You’ve just logged into Lord of the Rings Online, and have been presented with quite a few choices to make, one of the most important being which class should I play? There are currently 11 classes and 7 races to choose from in LOTRO.
What’s your play-style? What story do you want to immerse yourself in through the eyes of your character? Ask yourself these questions and more in the following guide to choosing a class in LOTRO.
Which LOTRO Classes Fight in Close Combat Melee?
If you like to be in the heat of battle, right up close with your enemies you will want to consider the following classes:
Beorning
The Beorning is a skin-changer who fights in close combat melee as a man or in bear form. The Beorning is capable of filling the role of a tank as The Hide (Blue) or DPS as The Claw (Red) traits. They wear Heavy armor and prefer two-handed weapons spear, axe, or club and can also dual-wield one-handed daggers, axes, and clubs. They utilize melee skills with buffs and debuffs and are capable of changing forms from man to bear in combat.
Brawler
The Brawler is a melee class who forgo weapons in favor of wearing Battle Gauntlets on their hands and donning steel armor. They wear Heavy armor and fill the role of DPS or Off-Tank.
Burglar
Burglar fights in melee range and is considered a Support class in an offensive DPS capacity. They utilize stealth to create an advantage over their enemies. The Burglar wears medium armor and can dual wield daggers, maces, clubs, and swords.
Captain
Captain is a Support class that fights within melee range, they are often tasked with filling the role of a Tank, Off-Tank or offensive support. The Captain has a versatile skill set that can provide DPS, buffs, and AOE heals for the Fellowship. They can summon a Herald to its side to assist in battle and provide unique buffs. Captains prefer to wear Heavy armor, can equip shields and wield a variety of one-hand and two-hand melee weapons.
Champion
The quintessential warrior class, the Champion equips Heavy armor and dual wields one-hand melee weapons, they can also equip two-hand and ranged bow/crossbow weapons. The Champion has very strong AOE abilities and is considered one of the best DPS classes in LOTRO. Champions build Fervour during combat to use as a resource to unleash their most powerful skills. Guide to the Champion class.
Guardian
Guardians are in the front lines of battle, they protect the Fellowship from enemies and lead the way. The Guardian is clad in Heavy armor and prefers to wield one-hand and shield weapons. They can also equip two-hand melee weapons and use bows/crossbow for ranged pulls. Guardians are an excellent solo class who use defensive skills to hold their ground against strong enemies and many forces. While a Guardian can take a great deal of damage they don’t deal a lot of damage to their opponents and may defeat enemies much slower than other classes.
Warden
The Warden wields spears and javelins in battle, they fight in melee and ranged with single-target, area of effect, and damage over time offensive abilities. The Warden equips Medium armor and uses skills in a combination to build and unleash Gambits, these are abilities that inflict damage, heal, or are defensive in nature.
Classes That Can Tank and Take Heavy Damage?
The primary tank class in LOTRO is the Guardian, with the Beorning and Captain as strong secondary tank roles.
Which LOTRO Class Can Heal?
Minstrel
Minstrel have the most extensive healing kit in LOTRO, they heal the Fellowships morale with songs and provide inspiration in the form of buffs. They equip Light armor and can choose from a variety of instruments to heal with, they can also equip daggers, clubs, maces, and swords for offensive situations. Minstrels are always needed in a Fellowship raid or group instance. The Minstrel can switch stances to disperse healing or damage in solo encounters. Minstrels can cure and shield fellows, fear or crowd-control enemies, and revive players when needed.
Beorning
Beorning’s specialized in The Roar (Yellow) traits provide strong heals, buffs, and crowd control abilities. They equip Heavy armor and can dual wield melee weapons, or choose a two handed weapon. The Beorning is a skin-changer who uses Wrath to fuel their abilities changing from man-form into bear-form and vice versa. Placing the Mark of Grimbeorn on an ally bolsters the ally with buffs and other heals. Beornings use targeted heals, HOTs, and self-heals in a Fellowship.
