Ten Ton Hammer's All-New Lore-master Class Guide for the Lord of the Rings Online - Skills Overview

alt="LotRO Lore-master Guide"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92877">

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/overview">OVERVIEW
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/solo">SOLO
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/group">GROUP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/pvmp">PvMP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/endgame">LEGENDARY
ITEMS | href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/92890/page/2">TRAITS
| VIRTUES
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/skills">SKILLS

Damage-Dealing Skills

These are the core attack skills. Except for the staff
attacks, they are all tactical. Note that many tactical attack skills
have a morale cost in addition to the normal power cost - using them
can potentially kill the Lore-master if they are used when he is very
low on morale.

Staff-Strike - A solid blow
with the staff. When traited with Master of the Staff, this skill is
significantly improved: +25% damage, +20% critical chance, +50%
critical damage, +50% devastate damage, 5-second stun on a critical
hit, deal extra damage when attacking from the flanks, and staff
attacks deal light damage. 

Staff-Sweep - An area-effect
attack that can hit up to 3 targets within 5 meters of the Lore-master.
This skill is unaffected by the Master of the Staff trait for some
reason, but when the legendary trait Sword and Staff is slotted
(attainable at level 39 by collecting book pages), the staff can be
paired with a sword for a 2nd off-hand attack, and both attacks do more
damage overall.

Burning Embers - Hurls a
mini-fireball streaking towards the target. The fireball does good fire
cdamage initially and adds a 10-second fire DOT and a 30-second, 30%
slow to the target.

Gust of Wind - A ranged
area-effect attack that can hit up to 6 targets within 7 meters of each
other. Does good frost damage and applies a +7% miss chance to the
targets. This skill costs morale to use in addition to its power cost.

Cracked Earth - A ranged
area-effect attack that can hit up to 5 targets within 7 meters of each
other. Does decent fire damage and has a 10-second timer. When the
timer expires, the targets are rooted in place for 30 seconds. This is
a tough root - rooted targets have only a 25% chance to be broken free
by taking damage after 1 second. This skill costs morale to use in
addition to its power cost. Slotting 2 Ancient Master traits improves
this skill, causing the root effect to occur 5 seconds earlier.

Light of the Rising Dawn- A
strong attack that does light damage and applies a 3-second stun. The
brief description doesn't really do this skill justice - it's one of
the more powerful attacks in the Lore-master's arsenal, particularly at
mid-levels. This skill costs morale to use in addition to its power
cost.

Test of Will - A fierce
showdown, eyes locked together. When the Lore-master is victorious, the
enemy is stunned for 5 seconds and takes a good amount of light damage.
This skill has a large bonus to its critical chance and magnitude. This
skill costs morale to use in addition to its power cost.

Lightning-Storm - This skill
can only be used effectively on targets already affected by the Ancient
Craft debuff. It can affect up to 5 afflicted targets, and rains down 3
big bursts of lightning doing strong lightning damage. This skill has a
high morale and power cost.

Sign of Battle: Wizardry -
This skill has 2 uses: the normal way does a small amount of light
damage over time. The second, better usage is when the pet has the
enemy flanked; using this skill then restores the Lore-master's morale
in addition to the light DOT effect.

Sign of Battle: Wizard's Fire
- This skill is essentially the same as Sign of Battle: Wizardry, but
deals fire damage instead of light damage. Only one Sign of Battle can
be active on a target at one time.

Sticky Gourd- Huck a molotov
squash for good fire damage and cheap laughs. This skill is improved by
the capstone legendary trait for the Master of Nature's Fury line,
causing the gourd to splash on the ground, creating an area-damage
"hotspot." The trait The Secret of Tar reduces the induction on this
skill and Sticky Tar.

Ents Go to War - A legendary
skill attainable at level 39 by collecting book pages. This is a strong
area-effect attack that can hit up to 5 enemies standing within 5
meters of the epicenter. The Lore-master does his best giant angry ent
impression, and is so believable that viewers actually see the ent
stomp on the ground, doing big fire damage and applying a 6-second stun
to affected targets. This skill costs morale to use in addition to its
power cost.

Buffs and Stuffs

The skills that keep you, your pet and your group standing and
fighting, including cures.

Beacon of Hope - This is a
decent, nearly instant heal that can only be used on others (other
players, pets, NPCs). This skill has a morale cost in addition to the
normal power cost, but the morale cost is small compared to the heal.

