Minstrel Traits

TRAIT SETS

Mines of Moria introduced the idea of Trait Sets, which allow classes to perform varying, specialized roles in a group. Slotting a certain number of traits within a trait line also provides additional bonuses to specialized roles, with more traits resulting in more bonuses. Additionally, slotting the maximum number of traits within a trait line (5) grants the ability to equip special, powerful trait line legendary traits. Note: The pre-Moria legendary traits continue to function as before. Traits can be mixed and matched as the class sees fit. And while you do get certain bonuses for focusing on one trait set, versatility does have its own usefulness. Also, trait choices can be heavily affected by the make-up of the fellowship, so it's best to keep some degree of revolvabilty within your trait and trait set choices. Traits are ultimately malleable, so you may want to try them all out and see what suits your play-style the best.

The Protector of Song
The Protector of Song is a powerful trait line which focuses on effects which buff or enhance a Minstrel and his Fellowship. Healing effects in this line are either very small or very indirect, with more of an emphasis on preventing damage or otherwise improving the Minstrel and his Fellowship's situation. The best part about this trait line is that it has good synergy with both of the other Trait Lines, meaning that almost every minstrel will want to slot at least a few traits from the Protector of Song to compliment his build.
Equipped Bonuses 2 -60s Call to Greatness Cooldown. 3 +10s Ballad Buff Duration. 4 Increased Tale of Warding armour bonus Increased Tale of Battle wound resistance. 5 Can equip "Master of Tales" legendary trait.
Battle-Hymn	Acquire: Use Anthem of the Valar 250 times. Effect: When you use Anthem of the Valar, your in-combat regeneration increases, exactly as though you had used Anthem of the Free Peoples (though this one only affects yourself.) If you tend to use Anthem of Valar a lot, especially while soloing, this a nice trait to have slotted. It pairs very well with the Warrior-skald trait line and War-speech mode, because the in-combat regeneration isn't considered "Healing" and thus isn't penalized in War-speech.
Flow of Harmony	Acquire: Use Tales 150 times. Effect: This decreases the "maintainace" power cost of Tales that the minstrel uses, such as Tale of Warding, Tale of Battle, and even the combo tales that become availible by equipping the Legendary Trait associated with this line. Saving power is a very good thing, as Minstrels frequently run out in extended combat. A very good trait for the line.
Glorious Anthem	Acquire: Complete "A Minstrel's Hope" quest. Effect: All of your Anthems last 15 seconds longer. This includes the the healing effect from the traited version of "Anthem of the Valar" and the Legendary Trait skill "Anthem of the Wizards." Anthems are some of the best effects a minstrel has access too, and if he uses his anthems frequently (which he should, if at all possible) this is a very nice trait to have. Note that in the Watcher of Resolve trait line, Anthem of Compassion becomes a tier 3 ballad, meaning it is no longer affected by this trait (though it is affected by bonuses which increase the duration of your ballads, such as Strength of Voice and the 3-trait bonus of this line.)
Heralded Resolve	Acquire: Use Herald's Strike 250 times. Effect: Heals yourself when you use an ordinary "Herald's Strike." The heal is slightly better than the heal the group recieves with the "Noble Cause" version of Herald's Strike, though it only affects the minstrel. This trait pairs very well with "Herald's Hammer" which increases the damage of Herald's Strike, but doesn't work so well in War-speech mode, which will cut the healing done in half or more, depending on how far down the Warrior-skald line the minstrel is slotted. Either way, this trait is best when soloing.
Heralded Savior	Acquire: Use Song of Aid 400 times. Effect: Song of Aid lasts 10 seconds longer and recovers slightly faster. Song of Aid can be useful at times, but a minstrel will never rely on it. There are better traits than this.
Lyrics of Bravery	Acquire: Use Ballad of Unshakeable Will 1,000 times. Effect: This trait raises your fear resistance by a very large amount. While not a "must have" trait, if the Minstrel is intent on pursuing this line, this is a nice "hands off" trait to have, especially when fighting enemies which make use of fear effects.
