Lord of the Rings Online Warden Beginner's Guide

The warden class has been described as the national guardsman of Lord of the Rings Online.  These citizen soldiers patrol the wilds, protecting their homelands from encroaching attack from vicious creatures like worgs, orcs, or even the few night time troll incursions.

The role of the class is best described as a light tank, similar to Everquest’s berserker or Dark Age of Camelot’s mercenary or blademaster.   It can fill in the role of a heavy tank in a pinch, but it is best suited as a damage dealer, lessening the time it takes to fight mobs when in a group.  The class was introduced, along with the Rune Keeper in the Mines of Moria expansion.

The class has a distinctive look, which anyone familiar with Dungeons and Dragons will cause it to be quickly dubbed the ranger, but the warden is not an outdoorsy class, but rather an auxiliary unit of the armies.

Lord of the Rings Online Warden Skills

The warden can use a javelin and spear to good effect.  In close combat, he can use many other weapons to aid him in his primary fellowship rule or to finish off an opponent, but a player must know what the skills his character possesses.

Quick Thrust – a quick melee attack, useful for when the warden must fight hand to hand
Javelin Toss – throws a javelin.  This is the attack the warden will use most frequently
Shield bash – attacks an opponent with a shield
Defensive strike – this attack does not do much damage, but it improves the warden’s armor class and other defenses
Warden’s taunt – an emergency taunt used when the warden needs to take attention away from a caster or healer in the party.

Playing a Warden in Lord of the Rings Online

The warden solos well, as do most classes in this mmorpg.   However, no one who plays a mmorpg wants to play solo all the time. Console and single player games give the video gamer enough opportunity to do this.    In fellowships, the rule as the same as any other character whose primary function is damage per second.  He must do as much damage as possible while keeping his rating on an enemy’s hate list below that of a tank.    How to do this is not complicated for anyone who understands aggro control.

The one difference when playing a warden or any other light tank is that light tanks must sometimes take aggro off the more vulnerable classes until the heavier tanks can get to them again.  

Solo play is, as for most melee classes, a matter of causing  an enemy’s hit points to reach zero before your own hit points run to zero.  The warden class has plenty of skills that allow it to keep opponents at bay.  Fear kiting along with its use of javelins allows warden characters to do damage without getting hit back, which is the point of all kiting tactics.