Share the Power - Transfers a
chunk of the Lore-master's power to an ally. This has a high power
cost, but the ally usually receives more than the skill costs. This is
one of the most valuable group skills in the Lore-master's arsenal.

Leechcraft - Removes up to 3
wounds from one target and increases wound resist rating for 1 minute.
The base skill cannot be used in combat, but slotting the trait Proof
Against All Ills allows it to be used in combat. This trait also causes
Leechcraft and Tend the Sick to function on all nearby fellowship
members. This skill is replaced at level 62 by Ancient Knowledge of
Cures, which combines its effects with those of Tend the Sick.

Tend the Sick - This functions
identically to Leechcraft in all respects, but affects diseases rather
than wounds. It is also affected by Proof Against All Ills, and is
replaced at level 62 by Ancient Knowledge of Cures.

Ancient Wisdom - This skill
adds a big bonus to the Lore-master's Will score for 30 minutes. This
effect scales with the Lore-master's level. The trait Power and Wisdom
increases this bonus by 33%.

Inner Flame - Only usable when
a summoned pet is present. This is a channeled skill lasting 16
seconds. While active, this skill heals the Lore-master and his pet for
a small amount each second and transfers 5% of the Lore-master's threat
to his animal companion with each pulse (up to 80% of total threat
transfered at the end of 16 seconds).

Call to the Valar - This skill
resets the cooldown timers of Herb-Lore, Test of Will, Light of the
Rising Dawn and Blinding Flash, and adds a short-duration buff that
prevents inductions from being set back by taking damage.

Wisdom of the Council - A
powerful panic-button self-heal that adds a nifty survival aura for 1
minute. If attacked while this aura is active, there is a 5% chance to
negate 100% of that attack's damage, a small reflect of light damage
for each attack, and a 25% chance to apply a 3-second stun.

Back From the Brink - Contrary
to popular belief, smoking is not detrimental to
one's health, but can actually revive a fallen ally! This is the very
least awesome revive in the game: the target revives with only 5%
morale and 0 power, takes a 70% penalty to all ranged, tactical and
melee damage for 1 minute, can only be used out of combat, AND requires
a pouch of Shire Sweet-leaf Pipe-weed, thus promoting smoking amongst
impressionable gamers. It gets the fallen character back on his feet,
but if the group has a Minstrel, Runekeeper or Captain, use that revive
instead. Smoking is bad for you, kids.

Sign of Power: Righteousness -
Removes dazed, stunned, silence, knocked down and knocked out
effects, and grants immunity to these states for 30 seconds. When your
group asks for "stun immunity," this is the skill they are asking for.
The trait Dunadan-Learning increases the duration of this buff by 30
seconds and reduces the cooldown by 2 seconds.

Sign of Power: Vigilance -
Increases stealth detection level by +3 for 1 minute, making it easier
to spot stealthed opponents. The trait Dunadan-Learning increases the
duration of this buff by 240 seconds, and increases the stealth
detection level by +2. Quite useful in the Ettenmoors to avoid getting
pounced by a stealthed Warg Stalker.

Sign of Power: See All Ends -
Significantly decreases the chance that the Lore-master will be
critically hit. This skill is improved with the capstone legendary
trait of The Ancient Master line, which increases its magnitude
significantly.

Air Lore - Wraps an ally in a
sheath of swirling winds for 1 minute. These winds damage any creature
that attacks the protected character, and has a 1% chance to negate a
small amount of damage. This skil is replaced at level 64 by Continual
Air-Lore, which is identical to the original but is a toggled skill
that can be maintained as long as required.

Debuffs and... De-stuffs.

These skills weaken foes in various ways. Some may do direct
damage, but most are non-damaging. Includes crowd-control skills.

Sign of Power: Command
- A non-aggroing single-target debuff that reduces the target's parry
rating and increases its attack duration by 20% for 30 seconds. The
trait Improved Sign of Power: Command causes this skill to also affect
block and evade ratings.

Fire-Lore - Raise the
temperature around your enemies, cooking their weapons. An area-effect
debuff that reduces the targets' melee damage by 30% and applies a 2%
miss chance for 30 seconds. Can affect up to 3 targets within 5 meters
of each other. This debuff will cause enemies to aggro. This skill is
affected by the trait The Study of Fire-Lore, which increases the miss
chance by +5%. Fore-Lore, Wind-Lore, Frost-Lore and Herb-Lore are all
affected by the trait Deep Lore, which increases the number of targets
they affect. 

