LOTRO Warden Gambit Chart

The chart presented here shows the special moves — gambits — available to the warden, a character class in Turbine's RPGMMO Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO).

The warden gambit chart shows all the gambits available to the warden class. The effects of each gambit are encoded using icons that represent a variety of effects. To look up a gambit, start at the center of the chart and follow the edges along the desired attack combination.

Chart Design

I have attempted to generate an intuitive and compact visual vocabulary and grammar to construct the chart and each of the gambit action icons. I always welcome your thoughts and comments. Tell me what does and does not work for you.

I have an interest in infovis — circos | hiveplots | art based on math and digits of π — and used to play LOTRO quite a bit. At the moment, my warden alt (Chuzzbug) is stylishly outfitted by my minstrel main (Andorel) and frozen in the upper-30s.

About the Warden

The warden wears medium armour and is a robust and versatile fighter with strong melee attacks, ranged javelin strikes, self-heals, debuffs and threat management skills. At higher levels, the warden can group heal and manage threat.

The warden class was introduced in the Mines of Moria expansion, along with the runekeeper.

The warden's core skill set is small, giving it appeal to those who like to keep their action bars uncluttered. The complexity of the class arises from the large number of 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-skill gambits. Committment to a gambit path is mitigated by the Quick Recovery skill, which allows the warden to back up one skill in the gambit tree and alter their gambits on-the-fly.

Before stances were introduced, the class was one of fundamentals and depth. Now, it is somewhat of a bag of arbitrariness.

Basic attacks — gambit builders

The warden has three primary attacks, which he uses in a specific order to unlock combinations called gambits.

• • quick thrust — spear — damages opponent
• • shield bash — shield — damages opponent and increases the warden's block rating
• • warden's taunt — fist — damages opponent, applies damage over time, and increases threat generated by the warden

For example, the Wall of Steel gambit, a devastating 3-strike attack which disrupts inductions and increases the warden's parry rating, is a 4-move gambit generated by four alternating thrusts and shield bashes (••••).

Stances

The Shores of the Great River (LOTRO Update 6) saw the introduction of stances: determination, recklessness and assailment. The stance taken by the warden modifies the effects of the gambit. In the assailment stance, spear gambits have a ranged form in which the warden attacks with the javelin instead of the spear.

• • quick toss — javelin — damages opponent, applies damage over time, and increases ranged damage

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the warden community (especially rainyman, dbrowdy, ringbearer13, and lagunad) who have worked with me at the beginning to improve the concept of the chart (warden chart thread). Special thanks to Richard Lund for sending screenshots (up to level 48) of all the gambits. Thank you to those who have provided translations for the chart.

Thanks to Angela (Bitza and Alerowen[alt] on Riddermark) for sharing with me her version of the chart for Update 6 and motivating me to include the update in my own chart (warden update 6 chart thread).

Other Online Gambit Resources

The Warden Skills wiki at lotro-wiki.com has all the gambits, along with icons and graphical descriptions. The Warden Lorebook contains the official game entry for the Warden class, along with stats, gambits, and skills.

Asto's Gambit Compendium provides an exhaustive list of gambits.

news

24 Nov 2012 • It seems like each time I look at the chart, I see something that can be aligned or spaced better. v0.68 sees minor cosmetic refreshes on icon spacing. I replace drain with a green square. I thought that shape (square) preceeds color (green), and the new shape fit better the idea that drain is damage (square) then heal (green).

23 Nov 2012 • The chart is stabilizing after Riders of Rohan update. Safeguard had the wrong level (thanks to Nathaniel Wright for spotting that).

For older changes to the chart, see the change log.

If you find any errors or think of an improvement or have a suggestion, please let me know.

LOTRO warden gambit chart — current version — v0.68

LOTRO warden gambit chart visual vocabulary

I have tried to make the icons consistent and self-explanatory. If you think something else would work better, let me know.

LOTRO Warden Gambit Chart — Translations

The translations may be based on versions older than the current v0.68 English chart.

German

German Warden Gambit Chart GER1 PNG (Garthar Toralfson von Belegaer)

French

French Warden Gambit Chart FR1 PNG PDF (Edward Ferret)

Korean

Korean Warden Gambit Translation K1 PNG (Sung J Lim)

Russian

Russian Warden Gambit Translation RU1 JPG PDF Illustrator (cmyk@inbox.ru)

LOTRO warden gambit worksheet

previous versions

v0.67 PNG PDF

v0.66 PNG PDF

v0.65 PNG PDF

v0.64 PNG PDF

v0.63 PNG PDF

v0.62 PNG PDF

v0.61 PNG PDF

v0.60 PNG PDF

v0.56 PNG PDF

v0.55 PNG PDF

v0.54 PNG PDF

v0.53 PNG PDF

v0.52 PNG PDF

v0.51 PNG PDF

v0.5 PNG PDF

v0.4 PNG PDF

v0.3 PNG PDF

v0.2 PNG PDF

v0.1 PNG PDF

change log

v0.68 24 Nov 2012 — minor cosmetic changes

• drain icon is now a green square
• improved layout for icons
• darkened node colors
• stance dotted dividers now shorter
• removed on bleed/healing modifiers, which were no longer being used

