Loremaster Skills: Using your combat Pet

In this tutorial I will explain how you can take optimal use of your combat pet.


6 Combat pets + 1 Healing pet
Combat pets are Loremaster pets that can be used as an combat assistant. You can direct them to attack foes, or to defend you if you are attacked by a foe. There are 6 types of combat pets: Bear, Bog-Guardian, Eagle, Lynx, Raven and the Sabertooth Cat. The Spirit of Nature is generally listed as a combat pet, but actually it is a pet that is only useful to protect and heal you; you cannot use it as a combat assistant like the 'real' combat pets. Below is a table of all the pet type, with information about the level when you get the skill to summon them. The only combat pet which isn't earned normally is the Eagle. You can only summon an Eagle when you slot the 'Lesser Giant Eagle' trait in the Keeper of Animals trailt line (thats the blue trait line of the Loremaster). Since you need 5 ranks in other traits to slot is, it becomes available after you spend 5 trait point into other skills of the blue trait line. The 6th trait point invested will be the Lesser Giant Eagle. So, in this case the lowest level when a Loremaster can summon the Eagle combat pet will be around level 15. If you spend points in other traits, you have to wait some levels to earn new trait points, to invest them in the Lesser Giant Eagle trait.
The Spirit of Nature is generally called a combat pet, but in reality it is a healing pet. The Spirit of Nature cannot attack, so these spirits don't have a flank rate. However, you can trigger a flank effect, by using the spirit's skill 'Flasing Flank'. Spirits are mainly used for healing, so if you want only a combat assist you shouldn't use them.

Flank rate
Each pet has a flank rate. This rate is an indication to trigger a flank effect. Flank effects can be used to heal yourself, to get some extra power or to do extra damage. Read my article about flanks carefully to understand this very useful effect. Pets with the highest flank rate are the Bog-guardian (#1), Eagle (#2) and Raven (#3). So, when you summon one of these pets, the chance to get a flank-effect will be very high. To try this out, just sommon the Bog-guardian at level 20 and provoke some enemies. You will notice that a flank-effect will occur many times. After this, summon the Bear. This pet has the lowest flank rate, which means that a flank-effect will occur only now and then.


Varieties
All pets have varieties, which mean that you can summon another appearance of your lynx, bear, raven, etc. These 'varieties' doesnt give them extra abilities or different skills, they only have another appearance. Of course, a Polar Bear is an awesome bear to impress your fellow Loremasters, and the varieties of pets are highly sought-after. You can acquire the varieties by buying a talsiman-book from a Jeweller (they can craf most of the vcarieties named in the table below). You also can buy them on the Auction Hall, or from the Lotro Store (which means that you must pay Turbine Points to get them). Receipts for the Combat-pets talismans are dropped by enemies, so you will find these talismans sometimes in your loot bag. Remember that only a Jeweller can use these receipts, so if you don't want to pay TP-points, you need a jeweller if you want another variety of your most beloved combat pet.

Pet type	Level	Flank rate	Varieties
Bear	14	lowest	Black Bear, Blackpaw-bear, Polar Bear, Weathered-bear, Wildpaw-bear, Tundra Cub
Bog-guardian	20	top #1 flanker	Mountain-guardian, Swamp-guardian, Tundra-guardian
Eagle	15*	top #2 flanker	Ashen-eagle, Ember-eagle, Snowcrest-eagle, Tundra-eagle
Lynx	30	mediocre	Grey Lynx, Mountain Lynx, Onyx Lynx, Spotted Lynx, Tundra Lynx
Raven	2	top #3 flanker	Blood-raven, Frost-raven, Mottled-raven, Storm-raven, Weathered-raven
Sabertooth Cat	56	average	Deep-wood Sabercat, Dusky Sabercat, Grey Sabercat, Onyx Sabercat, Spotted Sabercat, Striped Sabercat
Spirit of Nature	70	none	Spirit of the: Aurochs, Bear, Boar, Raven, Lynx, Tundra Cub, Sabercat

Skills
Each type of pet has their own skills. The skills are listed below:

Loremaster Skills: Flanking

Recently I grouped with several Loremasters on the US Brandywine Server. Interesting fact of all these interesting fellowships was that many Loremasters where unaware of the flanking bonus that 3 skills can give you. They even didn't know for sure what flanking was. By some Loremasters, other skills where also virtually unexplored. So I decided today to construct a page with information about some useful Loremaster skills. Btw I am absolutely no expert Loremaster, so if you see some weird advice, or if you miss some special skills or skill combos, please feel free to comment.

