This is a guide to fellowshipping based on what I’ve learned in my time leveling my two 65’s and doing end game instances and raids. I’m not saying it’ll be perfect, and people will always have differing opinions, but this guide will be a good start for those of you just starting out in this game. It’s better to learn the basics as soon as you can, because the higher in level you get the more people will expect from you and the less forgiving they are if you continually screw up the group.
[+] WAIT, WHO AM I AGAIN??? [+]
To start, I’ll talk about your role in the fellowship. Each class has their parts to play, and when they know what’s expected of them, things will go a lot smoother.
1. Guardians and Wardens - I grouped these together because they are both tanks. I’m aware of their different play styles, and I’ll mention them a little later. For the most part, these guys are the meat shields. They will be the first to pull mobs and they’ll hold the agro to save the rest of you. Their primary role is the gaining and keeping of agro, not DPS, so remember that.
2. Champions - These are the primary melee DPS people. Their role is to kill kill kill. Their AOE’s can help make quick work of tightly-packed and weaker mobs, and can help keep agro off of all your squishies out there. Champs make very good off-tanks as well, and in a pinch they can main tank in the even of the main tank’s death. However, they mainly tank via DPS and not threat, though in the 40’s they get a few agro-management skills.
3. Hunters - The primary ranged DPSers, also called nukers. They put out a lot of DPS at range, and are always handy. However, they’re also known as agro whores because of the enormous agro that their DPS gets them. This can cause problems and annoy the hell out of your tank, so you have to be careful. Staying out of Strength stance will be a big help. Use Endurance stance if you have it, or Precision stance if you don’t.
Hunters also get some very nice CC (crowd control) skills in the later level. The best one is a legendary skill called Rain of Thorns. This skill is just like Rain of Arrows, except it also roots all the mobs it hits for 30s. Very useful at the start of a big fight. Their other CC skill is Bard’s Arrow, another legendary. It’s a handy 30s single-target fear. Useful if you start to get overwhelmed. And, of course, the hunter’s traps are always useful and appreciated.
4. Captains - This class is one of the most dynamic, in my opinion. It has many abilities, though buffing is their most useful skill in groups. If traited for it, they can also make damn good off-healers at high levels. If you’re a captain in a group, you should always remember to buff everyone in the group. They’ll definitely appreciate the extra morale. Also, some captains forget that their Parry, Crit, and Power Regen buffs can be applied to more than one person, so make sure you buff each party member.
Captains are also good for their heralds and banners. It’s good to know when to use which, so I’ll tell you here. In the average fight with regular mobs, heralds are probably a good choice for their little bit of DPS and the skills they can use to help the captain, such as the heal. However, in boss fights, there is a good chance that the herald might die, and the group will lose the buff. In this case, it’s best to use a banner, which can’t be killed. It’s best to ask your fellowship leader which herald/banner to use, as well.
5. Burgs - My favorite class! Burgs are the sneaky ones with all the Debuffs up their sleeves. As a burg, your main role is making sure you debuff all of the mobs you can, and to be the FM (fellowship maneuver) machine. A burg’s ability to start FMs on queue can save their fellowship from a wipe, or severely hurt their enemies. As a burg, it’s usually assumed that you know your FMs, and a fellowship leader will usually ask a burg which FM they recommend if the leader is unsure. Contrary to what some believe, a burg is NOT a primary DPS class, though we’re certainly not lacking. That being said, while you’re not debuffing and starting FM’s, DPSing will be your main role.
Burgs also bring some nice CC to the game with their Riddle skill. In Mischief stance, they can keep a single mob chain mezzed indefinitely because Riddle becomes a 30s mez on a 30s cd. However, without Mischief stance active, the cd becomes 1m, and is therefore less useful. I almost always recommend that burgs run in Mischief stance while grouped, unless directed by the leader to stealth so they can start an FM with their trip skill.
6. Loremasters - Ah yes, the CC masters, and always a good power battery for other players in the group. Their ability to AOE mez and root mobs is invaluable in instances with large fights, and their ability to steal power from mobs and transfer their own power to other fellowship members can make sure they have enough power to carry the day and vanquish that nasty boss. As a loremaster, you’ll spend most of your time CCing mobs, yelling at the annoying people that break your mezzes, and throwing around your awe-inspiring tactical damage.
