LOTRO: The Problem With Skirmish Soldiers
Skirmishes were added to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, in 2009 with the release of the Siege of Mirkwood expansion. Skirmishes are a repeatable and scalable combat system that allows players to access various instances for solo or group play from anywhere in the in-game world. Players can choose a Skirmish Soldier from a variety of classes to accompany them and provide healing, tank or additional DPS. On paper it’s a great system which is why many other MMOs offer something similar. I recently decided to tinker with my Skirmish Soldier build on my main character to see if I could optimise their performance. As my primary alt is a Lore-master, for the last few years I have had a Warrior as their Skirmish Soldier, to take some of the aggro from attacking mobs. I used the excellent guide by FibroJedi and swapped over a few Training and Personal Traits.
Skirmishes were added to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, in 2009 with the release of the Siege of Mirkwood expansion. Skirmishes are a repeatable and scalable combat system that allows players to access various instances for solo or group play from anywhere in the in-game world. Players can choose a Skirmish Soldier from a variety of classes to accompany them and provide healing, tank or additional DPS. On paper it’s a great system which is why many other MMOs offer something similar. I recently decided to tinker with my Skirmish Soldier build on my main character to see if I could optimise their performance. As my primary alt is a Lore-master, for the last few years I have had a Warrior as their Skirmish Soldier, to take some of the aggro from attacking mobs. I used the excellent guide by FibroJedi and swapped over a few Training and Personal Traits.
I do not find playing Skirmishes at the default difficulty setting with my level cap Lore-master to be particularly challenging. Mainly because my primary character is well specified with good gear and an optimised Legendary Weapon. On occasions, I will send my Warrior to attack a specific target, if for example, one of my main attack skills is on cooldown. Most of the time, they simply follow in my wake, providing what support they can. Or so I assumed. Recently, I decided to look at my combat log after playing through Thievery and Mischief Skirmish. Let it suffice to say, there were few entries regarding their contribution and what was there showed minimal damage. The Skirmish Soldier in question had all their skills and abilities maxed out. I subsequently ran several other Skirmishes with other alts, all of which had Skirmish Soldiers of a commensurate rank to the level of the alt. The results were similar.
Hence I did some research via the official LOTRO forums and the subreddit and it would appear that Skirmish Soldiers are generally considered ineffective and often a liability in high-level content due to poor scaling and unintelligent AI. At lower levels, soldiers can be overpowered but still have a tendency to pull aggro and break crowd control. This beneficial over powered state only lasts for a ten levels or so. The main problem after their AI, is that their damage and utility do not scale well at higher levels, making them less useful compared to player-controlled companions like Captain's Heralds or Lore-master pets. A Herbalist Skirmish Soldier is the most recommended and reliable choice because its primary function is healing. A role that tends to keep them adjacent or behind the player. They help keep you alive during difficult fights, which is more important than the negligible damage output from other roles.
Over the years, the level cap increases have further exacerbated this problem. Hence, my fully maxed out Warrior doesn’t contribute that much to any fight. I mainly use them as a decoy. Similarly, when deployed during general PVE questing the Skirmish Soldier (or Landscape Soldier in this circumstances) suffers the same problems with skill scaling and damage output. Therefore, their primary role at present, is one of psychological prop. Making the player feel supported and thus, boosting their confidence. Making Skirmish Soldiers the equivalent of Andrew Ridgeley from Wham. LOTRO developers, Standing Stone Games need to fine tune and rebalance this game mechanic, so that Skirmish/Landscape Soldiers become a more reliable and universal companion within the game. I’d also like more cosmetics options for them. However, knowing SSG, I won’t hold my breath.
LOTRO: Revisiting Landscape Soldiers
In March 2012 Turbine released Update 6: Shores of the Great River for The Lord of the Rings Online. This included the ability to summon your Skirmish Soldiers while playing PVE content. Prior to this you only had access to your soldier when playing skirmishes. Whether this was done to compete with other MMOs that have companions or crew such as Star Wars: The Old Republic or Star Trek Online is not clear. It may have been a purely financial decision, as tokens offering an hour’s access to your skirmish soldier soon appeared in the LOTRO store. Like all changes made regarding LOTRO, opinions were divided at the time. Where I saw this as an increase in player choice, others perceived it to be another step away from the spirit of an MMO and further evidence of the solofication of the genre. Eight years later, one thing is certain. Having access to Skirmish Soldiers throughout the game in general, is not the same as having a full blown companion that single player games and some MMOs offer.
In March 2012 Turbine released Update 6: Shores of the Great River for The Lord of the Rings Online. This included the ability to summon your Skirmish Soldiers while playing PVE content. Prior to this you only had access to your soldier when playing skirmishes. Whether this was done to compete with other MMOs that have companions or crew such as Star Wars: The Old Republic or Star Trek Online is not clear. It may have been a purely financial decision, as tokens offering an hour’s access to your skirmish soldier soon appeared in the LOTRO store. Like all changes made regarding LOTRO, opinions were divided at the time. Where I saw this as an increase in player choice, others perceived it to be another step away from the spirit of an MMO and further evidence of the solofication of the genre. Eight years later, one thing is certain. Having access to Skirmish Soldiers throughout the game in general, is not the same as having a full blown companion that single player games and some MMOs offer.
