A sturdy fighter and protector of the weak, a skilled Guardian can face even the toughest foes and survive.The Guardian is one of the few classes willing and able to try to draw more blows onto himself, and can retaliate with devastating responses.
Races: Dwarf, Elf, Man, Hobbit
Role: Heavy Tank
Is this the class for me?
The Guardian will be the class of choice for players who enjoy hard-fought battles and heavy hand-to-hand combat. A master of the defensive arts, a Guardian uses taxing attacks and irksome taunts to draw and hold opponents' attention, relying on his shield and weapon to turn aside incoming attacks with blocks and parries. His combat style depends on creating openings during an opponent's attack to provide the opportunity for his own counterattacks
Guardian Pros and Cons
Strengths
Weaknesses
Strong survivability for solo play
Low damage puts solo play a bit on the slow side
High Morale
Power must be conserved (usually have low reserves)
Ability to use all weapons and shields
High repair costs
Heavy Armour at Level 15
Skills and Combat
Reactive Skills. The Guardian is the master of reacting and counter-attacking in combat. A sizable number of your skills are dependent on certain combat situations. As you are attacked, you will see the appropriate counter-maneuvers unlock for use against your foe. For example, the skill Retaliation can be used after you parry an attack
Guardian combat in Lord of the Rings Online is a series of single attacks that can lead to a string of attacks. There are two sets of skills— block skills and parry skills— that you will have to concentrate on; most of your other skills revolve around one of these skill sets. The block and parry skill trees contain higher-level skills that you can use only after these base abilities are triggered. A successful block activates one skill, and then successful use of that skill opens up three other skills. The same goes for parry.
Active Skills
A Strong Offense
Ability
Category
Level
Recovery Time
Range
Description
Charge
Buff
?
3m
You charge into the fray.
Guardian's Ward
Melee
1
3s
3
Your great skill enables you to strengthen your defences for a short time.
Salt the Wound
Melee
?
5s
3
You look to further injure a wound opened by thrust.
Stamp
Melee
32
1m
3
Your attack enables you to break your enemy's concentration, interrupting his actions.
Sting
Melee
1
6s
3
A quick attack that will lightly wound your opponent.
Sweeping Cut
Melee+AoE
2
9s
5
Large sweeping strokes cut into all of your foes standing before you.
Ready for Anything
Ability
Category
Level
Range
Description
Guardian's Defence
buff
4
Increases Block by 5.0%
Guardian's Parry
buff
12
Increases Parry by 5.0%
Guardian's Pledge
buff
20
Briefly increases Evade, Parry and Block
Protection
buff
24
25
Allows you to increase your ally's stats while gaining any parry's or blocks that they make
Thrill of Danger
buff
28
10
Refreshed power, increases with every enemy near you to a max of 3
Warrior's Heart
buff
30
Increases Morale for 1 min and also heals some Morale
Deep Breath
34
Eliminates cooldown of warriors heart, guardians pledge, and thrill of danger
Turn the Tables
melee+debuff
36
3
Exits all harmful combat states
Guardian's Promise
buff
38
Creates a whistle which allows people in your fellowship to summon you to their side
Block and Counter
Ability
Category
Level
Power Cost
Range
Description
Shield-Swipe
melee
4
9
3
After a block you can attack with both your weapon and shield
Bash
melee
10
6
3
Shield bash that generates additional threat and temporarily stuns oppenent
Catch a Breath
heal
16
31
Recovers Morale (and Power with equipped trait)
Shield Taunt
debuff
22
8
You clash your weapon upon your shield to attract the enemies attention
Drawing the Ire
Ability
Category
Level
Power Cost
Range
Description
Shield-Blow
melee
8
3
Shield hit that generates threat
Vexing Blow
melee
6
5
3
Attack that gains threat
Challenge
debuff
26
7
7
You taunt your foes to gain threat
Parry and Retaliate
Ability
Category
Level
Power Cost
Range
Description
Retaliation
melee
8
3
3
After you parry you can perform a swift attack
Overwhelm
melee
10
6
3
A powerful attack after Retaliation
Whirling Retaliation
melee+AoE
14
8
5
You whirl in a circle to attack multiple foes
Thrust
bleed
18
6
3
After Retaliation, Causes your foe to bleed
Ranged Skills
Ability
Category
Level
Power Cost
Range
Description
Shoot
ranged
30
9
30
Range Weapons
Passive Skills
Armour Proficiencies
Weapon
Category
Level
Description
Light Armour
1
Medium Armour
1
Shields
Off-hand
1
Increases Armour and Chance to Block
Heavy Armour
15
Heavy Shields
Off-hand
15
Increases Armour and Chance to Block
Combat Characteristics
Name
Level
Cost
Description
Block Rank 1
7
4s 90
Adds 1.0% to Block Chance
Parry Rank 1
9
8s 10
Adds 1.0% to Parry Chance
Accuracy Rank 1
11
12s 10
Reduces Miss by a medium amount.
Critical Rank 1
13
16s 90
Adds 1.0% to Critical Hit Chance
Block Rank 2
17
28s 90
Adds 1.0% to Block Chance
Evade Rank 1
19
36s 10
Adds 1.0% to Evade Chance
Parry Rank 2
21
44s 10
Adds 1.0% to Parry Chance
Accuracy Rank 2
23
52s 90
Reduces Miss by a medium amount.
Critical Rank 2
25
62s 50
Adds 1.0% to Critical Hit Chance
Accuracy Rank 3
29
84s 10
Reduces Miss by a medium amount.
