Captains roleFollow

So after doing a little research I'm still confused about a Captains true role in a party. I've been told that a Captain is basically a hybrid who can either tank or heal. So hopefully you guys can answer a few questions and clear things up.

1) Captains can heal and tank but can they do respectable melee dps too?

2) Does a Captain tank better then heal or vise versa?

3) Is the only thing that separates a tank from a healer it's traits and equipment? If so could anyone provide a link/answers for how to do so whether it be for healing or tanking.

Appreciate the answers.

My #1 alt is a captain. Here are my answers:

1) Captains do OK melee dps, but are middle-of-the-pack in terms of DPS. They do the most damage using their halbard (high damage, slow swing speed, generates threat). They are defintly behind the Champions, Hunters, and probably Burglars util the end game.

2) Heal or Tank better? Well, that's a tough question to answer, because it really depends on the group. In a group without Champions or Guardians, a Captain is probably the best tank around. In a group without a minstrel, the captain would be the best healer. But if either of those are in he group, then the Captain will be more support. In a typical fellowship (6 man team comprised of a Healer (minstrel), Champion, Burglar, Loremaster, Hunter and Captain), the Captain would either off-tank the Champion and guard the minstrel (pull aggro off the minstrel) and be a secondary healer.

I'll answer your third question with more of an explanation of the character. Really, the Captain is very much a jack-of-all-trades, not doing anything particularly well (with the exception of buffs), but being able to contribute to many areas. Things they do:
- DPS (middle tier)
- Heal (2nd best in the game I'd say)
- Buff (increase regen, critical rates, bonus to skills, buff damage, etc) - best in the game
- Pet (very weak dps off-tank)
- Tank (their lower dps often leaves them as a weak tank).

They have skills that contribute to each of those. So just because a player is expected to fill a role of a tank or healer in a group, it doesn't prevent them from doing any of the other roles. Even if you trait for healing-heavy skills, you can still tank almost as well as if you went for an all-damage setup.

I suppose one way to put it is: If a captain was expected to fill a role of a tank (i.e. a party of 3 burglars, a captain, Loremaster & Minstrel) they could do it OK. If a Captain was expected to fill the role of a minstrel (healer) - party of 3 guardians, Captain, Hunter, Loremaster - the fellowship adventure had better be easier than harder, since the captain really isn't a pure healer. That said, when things are looking bad, a captain can be a huge tide-turner in battle with some of the skills they have.

FWIW - Captains are usually welcomed into a fellowship as they provide so many benefits, and can also solo their way through most things.

I have a 60 captain.

Let me just say that they are not truly a pet class, although they can have a pet. The pet system is broken for captains, as the pets have wild and out of control pathing that tends to aggro huge groups of mobs at the wrong time. 90% of captains do not use a pet except in rare occasions, such as killing grey mobs for deeds. Then it's safe to have a pet around...

Captains are like Paladins in other games. They are healing tanks that can buff, but not as good as a shaman-type class at buffing. The legendary trait In Defense of Middle Earth gives +50 vitality, +50 will, +50 fate, +50 might. But you can only cast it on yourself and your fellows (not on anyone out of group). You can also give the critical hit buff, the parry buff (nobody uses it,) or the in-combat power regen buff on individuals, even outside of the group.

Captains are not true healers as they cannot perform "Big" heals on people. They can, however, heal their fellows with many different hot heals that all add up. If an emergency arises, the captain usually performs "Last Stand" and "In Harm's Way" to save a group member, rather than heal them. In Harm's Way means the captain takes 100% of the dmg that ALL fellowship members are taking, and Last Stand means the captain is invincible (cannot die) for 15 seconds. If the Captain has traited for Last Stand, it's 25 seconds, with a +400 personal heal when it wears off. In Last Stand mode, the captain's health can go down to 1, but not 0. So sometimes captains die after it wears off it they still have aggro, or even if they have a tiny bleeding wound if another class like a minstrel doesn't heal them during last stand. (Last Stand is also being nerfed with book 7, as it will absorb only 75% of damage the fellowship members are taking, rather than 100%.) :(

The way a captain heals is by placing a "healing mark" on a target, which reflects health back upon attackers of that target. Meaning, you whack the target for 75 damage, you get back 15 health. You whack it for 200, you get back 50 health...ie it scales with damage. Captains can also heal fellows by using special melee attacks like "Inspire" which will provide a small heal to a chosen fellowship member whenever that melee skill is used on an enemy. Captains can also use Rallying Cry to heal the entire fellowship for a heal + a hot after a kill is made, as it is a kill-reactive skill. If the captain doesn't want to use Rallying Cry, he can use a skill to give an attack speed bonus to the fellowship. The other heal captains have is a single-target heal where you select any individual, grouped or not, and give them a small health boost. This takes away a little bit of the captain's health as well as power when he does this. But if you stack it with Inspire's effects, plus the rallying cry and the healing banner, it helps alot.

It is worth noting that captains cannot heal THEMSELVES. Rallying Cry will heal a captain just because it heals all members of the group, but only after a mob dies. So if a captain is in 1v1 combat, he can't heal himself during the fight. One class trait allows a self heal to occur with a long timer, and it's effectiveness is debated. It's probably not worth traiting as so many other traits would help not only the captain, but the entire group as well.

There is a good pet that is a signature mob that a captain can get, called the Oathbreaker (a ghost pet.) But the oathbreaker is bugged, and he shoots arrows at mezzed mobs and has other associated aggro bugs about him. When a captain traits to have strong pets, he has nerfed his ability to heal and tank to much that the cost is too great. Nobody traits for pets and captains rarely use them. Captains tend to plant a banner of either power regen, or health regen at the scene of a battle.

Captains can tank but they are not good damage dealers. They need so much fate and will that might is inevitably neglected. Fate also helps to get a critical hit that counts like a defeated mob, which opens up the cry skills like Rallying Cry. Captains also don't have many melee attacks that are + significant amounts of damage. The ones they do have are on pretty long timers. They can't dual wield and halberds are hideously slow. A captain can use other 2-handed weapons, but many like the extra threat generated by slow halberds if they need to take aggro. They have pretty pathetic taunting abilities, except Noble Mark, which is a threat enhancing dot. But if a captain uses this, he forfeits the very-valuable Healing Mark, and so rarely uses it unless a dang good minstrel is in the group.

Captains compliment and enhance every other class in the game. There is no bad team; a captain and a loremaster rock, a captain and a burg rock. A captain and a guardian rock, and a captain and a minstrel rock. A captain and a hunter rock, etc. They have 2 resurrections, both are in-combat, but have long 30 minute timers. They compliment everybody, and with Last Stand and In Harm's Way, they are often group saviours. That is their role.

Edited, Mar 7th 2009 3:54am by Tsarevna

Edited, Mar 7th 2009 3:55am by Tsarevna