Lore-master

Class Difficulty: Advanced

Role: Support/Damage

Available to races: Elf, High Elf, Hobbit, Man, River Hobbit

Gameplay: Lore-masters are the masters of the natural world. They combine arcane knowledge of the elements with a quick wit to skillfully overcome most any obstacle. They may call on animal companions to fight by their side or use elaborate concoctions to turn the fury of nature on their foes. In fellowships, a Lore-master is equally capable of wielding the natural world against their enemies as they are supporting their allies, through healing and by disrupting their enemies' capacity to fight.

Lore: Lore-masters are seekers of knowledge and the guardians of wisdom. Through study of bygone Ages, they learn ancient secrets that allow them to hinder foes, as well as protect against the dark powers of the Enemy.

This class was inspired by Elrond Halfelven, Elf-lord and Master of Rivendell.

A male Elf Lore-master

Class Navigation Classes Skills Traits Traceries Effects Deeds Guides

Gameplay

Lore-masters use elemental powers to deal damage and debuff their enemies. They rely upon summoned animal pets to support themselves in combat through generating threat, dealing damage, and healing.

• Blue-line (Damage Support): Lore-masters specialized in the Keeper of Animals trait tree share a close bond with their pets that enables them to synergize in combat, boosting their fighting capability through sigils and passives, and inspiring their allies. They can provide group-wide offensive buffs through skills like  Sign of the Wild: Rage,  Major Pet Command, and  Battle Knowledge, and sometimes unleash  A Murder of Crows upon their foes, allowing you and your allies to overwhelm your victims for a brief moment.
• Red-line (Damage): Lore-masters specialized in the Master of Nature's Fury trait tree employ the powers of nature to wreak havoc and deal significant Fire, Frost, and Lightning damage, and interweaving these elements for additional effects. They can amplify  Burning Embers to deal greater damage over time, spread the flames with  Gust of Wind, and then can aggravate their inflicted burns using lightning skills, such as  Lightning Strike,  Lightning-charged Staff Strike, and  Lightning Storm.
• Yellow-line (Pure Support): Lore-masters specialized in the Ancient Master trait tree use various crafts to control the battlefield and overpower their foes. They can use  Fire and Frost Lore to weaken them and  Wind Lore to spread the debuff and to render them more vulnerable to attacks. They have crowd control skills that can Daze, Stun, and Root their enemies when needed. They can provide Power to their allies, supplemental healing, and a potent defensive buff through their  Warding Knowledge.

This class is one of the most well-liked in the game, due to its strength and fun gameplay. Its pet interactions in Blue-line is unique, and Red-line is an extremely potent damage dealer. The class can be difficult to master, but is very rewarding to play.

Pets

The Lore-master is LotRO's main Pet class, and Blue and Yellow have access to permanent animal friends. Lore-master pets have useful abilities on their own, but also provide important synergy with the Lore-master's own abilities. Red Lore-master pets disappear after a short period of time but their effects and damage are applied immediately and remain important.

A Lore-master can only have one pet helping them at a time. A Lore-master must learn to choose smartly from their wide variety of pets to best fit each situation, specialization, role, and environment (see the Pets page for a detailed list of all the different animals a Lore-master can call to their side). Pets in Blue and Yellow can be micromanaged using skills in the companion quickslot bar (which can be clicked or dragged to your own quickslot bar, except for the special skills in the last four slots of the bar) and they will stay by your side until they are dismissed, defeated, or the maximum distance from the Lore-master has been exceeded.

Renaming and dismissing pets can be done by right-clicking your pet's portrait (in Blue and Yellow) to bring out the menu and choosing there, or by entering "/pet rename (name)" and "/pet release" in chat. (This can also be done by Captains.) Additionally, there is the Dismiss Pet skill which allows you to specifically dismiss your Lore-master's pet, as the "/pet release" command can also dismiss your non-combat pet and certain ally NPCs (e.g. Radhril in Trestlebridge missions).

Flanking and Harrying

All pets have a chance to cause  Flanked! when attacking an enemy. A number of the Lore-master's abilities have improved effects when an enemy has been Flanked, i.e. Wizard's Spark (Lightning Strike in Red), Wizard's Frost, and Staff Strike (Lightning-charged Staff Strike if the Storm and Staff Red trait is equipped and lightning charges are available).

Pets can also cause  Harried! when attacking an enemy from behind. Beyond its snare effect, Harried! has no other useful interactions.

Pets in Master of Nature's Fury

While specialized in Red line, pets no longer function the same way. When they are summoned, they apply their effects immediately, and despawn shortly thereafter. All Pets share the same skill cooldown. Flanking is still applied by pets, but the effect can also be applied by some of the Lore-master's regular abilities.

Pet Food

Pets can be fed pet food crafted by Cooks to temporarily but significantly improve a pet's stats. For example, you might feed your Lynx a Cut of Eastemnet Meat.

Appearance

A Lore-master can consume special items made by Jewellers to learn skills that summon pets that differ in appearance from the original. For example, the Brown Bear is the default but you can summon a Black Bear or even a little bear cub instead. This is purely cosmetic and does not affect the stats of the pet.

See each pet's individual page for a gallery of its possible appearances.