A guide for those new to the Burglar class
Bilbo Baggins trekked across Middle-Earth to help a raid group of dwarves complete a quest that had been in their trackers for quite some time. They journeyed together to the Lonely Mountain instance, where the elite dragon Smaug slept. Upon arriving at the final boss room, Bilbo activated Sneak and crept up to the dragon where, using his Burgle skill, he managed to steal a large two-handled cup. This he brought back to the dwarves, who were very excited at the sight of this treasure.
Of course in doing this, Bilbo activated the boss, who began shrieking and thrashing about wildly. Bilbo eventually gained up the courage to sneak back into the boss room, again using the Sneak skill. When he arrived, he gazed upon the motionless figure of Smaug, assuming the fight had reset. Smaug, however, was not sleeping, but only pretending to sleep while guarding the entrance to his lair. Bilbo was quick to realize his almost fatal mistake and used Riddle to buy himself enough time to pop off the Reveal Weakness skill. After the 30 second Riddle duration wore off, the elite master flapped his mighty wings and brought the fight to the lake-town of Esgaroth. There, a hunter by the name of Bard used a Focused Heart Seeker, magnified by the extra 8% of damage added by Bilbo’s Reveal Weakness to fell the beast with a single shot.
Afterward, Thorin was overheard saying to Gandalf, “That would have been a wipe for sure had we not had a Burglar in our group!”
Bilbo has since retired to a much quieter life, writing poetry and reminiscing about his life of adventurer in the Last Homely House in Rivendell, but once in a while he still gives advice to the up-and-coming burglars of Middle-Earth. I had the chance to talk with him, and he gave me a fairly complete breakdown of the tools of the trade. I very carefully took as many notes as I could, trying desperately to keep up with his monologue, and pieced together a guide to the essential Burglar’s Tools. So whether you chose the Burglar class on your own or Gandalf tricked you into it, this guide should familiarize you with the basic skills of the Burglar.
Stealth
Every Burglar’s greatest ally.
Sneak (Commonly referred to as Stealth) - This is the definitive skill of a Burglar. This will keep you safe from large groups of elite level mobs if you are careful. Want to grab that deposit of Ancient-Iron ore in the Misty Mountains without having to battle the trolls and giants that patrol the area? Sneak will allow you to do that.
Hide in Plain Sight (HiPS) - This is Sneak’s big brother. This allows you to become invisible in the middle of a fight. Did that roaming group of goblins agro while you were fighting a couple wargs? If you can’t use crowd-control to counter this, then HiPS is your savior. Pop one of these and you will see your enemies scatter in confusion.
Share the Fun - Sneak is great for soloing, but what if you want a non-Burglar friend to join in your sneakiness? Share the Fun is the answer. Just don’t drift too far apart or your friend may not stay in Stealth.
Diversion - When you see this icon, you are most likely reminded of Emperor Palpatine as he is about to zap Luke Skywalker with a bolt of lightning in Return of the Jedi. Well sorry kids, this skill has nothing to do with that film. It is, however, quite a useful skill for the aspiring Burglar, since it gives a mob a sneaking suspicion that there is someone behind him. Have you ever needed to sneak through a tight spot between two orc guards? Use Diversion on one and sneak by while he is checking his blind spot. Though he might be a little confused for a minute, he’ll never figure out that you made it past.
Burglar’s Advantage Line
Burglar’s Advantage is a string of skills that becomes available if you’ve successfully managed a critical hit.
Burglar’s Advantage - The first skill in the Burglar’s Advantage line. Slot this in your main bar and keep your eyes on it at all times. It will usually be black and white, meaning you can’t use it, but if you land a critical hit it will show up in full color. When that happens, hit it for a nice little blow of damage.
Double-Edged Strike - The second skill in the line, this will deal a second shot of damage. Successfully pulling this one off opens a whole slew of options.
Flashing Blades - Once you’ve used your Burglar’s Advantage and Double-Edged Strike, you will come to a crossroads in the chain. You will have to decide which skill to use based on the situation. Flashing Blades is just one of the many options that become available. This is great for solo play. It deals a fair amount of damage and has probably the coolest animation of all the Burglar skills. However, if you are in a group or fighting a boss, you will probably prefer to finish your combo with different skill from the chain.
Conjunctions (CJs)
Conjunctions are fellowship skills. When you see four different-colored circles on your screen, you know a CJ has been activated. They provide you with the ability to attack or heal as a group.
Exploit Opening - This skill will trigger a CJ. It is especially great when your group is running low on health and your healer can’t keep up. Pop a CJ and call out “All Green!” for a very powerful barrage of heals.
Trip - This skill can only be used while in Stealth, but can give you a great advantage, especially while in a group. Using Trip stuns a mob momentarily, while activating a CJ.
Exposed Throat - This legendary skill is a great finish for your Burglar’s Advantage chain. It deals a little damage and has a chance of opening up a CJ.
Tricks
Before mastering the Burglar class, you must master the art of deception.
Dust in the Eyes - This skill tosses dust in the eyes of your opponent, slowing them and greatly increasing their miss chance. You will eventually be able to trait an improved AOE version of this, which affects up to three targets at a time. This stacks with other Burglar’s Dust skills, blinding mobs even more. (NOTE: This is only true in PvE. In PvMP, Dust is not stackable.)
Enrage - Get your opponent so upset that it doesn’t know which target to attack. It will bounce from player to player, usually only attacking each one once or twice before moving on to the next one. This is useful for pulling mobs off your healer when no one else can. It has another useful function in solo play that most Burglars don’t realize right away - using this skill you can pull mobs from a distance. This often makes it easier to pick off mobs one at a time, which is simply the Burglar’s style.
Startling Twist - A trick must be active on a mob before you can use this skill. It will remove that trick and stun the opponent. Great for crowd control, especially when using AOE dust.
Other Useful Skills
The skills listed above merely scratch the surface. Burglars have many other great skills that don’t fall into any of the above categories.
Riddle - Riddle provides 30 seconds of breakable stun. This is the Burglars' most powerful crowd control skill.
Reveal Weakness - Putting this on an enemy makes every hit do an extra 8% damage. You can eventually trait an improved version, which cranks it up to a whopping 10%.
Addle - This can work as an interrupter, like the Champion’s Clobber or the Captain’s Kick. When you see that green or orange circle appear under a mob, hit them with Addle to interrupt the skill. Tired of those orcs in Moria absorbing your damage? Addle them while they are applying the buff and they won’t get away with it.
Touch and Go - This gives you an extra dash of speed, making you very hard to hit.
Find Footing - This is the reason that Burglars are not afraid of stuns. It becomes active if you get stunned, and hitting this skill gives you a considerable heal and puts you in Touch and Go mode. What a surprise when your opponent stuns you, thinking they’re about to finish you off, and you shake it off with a fresh dose of energy!
Ready and Able - Though this icon is a terrible eyesore (it looks like a picture of a Maître d presenting Friar Tuck with a skull on a very large platter), it is a real lifesaver. It resets many of your cooldown timers. Did you HiPS out of a group of mobs only to find yourself forced out of stealth by a second round? Use Ready and Able and then pop HiPS a second time.
Of course this is just a small sampling of the achievable greatness of the Burglar. There are many more skills to learn and graft into your playing style as you make your way across Middle-Earth. And if you run into Bilbo in your adventures, be sure to tell him “Thanks!”