Archetype: "Crowd Control (Support)"

The Lore-master is without a doubt the master of nature and secret lore in the LotRO world. She performs her tactics and maneuvers largely by manipulating forces of nature and the natural world. The lore-master does her best work at a distance, with her pets or group-mates on the front-lines. And though she can do a little bit up-front-and-center fighting when called to in a pinch, the damage and overall impact on the battle is hardly representative of the lore-master's true potential or purpose. The lore-master really begins to shine when she uses her unique knowledge more subtlety to control the events around her.

• Common Misconceptions:

The lore-master is not exactly the archetypal "nuker" or "wizard." That explosive, high-damage role is more closely mimicked by the rune-keeper, the true "glass cannon" of the LotRO world, or by even the hunter. The lore-master is not primarily a damage class, but is first and foremost a crowd controller, a class whose main job is to debuff, mez, and if necessary, root.

Of course, Lore-masters can back-up with a nice bit of DPS, especially if following the "Master of Nature's Fury" DPS trait line, as well as they can look out for group members with a few cures, and a single, but solid, heal. But their primary and strongest purpose lies in their crowd control ability. As previously stated, they aren't "wizards" as traditionally played in MMOs, but more of a "mezzer/charmer." In theme, with their ties to the natural elements and their wild animal-friends, and their healing and rez abilities, they may actually be closer to what most MMOG-ers know as "druids." They aren't, however, primarily buffers, though they can do a little of that too if needed.

The Lore-master's Role in a Group:

• Primary Role:
• Crowd Controller

  Different lore-masters will tell you differently what a lore-master's primary role is in a group, but most will probably tell you that a good percentage involves crowd control, with hardy doses of debuffing and mezzing the target(s). The lore-master certainly has the selection of roots, slows, stuns, and mezzes to make this a possibility. This dynamic would correlate with my opinion of what a good lore-master's primary role is: a crowd controller, with strong secondary roles of backup-buffer/power supplier, healer, and DPS-er.

• Secondary Role (everything else!):
• Power Provider

  Lore-masters are indispensable for providing power to the fellowship during long, drawn-out battles when certain members of the group will begin running out of the stuff very quickly. In general, it is a good idea to try to keep the minstrel in power before anyone else. If the minstrel loses power, he can't heal, and that's going to be detrimental to everyone. After that, its a tossup who should get the power next. Hunters, you'll find, run out of power notoriously fast, and as they do a great deal of damage and can take the mobs out quickly, it might be a good idea to toss some their way now and then.

  On the other hand, the guardian needs to stay in his game as well, and should likewise be looked after in that respect; however, it's been my experience that guardians don't tend to run out of power as quickly as hunters, so he may be less of an issue for the lore-master.

  Burglars too will run out of power from time to time and may need your assistance. Since burglars can trigger some outstanding group power regenerations with fellowship maneuvers, it might be a good idea to give the burglar his due as well. He can help bring entire fellowship back from severe power drought, so never ignore his needs if he asks for a little power along the way.

  Classes like champions and captains can regenerate their own power more effectively than other classes at higher levels, though you may find they may need a little help from time to time as well. It's all really just a matter of making your best call on who to give power to first, after the all-important minstrel. You'll have to look at the individual circumstances and make the best decision you can based on it.

  I should note here that as a lore-master, you should immediately slot the trait "Power and Wisdom" as soon as you get access to it, especially if you are following the "Ancient Master" trait line, as it can stretch your power sharing abilities to a marked degree, and will allow you to drain more power from your enemies more frequently, so that you will have a lot more with which to go around. A strong, steady power supply is invaluable to a lore-master, in either solo or in a group dynamics.

• Buffer: Status Protector/ Curer
  

  Lore-masters have a few, handy buffs/protections at their disposal, including a very important disease cure/protection that you and your group members will greatly depend on. You will also have a knockdown, knockout, silence cure/protection that is indispensable in some of the higher-level areas and instances. However, to make true use of some of these cures and protective buffs, the proper traits will need to be slotted, including "Proof Against All Ills" and "Dunadan-learning," otherwise the constant need to recast them will become dizzying, if not outright impossible.

  Lore-masters can also cast an AoE damage shield on their pet or group member, to help him do extra damage and/or hold the aggro, as well as provide a valuable stealth detection buff on themselves and their group mates.

• Backup Healer
  

  In addition to keeping the minstrel powered-up, he should always be your main concern in regards to morale. The minstrel can obviously heal himself and the whole group very efficiently, but his recurrent heals will occasionally draw aggro, even with a guardian taunting effectively. Minstrels just tend to make mobs very mad, and once they start getting attacked, they can't heal--themselves or anyone else. So it's your job as the lore-master to keep the minstrel up and going if you can. Lore-masters have a single, but very solid heal they can use on a group member (or pet), and this should usually be reserved for the minstrel.

  If however the minstrel is doing fine and you find another group member gets in trouble, you might want to help the minstrel out by healing that member. If you equip the traits "Light of Hope" and "Healer," you'll find your heal will return much sooner, which is always helpful in your role as backup healer.

• DPS-er
  

  Finally, if everything else is under "control" so to speak, feel free to use some of your higher-voltage attacks to add to the DPS. Though lore-masters are not the highest damage-doers in the game, they do have one or two explosive tricks, especially as they climb in levels and even more so if they choose to follow the "Master of Nature's Fury" trait line. A lore-master can even melee a bit you'll find, and your auto-attack can likewise serve as a steady source of background damage. Additionally, at a higher level, slotting the "Sword and Staff" trait will make you, if not melee brilliant, at least a little melee efficient, if the need should call for it.