Rune-keeper
Rune-keepers are strong healers that provide heals over time (HOTs) and buffs to the Fellowship. They wear Light armor and carry rune-stones to inscribe powerful words of magic. The Rune-keeper is a hybrid class as it can switch from heals to DPS in rather quick succession through its Attunement Meter, shifting the power of battle to the left (Dagor) or healing to the right (Nestad). Attunement dictates what skills may or may not be used at certain times, and can even influence the effectiveness of some abilities.
Support Healing
Captains can specialize in the Hands of Healing (Blue) traits to heal fellows while they are attacking in melee combat, they have skills that buff and heal fellows over time in an area near the Captain.
As a side note, many classes have a single utility heal that is generally used for “oops” moments and usually on a long cool-down.
What LOTRO Classes Use Magical Spells?
Rune-keepers
Rune-keepers are masters of fire and lightning in their Dagor (Battle) attunement. The Cleansing Flame (Red) specialization bolsters the Rune-keeper with fire-based damage and DOTs abilities. The Solitary Thunder (Yellow) traits offer a mobile fighting style with instant cast lightning spells in the form of damage, debuffs, and stuns. Guide to the Rune-keeper class.
Lore-master
Lore-masters are a Support class that uses nature spells, fire and air in battle alongside their companion pets. The Lore-master wears Light armor and wields a staff, book, and sword. They are considered the best defensive support class in LOTRO, masters of beast-lore and crowd-control. Lore-masters provide the Fellowship with power regeneration, strong AOE, debuffs and stuns on enemies. Learn about the Lore-master class.
Which LOTRO Classes Are Ranged In Combat?
Hunters
Hunters are a DPS ranged class that utilizes the bow as its primary weapon with a sword or dagger for up-close encounters. The Hunter wears Medium armor and is capable of dispersing high single-target damage quickly and with ease. Hunters are masters of ranged-attacks and can utilize traps extensively in it’s Trapper of Foes (Yellow) trait line. If you prefer a mobile/kiting play-style pick Huntsman (Blue), if you like to serve strong damage at the cost of standing in place, choose the Bowmaster (Red). Guide to the Hunter Class.
Lore-master & Rune-keeper
Other classes that can fight at range in a magical capacity are the Lore-master and Rune-keeper.
Classes That Summon Pets
Lore-master
Lore-master is the master of beast lore, through leveling they will befriend several different pets that are essential to a Lore-masters survival and combat prowess. These pets provide unique combat abilities that assist the Lore-master and its fellows. The pets are: Bear, Raven, Eagle, Lynx, Bog-Guardian, Nature Spirit, and Saber-tooth Cat. Each pet may be customized with different appearances that can be collected and learned.
Captain
Captain is capable of summoning a Herald to carry your banner and fight at your side providing buffs to Fellows, these soldiers have unique abilities and can also be customized in appearances. They are Heralds of Hope, War, and Victory and an Archer at level 40.
All classes can learn and summon non-combat cosmetic pets that follow you around.
What Classes Can Sneak?
Burglars are adept at sneaking around its enemies or to use it as an advantage in combat.
Hunters can use Camouflage to hide themselves while they are standing still.
Wardens use Careful Step to sneak for a short time on a 3-minute cooldown. This allows the Warden to initiate an Ambush move.
Some races, Hobbits and Elves have a racial trait that allows them to stealth at a reduced speed with a 30-minute cooldown.
Classes That Can Travel Far Places Quickly? Or Summon Fellow Players?
Hunters can travel quickly with Travel Skills and Wayfaring, and teleport their Fellowship with them. The Hunter gains access to travel locations while leveling, there are approximately 50 locations a fully leveled Hunter can quickly travel to. Some of these travel skills are unlocked with quests and reputations. Hunters can also set a Camp at any campfire on the map, this acts like a secondary Milestone for them.
Wardens are capable of traveling to far places with the use of a Mustering Horn, they can gain these skills through reputation. These are Warden only teleports, they cannot summon their fellows.
