A Minstrel's Best Spell Rotation

Perusing the Lord of the Rings Online forum boards, I stumbled upon a thread entitled “Solo Mob Spell Rotation,” or something to that effect. Curious, I took a gander and got quite an eyeful. Turns out (surprise, surprise) I have not been soloing with Lukenbach my minstrel as effectively as I could be. But first, here’s the general consensus among minstrel players of the best solo mob spell rotation:

1) Call of echoes – DoT, but more importantly lowers the mobs resistance
2) Ballad of Resonance – Buffs light damage
3) Call of Erome – AoE, but more importantly significantly lowers mob’s resistance to light damage
4) Piercing Cry – Best minstrel damage spell, best applied after Call of Erome
5) Noble Cause – Melee attack
6) Call of Second Age – AoE. Almost everyone includes this spell in the rotation, but it gobbles up a lot of power.
7) At this point, mob should be dead or close to it. Rinse and Repeat.

I tried this rotation and noticed immediate improvement in raw dps. I started seeing Piercing Cry crits in the 700s, where previously I had them peaking at no higher than 500. My old rotation included getting my three tier one ballads up and running, followed by Piercing Cry and Noble Cause. I only used Call of Erome and Call of Second Age for multiple mobs.

Big mistake.

Even though it’s an AoE attack, Call of Erome significantly decreases the chance a mob will resist a light based spell attack. Since mob resistance got jacked up for Mines of Moria, spells fizzling harmlessly of monsters emerged as one of the biggest new challenges facing minstrels in the expansion; it’s especially heartbreaking and frustrating when the best crit and damage spell a minstrel has, Piercing Cry, bounces off a mob’s hide.

But it need not be that way if the minstrel properly employs everything in his arsenal in the most advantageous order.

So I’ve got Lukenbach following this new solo spell rotation and really like his newly discovered killing efficiency. Even so, I’ve gone back to playing Kammris, my champion. Kam is almost 47, which puts him at the minimum level requirement for the teal one-handed swords I made months ago. I can’t wait to see Kammris turns into a human chainsaw with a pair of those beauties equipped.