• Conjunctions:

Blue and Green are usually the best choices for lore-masters in a fellowship maneuver, as lore-masters tend to hang back from the main battle, and these colors can be contributed from a distance.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

• Strengths:

Versatility is the lore-master's greatest asset! They can do a little bit of just about everything. The lore-master's strength lies in the ability to leap into a certain role when called for it: If we need to stand back and mez and root, we are masters of it. If we need to team up our tricks with a burglar for some major mezzing and riddling (what might be called "rizzling") for some superior crowd control, we can do it too. If we need to help the minstrel heal, we can easily fill the bill. If we need to distract or taunt targets, or add to the DPS, we can usually do that to, depending on which traits we have equipped, or which pet we're fighting with. We can buff, debuff, daze, damage, heal, and rez. We can slow or root. We can cure, power-up, and help keep everyone in the group in top nick! We can even make use of our extensive knowledge to tell exactly where an enemy's own strengths and weaknesses lie!

Outside of this, the lore-master's strength lies in an outstanding ability to control, whether it's used to control enemy targets, or to control the forces of nature to bring havoc down against them.

• Weaknesses:

The lore-master, by virtue of its caster class, is not especially hardy, unfortunately. Though we aren't as delicate as some MMO caster classes have traditionally been in the past, or in other MMO worlds--and we can even melee a bit when called to--we still have relatively lower morale than some of the other LotRO classes. Of course, you can equip certain traits and high level gear and make yourself significantly sturdier, but morale just is never going to be the lore master's greatest redeeming value, in comparison to other classes, no matter what some lore-master's will boast of themselves.

DPS also isn't a lore master's highest ranking virtue, in lieu of their caster status. Casters have traditionally been high on the damage, though this is just not a lore-master's speciality in LotRO. Don't get me wrong! We can do decent enough damage with several of our skills. But once again, high DPS is not a lore-master's primary focus, and for some players who come new to LotRO expecting the caster class to be the end-all of damage, a slight disappointment might be in store.

Etiquette for the Lore-master Class:

• Dos:

When grouping with a burglar or another lore-master, Do confer on specific tactics that deal with conflicting or non-stacking skills. For instance, if a burglar is planning to make use of his fellowship maneuvers, agree when you will use your stun-based skills, as they may conflict with his ability to trigger (e.g., keep your stun-based spells limited to the last half of the battle, by which time the burglar would have already attempted to trigger the maneuver). In the case of another lore-master in the group, be aware that certain skills will not stack, or even serve as overkill, and it might be best to consider turn-taking or splitting duties to avoid these problems.

Do watch the minstrel's health and power always! He can draw a lot of aggro, and will depend on a heal from you while the tank tries to taunt the mobs back. Your heal can often be crucial to the whole party during those intense moments. Likewise, always keep an eye on the minstrel's power. Sometimes your main role in a group will be to simply stand back and drain the enemy for its power and repeatedly share it with those who need it. Always consider the minstrel first!

Do keep your pets on a leash! You should make it a habit to keep your pet in passive mode at all times, unless a particular situation calls for different. Your pets can still be called on to attack when needed, and you may save yourself or your fellowship from an unexpected encounter that could turn ugly.

Do dismiss your pet before jumping off a cliff or ledge, to avoid him trying to follow you the long way down and aggroing half the zone. Better yet, if you have a horse, mount up with your pet summoned, so he can easily remain with you while you jump, and be ready to fight beside you if you should happen to land on an unappreciative mob.

Do tell your fellowship when you are planning to mez a target. This helps prevent others from attacking the target and breaking the mez unknowingly, or causing another lore-master unknowingly to waste his mez on the same target.

Do use the right pet for the right situation! Some pets can be poor choices in certain circumstances. Get familiar with your animal-friends' unique abilities and then use them to their best advantage.

Do remember to always stay stocked up on Shire Sweet-leaf once you've earned your rez skill! Check your supplies each time you prepare to go out on a fellowship adventure. Getting careless with this one can cause a serious inconvenience for the group if the main rezzer(s) happen(s) to die, and there is no one else to rez.

• Don'ts:

Don't step into the heart of the battle, especially with mobs dealing heavy AoEs, unless you feel its necessary in the moment. Fighting in close combat with these monsters just leads to unnecessary hits on your morale, and more stress for the minstrel who already has to worry about healing the tank or tanks. It better to make it easy for him by staying out of the fray unless there is a specific reason for it.

Remember that DOTs break mezzes. Don't use your DOT skills on something you or someone else might need to mez, if things end up getting out of hand. Take careful consideration of the situation when you enter into a fight and are preparing to use your DOTs.

Like with any other AoE-dealing class, Don't just launch your area attacks willy-nilly without paying attention to what someone else in your group may have mezzed. Ask your group members to do the return courtesy of calling out what they plan to mez to help avoid this conflict.

Don't be a one-trick pony! Though you may develop a fondness for a certain pet or a certain high-damage skill, remember that the lore-master is geared for options, and has numerous roles that he can fill. This versatility is a lore-master's greatest asset. Don't gimp yourself by sticking to one or two tricks among your much larger arsenal of options.

What We Wish Other Players Knew About Us:

Though we are a good source of backup healing, we have only one heal, and it's on a moderate reset timer. Once we use it, we can't do so again for a little while, so don't yell out for a heal when the lore-master has just used it. Of course, with the right traits slotted, the reset and induction timers will reduce, but there will still be a moderate delay before the heal can be cast again.

Unless we have the trait slotted, our power drain also comes back rather more slowly than we'd like. Have a little patience with us when it comes to power sharing.

In a large group of mobs, its quite likely we'll single out one or two to mez, so please use caution with your AoEs, and ask the lore-master if he plans to mez any targets, if he doesn't tell you first.