot of damage in 10 seconds. | 22 |
| Merciful Strike |  |
Single-target, Common-based Melee attack that can only be used on mobs under 20% health. Generates 2 Fervour. | This is definitely a good “finishing” move if I remember to use it. I’m still working on a lot of Class Deeds so I haven’t made much use of it, but I should really try to use it more and see if it’s useful or not. I’m open to any opinions on this one. | 24 |
| Fighting Dirty |  |
Area-of-Effect, Common-based Melee attack that also places a 30 second de-buff on all targets that will increase the damage of the next area-of-effect attack by 25%. It can only be used on targets that are below 25% health. Adds 1 Fervour. | I’m still new to the whole AoE thought process so I haven’t used this much; which seems silly considering this sounds like a really nice skill. I’m going to have to try it a bit more, but it sounds really good. | 26 |
| Sprint |  |
Increases your run speed by 25% for 15 seconds. | Run away! | 28 |
May 12, 2010 at 12:28 am
Nice write up. I pretty much felt the same leveling my champ…sorta,..meh,..I am sure they get better and hey dps is dps, but wasn’t for me I guess.
Cheers!
May 12, 2010 at 7:01 am
I think it has a lot to do with Class Traits and the rotation. I think once those are established they become a pretty good class. I just have to nail that down.
May 12, 2010 at 1:01 am
This has been my experience exacty. Got my champ to 29, and despite keeping my armor up-to-date, I still “feel” squishier than I think I should while soloing. In that scenario, despite taking a fair amount of punishment you can still rip through 3 mobs quickly.
Like you I am an altoholic and enjoy exploring each classes strengths and weaknesses. The Champ is a perfect example of how all classes play differently and require different strategies to be effective.
May 12, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Yeah, it’s a bit of an adjustment being a heavy armored person and still being squishy.
May 12, 2010 at 5:29 am
I must say Merric I’m really enjoying you perspective on these classes, and also finding it very strange to see someone experience ‘my class’ from their view point
I think glass canon, or maybe plexiglass-lawnmower?? Is a fair assesment until very much is until fairly late in play I must say, there is definately a kill or be killed attitude to playing one. And even in 6 mans/raids, if you find yourself being wailed on by adds in the wrongs stance or without popping adamant/sudden defence you’ll go down like a sack of taties!
As you reach higher end you’ll find that relentless strike and its assoicated upgrades/legendaries makes it a greater single target attack to stick in rotation than savage or brutal strikes, and that a wild attack/blade wall traited build will soon get you plenty fervour to stick that in every few seconds, but until then I think brutal and savage especially seem to pay more, but when speed is of the essence their animation seems sooo long!
The aoe is a very odd thing, I really only felt any good at it personally after hitting cap (back then at 50) and with the moria trait revamp I really go the hang of it.
I have been so intrigued by your journey with my baby, I have made a dwarf champ and am going to re discover it myself, to see if experience with the class had twisted me to give advice on how to play at cap, and not as you level!
keep up the good work mate!
May 12, 2010 at 9:55 pm
It’s not so much being good at it, that I can see the beginning of the push towards that with the character. It’s pretty interesting to see even though, like you said, it’s fairly unobtainable at this point.
Thanks Adam for your help and encouragement.
May 12, 2010 at 8:36 am
I’m at lvl 38 with my Champion and have found the myriad of rotations, stances, dual vs 2h weapon very confusing not to mention the wide variety of weapon types & shields available. My LM was so much simpler – mezz one, bird on another and thwump the third with my staff
As I get higher in level I am encountering PUG’s who say ‘noob, dont use a 2h ‘ or ‘dude get out of x stance’ and variations thereof. It seems everyone has an opinion on how to play this class well.
Maybe this is true for all classes but having plenty of food and pots (poison, fear etc) helped me survive some bad pulls as the self heal is fairly weak when in fervour.
