Last week I put a call out to our great community over here at A Casual Stroll to Mordor asking what Captain legacies I should look for on my Legendary Item as I level up to 75. The response was incredible and I want to thank everyone who participated in the thread! It was immensely helpful to myself and to many others. In fact it was so helpful that we had the following request:
Soldanella writes; Can this become a recurring thread? Class a week maybe? I’d love to read input for Minstrel legacies.
Now while I’m not sure if I’ll do these sequentially or not as suggested (unless the public requests it), but I will definitely get to all of them.
This Week’s Topic
I do have a level 50 Minstrel, but I haven’t touched him since the Minstrel revamp in the Rise of Isengard (yes, it’s been that long). Currently he resides in Evendim tailoring items for my alts and anyone else who might need something. Which of course means that I know squat about the class; doubly so when it comes to the Minstrel’s Legendary Item Legacies. That’s where you all come in.
What legacies do you use for a Minstrel:
- Soloing
- Grouping
- Raiding
I know there are those of you who focus on healing, some on buffing, and some on damage. I’d personally like to hear about all of it and then some so put a comment below letting us know what you recommend!
August 9, 2012 at 8:30 am
My mini is level 65 so I’m attemptign to build my 2nd age LIs for him, but it’s a pretty dauntign task. You need a solo/dps weapon, solo/dps book, group weapon, group book. Lots of work, and tryign to figure out which are the best legacies for each one. Hopoefully someone will have some suggestions.
August 9, 2012 at 8:30 am
And I know the n comes before the g in ‘ing’, it’s a strange typo that I can’t seem to avoid, lol.
August 9, 2012 at 8:59 am
LOL, I have the same issue with the “e” and “h” in “the” a lot of the time as well.
August 9, 2012 at 9:26 am
It took me about 5 years to stop quickly typing just as jsut.
I’m sorry I can’t help you with your question, though
August 9, 2012 at 8:07 pm
I do that so ofter, I named a character Tehalin.
August 9, 2012 at 8:51 am
Healing book:
A
Healing and Motivational skills Morale Healing
Bolster Courage Healing
Raise the spirit Healing / Inspire Fellows Healing / Healing Skills Power Cost
B
Chord of Salvation Cooldown
whatever
Buff book:
A
Anthem of War (Melee Damage)
Anthem of War (Tactical Damage)
B
Anthem of War (Ranged Damage)
Chord of Salvation Cooldown
August 9, 2012 at 9:30 am
I’d love this to be for all classes, it would be really helpful to a newbie like me when I get around to picking legacies.
August 9, 2012 at 9:46 am
So noted
August 9, 2012 at 9:42 am
For me i have (lvl 75 first agers):
Healing book with healing skill maxed (needed 5 or 6 tries till i had 4 mayors)
- healing&motivation skills
- bolster courage
- raise the spirits
- inspire fellows
- chord of salvation cooldown
- vita
Buff book (three pool A’s are ok here). I switch it in prior to playing the corresponding antheme and use it for solo play:
- anthem of war melee
- anthem of war tactical
- anthem of war ranged
- anthem of composure resistance def
- anthem of composure tactical def
- chord of salvation cooldown
Healing weapon:
- anthem duration
- soliloquy of spirit
- thread from healing (not 100% sure of this one – might not be needed)
- triumphant spirit cooldown
- vita
- will/fate
Toolset weapon (switch in for rally!/still as death) any 3rd age lvl 50 weapon will do:
- still as death
- Rally! Cooldown
Damage Weapon:
currently only some old 65er as i mostly only raid and i was and am too lazy to level up yet another legendary that gets obsolet in one month ^^
August 9, 2012 at 9:46 am
Awesome! Thanks Eleasar!
August 9, 2012 at 10:53 am
Having separate a separate healing and DPS weapon & songbook set is imperative.