Wind-Lore - A gust of wind
assails your enemies, hampering their ranged attacks. An area-effect
debuff that increases the targets' attack duration by 9% and reduces
ranged damage by 50% for 30 seconds. Can affect up to 3 targets within
8 meters of each other. This debuff will cause enemies to aggro. The
trait The Study of Wind-Lore further increases the penalty to ranged
damage by 10%.

Frost-Lore - Lower the
temperature around your enemies, making it difficult for them to
concentrate. An area-effect debuff that reduces the targets' tactical
damage by 20% for 30 seconds. This skill has no effect on non-tactical
enemies. Can affect up to 3 targets within 5 meters of each other. This
debuff will cause enemies to aggro.

Ancient Craft - Hurl a fistful
of magnetized metal filings at the enemy, hampering their ability to
wear armor. An area-effect debuff that reduces the targets' armor value
significantly for 30 seconds. Can affect up to 5 targets within 5
meters of each other. This skill has a very short range (10 meters) and
will cause enemies to aggro. This is the prerequisite skill for
Lilghtning Storm - enemies not affected by Ancient Craft will not be
affected by Lightning Storm.

Power of Knowledge - Drain
power from enemies and recharge your own blue bar. This is a channeled
skill lasting 16 seconds. The trait Power and Wisdom improves this
skill, increasing the duration by +8 seconds, reducing he cooldown by
10 seconds, and increasing the power drain by +100%. Used in
conjunction with Share the Power, this allows the Lore-master to keep
his allies juiced up with power during long fights.

Warding Knowledge: Creatures of Nature
- This creates an area-effect debuff zone that affects sentient plant
life - trees, bog lurkers, roots. When slotted with 4 Ancient Master
traits, this skill also affects beasts. Affected creatures within this
zone take extra tactical damage and have an increased miss chance. The
zone lasts for 1 minute.

Warding Knowledge: Dead -
This works the same as above, but affects the dead - wights, spirits,
ghosts and the like. When slotted with 4 Ancient Master traits, it also
affects Men and Orcs - the living kind.

Warding Knowledge: Drakes -
Same as the other Warding Knowledge skills, but affects drakes and
worms. The 4 Ancient Master trait bonus applies this debuff to Ancient
Evil as well.

Knowledge of the Lore-master -
This skill enables the Lore-master to carefully examine the defenses of
the target to determine where it is strong and where it is weak. If
used out of combat, it also debuffs the targets resist ratings for
physical, tactical, cry and song for 1 minute.

Dispel Corruption - Does
exactly what it says, removing up to 3 corruptions from the target. One
of the most effective corruption removals in the game.

Blinding Flash - The
Lore-master's main crowd-control skill, applies a 30-second mez to most
mob types except Creatures of Nature and Dead. Traiting for Master of
Nature's Fury can reduce the duration of the mez to as low as 5 seconds
(with 4 traits from this line). The trait Explosive Force makes this
skill more difficult to resist, and the trait Fast Loader removes the
1-second induction, making it instant-cast. This mez is superior to the
Burglar's Riddle, as it has a much shorter cooldown and can be used
against more mob types.

Bane Flare - An area-effect
daze that affects up to 3 Dead. Applies a 5-second daze followed by a
10-second mez. The trait Explosive Force makes this skill more
difficult to resist, and slotting 2 Ancient Master traits increases the
max number of targets by 2.

Herb-Lore - An area-effect
root that can affect up to 3 targets within 8 meters of the epicenter.
The root lasts for 30 seconds, and targets have a 50% chance to be
broken free if they take damage after 1 second. The trait Deep Lore
increases the max number of targets by +5.

Sticky Tar - Huck a ball of
sticky black goo on the ground, creating an area that slows enemy
movement by 50% and makes them more vulnerable to fire damage. The zone
lasts for 1 minute. The trait The Secret of Tar reduces the induction
time for this skill by 0.5 seconds.

Storm-Lore - A flashy
area-effect skill that causes a thunderclap, which does a bit of
lightning damage and applies a 3-second stun on up to 3 targets within
5 meters of the epicentre. The trait Improved Storm-Lore increases the
damage dealt by this skill by 25%.

