Well, it’s been a little while, hasn’t it?  I hope you’ve all been perfecting your craft as a Rune-keeper since last I wrote.  We’re finally getting around to talking about a very important component of any class: traits.  Thankfully, Rune-keeper traits are generally pretty cut-and-dry.  If you want to heal, you fill most of your slots with Benediction of Peace traits.  If you like to DPS, you pick either Solitary Thunder or Cleansing Fire traits.  And then you cross-pollinate a little with traits  from other sets to suit your playstyle.  If you’re having trouble deciding on which traits to choose, read on!  What follows is my personal take on every individual trait in our major trait sets: which ones shouldn’t be missed, which ones fit more specific situations, and which can be safely ignored.

Without further ado, in descending order of usefulness by set, the traits!

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Solitary Thunder

Solitary Thunder was originally designed for soloing, but given its potency and ease of use, many Rune-keepers stick with Solitary Thunder even at level 65.

Harsh Debate
Chance to gain +15% tactical damage buff.  Not a difficult decision: more damage is always welcome.

Tale of the Storm
Chance to gain +10% critical hit chance and -power cost of Fury of Storm skills.  Fury of Storm skills already rely on crits, and more power is always a good thing.

Thunderous Words
Chance to gain +pierce tactical resistance buff.  Ever since Turbine buffed monsters’ resistances, I recommend this trait.  Also makes your Corruption removal more reliable, which can make or break a fight.

Closing Remarks
The trait that gives Epic Conclusion its big numbers.  If you’re frequently in combat long enough to use Epic Conclusion (most group situations), this is worth having.

Master of Tragedy
Increases the chance of tactical critical hits.  At level 65, it increases my crit chance by 1.5%, which isn’t anything to write home about, but if you’re looking for a fifth Solitary Thunder trait, it’s worth taking.

Confounding Principles
Makes Shocking Touch more reliable and last 5 seconds longer.  Very useful when leveling, fairly situational in fellowships.

Icy Discourse
Allows a mild slow from Chilling Rhetoric to persist through damage.  Useful if you need to kite foes, but not for general use.

Winter-storm
+5% chance for Fury of Storm skills to stun enemies suffering from Writ of Cold.  Unreliable and very situational; not recommended.

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Cleansing Fire

Originally intended to be traits for raiding, Cleansing Fire is plagued by a slow start-up time and several bugs that make many Rune-keepers shy away from using it to DPS.  That said, I’ve been in fellowships with Cleansing Fire Rune-keepers who pulled their weight just fine, so if you really enjoy the Cleansing Fire’s playstyle, you can make it work.  Several Cleansing Fire traits are useful even if you are mostly traited for Benedictions of Peace or Solitary Thunder, so be sure to read over them even if you’re not primarily traiting for Cleansing Fire.

Linnod of Subtlety
+10% damage, -10% threat, and +30 seconds to the duration of Calming Verse.  As far as I’m concerned, if you’re DPSing, there’s no reason not to take this trait.  Just remember to keep the Calming Verse buff up!

Tale of Rage
Every time you cast a Wrath of Flame skill, you gain a 10 second buff that increases your fire damage by 3%, up to a maximum of +15%.  A definite keeper for the Fire DPS Rune-keeper, and worth considering if you’re healing and want to sneak in some damage with Fiery Ridicule.

Conflagration of Runes
+40-80% damage to the damage-over-time portion of Fiery Ridicule.  Just like Fiery Ridicule is a staple of your Wrath of Flame skills, this trait is a staple of the Fire DPS Rune-keeper.  I’ve even seen some DPS rotations that use Fiery Ridicule almost exclusively, so definitely pick this one up.

Writ of Blazing Fire
Writ of Fire tiers down instead of dispelling and reduces its cooldown by 2 seconds.  Very helpful for quickly building and maintaining a tier 3 Writ of Fire.  Recommended for Cleansing Fire DPS.

Master of Connotation
Lowers the chance your skills will be resisted.  Useful especially if you don’t have the -resist chance legacy on your legendary, but not necessarily a must-have.

Overflowing Confidence
Self-motivation now puts the Motivated buff on you for 30 seconds, reducing all skill costs by 20%.  Easy choice here: slot this trait if you’re having issues running out of power, pass on it if you’re not.