Smooth Voice	Acquire: Use Piercing Cry 600 times. Effect: This will make your "Ballad of Balance" and "Balled of Vigour" into songs that can be used outside of combat as longer-duration group buffs rather than attacks. This is great for grouping minstrels more than soloing. It buffs your whole group without any need of an enemy target. Furthermore, the healing buff which unlocks the next ballad tier lasts a whole 20 seconds from each of these two skills, instead of the default of 10. Note that it takes a little bit longer to tier up ballads this way and in dangerous combat, the minstrel may not have enough time to do this and heal. In moments where the fellowship is doing fine on morale though, they are useful skills to have, and the trait is worth it.
Strength of Voice	Acquire: Use Ballad of War 500 times. Effect: The effects of all your ballads are increased by 10 seconds. If you use you ballads a lot (soloing minstrels generally) this is a great trait for you. It's also good for improving the duration of tier 3 ballads on the entire fellowship, such as Ballad of War, or the Watcher of Resolve enhanced version of Anthem of Compassion (which becomes Ballad of Compassion). This trait also stacks with the 3-trait bonus of this trait line.
Master of Tales Legendary	Acquire: The Mines of Moria. Effect: This trait gives you access to two new tale abilities that combine your other tales together. These new tales are Tale of Heroism and Warding, which combines Tale of Heroism and Tale of Warding, and Tale of Frost and Flame's Battle, which combines Tale of Battle, and Tale of Frost and Flame. Of the two, Heroism and Warding is probably the best, because it comes with a huge bonus to armor rating (due to tale of Warding's major fourth-trait bonus of this line). This bonus to armor rating improves all mitigations, including frost mitigation and fire mitigation, and while not quite as much as Tale of Frost and Flame, it's close enough to be much more worth it. This is probably the best Legendary trait from Mines of Moria.

The Watcher of Resolve
The Watcher of Resolve focuses on what the minstrel does best: Healing. It improves his cast times, lowers his power costs, and makes him less noticable to the enemy, freeing himself up to keep his Fellowship in top fighting condition. A Minstrel that is with a Fellowship should have at least a few of these traits slotted.
Equipped Bonuses 2 -5% Healing Power Cost. 3 +10% Chord of Salvation Healing. +1 % Ballad Healing Bonus 4 -5% Anthem of Compassion Threat. Anthem of Compassion becomes a third tier ballad. +1 % Ballad Healing Bonus 5 Can equip "Legendary Spirit" legendary trait.
Focused Performance	Acquire: Evade enemy attacks 300 times. Effect: Your induction timers (the time it takes to cast spells) are shortened. This makes you harder to interrupt. This is a great skill for any minstrel to have, because his heals will be more reliable in-combat.
Graceful Demeanor	Acquire: Use Enlivening Grace 100 times. Effect: This trait makes "Enlivening Grace" and "Rally!" abilities grant more morale and power on revive. "Rally's" cast time and recharge time are also reduced slightly. Since Enlivening Grace can only be used out of combat, its bonus from this trait isn't particularly worthwhile. However, if the Minstrel has Rally! slotted (and he should, unless he only solos) this trait can make a world of difference. With Graceful Demeanor, Rally! will revive a player will FULL health and nearly full power, and its cast time is reduced significantly, making it more feasible to use in a dangerous situation without losing too much opportunity to heal the surviving fellowship members. And of course, the fact that it comes back faster is incredibly useful as well. Ideally, no one should die in a Fellowship with a Minstrel, but sometimes stuff just goes wrong, and with this trait and Rally!, you'll be well-prepared when that happens.
Improved Cure Fear	Acquire: Use Cure Fear 250 times. Effect: This trait improves most of the aspects of Cure Fear. The level of fear effects it removes are increased by 2, it removes an additional effect with a single application, and the cast time is reduced from a minute to 45 seconds. These are all nice bonuses to Cure Fear, but the main thing this trait has going against it is the fact that Captains will always be MUCH MUCH better at curing fear. A Captain can cure multiple fear effects on the entire fellowship at once (though with a 30 second cooldown, which is still better than the Minstrel's), and thus, it seems kind of silly worrying about even trying to help out with something that is probably much better handled by another class. Still, in situations where fear effects are abundant and there simply isn't a Captain availible, there may be reason to slot this trait.
