Red Line DPS Burglar ‘Quiet Knife’ Build
By Moskin – Updated for Yondershire, U33
Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome, here you will find a good Red Burg build, tuned for high Single Target DPS, with a nice AoE cleave.
Red Burg has one of the smoothest DPS rotations amongst other LOTRO DPS classes, and it has a pattern which you can easily follow and keep up. Unlike other classes, there are no alternative skills for rotation, there is just 1 rotation and you can reliably use it from the beginning to the end, at least that is what I found.
Red Burg has a guaranteed spot in just about any instance/raid, as they provide a lot more to the group than just DPS. They bring a 2nd Reveal Weakness debuff, which the group can use for secondary targets, they bring a little bit of CC (crowd control), they have CJs (useful for some instances/raids), and they are self-sustainable (can take a few big hits without needing help from healer).
Stat Goals
These goals are kept with Essence & Gear planning in mind, as to which Essences are to be prioritized over others. These goals can also be used when picking Virtues.
Critical Rating > Physical Mastery > Tactical Mitigation > Vitality
After Critical Rating and Physical Mastery are capped or near capped, save some room for Class & Trigger essences, and then Tactical Mitigation essences can be used. At the beginning of expansion, Essence slots are really limited, this gets easier as better items become available later down the line.
* Before planning Essences, slot the right Virtues (more on that down below). This way you can plan your setup better, and utilize Essences perfectly, and you can dump the remaining Essence slots in Vitality, Finesse, or other Stat of your choice after meeting Stat goals mentioned above.
Gear
With new Raid released, new gear for Red Burglar is published in the tables down below. They will use the new 4-pieces of Red gear and new 3-pieces of Blue gear for additional Stats. There are 2 published Builds, one for Endgame and one for Starters.
End-game Build
Armour Pieces
| Gear Slot | Set Piece | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Helm | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Chest | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Shoulders | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Gloves | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Legs | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Boots | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Cloak | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Off-hand | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Class Item | Throne Raid Barter Use Class Essence here also. |
Jewelry Pieces
| Gear Slot | Set Piece | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Earring 1 | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Earring 2 | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Necklace | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Hiddenhoard Raid | ||
| Bracelet 1 | Storvagun Winter Festival | |
| Bracelet 2 | Storvagun Winter Festival | |
| Ring 1 | Hiddenhoard Raid | |
| Ring 2 | Hiddenhoard Raid |
Starter Build
The 140 Level Gear from this Build can be acquired by playing the 3 and 6 man instances, higher difficulty will award better loot. Having this gear will allow to progress level capped Raids. As for Essences, you can use the ones you get from Questing or Crafting (whichever Tier is fine), and try to follow the Stat Goals above and Slot the ones which are needed by your Class.
Armour Pieces
| Gear Slot | Set Piece | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Helm | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
| Chest | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
| Shoulders | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
| Gloves | Gundabad 3-Man Instance | |
| Legs | Gundabad 3-Man Instance | |
| Boots | Gundabad 3-Man Instance | |
| Cloak | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
| Off-hand | Embers Box Barter |
|
| Class Item | Throne Raid Barter Use Class Essence here also. |
Jewelry Pieces
| Gear Slot | Set Piece | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Earring 1 | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
| Earring 2 | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
| Necklace | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
| Gundabad 6-Man Instance | ||
| Bracelet 1 | Storvagun Winter Festival | |
| Bracelet 2 | Storvagun Winter Festival | |
| Bracelets Alternative | Mountain-hold Barter. Use these if no Storvagun Bracelets |
|
| Ring 1 | Gundabad 6-Man Instance | |
| Ring 2 | Gundabad 6-Man Instance |
Essences
| Essence Name | Essence | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Class Essence | Use this on Class Item | |
| Critical Rating | Use these to reach near Critical Rating cap. |
|
| Physical Mastery | Use these to reach near Physical Mastery cap. |
|
| Critical Rating Trigger | Use 1 of these. | |
| Physical Mastery Trigger |
Use 1 of these. | |
| Tactical Mitigation | Use these to fill slots after above Essences are met. |
Trait Trees
Red Trait Tree with Enrage:
Here is how a Red Burg is currently traited for this update. Some things like CdG/Exposed Throat are skipped, as they are underperforming. Enrage is traited now, as 98 points are available and DPS with using Enrage is identical to going deeper in Blue, but group DPS will be higher with an extra Enrage.
Here is an extra (but totally optional) Trait Tree to swap for All-In buff pre-fight, and for that you also will need a Swap Burg Bag LI which contains the All-In legacy. Use this buff around 3-5s before the Fight starts, ask the leader to do a countdown.
35 Trait Points Build for Legendary Servers
60 Trait Points Build for Beginners
Virtues
These are the virtues I use to reach the Stat Goals. I use mostly Offensive options, but if need be, some of them can be switched to more Defensive options as well, depending on the type of fight. More explained down below.
