Heyhou. I've now level capped the master of stuns and thought it would be time to share some of my thoughts. Initially I wanted to play LM for the aspect of Crowd Control, and I've come to see just how important it and other tactics are. I'm copying the format I used to analyze the captain class.

Attributes. As a LM one can really focus in vitality, will and fate. Yes, additional might and agility are always nice, but not that important. I consider will to be the most important attribute here. A topped power bar is what you want going into a long battle.

Gear and weapons. The Aughaire sets take you a long way. Crafted gear is also good. Exquisite radiant gear is very good, but takes tons of shards / money. Lots of choises, but as much power regen (bracelets, weapons) as possible. Polished beryl bracelets are the cookie cutters here. End goals probably are etched beryl earrings and etched beryl rings. Great rings in forochel quest rewards too. And if anyone ever gets to finish the Rift, Glorfindel's Band + Soot-Covered Ring. Also brilliant misty mountain silver earrings are a good, not that expensive choise. I wield fortified black ash staff and precise ancient steel sword for the added power and power regen. I also own Griever staff (+10 % tactical crit), but I find my current staff better in the long run.

Virtues. Probably should develot Fidelity to the fullest, but now I have equipped Valour, Justice, Wisdom, Loyalty and Idealism. Honesty also on the maybe -pile. Trait info in Lotro-Wiki.

Class traits. Always equipped: Light of Hope, Subtlety of Wisdom, Harmony with Nature. Equipped now also: Master of the Staff, Awareness of Body. Possible alternatives are plenty: Power and Wisdom, Deep Lore... (Great LM trait info <== check that for all the info).
-EDIT: these are for solo use-

Legendary traits. I have always Sword and Staff. Soloing you definitely don't wanna use the Eagle, but it has it's uses on fellowships. I mainly keep Noble Savage equipped, even though March of the Ents would maybe be better for fellowship use.

Tactics. I find the Lore-Master to be a powerful solo class. You can handle several mobs as well as one elite. Learn to notice the "Flanked!" mark on the mob and use either Sign of Power: Wizardry for morale or the improved staff strike for great melee damage on those occasions. I always use Sign of Wild: Rage on my pet, no matter what pet or what situation. That way he is more likely to keep the aggro of you, and cause "Flanked!" more often.

For soloing purposis the Lynx definitely the way to go. Great additional DPS. A planned attack by default starts with a Surprise Attack. With Noble Savage the lynx can crit 600-800 damage on normal mobs, even more on lower level mobs. That keeps the aggro off you for some time. One important thing is to go to melee range. That tops your damage to great heights should you have equipped Sword and Staff. Use Sign of Power: Command on everything. Start with your DoTs, Burnings Embers and Sign of Power: Wizardry (auto-attack between every skill) and beat your opponent to a pulp. We are not squishy!

As for fellowing, the key is communication. A good rule of thumb is to stun the ranged / stronger mobs first. That way mishaps are less likely to happen. The lynx has AoE attacks, so keep those off if you have stunned mobs near by. I like the raven best for fellowing. You can send it to distract a ranged mob. More often than not a tough battle is somewhat of a chaos though, so the easy choise is the keep your pet on passive + attacking your target. Not many more pleasing sights than your pet following a fleeing mob and coming back with about a dozen of his buddies.

I almost always go to melee range on fellowships too, just for the added damage. But the most important responsibilies of a LM are debuffs and stuns. Mark as many mobs as you can with the Sign of Power: Command (+20% attack duration) as you can. That way you cut away 20 % of their damage output. Actually more than that, because they have induction times too, which can be disturbed by attacks. Use your Beacon of Hope -heal as often as the cooldown allows. The Light of Hope -trait cuts the cooldown to 20 secs. Share your power when you can, primarely to minstrel and tank.

Don't figure anything more to say at this point. I'll make additional posts if I think of something. Please comment if you feel like it.

Great post Mick!
I am ever learning.

It tells me that I am not too far away: re traits.

I've got some of the right kit, but still a ways to go.

Ever onwards, ever upwards

mpc

Updated opinion here.. maybe the most beneficial class trait (for certain instances anyways) is Proof Against All Ills. Today I did 2 Annuminas instances and our leader, a Lore-Master named Theogarth, really played a couple of spectacular runs. It opened my eyes yet again, the role of a lore-master is not only a crowd controller, but also a debuffer and healer. Yes everyone knows that, but it's easy to forget in practical use. Especially when you solo a lot. He used voice chat and thus I was able to observe how he monitored and acted accordingly to every situation. Gotta admit that I have some learning to do on that aspect.

OK.. so I've had an LM for ages.. level capped... played loads.. but I still dont know what the 'flanked' mark looks like. Help please...

Just re read your original post so I think I am goning to give Noble Savage a run out and see how it helps the Lynx in solo..

Always like to have MofE in back up though. When an LM unloads with all of his/her AoEs, including the Lynxs versions, he can take down 4/5 powerful mobs in the same time it takes to do just one of them.

Mind you got wiped by pale folk on Monday night... very embarressing.

squishy... well maybe

c

Two ways of noticing the Flanked -mark. First is an icon in the mobs vitals:



Second is an animation of these purple arrows around the mob, portrayed in the link below. They appear only once, just as your pet flankes the mob. The picture isn't the best possible, but hopefully helps..
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_J_Aec6aLhrg/RxhfrvOjUEI/AAAAAAAAACc/qrdi1soZI0c/FlankedWorm.jpg

Also on the yankee forums: very detailed pet info including Flanked explanation:
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=99852

This thread explains the role of lore-master in a raid (or tough fellowship quests) ever so well. I haven't played that much of the tougher quests with Melvin, and much of it is new to me too. Great thing people write these kind of guides.
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=158520

Thanks, very helpful guides:)

I wonder which of those two pets: lynx or raven is most useful in such place like CD, though I havn't plaied raven for ages..maybe its my fault..

Thanks for advice Jerelien, I'll try to take raven this time, although as I wrote I have very little experience fighting withis this pet by my side..and I think that Clavain will take an eagle since he finished his LM quest:)

Another important LM skill is Sign of Power: Rightenousness to keep at least the tank from being stunned. I think it also prevents the dread covering. Dunadan Learning gives a nice boost to the duration.