Ok so here's my take on the Minstrel, which is my main character Eldarestalo's class.
See
here for all the information on Minstrel abilities from LOTRO-wiki.
Having worked for the last 7 or so months on the Minstrel, I've realized that this is quite a powerful class when you know how to use him/her right. Many believe that the Minstrel cannot hold up well when soloing, because they are (as Nrel quite aptly described the hunter)
squishy. Indeed, the Minstrel user should be aware that they only get access to medium armor later in the game (at level 15 to be exact, with shields at level 20). However, this does not mean that the Minstrel is defenseless. Soloing is aided significantly by the many long-range musical attacks that the Minstrel has for weaponry. "But the Minstrel is a healer!" you say. "His whole purpose for existance is to help other people survive in order to kill the bad guys!" you also say. (And by you, I mean you Nrel)
Well, that is true. The primary purpose of the Minstrel, I would agree, is for healing, both in and out of fellowships. But if all they did was heal, then they would really be useless for soloing. The one important ability that any Minstrel user should be aware of is the
War-speech cry. This cry, obtained at level 10, basically converts your Minstrel into a more efficient warrior at the expense of his healing abilities. It augments the
Piercing Cry critical chance (which also allows you to stun your enemy for a moderate time period, while you pummel it into goo), and also allows your
Echoes of Battle skill to become more powerful, improving it's damage by about 300%! Additionally, the
Herald's Strike ability which you have from level 1 can be converted into a damage-and-drain ability by using
Noble Cause, which you obtain at level 14. Using Noble Cause, allows the next three Herald Strikes to drain morale from the enemy and distribute it to you and your fellowship. Very cool.
So as you can see from the paragraph above, the Minstrel can be quite a powerful soloing unit.
However, Nrel is right. The primary purpose of the Minstrel is as a healer, and therefore ensuring that both Will and Fate and as high as possible is important. Power is much more critical for the Minstrel than Morale, but additionally improving vitality is never a bad thing for any class.
Regarding healing, the Minstrel obtains many very powerful multi-target healing abilities later on in the game, but it's important to know that these pull significant threat and drain power considerably. It's always better for fellowing to only use multi-target heals in last ditch efforts to keep your group alive. Focusing constantly on individual heals, especially on the tanks, will preserve power and reduce the draw of threat. The
Anthem of Compassion additionally helps to reduce threat generation while healing for 30 seconds.
On a final note, ressurection is available to the Minstrel at level 20, via
Enlivening Grace, however this cannot be used in battle until you obtain
Rally! at level 39 (and this requires an equipped trait to be used).
Ok, feel free to add other important information about the Minstrel, and feel free to beat me down for botching the Minstrel description.