Lore-master Pets

Raven:

The raven is always a lore-master favorite. Many lore-masters prefer the raven over the bear at lower levels because of his high flank abilities, which can aid soloing effectively, and because of his useful, group shadow mitigation. Buffing the raven with "Sign of the Wild: Rage" will increase his attacks and his chance to flank. Slotting traits such as "Flame of Anor" work well in conjunction with a raven, as his fire debuffs against enemy targets will be most utilized by your increased fire damage output.

The raven is a good choice when fighting mobs who deal shadow damage, such as the Dead, Ancient Evil or Angmarim. The raven is also a good choice when fighting mobs already weak to fire, such as beasts, in that the the raven's fire debuff will leave the enemy targets even more vulnerable to damage. The raven is excellent for both soloing and grouping.

• Strengths

The raven's strengths include his fast attack, his powerful shadow mitigation for the fellowship, and his strong debuffs against enemy targets. His faster attack is valued in that it comes with an increased chance to flank--which in turn will give a lore-master a chance to increase his own damage or a self-heal on one of two special "flank" skills, "Staff-strike" or "Sign of Power: Wizardry" respectively, if used during the 7-second flank "opening" triggered by the pet.

• Weaknesses

The raven's weakness is his low armor, and his low damage. He also does not have a "damage attack" per se. These characteristics, however, are mitigated by his high evasion and his superior ability to debuff targets.

• Summary

The raven has a fast attack, low armor, low DPS, high evasion. His mitigation to shadow damage ranks as remarkable.

Raven Skills
Aura of Protection: +10% shadow mitigation buff for entire fellowship
Benediction of the Raven	Type: Debuff Effect: Lowers an enemy target's resistance to fire (-10% fire mitigation)
Distraction	Type: Debuff + DOT (Toggle) Effect: Reduces ranged damage by half and reduces range chance to hit. Also adds a small, light-based DOT. (-50% Ranged Damage, +10% miss chance, 93 Light Damage over 4 seconds.)
Evasion	Type: Self Buff Effect: Strong, self-defense buff for the raven that increases his Evade, and provides common and shadow damage mitigation. (+50% Evade chance, +30% Shadow mitigation, + 20% Common mitigation)

Procs/Reactives
Dizzy	Type: Debuff Proc Effect: Dizzy will proc on a critical hit and increase a mob's miss chance by 15%.
Harried	Type: Debuff Proc Effect: Harried is a random proc triggered upon any target being attacked by your pet, causing a reduction of the target's run speed. (-25% run speed)
Flanked	Type: Reactive Proc Chance: High Effect: Opportunity for greater damage with "Staff-strike," or greater healing with "Sign of Power: Wizardry" and "Sign of Power: Wizard's Fire."

Bear:

The bear is the sturdy tank pet, ideal for soloing, and helping to maintain aggro in a group. He is the only pet who has his own, custom trait for the lore-master to slot, allowing him to become especially tough as the lore-master's protective companion. Using the skill "Sign of the Wild: Protection" will increase his chance to parry as well as decrease his ranged, tactical, and melee vulnerability. Slotting the aforementioned "Hardy Bear" trait will also increase his power, morale, attack, and defense, and it will raise his level so that he is only one level below you. Always keep a supply of Honey and Oats* handy when using your bear, especially when soloing. It will increase his mitigation to fire, shadow, and common damage, as well as increase his perceived threat, making him an overall better tank for you.

• Strengths

The bear's assets are his high armor, which provide for fair tanking for the lore-master in solo situations, his ability to lower enemy armor, and in his taunt, which will reliably pull aggro from any target for a brief length of time. The bear works well for long battles, and can be used to rescue a group member who has unintentionally drawn aggro until the tank can properly taunt it off. He can also stun. The bear makes an excellent pet for soloing. especially at early levels, though his slow attack speed gives him the lowest flank chance.

• Weaknesses

The bear's weakness is his slow attack and low DPS. At higher levels, soloing with the bear can become more difficult and drawn out. He is, however, not geared for damage but for warding, and if used with the right skills and traits, he handles his job effectively.

• Summary

The bear has a slow attack, low DPS, high armor. He ranks superior to all mitigation.

Bear Skills
Roaring Challenge	Type: Taunt Effect: This ability reliably forces the target to attack the bear for 6 seconds.
Tip: This skill comes in very handy for pulling off aggro on yourself or a squishy group member until the mob can be more effectively dealt with.
Shatter Arms	Type: Debuff Effect: Makes the target more vulnerable to melee and ranged damage. (+10% Melee Vulnerabiity, +10 Ranged vulnerability)
Bear Hug	Type: Damage + Stun Effect: This ability allows the bear to stun the target for a few seconds, and do a small amount of common damage. (59-69 Common damage)

Procs/Reactives
Harried	Type: Debuff Proc Effect: Harried is a random proc triggered upon any target being attacked by your pet, causing a reduction of the target's run speed. (-25% run speed)
Flanked	Type: Reactive Proc Chance: Low Effect: Opportunity for greater damage with "Staff-strike," or greater healing with "Sign of Power: Wizardry."

Lynx:

The lynx, with her stealthy, powerful AoE attacks, is the lore-master's DPS trump card. Use a lynx when you need high damage and a deadly finesse to defeat something fast. The lynx's stealth attack will do an incredible amount of damage, as it carries a high chance to crit, especially when execute from behind. The lynx's other abilities also inflict very high damage, including AoEs, allowing for several initial bursts of powerful damage upon your target, that can quickly debilitate it. The lynx also has a chance to proc a small DOT called "Savage Bleed" for additional damage.

• Strengths

The lynx's assets are her DPS, her AoEs, and her ability to stealth. Her fast, high damage makes her a good choice for either group or solo adventuring, and a favorite in the PVMP setting. The lynx will remain in stealth mode until she attacks, which makes her very useful when traveling through a dangerous area and trying to avoid aggro. The lynx has a fair chance to proc a flank, which also is useful, though her attack rate is still under that of a raven's. Using "Sign of the Wild: Rage" will make the most of the lynx's high-end attacks, in that it will allow her to attack more rapidly.

• Weaknesses

The lynx's weakness is her low armor. She ranks only fair to all mitigation types, and will not do very well over extended battles, or with mobs who deal heavy AoEs. Her ability to deal high damage very quickly, however, will mitigate this in the proper circumstance, as she can help you defeat your foe very quickly.

• Summary

The lynx has high DPS, low armor, and a moderate attack speed, and ranks fair to all mitigation.

Lynx Skills
Stealth: Travels in stealth mode, allowing for stealth attacks.
Surprise Attack	Type: Debuff Effect: An attack that must be executed from stealth mode, i.e., it won't work once you have engaged the enemy target, or any it was grouped with. But if executed as an intitial attack, (especially from behind) it will reliably do outstanding damage. (432-508 Common Damage with a high chance to crit)
Feral Strike	Type: AoE Effect: This is a frontal cone AoE, which does a high degree of damage in a small area. (432-508 damage in a 90 degree arc)
Slashing Claws	Type: AoE Effect: Similar to "Feral Strike," it is another frontal cone AoE, but with the potential to hit more targets for a smaller amount of damage each. (2 attacks of 216-254 common damage in a 180 degree arc)

Procs/Reactives
Savage Bleed	Type: DOT Proc Effect: Savage Bleed will proc on a critical hit and cause 46 common damage every 5 seconds for 10 seconds.
Harried	Type: Debuff Proc Effect: Harried is a random proc triggered upon any target being attacked by your pet, causing a reduction of the target's run speed. (-25% run speed)
Flanked	Type: Reactive Proc Chance: Moderate Effect: Opportunity for greater damage with "Staff-strike," or greater healing with "Sign of Power: Wizardry" and "Sign of Power: Wizard's Fire."

Eagle:

The Eagle is the unique, popular, legendary pet that can be acquired at level 50. Many lore-masters love this pet, others are ambivalent. Either way, it is of a higher level tier than the other lore-master pets and carries with it some unique abilities. The eagle pet requires the use of a legendary trait slot.

• Strengths

The eagle's greatest strengths are in its ability to prevent a total group wipe. It is also able to self-heal during combat, fear targets, and provides a useful, in-combat power regeneration for the entire fellowship. The eagle, interestingly has only a moderate attack, but a high chance to proc a flank, and low armor but an ability to restore morale by attacking.

• Weaknesses

The eagles's weakness is in the necessity to have a very specific set of circumstances in order trigger his greatest asset, the lore-master rez (see below).