Oh, LM’s can’t possibly have more uses than that, can they? Wrong! LM’s also have pets! However, it’s very important for them to learn exactly what their pets can do. As I’ve only leveled a LM to 20, I don’t have a lot of first-hand experience, but I know what I’ve seen. A LM using the right pet has saved fellowships from certain death, and a LM using their pet in the wrong way has doomed fellowships to the land of Wipeage. You should learn which pet has which group buffs and how best to implement them. Facing a lot of shadow damage? Call up that trusty raven with his group buff for Shadow Damage Defense. Unsure if your healer can keep up with the tank’s incoming damage? Summon up the old bear! His force-attack roar can draw the boss onto himself and give the healer some precious time to get that tank back to full health.
However, you need to use the correct settings for your pet… For the love of all that is holy, turn off the settings that make the pet attack what’s attacking you! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a pet go after a ranged mob and end up aggroing another 5 mobs while he’s over there. When the pet dies, the agro WILL transfer to the group, and those extra mobs will run over and make everyone’s lives hell. So remember to turn that off kthnxbye.
7. Runekeeper - This is the glass cannon class of the game. I’ve played one of these up to level 35, and both healed and DPSed in groups with one. Amazing tactical DPS at the cost of extreme squishiness. This is probably the squishiest class in the game, and the most easily killed if they’re not careful. A runekeeper’s ability to either DPS or heal makes them rather valuable, however they cannot do both at once. Their attunement meter goes towards DPS or healing, depending on what skills they use, and as it goes one or the other it will open up skills in one area and lock off skills in the other. A healing RK cannot DPS and a DPSing RK cannot heal. Their role should be decided at the start of the group so they know what to focus on. Their awesome DPS may grab them agro and they will go down fast if it’s not taken off of them quickly. Luckily for them, they do have an agro reducing skill or two, and they need to remember to use them as soon as they get agro, or even THINK they’ll be getting agro soon.
As a healer, they have to remember that almost all of their heals are HOTs (heal-over-time’s) and need to be a kind of preventive healer rather than a “save you from the brink of death” insta-healer like a minstrel. However, once they get their HOT’s up on a tank and keep them going, they will usually have no trouble keeping the tank up. However, because of their HOT’s, they are best suited to single-target healing, though I’ve done plenty of instances where a RK was healing the whole group. You just need to pay extra special attention to who’s getting agro and toss some preventative heals on them asap. Because they can either DSP or heal, they’re lacking the group buffs of a minstrel.
8. And last, but certainly not least, is the minstrel. This is my second favorite class, and I’m sure you all know how great of a healer I am. Yes, yes, applaud me, damn you!!! Ahem, anyway… The minstrel was designed from the start to be the main group healer. With (arguably) better heals than an RK, the minstrel can keep a fellowship up and fighting with their single- and multi-target heals. When a minstrel isn’t keeping those green bars filled up, they should be buffing their group with all those fun songs they have. A minstrel in a group should almost never be DPSing, with only a few exceptions. Killing the barrow-lights in Thadur is an example of such an exception, where the lights do very little damage and have to be killed quickly.
While in a group, a minstrel’s worst enemy is agro. Minstrels usually have more threat than the tank does, and this causes problems when waves of adds spawn in the middle of a fight. Adds will go after whomever has the highest agro, and that’s almost always the healer. Other group members should be aware of this and make sure they keep adds off of the healer at all costs. If the healer dies, chances are the rest of the group will soon follow. As a minstrel myself, I’ve developed a special hatred towards ranged mobs. These mobs are sometimes never grabbed by other members, and are free to harass me to death. Because they’re in back, it’s important for other group members to make sure they run up and grab them before the minstrel becomes a limp and lifeless pin cushion.
That just about does it for the class roles in a fellowship. Now, onto the next section - Fellowship Maneuvers!!!
[+] LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY COLORS! [+]
Fellowship maneuvers are an extremely important part of grouping, especially in end-game instances. Someone who screws up FM’s repeatedly in end-game instances is usually chewed out and booted from the group, never to be liked again. A sad fate, and one that’s easily avoided with some practice and understanding in the early game! A breakdown of what each color does and how to input said colors is a good place to start.