Scathing Retort
Smouldering Wrath greatly reduces your foe’s Fire Mitigation while active.  You might think this is a must-have, but it depends on (1) how often you actually end up using Smouldering Wrath and (2) how many other fellowship members would benefit from it.  Recommended for DPS races like the Turtle or for raids where hunters are using Fire Oil.

Frost-burn
Enemies hit by Writ of Cold refreshes any Writ of Fire effects on them, and reduces the cooldown of Writ of Cold.  An odd trait that is too situational to be worth slotting.  

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Benedictions of Peace

Our lovely healing traits.  If you’re asked to heal for a fellowship or raid, you’ll want to have your Benedictions of Peace traits slotted.

Memorable Prose
-15% Mending Verse power cost and increases the max morale of its target.  A fantastic trait for giving you a little more breathing room when those big damage spikes hit.

Linnod of Peace
Calming Verse is instant, adds +10% healing while active, and gives an additional -10% threat.  Convenience and power rolled into one trait.  Highly recommended.

Writ of Well-being
Writ of Health tiers down instead of dispelling and reduces its cooldown by 2 seconds.  Very helpful for maintaining your Writ of Health; highly recommended if you’re main healing.

Rune of Endurance
Increases your Rune of Restoration’s health by 30% and allies being healed by Rune of Restoration are healed an additional +30% by Rousing Words.  The Rousing Words bonus gives our AoE healing a welcome boost and the extra Rune of Restoration health helps when soloing.  Recommended.

Author of Exaltation
+10% mitigation and +5 second duration of Word of Exaltation.  Best combined with the Word of Exaltation legendary item legacy, but a decent trait nonetheless.

Master of Allusion
-5% threat and power cost for all skills.  Useful if you’re often pulling aggro or running out of power, can be skipped otherwise.

The Prophetic Word
All Visions and Foretellings recover 20% faster.  You’ll rarely encounter a situation where that 20% increased recovery time matters.  Not recommended.

Terse Narrative
-3 second cooldown and -0.5 second induction time for Epic of the Ages.  Even with this trait, Epic of the Ages takes 4 seconds to cast.  Not recommended.

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Builds

Now that you’re familiar with each individual trait, how do they all fit together?  I’ll go over a trio of builds: one for healing, one for DPSing, and one for general use.

The Morale Officer
  • Memorable Prose
  • Writ of Well-being
  • Rune of Endurance
  • Author of Exaltation
  • Linnod of Peace
  • Linnod of Subtlety
  • Overflowing Confidence/Tale of Rage
  • Martial Training (Legendary)
  • That Which Does Not Kill Us (Legendary)
  • Wondrous Foreshadowing (Legendary)

Recommended for: Healing.  The only real decision you have to make here is whether to take Overflowing Confidence or Tale of Rage.  Usually, I choose Overflowing Confidence if I’m going to be raid-healing, otherwise I’ll pick Tale of Rage so I can sneak in a little DPS during those quick 6-man dungeon runs.

The Angry Author
  • Thunderous Words
  • Harsh Debate
  • Closing Remarks
  • Tale of the Storm
  • Master of Tragedy
  • Linnod of Subtlety
  • Master of Connotation
  • Martial Training (Legendary)
  • Fall to our Wrath (Legendary)
  • Perfect Imagery (Legendary)

Recommended for: Pure DPS.  If you have a reliable tank and healer, here’s your green light for laying on the hurt.  I usually go with mostly Solitary Thunder instead of Cleansing Fire for DPSing because Solitary Thunder takes very little time to get up to full damage potential, while Cleansing Fire really only reaches its maximum potential after a noticeable delay.

The Memorable Storm
  • Thunderous Words
  • Harsh Debate
  • Tale of the Storm
  • Closing Remarks
  • Memorable Prose
  • Linnod of Peace
  • Linnod of Subtlety
  • Martial Training (Legendary)
  • Fall to our Wrath (Legendary)
  • Steady Hands (Legendary)

Recommended for: Soloing, or any time you’re not completely confident in your tank or healer.  This build lets you use Rune of Restoration at any time, and Memorable Prose makes your Mending Verse more potent if you need to help out (or take over as) the healer.  You might not be doing your maximum potential damage, but you’ll probably be making the run as a whole a little smoother.

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That about does it for traits.  Agree or disagree with my take on something?  Leave a comment!  I’m going on a bit of a break from LotRO for a while, but I’d be happy to discuss Arda’s favorite authors in the meantime.  Until we meet again, may your deeds echo even unto the Fourth Age!

—Omsi