Improved Song of Soothing	Acquire: Use Song of Soothing 350 times. Effect: This trait changes the usage of Song of Soothing dramatically. It eliminates the induction completely, allowing it to be used instantly with no chance of setback or interruption, but it also comes with a penalty. The cooldown increases dramatically, making it availible for use much less often. Essentially, rather than a skill to help maintain keeping the minstrel low on the threat list, or to get one or two enemies off of him, this changes Song of Soothing into a kind of "oh crap" button for threat management. Generally, I feel that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and recommend Subtle Movements over this trait for threat reduction.
Life-Singer	Acquire: Use healing songs 1,000 times. Effect: Reduces the power cost of your healing skills by 10%. This is handy for any grouping Minstrel, and as power is always an issue for Minstrels, it comes HIGHLY recommended.
Power of Song	Acquire: Use Song of Restoration 100 times. Effect: Increases your power pool by 200 points at level 60. For Minstrels, power is life, and more is always better. However, it's arguable that this just gives you a little more of what could be obtained by gear or virtue traits, preventing the Minstrel from using some of the more unique and special bonuses from other class traits. Thus, this trait does not come recommended.
Silver Tongue	Acquire: Use Cry of the Chorus 125 times. Effect: Your songs recover slightly faster. This includes really useful songs such as "Song of Soothing", "Song of Distraction" and especially "Song of the Hopeful Heart." In the latter examples case, this trait lowers its cooldown by a whole 6 minutes, from 30 to 24. A very nice trait from this line to have.
Subtle Movements	Acquire: Use Song of Soothing 300 times. Effect: You draw less threat from your enemies than normal. This is great to have in a group, and since it is a hands-off sort of bonus, this is one of the better traits from this line.
Legendary Spirit Legendary	Acquire: Path of the Resolve-Watcher. Effect: Increases the healing power of your "Soliloquy of Spirit" ability. Soliloquy of Spirit is kind of underwhelming, and while this makes it better, it is not nearly as good as the Minstrel's other heals. But it's not supposed to replace them, it's supposed to supplement them. This makes Soliloquy of spirit a pretty decent, quick, maintainance heal-over-time, giving the Minstrel just a little bit more time to heal other Fellowship members or focus on his ballad chains, and it pairs well with the Legendary Weapon legacy which increases the duration of the same ability.

The Warrior-Skald
The Path of the Warrior-Skald is the path of the soloing minstrel. With increased damage and efficiency with War-Speech skills and, if traited far enough, a new War-Spech skill that is easily the most damaging ability in the minstrel's possesion, the Warrior-Skald makes up for what he loses in healing ability in damage and solo-capability.
Equipped Bonuses 2 3s Herald's Strike Cooldown. 3 Reduced Target Ballad Resist Rating. -30s Anthem of the Valar Cooldown. -420s Anthem of the Wizards Cooldown. -15 % War-speech Healing. 4 +25% Ballad Damage. -15% War-Speech Healing. +10% Ballad of Resonance Magnitude. 5 Can equip "Call of War" legendary trait.
Enduring Morale	Acquire: Use Ballad of Vigour 2,000 times. Effect: Increases your maximum morale. This just makes the minstrel tougher. Like Power of Song, this trait only gives the Minstrel more of what he could get from gear or virtue traits, and since it takes up a valuable class trait slot, it can be controversial to equip. Still, this is one of the better traits of the Warrior-skald line, and a minstrel may consider it if he wishes to focus on this line.
Harmonious Melody	Acquire: Use Ballads 1,500 times. Effect: This trait increases the time in which the Minstrel has to use his tier-dependant ballads, by 5 seconds. Note that this also affects the duration of the healing bonus associated with tiering up ballads. Out of all the traits in this line, this is perhaps the most useful to a healing minstrel, but clever planning can negate most need for it. Best for a hybrid DPS/healing build.
Herald's Hammer	Acquire: Hit enemies with Herald's Strike 700 times. Effect: Doubles the damage done by "Herald's Strike." Have this slotted if you are soloing. The extra damage in combination with the skill “Noble Cause” is really nice. It also pairs well with Heralded Resolve, but not so much in War-Speech mode.