When an FM (fellowship maneuver) is started, you will see one of two things pop up in the lower right-hand corner of your screen: 1. If you aren’t currently targeting the mob that has the open FM on them, a little bullseye icon will pop up. If you click this, you will auto-target the mob with the open FM and the bullseye will change to the little FM input box; or 2. If you are already targeting the mob when the FM opens, the FM input box will automatically pop up instead of the bullseye icon.
When you have the FM input box open, you will see four colored circles. Starting at the top and going clockwise, they are Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue. You must press one of these circles to input your color, and then remain standing still until the FM completes. You may not attack after you put in your color and wait, so do not try to. You only have a limited amount of time to input your color (4-8 seconds, depending on how the FM started), so make sure you do it as fast as you can.
So you know how to input your color in a groups FM, but what do the colors do? Are they just pretty little graphics to make you happy? Well, yes, but they’re so much more than that! The right combination of colors can save a group from a wipe, and turn the tables in their favor. Let’s take a moment to talk about what color does what.
Red - This is the direct damage button. Putting in red will do direct damage the mob when the FM completes, and from what I’ve seen can have an AOE effect as well, depending on the combo.
Green - This is the morale button. Think green for health! Pressing this button will restore some of your morale when the FM completes, as well as putting a HOT (Heal Over Time) buff on you for a limited time.
Yellow - Pressing this button will stick a DOT (Damage Over Time) on the mob when the FM finishes. This DOT will slowly wittle away the mob’s morale for a limited amount of time.
Blue - This is the counterpart to the green button. Blue causes a power restore when the FM completes, filling a large chunk of your power bar and allowing you to fight on.
Well, seeing as you now know what each color does individually, we’ll address FM Combos. Combos take the individual colors added to them and amplify their effects, also causing them to be group-wide. However, if the group just puts in random colors and doesn’t end up with a named combination, the color effects will only be for whomever entered them. For example, let’s say the group puts in something like GBRYYG. Because this isn’t a named combo, only the two people who put in the Greens will get a morale resore, the person who put in the Blue will be the only person to receive power, and the damage and DOT from the Red and Yellow will receive no bonus. So, onto combos! We’ll start easy… There’s nothing simpler than an FM that’s all one color. We’ll take RRRRRR as an example. This is when everyone puts in Red successfully before the FM completes. This will cause very large amounts of direct damage (remember, red for damage!), but because the group was coordinated enough to all put in a color, it will do bonus damage as well. The more Reds the group gets in, the more damage will be done. For example, if the group only puts in RRR before the FM finishes, they will still do damage to the mob, but the bonus and resulting damage will be less than if they got RRRR or more. The same coordination bonuses apply for all 4 colors, i.e. BBBB will be a bigger group power restore than BBB, etc.
Time for something a little trickier… Multi-color combos are more powerful than single-color combos, and they take a lot more coordination. The one that most of you are familiar with is the one I often use on Great Barrow runs - RRRRRB. This is the simplest multi-colored combo out there. This combination results in a lot of damage to the mob, and a group power restore as well. The first five people put in their Reds, and then the 6th person (usually the healer) puts in a Blue. Because it’s a multi-colored combination, and therefore takes more coordination, the damage and power bonus is more than if it were just five Reds, and because it’s a named combination, the power restore from the Blue is group-wide instead of just for the person who put in the color.
There are, of course, a lot more complicated combinations, ranging from GGGBBB (which is an AWESOME combination, resulting in a huge amount of Morale and Power restoration, but requires more coordination to get the pattern correct) to something very complicated like BRGYBR, which is one of the hardest combinations to pull off, but also has enormous benefits that cover all four colors (a power and morale restore, and both direct damage and a DOT, all with bonuses for getting the combination right).
