The Captain is my first go-to character. Why? Sure, it may be slower than some character classes when you start off in the lower levels, but like all classes it really comes into its own as it levels. And as a solo player, while using a Captain I find myself surviving situations where other classes would die. Going through the levels first with the Captain allows me to get a good idea of what lies ahead of me when I come through again on characters with less survivability; without having to worry too much about dying due to being too low-level, pulling too many mobs, or some other common reason.
The levels 40 – 50 don’t start off as having the most pleasant choices for leveling; and I spent a lot of time trying to find out where I wanted to level and at which levels they were the most appropriate. I already covered quite a bit of it in a previous article, but I feel it needs to be reiterated here as well. There were two paths that I followed:
- First Path
- Second Path
- Misty Mountains
- Forochel
- Angmar (For Volume 1, Book 6 and to gather Class Quest Items)
- Eregion
Now there were some variations that I took such as skipping the Misty Mountains and going directly to Angmar or Forochel (which I don’t recommend), or breaking to do class quests and start volume 2, but for the most part the above paths were what I followed to get to level 50. If you were to ask me which path is the most efficient, my answer would be that for me it was the first; one. However, the only flaw with following that path is that it will leave you with very little in the way of leather hides for raising up Forestry. For this reason I consulted Goldenstar and a couple of other people on where to go as an alternative to Angmar and the resounding answer was “Forochel”. And while I do appreciate the majority of the questing in Forochel and the diversity it brought, I still believe that for me Angmar was the more efficient of the two zones; especially since I found myself usually having to go to Angmar for most of the level 45 class quests. Of course no matter if you choose Forochel or Angmar, when you’re finally able to get into Eregion you’ll probably find yourself happy to be there as it is usually currently regarded as one of the better zones for questing.
Most of these levels were a breeze on the Captain. In fact most of the complications I discovered were the long distances required to travel in some of the older quests. Before (in 2007) when Goldenstar and I were in Angmar we hated the zone because it was so densely populated and it just too difficult for us to handle. I’m not sure if things have changed in that area since then, but it was much easier this time around at the same character level. Although, to be fair my Captain didn’t have to wade through all the elites in Angmar since he was able to leave the zone at 45 instead of having to level all the way to 50 there. Overall my time with the Captain during these levels was a breeze, but then again that always seems to be the case with this character.
| Skill | Skill Effect | Opinion | Level Obtained |
Command Respect |
Causes those within a 10m radius around the Captain to perform the /kneel emote. | It’s a “fun” skill when used appropriately, although I’m sure some people find it annoying. But if used sparingly it can still be a fun skill. | 40 |
To Arms |
A skill that temporarily increases the damage of your Shield-brother’s attack by 25%. | More damage is great in most situations. It’s hard to argue with a skill that allows for it especially when you’re trying to “burn something down”. | 40 |
Grave Wound |
An attack that deals Main-hand damage. If the target also has the bleed effect from Cutting Attack, the skill will also increase your aggro | A good skill that can also be used to help manage aggro. I can’t say that I’ve seen the full effect of this as I’m usually solo. | 42 |
Kick |
A melee attack that interrupts any “time-delayed actions your opponent is attempting.” | Interrupt skills are key to any group; even if their cool-down is long. This is definitely a skill that every Captain should be ready to use. | 44 |
Withdraw |
This skill instantly decreases your perceived threat, but will also cause you to deal 30% damage. | While the loss of damage means that this is something you shouldn’t use in a normal rotation; it’s still a skill that could come in handy for any Captain who wants to attempt to drop aggro. | 46 |
Strength of Will |
Increases the incoming healing of your Shield-brother by 6%. | The 2 minute duration of this buff makes it a pain to ensure it is constantly applied. However, the increased healing always helps. | 48 |
Oathbreaker’s Shame |
A targeted debuff that increases its Incoming melee, ranged, and tactical damage by 35%. | This is pretty much the de-facto buff for burning down any boss encounter in a dungeon. Make sure you save it and that the whole group is aware you are going to cast it well before you do. That way a concentrated attack can be successful. | 39+ |
Shield of the Dúnedain |
A buff that decreases the Incoming melee, ranged, and tactical damaged received by one of your fellowship members. | A good emergency buff that will assist in keeping someone alive, whether it’s a healer, a tank, or even yourself. | 39+ |
In Defence of Middle-earth |
A buff that increases all stats by 50. | As fellowship/raid buffs go, this is one of the few that are “expected” of Captains. It is without doubt one of the best buffs within the game and every Captain should have it. Unfortunately it can only be earned by completing the level 45 class quest. | 45+ |
I am including this following trait because it is the only Legendary Trait that does not grant a skill, but I felt that it was important to include because it is possible that you will complete it during these levels.