Light in the Dark	Acquire: Use Ballad of Resonance 1,000 times. Effect: Tier 1 and 2 Ballads do a little more damage. This is a good trait to slot when you’ll be soloing.
Medium Armour-Use	Acquire: Complete "A Song of the Company" quest. Effect: Allows you to use medium-armor. Many minstrels choose to slot this. It gives us better armor and therefore more survivability. However, all our top armor sets are light armor, and Medium armor with good Minstrel stats is rare. This trait is very controversial, and its use often depends on what a Minstrel has availible to him at any one time.
Powerful Voice	Acquire: Use your cries (Piercing Cry, Cry of the Valar, etc.) 300 times. (not each, all together) Effect: Power cost of all cries and ballad is reduced slightly. Cries are not a big drain on power, but ballads are, so this is a very nice trait to have for the minstrel who uses ballads regularly.
Tempo of Bravery	Acquire: Use Ballad of the Stout 1,500 times. Effect: Increases your in-combat morale regeneration. Again, like Power of Song and Enduring Morale, this trait just gives more of what can be gotten from other sources. Still, it's a nice hands-off way to fill up your slots in the Warrior-skald line, if soloing is what you're after.
Unrelenting	Acquire: Land critical hits with Piercing Cry 100 times. Effect: Your piercing Cry gain 25% more chance to critical, and when it does, it stuns the target for a short period. This pairs well with War-speech, which increases piercing cry's critical chance by an additional 25%, making it crit, and thus stun, more than half the time.
Call of War Legendary	Acquire: Verses of the North Effect: This legendary trait is a powerful boon for the soloing Minstrel. It increases his chance to critically hit, as well as the damage done by critical hits, with his 3 War-speech dependant skills: Call of Orome, Call to the Second Age, and Call to Fate by a VERY large amount. Of the 3, Call of Fate especially benefits from this trait, as it already includes a huge bonus to damage from critical hits. A solo minstrel with this trait can perform some rather impressive DPS, though he still doesn't match up to classes which specialize in it.

Shadows of Angmar Legendary Traits
Anthem of the Wizards Legendary	Acquire: Complete Valour's Marches book. Effect: Ability "Anthem of the Wizards" gained. This anthem blasts a group of up to 3 enemies with a large dose of light damage and slows both their attack and movement speed. The long cooldown on this skill (10 minutes) is the only real gripe against it, but with the Warrior-skald line slotted deeply enough, that cooldown is reduced to a mere 3 minutes, making this trait a much more attractive for a Minstrel thus traited.
Fellowship's Heart Legendary	Acquire: Complete the level 50 Minstrel quest. Effect: Ability "Fellowship's Heart" gained. This ability cures any fear effects on you and your party, makes you and your party immune to fear for a short time and grants a beefy regeneration buff that heals the fellowship every three seconds for 30 seconds. The fear effect just gravy: the Minstrel will never use this ability simply to cure fear. Rather, it's all about the heal, which is like a green conjunction effect for a whole 30 seconds. This is near-invincibility for the whole fellowship except in the most dangerous of circumstances, and in those, the minstrel's supplemental healing will cover any gaps. This is a powerful trait, and it's pretty much must-have.
Rally! Legendary	Acquire: Complete Melodies of the Valar book. Effect: Ability "Rally" gained. Rally resurrects any ally even in combat. If you group with a Captain regularly, this will be less useful to you, except in the event that your Captain dies and you need to rez him/her in-combat. If you don’t group with a captain regularly, this is a highly useful ability.
Song of the Hopeful Heart Legendary	Acquire: Complete The Rising Chord book. Effect: Ability "Song of the Hopeful Heart" gained. The ability summons forth 40 Radiance (or 4 Hope) into a small area for 5 minutes. This is a trait you should have while dealing with dread causing creatures (usually bosses in Shadows of Angmar) and want to conserve Hope Tokens. Some bosses can dispel hope, but since the source of hope from this skill is an aura, not an effect, it cannot be dispelled. In Mines of Moria, with the advent of Radiance armor, this trait becomes much less useful for a Minstrel and his Fellowship once they have a few pieces.