The most important thing to remember for these combinations is that the order matters! If the order is not correct, you will not get the desired combo. It’s not just about having the right colors in there, it’s about having the right colors in the right places! At the start of an instance, the leader usually selects an FM combo to be used, and then assigns everyone their color and position in the combo. If you are unsure as to what color you’re adding or where you’re adding it, ASK! Better to sort it out now than screw up later and be yelled at. Let’s say the leader selects GGGBBB. They will then assign 3 members to put in the Greens, and 3 members to put in the Blues. If you are assigned to be a Green, you must put your Green in as fast as you can so the Blues can add their colors. If you are a Blue, you MUST wait until ALL 3 GREENS are in place before adding your Blue. GGGBBB results in awesomeness that can save your group from a wipe. GGBGBB results in shittiness that can WIPE YOUR GROUP! Don’t be a wiper, be a saver. People like savers. ;)
Hopefully that explains Fellowship maneuvers to you. If you are in any way unsure of what you’re doing in regards to these, don’t be afraid to ask some one to explain it to you. Taking a minute to make sure everyone understands is a lot better than repeated failures. Now, onto a little strategy…
[+] HOLD MY AGGRO WHILE I PEW-PEW PLEASE [+]
As the title may or may not imply, this section is about your friendly neighborhood tank and you. As I have not myself played a tank (unless you count my minstrel spamming group heals), this is all information that has been told to me by tanks I’ve known and grouped with. First up is a little advice about agro management…
Tanks love be beaten on. They love it so much that they’ll scream their heads off trying to make things attack them. Gluttons for punishment, they are! Some are even down-right suicidal in the amounts of masochistic pleasure they get from holding all that darned agro. And that’s why we love them! They put their meaty bodies between us and the enemy, and hopefully they remember to put their shield between them and that ugly orc with the sword (but really, remembering that may be too much to ask from someone with so many head injuries…). But how do you help such a courageous soup can? I’ll tell you how!
Tanks use attacks that increase their threat to mobs, up their perceived agro levels, and make mobs force-attack them; and they’re very good at it. However, it takes time for them to build up their agro, and while it’s building, they can sometimes run into problems holding the mob’s attention while it gets smacked around by the other players. There are a few easy rules to follow to help keep that tank the center of their attention, though!
1. The tank should ALWAYS be the one to pull mobs and start the fight. Mobs automatically target the first player in range until they get attacked or receive threat from another player. If the tank is the first one in, the mobs will target him first and it will be easier for him to establish agro control. If a hunter tags a mob before they agro on the tank, the hunter is now the target of the mob and all of it’s friends, and the tank now has to work fast to get all those mobs off of the hunter. A situation easily avoided if the hunter had had a little patience. There are, of course, times when a member other than the tank will be asked to pull, but this should ONLY be done at the tank’s request, and NEVER any other time.
2. Use your target assist window! To use this window, hit ‘O’ to open your social panel and click on the ‘Raid’ tab. At the bottom of the Raid panel is a box that you can check to show the Assist Window. The fellowship leader can then assign people to be target assists by right-clicking on the player’s portrait, mousing over ‘Fellowship‘, and then clicking on “Make Assist Target”. The player will then be displayed in the Assist Window, as will his target. This allows players to easily focus fire on one or two targets by clicking on the Assist’s target’s vitals to select the targeted mob. The tank should always be a Target Assist, and members of the fellowship should target his target (unless otherwise directed) to take out that target faster. Focusing fire on one or two mobs will make it easier for the tank to hold agro because most of the mobs will only be receiving threat from him and the group’s healer, instead of the mobs getting threat from everyone because every member’s attacking something different. Personally, I assign two target assists. This is because during boss fights, the tank will stay on the boss, and the rest of the fellowship will deal with adds. Having a second assist target will help focus fire to burn down the adds while the tank holds the boss.
3. As I mentioned, it takes time to build agro. This is especially true for Wardens, who have few insta-threat skills and more threat-over-time skills. A Warden’s threat attacks are also unique in that they are Gambits - combinations of lesser skills that make powerful ones. This means that it may take a few small, fast attacks before they use and agro skill. This means that the Warden needs some time to build up agro on the mobs, and will have a harder time holding agro on mobs if the group’s attacks are random. The tank may ask people to not attack for a minute to give them time to build agro to the point where they can hold it. It’s important to allow them this time if asked! A little patience here will go a long way to making things run smoothly! Again, using the target assist window to target the tank’s target will help him build agro on the mobs.
