New player.

[TheDeathnDecay]

Hello there all I'm a new player starting on a free account. I think that the Lore-master would be a great fit for me. I like wizardy things and I consider myself a sort of lore buff. Anyways this will be my first time getting into lotro so I was looking for maybe some tips and advice? I'll be starting a Man Lore-master anything I should know about what vocations to take? What traits? Also what would I be looking to have to buy first as an f2p player. Thanks in advance for any advice. No need for a step by step sort of thing just some helpful tips. Thanks.

[Dubblebass]

Welcome to LOTRO!

I love the Lore Master as a class. I chose Historian as I wanted the Scholar trade skill. It fit with the character I had in mind.

The first thing I bought in the store was an extra bag slot.

Look for a TP deal this holiday season. They had one thanksgiving weekend and I bet they will over the Christmas holiday as well. Once you buy points, you will be considered a "Premium" account and will enjoy a slightly increased gold cap, an extra character slot, and a few other perks.

The horse riding skill is something you will probably want to purchase for your character as well.

I bought the Lone Lands and North Downs quest packs since they are lower level and I wanted the options of places to level. I think they opened up Lone Lands though in the last patch (?).

I have more than one character, and I have them feed off each other for trade skills etc. so I also recently bought the shared bank.

Again, welcome to the game and to the Lore Master class.

[Schmidster]

Nice choice! In the early levels the light armour can cause some grief, but my suggestions would be;
Distance is your advantage. Attack with some distance between you and mob and be prepared to run if you attract multiple mobs.
Use the de-buffs and damage over time skills with the heavy attacks. You take down mobs slower than other classes but they will almost always die an ugly death!
Look for stats that regenerate power and morale in-combat. Hover your mouse over the character stats and they are all cleary explained.
Get to know your Lore-master trainers, there will be one in each zone and check both the passive and active skills that you can learn/purchase every couple of levels.
Don't repair armour too much early on. If you are doing lots of quests you will be rewarded with lots of goodies!
Do the Deeds for better traits, you really need every bit of strength you can get.
Later on you will be welcomed into Fellowships for all the cool area damage and group assists.
Don't be shy with fellowship invites - go along and see who plays well and who doesn't.
Lastly, don't take insults personally like: A LM should be able to yadda yadda yadda. Folks get too cozy with heals and such and sometimes don't try enough themselves.

And have a blast!

[Brom_Ironfist]

As someone else new to the game. The most important things that I've learned are to use my animal companion in conjunction with my stuns and mezzes. Combining them can really keep the mobs off of you and let you work your magic better.

Oh, and know your healing skills and how to use them. I found, early on, that I accidentally kept trying to heal my target enemy.

[Daerious]

I found, early on, that I accidentally kept trying to heal my target enemy.

That can be frustrating ... However, there are options under the UserInterface which allows you to have both your attack and 'healing' skills forwarded accordingly -- thus you can be casting spells at your enemy and 'healing' your pet/companion without having to use the mouse to re-select them.

- - - -

At the lower levels, Beacon of Hope, which 'heals' your pet/companion, will easily be powerful enough to restore all their morale -- be careful using it since it does have a longer cooldown period _ and _ it has a long (1.5 seconds) 'casting' time.

Your pet (be it a raven or bear or ?) will be a lower level than your Lore-Master which means that, even when the enemies would usually ignore you (i.e. grey in colour and ~8 levels lower than your character), they might still attack your pet when you travel in the wilds.

Use caution when initiating battle especially with your pet ... if it engages too many for it to safely handle, the horde will quickly be searching for your hide; on the other hand, if you engage too many accidently, your pet might be able to distract them (or even defeat them) as you panic and run away.

Choose the timing of your skills carefully since some have both a power _ and _ a morale cost -- not a real significant expenditure when the battle begins but it could be deadly if used towards the end of a difficult fight.