Flanking
Flanking is an enemy's state which is invoked by an attack of the loremaster's combat pet. When flanking happens, your pet opens up three special maneuvers for your Loremaster. In game terms: the loremaster can take advantage of the flanking effect by using 3 types of skills:

1. Get a damage bonus by using the skill Staff-strike (or Improved Staff-strike) on the enemy
2. Get a morale bonus by using Sign of the Battle: Wizard's Fire on enemy (or Improved Sign of Battle Wizard's Fire)
3. Get a power bonus from using the skill Staff-sweep on the enemy (or Improved Staff-sweep).

So, basically, you can get a power, damage or morale bonus when using a skill when an opponent is flanked by your pet. But remember the following things:

• Only combat-pets can invoke flanking: flanking will only occur when using a combat-pet; so without a pet, or with a cosmetic pet, your opponent will not be flanked.
• Know when your opponent is flanked: be sure to recognise when an opponent is flanked, and know which skill you must use to get the appropriate bonus type.
• Know your flanking bonus skills: know which skill you want to use to get the flanking bonus, otherwise you are too late to take advantage of the flanking bonus.
• Be quick: the flanking duration is only 7 seconds!
• Know your flanking chance: the chance of getting a flanked opponent depends on the type of combat pet you use. For example, the lynx doesn't invoke many flanks, while the eagle and the bog guardian will give you many flank opportunities!

Know when your opponent is flanked
When a combat-pet is attacking an opponent, you will sometimes hear a 'chime' sound, which means that your pet has flanked an enemy! At first its a bit difficult te recognise the sound, but if you look closely to the small icons beneath the power bar of the enemy, you will see also the flanking icon. That icon has the shape of an open mouth (see the illustrations below!). The icon and the chime-sound are the best ways to know when your pet has flanked an opponent. 

If you look closely to your opponent, you will also see a couple of pink arrows on the attacked enemy when flanked (see the picture below). I have to admit that these arrows are a bit difficult to see, and it's only possible to see them when you enable the “Particle Effects” option (Menu-> Options-> Combat Options).  If you have a slow PC, its better to learn the chime sound and to recognise the flanking icon below the pet's target.

When your pet attacks an enemy, look closely at the small icons below the monster's power bar (blue bar)

You can drag your mouse pointer above the icon, and a tooltip will appear. If you read the tooltip, you will learn that this icon is a specific enemy stance, and that the enemy is not flanked (until now...).

If you pet has flanked an enemy, three things will happen simultanously: 1) you hear a chime sound, 2) you will see a flanking icon below the enemies power bar, 3) you will see pink arrows around your enemy.

When your opponent is flanked by your pet, you will see a screaming mouth icon. use your mouse pounter to read the tooltip (although it's wiser to use a skill to get the flanked bonus, since the flank effect will only last 7 seconds!).

Know your flanking bonus skills
When your pet has flanked an enemy, the Lore-master has 3 options to take advantage of that state:

• Use (Improved) Staff Strike, it can do double the damage. Remember this is a melee skill and that you have to run to your flanked enemy and hit him with the staff. It may be not so wise to do it when it is a boss has lots of morale, since he can hit you when you are standing close to him, in stead of your pet (use always your pet as a tank!).
• Use Sign of Battle: (Improved) Wizard’s Fire, and heal yourself for a small amount. The heal usually amounts to a morale-pot at the same level. This heal can crit and give you up to two times its normal morale heal bonus. This is a very usefull skill, since it is ranged and will not aggro a boss to attack you. Use this one a lot when attacking a high morale enemy. You can also heal your pet, so it will not die quickly while attacking an flanking an enemy.
• Use (Improved) Staff Sweep: you will get a power over time buff. Remember this is also a melee skill, so you have to go near to your enemy. If it is a high morale enemy, be sure to retreat after getting the bonus and let your pet tank the opponent. If there are 2 or more opponents, remember that staff strike will hit multiple targets (AoE skill!), and that there is a chance that a monster will attack you after using this skill (instead of others or the pet)

3 skills will give you a bonus when your pet has flanked an enemy. read them carefully to choose the best bonus you want. The bonuses are outlined in a yellow box. So, if you need morale, use Wizards Fire, if you want to do extra damage use Staff strike, if you need more Power, use Staff-sweep.

Be quick!
The flanked effect lasts only 7 seconds, so be quick to use the appropriate skill to take full advantage of the flanking effect. After you have used one of skills which give you a flanking bonus (see above), the flanked state of the enemy is terminated. You have to wait until the enemy is flanked again.

Be quick: the duration of a flanked enemy is only 7 seconds!

