Curse

Plague · Mar 17, 2006, 01:24 PM // 13:24

As I loaded up a skillbar for a Beastmaster's build, I noticed this skill lingering, festering in my skills window. It's been a while since I thought about it, but this is quite possibly the worst skill in the game, at least debatedly.

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5 Energy
30 second Recharge
Shout. All animals in the area become hostile to your target and gain +20 armor for 30 seconds. Otyugh's Cry cannot turn charmed animals against their masters or their master's allies. (50% failure chance with with Beast Master 4 or less.)
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So, basically, this skill does not work in PvP. It simply is not possible. Aside from that, not ever PvE area in the game is littered with animals. Occassionally you'll notice that specific areas have about 4 or 5 pets. These pets do not breech the limit of level 5. Ever. Somehow they live amongst level 53 Nazi Superdragons in the badlands of the core of the earth without ever needing to learn anything, but I digress.

Needless to say, the very rare moment in which you actually find animals to do your bidding will be a moment wasted. Five level 5 pets with +20 armor for 30 seconds isn't going to do much of anything, especially not to late-game enemies. You might consider this a running skill, if nothing else. You may also consider it a makeshift univeral-corpse maker.

The skill could even be a No Attribute skill. It seems obvious to me they just tacked on the possibility of failure just to make an obviously Beast Master skill part of the Beast Mastery line. It's laughable that it even has a recharge time. What do they think you're going to do? Phone up the same animal twice? It's already dead or about to die.

So, I propose to... well, do just about anything to this skill. Whichever developer thought of it should be ashamed. Seriously. Perhaps:

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15 Energy
60 second Recharge
Shout. You call (2...5) random beasts indigenous to that area. These beasts are level (3...9) and have +20 armor for 45 seconds and cannot be tamed. After Otyugh's Cry ends, each beast returns to the wild. Any beast killed during Otyugh's Cry leaves a consumed corpse.
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Basically, you summon the animals instead of expecting them to just be there. They leave no bodies, and you can't just summon new pets to tame. In addition, Beast Mastery actually plays a part, AND you can use it in PvE. How wonderful, OC actually is useful.

But, think up your own variations.

menelik_seth · Mar 17, 2006, 01:57 PM // 13:57

Interesting...

I read on guildwiki ethat Otyugh's Cry is mostly used for the +20 armor for the pets in your party.

Quote:

Usage

* This will not cause the pet to initiate an attack: only the master's own attacks can do this. The skill is best used for its often overlooked AoE +20 boost to pet armor, which becomes very powerful in larger groups with many pets.

Your adjustments are interesting tho

I like em.

EDIT: how about this:

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5 Energy
5 second Recharge

Shout. Causes all pets in party to attack target and gain +20 Armor and %33 movement speed for 5-20 seconds.
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I think beastmasters are seriously missing a "sic' em" skill. This could be it. Basically its a "charge!" + "Watch yourself!" for pets. The drawback is that it'll effect all pets in the party, so only one ranger needs to equip it and be the designated "pet caller".

Doctor Death · Mar 17, 2006, 02:30 PM // 14:30

The only use for this skill IMO is in a team a beastmasters that use there pets for tanking and want to keep them alive. 1 ranger with Otyugh's Cry gives +20 armour to all the pets.

Jenosavel · Mar 17, 2006, 02:50 PM // 14:50

The +20 armor to pets is a lot, and really shouldn't be glanced over. (a pet with a possible 100 AL and 15 absorption?) The real problem with this skill, in my experience, is it's tiny, tiny range. I think it falls under "nearby" and not even "in the area." That, unfortunately, is absolutely rediculous.

They could completely fix this skill by making it give its armor bonus without needing to have an enemy targeted and also increasing its range to at least "in the area," but preferably to ward or spirit range.

Align · Mar 17, 2006, 04:54 PM // 16:54

It doesn't even make the animals attack the enemy anyway; they just become hostile. So they have to be within aggro range to attack, and by then you're nearly in it too.

Plague · Mar 17, 2006, 08:09 PM // 20:09

Oh, so the animals that become hostile aren't the ones gaining the armor, just any animals?

An easier way to make it more viable then, yes, would be to increase the range. Still, I think it should be more viable in common PUGs in PvE.
It's a shame you can't use make the skill more useful in areas with no charmable animals and with you as the only Ranger, but...

