LOTRO, MMO Noob question

lokiguesty · 25 May 2007 at 12:57

Hi all

i've never played a mmo before but some of my clan mates r playing LOTR so i though i would give it a whirl (will be buying on my way home tonight)

just wondered is there a class of charater that is more suited for a complete noob?

also i dont even know what the classes are in the game?

also i heard there is a huge patch but some ppl were saying its not necesserily required?

any advise would be greatly appreciated

thanks

Loki

Relentless · 25 May 2007 at 13:25

I have not played LoTR on line (yet) but I have played pretty much everyother MMO and there is usually an intro to help you get to grips with the game.

I would do this first before joining anyone else so you know about the basics.

m0r94n · 25 May 2007 at 13:32

It depends on your playing style really, I prefer to kill stuff at a distance so I naturally chose to play as a Hunter. The only real piece of advice I can offer is that you stick to what your class is best at in battle, had a minstrel tell me I was a crap strategist the other day cause I wouldnt let him tank in battle.

Another good idea would be to see what classes your mates are and pick something different, variation in a fellowship can be VERY nice.

All of its explained in the manual anyway, its not too indepth, you learn most of the stuff ingame but the manual gives you a push on your way.

Squink · 25 May 2007 at 13:46

lokiguesty said:
just wondered is there a class of charater that is more suited for a complete noob?

*bear with me a few lines on this one*
All MMOs go through periods where you're playing solo, but better rewards are often gained when you play in a group. LOTRO seems to be designed so that you can get through most of the solo content whichever class you play. It's when you get to the grouped stuff that you need to think about what role you want to play:

Tanking Classes - these try and encourage monsters to attack them. Tank classes have the heaviest armour and have skills to make monsters 'hate' them and concentrate their attacks on the tank. In LOTRO the tanking class is the Guardian

Healing Classes - these heal damage suffered by other members of the party, specifically the tank. Healers will die in a few hits to the powerful monsters you will encounter in group play but are essential to any group. In LOTRO the healing class is the Minstrel.

Damage per second classes (DPS) - these do most of the actual killing of the monsters in group play. The tank takes the hits, the healer heals the tank, the dps classes do the killing.

Basically the tanking and healing roles have the majority of the responsibility. Your group goes nowhere without them and they tend to be in high demand. DPS classes are more carefree and if responsibility isn't your thing they can be seen as the most 'fun'. A dps role *may* be the best way to start an MMORPG, but not necessarily. Pick a class based on what most appeals to you bearing this information in mind.

lokiguesty · 25 May 2007 at 14:23

ok sounds like i need to see what the otheres are doing when it comes to choosing my class.

what about this huge 800mb patch ppl r talking about? do i have to get it?

oh and a much less imortant question will i be able to max out the gfx with my set up?

thanks

Loki

Tical · 25 May 2007 at 14:37

lokiguesty said:
what about this huge 800mb patch ppl r talking about? do i have to get it?

Yes all MMO patches are required to play the game. Why wouldn't you want to get it?

lokiguesty · 25 May 2007 at 14:43

well ppl on the other LOTRO thread are saying that dure in set up it asks about a patch and that u can just press continue and not download it i wanted to double check and see if that is really that case

Tical · 25 May 2007 at 14:46

lokiguesty said:
well ppl on the other LOTRO thread are saying that dure in set up it asks about a patch and that u can just press continue and not download it i wanted to double check and see if that is really that case

I can't see that being the case if its a normal patch, unless its a test server client or some such. I don't play the game though so I can't really say for sure.

Squink · 25 May 2007 at 14:48

lokiguesty said:
well ppl on the other LOTRO thread are saying that dure in set up it asks about a patch and that u can just press continue and not download it i wanted to double check and see if that is really that case

I don't recall an 850Mb patch, though there has been a (much smaller) recent update that you will need to download once you've installed the game. The installation process was somewhat confusing I seem to remember, but nothing that holds you up for more than a couple of minutes.

lokiguesty · 25 May 2007 at 14:53

well i'll just dive in when i get home, if worst comes to worst and i end up with a huge download i dont need i can always leave it running

cheers for your advise

m0r94n · 25 May 2007 at 15:13

There is a large download, the whole "hit continue" thing just means you dont download the file yourself from a website, the client takes care of the patch for you.

Sleepery · 25 May 2007 at 15:17

Tical said:
Yes all MMO patches are required to play the game. Why wouldn't you want to get it?

The situation here is a very badly worded launcher app. When asked if you want to update to the latest version, click Continue instead, or it will download the WHOLE client for you :rolleyes: