Heralds
In Shadows of Angmar, a Herald is one of the most important tools a captain has. A Heralds can help heal him, diverts agro, adds to DPS and adds a powerful buff. Keep it healed, keep it buffed and use the commands given you to get the Herald on the mob you want it on and use it's heal to get yourself out of a tight situation.
There are three kind of Heralds in the Shadows of Angmar:
- Herald of War (buffs might and agility)
- Herald of Hope (adds to max moral and moral regeneration in combat)
- Herald of Victory (adds to max power and power regeneration in combat)
All heralds in their base state look the same, if you add an armament you just change their look (plus all of them have the same amount of increased armor for your herald). Once you get to level 20 you can buy the armament skill from the trainer and then buy which ever of the 4 basic ones you want form the trainer (Or you can get them from crafters).
Use armaments to improve your heralds armor and use traits to enhance his banner if nothing else. Improved banners are remarkably valuable in a fellowship, especially the improved banner of hope and the improved banner of victory. Use your Herald whenever possible, it's more helpful than you might think.
Soloing Captain
In Shadows of Angmar, a captain is a decent solo class, they can not dish out more damage than hunters, and can not take more damage than guardians. They fall in the middle, and can effectively take on 2-3 mobs 2 levels higher. You can safely take on 2 mobs a few levels above you, and these are the kind of fights that you want to try to get while soloing. Use your herald to keep agro on one of the mobs while you beat on the other. Use your marks on mobs that need it, and make sure you do not agro more than you can handle. If you get in a situation that you can not handle, use your last stand, and make haste to loose the agro. The basic principles is not to bite off more than you can chew.
Captain's Role in a fellowship
In shadows of Angmar, it is very important for a Captain to “Manage” the battle, this does not necessarily mean you should be telling other people what to do. You may manage passively instead. As a captain you want to keep a close eye on all fellowship stats as well as mob stats.
Always making sure that the toughest mob is debuffed accordingly and that all fellowship members have a buff on them appropriate to their role. You also want to be watching the morale numbers in particular, if one member is in danger and it doesn't look like the Minstrel is going to get to heal them in time, or if it is the minstrel, be sure to use Words of Courage on them to give them a little more time. If you're a higher level captain and have “In Harm's Way” be sure to use that when things get really ugly.
As a captain, you have to be very focused on watching numbers and using the appropriate skills and abilities at just the right moment, as a Captain, your timing can make or break a fight for your fellowship.
Raid
As with fellowships you are basically there to keep everyone buffed, and making sure your group in the raid stays alive. You may be chosen as the raids Main assist, making you the person that must select which mob to attack next. Its a nice responsibility, and you should only accept it if you are experienced in being a main assist. Raids are going to last longer the longer you stay alive (with your herald being alive).
If possible try and keep your herald on passive, and not in range of any AOE damage it make take. Keeping your herald alive could help keep a fight going, but isn't a necessary thing to have (always helps to have more in-combat morale/power regen).
Captain is a very broad class in Shadows of Angmar, with skills and abilities spanning all major roles. In Shadows of Angmar, a Captain will never be a good a healer as a Minstrel, nor can they tank like a Guardian nor deal DPS like a Hunter or Champion can. However, through well thought out use of trait arrangement and equipment configuration, you can get your Captain to do any of these roles or have your Captain really maintain his balance.
Captain's Build a Healer
This build is for a captain centered on healing. Suggested class traits are the following: subtle command, now for Wrath, blood of Numenor, fear no darkness, and captain's Hope. Equip with a one handed weapon, with a nice shield that gives bonus to will, evade, parry, and block. Or equip with a nice two handed weapon that gives bonus to healing modifier. All other equipment should be centered on will, vitality, fate. Have virtues concentrated on will, in-combat power regen and fate.
