(Updated 5/18/07 with new printable chart, see link at bottom)

by Brasse

Fellowship Maneuvers seem to catch people off-guard when they come up – it's about time that you learned how to hold up your end of the sword instead of ducking and pretending that you didn't see it appear on your screen!

Lord of the Rings Online has implemented these special combat opportunities as a way to add a coordinated team effort to the group dynamic. Of course, most of us just think they are trying to make us look dumb.

Here is your survival guide – I will try to keep it as simple as possible (so that I can keep up)!

Introduction: Do I have to read all this? Yes!

Fellowship Maneuvers are, as the name implies, only possible when in a Fellowship.

Maneuvers were known throughout most of beta as "Conjunctions", and you may still hear players refer to it by this name. Just nod knowingly and hit the right buttons.

These special abilities can be used to heal (great when you have no Minstrel in the group), do additional damage, refill power bars or add a DoT (damage over time) to your barrage of damage. It is a really worthwhile game mechanic to learn.

Do not panic!

It is almost mandatory to use the in-game voice chat (or an external voice chat program like TeamSpeak or Ventrilo), in order to coordinate the more complicated FM moves, unless your group is very used to playing together.

In a well-coordinated group, a leader can pre-arrange a few maneuvers that they can call out with a chat macro instead, along the lines of "/f R-R-R-Y-Y" This can be very useful if people know what order they are to perform the commands in.

I would certainly avoid calling out the FMs by their real names; your party members will squint at you sideways if you say "/f Whispers Under the Mountain!" instead of a simple "/f G-Y-B-R-G-Y", which serves as command as well as instruction, hehe.

I suspect that getting FMs rolling effectively in a pick-up group will be additionally challenging, as people will not be used to working together. It should still be possible to perform runs of 2 and 3 regularly, with minimal effort.

In any group, having a member who is intimately familiar with the FM process and who can call out codes will be very important; even better if this is the Burglar (or occasionally Guardian) that can initiate the process. The better coordinated the group, the more complex FMs that can be pulled off reliably.

One of the first steps is to ensure that each party member knows what order they are to enter icons in. Establish that as soon as possible.

Let's get this party started!

Fellowship Maneuvers can occur randomly in any battle against a Signature or Elite creature, although group members must be at least level 12 in order to participate in the process.

In addition to random, unpredictable triggers, which can be very hard to act on in time, burglars, and to a lesser extent Guardians, can begin a Fellowship Maneuver cycle. A group can be more prepared for these. For this reason, it is best to have the Burglar (or Guardian) calling the FM series, provided they know what they are doing, hehe.

BURGLAR FM TRIGGERS:

• Exploit Opening (level 12) - This stuns your target, creating an FM opportunity.
• Trip (level 28) - You can knock an enemy down, opening up an FM round. Trip can only be used while stealthed.
• Exposed Throat - After using your Double-edged Strike, this attack will inflict high damage, with a chance of creating an opportunity to use an FM (info according to lotro.com – I have not used this in game yet).
• Marbles – These are a crafted item rather than a skill. You can use marbles to throw a creature off balance, allowing an opening for a Fellowship Maneuver. Use of marbles requires the burglar to be trained in the skill "Clever Devices" at level 20. There are three marbles recipes available to Weaponsmiths:
  • Small Bag of Marbles (small chance of success when thrown)
  • Medium Bag of Marbles (better chance of success)
  • Large Bag of Marbles (best chance of success)

GUARDIAN FM TRIGGERS:

• Turn the Tables (level 36) - Knock down a target after being knocked down yourself, and open an FM opportunity.
• To the King - A powerful attack against an enemy, triggered after the use of Overwhelm or Thrust (these rely on a successful parry). The creature may be knocked down, resulting in an FM opening (info according to lotro.com – I have not used this in game yet).

When the FM event is triggered, a Fellowship Skill wheel appears on each member's screen. If you are not directly targeting the mob, you will first see a target/bullseye symbol. Click on it to participate in the process and it will cause you to automatically join in on the same target.

This is where the coordination aspect comes in, along with a healthy dose of confusion. Upon triggering the FM wheel, the creature is stunned, allowing time to perform the moves. NOT enough time to look up this info, so please read it in advance!