Guardian (38) can created an Acorn to give or send to an ally to be summoned to their side. Captains (40) can use a rallying horn that will summon members of their fellowship to them.
Any player can use a Mustering Horn to summon a fellow that is at or above the level area where they are being summoned to, these horns are red in color and located at Camp Fire sites, usually found near instances and in some towns.
Which Class Plays Musical Instruments?
Minstrels are the musicians of Middle-earth, they can learn to play all instruments. Minstrels can teach other classes to play instruments through mentoring. They can also learn to scribe instructional manuals to give to other players to learn instruments.
All players have a set of musical instruments they are capable of playing, the information is found in your Passive Skills (K) panel, they will need to be mentored by a Minstrel to learn additional instruments.
What Is The Easiest LOTRO Class To Learn?
Champion for melee and Hunter for ranged, the two classes offer a straight forward approach to combat, they have good utility skills and are simple to learn. Hunter is one of the most popular classes.
What Is The Most Difficult LOTRO Class To Master?
Warden, the class has a complex Gambit system that is completely unique to LOTRO and it takes some time to master the rotation and learn each of its skills. The Warden has a proactive play-style and usually requires some planning ahead of time on what skills to use in combat, depending on the situation. With all classes, starting out will feel different than at higher levels, the Warden begins to shine around levels 30-40 and beyond.
Which Is The Best Solo Class in LOTRO?
The answer to this question is subjective with several factors involved, here are some suggestions based on my experience and community input.
If you’re wanting to play LOTRO solo, without a fellowship or friends, many of the classes are capable of solo questing and completing content across the landscape. Champion, Hunter, Beorning, and Captain are a few classes that can level rather efficiently.
Lore-master too, though their core function is a support role their damage is lower than the above mentioned classes, at lower levels they require their pet to maintain decent damage, when they get into the 40’s they can provide more damage alongside their pet.
Guardian and Minstrel are good at soloing, though at a much slower pace.
What’s Next?
I hope you found this guide to classes helpful, next I recommend our Quick-Start for beginners guide to learn what you can unlock along your travels to endgame. If you like addons and mods in your games, we have a list of useful plug-ins you may find helpful. Happy questing!
FAQs
What is the best class in LOTRO 2023? ›
Champion. The quintessential warrior class, the Champion equips Heavy armor and dual wields one-hand melee weapons, they can also equip two-hand and ranged bow/crossbow weapons. The Champion has very strong AOE abilities and is considered one of the best DPS classes in LOTRO.
Which class to pick LOTRO? ›If you want to be the kind of class that everyone is excited to see show up in a group, you really can't go wrong with a Captain or Lore-master, as both bring a whole lot to the table with buffs and battlefield-changing utility.
What is the new class in LOTRO 2023? ›The Brawler is the newest class to LOTRO! It offers unique fist-fighting with battle-gauntlets as their weapon type (these function as a single 2-handed weapon) and the point-based Mettle system, which is built and consumed in combat, much like Fervour (Champion) or Focus (Hunter).
What is the best DPS class in Lord of the Rings Online? ›- Champ (most useful dps class for nearly all content)
- Hunter (very high single target dps)
- Warden (very high dps but not as reliable)
- Beorning (arguably better than warden, cause of epic debuffs but only if you don't already have beo healer in the group)
Explorer makes one of the best Vocations to have for the character you play most often as you can gather resources and funnel those to your alternate characters for use in their Vocations. A Forester processes hides for leather crafting in the Tailor profession, which allows the creation of light and medium armor.
What is the best class in Elder Ring? ›Samurai. The Samurai comes in with the highest Endurance stat across all starting classes. This is one of the most versatile kits to start with. Equipped with the Land of Reeds armor set and Red Thorn Roundshield, Samurais have a high physical defense.
What is the best race for champion in LOTRO 2023? ›Best Race for Champion
The best race for a Champion regarding damage output and overall utility will be Man or Dwarf. While these are excellent choices for this class, I always recommend choosing the race you like most.