Know your flanking chance
The flanked state is not a skill you can use, but it is a chance of happening depending on the attacks of your pet. So, the faster a pet attacks, the more chances you will get for a flanked enemy! The flanking chance depends also by the type of pet you will use. Some pets will flank more often than others. So, if you want to take full opportunity of the flanking bonus, know your pet flanking chance. Below is a list of pets which flank the most:

• Bog-guardian: a pet that can flank a lot and has also ranged attacks. Most of the time it will flank your opponent, but sometimes it seems a bit unpredictable and it will not flank an enemy until the next encounter.
• Eagle: the eagle is by most players known as the most reliable flanker. It usually flanks once every 15 to 20 seconds. It is a very safe pet if you want attack a powerful enemy, to take full advantage of the constant bonus heals you can get bu using Wizards Fire on the flanke enemy.
• Raven: like the bog-gardian and the eagle, the raven flanks most often. However, be sure to attack the foe and don't use a pet-skill that doesn't attack the enemy.
• Lynx and Sabre-tooth: both cats have the same flank chance, but they don't flank very often. Although the lynx can cause huge damage when he does a surprise attack, its total damage on a high morale enemy (signature, elite or nemesis enemy) is lower then the total damage of the higher chance flankers like the bog-guardian. I dont use these pets anymore when attacking enemies with hig morale or bosses.
• Bear: the bear has the lowest flanking chance, so don't use it if you want to have full opportunity of the flanking bonuses.
• Spirit: a spirit is a healing pet, not an attacking pet. It can give you only a flanking bonus  by using the combat-pet skill: Flashing Flank. Using this spirit pet-skill will cause always a flank event; however the cooldown is 45 seconds. Many pets will flank at the same rate or more often, without having to use a skill for it. The only advantage of this skill is that you can choose yourself when you want a flank on an enemy.

Elven race Traits

Racial Traits - what are they?
If you are an elf, it is good to realize there are special Elf Traits (Racial traits) to earn.
In total there are nine racial traits for elves, and a maximum of 5 Racial traits can be slotted in your Trait Panel. Racial Traits are unique to each race and will enable you to do extra skills or to get some special bonuses (see the descriptions below).
Most traits can be earned to do certain slayer deeds at a specified level. These deeds will open as soon as you slay the required enemy species, like a goblin on level 13 or a spider at level 19, an orc at level 25, etc. You will earn the Racial trait as soon as defeat the specified number of enemies to be slain,  or as soon as you become 'friends' with the Elven faction of Rivendell.

When do Racial Traits become available?
The first Racial Trait, and trait slot will open at level 13. So, as soon as you hit level 13, you can start to work on your first Racial Trait. Here is a level overview of the the Racial Trait slots:

Level     Available trait slot
13        Racial Trait Slot 1
19        Racial Trait Slot 2
25        Racial Trait Slot 3
31        Racial Trait Slot 4
37        Racial Trait Slot 5

Note: VIP-Players have normal access to the trait slots, free-to-play players will need to buy them with TP-points.

How to earn your racial traits
You can earn the elf related traits by doing special deeds, the so-called 'Elf deeds'. You will get these deeds by slaying some nasty racial enemies (goblins, orcs and drakes), and by becoming friends with the elven faction in Rivendell (visit the las homely house of Elrond in Rivendell, in the outer northeastern part of Trollshaws). You can become friends by gaining reputation, and you will get reputation by doing special quests. You can also get reputation from Reputation Items. These items can be found by slaying and looting enemies, or you can buy them at an Auction House. Just click on these reputation items (right of left click), and you will gain a certain amount of reputation!


Deeds at level 13

Silvan Shadows (lvl 13)
How to get: by slaying 50 goblins, you can find a lot of them in the Midgewater Marshes in Bree-land or near Duillond in Ered Luin
Deed: Enmity of the Goblins (I)
Benefits: you can slot the Stealth skill (cooldown is 30 mins)

Friend of Man (lvl 13)
How to get: by slaying 50 orcs
Deed: Enmity of the Orcs (I)
Benefits: you get +20 Fate (especially interesting for a Loremaster, Minstrel and Runekeeper, but also for all other classes. Fate increases your In-Combat Power Regeneration and In-Combat Morale Regeneration. Fate also increases the chance and magnitude of criticals).