v0.67 23 Nov 2012 — Safeguard level rating fixed, minor cosmetic updates

• Safeguard corrected to level 24
• corrected Riders of Rohan Update to 8, instead of 7

v0.66 21 Nov 2012 — additional gambit fixes

• many gambits fixed to be up-to-date with Warden Skills wiki, which has bene updated to reflect changes in Riders of Rohan (Update 8) expansion.
• knockdown now called knockout
• removed icon for chance to block ranged attacks
• Terrible Visage bonus for Quick Stab removed — this effect still applies to the move, but I removed it from the chart to avoid cluttering the icons

v0.65 13 Nov 2012 — modified threat scale and minor cosmetic updates

• threat scale now has four levels: 1, 2, 4, 6 that match 0.5, 1, 2, 3 levels in Asto's Gambit Compendium. I use a different unit of threat to keep the multipliers as integers in the legend — relative relationship is not affected. The new values are
  • Offensive Strike 4T
  • Precise Blow 4T + 1T OT
  • Piercing Strike 2T
  • Spear of Virtue 6T
  • Exultation of Battle 4T OT
  • Goad 1T
  • War-cry 4T
  • Brink of Victory 2T
  • Surety of Death 6T
  • Aggression 2T
  • Resounding Challenge 6T, 1T decrease in assailment (uncertain, see Riders of Rohan Update 8)
  • Call to Battle 4T + 4T OT, 1T decrease in assailment (uncertain, see Riders of Rohan Update 8)
  • Behind the Shield 1T decrase
  • Maddening Strike 1T
  • Dance of War 2T, 4T decrease in assailment
  • Conviction 2T, 6T decrease in assailment
  • Defensive Strike 1T decrease
  • Deflection 3T decrease
  • Safeguard 2T decrease
  • fist-spear gambits 1T in determination form
• changed damage icons for gambits which has an assailment form to melee/range damage icon, except shield gambits which deal melee damage in this stance (Persevere, Celebration of Skill, Deflection).
• changed period:duration notation (e.g. 4:16 = every 4 seconds for 16 seconds) to period x repetition notation (e.g. 4x4 = every 4 seconds for 4 repetitions).
• removed 4:16 on OT effects (4x4 in new notation), making this the default
• removed force attack icon, previously used by Defiant Challenge
• increased chance to hit icon changed — sword no longer has outline. This icon is now the same as the old force attack icon
• new French translation by Edward Ferret

v0.64 9 Nov 2012 — Riders of Rohan (Update 8) changes (source)

• added Resounding Challenge (80) and Call to Battle (83)
• swapped assailment effects of Persevere (now has ranged buff) and Impressive Flourish (now has life tap)
• swapped assailment effects of Safeguard (now has ranged buff) and Maddening Strike (now has life tap)
• Wall of Steel parry is now 30s
• shield-spear gambits now generate small amount of threat
• Defiant Challenge (trait) removed from the chart

v0.63 8 Nov 2012 — minor cosmetic update, various gambit updates

• physical mastery icon changed from kettlebell to fist to make it compatible with icon for increased physical mitigation (fist in shield)
• root icon changed
• fireball icon modified
• improved legend layout
• added on healing modifier
• effect duration and break chance annotations added (e.g. 5 50/2 - 5s duration with 50% break chance on damage after 2s)
• fixed Brink of Victory (determination: evade; recklessness: drain on critical)
• fixed Fierce Resolve (now has drain and drain over time)
• fixed Offensive Strike (recklessness: drain and drain OT)
• fixed Persevere (determination: block + heal + HoT; recklessness: DoT; assailment: drain)
• fixed Precise Blow (determination: threat + ToT; recklessness: on critical)
• fixed Safeguard (determination: threat + ToT; recklessness: on critical; assailment: drain)
• fixed Shield Up (assailment: healing threat)
• fixed Wall of Steel (recklessness: on damage, 10% apply)
• fixed Aggression (recklessness: drain)
• fixed Boar's Rush (determination: fear, not daze)

v0.62 29 Mar 2012 — major update for Shores of the Great River (LOTRO Update 6)

• updated gambits to Update 6 (reference)
• added determination, recklessness and assailment stances.
• icon for block+parry+evade added.
• icon for break added.
• icon for increase chance to apply added.
• icon for increase crit changed.
• icon for increase tactical / ranged damage added.
• icon for knockdown added.
• icon for potency added.
• icon for ranged damage added.
• icon for reduce threat added.
• icon for root added.
• modifier for chance to apply added.
• modifier for on damage / critical / bleed added.
• removed icon level-dependent amount.
• fraction of main hand damage removed and replaced by generalized fraction icon.
• reflect icon changed to left arrow - now more compatible with 'transfer to warden'

v0.61 French 29 Nov 2011 — new French translation

• thanks to Cynthory [ESTEL] for a French translation of the new chart

v0.61 23 Nov 2011 — major cosmetic update

• Rise of Isengard gambits added in v0.60 verified
• added physical, ranged and tactical mitigation icons
• transfer, reflect and immunity are now shown as arrows
• level-dependent amount now shown as diamond inside icon
• increase critical hit chance is now a splatter
• increased chance to hit is now a glowing sword
• threat spark replaced by red circle
• all fonts have been replaced by Gothic
• The Dark Before Dawn no longer has level dependent amount on 2x main hand damage icons (lotro-wiki.com)
• changed copyright to copyleft, with icon