Here are the Virtues which go along with the Stat Goals:
- Determination (Great for Mastery and Critical Rating)
- Valour (Great for Mastery, Finesse and Critical Rating)
- Confidence (Great for Critical Rating and Finesse)
- Wit (Great for Finesse, Mastery and Critical Rating)
- Loyalty (Great for Vitality and survival)
- If you need extra Survivability, swap Wit with Fidelity
If you don’t have these virtues, here are some alternatives:
- Fidelity (Great for Vitality + Tactical Mit)
- Tolerance (Gives great amount of Tactical Mit, decent Physical Mit and Resistance)
- Innocence (Gives great amount of Physical Mit, decent Tactical Mit Mit and Resistance)
Legendary Items
Here is the setup for Red Burglars. With the new LI system, Burglars can have a common Bag (Class Item), which can be shared across different Trait lines, but they will need an unique Weapon for each line, for optimized Traceries.
Cunning Attack and DoT boosting traceries are skipped as it requires a big investment, in not just LIs, but also for Traits, which altogether doesn’t make it worthwhile, as then Burg loses out on a lot of utility (Enrage, extra AoE targets and so on). Thus, those 2 things are skipped.
1-Hander Weapon – Red Line
| Type | Sockets |
|---|---|
| Heraldic Tracery | Heraldry of the Sparrow |
| Word of Power | Single Target Attack Criticals |
| Word of Power | Single Target Attack Damage |
| Word of Mastery | Addle Tactical Damage Debuff |
| Word of Mastery | Feint Attack Damage |
| Word of Mastery | Sneak Movement Speed |
| Word of Mastery | Surprise Strike Critical Chance & Backstab Bonus |
| Word of Mastery | Surprise Strike Damage |
| Word of Mastery | Tricks Duration & Resistance Penetration |
| Word of Craft | Heroic Precision |
| Word of Craft | Heroic Precision |
Burglar’s Tools (Class Item) – For Red & Yellow
| Type | Sockets |
|---|---|
| Heraldic Tracery | Heraldry of the Sparrow |
| Word of Power | Area Effect Target Count |
| Word of Power | Area Effect Attack Criticals |
| Word of Power | Area Effect Attack Damage |
| Word of Mastery | Backstab Damage |
| Word of Mastery | Chain Skills Critical Chance |
| Word of Mastery | Chain Skill Critical Multiplier |
| Word of Mastery | Critical Response Skill Damage |
| Word of Mastery | Reveal Weakness Incoming Damage & Range |
| Word of Mastery | Subtle Stab Damage & Critical Multiplier |
| Word of Craft | Heroic Alacrity |
| Word of Craft | Heroic Alacrity |
*Note: No Red-line specific traceries are used in this Bag (Class Item), thus making this Item usable in Yellow-line also, if you play both Specs.
Swap Legendary Items
Burglar Tools (Class Item)
| Type | Socket |
|---|---|
| Word of Mastery | All In Melee Damage |
| Word of Mastery | Sneak Movement Speed |
Explanation: This is a Swap bag used primarily for All In skill from Blue Line. Do all of this when out of Combat. Swap to this Bag before using All In, and then swap back to Main bag. It can also be used as a ‘sprint’ Bag (when out of combat), if you do not have Sneak Movement Speed on your Main Bag.
Rotation
by Moskin
* Note: This is a static rotation. If you can’t get a crit chain opening you may have to fill with a crap skill or two then fall back into the rotation. There’s not 1 great way to handle this, you just have to play the class a bit to get a feel for it.
Start in stealth and behind target always, and as a Burg, you should always strive to be behind targets as much as you can.
Open: Stealth -> Reveal Weakness -> Aim, GA (from behind) -> Start at rotation 1 below (skipping GA of course since it was just used). Do rotations 1-4 then repeat until end.
- FA -> Gambler’s Advantage -> Subtle Stab -> Provoke -> Flashing Blades -> Double-Edged Strike -> Addle -> Subtle Stab -> Cunning Attack
- FA -> GA -> Stab -> Enrage -> FB -> DES -> Stab -> Surprise Attack
- FA -> GA -> Stab -> Provoke -> FB -> DES -> Addle -> Stab -> CA
(identical to rotation 1) - FA -> GA -> Stab -> Aim -> FB -> DES -> Stab -> Surprise Attack
There is a strong reason for opening with Aim+GA in red. It causes your Subsequent GA bleeds to have a higher value due to getting an increased base damage on first application. In any fight lasting longer than 60 seconds this bleed increase will provide more damage than saving 1st aim for FB/DES. In fights shorter than 60 seconds open with surprise strike from stealth and start at rotation 4.
This rotation requires you slot Trick Duration Tracery. With Tracery and no mistakes, you will have a 100% uptime on Enrage. On average you will hit Enrage every 30 seconds or so.
Consumables
There are the consumables used on Burglar:
- Not really super important to keep on Red Burg, as usually the Yellow Burg will take care of CJs in group, but you can keep some to help the group out when needed.
This is the Food Burgs use:
Updated as of U33.
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