| Trait Name | Trait Effect | Opinion | Level Obtained |
Defy Corruption |
This trait improves your Escape from Darkness skill, as well as reviving an additional ally when casting Cry of Vengeance. | I haven’t earned this trait yet myself, but I’ve definitely benefitted from it before. I’m not sure how it fits in most peoples’ builds, but I can say that as a benefactor it is much appreciated! | 39+ |
June 3, 2011 at 8:47 am
awesome, my captain is almost done with the lvl45/50 class quests, only the fellowship bosses left >.< probably going to head over to Moria pretty soon.
i find the herald to be very useful offtanking when there are multi-mobs just have to keep the assist off.
June 3, 2011 at 8:53 am
Yeah, a lot of people don’t like the Herald in groups (pets are wonky, I guess), but for soloing they’re king. I love mine in Skirmishes because with my soldier it makes me feel like I have a “gang” with me.
For the Major Class quest items I still use skirmishing as my primary source of obtaining those items. It’s a bit of a grind, but at least you can earn some reputation and complete deeds with them at the same time.
June 3, 2011 at 9:19 am
I too ran skirmishes to get the Class Quest Items – Great XP and easy to do as a DUO then trying to find a group for CD. Love my captain and now that I have the Archer Herald + Archer Soldier I feel like I am really leading a small (emphasis on small) army into the fray.
Thanks for the write up!
June 3, 2011 at 9:33 am
Huh, Shield of the Dunedain can be cast on self? Wow. I have it slotted, and use it often in groups, but never thought to use it on myself in solo. Ha! An other thing that makes the captain a pretty good solo class I guess
For Strength of Will, the cooldown is as long as the duration of the buff (a tiny bit shorter even I think), so if you notice you can cast it, just cast it again
June 3, 2011 at 10:37 am
You know, I’m not sure, but I think you’re original thought that it is fellowship members only is probably correct.
And yes, Strength of will cooldown is 2m just like the duration; my thought was that it’s such a pain to cast a buff every 2 minutes.
June 3, 2011 at 10:19 am
I feel there is very little reason to quest in Angmar anymore. The rep from Forochel opens up crafting items that are some of the best for their level. All my characters do the following.
40-42: Misty Mountains
Quests from just north of Rivendell and Gloin’s Camp. Also, the Epic book quests are good for xp here.
42-43: Angmar (Fém armor and Búth Sánkhas jewelry)
With the new armor and jewelry available from Evendim, this is more for old-times sake and to get me to 43 so I can actually land attacks on mobs in Forochel.
43-45: Forochel
45-46: LIs and Class quest
46-48: Rest of Forochel
This does not include all rep, but it does include the quest hubs at Kauppa-Kohta, Pynti-Peldot, Zigilgund, and Sûri-Kylä.
48-50: Eregion
Usually, the quest hubs Gwingris, Echad Eregion, and Echad Dunann are enough to get me to 50. Echad Mirobel also has a few quick quests for those needing a little xp. I prefer not to do all of Echad Mirobel, as it requires a small fellowship.
June 3, 2011 at 10:38 am
Very interesting. I hadn’t tried this path before, but maybe I’ll give this a shot on a different character. Thanks for the info!
June 4, 2011 at 1:10 pm
No prob, it seems the fastest with the most return for me
June 3, 2011 at 11:36 am
This is almost exactly what I’ve been doing too. I also make sure to do the Book 6 quests in Angmar when I’m there.
I try to do Book 7 in the later 40s, and while I’m in the area I make sure to get acquaintance with the Council of the North to get swift travel to Gath Forthnir. This will make the rest of Volume 1 a little less frustrating if you plan on doing it.
June 4, 2011 at 5:47 pm
The rep in Angmar is very frustrating, but with the addition of the new horse, I see real reasons to do it with all of my characters lol!
