A Casual Stroll to Mordor

Project Altoholism: The Minstrel and How I Am Leveling It

Posted on 30. Sep, 2009 by Merric in General, New Player Advice, Project Altoholism

First off, let me say that I by no means am an expert at playing the Minstrel.  So please, look at this at not only as a chance for me to share how I am playing my minstrel, but for others to share how they play theirs as well.

Currently, my Minstrel is level 15 and well on his way to my current “Alt Level Cap” of 20, until the rest of my characters are ready to advance as well.  But I’d like to take this opportunity not only to share my views and opinions on the character at this time, including the skills that he is using and how I am putting them into a rotation.  I am by no means an expert, nor do I play one on TV.  However, I am an avid gamer and I think I’m fairly good at figuring things out.

First, for those who have not played a Minstrel and think they’re wimpy; well I think you’re wrong.  At least at this level they are definitely a powerhouse capable of solo’ing most content.  Healing?  Healing is for survival, but not the main goal of the class.  It’s all about shouts and out-damaging any mob that dares to show its face around you.  Sure, maybe the Minstrel is meant to be a main healer at end-game, but right now it’s a damage machine.

First of all, here is how I currently have my bar set up:

The intent of the setup is for the player to progress through the skills in an easily sequential number, with an “Oh No!” button as the very last option.  This setup may not be suitable for you personally, but this is how I like it.  I strongly suggest that no matter what you use for a rotation (meaning a progression of skills you use on a normal basis), that you group them on the bar in a logical fashion.

The Skills

Key Binding	Skill Icon	Skill Name	Purpose
1		Ballad of Resonance	Direct Damage + % Bonus to Tactical Damage*
2		Ballad of Vigour	Direct Damage + Buff to Vitality*
3		Ballad of Steel	Direct Damage + Buff to Armor*
4		Ballad of Swiftness	Direct Damage + % Attack Duration Decrease*
5		Ballad of War	Fellowship % Bonus to Melee Damage*
6		Herald’s Strike	Main-Hand Weapon + Damage
7		Raise the Spirit	Single-Target Heal
8		Inspire Fellows	Fellowship Heal + % reduction to incoming Ranged, Tactical, and Melee Damage
C+1		Piercing Cry	Direct Damage
C+2		Echoes of Battle	Single-Target Debuff to Song and Cry Resist Rating + Direct Damage + Damage over Time
C+4		Ballad of Balance	Direct Damage + Bonus to Evade Rating*
C+5		Ballad of Unshakeable Will	Fellowship Bonus to Fear Resist Rating*
=		Cry of the Valar	Single-Target Fear

* = Also gives a % Bonus to Healing and Motivation Skills Morale Healing

Pulling:

For pulling, use Echoes of Battle in order to reduce the mob’s resist rating.  You can also use Cry of the Valar if you believe you are going to get multiple mobs, and then switch to your primary target and begin with the use of Echoes of Battle.  While you can use a direct damage to pull, doing so runs the risk of missing or being resisted.  *updated 11/6/2009 per dwolfe

My Normal Rotation:

First, I use Echoes of Battle to debuff the mob.  This is very important as it will significantly reduce the target’s resistance rating to songs and cry’s that you perform on a mob and should shorten your fight significantly.  If this buff should happen to fall off or you switch to another target, make sure to use it again so that whatever mob you are focusing on keeps this buff on.  This is a toggled skill, so it will not readily be available after its current target is killed or you toggle it off to put it on another target.  Just remember to put it back on as soon as its cooldown is over.  *updated 11/6/2009 per dwolfe

Depending on which skill I used to pull (Piercing Cry or Ballad of Resonance), I will usually use the other one as my next skill.  Then I will move down the line in sequential fashion, continuing with Ballad of Vigour, Ballad of Steel, Ballad of Swiftness and then Ballad of Balance.  If the mob is still functional with substantial health, I will then use Ballad of War and follow up with Herald’s Strike (mostly for the Deed Herald’s Hammer, your cries and ballads will overall be more effective) and then start with the rotation again.

Healing:

With the reduction of XP necessary to level, you should probably go up against less powerful mobs than yourself and therefore shouldn’t have as much healing priority in your rotation, but it’s still very important to watch your Morale.  Make sure that you give yourself ample time to heal as well.  I usually start trying to heal at around 50% just to make sure that I have enough time to get through any interruptions that might come from physical combat.  Don’t be afraid to use Cry of the Valar either in order to buy some time to heal.

Multiple Mobs:

Don’t be afraid of multiple mobs; just be sure to use Cry of the Valar as soon as you can and then switch to the next mob and start your rotation with Echoes of Battle.  Realize though that Cry of the Valar’s cooldown exceeds its duration so you won’t be able to keep something feared all the time.  Just remain calm and make sure that you get in Ballad of Vigour, Steel, and Balance as these will keep your Vitality, Armor, and Evade up as well as doing direct damage.  Then simply finish off your first target and fear your extra mob(s) when Valar’s cooldown is finished.

It also doesn’t hurt to have all your potions in your quickslots to replenish morale, power, and to remove debuffs from yourself.

Traits and Deeds:

I’m going to cover these in a later post because this is the time in a character’s development where I really concentrate on leveling.  Quests are usually centralized during these levels and experience comes fast.  However, my suggestion is to take note what Deeds are available for completion and try to work on them if you can.  Zone deeds can be done later in the game when you’re more powerful and can knock them out much more quickly.  On the other hand you can kill some extra mobs and get some experience at the same time; however it’s much faster just to do quests to gain experience than it is to kill mobs.  Class deeds are important because they are usually limited by your level and by a certain amount that can be done per day.  I heavily suggest working on them and trying to incorporate as many of their corresponding skills into your activity.  As an example, try to make sure to heal yourself after every fight to work on Life-singer.

Conclusion:

Really I haven’t made any life-startling announcements concerning how to play Minstrels and there may well be more efficient and more clever ways to play them; but this is how I play mine.  I’m open to any comments and suggestions that more experienced Minstrels might have.

Tags: altoholic, alts, Minstrel, new player