AsLord of The Rings Online’s next expansion approaches, Game Rant had an early look at the new class that will be introduced: the Mariner. The Mariner is largely a typicalMMORPGsupport class, with a strong emphasis on either buffing fellowship and raid members or debuffing opponents, but it also boasts a surprisingly fun bleed-based melee DPS spec in its red trait line.
The Mariner is inspired by Earandil, the legendary half-elf mariner fromTolkien’sThe Silmarillion, who was also notably Elrond’s father. As such, this class has a strong nautical theme, singing catchy sea shanties to bolster its allies while managing a fore-and-aft balance system as its primary mechanic. It’s worth keeping in mind that the Mariner class is limited to River Hobbits, Stout-Axe Dwarves, High Elves, and Men.
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The Mariner’s Swordplay Combo System
One of the driving forces behind the Mariner’s rotation is theSwordplay system. Many abilities apply a Swordplay buff that enhances or alters the effects of other abilities, and this brings out a few obvious combo sequences that play well in a rotation. On paper, the class appears fairly complex and intimidating due to the branching of possible combos, but the logic behind the Swordplay combos keeps it fairly manageable.
For example,Riposte’s Swordplay bonus givesAdvancea +30% damage increase for 10 seconds or untilAdvanceis used, and thenAdvance’s swordplay bonus gives +50% damage and +15% critical magnitude to Finishers. Some combinations open up new possibilities entirely, such as howFeint’s Swordplay turnsCut-overinto an AoE, makesDodgerestore morale, and givesCompound Attacka +15% critical chance.
The Mariner’s Nautical-Themed Balance System
The Mariner’s class resource is Balance, which functions somewhat similarly to the Rune-Keeper’s Attunement system. Keeping in theme with theMariner’s nautical nature, Balance can shift either aft-ward by using defensive and supporting abilities or fore-ward typically by using offensive skills. The Mariner’s current Balance level will apply certain buffs and enable various skills while going overboard also has some drawbacks.
When a Mariner’s balance reachesFore-ward, they’ll gain a +15% increase to melee damage. Pushing further will then apply theExtremely Fore-Warddebuff, which increases threat by +10%. Going further will earnStumbling Fore-Ward, which gives +150% threat, +10% miss chance, and applies a brief stun to the player. Finishers can be used once the Balance level has reached a fore-ward threshold that can be met after around four attacks, so Mariners will want to attempt to maintain a certain level of fore-ward balance to keep Finishers accessible.
Although thedebuffsare worth keeping an eye out for, in practice, the Mariner’s rotation will generally keep them from going too far, and skills likeEn Gardecan bring them back towardSteadyon a short cooldown. When the Mariner is centered atSteady, they’re immune to roots, stuns, and knockdowns. Numerically, the Balance meter ranges from 0 at full aft-ward to 50 at full fore-ward, and most skills shift the balance between one and three points in either direction.
The Mariner’s Red Line: The Duelist
The Mariner’s red line is The Duelist trait tree, and these traits mostly focus on boosting melee DPS through heavy application of bleeds along with increased effects from Swordplay and fore-ward attunement. TheDeep Puncturestrait adds additional ticks to bleed damage, while theConfident Lungestrait makes the AoE skillFlecheas well as Lunge apply bleeds.Attacker’sAdvantagewill also makeThrustapply a bleed if used afterAdvance. Further emphasizing bleeds is theSalted Woundstrait, which increases damage over time potency.
Duelist Mariners will probably shine most in group content where enemies will live long enough for the full duration of each dot to deal their damage, but it still has plenty of burst potential thanks to the Swordplay bonuses, sosolo MMO gamersshouldn’t have too much trouble in overworld content. As a physical melee class, Duelist Mariners benefit most from Might for physical mastery and Agility for some extra critical rating.
The Mariner’s Blue Line: The Shantycaller
The Shantycaller line is the Mariner’s support tree, enhancing the Mariner’s numerous fellowship and raid-wide buffs that are applied through Shanties. Blue Mariners will have some helpful utility in group play with offense-boosting traits likeBloodied Foeswhich allows the Mariner to mark a target and cause it to take +5% increased damage from all sources.
Shantycallers can also grab theGuided By The Starstrait, which is a shanty that provides bonuses to crit chance, incoming healing, critical defense, and finesse to the raid for 20 seconds.
Although not a full-blown healing class, Shantycallers have numerous traits that increase healing received by the group and a few shanties and abilities that can restore some morale. Overall, Shantycaller possesses a variety of useful traits and skills, and raids will probably want to bring at least one blue Mariner along, particularly because it’s fun to hear the Marinersinging sea shantiesin the midst of battle. Shantycallers may want more Will and Fate from their gear in order to manage power costs and increase their outgoing healing.
The Mariner’s Yellow Line: The Rover
The Mariner’s yellow line is mostly geared toward applying debuffs by making heavy use of Haversack skills, which are throwable gadgets or pots filled with substances that can debuff or otherwise debilitate enemies.
TheCaustic BrewHaversack reduces tactical and physical mitigation by 10% on up to 7 targets, whileThrow Bolasapplies a 15-second root. Meanwhile,A Watched Potmakes Swordplay criticals reduce Haversack skill cooldowns, so there’s some decent synergy between the red and yellow trait lines.
TheCareful Aimtrait also changes gameplay up a bit by turning all Haversack skills into ground-targeted skills, allowing players to be more precise with their placement. Rover traits still give Mariners some group utility with traits likeEncouraging Presencewhich increases the group’s outgoing healing orMany Handswhich makes Shanties restore their power. This crafty swashbuckler playstyle brings out someCaptain Jack Sparrowvibes as the Mariner outwits enemies and trips them up with improvised tactics.
PvP-oriented players may want to invest some points in the Rover line thanks to its arsenal of debuffs and control abilities.