v0.60 7 Sep 2011 — major update for Rise of Isengard

• 3 new gambits added: Deflection, Shield Tactics and Aggression (tentative, source: post by Regero)
• Dance of War and Conviction threat deflection now uses {} to indicate threat transfered from fellowship
• minor cosmetic changes — how using Ringbearer font
• updated v0.56 French translation by François Houlbrèque and Steven Lemasson
• updated v0.56 German translation by Garthar Toralfson von Belegaer

4 Jun 2010 — fixed links

• Fixed broken links to foreign translations (thanks to Francois Houlbreque for reporting the error).

v0.56 26 apr 2010 — fixed Resolution

• Fixed Resolution (3-1-2-3), which incorrectly had AoE as DoT. It now correctly shows a single AoE effect. Thanks to DaSandman for reporting this error.

v0.55 25 apr 2010 — added Unerring Strike

• Added Unerring Strike. Thanks to Ken McCartney and Fabrice de Gans-Riberi for informing me of this new gambit.
• Minor layout adjustments in 1-2-1 and 1-2-3 branch.

v0.54 20 dec 2009 — updated translation

• German translation updated to 0.54

v0.54 19 dec 2009 — fixed Wall of Steel

• Wall of Steel now correctly shows increase to parry rather than evade.
• minor adjustments in layout

v0.53 11 aug 2009 — added German translation

• GER1 by Jan

v0.53 4 aug 2009 — added Russian and Korean translations

• K1 by Sung J Lim
• RU1 by CMYK

v0.53 21 jan 2009 — two French translations available

• FR1 by François Houlbrèque and Steven Lemasson
• FR2 by Vivien Simond

v0.53 13 jan 2009 — minor fixes

• all gambits now have levels, including those available at level 1 (thanks to Esheon)
• Wall of Steel had corrected to parry (thanks to Esheon)

v0.52 12 jan 2009 — added gambit levels and minor fixes

• level requirements added to each gambit, if greater than lvl 1
• war-cry now has its heal and HoT outside []₁₀
• minor adjustment to local node layout
• force attack icon is now a solid sword

v0.51 11 jan 2009 — minor gambit fixes

• Dance of War corrected to evade (thanks to lagunad)
• War-cry and Goad gambit labels were incorrectly swapped during topology change to 0.5 — this is now fixed (thanks to lagunad)
• Desolation corrected to damage and DoT (thanks to rainyman)
• Defiant Challenge now includes forced attack icon, which was added to legend (thanks to rainyman)
• Mighty Blow corrected to damage + level dependent amount (thanks to rainyman)v

v0.5 11 jan 2009 — altered topology of chart

• topology of chart has been adjusted (thanks to lagunad)

v0.4 11 jan 2009 — corrected gambit effects and adjusted fist gambit topology

• Conviction corrected for main hand damage effect (thanks to rainyman)
• Adroit Maneuver effect added (thanks to rainyman)
• Restoration corrected for main hand damage effect (thanks to rainyman)
• War Cry and Goad correctly show multiple targets (thanks to rainyman)
• Desolation is now DoT and has fear icon (thanks to rainyman)
• Dark Before Dawn power icon corrected (thanks to rainyman)
• new icon for fear and increase attack speed effects
• Goad branch of fist gambits now vertical to allow more space for War-Cry label

v0.3 10 jan 2009 — significantly altered effect icons for clarity

• heal and recover power icons are now the same — heal is green, power is blue (thanks to sarcasmo and ringbearer13)
• over time is now encoded by multiple small icons of the corresponding effect
• threat icon changed from ! to a bolt — thickness of bolt corresponds to threat amount
• threat over time is added (thanks to dbrowdy)
• amount of threat for each gambit needs to be checked (useful threat thread) (thanks to banaticus)
• drain (Fierce Resolve, Resolution, Exultation of Battle) now has its own icon (thanks to dbrowdy and rainyman)
• reflect damage (Defiant Challenge) has its own icon
• added Adroit Maneuver (need effect information) (thanks to dbrowdy)
• Wall of Steel's buff corrected to parry (thanks to xsys)

v0.2 8 jan 2009 — modified gambit effect and order icons

• primary spear/shield/fist moves are now encoded by a number rather than color (thanks to ringbearer13 and tanks0)
• gambit effect icons are now colored (thanks to ringbearer13)
• fraction of main hand damage icon altered
• reflect/transfer modifier altered from ->X to ->X->
• added categories to legend

v0.1 7 jan 2009 — created chart as proof-of-concept gambit illustration

• gambit information was taken from https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Warden
• typos and errors are almost certain in this version
• no distinction is made between common and light damage
• no distinction is made between increase threat and increase threat over time
• the canonical yellow color of Warden's Taunt has been replaced by (a more attractive) orange
• most gambit effects are level-dependent