• Summary

The eagle has moderate DPS, low armor, and a moderate attack, but also possesses unique skills. The eagle ranks fair to all mitigation.

Eagle Skills
Buff: Nobility (+1 in-combat power regeneration for the entire fellowship)
Beak Rend	Type: AoE + Self Heal Effect: AoE that deals a fair amount of light damage, amd heals the eagle for the same amount. (221 Light damage, +221 morale, max targets 3).
Fan the Flames	Type: AoE + Fear The eagle "fans the flames" of your burning embers DoT, inflicting additional fire damage to the target, and causing it to run away in a panic. (206-242 fire damage + Fear effect )
Sacrifice	Type: Rez (lore-master) (Toggle) Effect: revives the loremaster if the skill is toggled on, the eagle is in range (40 meters), if it is in combat at the time of the loremaster's defeat, and if it survives long enough to make two attacks. The second attack will revive the lore-master with a percentage of his power and morale, and a 10-minute debuff that prevents the eagle from rezzing the lore-master again during that time (revive, 50% morale, 25% power).
Note: Many lore-masters find that the eagle's rez is difficult to trigger in that all the requirements have to be met, especially as it is not uncommon that the eagle dies before the lore-master. Still, under the right circumstances, the eagle can make an extraordinary companion for a solo or group adventure.

Procs/Reactives
Eye Peck	Type: Interrupt Proc Effect: Eye Peck is an interrupt that procs automatically if the eagle's target begins an induction. It will fire fairly reliably, though it does have a 15-second cooldown.
Harried	Type: Debuff Proc Effect: Harried is a random proc triggered upon any target being attacked by your pet, causing a reduction of the target's run speed. (-25% run speed)
Flanked	Type: Reactive Proc Chance: High Effect: Opportunity for greater damage with "Staff-strike," or greater healing with "Sign of Power: Wizardry" and "Sign of Power: Wizard's Fire."

Sabertooth Cat:

The sabertooth cat is the controversial pet introduced in Mines of Moria that has had a mixed reaction from the lore-master community. While some lore-masters do seem to find specialized uses where the sabertooth shines, many feel he needs further attention to match the overall usefulness of the other lore-master pets.

• Strengths

The Sabertooth cat's strengths at the moment are few, though this may change in the future. His ability to damage multiple targets with each attack can be seen as a strength, especially when his total damage per mob is combined and considered for comparison to the other lore-master pets. One of the sabertooth's better potentials is he has a chance to start Fellowship maneuvers. Also, it can't be denied he just looks cool.

• Weaknesses

The Sabertooth's weaknesses are that his damage is only in the low to moderate (at best) range, that his AoE attacks are in conflict lore-master's crowd control abilities, and that his debuffs apply to Frost mitigation only, when the Lore-master has no Frost attacks. Many lore-masters have noticed that he does not seem to Flank very often, a notable problem, as some of his attacks are meant to act in unison with a Flank.

• Summary

The sabertooth cat has low to moderate DPS, low to moderate armor, and a moderate attack with a unique ability to start Fellowship maneuvers.

Sabertooth Cat Skills
Frostbite	Type: AoE Melee (Frost) + Debuff Effect: This attack is a frontal cone AoE that does a moderate amount of Frost damage, and also adds a Frost debuff to the target.
Fury of Winter	Type: AoE Melee (Frost) + Crit Magnitude Effect: This attack is a frontal cone AoE that does a moderate amount of Frost damage, but also also has an improved Critical Magnitude. It will also proc a Flanked event on a Critical hit.
Throat Slash	Type: AoE Melee (Frost) + Chance for Fellowship Manuever Effect: This attack is a frontal arc AoE that does a small amount of Frost damage, and carries a chance for a knockdown and Fellowship Maneuver if the target is Flanked.

Procs/Reactives
Harried	Type: Debuff Proc Effect: Harried is a random proc triggered upon any target being attacked by your pet, causing a reduction of the target's run speed. (-25% run speed)
Flanked	Type: Reactive Proc Chance: Moderate Effect: Opportunity for greater damage with "Staff-strike," or greater healing with "Sign of Power: Wizardry" and "Sign of Power: Wizard's Fire."

*See my lore-master non-combat pet quest guide also.