Having just talked about how these new skills are altered by both stance and anthem it seems that we should discuss what the codas actually do. This is a new Minstrel mechanic that takes a nod from some of the previous functionality that the Anthem used.

 

The coda looks at all anthems that the Minstrel is currently running, applies any of the effects that it should apply to the Minstrel and removes any existing anthems and ballad buffs from the Minstrel. It also has a core ability based off of the stance that the Minstrel is currently using. Codas require that the Minstrel possesses three active ballads before they can be used.

To ensure that you are getting the most out of your Coda skills, you should always make certain that there is at least one active anthem on your character at a given time.

 

 

So far we have discussed the revisions to stances, ballads and anthems, as well as the addition of codas, but what about the other skill changes that must be coming with the Isengard revisions? In this section, we will highlight the other changes that are coming to the skills that Minstrels use on a battle to battle basis.

이 예전의 찬가는 이제 외침(cry)이다. cry와 call의 차이점은 결전(war-speech)의 시전여부에 따른 사용가능성이다. 이것은 "발라의 찬가" 시전시 이젠 발라드가 필요없으며 어느 자세(stance)에서도 사용할 수 있다는 의미이다.

Another convert from anthem to cry, Cry of the Wizards, once acquired, can be moved into the basic rotation for all Minstrel builds.

Class abilities that are opened while Song of Aid is active are consistent with the changes made to all classes. Skills or abilities unlocked are a little more potent in some cases.

The skill is renamed from Cure Fear to Story of Courage; this was done to fit more in line with the terminologies used for the Minstrel class.

Lyric of the Hammerhand was renamed to Story of the Hammerhand. Story and Song of the Hammerhand have been altered to allow for the protective effect to no longer drain power in place of morale. Instead, each skill now applies a damage absorbing morale bubble on the Minstrel that will last for 30 seconds. The skills can be used very often, but will cost 5% of your power to cast. However, if the bubble expires (completes its duration without being destroyed) the power spent to create the bubble is restored to your power pool.

Like the Story and Song of the Hammerhand, the Gift of the Hammerhand is now a damage absorbing morale bubble that lasts for a short time (10 seconds) and will prevent the target from receiving morale damage until it either expires or is destroyed by taking more damage than it can absorb.

This skill was formerly called Cry of the Valar. With Anthem of the Valar becoming Cry of the Valar, one skill had to have a name change. Since this skill literally invokes the name of Elbereth to drive fear into your enemies, we renamed it accordingly.

Changes with classes have changed the effects granted by Call to Greatness. Minstrels, for example, who are now called to greatness are given +10% to their Outgoing Healing and reduce the reset time on Chord of Salvation by 5 seconds.

Changes to the way that resistances are handled increased the value of this tale by turning the wound resistance into a bonus that now affects all resistances instead.

There are other skills that have changed too, but the changes are very minor or simply beneficial in that the reset timers have been reduced. Most of the renaming matches the new convention of using “improved” in the name of the improved skills instead of renaming them entirely.

 

또다른 중요한 변화는 Trait와 Trait-line이다. 새로운 발라드 시스템에서 3개의 뚜렷한 trait line과

Other important changes to the Minstrel are taking place in the traits and trait lines. The changes here are to support the three distinct trait lines and highlight the flexibility present in the new ballad system. Any traits not listed here have not been adjusted and will continue to function as they always have.

Life Singer moves from providing a discount in power costs and gains an increase to the critical chance for your healing spells. The trait also increases the bonus received to healing from all ballad buffs.

Silver Tongue loses the reduction in song cooldowns and increases the magnitude of your healing critical effects.

Subtle Movements trades the ability to lower the threat generated by skills and instead modifies Bolster Courage to no longer suffer setbacks when taking damage.

Improved Song of Soothing now removes the induction time of Song of Soothing and increases the radius of the ability by 5 meters.

Improved Raise the Spirit, in addition to reducing the cooldown and induction time of the skill, also adds a 10% bonus to healing.