4. If you’re one of the lucky classes with threat-reducing skills like a minstrel or runekeeper, don’t be afraid to use them! If you get agro from a mob, use your threat reduction skill if the tank doesn’t grab the mob within a few seconds. This may lower your threat enough for the mob to change targets, or to at least make it easier for the tank to grab the mob.
5. Aggro Ping Pong. Sounds fun, right? Well, it’s not! This is usually the first sign that you’re stealing agro from the tank. This is when a mob is attacking the tank, and then switches to attacking you for a second or two before being pulled back by a tank’s agro skills. If this happens, you are borderline on threat level and should use less-threatening attacks, or switch targets if another target assist is being used. For example, if you are a hunter and you get agro ping pong after using a penetrating shot (a high-DPS skill), switch to using either auto-attacks or quick shot (a low-DPS attack, and therefore makes less agro) until the tank has time to build up agro on that mob again, or switch to the secondary target assist’s target if they are targeting a different mob.
Remember these 5 helpfully simple tips while grouping and your tank will thank you by keeping mobs off your squishy DPSing arse! And your healer will thank you for giving them less people to worry about, too! Speaking of healers….
[+] GREEN BAR OBSESSIONS - THE DIARY OF A HEALER GONE MAD [+]
Now that you know how to help your tank, it’s time to learn how to help your healer! Your healer is the lifeblood of the fellowship, and without one most fellowships won’t get very far. They’ll keep you alive so you can make other things be not alive anymore. Kind of ironic, in a way… But fun too!
Ask any healer and they’ll probably tell you that keeping a group alive through a tough fight is one of the most rewarding things a person can do in this game. But they’ll also tell you just how hectic and stressful it can be, too. And that’s with everything going right, too! When things start falling apart, the healer’s life becomes a nightmare of watching little green bars slowly (or quickly) dwindle while they scramble to fill them back up. It can quickly get overwhelming, but those are the times when a good healer truly shines - and a bad healer crumbles! Helping out your healer makes their lives that much easier, and lets them put more of their attention into healing and buffing and making everyone’s lives go so smoothly they don’t even notice just how close they could’ve been to uber wipeage. *maniacal laughter* >_>
So, here are some tips to help your healer help you! They’re pretty simple, and following them will help everyone in the group!
1. Behold the awesome threat factory known as a healer! Healing creates A LOT of threat, and a healer can out-agro a tank quite quickly. Normally this isn’t too bad, assuming the tank can take and hold the agro. However, there are times when mobs would high five the healer than the tin can meat shield, and this is when the rest of the group may have to step up and lend a hand. If you notice a mob attacking the healer and the tank just doesn’t seem to have noticed, don’t hesitate to step in get that mob off the healer any way you can! Mobs on the healer interrupt the healing inductions, which in turn hurts the whole group. Also, the healer can’t heal you if they’re trying to keep themselves alive, so keep them safe and sound the best you can and be rewarded with green stuff!
2. This one goes hand in hand with number one. During a fight, especially boss fights, there could be waves of adds spawning in the middle of it. This can be very dangerous for the healer if not handled properly. Because the healer has so much threat, the adds will usually attack the healer first - especially if they have to pop group heals right after the spawn. Nothing says “Kill me!” more than a large group heal, after all, and mobs are more than happy to do it! So when you know a wave of adds is about to spawn, or you just saw them spawn, find your healer and make sure you intercept any mobs making a b-line to them. The quicker you get the mobs off the healer, the quicker the healer can go back to doing their job.
3. Because I hate them so much, ranged mobs get their own number! As I’m sure you’ve heard me say (repeatedly, usually), make sure you grab the agro of the ranged mobs. These pesky pew-pew-ers will make quick work of your healer, and because they’re usually well in back of the melee fighting, they’re hard to notice if you’re not looking for them. If you see your healer’s health dropping at the start of a fight, chances are they’ve made friends with an enemy archer. Make sure you send some DPS love their way and get their attention before the healer’s dead.
[+] STOP IN THE NAME OF… RIDDLES?[+]
Aye, riddles! This section will deal with the wonderful thing called Crowd Control, or CC for short. These wonderful skills can help even the odds in a close fight and give you more breathing room and less mobs in a fight at one time. Not all classes have CC, but the ones who do excel at it - namely the Loremasters!