LOTRO is a game designed to offer a variety of play experiences, and soloing is very viable for all of the Classes. It is not necessary to choose a particular class to solo effectively, although some classes are more enjoyable to solo with than others.
What class is best for raiding LOTRO? ›Minstrel/Beorning are probably your best bet for raiding. RK healing is really strong right now but has often been a situational pick. Burglar is the same as LM, always needed for a raid but if you're an exceptional burg, people will always be tapping you on the shoulder for group content.
Can you change class in LOTRO? ›Nope, you'd have to roll another toon. You can change the name of your toon only.
What is the best race for a hunter in LOTRO? ›
Which Race is Best for a Hunter? Hunters can be the following races: Dwarf, Elf, High Elf, Hobbit, Man, or Stout Axe. If you're looking for the best Hunter race in terms of damage output you would want to go with the Elf race, if you want to be a bit hardy choose Hobbit, if you like utility the Race of Man.
How many active players does LOTRO have? ›We estimate the daily player count of The Lord of the Rings Online to be 29,125, with a total player base of 3,065,821.
What is the most powerful class in LotRO? ›As the name suggests, the Hunter is primarily a ranged DPS class. However, players will also have melee attacks with duel-wielded weapons to finish off anyone who gets too close. Hunters are available for Dwarves, Elves, High Elves, Hobbits, and Men and are easily one of the most powerful classes in LotRO.
What is the most popular Lord of the Rings Online server? ›Currently the most populated European server is Evernight with English as its primary language. The Evernight server has a robust community for casual and end-game content with plenty of Kinships to choose from. If you're looking for character progression and end-game you will find more players here for that content.
What is the best race in Lord of the Rings game? ›If one thing is for certain, it's that the Elves fare well on the Lord of the Rings: Rise to War best factions list. They're a powerful bunch. Even during the game's beta, Lothlórien often topped the charts, with a massive portion of it being those playing with the Elves.
What is the rarest title in LOTRO? ›“Hero of Legend” - land the killing blow on 50,000 creeps in the Ettenmoors.
How do I choose my profession in LOTRO? ›You can choose a vocation after reaching Level 5 by speaking with a Master of Apprentices in a crafting center. Immediately after selecting a vocation the Master of Apprentices will offer you three introduction quests, one for each of the professions associated with your vocation.
Is Hunter a good class LOTRO? ›The Red Hunter provides excellent high DPS through long-range stationary attacks. As a class, Hunters have always been a reliable choice in raids and instances for a long time due to their ranged attacks capable of dishing out high-burst damage while staying. Making them ideal as a DPS for all types of content.
What is the most overpowered class in Elden Ring? ›1 Astrologer
Sorceries are extremely powerful, so Elden Ring's Sorcery-focused class is arguably its strongest. The Astrologer begins with several powerful and practical Sorceries that may not be flashy but are nevertheless great at helping a player slay enemies and master the magic system.
Confessor. Similar to the Prisoner, the Elden Ring Confessor class blends the balanced melee capabilities of the Vagabond with the Faith-focused Incantations of the Prophet.
What is the most powerful starting class in Elden Ring? ›
The Confessor has the highest starting level of any origin and starts the game with a decent shield, which is a valuable tool to have in hand if you're not quite up to speed with FromSoft combat yet.
Can you get married in LOTRO? ›You just have to do it in a different way. If you are not a Roleplayer and just wish to play as a married couple, all you have to do is agree on a common surname and then both visit the Notary npc and change your last names to that.
What armor should a champion wear LOTRO? ›Champions can wear heavy armor starting at level 20, use any one-handed or two-handed melee weapon besides staves, duel-wield, and can use a bow or a champion horn. Champions start using two-handed weapons at level 10.
What is the current max level in LOTRO? ›Levels. Level represents the experience and strength of characters, NPCs, and Mobs, friendly and enemy alike. The maximum level (or "level cap") is 140. Each level requires an increasing amount of experience points, regardless of race or class.
