U17-Overview.txt

[CENTER][U][B][SIZE=5]Zon’s Guardian Guide[/SIZE][/B][/U]

[B]Authors:[/B]
Zonflux
[COLOR="#DDA0DD"][I]* Want to become a co-author? Make a contribution to the Guardian Guide on [URL="https://github.com/hdflux/GuardianGuide"]GitHub[/URL] and if approved you will be listed as a co-author. All images must be provided as links.[/I][/COLOR]

[B]Credits:[/B]
Arathaert, mattspencer, dwarfThar, SpicyMacHaggis, commdorvis, balmy_balmy, siipperi, Unglorvien, Proudcdn, Rakanor[/CENTER]


Welcome to my Guardian Guide! While primarily written for level capped Guardians there are still strategical components and class trait builds that will still be useful as you level; for levelling and everything else Guardian related I recommend reading [URL="https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?557663-Arathaert-s-Guardian-Guide"]Arathaert's[/URL] and [URL="https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?557822-Dadi-s-Guide-to-Blue-Line-Tanking-(post-U14"]Dadi's[/URL] Guardian guides.

My goal with this guide was first and foremost to create a guide where everything listed in the guide is attainable without being forced to group ([I]it's an MMO so group if you can, but like me you may have your reasons to mostly solo[/I]).

Second is to inspire and motivate people to feel limitless in their possibilities. I want you to feel that epicness is within your reach, and I want you to achieve feats of greatness after learning from my guide.

Third is the final component of my guide which goes beyond what is achievable solo, your true endgame fellowship/raiding Guardian, a level of epicness where legends are not just born, they are made.

I have divided the guide into the first several posts of this thread.

Without further ado, enjoy reading my guide!


[COLOR="#FF8C00"][SIZE=4][B][U]Table of Contents[/U][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]


[LIST=1]
[*]Virtues
[*]Essence Tips
[*]Key Class Trait Tree Builds while Levelling
[*]Guardian Video Guide
[*]Builds
[LIST=a]
[*]Tanking
[LIST=i]
[*][URL="https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?579311-Zon-s-Guardian-Guide&p=7459662#post7459662"]Tanking Strategies[/URL]
[*][URL="https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?579311-Zon-s-Guardian-Guide&p=7459663#post7459663"]U17 Tank[/URL] | U18 Tank
[*][URL="https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?579311-Zon-s-Guardian-Guide&p=7459664#post7459664"]U17 Threat Tank[/URL] | U18 Threat Tank
[/LIST]
[*][URL="https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?579311-Zon-s-Guardian-Guide&p=7459666#post7459666"]U17 DPS[/URL] | U18 DPS
[*][URL="https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?579311-Zon-s-Guardian-Guide&p=7459667#post7459667"]U17 Solo Survivalist[/URL] | U18 Solo Survivalist
[*][URL="https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?579311-Zon-s-Guardian-Guide&p=7459668#post7459668"]U17 PvMP[/URL] | U18 PvMP
[/LIST]
[*][URL="https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?579311-Zon-s-Guardian-Guide&p=7459668#post7459668"]U17 Legendary Items[/URL] | U18 Legendary Items
[/LIST]


[COLOR="#FF8C00"][SIZE=4][B][-= 1. Virtues =-][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]


[B]A list of Virtues that I use with their important stats shown:[/B]

[LIST]
[*]Zeal(19) - 517 Morale, 923 Physical Mitigation
[*]Valour(19) - 517 Morale, 57 Might
[*]Discipline(19) - 171 Might, 1638 Resistance, 513 Physical Mitigation
[*]Fidelity(19) - 1539 Tactical Mitigation, 76 Vitality
[*]Tolerance(19) - 1539 Tactical Mitigation, 114 Agility, 107 iCMR
[*]Confidence(19) - 3278 Resistance, 77 iCPR
[*]Honour(19) - 3278 Resistance, 923 Tactical Mitigation, 38 Vitality
[*]Charity(19) - 3278 Resistance, 923 Physical Mitigation
[*]Loyalty(19) - 114 Vitality
[*]Innocence(19) - 1539 Physical Mitigation, 1638 Resistance, 513 Tactical Mitigation
[*]Justice(19) - 214 iCMR, 259 Morale
[/LIST]
[B]Morale + Tactical Mitigations:[/B]
[INDENT]Zeal, Valour, Discipline, Fidelity, Tolerance
[I]* Useful when you don't want to use additional essences of Tactical Mitigation.[/I][/INDENT]

[B]Resistance:[/B]
[INDENT]Valour, Discipline, Honour, Charity, Confidence
[I]* If your Tactical Mitigation is already high then the huge amount of Resistances offered by these virtues is well worth the investment.[/I][/INDENT]

[B]Morale:[/B]
[INDENT]Zeal, Valour, Loyalty, Fidelity, Justice
[I]* When Morale is important. Personally I feel as though Resistance trumps Morale.[/I][/INDENT]



[COLOR="#FF8C00"][SIZE=4][B][-= 2. Essence Tips =-][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]


As someone who has wasted countless scroll of essence reclamation the biggest advice that I can give you is to group essences of the same type together on a single gear or jewellery piece.

