mobile

I (assumed) bricked my Moto G LTE today and just ordered another one. How it happened was that I factory reset my phone, but the setup stopped working after I finished it so I had no launcher. I naturally panicked and booted into recovery using ClockworkMod, but it didn't work. Eventually it got to the point where it was stuck at the Motorola "M" logo, so I continued to factory reset with ClockworkMod and installed a zip hoping a stock would fix it. It did not, since I misunderstood and now my phone is currently stuck at the warning bootloader screen (replaced by "Motorola powered by Android").

So I gave up and ordered the "Motorola Moto G - Universal 4G LTE - GSM Unlocked - 8GB (Black)" from Amazon.

To prevent something like that happening again what are some things I need to do to ensure I'll always have a safe recovery? I'm also overwhelmed by how many ways there are to root a Moto G LTE and could use some direction. I'm also confused on how I can find the appropriate stock ROM of 4.4.4 for my new XT1045.