One of the new classes in the Mines of Moria is Warden. We would like to thank gildhur for all schreenshots and additional information of the new warden skills. Additional input and data are always welcome!
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Choosing the Warden, In the Beginning, More Than A Warrior, The Role of the Warden, Mastering the Warden - Warden Dev Corner
Interesting information about Warden class, Gambit system, Fellowship Combos...
Gambit Default at start, Quick Thrust â at start, Shield Bash â level 2, Warden Taunt - level 4
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Spear, Shield, Fist. These three skills make up the core of the Warden arsenal. You use them in various combinations (that you'll see later) to open Gambits that give you your prime strength. The Gambit Default is the skill in the Gambit UI until you use the other skills in an order that turns it into a unique Gambit. You can actually drag the Gambit Default to a quickslot so that you can keybind it as well.
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These are the three primary Warden legendaries. The trait unlocks new Gambit skills that allow you to add two icons to the Gambit UI at a time. So if you need to get a certain type of Gambit off faster then usually, keep that legendary slotted and use one of these skills to start that combo up quickly.
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These are inherent bonuses that Wardens get to certain weapon types. They come at level 15 and 30. The level 30 one (shown) is slightly more powerful than the 15 and overwrites the previous bonus. The 4th Legendary for Wardens is an additional 5% to Spear, Sword, and Club damage and more buffs to those weapon procs.
Careful Step level 14, Forced March - level 14
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Careful Step is your stealth skill, but as you can see, it only lasts 20s. It's great for getting in a quick Ambush at an oncoming enemy since it actually makes Ambush insta-cast, or for sneaking around a corner at someone you can't pull from range.
Forced March is like Hunter's Find the Path except it leaves you with 20% of your power until you turn it off or get aggro. You definitely don't want to do it if you're approaching major combat, but the occasional light skirmish passing through an otherwise empty area won't be life threatening if you drop out of it. It's great for getting around town or between towns in early levels, though.
Javelin Toss - at start, Ambush level 10, Critical Strike â level 10, Shield Piercer level 20,
Javelin level 28, Wages Of Fear level 38, Hampering Javelin Of Deadly Force - legendary traits
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As you can see, there are several skills that you can use at range for pulling or debuffing to start a fight. They actually do enough damage in total with auto-attacks in between that you can kill some type of mobs before they reach you.
The biggest skills here to remember, though, are Ambush and Critical Strike. Ambush is an out-of-combat ranged skill with a looooong induction, but it does huge crit damage, stuns your target for 5s, and gives you a temporary run speed buff so you can close that range quickly. You can then use Critical Strike (allegedly on any stunned target, whether Ambushed or not, but I haven't seen it flash available from other stuns yet), which also has huge critical damage. If you get big crits off on both skills, you can get your target down by 1/3 or 1/2 before he even knows what hit him.
The Boot - level 3, Offensive Strike â level 8,
Power Attack level 16, Combination Strike - level 20,
Onslaught - level 22,
Mighty Blow level 30, Boars Rush - level 31,
Wall Of Steel - level 32,
Reversal - level 52,
Dark Before Dawn - level 50, Deft Strike (spear gambit 2 icons)
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Spear Gambits are the primary DPS of the Warden. As you can see, they progress in certain lines with shorter versions essentially being weaker moves, but quicker to active. One of the biggest challenges of the Warden in combat is juggling shorter Gambits with longer ones. Do you need a quick heal or a big heal? Do you need a little threat fast or can you wait a few more seconds and get even more threat for a longer time? Or do you want to and have the liberty to have it all and start out with the small ones, then do the larger ones, then the largest ones, so you get the benefit of them all for a short time? It's something that each Warden will have to balance for themselves as they learn the rhythm of combat.
Spear Gambits come in a few forms: Damage over Time, Burst Damage, and Threatening Damage. The 3 and 4 length DoTs stack, so you can use them both back to back and add extra damage peeling off your enemies. If you don't have to worry about threat, healing or buffing yourself, these are going to be your primary tools in battle.
Defensive Strike -level 2,
Persevere level 6, Impressive Flourish - level 9, Safeguard - level 17, Shield Up - level 18, Maddening Strike - level 23, Celebration Of Skill - level 37,
Dance Of War - level 41,
Shield Mastery level 36
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Shield Gambits are primarily Heals over Time, Defensive Buffs, and Threat Transfers. You can very quickly max out your avoidance (15% block, evade, parry vs on-level targets) even without the best gear if you keep something like Shield Mastery up. And lasting a full minute, it's one of the standards of the Wardens defensive arsenal. Threat transfers work a lot like the Champion's Ire skills in that they remove a small to moderate amount of threat from someone and give that same amount to the Warden, except the Warden versions do that for everyone in the group within range.
Goad â level 4, Precise Blow - level 12, War Cry - level 13, Brink Of Victory - level 19,
Fierce Resolve - level 21,
Piercing Strike - level 25,
Surety Of Death - level 38, Resolution level 42,
Spear Of Virtue - level 43, Exultation Of Battle - level 48,
Defiant Challenge â legendary traits
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Fist Gambits are your primary aggro tools. In addition to increasing your threat level, many of them have Damage over Time (in light damage instead of common damage from the Spear line), Burst Damage, Heals over Time, or Morale Transfers, and sometimes more than one. These additional components all work well with the threat component in getting your enemies' attention. The remarkable thing about all these skills is that most of them affect up to 10 targets nearby. A Guardian and Champion need to slot class or legendary traits to be able to affect that many targets, but Wardens get it by default. This makes them incredible trash wranglers in boss fights. Have 6 or 8 elites to manage in the Rift? Toss a War-cry, then Fierce Resolve, then Resolution, then Exhultation of Battle, and you've got the full attention of the entire room.
The important thing to recommend about Warden tanking is that as opposed to the flexibility of the DPS or self-buffing roles, you always want to start out quick with the threat and build up. If you try to get off a Defiant Challenge to start out a mult-mob pull, you might never catch up with the DPS and healing classes who are already striding past you on the threat list before you get off your first Gambit. But if you start out with something faster like War-cry or Goad on multiple targets, or Precise Blow on a single difficult target, you're going to have some breathing room to get off your more substantial threatening moves over the next few seconds.
Muster In Ost Guruth - level 26, Muster In Esteldin - level 32,
Muster In Evendim - level 40,
Muster In Rivendell - level 44,
Muster In Twenty First Hall
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Keep in mind, these are all solo travel only. So you're not stepping on any Hunter or Captain toes here.
conservation - level 22, quick recovery - level 24, recklessness - level 34, restoration - level 46, adroit maneuver - level 54, desolation - level 56, conviction - level 58, wardenâs triumph â level 60.
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