If you have say tanking and DPS builds then by having two gloves, one with all Morale and the other with all Physical Mastery, you can easily swap your gloves out depending on your build.

By having your essences grouped together it also allows you to park or finalize that essence piece so that you never have to touch it again. There will still be some straggler essences such as Tactical Mitigation, Finesse and Critical Rating that you can then group together on a single essence piece.

Speaking of Critical Rating, sometimes you can get away with using legendary item relics that have Critical Rating on them to save having to use an essence on them. The Setting of Endings, the Gem of Endurance are just a couple relics with high Critical Rating on them.

This strategy has worked out the best for me when it comes to planning out my essence gear and jewellery as well as the ease of making modifications to my essence configuration.



[COLOR="#FF8C00"][SIZE=4][B][-= 3. Key Class Trait Tree Builds while Levelling =-][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]


[LIST]
[*][URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hdflux/GuardianGuide/master/images/Red-28pt.jpg"]28 Points[/URL] ~ Morale+Power on Crit, ST Skills, Pledge
[*][URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hdflux/GuardianGuide/master/images/Red-43pt.jpg"]43 Points[/URL] ~ Prey on the Weak
[*][URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hdflux/GuardianGuide/master/images/Red-59pt.jpg"]59 Points[/URL] ~ Cap spread and refresh of bleeds, Warchant
[*][URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hdflux/GuardianGuide/master/images/Red-67pt.jpg"]67 Points[/URL] ~ Honourable Combat, buffed Ignore the Pain, Thrill of Danger
[/LIST]


[COLOR="#FF8C00"][SIZE=4][B][-= 4. Guardian Video Guide =-][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]


Currently my Guardian Video Guide is made for Update 15. Once I update the video guide for Update 17 I will add it to here as well.

[SIZE=2][B]Playlist[/B][/SIZE]
[URL]http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZsjwvJyw0T8v8nDvhSv2N3Azvq_Oqvve[/URL]

[SIZE=2][U][B]Table of Contents[/B][/U][/SIZE]

[LIST]
[*][URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHhbBGxQnIE&list=PLZsjwvJyw0T8v8nDvhSv2N3Azvq_Oqvve&index=1"][B]Chapter 1: Gear, Jewellery and Legendary Items[/B][/URL]
[*][B]Chapter 2: Trait Trees[/B]
[LIST]
[*][B][URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWTCcDdQt1w&list=PLZsjwvJyw0T8v8nDvhSv2N3Azvq_Oqvve&index=2"]Chapter 2i: Red AoE & SnB[/URL][/B]
[*][URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjaf8cSGtdM&list=PLZsjwvJyw0T8v8nDvhSv2N3Azvq_Oqvve&index=3"][B]Chapter 2ii: Blue Tank[/B][/URL]
[*][URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOHMvJrXzMM&list=PLZsjwvJyw0T8v8nDvhSv2N3Azvq_Oqvve&index=4"][B]Chapter 2iii: Yellow[/B][/URL]
[*][URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5umdbpSg5c&list=PLZsjwvJyw0T8v8nDvhSv2N3Azvq_Oqvve&index=5"][B]Chapter 2iv: PvMP Ettenmoors - Red[/B][/URL]
[/LIST]
[*][URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4oOxF93Xbw&list=PLZsjwvJyw0T8v8nDvhSv2N3Azvq_Oqvve&index=6"][B]Chapter 3: Single-target Survivability[/B][/URL]
[*][URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=868V9deGyhU&list=PLZsjwvJyw0T8v8nDvhSv2N3Azvq_Oqvve&index=7"][B]Chapter 4: AoE Survivability[/B][/URL]
[*][URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1GCm_jA_CI&list=PLZsjwvJyw0T8v8nDvhSv2N3Azvq_Oqvve&index=8"][B]Chapter 5: Early Battle - Debuffs and Bleeds[/B][/URL]
[*][URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9wUxPRc-NY&list=PLZsjwvJyw0T8v8nDvhSv2N3Azvq_Oqvve&index=9"][B]Chapter 6: End Game Gear and Jewellery[/B][/URL]
[*][URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPxcDVXBqrI&index=10&list=PLZsjwvJyw0T8v8nDvhSv2N3Azvq_Oqvve"][B]Chapter 7: PvMP Gear and Build[/B][/URL]
[/LIST]


[COLOR="#FF8C00"][SIZE=4][B][-= 5. Builds =-][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]


Everything you need to know about each build including target stats, gear, jewellery, legendary items and class trait tree builds.

[COLOR="#DDA0DD"][I]* All stats are now reflective of Rank 14 stat tomes.
* To further on the use of stat tomes.. it's nigh impossible to build a guide that accounts for different levels of stat tomes, as such I have opted for max stat tomes. Grind is part of the game.[/I][/COLOR]

Ultimately treat the following builds as guides for you to reference and create your own hybrid build personally catered to your own Guardian.

All Recruit and Veteran build gear can either be bartered through the Skirmish Camp or instance farmed from the following loot table ([I]it's for Update 12 but just remember that this loot scales so it is good for level cap as well[/I]).
https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?535472-Update-12-1-Scaling-Instance-Loot