Ok, so it was inevitable. I was enjoying the heck out of the Hobbit, and the Hobbit-ness of the Shire, and all was good. Then I was at the Michel Delving bank area, and saw a level 65 Lore-master that happened to have nearly the same appearance settings as my original Lore-master, Vendraen, that is on the banned account.

"Damn it, that's .. me!", I said to myself, and then I logged off and logged in as the character you see above. I played a Lore-master nearly exclusively through Alpha and Beta, and well into release. I fought (sometimes bitterly) for changes I felt would make the class better, and out of all the classes in LOTRO (and I've played them all), it's definitely the one I'm best at and like the most.

It's not a "true" pet class, in the vein of UO Tamer, SWG Creature Handler, or similar classes, but it's the closest thing LOTRO has right now, and it's also a kick-ass class in other respects. There's quite a few ways to play it, and the way I play is pretty "in the thick of it."

Lore-masters have many skills related to melee combat - even though they wear cloth and are thought of as a "mage" type. Later on, they even get a Trait that allows wielding a staff and a sword at the same time. Melee damage output is not small, if you Trait and gear for it. And, using the Raven pet for it's high Flank! rate allows you to keep yourself alive, as later on, Flank! procs allow you to heal yourself.

Starting over is a little painful - I remember all the things I could do before, but can't yet, since I don't have the skills at my low level. But, I know the content forwards, backwards, up and down, so I should level quickly and in no time, return to my former power.