Lore master Combat Pet Guide

POST BY lunatuna


"Flanked!" is a "proc" effect that may randomly occur each time your pet auto-attacks a foe. The angle of your pet's attack does not matter: front, back, and sides are all the same. Pets with a faster attack rate, such as Raven, tend to Flank more often, but all pet types can Flank. The Sign of the Wild: Rage pet buff, Beast-Lore class trait and the Noble Savage legendary trait all increase attack speed on all pet types.

When the Flanked effect occurs, you have 7 seconds in which to react by using either Improved Staff-strike or Sign of Power: Wizardry. Look for the Flanked icon as a debuff on your foe.


If you use Improved Staff-strike while the foe is flanked, you also inflict instant light-based direct damage that equals roughly 170% of your basic Staff-strike damage. The two chunks of damage together total nearly 3 times the amount of a basic Staff-strike, and it's all light-based damage! Note that the instant light-based direct damage portion never crits, but the "attack swing" portion can still crit normally.

If you use Sign of Power: Wizardry while the foe is flanked, you will receive a self-heal for approximately 25% of your total Morale.

Once either Improved Staff-strike or Sign of Power: Wizardry are successfully used on a "flanked" enemy, the "Flanked!" effect is removed.

Notes:

* Setting pet skills to auto-fire, such as the Raven's Distraction, will lower the rate at which Flanked procs.

* The extent to which any Lore-Master relies on Flanked! is a play-style decision and the subject of much debate. There is no right answer here. Try if for yourself and decide how you want to use it.

2. Pets

Notes:

* Most pets are 2 levels below the level of the lore-master at the time of casting. The exceptions are (1) Bear with Hardy Bear trait slotted is one level below the LM; and, (2) Eagle is one level below the LM.

* Images of pet skills taken by 50 LM. Power costs and damage ranges scale with level.


Reactives:


Harried is a random debuff that procs on the foe your pet is attacking. This debuff can happen with all pet types.

Raven (Level 4) Attack speed: high | Defense: moderate
Unmodified stats at 48 (cast by 50 LM): 2,067 morale, 405 power
Passive Benefits: Shield of the Raven's Wing (15% shadow mitigation)

Raven is a fast attacking pet that Flanks more frequently than other pets. This pet is popular with LMs who like to use Flanked for extra Staff-strike damage and SoP:W self heals.



Active Skills:



Benediction of the Raven
Small area fire debuff.

Distraction
Ranged damage and miss chance debuff. Also a nice Light based dot.

Evasion
Good skill to hit if your pet is going down.

Raven Tactics:

Bear (Level 14) Attack speed: low | Defense: high
Unmodified stats at 48 (cast by 50 LM): 2,108 morale, 413 power
Passive Benefits: None

The bear is a defensive pet and, if the correct traits and pet food are used, can tank for the Lore-master.





Active Skills:



Roaring Challenge
10 second taunt. Force Attack is the resulting debuff that Roaring Challenge puts on your foe.

Shatter Arms
Debuff lasts 30 seconds and is based on physical resistance.

Bear Hug
3 second stun. As with all stuns, look for the stun resistance icon.

Pet Food:

The bear pet can be buffed by feeding it Honey and Oats. The buff lasts 10 minutes.


(Unknown if there is a higher level honey and oats I'm missing a screenshot for. Please advise if you know.)

Lynx (level 30) Attack speed: moderate | Defense: low
Unmodified stats at 48 (cast by 50 LM): 1,964 morale, 466 power
Passive Benefits: None

Lynx is a DPS focused pet with the ability to attack from stealth.



Active Skills:


Surprise Attack
Cooldown on the lynx's auto-stealth appears to be 8 seconds, making this skill less available in a steady killing situation.

Feral Strike
This skill is 60 degree frontal and point-blank AoE, making it difficult to hit more than one foe at a time.

Slashing Claws
Another frontal and point-blank AoE, but width a wider arc and the potential to hit more foes.

Reactives:


Savage Bleed is a random DOT that procs on the foe your lynx pet is attacking.
Eagle (level 45 - legendary trait) Attack speed: moderate | Defense: low
Unmodified stats at 49 (cast by 50 LM): 2,354 morale, 457 power
Passive Benefits: Nobility (1.0 power regen in combat)

The eagle is a utility pet with moderate attack and low defense. It passively regens fellowship power is combat, has a fear skill and can rezz the lore-master upon defeat. Many lore-masters don't use the eagle because it requires a legendary trait to be equipped.



Active Skills:



Beak Rend
This skill is an AoE attack that deals light based damage to up to 3 enemies around the eagle. It returns this damage as morale to the pet when used. Cooldown on this skill is 1 minute.

Fan the Flames
Burning Embers must be active on the foe to trigger this effect. The fear portion lasts for approximately 10 seconds and is not limited to any mob types. This effect can be resisted. The mob will run aimlessly while effected. Cooldown on this skill is 1 minute.

Sacrifice
Certain conditions must be met for you eagle to rezz you. (1) The Sacrifice skill must be toggled on; (2) The eagle must still be alive, and you must be within 40 meters of it; (3) The Eagle must be actively attacking when you die and survive long enough to make 2 attacks (you get rezzed on the second); (4) The eagle will die and you will return to life with 50% moral and 25% power; (5) Like a regular rezz, your gear suffers a durability loss, but you will not receive dread when resurrected; and, (6) After being resurrected you will have a 10min debuff that prevents you from being resurrected by the eagle.

Eagle Tactics:

Wipe Insurance
For a hard fight, park the eagle out of the foe's AoE range, preferably close enough to ranged group members (minstrel, hunter) to provide in-combat power regen. Make sure Sacrifice skill is toggled on, then proceed with the fight. If a wipe looks probable, move your LM to a good rezz spot and send your eagle against a foe (not the boss if possible) within 40m of your location. Try to die before your eagle does. If sacrifice triggers, wait to accept until the rest of the fellowship/raid wipes and the foes reset. Accept the eagle rezz, then use your rezz on another rezzer, preferably a minstrel. Note that a lot has to go right for this tactic to work. It is very situational, so pick your fights wisely.

3. Signs of the Wild (pet buffs)



Protection (Level 6)
SotW: Protection increases your pet's "tanking" ability

Rage (Level 8)
SotW: Rage increases it's DPS.

Only one pet buff can be active at a time. These skills are instant cast and can be cast while moving.

4. Class Traits
Below are the Class Traits that affect LM combat pets:

1. About "Flanked!"


Hardy Bear (reward from A Well-Ordered Mind quest)
Increases the bear's level to be one lower than the LM. Adds 3.5% to the bear's morale and power. May also buff the bear's attack and defense.

Beast-Lore (reward from Deed: Beast-Lore)
Adds 5% to the pet's morale and power. Also buffs pet's attack, defense and stealth.

Master of Beasts (reward from Deed: Master of Beasts)
Not many LMs use this trait, as there are far more valuable traits than extending the duration of our pet buffs.

5. Legendary Traits

Below are the Legendary Traits that affect LM combat pets:



Eagle-Friend (reward from A Lesson from Lord Elrond quest)
This trait must be slotted to use the eagle

Noble Savage (reward from Book of Beasts class deed)
Adds 10% to the pet's morale and power. Also buffs pet's attack, defense, stealth and stealth detection. Changes the tooltip description of the pet to "Signature", but not the portrait ring.