Rare Breed and End Game

The last few major updates Turbine has continued their trend of releasing truly challenging tier 2 content (aka end game).  It seems that this will be the direction they go for the foreseeable future.

What Constitutes End Game Content?

- T2C Traditional instances (3 and 6 man) at level cap
- T2C Traditional raids (12 man) at level cap

Currently these would be the specific ones that are considered End Game;

The Abyss of Mordath
The Court of Seregost
The Dungeons of Naerband
Ost Dunhoth - All Wings
Barad Guldur
The Battle For Erebor
The Fires of Smaug
The Flight to the Lonely Mountain 
The Sunken Labyrinth
The Silent Street
Blood of the Black Serpent
The Quays of the Harlond
The Throne of the Dread Terror

The following would not be considered end game;

- Skirmishes
- Big battles
- T1 traditional instances
- T1 traditional raids
- T2 traditional instances
- T2 traditional raids (Abyss excluded)

What Makes End Game Content So Hard?

i)   The bosses hit much harder, have unique buffs/debuffs, and have much more morale.
ii)  Typically there are added mechanics such as clouds (puddles) that drop, distributed damage, group effects, inductions that need interrupting, etc.
iii) It takes immense cooperation amongst all players in the group.  Sounds easy, but one slip up can cause a wipe.

What Does It Take To Complete End Game Content?

a) Above all, it takes a thorough and complete understanding of your class.  You must instinctively know how each skill works, and when to use it.  We recommend sticking to 1 or 2 classes and fully learning the intricacies of them.

b) Gear.  At the onset of new T2 content it is imperative that you be geared with the top gear that was available just prior to the release.

c) The right class makeup for the bosses and mechanics of the run.

d) Seamless communication (particularly following direction) and teamwork.  If the leader can’t trust communications 100 %, the group will fail and hours are wasted.

e) A computer and internet connection that mitigate game lag.

f) Patience.  Lots, and lots of patience.  The best groups can wipe several times before successfully completing end game content.

Voice Chat is a must !!!  Currently Rare Breed is using Discord, but we also group with other kins from time to time and they may use Ventrilo or Mumble.  Head here for a How To on all of these chat clients:  https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?575426-Dadi-s-Guide-to-Voice-Chat&p=7429687#post742968

T2C MINIMUM STAT GOALS BY ROLE (as of U18.2)

TANK

Morale - 125,000 unbuffed
Mastery (Physical) - Class dependent
Crit Rating - Class dependent   
Resistance - 30%
Crit D - 50%
IC Healing - 15%
Finesse - 20%
Block - 13% + full bonus available
Parry - 13% + full bonus available
Evade - 13% + full bonus available
Partial Block - 30%
Partial Parry - 30%
Partial Evade - 30%
Mitigations:  See T2 table below

Virtues - 20
Legendary Item Tiers - 69 (unless it is one that maxes the benefit earlier [i.e. cooldowns]

DPS

Morale - Ranged 60,000 unbuffed / Melee 70,000 unbuffed
Mastery (Physical/Tactical) - High
Crit Rating - 25% + full bonus available
Resistance - 30%
Crit D - 25%
IC Healing - 0%
Finesse - 20%
B/P/E - Class dependent.  Some classes will naturally have one of these higher than the others. Essence slotting not required.
Partial B/P/E - Class dependent.  Some classes will naturally have one of these higher than the others. Essence slotting not required.
Mitigations:  See T2 table below 

Virtues - 20
Legendary Item Tiers - 69 (unless it is one that maxes the benefit earlier [i.e. cooldowns]

HEALER

Morale - 90,000 unbuffed
Mastery (Tactical) - High
Critical Rating - 25% + full bonus available.
Resistance - 35%
Crit D - 25%
IC Healing - 0%
Finesse - 0%
B/P/E - Class dependent.  Some classes will naturally have one of these higher than the others. Essence slotting not required.
Partial B/P/E - Class dependent.  Some classes will naturally have one of these higher than the others. Essence slotting not required.
Mitigations:  See T2 table below 

Virtues - 20
Legendary Item Tiers - 69 (unless it is one that maxes the benefit earlier [i.e. cooldowns]

STAT CAPS

The current Stat Caps are (as of U22):

Category Maximum Trait Bonus Possible
(Class Dependent)
Total Possible T2C Value
Block / Parry / Evade 13% 0-6% 19%  
Phy / Tact Mitigations - Light Armour 40% 0-6%  46% 62,160
Phy / Tact Mitigations - Medium Armour 50%  0-6%  56% 70,618
Phy / Tact Mitigations - Heavy Armour 60%  0-6% 66% 77,840
Critical Rating (Offence) 25% 0-7.5% 32.5%  
Devastate Chance 10%      
Melee / Ranged / Tact Defence 15%      
Resistance 50%      
Incoming Healing 25%      
Outgoing Healing 70%      

 

MITIGATIONS

Before you begin it should be noted that in T2 all mitigations are reduced (essentially the true cap is hidden). You can read more about this here;

LOTRO Wiki Mitigations

LOTRO Forums: Hidden Mitigation Caps

Dadi's LOTRo Guides


This means that it is necessary to ensure your mitigations are at the T2 ratings (ignore your percentage).  Some battles only have the need for one mitigation type, some require both.  For this reason it is good to have some swap out pieces of gear.

