Lord of the Rings online Warden vs Tolkien's Warden

When the Warden class was created I was excited. The Elves had gotten short shrift in the hand to hand combat category. Hunters were the quintessential Elvish class and while they could drop the bomb on somebody in ranged combat they really suffered up close and personal. Besides, the whole game Elves could never be mistaken for men thing, they were simply effete in practice as well as looks.

So I was hugely excited by the idea of a combat class created for the Elves. Then I played Wardens and found the huge flaws. First they are nothing like the Wardens mentioned in the Fellowship of the Ring. The Wardens of Lothlórien wore gray mail and wore long white cloaks. The operative word here is mail. Mail is not generic for armor and a professor of English and Anglo-Saxon would not mistake mail for any other kind of armor. So while there was a clear model for the developers to follow they chose not to. Second, they are nothing like the character 'Haldir' either from the book or the movie that they were supposedly modeled on.

Haldir in the movie wore metal armor, carried a sword, and most importantly a bow. Haldir in the book was not mentioned as one of the three Wardens specifically mentioned. However, he also carried a bow. Neither of these descriptions match the Warden from the game.

The Warden class in the game cannot use metal armor of any kind. The Warden class does not use a bow at all (one of the two weapons in which an elf excels). The Warden in the game specializes in a spears and javelins. Spears and javelins are not bad weapon choices for a Silvan elf. However, to eliminate bows entirely? This is foolish and capricious. A good choice for the Warden was the stealth and ability to ambush. The books both mention Haldir (and all other elves) ability at stealth. The ambush is certainly implied as three elves went out to slow a huge hunting part of angry orcs. So that was a good thing.

Now the class was billed as a tank. It is not. It is not even a very good off tank. It does have a slammin' first attack and a strong ranged combat ability but neither of these traits screams 'tank' to me. The Warden can carry a shield and a weapon but really cannot stand in there and slug it out like a Guardian. At the same level I can solo group quests with my Guardian where I am crying for help or running and 'kiting the mobs' with my Warden. A tank tanks, it is in the job description. The Warden does not match the description. If I wanted ranged combat class, I would choose a Hunter. If I wanted a close combat class I would go with a Guardian or Champion. The Warden class is neither fish nor fowl and suffers for it.

So I dropped the Warden. I looked for a class that covered all the abilities found in the books, I was even willing to look at some of the movie Elves. I decided that a Elvish Guardian fit the bill.

First a Guardian wears mail. Mail was in the book, mail is on a Guardian. Second, Guardians use bows. I know you have to wait to get them. Wait to the 30th Level but at that point you are now an Elf with a bow. It is worth it. Third, the Guardian is just the type you would put in front of your Lord and Lady as a solid line of defense. Somebody in mail armor and with the ability to come to hard hammer strokes or shoot a bow at a distance.

That's enough, I've beaten a dead horse enough nobody believes that the developers have ever read the books. Look at the Rune Keeper class. Tolkien didn't want Disney to make his books into movies. He would be rolling in his grave if he ever saw what they were doing to his stories now with characters who were not even in Gandalf's class throwing lightning bolts around like tennis balls.

All I ask from the developers is that they read the damn books. Then create their classes. Show a little respect for the world created.