If you run a yellow/red or yellow/blue class trait set, the Anthem Duration legacy is also nice for both healing and DPS and can add 10 seconds on to your anthems. If you combine that with some Traits and the Draigoch set, you can get anthem duration to 35 seconds.
August 9, 2012 at 11:26 am
Is it bad that I run hybrid buffing/healing LIs, pay no attention to building DPS LIs and can’t be bothered to get that deep into the LI system?
August 9, 2012 at 11:38 am
It totally depends on what you want to do
I for example did run every Isengard instance on T2 CM – there it is highly suggested to have different heal/buff books and to optimize the runes that you use.
If you just do some 6 mans or skirmishes or Isengard T1 or easier T2 ones it is perfectly fine.
August 9, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Leveling 50-75 you will definately want to have 2 sets of LI. I go with a DMG set and a HEAL set. I don’t bother with a Buff set, but then I’m not doing T2CM content. You won’t be asked into a group as a DPS position, yet you will need to be leveling with some decent DMG output in War-Speech stance Solo etc. With that all said, all of your initial points in your LI should go to the Healing/Dmg Tactical default slot and don’t even worry about your legacies. Once you get enough points to put into legacies… Healing Book ideally should have ‘Healing and Motivation skills’, ‘Bolster Courage Healing’ and ‘Inspire Fellows Healing’. ‘Chord of Salvation’ and ‘Healing Skill Power Cost’ are very nice as well. It doesn’t really pay to have a LI without your tactical healing capped or at least very high. Focus also should be on the HEAL book, and/or the DMG weapon. Don’t really bother with much effort or IXP in a HEAL weapon, or DMG book. Good choices for weapon major legacies are Piercing Cry Damage, Call of Orome Damage, Target Resist Rating (Call to War) and Anthem Duration Minors to look at include Call of Fate Critical Multiplier, Minor Ballad Damage, Call of the Second Age Targets. If you do stumble upon some legacies popping in a DMG book then, Anthem of War (Melee), Anthem of War (Tactical), and Target Resist Rating (Ballads).
August 9, 2012 at 2:07 pm
healing book:
Healing and Motivation skills
Bolster Courage Healing
Inspire Fellows Healing
Healing Skills Power Cost
Chord of Salvation Cooldown
Vitality
buff book:
anthem of war (melee)
anthem of war (ranged)
anthem of war (tactical)
anthem of composure
anthem of composure (tactical)
VIT/WILL
DPS book:
anthem of war (tactical)
vitality
fate
will
Target Ballad Resist Rating
Echoes of Battle Resistance Rating Debuff
CD book:
Target Song Resist Rating
Cry of the Chorus Cooldown
Song of the Dead Cooldown
WILL
VIT
FATE
Heal weapon
Healing threat
Sos pules
anthem duration
fate
vitality
will
CD weapon
Triumphant cooldown
Rally cooldown
still as death cooldown
Cure Fear Cooldown
Target Resist Cry of Valar
WILL/VIT
DPS weapon
Call to War Skills Resistance Chance
Piercing Cry Damage
Call of Oromë Damage
Call to Fate Critical Multiplier
minor ballad damage
will
August 9, 2012 at 2:12 pm
healbook l75 first age
buffbook l75 first age
cd book l75 second age
dps book l75 second age
healweapon l75 second age
dps weapon l75 first age
cd weapon l75 second age
August 9, 2012 at 4:40 pm
as my first one through the LI system, I didn’t know much. I ended up spending all my points on Still as Death Cooldown (down to 2min from 5) then tactical damage/Anthem of War (Ranged) (because I have a level 75 hunter in the kindship who is very helpful, +10% damage is better than +5%
does anyone invest their points into the Fear Resist Rating legacy?
August 9, 2012 at 6:01 pm
The minstrel legacies were something I personally found to be difficult when I first got mine up to 75. I’d never had her sitting at a previous cap, so had to figure it all out for the first time. Initially I looked into having a grouping/raiding book and a dps/soloing book, this build notion quickly disappeared.