The Watcher of Resolve trait line changes are fairly impactful and extend throughout the set bonuses. The capstone remains the same, but the two-set bonus becomes a 5% bonus to all outgoing healing. At the three-set bonus the Major Ballad bonus gains a 1% increase and Chord of Salvation gains a 10% bonus to healing and the four-set bonus provides the Major Ballad buff with an additional 2% bonus to healing, the Minstrel also gains another 10% bonus to outgoing healing and the Anthem of Compassion, once cast, will remain active on the Minstrel for as long as they are in combat or do not use their coda.

Absolute Pitch trades the ballad duration buff for an increase in the bonus power reduction offered by all ballad bonuses by 1%.

Heralded Saviour loses the bonus duration of Song of Aid and gains an increase in the healing done by Herald’s Strike when Noble Cause is active.

Flow of Harmony trades the power per second cost of tales for a reduction in the cost of anthems.

Battle-hymn loses the bonus morale generation that it once gave to Cry of the Valar (this is moved to the skill) and gains bonuses to the armour and evade ratings that the Anthem of Prowess offers to the fellowship.

Lyrics of Bravery now increases the resistance and the tactical defence of the Minstrel.

Smooth Voice is altered to now allow anthems to cool down 5 seconds faster and reduces the cost of all ballad skills.

Heralded Resolve replaces the minor self morale restoration to Herald’s Strike with a minor power restoration instead. This works only on Herald’s Strike(s) used without Noble Cause.

Glorious Anthem now increases the duration of all anthems by 5 seconds.

The Protector of Song trait-line maintains the Master of Tales capstone and moves the two-set bonus to a 20 second reduction in Call to Greatness. The three-set bonus reduces the cooldown on all anthems by 5 seconds and increases the reduction in power cost offered by the Perfect Ballad buff by another 1%. The four-set bonus now reduces the cooldown on Anthems by another 5 seconds and increases the duration by 5 seconds. In addition, it also decreases the cost of anthems and further increases the power reduction by another 2%. Finally, it also makes Anthem of the Third Age (Harmony) is permanent while in the Harmony stance.

Discordant Melody replaces Harmonious Melody and provides a bonus to the critical chance of Minor and Perfect Ballads.

Powerful Voice now decreases your target’s resistance rating against your War-speech calls.

Light in the Dark provides a damage bonus to ballads and codas and also increases the damage bonus offered by all ballad buffs by 1%.

Armour of Song replaces the trait allowing the Minstrel to wear medium armour. This is a significant change and we have instituted a method to replace medium gear with light in the game. The change to this trait allows us to create better armour sets for each of the classes and the overall effect allows the Minstrel to achieve better values on their armour rating.

Enduring Morale increases morale and when in War-speech gives your calls a chance to allow for your healing to be used on targets other than yourself. This skill mirrors the ability that the Power of Song granted with healing skills unlocking War-speech calls.

The Warrior-skald trait-line undergoes some minor changes. The capstone remains the same. The two-set bonus increases the damage bonus on the minor ballad damage buff by 1%. The three-set bonus is unchanged and the four-set bonus now increases the ballad damage by 25% while also increasing the damage bonus on theMinor Ballad buff by 2%. Finally, the Anthem of War will also become permanent when in War-speech.

 

With the changes to the nature of the Minstrel we also needed to take a pass at all the instruments that are available. These changes are listed here.

Instrument	Modifier (Base)	Modifier (Critical)
Cowbell	Ballad and Coda – Damage Ballad, Cry and Coda – Power Cost Reduction	Threat Reduction
Horn	Healing – Critical Bonus Threat Reduction	Anthem – Power Cost Reduction
Clarinet	Healing – Critical Bonus Healing – Power Cost Reduction	Threat Reduction
Bagpipe	Ballad and Coda – Critical Chance	Threat Reduction
Theorbo	Healing – Bonus	Threat Reduction
Drum	Ballad and Coda - Damage	Threat Reduction
Flute	Ballad, Cry and Coda – Power Cost Reduction	Threat Reduction
Harp	Anthem – Power Cost Reduction	Threat Reduction
Lute	Healing – Power Cost Reduction	Threat Reduction

 

The metamorphosis that Minstrels have undergone is likely to seem overwhelming. I expect that some folks are not going to appreciate the changes for some time. I am confident, however, that the changes are going to be much easier than they appear on paper and will allow for the Minstrel to feel more active and viable during play.