Crowd Control is any skill that mezzes, stuns, roots, and keeps a mob out of a fight and locked down. While I’ve never played a Loremaster, I have played Burg and Hunter, which are both quite well equipped for the CC job. Loremasters have multiple skills that result in mezzes and roots, and are generally relied upon to do this job in a fellowship. Burgs have their riddle skill, which if used while in Mischief stance can lock down a mob indefinitely. Hunters have their Bard’s Arrow fear skill and their Rain of Thorns AOE root skill. Use of these skills can greatly aid your group, but not knowing how to handle CC can make many a players go mad.
If you’re a CC class, the leader will usually assign you that duty at the start of fights. Usually they’ll tell you to mez such and such a target to start off the fight. This is all fine and dandy, until someone comes running in hitting everything in sight! See, mezzes are break on damage, so doing ANY damage to a mezzed mob will break them out of it and they’ll rejoin the fight. So if the CC player mezzes a mob, do your best to avoid hitting it, or you’ll have one angry lore master! (And do you honestly want someone that rains lightning doom down from the sky mad at you? I thought not!). If a target is mezzed, they’ll have a swirly thing going on above their heads, and will usually be kind of stooped over. If a mob is rooted, it will have a swirly dust cloud around it’s feet, or sometimes it will have roots holding down it’s feet. If it’s stuck in a hunter’s trap, it will have a glowing red trap on it’s foot. Keep an eye out and don’t attack the mob until it’s the last one left, or it’s mez/root/trap has expired! Mezzes and roots are always break on damage, and traps will break after a little damage, so watch the AOE’s.
Well then, now that you non-CC players know what you’re doing, let me give some advice to the classes with all the CC toys…
1. Be realistic in your CC expectations. By this, I mean don’t mez a target in the middle of the fight and expect the DPS people to stop AOEs while all the mobs are grouped up on top of the mezzed mob. They will AOE, they will break your mez, and that will be YOUR fault, not theirs. The same goes for close-quarters fighting. The best targets for CC are the mobs in the back of the fight, such as the archers.
2. If you’re going to CC a mob, call it out. If nobody knows you’re doing, they won’t be prepared, and odds are they’ll hit your sleeping beauty of a mob and wake it back up. Usually the leader will tell you who to mez, so everyone should be aware and ready for it.
3. Mezzing a target before anything is pulled will automatically send all of the pulled mobs (hopefully minus your CC target) running right towards you. You will have to be ready to deal with this. A good idea is to wait until the instant after the tank starts the fight. This way the mobs will be on the tank, and not you, when you CC that target. If you do get all the mobs on you, don’t run away screaming! Run to the tank so they can grab all of the mobs from you. This way the tank won’t have to chase you, and it will be asier for them.
One last note on crowd control… A mob that is mezzed in the back will have NO agro accumulation from the tank, assuming it hasn’t been broken out of it’s mez by any damage. When the timer on the mez expires and the mob wakes up, it WILL target whoever has the highest threat, and this is usually the healer! Because the CC class is the one that knows their CC best, they should keep an eye out and either re-CC the mob, or attack it to get agro off of the healer. The tank can then grab it and keep it.
That’s just about the basics for CC. Classes that specialize in crowd control have a responsibility to know their skills, and decide which one’s best. The rest of you have the responsibility to stare aware and not touch that mezzed mob! The leader’s responsibility is to pick targets for CC and make sure it all comes together.
[+] THE END OF ALL THINGS - OR AT LEAST THE END OF THIS GUIDE! [+]
So, you’ve read this far and you understand what role your class plays, how to effectively use FM’s, and how to help your tank and healer… Congratulations, you’re on your way to becoming a useful and liked member of your group! As with all things, practice makes perfect, and there’s ample opportunity to do so.
Just remember: each group usually has a leader in the know that will make decisions for the group. Make sure you listen to them, and if you don’t understand something, make sure you ask. And above all, have FUN! After all, that’s what this game’s about!
Burglar
Captain
Champion
Guardian
Hunter
Lore-master
Minstrel
Runekeeper
Warden