What is the best race in LOTRO warden? ›High elves make for great Red Captains, Red Wardens and Champions. All High-Elves have 4 Passive Skills, that are always present. High-Elves have access to 9 race traits that can be unlocked by doing specific slayer and reputation deeds.
Does Amazon own Lord of the Rings Online? ›Amazon has reached a deal with Embracer Group, the company that holds the IP rights for “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit,” to release a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
How long does it take to walk across LOTRO? ›It would take approximately 6 hours and 18 minutes to walk across the entire map.
What is the easiest Raid class in Shadowlands? ›The easiest in mastering as well as in effectiveness are Retribution Paladin, Frost DK, Demon Hunters (DH), Beast Mastery Hunters, and Fury Warriors.
What is the best class for beginners in Guild Wars? ›- 9 Elementalist.
- 8 Guardian.
- 7 Warrior.
- 6 Ranger.
- 5 Thief.
- 4 Revenant.
- 3 Engineer.
- 2 Mesmer.
How to level up champions fast. The fastest way to level up champions in RAID: Shadow Legends is to use all your XP brews and then farm stage 6 of any chapter in the campaign with an XP boost when you have no more brews. XP brews are not easy to farm, so most of them you'll get from events, tournaments, and free packs.
Can you own multiple houses in LOTRO? ›
Can I own more than one house on a server? You can only have one personal house per server per account. However, if one of your characters is a kinship leader of a kinship of Rank 7 or greater, that character is eligible to purchase a kinship house.
How much does it cost to transfer LOTRO? ›LOTRO Character Transfers are now available and can be purchased using LOTRO Points! The current costs to transfer a character or shared items as as follows: Character Transfer: 2495 LOTRO Points. Shared Items Transfer: 495 LOTRO Points (free with a character transfer, only at the time of the character transfer)
What is the difference between legendary and normal server LOTRO? ›On standard servers, players can reach the maximum level cap with no restrictions, and players adventure in the story beyond the destruction of the One Ring. The Legendary servers start with only initial Level 50 and below content, with a focus on the Shadows of Angmar story.
What racial is best for Hunter PvE? ›The best Horde Hunter race for PvE is Troll, while for PvP or a mix of PvP and PvE, the best race is Orc.
What race looks best as Hunter? ›Orc is the answer to any best looking race question.
What race should I play Hunter with? ›Best Looking Race for Hunters: Draenei/Blood Elf
It should come as no surprise that, with such a rich history of legends, the Blood Elves look good as Hunters. The Blood Elves make their race's fiery colors look good with grace and prestige fitting a master marksman.
Lord of the Rings Online is entering its 16th year of ongoing operation, and developer Standing Stone Games has now outlined its "ambitious" plans for 2023. Additionally, the studio said it's looking forward to the next 15 years of LOTRO, running up to 2038 and potentially beyond.
Does anyone still play LOTRO? ›Population. The LOTRO population has seen a resurgence over the last year or so and is currently quite healthy with around 100K active players.
Does LOTRO have companions? ›LOTRO Companion is a desktop application. It manages characters of the Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) MMORPG.
What are the best LOTRO tanks? ›Captain is one of the best tanks in LOTRO, as they have the pretty good survival and offer some of the best group utility when compared to other tanks.
What class is Gandalf in LOTRO? ›
Gandalf and Saruman are both wizards (i.e. a non-playable class in Lotro). Gandalf is not of the human race, but he is Istari (Saruman probably too). Both were members of the wizards order, which Saruman was the head of.
What stats are most important for champion LOTRO? ›The two primary stats champion gear should focus on are might and vitality - focusing primarily on might. The most important stat for a champion is physical mastery which might is the primary contributor of (1 point of might is equivalent to 10 points of physical mastery).
What are the biggest cities in LOTRO? ›- Bree.
- Festivals.
- Erebor.
- Galtrev.
- Rivendell.
- Pre-battle Minas Tirith.
Last week we began our thorough tour through Lord of the Rings Online's largest city, Minas Tirith, combing through the first three tiers in search of unique sights and interior spaces.