I run with only 3 LIs on my minstrel (and it took a while for me to get the weapon where I needed it to be to keep this setup).
Raiding/Grouping/Soloing Book (75 2nd Age – 5 pool As and 1 pool B)
Healing and Motivation Skills
Raise the Spirit Healing
Bolster Courage Healing
Inspire Fellows Healing
Healing Skills Power Cost
Vitality
Buff Book (75 2nd Age – I recommend this to all minstrels to have, your DPS classes will love you – Only listing appropriate/”important” legacies)
Anthem of War (Melee Damage)
Anthem of War (Tactical Damage)
Anthem of War (Ranged Damage)
Anthem of Composure (Tactical Defense)
Chord of Salvation Cooldown
Weapon (75 2nd Age Dagger)
Rally! Cooldown
Soliloquy of Spirit Pulses
Anthem Duration
Triumphant Spirit Cooldown
Will
Vitality
For the weapon, I’d probably use the Heal Threat Down if I had another major spot, but I find it’s not a big deal one way or another as I rarely gather up healing threat.
Any mini at the very least will always want to carry around a healing book and a buffing book. PvP oriented (or interested) minstrels would probably want to have a DPS book and weapon set as well, but otherwise I’ve found one weapon is generally versatile and quite fine for soloing. A healing book + buff book works just fine for soloing as well in my experience. And besides, only 2 books and 1 weapon cuts down on the LI grind!
August 9, 2012 at 7:18 pm
Im using 5 yellow/2 blue traits and have the following major legacies:
Book:
Healing and Motivation, Raise the spirit heals, inspire fellows heals
And Chord of Salvation CD as a minor, with some anthem of war as well
Sword:
Piercing cry dmg, Anthem duration, Rally CD
and some balad damage as minor, together with VIT and WILL
August 9, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Healing Book:
Healing and Motivation Skills Morale Healing
Bolster Courage Healing
Inspire Fellows Healing
Healing Skills Power Cost
Chord of Salvation Cooldown
Vitality
I chose to have a First age lvl 75 Healing Book and a 3rd age Healing weapon. This 3rd age weapon does not change your healing output, but I needed a lot of tries for the amount of Pool A legacies I wanted.
Healing Weapon:
Triumphant Spirit Cooldown
Soliloquy of Spirit Pulses
Rally! Cooldown
Healing Threat
Anthem Duration
Vitality
My DPS equipment are both 2nd Age lvl 75 items. A First age lvl 75 would ofcourse do more damage. I also use my DPS book to switch during raids. I click on the DPS book, play Anthem of War and switch back to the healing book, so my whole fellowship has the biggest damage output.
DPS/Buffing Book:
Anthem of War (Melee Damage)
Anthem of War (Tactical Damage)
Target Resist Rating (Ballads)
Echoes of Battle Resistance Rating Debuff
Cry of the Chorus Cooldown
Anthem of War (Ranged Damage)
DPS Weapon:
Target Resist Rating (Call to War)
Piercing Cry Damage
Call or Oromë Damage
Call to Fate Critical Multiplier
Minor Ballad Damage
Will
August 9, 2012 at 8:12 pm
I was just thinking it would be neat to do this type of thing for virtues. I’ve never seen a “definite” list of virtues for each class – or if there is a necessity for 2 or 3 trait set ups: one for solo, one for primary group role, and maybe one for secondary group role. For instance, a LM might need on virtue set for soloing (to support DPS), another for raids/groups where s/he is CC/debuff (yellow line), and maybe one for a mixed role (blue line).
August 10, 2012 at 2:21 pm
When it comes to virtues, for the most part it’s dictated by the content less than the class (with, a few exceptions to more class specific virtues, of course).