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/92668/page/2">

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/overview">OVERVIEW
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/solo">SOLO
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/group">GROUP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/pvmp">PvMP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/endgame">LEGENDARY
ITEMS | href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/92890/page/2">TRAITS
| VIRTUES
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/skills">SKILLS

style="width: 640px; height: 227px;"
alt="LotRO Lore-master Guide"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92877">

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/overview">OVERVIEW
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/solo">SOLO
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/group">GROUP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/pvmp">PvMP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/endgame">LEGENDARY
ITEMS | href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/92890/page/2">TRAITS
| VIRTUES
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/skills">SKILLS

Pets and Their Care and Feeding

Pets are one of the Lore-master's strongest tools, and can be
made stronger with certain skills and items. Each pet has 3 special
attacks, detailed in their entries.

Raven-Lore - Summons a raven.
The raven is  a weak attacker and a terrible tank, but having
a raven summoned applies a buff to the fellowship that
increases shadow defense. The raven's 3 special attacks are:  Benediction of the Raven - Lowers the target's fire
defense for 1 minute. Distraction - A channeled skill; for 15 seconds, the
Raven flaps around the target's face, causing it to do 50% less ranged
damage, applying a 10% miss chance, and doing a small amount of light
damage over time. Evasion - Raven buffs itself, increasing evade chance,
armor value and shadow defense.

Friend of Bears - Summons a
bear. The bear is a decent attacker and an excellent tank. The bear is
a preferred tank even at high levels - it is a strong companion even
without slotting the 5 Keeper of Animals traits necessary to get the
bog-lurker companion, and can force aggro. The bear's 3
special attacks are: Bear Hug - Does weak damage aand stuns the target for
3 seconds. Roaring Challenge  - Forces aggro for 10
seconds. Shatter Arms - Does weak damage and applues an armor
debuff, causing the target to take +10% melee and ranged damage.

Lynx Speech - Summons a lynx.
The shy lynx attempts to remain stealthed at all times when not in
combat. It is a strong attacker and a decent tank, but its use of
area-effect attacks makes it rather dangerous to use in a
crowd-controlled situation. The lynx's 3 special
attacks are: Surprise Attack - Can only be used from stealth. This
skill delivers a massive sneak attack with a high chance of scoring a
critical hit. If attacking from behind, this skill does even more
damage. Feral Strike - A strong attack that hits up to 3
targets in a 90-degree frontal arc. Do not use in the vicinity of
crowd-controlled mobs. Slashing Claws - Hits up to 5 targets in a frontal
180-degree arc with 2 strong attacks.

Friend of Feline Hunters -
Summons a sabretooth. The sabretooth is a much bigger cat than the
lynx, and its normal attacks are all frontal area-effect and do frost
damage. It cannot stealth like the lynx. Special attacks are: Frostbite - A big attack that hits up to 3 targets in a
frontal arc and lowers frost resistance. Fury of Winter -  A big 3-target attack with a
boosted crit magnitude. On a critical hit, it will apply a flanked
event, allowing the use of the Sign of Battle skill self-heals. Throat Slash - A frontal arc that can hit up to 3
targets. If used on an enemy with a flanked event, this skill has a
chance to apply a stun and trigger a fellowship manouevre.

Eagle-Friend - This is a
legendary skill attainable at level 45 by completing both class quests.
Summons an
eagle, which is a much stronger attacker than the raven, but still
a lousy tank. Having an eagle summoned provides the fellowship with
increased in-combat power regeneration. Special attacks are: Fan the Flames - This skill does causes the eagle to
do additional damage when a fire-damage-over-time from Burning Embers
is active on the target. Beak Rend - Drains the enemy of morale, returning it
to the eagle. Sacrifice - If the Lore-master is defeated and the
eagle is still alive, this skill can be used to revive the Lore-master,
unsummoning the eagle in the process. In the event of a group wipe,
however, the eagle is probably a dead duck by the time everyone else
goes down.

Friend of Nature - This is a
legendary skill attainable at level 60 by reaching kindred status with
the Iron Garrison Guards and buying a book. It is the capstone
legendary trait for the Keeper of Animals line, requiring 5 traits from
that line slotted. This summons a bog-lurker. The bog-lurker is a very
strong attacker and a rugged tank, tougher than the bear. Special
attacks
are:  Angry Bees - Summons a swarm of ticked-off bees around
the target, causing a 10-second damage-over-time. Root Strike - Does good damage and applies a +5%
incoming ranged critical chance. Bursting Root - Does good damage and has a 20% chance
to apply a 6-second stun, potentially triggering a fellowship manoeuver.

