Ask Elb: Tell Me More,(about the) Captain!

Alright! I received several questions regarding the captain class and the changes to the captain in Volume 3: Book 2. As the king among captains, I’ll gladly answer.

Merric asks:

Considering the changes that we’re seeing with Captains with Free-to-Play do you think that Turbine is attempting to make Heralds more attractive in higher-level content.  If so, do you think that they will be good enough to use over Standards in dungeons?  What about raids?  If you don’t think that they appear to be attractive enough for raiding and dungeons, what would you suggest to Turbine in order to make them a more viable option in end-game content?

Is Turbine Trying to Make the Herald More Viable?

Absolutely. There is no question that the herald has been thrown under the carpet these few years,  except for early to mid-level leveling and a very very rare captain who would use them at the level cap for normal gameplay. As such, it seems obvious that Turbine would want to fix the herald’s (and archer’s) endgame viability.

Under the Changes, Are They Now Good Enough for End-Game Groups?

It’s hard to be absolutely certain without a great deal of live testing on my part to give a solid “yes” or “no” answer to this. However, It is worth saying that I am, at least, very compelled to give the heralds and archers another chance in end-game grouping once I can get them into some new armaments. I’ll revisit this question at a later time once I’ve gotten some solid data and experience in with them. At that time I’ll also state any possible tweak suggestions for getting them right where they need to be for viable end-game use.  So for now, I encourage other captains to do what I’m going to do… Grab some new level 65 armaments and give them a solid test run, try different trait configurations with them and in general exhaust all options before giving it a final verdict. (To any who do this and want to share feedback with me… send it my way: elborigorn@casualstrolltomordor.com)

Jeremy asks:

Hi,
I was wondering what’s the best weapon type for a Captain and what legacies I should be looking for in Legendary Items, both weapon and emblem. Also what is the best build for class traits, virtues, legendaries and race traits for a captain?

Shout Loudly and Carry a Big Stick

First, it’s no big secret that the captain class is built around the use of 2-handed weapons. So, in general, any 2-handed weapon is great.  Getting down to the numbers and being more specific: Captains should use either a 2-handed sword or a Halberd (they only come in the 2-handed flavor) for the 2% damage bonus (for swords it comes from a slot-able racial trait and for Halberds it’s a passive class based trait purchasable at level 30).  Swords have the advantage of missing less and as a result will do more damage in the long run. Halberds generate more threat, making it easier to do things like tank, or peel an enemy off of a healer.

A Legacy (Legacies, Same difference) of Greatness
If I could pick 6 legacies for each my main weapon and my main emblem….

Weapon:

• Melee Skill Power Cost- Think Green (or in this case, blue) use less power.
• Cry Skill Power Cost- Again, use less power and save the (Middle) Earth.
• Telling Mark Damage- I mean c’mon, how many other legacies literally double something’s effectiveness…
• Pressing Attack Targets- More damage (via more targets), check. More chances at opening a defeat response, check. Max of 7 targets total (legacy goes to +5). I love it. ***I recommend stopping at 3-4 added targets due to the cost/reward ratio of the last point or two***
• To Arms Duration- +15 seconds to a skill that has a default duration of only 10… Heck yeah! Not to mention the fact that your entire fellowship (even you) receive a +10% version if you’re traited with the “Leader of Men” capstone.
• Blade of Elendil Damage- More base damage on a skill that has an inherently increased crit chance as well as being one of the captain’s hardest hitting skills on a non-crit. Yeah, gimme some o’ dat.

Emblem:

• Rallying Cry Cooldown- A 30 second decrease on a 45 second cooldown. Woah, you can use Rallying cry 3 times more with this legacy. A MUST HAVE.
• Healing From Rallying Cry- If you’re going to use it more, might as well have it do more as well!
• Vocal Skills Healing- Enhances Words of Courage, Rallying Cry and the Muster Courage self heal (if Strength from Within is traited)
• Melee Skills Healing- Enhances the healing from Inspire and Valiant Strike
• Healing From Strength of Will- Can get a max of +20% healing to your Shield brother… that’s rather significant!
• Just about any Legacy is a good 6th… if you’ve got the above 5… anything else is pure gravy. Shield of the Dunedain Cooldown and Escape from Darkness Cooldown would be the two I’d most consider for the 6th slot.

Perfect or Best Build?

No such beast. Given the versatile nature of the captain, there are a lot of right ways to set them up trait-wise and very few wrong ways. I’ll devote another post to builds, pertaining mostly to class and legendary traits, sometime soon… But for now I’ll give you a few rock solid virtues to look at…

Innocence, Zeal and Discipline for the melee defense among other things.

Loyalty and Empathy for Armour value (as well as for vitality and fate respectively)

Idealism, Valour and Justice are nice situational traits (Idealism for the load of extra fate, nice for healing builds and Valour/Justice for max morale when times call for it)

One Last Thing…

I maintain a guide to the captain class on the forums as well as lorebook. I’ll be giving this guide an update pass in the next week or two, but even for now there’s some great material in there. Give it a look!