Level 14 is a very special level for young Lore-masters. Not only will you be able to summon another pet companion, but you will receive one of those skills that will make you think and be strategic.
Friend of Bears: Your second pet will be a sturdy bear pet. It’s a classic tank pet, with low damage output but very sturdy. But our furry friend can have other uses. I won’t get into much details on the Bear right now. Expect a specific Bear article can be found by clicking here.
Bear summoning Skill
Cracked Earth: Another damaging Nature’s Fury skill (meaning that will cost you morale along with power) with a twist. It’s ranged damage tactical skill, with an area of effect radius. Besides doing damage, this skill will also put a debuff timer on the affected enemies. After that timer is down, the affected enemies will be rooted in place for 30 seconds. Its a very important skill that some veteran lore-master’s forget when we talk about crowd control.
TIP: The timer is usually 10 seconds after you cast this attack. After those 10 seconds, all affected enemies that didnt resist de debuff will be stuck in place, unable to move. With 3 yellow line traits the timer is reduced to 5 seconds.
TIP: Remember that although rooted enemies are unable to move, they are still awake. So ranged enemies will continue to attack you if you are in range of their ranged attacks.
TIP: The rooted state can be broken with damage. Every attack has a 25% change to break the rooted state, so be careful using area of effect skills (like Gust of Wind or Cracked Earth again, for example) on a group of rooted mobs.
TIP: On multiple enemy encounters you can start the attack with cracked earth. Run (or kite) a little bit while you wait for the root to kick in, then pull one or two at a time.
TIP: The rooted effect can be reapplied, but it requires timing. The reapplication is different from the Blinding Flash method, since the rooted effect does not stack or refresh. You can recast Cracked Earth when the enemies you want to root (and are already rooted) have 9 seconds or less remaining on the rooted effect. It’s all about timing. If the 10 seconds debuff wear off while the enemies are still rooted, they will not be rooted again. Its preferable to give a few seconds even if it means that they will move for 1 or 2 seconds before the root reapplies again.
TIP: Boss type enemies are usually immune to roots.
Cracked Earth ingame Tooltip
Note: This post was rewritten due to the changes to the Lore-master in the Volume 3, Book 2 changes. They will come into effect on the 8th of September 2010.
This blog has been really helpful! I feel like I’m getting all the advice I haven’t been able to find anywhere in the official documentation.
At some point, could you talk about what skills you put in your skill bar? I’ve been struggling trying to figure out which skills are most important to have easily accessible.
Thank you for the comments, that’s my drive to continue with this blog.
As for the skillbar, i could post it but i don’t really follow a logic patter with skills. I’ve come accustomed to their placement and use muscle memory to use them. I guess i could post it sometime. If not, i’ll mail you a screenshot of my usual skillbar.
It requires 3 traits from The Ancient Master, not 2, for the 5 second countdown.
This blog and the podcast on CSTM have been really helpful. My line up for my LM has been to send my lynx out first equipped with his fury and protection as he’s running towards the fight. Meanwhile I set up Gust of Wind, Ball of Fire (my names aren’t accurate, I know), turning up the heat, Light of Valar (great beam of light that also stuns while allowing my animal to attack) and then repeat the process. This is used on single targets.
On a mob I’ve been using Herb Lore more than Cracked Earth because Cracked Earth takes too long to initiate. Those that are not affected get a stun (if there is more than one) with my lynx managing any that got too close.
The best skirmish I’ve learned to use as a training tool for these skills is the Ford of Bruinnen which not only makes you learn how to fine tune these skills, but also teaches you how to use morale and power boosts on fellowship members (even if they are NPCs).