Though a discussion post for class traits might be something fun to have in addition to these legacy talks
August 9, 2012 at 11:19 pm
WHen I started builing my first 2nd age weapon at level 60, it was the oen time I actually got lucky with the reforges and has ALL pool A legacies on it. Then I discovered most of the good solo/DPS legacies are pool B…
August 10, 2012 at 2:57 am
With my minnie, while I do group with her, she’s mainly an alt, and I pretty much have a healing weapon, dps weapon, and a healing book. I don’t bother with a buffing book as I don’t really take her into T2 Orthanc. Like one poster stated above, it depends on what you want to do with your minnie. If you raid with him/her, then I’d recommend a healing book/weapon, a buff book, and a dps weapon. It’s mainly how motivated you are into developing 3 or 4 different legendaries.
Plus, with my hobbit minstrel, my books are named associated with “cootness” of hobbits and pie, while my weapons are dealing with destroying caek. As a hobbit minstrel, it’s important to know such things as the differences of pie and caek and what is good and evil between the two.
August 10, 2012 at 4:24 am
My main is a slow-leveling and mostly-solo, 62, rd-ylw minstrel on Brandywine, who’s had some decent group success despite a deep-seated loathe of re-traiting.
Favor legacies affecting your more frequently used skills, for example: the piercing cry legacy is less useful for low-key healers avoiding spike-damage than it is for battle-minstrels traiting Unrelenting with a reduced cool-down.
Keep stances in mind when choosing DPS-WEAPON legacies: consider a Warspeech weapon dedicated to calls, the reduced-cooldown piercing-cry, & anthem-durations; and a Harmony one set to strengthen the stance’s more-frequent ballads & aoe-codas. I don’t seek anthem-duration for my Harmony weapon, as I tend to fly through to the coda (for the ICPR/AoE-DMG/heal) too quickly for it to shine.
For HEAL BOOKS, I first seek healing+motivation skills, then bolster courage, and then chord-of-salvation legacies. A 3x anthem-of-war legacy book may be handy in groups: 5-deep in Skald, AoWar becomes a group dps buff that does not expire, adds a lot of damage, and requires no maintenance.
Some ranks in Cry-of-the-Chorus are always nice and, although I have yet to see it mentioned, I find that putting a few ranks into the Elbereth-fear legacy makes that skill hit much more often — quite useful given our limited crowd-control options.
—
Sorry for the essay, and thank you, CSTM guys, for your awesome blog. Keep it up!
August 10, 2012 at 8:07 am
Found a note of mini LI’s scribbled down so think thats more than likely what I’ve got in game. I mainly solo as people seem adverse to mini’s dpsing so havent added the other aow damage buff types.
Main weapon is upping damage of ballads, cries/calls and the call to war resist
Book is again resist based, echoes and ballads while upping tac damage.
Not sure what the weapon is called but the book is either “rough guide to isenguard” after the travel guide series or “what the fugue”
August 13, 2012 at 12:41 pm
A number of replies say that a mini should have a buff book. I dont understand the purpose of putting all that effort into a book that as far as I can see has little use. When I am in a group I am the healer. Are you expecting the mini to switch books every 20 seconds and heal the tank?
If I am solo I want a book that buffs up my skills so having an increase in ranged damage has no value. Could someone please explain more on the benefits of a buff book and why a mini should have one.
November 8, 2012 at 10:56 am
Some good advice here, just want to emphasize a few key points. The anthem system post RoI is your friend, possibly your best friend. Yellow spec minis can heal just as well as blue, do to the group buffs that are always active.
With that being said my legacies are still mostly in line with a blue spec. Increased healing out put, power cost, soliloquy pulse, decreased cool downs, etc. However, anthem duration is a must. Regardless of how you trait and what your style of play/healing, anthem of the third age MUST be active all the time.
Additionally, don’t worry about threat reduction. If your tank is worth his/her weight the threat you generate should never be a problem.
Finally, and to reiterate, for you minis that have been on the sideline for a while the expansions really changed the class. Get comfortable with the anthem/coda system it is essential.