May 12, 2010 at 10:10 pm
LOL, yeah everyone has an opinion, but if you’re open to what I shoot for
1. Don’t knock of mez/stun or any form of crowd control.
2. Don’t steal aggro from the tank
3. DO steal aggro from the healer until the tank can get it under control.
Other than that, there’s really not much I can say. If you do all that who cares what stance you’re in? But yeah, most people expect Champs to be dual-wielding and in Fervour, unless they’re taking damage in which case they usually expect you to drop to Ardour. But my opinion is if you’re not draining the minstrel’s power because you’re getting hurt a lot (considering you have a good tank, if it’s a bad tank then what can you do) then f’em. I guess you could go ahead and run something like cstats if you really want to, but in the end, just do what you enjoy.
May 12, 2010 at 10:22 am
I too found my Champ was very squishy at those lower levels. Two things to continually update in order of importance would be a) weapons; b) gear. Try and get your hands on crafted critted weapons as you level, these will increase your survivability because you will be killing mobs much faster! The higher your armour, the better off you are, even in fervour. I found if soloing, it wasn’t a bad idea to have a shield on me that way if I was taking too much damage I could switch to Glory, equip the shield, hit sudden defence and tank my way through.
Getting the Blade-wall trait that allows you to produce a pip with blade-wall will really help with building pips and you will likely find relentless as a good single target attack (assuming you are DW, 2H you may find brutal a better one). I always pop flurry at the start of fights, it really makes a big difference in your attacking speed and generation of pips.
Another tip, adding a clobber right after brutal will cut the animation off and allow you to go back into pip building. I believe you still have to wait for the animation but with flurry activated, it certainly feels a lot faster!
@Hastan, there is nothing wrong with running a 2H, the parses show that 2H and DW are roughly the same in dps so feel free to swing that big stick! In groups, especially below level cap, you may want to think about running Ardour if you find you are taking a lot damage in fervour – it takes a good healer who is commited to healing a champ in fervour!
May 12, 2010 at 12:31 pm
What’s a pip?
May 12, 2010 at 2:44 pm
A pip is a unit of fervor that you get while in combat to perform certain moves. Like focus on a hunter.
May 12, 2010 at 12:48 pm
I was using clobber like this too and what you say is true- the animation duration continues. Whilst clobber does indeed truncate and deliver damage early, its doesn’t actually speed anything up as it does just that- truncates- cuts into the animation timing, not ends the duration early, so the next attack you still have to wait for and you actually gain nothing unless you are after a killing blow.
May 12, 2010 at 11:39 am
I just got my champ to cap a week or two back, like many I am a bit of a altoholic. My champ was my main for a long time, my first to hit 50 back when that was the cap. At lower levels I hardly ever used fervour almost always in ardour, being able to evade and parry a little makes you feel a little less squishy IMHO. I also never used a 2H, still don’t but looking for a good legendary one. I think that was due to pre-moria aspect that speed was factored in on weapons and 2H were pretty slow, so you would have greater dps with DW.
As for rotations, never stuck to one in particular. Once you get the hang of generating Fervour you know which buttons to hit when. I do remember the class needing the top gear, especially if you have little to no evading or parrying your going to take ALOT more damage.
I still don’t think I have my traits totally figured out in the ideal configuration, but I am lazy and would rather work on another alt then go back and farm virtues. The ones I have traited are all at 10 and are pretty good. I’m no slacker there, it just could use some tweaking.
One thing for sure at max with decent gear, moria rad. the class does not feel like a like a ‘plexiglass-lawnmower’ (love it) anylonger. Can wade into mobs and tackle elites that I would definately think twice about on my Hunter, LM, or Minnie. That said, I am in the process of leveling a Guard and a Warden, and those two classes are tough cookies.
@Hastan, I agree Pots and food are critical, the self heal does pretty well (like having an extra pot). When puggin unless your main tank can keep most agro, fervour is hard to heal. Having a minnie I know it can make life difficult.
May 12, 2010 at 5:27 pm
oh,..I forgot to mention this,.
