Minstrel

Class Difficulty: Moderate

Role: Healer/Damage

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

Gameplay: Minstrels channel the power of music to either heal their allies or Damage their foes. Ballad skills allow the Minstrel to use their Codas and Anthems, which grant the Fellowship powerful bonuses. They have powerful skills like Call to Greatness that empower all of their allies. As a damage dealer, Minstrels deal light damage to their foes and use Piercing Cry to harm their target. As a Healer, Minstrels use powerful heals like Bolster Courage and Inspire Fellows to quickly restore their allies' morale.

Lore: Middle-earth is a land deeply infused with music, and true Minstrels are skilled at tapping into that power. They weave songs and tales so stirring that their companions' morale will not fail, and they will be driven to perform greater feats of prowess. They can even utter words of true power, and ward against the forces of darkness with their Anthems.

This class was inspired by Lúthien Tinúviel, whose Elven voice beguiled friend and foe alike.

A female Human Minstrel

Class Navigation Classes Skills Traits Traceries Effects Deeds Guides

Gameplay

Minstrels use a combination of Ballads, Codas, and Anthems to deal damage or heal the fellowship, depending on their specialization. Minstrels are valuable members of the Fellowship, with  Tale of Tales providing bonus stats and  Call to Greatness instantly readying all major abilities of the Fellowship.

• Blue-line (Healer): Minstrels specialized in the Watcher of Resolve trait tree excel at quickly healing up targeted Fellowship members. They can also heal the entire Fellowship through the usage of several AoE heals. Upkeeping  Soliloquy of Spirit on tanks provides them bonus mitigations. Blue-line Minstrels must carefully monitor the usage of their major cooldowns, with their long cooldowns.
• Red-line (Damage): Minstrels specialized in the Warrior-Skald trait tree deal significant damage through the use of their Ballads, Cries and Calls, and Piercing Cry. They deal light damage to their enemies from afar, and are highly mobile, albeit more fragile.  Dissonant Piercing Cry is their key damage skill, providing an animation cut to other skills and being reset by Ballads.

This class is deceptively difficult, even though it is one of the most widely played healers in the game. Both red and blue specializations are easy to learn, but hard to master, requiring extensive knowledge of the class, as well as synergy with other classes.

Stances

A Minstrel has three stances:  Dissonance - Stance,  Melody - Stance, and  Resonance - Stance. These are toggle skills that remain active indefinitely until you switch to another stance (and you may freely do so at any time).

Each Minstrel stance emphasizes a different role (Dissonance for damage, Resonance for Healing, and Melody for a compromise between both). They provide a healing and/or damage buff and change some of the Minstrel's skills. For instance, in Resonance  Major Ballad (Resonance) heals the group, while in Dissonance,  Major Ballad damages enemies.

Ballads, Anthems, and Codas

There are 3 types of skills that interact with each other to form a core part of the Minstrel's playstyle: Ballads, Anthems, and Codas.

Ballads

A Ballad buff is applied by using any of the Minstrel's three Ballad skills:  Minor Ballad, Major Ballad and  Perfect Ballad. Each Ballad applies a different buff to the Minstrel and up to three buffs can be active on the Minstrel. If you already have 3 Ballad buffs active, then the oldest buff will be replaced by the new one when you use your next Ballad ability.

Anthems

Anthems are powerful buffs that cannot be used until a Minstrel has a certain number of Ballad buffs active.  Anthem of the Free Peoples is the most powerful Anthem, and can only be used with 3 Ballad buffs. All other Anthems are separated into three groups, each with a Lesser and Greater ability. Lesser Anthems require 1 Ballad buffs, while Greater Anthems require 2 Ballad buffs. All Minstrels can gain  Greater Anthem III - Prowess and  Lesser Anthem III - Composure. Damage Minstrels have access to  Greater Anthem II - War and  Lesser Anthem II - Dissonance. Healing Minstrels have access to  Greater Anthem I - Compassion and  Lesser Anthem I - Resonance. All Anthems share the same skill cooldown, and the effects of Lesser and Greater Anthems of the same group stack into a singular buff that can be refreshed by using either Anthem. While Anthems' primary bonus is to the group, they also grant the Minstrel a small buff.

Codas

The Coda is the Minstrel's "finisher" ability — it consumes 3 Ballad buffs for a powerful final effect (then you can re-apply your Ballads and begin the process again). The effects of the Coda will change depending on the Minstrel's current Stance:  Coda of Fury (Dissonance),  Coda of Resonance (Resonance), or  Coda of Melody (Melody).