Considering how effective the
Rune-keeper class is, the developers at
Turbine have made a lot of changes to its skills. This class' strength lies in damage and healing -- a nuker/healer, if you will. This fit the plans for
Lord of the Rings Online quite well, but there were some things missing in the flavor of the advanced classes. As Designer Brian Aloisio explains in the
November Developer Diary, "
The Rune-keeper currently sits at top tier in both damage and healing output. Because of this, the goals we have set for this update did not focus on increasing or decreasing net effectiveness, but on adding variety, customization and more dynamic skill interaction to achieve these results." He adds that the changes are adding more "advanced" to the advanced class. Aloisio also confesses that the Trait Set bonuses were bugged, and instead of fixing bonuses, team has reinvented the Trait Sets.
To give you an example, the Words of Grace-traited Rune-keepers were capable of healing in any instance, but they lacked non-healing options. So the advanced class' skills were extremely flat. To spice things up, heal-based RKs will now have a slightly different power rotation and have a couple of non-healing abilities, yet they are still an efficient healing class. Be sure to catch the
full Developer Diary to see the specifics about your favorite advanced class changes.