But meThinks I may of enjoyed the class alot more and not given up at 35, if I was able to play as a Hobbit :p
Hence,..current fave, Hobbit Guardian, Wimarc.
May 12, 2010 at 10:15 pm
LOL, I will admit that I love hobbits the most. I kind of wish that my Warden and Minstrel were hobbits as well, but diversity is good right? I love my Guardian, but I enjoy the breaks
May 13, 2010 at 9:58 am
Lots of great comments in this thread!
I think the real fun begins when you get Raging Blades and you can start in with the “Shing-Shing.” Learn to interrupt quickly, it’s going to be your bread and butter. Keep clobber easily accessable on your taskbar.
In an AOE situation I will usually begin with a traited Blade Wall (for the pip), then Ardent Flurry (+20% Attack Speed, traited increases buff duration), Wild Attack, and then use Improved Rend (start a bleed, if traited it also lowers the armor rating on the mob) then build up my pips with Swift Strike, Wild Attack, Swift Strike, Blade Wall and then pop a Raging Blades followed right after by my Battle Frenzy and then hit Blade Storm. That’s 5 AOE attacks in about 7-10 seconds. Of course all of this I do in fervour. You’re going to have a lot of attention after this so be careful – don’t overextend yourself with AOEs as you’ll get way too much aggro. Be prepared to Ebb to a guard or take a pot, followed by a Bracing Attack. Don’t be afraid to use Dire Need in an emergency, just before to take a power pot before if necessary to maximize the healing (or after as need be).
Aggro management is key – learn to temper your DPS in situations where stealing aggro from the tank will cause problems. Learn when and how to quickly use Rising and Ebbing Ire (have at least one Rune with Ebbing Ire Cooldown). Since we mostly target mobs and not other members of our fellowship, it takes some practice to do this quickly, at least for me it did. You can pass aggro using a combination of the two (Rising Ire on the minstrel to take some of his threat then Ebb it over to the tank). Aggro managment is really what makes a good champ great.
I’m not great at being a legit main-tank – think I’m still learning on this front. I have had great success with fervour tanking in 6 man instances such as SG, much to the healer’s dismay. Off-tanking is pretty easy though if you need to keep a mob busy in DN or somewhere like that. You can just pop into glory and equip a shield and use Champion’s Challenge and a few arrows to bring your guy to you and keep him busy. When the group is on your mob you can pop back into fervour and re-equip your normal offhand. To switch from a 1H + Shield back to dual wielding you’ll need to clear both items by equipping a 2H weapon (even a fishing rod will work) in between. Then you can requip your main, followed by your offhand. This takes some practice to do quickly and I’ve bound it to a few hotkeys on my G15.
I mainly use brutal strikes for my big single mob attack but like to throw in a few Relentess Attacks, especially when I have cappy crit buffs and/or oathbreakers going. A 4k hit is super-satisfying. Those that use 2H weapons will want seek a build centered around critting on this skill in my opinion – those dual wielding will want to learn how to maximize their DPS through speed.
DW versus 2H is a matter of preference. I like to DW because I’m an elf with a 1H sword damage bonus. Also, I like to have my best weapon be a one-hander because then when I also have to equip a shield I still have my best weapon equipped. I also find off-hand weapons have better stat bonuses than any 2H I’ve seen and I have a few I like to swap out depending on the situation.
I love the class because I enjoy standing toe-to-toe with mobs and delivering as much damage as possible. Yes we can be a bit squishy but some well timed pots and bracing attacks can help out a lot.
May 13, 2010 at 12:53 pm
LOL, this is great stuff. I picked this class beacuse it was recommended as Easy but all this ire and threat, stances etc has been the No. 1 reason why I’m far too timid when it comes to LFF requests.Time to man up and get my hands dirty I think. I’ve re-set my icons so I keep the single target and AOE skills away from eachother to avoid breaking stuns when I get too panicy…..thanks for all the helpful advice.