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.