Combat Summoning - This is
part of the Nature-Friend legendary skill package. It provides a
10-second window which allows the Lore-master to summon an animal
companion during combat

Sign of the Wild: Rage - Turns
the Lore-master's summoned companion into a raging beast. This stance
increases the pet's perceived threat by 10% and reduces its attack
duration by 5%. The trait Master of Beasts reduces the power cost of
this skill, increases its duration and causes it to act as a curative
against poison, fear, wounds and diseases. The trait The Wild and Ward
allows this skill to be used at the same time as Sign of the Wild:
Protection; otherwise, they may not be used together. Slotting 3 Keeper
of Animals traits further decreases the attack duration of this buff by
5%, and slotting 4 improves it by another 5% and increases the duration
by 600 seconds.

Sign of the Wild: Protection -
Encourages the summoned companion to take a defensive posture,
increasing its parry rating and causing it to take -5% ranged, tactical
and melee damage. It is affected by the same traits as Sign of the
Wild: Rage; the trait The Wild and Ward adds frost and fire damage
mitigation, and slotting 4 Keeper of Animals traits increases the
damage mitigation by +5%.

Friend of the Wild - This
passive skill allows the Lore-master to summon non-combat, cosmetic
pets. These pets are quite small, provide no bonuses whatsoever and do
not participate in combat. The Lore-master can learn to summon new pets
by finding skill pages in loot drops. The current non-combat pet
menagerie includes frog, rabbit, cat, dog, squirrel, fox, snake,
songbird and turtle.

Class Tools

Lore-masters don't get quite as many fun toys as other classes.

Staff - This is a
class-specific main-hand weapon. It functions in a similar manner to a
2-handed weapon, but with the Sword and Staff legendary trait, can be
used as a 1-handed weapon. Lore-master staves can be crafted by
woodworkers. More information on legendary item Lore-master Staves can
be found on the LI page.

Books of Lore - These come in three
flavors: Beasts, Nature and Dunedain. Books and tomes of Beasts lower
the cost of Signs of the Wild skills, books and tomes of Nature reduce
the power costs for Lore skills, and books and tomes of Dunedain
 lower the costs for Signs of Power and Battle. The
2% versions of these can be purchased from class trainers, and more
powerful versions can be crafted by scholars. High level Lore-masters
can use legendary books, which are detailed on the LI page.

Pet Food - At one time, there
was only honey & oats for bears, and the other pets went
hungry. No longer! Lore-masters who have the cook craft skill can make
food for all their pets. Pet food comes in all tiers, though the
recipes are only available for levels ranges where the Lore-master can
actually get the pets - there are no Cuts of Tender Meat, for example,
below Artisan tier, since the Lore-master can't get a feline companion
until mid-30s anyway. Pet food bolsters the stats of its particular
companion type: Bag of Crumbs - This is food for ravens and eagles. It
increases the bird's elemental damage defense, melee offense and evade
rating.  Pot of Honey and Oats  - This is bear food. It
increases the bear's elemental defense, armor value and perceived
threat. Cut of Meat - A delicious tin of cat food, which
increases elemental defense, melee critical rating and melee defense
rating. Bowl of Water - This is only available at supreme tier,
and is bog-lurker food. It increases fire and acid resistance, max
power and ranged offence rating.

Talismans - These items are crafted by jewellers and are available at every crafting tier. In the olden days before the November Update, these were necklaces worn by the Lore-master which altered the appearance of a particlar pet plus provided a few buffs. However, these necklaces were generally inferior to same-level crafted necklaces of other types, and Lore-masters wanting a unique appearance for their pets had to sacrifice stats for cosmetics. This is no longer the case - the new talismans are single-use items that, when used, grant the Lore-master a new skill to summon an alternate cosmetic version of a standard pet, allowing him the ability to have a cool-looking pet while still enjoying the higher-quality necklaces worn by other tactical classes. There are several cosmetic versions of all 6 base pets, and collectors can have a proper menagerie at their command.

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/overview">OVERVIEW
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/solo">SOLO
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/group">GROUP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/pvmp">PvMP
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/endgame">LEGENDARY
ITEMS | href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/92890/page/2">TRAITS
| VIRTUES
| href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/loremaster/skills">SKILLS