Evade Rank 2
31
96s 10
Adds 1.0% to Evade Chance
Parry Rank 3
33
108s 90
Adds 1.0% to Parry Chance
Block Rank 3
35
122s 50
Adds 1.0% to Block Chance
Parry Rank 4
39
152s 10
Adds 1.0% to Parry Chance
Accuracy Rank 4
41
168s 10
Reduces Miss by a small amount.
Block Rank 4
43
184s 90
Adds 1.0% to Block Chance
Instrument Proficiencies
Name
Level
Cost
Horn Use
5
2 50
Lute Use
5
2 50
Misc. Passive Skills
Skill
Category
Level
Description
Shield Spike Use
20
Increases shield damage(currently bugged only allows about 10-20 seconds of additional damage)
Weapon Proficiencies
Weapon
Category
Level
Description
Daggers
1H
1
Chance to land critical hit
One-Handed Axes
1H
1
Reduces Enemy's Armour but with increased chance to miss
One-Handed Clubs
1H
1
Chance to Stun
One-Handed Hammers
1H
1
Chance to Stun
One-Handed Maces
1H
1
Chance to Stun
One-Handed Swords
1H
1
Increases to-hit chance
Spear
MHO
10
Chance to Wound causing damage over time
Two-Handed Axes
2H
10
Reduces Enemy's Armour but with increased chance to miss
Two-Handed Clubs
2H
10
Chance to Stun
Two-Handed Hammers
2H
10
Chance to Stun
Two-Handed Swords
2H
10
Increases to-hit chance
Bows
Ranged
30
Crossbows
Ranged
30
Guardian Traits
As you gain levels and complete class deeds you will acquire an arsenal of guardian traits to flesh out your build. Feel free to mix and match as you find a build that works for you. Guardian deeds have a number of affects including reduced attack duration, increased healing, decreased cooldowns, and increased threat modifiers.
Deeds
Name
Level
Reward
Task
Limit per Day
Stinging Blow
1
Stinging Blow
Strike enemies with the Sting skill (750)
Reactive Block
1
Reactive Block
Strike enemies with Shield-Swipe (400)
Shield Expertise
1
Defensive Expertise
Strike enemies with Shield-Blow (1,500)
Controlled Breathing
10
Controlled Breathing
Use Catch a Breath (250)
Harasser
10
Harasser
Use Vexing Blow (800)
To the Rescue
10
To the Rescue
Evade enemy attacks (1,000)
Guardian's Ward
10
Guardian's Ward
Strike enemies with Guardian's Ward (1,200)
Quickness
20
Quickness
Strike enemies with the Sting skill (1,500)
Grim Challenge
20
Grim Challenge
Use Challenge (300)
Selfless Defence
20
Selfless Defence
Use Protection (200)
Stoic
20
Stoic
Use Guardian's Pledge (200)
Strong Lungs
30
Strong Lungs
Use Deep Breath (100)
Brave Heart
30
Brave Heart
Use Warrior's Heart (150)
Heat of Battle
30
Heat of Battle
Use Thrill of Danger (125)
Legendary Deeds
Name
Level
Reward
Task
The Best Defense
42
Shield-smash
Find missing pages (8)
A Shield-maiden's Song
44
Guardian's Threat
Find missing pages (8)
The Final Word
46
Challenge the Darkness
Find missing pages (8)
Traits
Name
Level
Source
Description
Line Bonus
Stinging Blow
1
-3.0 Sting Skill Reset, +10.0% Sting Damage
+10 Might
Guardian's Ward
1
Increases your natural damage mitigation
Increase Threat
Defensive Expertise
3
+3.0% Block, +130 Armour
Increase Threat
Reactive Block
4
Damage your attacker whenever you Block
+10 Might
Harasser
6
Vexing Blow hits three targets
+10 Vitality
To the Rescue
12
+5.0% Run Speed
+10 Vitality
Deflected Blows
15
Class quest
Regenerate some Power whenever you Block
Controlled Breathing
16
Catch a Breath heals additional Morale and also heals Power
Stoic
20
+15 Vitality, +15 Fate
Increase Threat
Quickness
20
-5.0% Attack Duration, +10 Might
None
Selfless Defense
24
Your Protection ability lowers the threat of the target
Increase Threat
Grim Challenge
26
-15.0 Challenge skill Reset
+10 Vitality
Heat of Battle
28
+3.0 Retaliation Response Time
Brave Heart
30
-90.0 Warrior's Heart Skill Reset, +3.0 Shield-Swipe Response Time
Strong Lungs
34
-150.0 Deep Breath Skill Reset
+10 Might
Challenge the Darkness (Legendary)
39/41
Complete the book The Final Word
Taunt with +5.0% Parry Chance, +5.0% Block Chance
-
Guardian's Threat (Legendary)
39/41
Complete the book A Shield-maiden's Song
+20.0% Perceived Threat
-
Shield Smash (Legendary)
39/41
Complete the book The Best Defence
Taunt
-
To the King (Legendary)
45
Complete the level 45 class quests
Powerful attack
-
Class Quests
Your best rewards will come from your class quests, and your Guardian arsenal will be improved admirably with a few of these quest goodies. When you hit Levels 15 and See your local Guardian trainer for 30, seek out your class your class quests. trainers and collect the quests. Unless you have some quests to complete with other fellows or in your kinship, you should prioritize your class quest to collect the rewards sooner.
A Shield Against Adversity (Level 15)
A Guardian's Duty (Level 30)
Articles of Fortitude and Implements of Battle (Level 45)
Burglar
Captain
Champion
Guardian
Hunter
Lore-master
Minstrel