just wondering, is a warden a good balanced, oure melee, or completely under powerd?

I played one up to level 10.  Seemed okay, but couldn't stand the way they play.  Having to memorize all of the combos was tiresome and I've never been a fan of "simon says" combat.  I prefer clicking buttons randomly, just to change things up, but you can't do that with Wardens.  If you can stand that kind of play style, then the Warden should be a good enough class to get through the game.

I've been playing a Warden since coming back to the game about a week ago and I've gotten him to level 23 and loved every level of it.

It's very different from any other class in the game and has a nice balance of ranged and close combat.

From what ive heard the warden might be the strongest solo class in lotro.  Having said that, i wonder how useful he is in end game raids.  SErvicable ill bet, but if a tank y not guardian, and if dps y not champ.

here is a good thread on terh main forums that was started by a player who had a warden alt and was frustrated with his warden. Some good constructive replies in the thread starting with about post 4 and this should answer your question. 

forums.lotro.com/showthread.php

Myself I like the complexity of the Wardens and Rune keepersalthough I have neither past lvl 15 yet. They are not easy mode classes but then that is what I like about them. BTW I read that mobs tactical resists are gettting toned down some  with book 7 so that should buff the wardens ( and Minstrels ) up some

New classes... heh

Warden is quickly becoming most popular class in LOTRO.

Not only that it is combination od strong melee dps , ranged dps, stuns, self heal , agro control - but it also has fantastic gameplay mechanic with combos, not unlike AOC combo system. And on top of thet great new animations and appealing look

Basically in solo situations Warden is the new king - love child of Turbine

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On other hand Rune-Keeper is the bastard child

Created only to please crowd that wanted to see magic user class in LOTRO. Although Tolkien lore suggest otherwise.

Class sounds as overpowered combination : DPS magic + Healer

But in order to make normal Turbine made it so it can either DPS or Heal. You can do both in combat encounter.

So what you got. A DPS class that is both squishy, and has no self protection mechanism (like LM pet) (and has not so great DPS either. Or Healer that heals trough HOTS, and is not as good as Ministrel.

On top of that, you can not wield no weapons except small stone tablets. Bringing class 0 visual appeal combined with super annoying spell sound effects.

No wonder the class is not much popular

My warden is lvl 53 closing in on lvl 54. I love the gambit system. I don't bother to memorize all of the gambits. I picked the ones i like and use them. the ones that work best for how i play. wich is of course the healing and defense buff ones. I also like the one that takes away a corrupt from a mob in essence unbuffing them.

The warden is the best solo class hands down. My warden can take on two mobs that are orange conned to him and walk away. A signature that is orange con to him is duable as long as no adds join the fray. Other than that soloing is a blast with the warden.

for the poster who asked about the tank y not a guardian and such. The warden is more versatile and has more options in playstyle. If you want to tank there are gambits that can help you in tanking. But if you in a group and there is a tank already you don't have to respec your warden to be able to play the DPS role you just use differant gambits that do more damage.

Just my 2 cents and how i see things.

I only have a low level one at the moment, but I can see the value of both the Warden and Rune Keeper. Tanking is not a kind of activity a lot of players gravitate towards so to make the tank classes more appealing developers need to spice them up a bit. That's how I see a Warden. Warden vs Guardian: a lot of people don't like Guardians. They say they're boring to play because they kill so slowly. Such players might consider making a Warden instead. Though Wardens have less defense than Guardians, they are number 2 for tanking in the game. Unless you absolutely require a Guardian, a Warden will be good for filling tank spots in every other situation.

Onto their popularity: perhaps Wardens are popular at higher levels, but at lower levels on Eldar, I haven't seen many at all. This probably means that the established players on the server have already leveled one to Moria, but that newer/less established players aren't really rolling Wardens, maybe because Wardens need decent crafted gear to shine. Hunters are by far the most popular class and people still seem to think that they're the best solo class in the game. I haven't made up my mind on that yet, but I find my Warden more rewarding to play than my Hunter because it's more tactical.

Warden and Rune Keeper are there for more flexibility. They might not be the best class theoretically for any of the categories, but it is just as dependant on the player controlling these characters. I would take a well-played Warden over a rubbish Guardian.

Well I have currently a level 52 Warden and I can solo easy mobs of 4 levels higher and only losing around 400 health. Even sigs of 2 levels higher aren't a problem. This is because the Warden has some excellent heal and defence skills on later level and hard attacks skills. In PVP they own because of long range stealth javalin skills like ambush and critical strike.

But in a group their damage is to low to feel functionall on trashmobs...

Taking agro (at level 41) takes to long compared to all the other classes... and when i take agro in the beginning of a fight, and start doing my defensive cycle... I loose agro to quick because i don't build any agro anymore. So either i take agro and have low defense, or i have good defense and loose agro....

But since i solo in higher level zones (compared to other chars) I must say that i am the lowest char (by far) most of the time..doing yellow and orrange quests.

Things are supposed to get better tough...