Deeds at level 19

Tactics and Conviction Bonus (lvl 29)
How to get: by slaying 100 goblins
Deed: Enmity of the Goblins II
Benefits: you get +5% on blue (power restoration) and green (morale restoration) fellowship manoeuvre skills

Deeds at level 25


Elf bow damage (lvl 29)
How to get: by slaying 150 goblins

Deed: Enmity of the Goblins III
Benefits: you will get +5% on bow damage

Deeds at level 29

Return to Rivendell (lvl 29)
How to get: by slaying 150 orcs
Deed: Enmity of the Orcs II
Benefits: you can travel to Rivendell (cooldown 1 hour)

Deeds at level 30

Elf one-handed sword damage bonus (lvl 30)
How to get: by slaying 100 drakes
Deed: Enmity of the Drakes (I)
Benefits: you will get +5% to sword damage (1 handed)

Deeds at level 35

Eldar's Grace (lvl 35)
How to get: by slaying 250 orcs
Deed: Enmity of the Orcs III
Benefits: you will get +75% parry for 10 secs, 30 min cooldown

Power of the Eldar (lvl 35)
How to get: by slaying 150 drakes
Deed: Enmity of the Drakes II
Benefits: you will get a +5% bonus to your fellowship power for 10 mins., 30 mins. cooldown

Virtous Elf (lvl 35)
How to get: by becoming friends with the elven faction (Rivendell elves)
Deed: Friend of Elves of Rivendell
Benefits: you will get a +1 bonus on your traits Wisdom, Patience and Charity

Atlas of the Great River (LOTRO)

GREAT RIVER LOCATIONS
The Great River is the portal between Lothlorien and Rohan. It is a great region with many locations to explore. I created 4 maps for the Adventurer, and if you visit all the locations on the maps, you will receive a nice amount of Turbine Points.

Visit all the marked locations, and you will receive a nice reward of Turbine Points

STANGARD LOCATIONS
Stangard is a big settlement and has a map of its own and there are many houses and persons to visit. Om the map below you will find all the 20 locations for the Stangard Explorer deed. Persons of interest are also marked, since some of them you you must visit if you follow the Great River Questline in Stangard.

Locations of persons and buildings in Stangard (Great River)

LIMLIGHT GORGE ELF-RUINS LOCATIONS
Scattered throughout the Limlight Gorge, you can find 6 Elf-ruins. Although they are not very difficult to locate - if you know where to look - it is wise to explore this part of the Great River very carefully. The Limlight Gorge is know for its gargantuan mobs, like giant walking trees, giant trolls and giant spiders. At level 95 its all easy, but beware when you are level 70! I will not provide the coordinates of the elf-ruins, only a detailed map. With this map only, it will be fun to find them since your search is not spoiled by the coordinates. Start your search near the Fallen Tower, since the ruin nearby is not heavily guarded by gargantuan trees. If you find your first elf-ruin, you will have a good idea where to look for!

Locations of all the six Elf-ruins in the Limlight Gorge

Best gear & jewelry for the Loremaster

I always wonder which jewelry and gear is the best, especially for a Loremaster.
If you are not a raid-player, then that can be a problem if you want seriously the best gear, since the best can be required by doing raids. If you are a hunter-gatherer, maybe there is some alternative. Sell some good stuff on the Auction Hall and buy some good gear crafted by high level crafters.

Gear for the Non-raid Level 95 Loremaster

Below you see an example of end-game gear for the Loremaster.
It was inspired by the gear of Valadhriel, a level 95 loremaster on the Eldar Server.
If you have any better ideas, please add them in the comments.

Happy Farming!

Loremaster gear

Loremaster Jewelry & Pocket Item

Gear for the PvP Level 95 Loremaster

Below you see an example of Pvp gear for the Loremaster, which can be required by battling player-monsters in Ettenmoors.
The gear and jewelry is inspired by Dairuin, a level 95, a very high ranked (r13 = Second Marshall) loremaster on the Eldar Server.
Happy Monster-slaying in Etten!

PvP - Gear

Jewelry example of PvP-player

Instance: Sammath Gûl

The entrance of  Sammath Gûl

Sammath Gûl

Sammath Gûl is located in Dol Guldur, Mirkwood and is known to be one of the places where a Symbol of Celebrimbor drops (by the way: I didn't get one when I defeated him). With this symbol you can craft 2nd ages weapons of level 65. Also, you have to defeat Gorothul for the last quest of the Epic books, its Vol. II Book 9, Epilogue: Gorothúl of Dol Guldur. Btw. all 'Foreword' and 'Epilogue' quests are not actually part of the Epic Questline, even though they may be listed below the corresponding tab. Finishing this quest will give you only Medaillons and this quest isn't required for further gear or advancment.