If you fail in a FM attempt, the mob is immune to further attempts for one minute.

The Fellowship Maneuver Process

1. A Fellowship Maneuver is triggered.
2. The targeted creature is stunned.
3. The caller should designate which move your group will try. Remember to have your groupmates assigned to a number in advance, so that they know they are #3, for example.
4. The first player will select a color by clicking on it. That player is now unable to attack with auto-attack or special skills, until the FM attempt is completed. If he moves, the FM is cancelled.
5. The color chosen by the first player will appear in the FM queue.
6. The second player will now click on their color, and on down the line until all players have chosen the appropriate color.
7. The Fellowship Maneuver completes and the effect goes off.
8. You congratulate yourself on hitting the right color at the right time and looking like a brilliant fellow.

Wheels on the bus go round and round.

The Fellowship Maneuver Skill Wheel

It helps to understand what each of the four colors do:

ENT'S STRENGTH (Red) is a straightforward melee attack. As others add more red to the stack, it does more damage. At the 6th level it becomes an AOE attack with a radius of 10 meters.

Burglars and Minstrels must be within melee range in order to partake in setting a red icon. - Used alone, red equals instant damage – use it when you want to kill something fast.

EAGLE'S CRY (Green) is a morale (health) heal that targets yourself at the opening level. At the 2nd level it becomes an area-of-effect AOE (Area of Effect) heal over time. At the 5th level it adds a cure fear effect, and at 6th level it cures wound effects in addition to fear.

- If your party is running low on morale (health), and especially if you have no healer, use lots of green.

SPIDER'S GUILE (Yellow) is a combination of melee attack and damage over time (DoT) effect. At the 5th and 6th stage it also applies a 15-second effect that will drain the target's power and slow the creature's attack and movement speed after the countdown finishes.

Burglars and Minstrels must be within melee range in order to partake in setting a yellow icon. - Yellow is great to use against creatures with a huge number of hitpoints – let your DoT eat away at them. Over time, it tends to do more damage than a red attack.

STALLION'S SPIRIT (Blue) begins as a self-only power heal. At the 2nd level it is an AOE power heal. At the 5th level, Stallion's Spirit calls forth the shade of a fallen warrior to fight alongside you for a short time. At the 6th level, a more powerful shade appears. - Blue is very useful if your party is in a long fight and is running low on power.

Individually, the colors are strong and useful (as well as simple), but it is when you begin to combine them in longer chains that they really begin to pay off.

Likewise, in a duo playing, FMs can be very useful, but as you increase in numbers to the maximum of 6 party members, the effects can be staggering in scope.

Look at all the pretty colors!

Sure, you can simply hit random buttons and hope for the best, or in a healer-less group, rely on the greens to top up your health, but the big payoffs come when you coordinate set runs.

Most people sort the FM color combinations by familiar card-game terms like pair, flush, straight, full house. There are also some unusual combinations that do not have equivalent names. Players normally refer to them as "specials" or "uniques".

ONE
Ones (a single icon).
Come on now, anyone can manage ONE in a party, right? Right!
TWO
Pairs (matching color pair)

THREE
Straight (consecutive colors around the wheel, either direction)
Flush (three matching colors)

FOUR
Straight (four consecutive colors around the wheel, either direction)
Flush (four matching colors)
Two Pair (two members of the group perform one pair, the others a second pair immediately afterwards; they must be played as pairs, but in any order, for instance GGYY is the same as YYGG, but you cannot play GYGY or GYYG)
Uniques (special patterns for specific effects)

FIVE
Straight (five consecutive colors around the wheel, either direction)
Flush (five matching colors)
Full house (three of one color, two of another; either the triple or pair may come first)
Uniques (special patterns for specific effects)

SIX
Straight (six consecutive colors around the wheel, either direction)
Flush (six matching colors)
Uniques (special patterns for specific effects)

Click HERE for a printable reference chart that should help you on your merry way to becoming a Maneuvering expert if you keep it by your desk.

Fellowship Maneuvers you've successfully executed can be found in your Character Journal (C), under Skills > Fellowship Skills. If you know of any combinations that we are missing here, PLEASE let us know what they are and what effect they provide!

Please send errors, omissions and updates to brasse@thebrasse.com