Grouping

From Lotro-Wiki.com

Game Guides Topics: Getting Started, Commands, Grouping, Music, Traveling

1 Fellowing
2 Group Roles
3 Friends
4 Kinship
5 Raid

Fellowing

You can create a group of up to 6 players to quest and explore Middle-earth. You can invite others to your fellowship by typing /invite playername

Group Roles

When starting a run or a 6-man instance, you normally have to think about what configuration you will need when running through. Good groups usually have the standard spots and in LOTRO some spots can be supplemented depending on the situation. Here are the following spots of which classes can fill these parts.

Main Tank - This is the person in your group which will be handling the agro of the main target. Usually a tank can take alot of damage and hold the agro of the enemy while the rest of the group is either damaging, crowd-controlling (CCing) or keeping the group healed. An MT must have a good focus on whats going on around him and putting out as much damage as possible to keep the main mob on top of him so the others that don't wear heavy armour aren't getting killed. Guardians are the best at tanking but Champions and Captains can fill this role as well, but not as near perfect as a Guardian. Also Champions lose a considerable amount of DPS if they turn to tanking (not using Fevour).

Main Assist - Normally an MA isn't needed in a 6-man instance since what you usually fight in 6-man, your MT can make the shots on who to attack. an MA is usually designated in high tier (Raid) type runs and usually is either a melee damage-per-second (DPS) class or another tank type class. Any class can essentially fill this role.

DPS - These are your heavy hitters. They punish the mob while the MT keeps the agro on the main target. It is very important that as DPS you must watch how much damage your putting out because if you put out too much, you could potentially steal the agro away from your MT, making you an easy kill especially if you wear light armour and don't have the morale or armour class (AC) to stand up to the damage the mob is putting out. Keep a good eye on this, and put out a good solid amount of damage and your set. Hunters and Champions are the king's of melee/ranged DPS as Loremasters excel in the magic department, though Captains, Burglars and maybe Minstrels(keeping in mind by doing this, you could potentially lose a healer) can have a hand in this area. Area-of-effect attacks do very well to assist the MT in defeating multiple enemies.

Crowd Control(CC) - One of the most important aspects of a 6-man or even a Raid run, is having good CC. Someone needs to be able to essentially take out a mob from the battle, because at many times you may be fighting more then one target. Your MT has a hard enough job keeping the agro of one mob, let alone a whole group of mobs would get his attention disfocused, having him ping-pong around the room to keep agro, making his agro keeping abilities reduced. Keeping mobs under sleep type affects or even fear type's makes the MT's job alot easier, and reduces the morale your healer will have to be keeping up. Having a good CC is essential to any good instance or raid run. Loremasters dominate in this area while other classes like the Burglar and perhaps (depends on situation) Hunter, can also fill a spot, the Loremaster is the essential CC.

Main Healer - Some say the most important spot in a group is the main healer (MH). Your main healer is the main stay of the group. He keeps the MT and most of the group up to health in the battle, and will resurrect(rezz) any members that die after a fight. Your MH's main job is to keep the MT alive so that he keeps the rest of the group intact. If your MH goes down, your MT will follow, so it is imperative that your MH stays alive and does not get any of the agro on the mob. Healing is major agro draw, but as long as your MT gets in the initial agro, your group should be fine. MH's, make sure your only put out enough heals to keep him up, overhealing will gain you more agro and you lose power that you could have used in dire situations. Minstrels are the best class for this but Captains and albeit Loremasters can support the role.

Supporting Spots - These are usually your secondaries or your the classes that are specific or any true area, but have a place in a group itself. Off-tanks, Off healers and Off DPS are usually in the roles as well as any Buffers you might have. Captains and Burglars are the ideal Support, as are any of your secondary's that fill the role.

Here are some examples of a normal group:

MT - Guardian/Captain

DPS - Champion/Burglar

DPS - Hunter/Champion/Loremaster

CC - Loremaster

MH - Minstrel/Captain

SS - Captain/Burglar/Loremaster

Friends

You can create a friends list and an ignore list. The friends list can contain up to 50 players.

Kinship

Kinships are groups of players that come together for a common, longterm purpose. (In other online roleplaying games, such organizations are often called Guilds, Clans, or even Teams). The purpose could be purely social, to pool resources, to take care of new players, or to share a common philosophy. Several types of Kinships can be formed. A Kinship must have at least 6 members or it will be disbanded in 24 hours.

Creating a Kinship

To create a Kinship, you must purchase a charter from a Kinship Clerk. These NPCs are found in various towns throughout Middle-earth. The person who created the Kinship is its first leader. (A Kinship can change its leader.) You cannot create a Kinship if you are already a member of another Kinship. There are five types of Kinships: Mixed, Dwarf, Elf, Hobbit, and Man. Any race can join any type of Kinship. The only difference is in the titles given to its members.

Notes: You must be level 5 or higher, and it costs 5