Yellow Line Burglar ‘Riddler’ Build
By Moskin – Updated for Yondershire, U33

Table of Contents
Introduction
Welcome, here you will find a good build for Yellow Burgs, tuned specifically for high-end Raids. Yellow Burg is a spec that hasn’t changed much over the years, and they’ve had a guaranteed spot in just about every LOTRO raid.
Yellow Burg brings a few important things to the raid, they bring debuffs such as Double Disable and Double Enrage, some CC and incoming damage debuffs to the target. Now, there are some fights which you can’t do without Double Disable at all, which is why there will always be a spot for Yellow Burgs, thus making this a nice spec to have.
Apart from the group utility, a well played Yellow Burg will also do 2/3 of the Red Burg’s DPS output, and that is not something that should be overlooked. Yellow Burg can help the group further by doing some really nice DPS too.
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.
Finesse (30%+) > Critical Rating > Physical Mastery > Tactical Mitigation > Vitality
After Finesse is at 30%+, so the debuffs/tricks do not resist/bpe at a T3+ level, then remaining Essences can be used on Critical Rating and Physical Mastery, so those 2 stats can get near capped. Then some room can be saved for Class & Trigger essences, and if there is still room available, 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 Yellow Burglars is published in the tables down below. Yellow Burgs will use 4-piece of the new Yellow set, paired with a 3-piece Red set for additional damage. 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
Here is the Yellow Tree with Gambler’s Advantage, and important utility from Red and Yellow both:

If your group needs you to have Trip or Stun dust, then take points from Backstab, Well-practiced, or Deft Strikes. Never go without GA.
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 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 Yellow Burgs. Due to the recent LI changes, using the same Weapon from Red Line makes it inefficient, so it is recommended to have a seperate Weapon for Yellow Line, as it is uses more Yellow-line orientated traceries for efficiency.
Moreover, if you followed the LHQ LI setup from Red Line, you do not need to make a seperate Bag (Class Item) for Yellow Line, Red Bag can be shared with Yellow line at no cost.
For Yellow-line LI, Tricks Damage is used instead of Surprise Strike Crit Chance. This is because the 50% damage increase to Tricks is higher than the ~10% damage increase to Surprise Strike from the 5% crit chance. (In Yellow the other half of the Tracery is useless because there is no Feint Attack)
1-Hander Weapon – Yellow 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 | Mischievous Glee Initial Healing |
Word of Mastery | Snag Skills Damage |
Word of Mastery | Surprise Strike Damage |
Word of Mastery | Trick and Trick Removal Damage |
Word of Mastery | Tricks Duration & Resistance Penetration |
Word of Craft | Heroic Precision |
Word of Craft | Heroic Precision |
Burglar’s Tools (Class Item) – For Yellow & Red
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 Yellow-line specific traceries are used in this Bag (Class Item), thus making this Item usable in Red-line also, if you play both Specs.
Rotation
by Moskin
Opening Skills: Stealth -> Reveal Weakness -> Surprise Strike -> Trickster -> Enrage (or Disable) -> Quite a Snag -> Addle.
Begin alternating Rotations 1 and 2 below. If Glee is needed, use it directly before Enrage (or Disable).
*Note: Use Addle as an animation cut immediately after either DES or QaS, as available.
- Gambler’s Advantage
- Subtle Stab
- Aim (or Provoke – not both!) (Cunning Attack if both down)
- Flashing Blades
- Double-Edged Strike
- Subtle Stab
- Enrage (or Disable if desired)–(Use Trickster before Enrage/Disable if off cooldown)
- Surprise Strike
- Gambler’s Advantage
- Subtle Stab
- Provoke (or Aim – not both!) (Cunning Attack if both down)
- Flashing Blades
- Double-Edged Strike
- Subtle Stab
- Quite a Snag + Addle
Consumables
There are the consumables used on Burglar:

- These are important for a Yellow Burg to have. It’s a free CJ and it helps when your Exploit Opening/Trip is on cooldown.
This is the Food Burgs use:


Updated as of U33.
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