How big is the world in Lord of the Rings Online? ›If my calculations are good, that would mean the LOTRO's map is about half the size of the whole earth's inhabitable area. This video also gives an estimate of 77,700 square kilometers which is exactly 30000 square miles.
What is the weakest race in LOTR? ›Hobbits are one of the weakest races in the LOTR universe. Most could be defeated by simply ruining their lunch. Hobbits are charming and valuable people but they aren't a very strong race.
What are the bad races in Lord of the Rings? ›- Ringwraiths. Main article: Nazgûl. ...
- The Dead. Also known as ghosts or shades, they were spirits of Men unable to pass on to the afterlife. ...
- Uruk-hai. Sauron and Saruman the wizard bred an unusually large and powerful type of orc, the Uruk-hai. ...
- Half-orcs. ...
- Goblins. ...
- Olog-hai. ...
- Half-trolls.
- 1 Aragorn. In many ways, Aragorn was the most powerful warrior in the Fellowship.
- 2 Sam. Image via New Line Cinema. ...
- 3 Gandalf. ...
- 4 Eowyn. ...
- 5 Gimli. ...
- 6 Faramir. ...
- 7 Thorin. ...
- 8 Legolas. ...
Additionally, there will be a new expansion coming to LOTRO in the second half 2023. The studio isn't sharing specifics yet, but Maki said it will take players to "less traveled shores" in the south. "Across the salty sea, beyond the Bay of Belfalas to the shore of the Corsair Kings, Umbar.
What is the best Race for a hunter in LOTRO? ›Which Race is Best for a Hunter? Hunters can be the following races: Dwarf, Elf, High Elf, Hobbit, Man, or Stout Axe. If you're looking for the best Hunter race in terms of damage output you would want to go with the Elf race, if you want to be a bit hardy choose Hobbit, if you like utility the Race of Man.
Is Hunter good in LOTRO? ›
The Red Hunter provides excellent high DPS through long-range stationary attacks. As a class, Hunters have always been a reliable choice in raids and instances for a long time due to their ranged attacks capable of dishing out high-burst damage while staying. Making them ideal as a DPS for all types of content.
Can you play LOTRO solo? ›LOTRO is a game designed to offer a variety of play experiences, and soloing is very viable for all of the Classes. It is not necessary to choose a particular class to solo effectively, although some classes are more enjoyable to solo with than others.
How many people still play lotro? ›We estimate the daily player count of The Lord of the Rings Online to be 29,125, with a total player base of 3,065,821.
How many houses can you own in lotro? ›Can I own more than one house on a server? You can only have one personal house per server per account. However, if one of your characters is a kinship leader of a kinship of Rank 7 or greater, that character is eligible to purchase a kinship house.
Can you get married in lotro? ›You just have to do it in a different way. If you are not a Roleplayer and just wish to play as a married couple, all you have to do is agree on a common surname and then both visit the Notary npc and change your last names to that.
What is the most populated US server in LOTRO? ›Arkenstone – US
One of the most populated servers is Arkenstone with players from the US and all over the world. This server has many Kinships that focus on casual and end-game content. If you are in the Asian/Oceanic time zone you may consider Arkenstone as it is well populated in peak hours.
Another essential thing to note is that free players are limited with the quest packs. Quests up to level 95 are free, but they will need to spend money if they want to take on higher-level quests.
What is the minimum level for legendary weapon LOTRO? ›How do I get a Legendary Item or Weapon? You will receive your first Legendary Weapon and Item around level 50 when you run through the Mines of Moria; alternatively, you can purchase Legendary Items with Ancient Script that you will receive throughout the game.
Do you have to buy all expansions for LOTRO? ›In other words, if you're subbed to LOTRO, you'll have immediate access to literally everything except Fate of Gundabad, the most recent paid expansion; non-subbers will have to buy only the last three expansions (and War of Three Peaks, if they choose) to have full run of the game.
How much do the LOTRO expansions cost? ›Standard Edition. $19. Lord of the Rings Online: Before the Shadow expansion is scheduled for release on November 15th, 2022.