I cant' stand the combat...

[Olav Grey]

So I chose to be a hunter class, and I've never played an MMO before so I'm not sure if I'm and idiot or not.

My issue is that I can't sidestep, or strafe or kite. In LOTRO can you only walk forwards and backwards? If so that is really stupid and really agravating espeically as a long distance class.

So my question is, am I an idiot and just dont' know how to side step or is there no side stepping in the game?

[Clocks, Guns, and Jesus]

The controls can be frustrating at first, I certainly thought so. The good news is they can easily be changed somewhat, which is what I did. IIRC, the original controls had left and right strafe on Q and E, with rotate camera left and right on A and D. I swapped those two, making it the typical WASD controls. There are also other combat options to make turning the camera more/less automatic. If you right click while turning the camera, your character turns with you.

There is no side step or skill based "avoid" move in LOTRO as far as I know.

[oreyos]

You can also keep the right mousebutton pressed, which will control which way you're turning, then the keys that normally turn you around will act as strafe keys.

You can't dodge attacks, but you can kite.

[76561198077869228]

1- sidestep and kiting are easy. Strafing cannot be done with a ranged weapon (i.e. bow).

Here is the Keyboard Layout for LOTRO: {LINK REMOVED}http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Commands

2- all of these commandds can be "re-programmed" in-game. Go to "Options>Key Mapping"

3- Keep in mind that both side step and kite are simply moving your toon in a different manner. They do not provide any kind of "buff."

It takes a while to get you fingers accoustomed to the keyboard layour.... and it can change as you change your character type. I play a Hunter, Rune-keeper, and Minstrel -- each have different combat keying. "Combat Rotations" if you will.

[DigitalImpostor]

Most MMOs use hotbar combat unlike shooters which are twitch-based. Moving around during combat can be a disadvantage as some attacks can't be used or give a penalty if used while moving.

[Vault Dweller]

If you're a hunter, and you want to be more mobile during combat, go with the Huntsman line when leveling up. You can use your skills on the move, as opposed to being a stationary sniper.

[seelenfischer]

I do not have the exactly same problem but perhaps someone has an advice for me here:
I'm playing as that tanky melee class and can't stand the combat either. I know that kind of turn-based combat system from other MMOs (like Bounty Hunter Online and WoW), but in LOTRO it seems to be even slower.
That wouldn't really be a problem (since I like turn based in-depth strategy combat) but there aren't any tactical options at all for my class I guess.
I have only like 6 abilities which just say "do more damage than random attacks" and a few who end status impairments.
Did I level my char wrong? I have only invested points into the red damage-dealing tree...is that the problem? I already tried out leveling only the yellow one (two-handed tanking and light damage) but it turned out to be just the same.
PLEASE HELP! I REALLY WANT TO ENJOY THIS GAME

[Lt.Colonel Johnny Frost]

the blue skill line huntsman as vault dweller says is your mobile attack tree whereas the red one is for bigger damage but at the cost of more mobility while firing. i always used the red tree in instances and skirmishes with friends as i used my toon as big hitting artilllery from behind with healer healing me. hopefully the dps players and tank will keep mobs away from you. Think the the yellow tree was for traps which i never used.

[Ebyl]

ffs, stop necro'ing threads.

You're not doing anything wrong. If the combat is so terrible for you, then go play a different game. There are plenty out there.

[MunchieDog]

Chill out buddy ^

[Running-Target]

Originally posted by seelenfischer:

I do not have the exactly same problem but perhaps someone has an advice for me here:
I'm playing as that tanky melee class and can't stand the combat either. I know that kind of turn-based combat system from other MMOs (like Bounty Hunter Online and WoW), but in LOTRO it seems to be even slower.
That wouldn't really be a problem (since I like turn based in-depth strategy combat) but there aren't any tactical options at all for my class I guess.
I have only like 6 abilities which just say "do more damage than random attacks" and a few who end status impairments.
Did I level my char wrong? I have only invested points into the red damage-dealing tree...is that the problem? I already tried out leveling only the yellow one (two-handed tanking and light damage) but it turned out to be just the same.
PLEASE HELP! I REALLY WANT TO ENJOY THIS GAME

What class are you talking about or using? If you are not liking a tank, try a champion, captain or burgar on red line.

[seelenfischer]

In german the name of the class equals "defender" or "protector", its not the spear-throwing warden, but the other one with its own special class shield.
Indeed I began the game from beginning as a burglar but at lower levels you do not need any tactical approach yet...being stealthy still takes much longer to kill an enemy than just running right into it and smashing it in the face as hard as possible.
...but i didnt even reach bree until now soooo...it could get better...perhaps.
---thanks for your advice anyway!

[oreyos]

It sounds as if he's talking about a champion, whose combat is rather simplistic.
It's a melee class that needs to do damage. so you have the option to do damage, and damage, and damage, and a small self-heal, and more damage.

Captain is no fun at all at lower levels; you get just a few moves, and the tactics are: do combat state enabler, do bonus enabling hit, cash in combat state, use the other attacks while waiting for the cooldown.

If you want tactics, try a Lore Master or Burglar. They have crowd-control moves, and burglars have positional damage buffs (attack from behind)

-- edit --
Ah, Guardian. A guardian is OK at lower levels, although you don't do a lot of damage (your task is to keep the enemy busy while the others do the damage)
Around level 45 you will need to start paying attention to your stats, or it will become quite hard to play. After entering Moria it gets better again (IMO)

[seelenfischer]

yeah I was warned by friends not to invest my points into the tanky skill-tree (the blue one, if i remember right), so I just went for red only. I hoped to have a suitable mediocre character for all situations - but all my skills are just "do more damage", so its boring like a "left mouse-click simulator".
...so overall advice is "go play a burglar" and I'll give it another try this weekend. thanks guys!

[oreyos]

Originally posted by seelenfischer:

yeah I was warned by friends not to invest my points into the tanky skill-tree (the blue one, if i remember right), so I just went for red only. I hoped to have a suitable mediocre character for all situations - but all my skills are just "do more damage", so its boring like a "left mouse-click simulator".
...so overall advice is "go play a burglar" and I'll give it another try this weekend. thanks guys!

Well, I prefer a minstrel over a burglar, esp. when you're playing solo.
You won't have a lot of chances to use positional damage if you're the only player the monsters are fighting, and sneaking up on monsters is slow.

A minstrel has a lot of ranged attacks, can heal (himself and/or others, depending on your stance), and I just like shouting orcs to death ;-)

[seelenfischer]

that's an interesting idea but really...I would do much to find my way into Lotro but...playing a minstrel is going too far for me - I nead some blood stained killer guy, not Cacofonix in Arda.