Turbine released the notes for their next update today. Here’s some interesting bits:
1. The over-powered black arrow DoT I mentioned recently is going to be curable. Yes!
2. The RK isn’t the only one getting nerfed. Minstrels (who can currently out dps a hunter if they trait for dps) are going to be getting a DPS nerf. Champs will see a decrease in tanking ability while in fervor.
3. The legendary item drops will be changing to a barter system. Currently, the big ol’ Mr. Turtle raid drops a lot of first-age spears, and sometimes other first-age weapons too. He’s now going to drop coins that you have to collect to trade in for the first-age of your choice.   This means everyone will always roll on the first-age coin (because hey, I could always use another first-age with better legacies right?).
4. Many patch notes which are ambiguous. I mean, what does “Changes to The Lost One in the 16th Hall.” really mean?
For the full notes click Here
That works out well for me. My Hunter was hit last time. I have been playing my Minstrel and Rune-keeper (with the Casualties static group) since Book 7. My only significant creep is a Black-arrow. Catches it all in one fell swoop.
Check this one out: “Nornuan can no longer be enraged.” That means the primary tactic for the turtle raid was just eliminated. Is he immune to fellowship skills, too? Burglars no longer welcome, I guess.
Burglars no longer welcome, I guess.
I think the Enrage immunity was necessary in this case, because it removed what little strategy there was in the fight. It does set a worrying precedent however. Enrage is the Burglar’s only truly unique group utility.
Also, the intended tank-bouncing strategy is more optimal, as you can take greater advantage of positional attacks (negating the Turtle’s parry and block), and you are focussing damage on classes that can mitigate most effectively, which means less healing required overall.
Burglars are still very useful here due to Reveal Weakness (+10% damage from all sources), and Counter Defence (+6% incoming melee crit. and a large reduction in the Turtle’s block, parry and evade).
Shouldn’t a turtle have more defenses from the sides and behind? I know the game reasons that go into the positional advantage, but in this case, it seems to make more sense to stab it in the face than the shell.
Well, you’d think so. It’s a big Turtle, so perhaps we are stabbing it in the back of the legs?
My main characters are all Hobbits and Dwarves. I’m used to stabbing in the backs of legs.
Hey, I just stumbled onto your site and felt the need to comment on the turtle situation.
What exactly are you doing with turtle and enrage? (I’ve never seen the strat used or had it properly described).
We 4-6 man it with a LM bear as the tank. Typical 6 man party build is: LM, champ, mini, burg (with a provoke stacked weapon, RK and a captain.
The bear tank is an exploit btw, and a using it can cause a person to be banned.
http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=358057