June 3, 2011 at 10:42 am
I’m currently following path number 1, sort of by accident. (I bought Eregion while it was on sale, but don’t have any other packs at this level, so I’m mostly just following the Vol1 Epic.)
At the risk of spoilers, how closely does the Epic story follow the two leveling paths you presented?
June 3, 2011 at 11:05 am
Well, really after Book 6 I really didn’t continue Volume 1 in most cases. However, most of the content is aimed at level 50 so if you want to follow the Epic Storyline you are free to do so. I personally haven’t completed Volume 1 on any of my characters (to my shame), but if you want to do it at-level you’re good to go right now.
June 3, 2011 at 11:57 am
The epic *generally* follows the pattern, except that it gets hung up in Angmar for a good long while. So mostly it depends on how fast you are leveling versus following the story, otherwise it’s pretty much as above (MM, Angmar, Forochel, and then eventually Eregion with V II).
The only place it severely switches is Book 11 when it goes to Evendim. Keep in mind also that the later books in Volume I are ALL level 50ish, so you won’t be leveling too much in those areas while completing them.
June 3, 2011 at 11:19 am
Did you grind pages for your legendary trait(s) or simply collected them during questing?
June 3, 2011 at 11:21 am
I grinded the pages(mostly) really seemed to take less than a few hours, though I could be remembering wrong. In the Mysty Mtns I grounded the dwarves at some little camp.
June 3, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Tobias might be spot on, but sometimes it takes a lot of luck. You can kill most humanoids in MM/Angmar/Eregion/Forochel/Moria to get the pages, but personally I don’t grind. I usually end up with 2 of the books completed this way, and only a few pages short on the others. I just can’t bring myself to grind mobs this way for any longer than 15-20 minutes without doing a quest along with it. However, with dedication I wouldn’t be surprised if a few hours was spot on. But in the end, it all boils down to a random chance which drives me nuts.
June 3, 2011 at 3:48 pm
I got the last four pages for all my class books within like 30 minutes of running the Epic quest in the Misty Mountains, not even pure grinding. Since then, I’ve been killing all kinds of humanoids in Angmar and the Moria intro area to no effect.
Yeah, the random chance sucks.
June 3, 2011 at 12:11 pm
I plan Misty Mountains from 40-42, then Forochel from 43 to 49, followed by Eregion from 50-53. I will cut out Angmar completely if possible, not sure how the revamped Evendim will change my leveling plans. (my captain is only 26)
June 3, 2011 at 1:47 pm
I found Evendim to get up to 40, possibly 41-42 if you stretch it out (this is without doing hardly anything within Annuminas, and skipping any group quests). So it’s going to eat a little of your 40′s work, but not too much unless you stick around.
June 3, 2011 at 3:03 pm
A number of the group quests are soloable depending on your class. The other trick is to be sure and Grab the Tomb of Elendil Arc from Rivendell, it’s part of this quest pack.
June 3, 2011 at 3:50 pm
Nice article, Merric!
I’m actually taking Astaeria on the same path (#1) and am just about ready to head to Eregion at 47. I did make a Cappy alt on Gladden, but I’m afraid I’m just not a melee class player.
Cheers!!
June 3, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Great article Merric, i actually just started suffering through this phase of my captain right now and i have to say it’s not as slow as i thought it was. I know when i leveled my alts, i would hit misty mountains by level 40 and usually quit there by level 43-44 then hop over to angmar, though i have yet to do any quests pasts aughaire. After the fem chain i always take the long trip to forochel and stay there until level 50. I just love it there! expecially on a clear night when the northern lights are dancing across the sky!
June 5, 2011 at 9:42 am
Two words: Hobbit Capts!! Seriously need Hobbit Capts.
June 5, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Hobbit Captains are called ‘Chefs’. Every group needs one!
June 6, 2011 at 3:11 pm
My captain, Alderforth, languished at 18 until I heard the CStM captains’ roundtable. Highly recommended and motivational, it was an epiphany for me. After that, Alderforth zoomed to 50.
The Lone Lands revamp helped the 20′s flow smoothly, the Evendim revamp and a few skirmishes made a big difference in the 30′s, Angmar in the low 40′s and Eregion in the later 40′s. Forochel makes me feel cold.
Now back to Angmar because he simply must have that Angmar’s Free People’s Steed!