Lord of the Rings Online: Elf Basics

The Elves are the oldest race in Middle-Earth and actually welcomed in the other races long ago when the need for them was great. But, after centuries of betrayal, wars, and other hardships, the Elves are now extremely protective of their reclusive state of being. So, with this new threat and war upon them, they are forced to come back out into the lands and team up with the other races to defeat the enemy that threatens to wipe everyone off the map.

As an elf, you can choose to play a Champion, Hunter, Guardian, Minstrel, or Lore-Master – pretty much all of the classes out there. So, you'll have a pretty open choice here. And one other difference, you can choose what nationality of Elf you want to be: Edhellond, Lindon, Lorien, Mirkwood, or Rivendell. But, there are some downfalls to playing this race, and we'll go through them and the perks of being an elf below.

Fate – in this area, the Elves are like the Dwarven race, they get an automatic -8 when they start out. But, the Elves don't have other automatic bonuses to offset this – so you have to work on this with other in-game buffs and stat builders.

Morale – now, this is actually decreased in two different ways, which is a bit odd. First, your overall morale is decreased, a -20 to be exact, no matter if you are in or out of combat. This means that you can't take as many hits as other classes can, so you have to be careful. Second, your morale regen when you are not in a fight is also decreased. What does this mean? Well, it means that you better have a stockpile of food to use when you need it.

Agility – the Elves are probably the race with the highest agility in the whole game. They get an automatic +15 agility when they start out, which means that they have a better chance to land hits, dodge hits from foes, and move faster. This is a great thing for Hunters and tank-type classes.

Disease resistance – yes, you read that right. The Elves have an increased resistance to diseases that monsters can place on you. This is maybe to offset the lowered morale, I don't know. But, either way, it does help in combat.

Poison resistance – and yet, another resistance that is higher than others. Poison resistance might not sound like a biggie, but when you are in game and fighting mobs that use poisons, then this comes in mighty handy, especially when you can't take as many hits as your counterparts.

The Elves are a great agile race, which makes them great at any class you choose. The only thing you have to watch out for is you ability to take hits.

In the next section, we'll go through our friendly Hobbits to see what they can and can't do in combat.