The reason I raise this subject now, is because I’m currently grinding through the War of Three Peaks phase in the new “mini expansion” and it is a litany of kill and fetch quests in a zone densely populated by enemy mobs. Some areas are best tackled by a small fellowship. As it is not much fun, so I decided to see if I could progress quicker by using my Landscape/Skirmish Soldier. I currently have a Warrior that is maxed out. Sadly this tactic has not proven especially beneficial because the Landscape/Skirmish Soldier is nothing more than a blunt tool. It has very limited functionality and certainly doesn't compete with the flexibility of the Captain's Herald and Lore-master's pets. You can direct it to fight a specific target but the cooldown on that skill takes too long to be of tactical use. It also doesn’t seem to do much damage when fighting an enemy. Having levelled a second character in the last 18 months I have noticed that the Landscape/Skirmish Soldier seems to be more effective at lower levels.
Hence I have toyed with the idea of retraining my Landscape/Skirmish Soldier from a Warrior to another type. However, after some research on the official forums and the LOTRO subreddit, it would appear that most folk choose either a Sage or Herbalist. This is because they can provide debuffs and healing, effectively. Archers, Bannerguards and Protectors (as well as the Warrior that I currently have) all suffer from the same problems; chaotic AI, a penchant for getting lost or stuck in the environment and generally not being able to hold enemies and kill them quickly enough. Plus, if I do decide to retrain my Landscape/Skirmish Soldier, there is the cost to consider. It would appear it takes about 60,000 Skirmish Marks to buy a new role and max out the allotted skills. I currently have 23,000 Skirmish Marks and that took a while to build up. So potentially, this could be a lengthy and costly process, which may still not yield the results I seek.
Another disappointing aspect of the Landscape/Skirmish Soldier is that they have no associated backstory and therefore I have no emotional connection or investment in them. They are no more than a meat shield. However, companions in SWTOR have bespoke stories, personalities and a varied set of skills. As there are multiple companions available in the game, you use whichever one is appropriate to your circumstances. Their dialogue and sundry banter can be both endearing and annoying. Either way, at least you care about them. And in Star Trek Online, although your away team do not have individual stories, you can at least customise their skills and gear. Having four NPCs providing support with a small degree of tactical control can be a real asset. It would therefore be nice to see something comparable in LOTRO. You should be able to use your Landscape/Skirmish Soldier in the same way you can your pet. However, I don’t think this is on SSGs priority list. It’s just another facet of LOTRO that has fallen by the wayside. Like hobbies, Epic Battles and mounted combat.
LOTRO: Choosing a Skirmish Soldier
I’ve always enjoyed the skirmish system since it was introduced into LOTRO in late 2009 with the Siege of Mirkwood expansion. These one to twelve-person instances are designed to provide a short and targeted fix of combat, with linear objectives and a climatic boss fight. What makes them different from standard instances within the game, is that you have an AI companion or skirmish soldier. It is this facet of the game that lends itself to tactical variation, as you get to choose which variety of skirmish soldier best compliments your class and play style. As ever with LOTRO, there is not a single optimal choice to make and if you ask a hundred players what the best role is, you’ll get a hundred different answers. The other practical benefit of the skirmish system is that they provide an alternative means of levelling, outside of PVE questing.
I’ve always enjoyed the skirmish system since it was introduced into LOTRO in late 2009 with the Siege of Mirkwood expansion. These one to twelve-person instances are designed to provide a short and targeted fix of combat, with linear objectives and a climatic boss fight. What makes them different from standard instances within the game, is that you have an AI companion or skirmish soldier. It is this facet of the game that lends itself to tactical variation, as you get to choose which variety of skirmish soldier best compliments your class and play style. As ever with LOTRO, there is not a single optimal choice to make and if you ask a hundred players what the best role is, you’ll get a hundred different answers. The other practical benefit of the skirmish system is that they provide an alternative means of levelling, outside of PVE questing.
Skirmish soldiers broadly reflect the roles of the main classes in LOTRO, as you can see from the above matrix. The idea is to choose one that provides skills that your primary alt does not directly have. Often players of all classes opt for the Herbalist simply to provide themselves with additional healing. Similarly, a DPS skirmish soldier such as a Warrior is also a solid, all-round choice. However, as my new character is a Guardian and can maintain threat, I thought it may be useful to have an Archer providing ranged DPS. The idea is to round up the mobs and have the Archer pick off them off while I hold aggro. I was also toying with choosing a Sage or Bannerguard, for their ranged debuff and buff abilities. But I’m not sufficiently knowledgeable of this sort of play style so eventually opted for the Archer. So far, it is proving to be an effective choice, but skirmishes at this level (24) are fairly straight forward.
Having re-rolled my Guardian on Laurelin (I now use the Legendary Servers as a “try before you buy” environment), I have access to my shared barter wallet and an ample supply of skirmish marks. Hence my Archer is relatively over powered at present, which is how I like things. If at higher levels, the Archer proves to be less effective, I have the option of slotting a different role and changing to another play style. Then of course there is the entire issue of running group skirmishes where an eclectic array of soldiers can lead to a very “interesting” experience. Because, despite both the statistical and cosmetic customisations that can be made to a skirmish soldier, they are still a somewhat blunt tool in combat. On occasions they can be used to great effect but more often than not they are chaotic and random. But in an odd way, this is part of their appeal. The other major choice a player is confronted with when equipping a skirmish soldier is exactly what to name them, but such matters are an entirely separate blog post.