Scholar vs LOTRO Captain

[AspectOfWinter]

It might be my own limited perception of Scholars based on the storyline, but mine has always informed me that they were more or less Nym's version of these guys:
http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Captain

Would you agree? Or do you think they are closer to being like Loremasters (Elrond/Gandalf)?

[Kaiser-Ace]

snip

According to the Scholar Quest line it's self they were the Elite Tacticians and Strategists of their time. It was through their council that The Fairies joined the frontlines to aid the Nymian army in The War of the Magi.

The were learned folk who used wit rather than might to battle. I personally have a hard time believing that the armies were ONLY mages my self. I'd think that Nym would have had Archers, Infantry, and Cavalry in addition to the Mages them selves. So I personally don't think they were "Commanders" as much as "Advisers" to the head Magi in Charge. After All, a tactician or strategist is typically kept far away from the front lines where they'll be safe so they can keep coming up with plans and keeping track of the armies.

[AspectOfWinter]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph.../RedOniBlueOni

Everything about the LOTRO Captain screams Red Oni to me, while Scholar is implied to be more of a Blue Oni. But the biggest question mark IMO is the Adloquium ability - I looked up the word and it literally means "encourage" in Latin. The barrier effect is also called Galvanize - so do you think this more or less confirms that the spell is in fact a combination of a defensive arcamina and a rallying battle cry?

[Kaiser-Ace]

snip

Again I point to the fact that the original scholars commanded fairies in the War. This is a common problem with the Soul Crystals lore wise. The soul crystals all had an original owner and have been passed down for possibly hundreds to thousands of years. Each time it's passed down it's previous owner's knowledge is passed down through the crystal and it picks up new things from every one who holds it.

This leads to a small paradox. We get the skills through the "blank" of "Who ever" of the past and inherit some of the skills. How ever we did not inherit the original technique that was developed nor have we gained the power of the person that used it. Just a vague understanding in the crystal's "Memory". So then we come to the Scholar Crystal in particular which has something unique even amongst the other crystals. Not only did it pass down knowledge and memories of ages past, Eos and Selene them selves were dwelling within it. So it's very likely that the skills we hold are actually theirs (Since the lvl 35 quest for example is to "Refresh the Fairy's memories" by taking it to the floating city) and that we are commanding the Fairies to do things using the crystal as a medium. Think about how unique the scholars power is compared to the Arcanist. What ever the Scholar's power is, it's not Acrima. So I hold to the idea that Adloquium (or encourage as you found it translates) is the fairy encouraging the souls of our allies using our crystal (And by extension us) as a medium. Summoner is more similar to an Advanced acrima as the Egis are similar to the Carbuncle in that they are (For the most part) bound to our will. The carbuncle is created from nothing via our Acrima and we are using that same power to literally bend a fragment of a primal's essence to our will against it's. The fairies on the other hand are living sentient creatures INSIDE the Job Crystal. We are commanding them as a General would their troops but the difference being that a scholar is not a front line fighter. It may toss spells from the rear and send in Eos and Selena to help every one but they are not taking as active a role in battle as say the Warrior and Paladin that are going sword and shield up close and personal with the enemy.

the LotR Captain is credited as a "Jack of all trades" which seems to suggest (Like the enlisted personnel of the same rank) that they are on the front lines as well. He'd actually be a lot closer to how Samurai were in FF11. FF11 Samurai were good at dealing damage and could take more than a few hits so they served as good front linemen but that's about where their prowess stopped as there were better tanks and better damage dealers to pick from and they fell in the "Jack of all trades, master of none" category.

Scholars serve their rear line position excellently and in my opinion can be more fearsome than a white mage when played right. (You're screwed in PvP if you see a Scholar ESPECIALLY if a Summoner is with them). They are rear line support specialist who's job is to keep their allies going and make life a living hell for their enemies. As a good strategist and Tactician always is. Thus why we're called Scholars and not "Battle Mages". We stand back, think the battle through, fix what's breaking the formation and then make life hell by stopping their plan before it happens.

[Sapphic]

Captains where unkillable in PvP in LOTRO also :P

[Zohar_Lahar]

According to the Scholar Quest line it's self they were the Elite Tacticians and Strategists of their time. It was through their council that The Fairies joined the frontlines to aid the Nymian army in The War of the Magi.

The were learned folk who used wit rather than might to battle. I personally have a hard time believing that the armies were ONLY mages my self. I'd think that Nym would have had Archers, Infantry, and Cavalry in addition to the Mages them selves. So I personally don't think they were "Commanders" as much as "Advisers" to the head Magi in Charge. After All, a tactician or strategist is typically kept far away from the front lines where they'll be safe so they can keep coming up with plans and keeping track of the armies.

The quest to unlock SCH specifically mentioned the Nymians having a regiment of marauders supported by as Scholar.

[AspectOfWinter]

The quest to unlock SCH specifically mentioned the Nymians having a regiment of marauders supported by as Scholar.

That's what I thought.

I guess what I'm asking is, do you personally think that Scholar is the most (stereotypically) charismatic Mage Job?

[Zul]

That's what I thought.

I guess what I'm asking is, do you personally think that Scholar is the most (stereotypically) charismatic Mage Job?

SCH is, imo, by far the most charismatic mage job in this game right now. SMN is basically just a arcanist with Fester while BLM is just kinda a dull.(not gameplay wise, i mean more from a technical standpoint or like on paper). i guess im kinda biased though as SCH is my off-spec :P