The following was written by my brother Matt to explain the classes in Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) to one of his friends. He is currently unemployed, so he has lots of time to play LOTRO and learn its nuances, unfortunately for him. I thought his description was worth sharing with the Gamer Hotsheet readers:

At the moment there are 9 classes: Burglar, Captain, Champion, Guardian, Hunter, Loremaster, Minstrel, Runekeeper, and Warden. Each has some interesting strengths and weaknesses.

Burglar – Think Frodo or Sam. Only Humans and Hobbits can select this class. Most Burgs I’ve seen are Hobbits. The strengths of the class are stealth and stunning mobs.

They solo well and a good burglar can pull down much more powerful mobs like Trolls solo. The weakness is that you’re in medium armor and you’re a melee class. The Burglar’s role in groups is setting up Conjunctions, a group attack on a single target that can heal, deal massage damage, or provide other temporary benefits to the fellowship.

Captain – Think Boromir. Only Humans can select this class. The strengths of this class are what it can do for a group – heal, resurrect in combat, and provide powerful buffs. You also get a pet that provides additional buffs. The weaknesses are that you’re a tank without a heavy shield and you deal less damage than a Champion.

A good Captain is almost a necessity for a group. At Level 60 my Captain can give a group +30% morale, +25% power, or +60 might and agility. I can throw a group heal that also restores power. I can resurrect twice during combat, one of my rezes also give the group a damage buff for 30 seconds. I can also be a second tank. If you haven’t guessed I enjoy this as much as Minstrel.

Champion – think Gimli or Aragorn. Champions are the AoE melee damage dealers. That’s their strength, nothing can pull down a group of enemies like a Champion. They have two weaknesses: dual wielding weapons means no shield; AoE generates a ton of Threat (ie attacks from mobs). Dwarves make the best Guardians, the class is limited to Humans, Elves, and Dwarves.

I haven’t played this class much, but they are very handy in groups for crowd control and interrupting enemies casters. The latter ability is very important at later levels because some boss mobs can heal themselves back to 100% without an interrupt.

Guardian – the ultimate tank class. Heavy armor and heavy shields means you can generate a lot of threat and take a tremendous beating. These are the guys who stand toe-to-toe with the nastiest mobs in the game. The weakness is they are light on damage. Soloing them requires some patience. Dwarves and Hobbits make very good Guardians.

I have played this one a bit and its an under-appreciated class. Good Guardians can keep mobs focused on them and not on the Hunters, Loremasters, Runekeepers, and Minstrels. Always happy to have one around. There is a slight threat imbalance right now that means keeping mobs away from Hunters and Minstrels is very difficult. That will be rectified in the next game update they say.

Hunter – Think Legolas. Any race may choose this class, most common are elves or hobbits. Very much like a blaster in CoH, with some decent melee damage and holds. The strength of the class is the massive amounts of damage (at L60 with the right gear you can do 5,000 points of damage with a single shot). The weakness is that with great damage comes great agro, and you’re in medium armor. Easy to solo.

There are plenty of these in the game, I’ve played one to L30. Hunters are great for killing a single mobs quickly, the opposite of Champions who can kill groups quickly. Most high level content requires at least one Hunter.

Loremaster – Think Gandalf. I think this class is limited to Humans and Elves. These guys provide crowd control through stuns, some heals and buffs, and have a pet. It’s a lot like Controller – weak at the beginning and powerful at the end. They can solo pretty well if you’re patient. They only use light armor, so it’s a hard life at lower levels.

I haven’t played this one to a high level, but in Moria I have a deep respect of the class. They can cure disease and wounds in combat, which is very important at high levels. There are some things in Moria that are much easier with a Loremaster. They can also draw power from an enemy and give it to another group member, which is very handy.

Minstrel – Based on Elrond they say. Healer with some minor group buffs. Your strength is that you can heal. You weakness is that healing generates a lot of threat and you’re in light or medium armor. Any race can play this class. You can solo this class but it’s not easy because your best attacks require that you sacrifice 65% of your heals. They’re also ranged AoE, which can cause some problems.

This is my main class and I love it dearly. It’s the hardest to play in the game and the most rewarding. I made most of my friends in game with this class. You can play without one, but it’s much easier with one. They’re hard to find for the solo issues, and good ones are even harder to find.

Runekeeper – This is a dual class that can either Heal or deal ranged damage. The strength is that you can switch between on the fly. The weaknesses are light armor only, and your best heals/attacks require throwing a lot of lower level ones first. This class is limited to Elves and Dwarves.

I haven’t played this one extensively, but it does solo well. The problem is that it solos so well that most of the players have no clue how to play in groups. They’re the ones choosing the wrong move during a fellowship maneuver, healing when you need damage or vice versa. They claim it is better for healing than a Minstrel, but you’re going to have a hard time proving it to me.

Warden – This is a mini-tank. The have a medium shield (Warden’s Shield) that makes up for medium armor. The strength of the class is that it uses combinations (called Gambits) to self heal, generate threat, or deal additional damage. The major weakness is that you’re a melee class in medium armor.

I haven’t played this one much, but it’s meant to be the ultimate solo class. I think the best role in a group for this class is as a second tank to tank mobs of the Hunters, LMs, Minstrels, and RKs.