Guardian

Class Difficulty: Basic

Role: Tank/Damage

Available to races: Dwarf, Elf, High Elf, Hobbit, Man, River Hobbit, Stout-axe

Gameplay: Guardians are the shields of the Free Peoples. They stand at the forefront of the battle in order to win great victories in the name of the Kings of Middle-Earth. Guardians must be focused in the fights they wage, managing to capitalize off of their own parrying and blocking of enemy attacks. As a Tank, Guardians excel in managing large amounts of enemies and surviving without support from their allies from the usage of their strong defensive abilities. With the building of Fortifications from their Shield skills, they can support the Fellowship, but at a cost to their own defence. Guardians can also specialize to deal damage by maintaining a series of devastating bleeds on their foes.

Lore: The Guardians are the stout protectors of the weak, and defenders of those in need. They are loyal companions to the end. True Guardians stand in the forefront of battle, shielding allies from enemy assaults.

This class was inspired by the hobbit Samwise Gamgee, whose loyalty to Frodo Baggins knew no bounds.

Class-infobox
Classes
Skills
Traits
Deeds
Traceries
Effects

Gameplay

Guardians use Parry Responses and Block Responses to cycle through their most powerful skills. They are incredibly tanky in both of their specializations, and provide valuable support to their fellowship. They are masters of debuff applications, using Bastion of Light to spread various debuffs from their target to all nearby enemies.

Blue-line (Tank): Guardians specialized in the Defender of the Free trait tree cycle through their Shield skills via Block Responses to maintain strong Fortifications on themselves, and can cache them out to provide Break Ranks to the fellowship. They are masters of blocking incoming enemy attacks with cooldowns such Juggernaut and Guardian's Pledge. As Tanks, they specialize in tanking large numbers of enemies.
Red-line (Damage): Guardians specialized in the Keen Blade trait tree cycle through their Blade skills via Parry Response to keep up a multitude of strong bleed effects, applied by skills such as Thrust and Overwhelm. When several bleeds have been built up, Hammer Down can be used to consume the bleeds to deal big damage and debuff the enemy's incoming damage.

This class is recommended for players who want to experience tanking in LotRO, as the Blue-line specialization is a well-rounded and fairly simple-to-learn tank. However, this class is difficult to play at the higher end, due to its complicated skill set and high reaction time requirement.

Block & Parry Response

Guardians have the ability to generate Block Response and Parry Response effects, which are especially important for their general rotation. While these effects can be gained by successfully blocking or parrying respectively, there are some skills that immediately generate response effects, like Breach and Force Opening. Guardians work through the Parry and Block chains of skills to deal major damage in Red-line, and provide self protection in Blue-line.

For more information, see Block Response and Parry Response.

Skills

Default Skills

These skills are granted automatically as you gain levels. Some skills have an improved version that can be obtained by leveling further or by equipping certain traits, traceries, or armour sets.

Skills	Category	CD	Level
Guardian's Ward	Melee + Buff + Power	3s	1
Sting	Melee	2.5s	1
Retaliation	Melee	5s	1
Shield-swipe	Melee	5s	1
Sweeping Cut	Melee + AoE	9s	4
Whirling Retaliation	Melee + AoE	5s	6
Let Fly	Ranged	9s	8
Vexing Blow	Melee + AoE	4s	10
Charge	Run Speed	1m	14
Challenge	Force Attack	1m	16
Ignore the Pain	Cure	5s	18
Improved Sting	Melee + Corruption	2.5s	20
Turn the Tables	CC removal + AoE Stun	1m 15s	20
Bash	Melee + Stun	5s	22
Fray the Edge	Force Attack + Fellowship Manoeuvre	10s	24
Shield-blow	Melee	10s	26
Stagger	Melee + Debuff	5s	28
Catch a Breath	Self-heal	45s	30
Warrior's Heart	Buff + Self-heal	2m	32
Stamp	Melee + Interrupt	20s	34
Guardian's Promise	Utility	15s	36
Engage	Force Attack + Debuff	30s	38

The Defender of the Free

These skills are acquired by spending trait points in the Defender of the Free (blue) trait tree. You can only obtain the Set skills if you specialize in this tree.

Skills	Category	CD	Source
Shield-taunt	Threat	10s	Specialization Skill
Litany of Defiance	Buff + Debuff	1m 30s	Specialization Skill
Guardian's Pledge	Buff	3m	Trait:	Guardian's Pledge
Shield-smash	Melee + Stun + Interrupt	5s	Trait:	Shield-smash
Smashing Stab	Melee + Fellowship Manoeuvre	30s	Trait:	Smashing Stab
Protection by the Shield	Buff	8s	Set:	Protection by the Shield
Shield Wall	Buff	20s	Trait:	Shield Wall
Juggernaut	Melee + Buff	3m	Trait	Juggernaut

The Keen Blade

These skills are acquired by spending trait points in the Keen Blade (red) trait tree. You can only obtain the Set skills if you specialize in this tree.

Skills	Category	CD	Source
Breach	Melee + Buff	5s	Specialization Skill
Whirling Breach	Melee AoE + Buff	5s	Specialization Skill
Overwhelm	Melee + Bleed	10s	Specialization Skill
Thrust	Melee + Bleed	5s	Trait:	Thrust
Brutal Assault	Melee	20s	Trait:	Brutal Assault
Protection by the Sword	Buff	10s	Set:	Protection by the Sword
To The King	Melee + Stun	5s	Trait:	To The King
Relentless Fury	Buff	2m	Set:	Relentless Fury
Brutal Charge	Run Speed + Buff	1m	Set:	Brutal Charge
Hammer Down	Melee + Stun	40s	Trait:	Hammer Down

The Fighter of Shadow

These skills are acquired by spending trait points in the Fighter of Shadow (yellow) trait tree. Guardians cannot specialize in the yellow trait tree.

Skills	Category	CD	Source
Force Opening	Melee + Buff	10s	Force Opening
Bastion of Light	Debuff	15s	Bastion of Light
War-chant	AoE + Debuff	10s	War-chant
Thrill of Danger	Self-heal + Power	1m	Thrill of Danger
Redirect	Melee + Buff	30s	Redirect
Cataclysmic Shout	Debuff + AoE Bleed	3m	Cataclysmic Shout

Mounted Combat Skills

These skills can be used only while riding a war-steed, and in regions where horses are allowed and where the enemies are above level 75.

Mounted Combat Skills
Discipline: Red Dawn
Discipline: Riddermark
Discipline: Rohirrim
Clash of Arms
Driving Slash
Pledge to Rohan
Rohan's Edge
Serrated Edge
Staggering Slash

Passive Skills

Base Passive Skills

For details see Dwarf, Elf, High Elf, Hobbit, River Hobbit, Man, or Stout-axe

Armour Proficiencies

Proficiency	Level
Light Armour	1
Medium Armour	1
Heavy Armour	1
Shields	1
Heavy Shields	1

Weapon Proficiencies

Proficiency	Level
Daggers	1
One-handed Axes	1
One-handed Clubs	1
One-handed Hammers	1
One-handed Maces	1
One-handed Swords	1
Spear	1
Two-handed Axes	1
Two-handed Clubs	1
Two-handed Hammers	1
Two-handed Swords	1
Bows	7
Crossbows	7

Instrument Proficiencies

Proficiency	Level
Horn Use	1
Lute Use	1
Specialized Equipment	1
Bassoon Use	5
Fiddle Use	5

Other Passive Skills

Proficiency	Level
Bolster	1
Shield Spike Use
Hammer Affinity	5
Critical Defence	20