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5 Energy
30 second Recharge
Shout. For 30 seconds, all animals in the area become hostile to your target and gain +20 armor. Additionally, any animals level (3...5) or below gain 1 health regeneration an additional 1 armor for each point of difference between that creature's level and your level. Otyugh's Cry cannot turn charmed animals against their masters or their master's allies. (50% failure chance with with Beast Master 4 or less.)
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Diablo™ · Mar 17, 2006, 08:37 PM // 20:37

I still like your original idea better, it sounds way cool

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plague

15 Energy
60 second Recharge
Shout. You call (2...5) random beasts indigenous to that area. These beasts are level (3...9) and have +20 armor for 45 seconds and cannot be tamed. After Otyugh's Cry ends, each beast returns to the wild. Any beast killed during Otyugh's Cry leaves a consumed corpse.

Plague · Mar 17, 2006, 10:06 PM // 22:06

I was thinking about how much damage that would be.

I at 12 att BM, you call five level 9 Dune Lizards... I think each one would have a damage rating of, what? Piercing, 6-15 or so?

I can't remember how to calculate all the mess. But the damage provided, in theory, would be, if that version of OC lasts 45 seconds, with the lizard attacking every 2.17 seconds, about on average, about 227 damage per animal, so 1,135 potential damage to one target. You also have to consider that each animal can be blinded and killed, etc. Still, that's a lot of damage.

Perhaps... it would only last 30 seconds and recharge after 50 seconds. That'd be about 151 damage per animal, equating to 755 damage potentially. Still, too good. Take into consideration that the animals themselves can be killed relatively easily, and not every enemy will have 60 AL.

I'm not sure exactly what range the skill would have to have. It's difficult to balance.

TGgold · Mar 18, 2006, 01:00 AM // 01:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plague

I was thinking about how much damage that would be.

I at 12 att BM, you call five level 9 Dune Lizards... I think each one would have a damage rating of, what? Piercing, 6-15 or so?

I can't remember how to calculate all the mess. But the damage provided, in theory, would be, if that version of OC lasts 45 seconds, with the lizard attacking every 2.17 seconds, about on average, about 227 damage per animal, so 1,135 potential damage to one target. You also have to consider that each animal can be blinded and killed, etc. Still, that's a lot of damage.

Perhaps... it would only last 30 seconds and recharge after 50 seconds. That'd be about 151 damage per animal, equating to 755 damage potentially. Still, too good. Take into consideration that the animals themselves can be killed relatively easily, and not every enemy will have 60 AL.

I'm not sure exactly what range the skill would have to have. It's difficult to balance.

Did you factor in the lvl 9 tp lvl20 difference? I don't think you did, because a lvl 9 shoudl be dealing...well...harly any damage per attack. If they did about 6 dmg each per attack to a lvl 20 , it would be reasonable (about 15 dps).

Plague · Mar 18, 2006, 01:40 AM // 01:40

Like I said, I don't remember how to calculate the poor things. I forgot they have a base STR level, apparently.

konohamaru heaven · Mar 18, 2006, 06:14 AM // 06:14

Actually if the Ranger is attacking and uses it all the wild pets and tamed allied pets attack the target the ranger is attacking but after its dead the wild pets attack the weakest targetat least this is what I have observed.

Jenosavel · Mar 18, 2006, 03:16 PM // 15:16

Otyugh's Cry will not make your teammates' pets attack your target. It will not make your own pet attack your target, and it won't make wild critters attack your target. It will make all of the above aggressive toward your target. This means that the wild critters will attack either your target or whichever of its party members they feel like (which usually means they never attack the one you want them to). As for your and your teammates' pets, they're already hostile towards the enemies and are just waiting on triggers (their master attacking or being attacked, or themselves getting attacked) to attack. Otyugh's changes nothing about that.

I still think that this aspect of Otyugh's should be done away with all together and the skill should be reworked to make its secondary effect the primary focus of it. The AL boost is powerful and would see much more use if it wasn't linked to being nearby an enemy.

The idea of having it summon wild critters of a higher level to fight for you is interesting and all, but if, as it is currently suggested, this would take away the +20 AL boost to all animals, I hope it never sees the light of day.