Vol. II Book 9, Epilogue: Gorothúl of Dol Guldur can be activated with the instance finder(search for the tab: Sammath Gûl in Dol Guldur)

Mobs
When entering the castle you are attacked by many guards. They are no real problem, but avoid too much aggro. Beware the ranged ones, they can do a lot of damage. Harder are the Brutes, they have a 1 minute skill that make them invulnerable to attacks, also when he activates this skill he will absorb the damage given to his adds. Best strategy is to kill the adds first around the Brute, so they will not be affected by the Brute's skill, After that, kill the Brute. Stunning the adds ia a good strategy.
On the floor you will find some bone piles; they will activate a spirit mob, which can in turn summon a skeleton on a regular basis. If you need the quest to kill theundeads, just kill them, otherwise avoid stepping on a bonepile.

Mobs

First boss: Urchir
Urchir lies on a table and you will activate him when you come too close to him. First thing to do is to clear the room. Just aggro the groups of guards and finish them off. After that, you can wake Urchir by going to his dais. Before this, eat some in-combat regeneration stuff and apply some anti-fire damage stuff. When you are start fighting Urchir, don't stay on the grates, since there is a chance that flames will come from below.
If he says “Can you handle the burn?”,  Urchir will give you some massive burn damage. Keep close to your group and the damage will be splitted.
If he says “Will you bring doom to your friends?” split from the group and take the damage alone. It is a good stategy to run near the walls avoiding the grates areas.
When Urchir is getting low on morale the room starts filling with flames. That is the most damgerous part of the fight.Finish him off quickly when the flames come, so save your high DPS skills for this last part of the fight.

Urchir in flames

Fire Mitigations for your pet:
Raven/Eagle: use at least  Bag of Hearty Crumbs, or  Bag of Crispy Crumbs, or Bag of Eastemnet Crumbs
Bear: use at least Pot of Sweet Honey and Oats, or Pot of Scrumptious Honey and Oats , or Pot of Eastemnet Honey and Oats
Lynx: use at least  Cut of Lean Meat, or  Cut of Spicy Meat, or Cut of Eastemnet Meat
Bog-Guardian: use at least Bowl of Fresh Water, or Bowl of Spring Water, or Bowl of Eastemnet Water

Second boss: Alagossír
It seems that Alagossir will not fight anymore in a special arena, but he can still knock-back you pretty far. When he calls out your name, Alagossír will use his ranged one-hit kill attack. To avoid this, quickly get in melee range (about 2,5 meters) to avoid this deadly attack.
Alagossír will summon some lightnings at the end of the battle; to avoid a lot of damage, just stay close on the dais where you first met him.

Alagossir

Third boss: Gorothul
A very straightforward boss, who will consult Sauron first before he will fight you. Until he decides to fight, you can do nothing. After he starts fighting, kill him with lots of dps; some adds will help him, but they are not a big problem.

Boss Gorothul is conversing with ... Sauron!

Index march 2014

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Most popular pages - census March 22th - 2014

Tips

• Visit my blog about the stars, moon and constellations in the Lotro World
• Visit my recent blog about cute pets in the game

Remmirath, the Netted Stars, right above my head.

Index

1. Lotro Free to Play Guide                                                 
Free to play guide

2. Lotro Crafting Guide                                                       

Scholar
Scholar in Lotro: making dye
Where to find Scholar Stuff in Lotro 
Where to find Scholar Stuff in Rohan and Wildermore
Woodworker
How to become a woodworker
The Woodworkers Guild
Wood in Lotro - and where to farm it 
Jeweller
How to become a member of the Jeweller's Guild
Tailor
Hides - and where to farm them
Finding Hides, Ore, Wood & Artifacts
Ore in Lotro, and where to find it
Where to find Scholar Stuff in Lotro 
Wood in Lotro - and where to farm it 
Hides - and where to farm them

3. Lotro Deeds & Virtues  guide                                          
Virtues
Valour
Zeal

4. Lotro Class guide                                                            
Non-combat pets for your Loremaster
Loremaster skills: Flanking
Using your combat pets

5. Lotro Leveling guide                                                       
Levelling from 1 to 55

6. Lotro Plugins                                                                   
Huge Bag Plugin

7. Doing damage                                                                 
Damage with an edge - Damage types
How to get your first legendary weapon

8. Finding fellowships                                                        
Joining a high level Instance

9. The stars and the moon in Lotro                                    
Constellations in Lotro

10. Off map adventuring in Lotro                                        
Introduction
Off Map Places in Lotro
Flying
How I learned to fly in LOTRO's Middle Earth  
The Shire
Climbing the Waterfall of Bindbole 
The Borg Cube in The Shire
Peeking behind the gate of Michel Delving 
Climbing the waterfall of Woodhall
Bree-land
The forlorn Hobbitvillage in Breetown
Lone-lands
The Hidden World behind Ost Guruth
North Downs
Exploring the secret places of Esteldin
Forochel 
Iceberg hopping in Forochel