Am I Ready For End Game Content?

Ask yourself, "based on the six points above, and the recommended stats, will I be a complete asset to the group?"  If your answer to this question is no, or maybe, then you are not ready, and that’s okay.  In the case of a raid there are 11 other people counting on you to bring your A game.  In some cases there is only one shot to get challenge !!!

How Do I Get Ready For End Game Content?

Ok, maybe I am not ready yet. How do I get there?

1) Seek advice from those that are on our End Game Roster.  We are all here to help each other reach our maximum potential.

2) Be open-minded.  You may face some constructive feedback, it is not personal.

3) Study your class (lots of write-ups on our website, the LOTRO forums, and the internet in general).  Knowing your class inside and out is crucial; in fact, it is more important than gear or stats !!!

4) Study the mechanics of the run (lots of write-ups on our website, the LOTRO forums, and the internet in general).  Even a general understanding helps immensely. During a run you can’t count on the group stopping to explain your role.

5) Practice.  Like anything in life, the more you work at it, the better you get.  Start with your skills, this can be done in T1 instances.  Then open up the T2 instance/raid at level 50 (or the lowest it will allow) and practice the mechanics within.

6) Gear.  Focus on getting the absolute best gear available via T1s, BBs, and Skirms. 

7) Build.  Each character build will be unique to the play style required to complete it.  Seek advice on what skills to trait for, what essences to slot, and what stats in general you should have. For example, if you are playing a DPS class, should you be built for single-target or AOE?

Here are some essential links to help you hone your class/gear/build:

Raiding 101

End Game Stats

T2 Avoidances and Mitigations

LOTRO Plugins

I Think I Am Ready, But How Will I Know Without Trying?

Excellent point.  You never truly will know until you are in the fray of it.  We will schedule specific dates on the calendar where the group knows there are people wanting to test their readiness; essentially a training run.  Be prepared for constructive feedback from the group on how you can improve. The understanding will be that on these runs there will be constructive criticism given, and in return, it will be accepted just as constructively.

What Can I Sign Up For On The Calendar?

Rare Breed has always been an inclusive kin with many opportunities for everyone to sign up for group activities on our calendar.  This has not changed, we are merely adding a new element to our evolving kin.  We have developed many end gamers within Rare Breed, and attracted some to our kin from other kins.  We will be adding T2C content to the calendar for those that are end game ready.  It will be designated with a T2C prefix (ex:  T2C - Dome of the Stars). Only those on the Challenge Roster (see below) will be able to sign up for these runs.  All other content on our calendar will remain open for all to sign up for; including T2.  

Current Rare Breed End Game Roster

This is the initial roster of characters that have been evaluated by our End Game Council (comprised of Dadi, Hafwen, and Derp) and deemed to be end game ready.  Their presence is a result of our awareness of several successful T2/T2C completions.  If you have read this in its entirety and you feel you are T2C ready, speak to one of them in game.

Guardians

Dadi
Anarthos

Rune-keepers

Tyrlas
Beorundi
Fleu

Minstrels

Rifkin
Honeyjoe
Mandrilar
Lalynriel
Hathorna
Mandrilar
Lilael
Embarrassing

Champions

Hamhand
Dwashing

Captains

Eoderp

Hunters

Hafwen

Burglars

 

Wardens

 

Lore-masters

Thistlegorm
Amanhan

Beornings

 

A Special Note from Hafwen:

Above all, we request your understanding for the content we are trying to complete. Some of the players in the list above have been playing LOTRO since Alpha or Beta and have been craving to complete the very hard content for almost a decade. Please understand that a player can have the best gear, traits and class knowledge but still not have that innate skill that makes an intense challenge possible. We are very sensitive that not everyone is able to reach that level. It has taken Rare Breed years to figure out how we can include everyone in this very tough content. The hard truth is that we simply can’t. In order to remain a cohesive group we must be able to see to the needs of all. Please understand that if the Challenge Council decides you are not ready, that it is as hard for them to say it as it is for their brother or sister to hear it. We all must all see the bigger picture. 

After attempting T2Cs I put my hunter in the hands of these people and by tweaking my stats and trait points, they tripled my DPS output. I had no idea she was even capable of it!

SIGNING UP FOR T2C

On the calendar all runs starting with the prefix T2C - RUN NAME will only be available to those on the End Game Roster (see above).  Below is a screenshot of what the sign up screen may look like. 

In the YELLOW BOX you will see a list of all the people that have signed up.  Those that are on the End Game Roster (see above) will be automatically moved to the area in the RED BOX (Confirmed Attendees). 

Only those in the Confirmed Attendees section are eligible to come on the run.  It is not supposed to allow those not on the roster to sign up, but the site sometimes does not work as intended.  If you are not in the CONFIRMED ATTENDEES section, you are not eligible to come on the run.

 

 When signing up you may get the message "No Valid Characters" (see below).  This is because you are not yet eligible to sign up for T2C content.