Curse

MonkeySqid · Jul 04, 2008, 09:17 AM // 09:17

I've levelled a lot of pets over the past few years and IMO it really depends on which evolution you're after.

If you want a basic Hearty pet then the SS/LB is one of the fastest methods.
For a Dire evolution I like repeatedly killing the Doppleganger in HM (an Enraged Lunge build does this in about 20s)

spin · Jul 06, 2008, 02:05 PM // 14:05

Just take it allong lvling, ensure it doesn't die. And each time it gains a lvl, have it beat for a minute or 10 on the suits of armor outside the great temple of balth.

Guaranteed aggressive on lvl11, works for pets on heroes aswell.

If you want a dire pet, continue doing this till the evolution happens. If you want an elder pet, just go play from this point.

Easier then deathlvling imho, and doable with all pets like the white moa, which you cannot dealth lvl anyways (it will run away during charm, not attack you). And doesn't involve special builds either.

zwei2stein · Jul 06, 2008, 02:18 PM // 14:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesterocks7

Just out of curiosity, if you're a monk why do you have a pet, and if you're not going to be bringing him with you, why are you trying to lvl it?

I guess it is for HoM?

Marverick · Jul 06, 2008, 04:01 PM // 16:01

For Dire, the level 30 Snow Wurms outside umbral grotto give about 1.5 levels every 5 minutes. There's also crowd of level 15 Elder Crocodiles that you can kill in a minute that give a little over half a level.

I got my Rainbow Phoenix to aggressive using this method in about 30 minutes. From that point on, though, I couldn't get him to Elder. I ended up with a level 20 Aggressive Rainbow Phoenix. Tried again, same thing. So the "go and play" method doesn't really work.

Chayr · Jul 07, 2008, 02:59 PM // 14:59

Though I've had this game over a year, I've played it very little, and am now starting to delve deeper into the game. This said, I am a level 9 Ranger/Monk and I've decided Beast Mastery is the route I want to go, at least for the time being. (Note: My character originated in Prophecies, I also own Factions & Nightfall)

I would like some suggestions as to how a decent Beast Master's attributes are allocated, and how skills are decided for the 8-slot pallet. Granted I'm only a level 9, and I know a great part of this game is figuring out the build that works, but even now there are many times where I feel my current build is a chore and activating many of my skills are pointless because everything is dead quickly or the skill's effect wears off. The build will just feel like a hassle and a mess, and not at all very fun.

With my ordeal known, I would be very greatful to read advice from experienced rangers on a set of starter advice for a budding Beast Master. I am in the Prophecies campaign, probably not too far in, so I would prefer advice for the time being, and not so much in the long run when I reach other campaigns/PvP. I am also aware high-end PvE/PvP Beast Masters have problems, or at least from what I read.

As a side note, I plan to solo with henchmen the majority of my early play.

Here's a bit of an outline of what I want to know:
1. How should I begin to spend my attribute points starting out and down the long road?
2. How should the structure of my build be?
3. What kind of skills/spells am I looking to bring with me? (R/Mo)
4. How should I balance out my build between attacks(pet or myself), utilities, heals(for pet, others, or myself), preparations, and other things?
5. What would my assumed role be? I like the archer/beast master role, but while playing with other people or friends, I like to support in some way to where I can prevent their death in some way, and help for the both of us. By this I mean, not watch people struggle and die if I can help/support in some way.

I am not so much of looking for "use X build for Y situation," but more of an outline of how I should be allocating and preparing myself.

Another question: Is there some way to send my pet in to attack first, that way it draws aggro instead of myself? I use the sword icon on the little pet-bar, but many times the pet won't run over to attack right away. I would also like to know if I can hotkey a control to make my pet attack (i.e. shift+1)

That's about all that comes to mind, and I hope this post is not too-overbearing or obvious. As a casual reader of these forums and a first-time poster, I really think I will come to know the people of these forums better, as I learn more about the Guild Wars itself while I progress through the game.

Thank you all for your time and I am greatful for any advice given. I hope one day I can be an experienced and knowledgeable player, and be in the opposite position, helping players by answering their questions.

dilan155 · Jul 07, 2008, 03:20 PM // 15:20

there is a r/p build that focus on spreading conditions using a spear and a pet, however this does require /p as a secondary. For now i suggest you get skills such as call of haste, call for protection, Otyugh's Cry, and symbiotic bond along with the elite Enraged Lunge to deal huge amount of damage by your pet. How ever you shuld only use this until you get to a point where you can change your secondary and then change it to paragon. you should have at least 12 in beast mastery, and try to get 12 in expertise due to how expensive the total of all the above used skill are. Note that this is a pure damage by pet build and you will deal only what you can deal with your weapon of choice. one of the ways to get your pet to attack something is to fake attacking something and it will start attacking that target.

zling · Jul 07, 2008, 03:43 PM // 15:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chayr

Though I've had this game over a year, I've played it very little, and am now starting to delve deeper into the game. This said, I am a level 9 Ranger/Monk and I've decided Beast Mastery is the route I want to go, at least for the time being. (Note: My character originated in Prophecies, I also own Factions & Nightfall)

I would like some suggestions as to how a decent Beast Master's attributes are allocated, and how skills are decided for the 8-slot pallet. Granted I'm only a level 9, and I know a great part of this game is figuring out the build that works, but even now there are many times where I feel my current build is a chore and activating many of my skills are pointless because everything is dead quickly or the skill's effect wears off. The build will just feel like a hassle and a mess, and not at all very fun.

With my ordeal known, I would be very greatful to read advice from experienced rangers on a set of starter advice for a budding Beast Master. I am in the Prophecies campaign, probably not too far in, so I would prefer advice for the time being, and not so much in the long run when I reach other campaigns/PvP. I am also aware high-end PvE/PvP Beast Masters have problems, or at least from what I read.

As a side note, I plan to solo with henchmen the majority of my early play.

I am not so much of looking for "use X build for Y situation," but more of an outline of how I should be allocating and preparing myself.

Another question: Is there some way to send my pet in to attack first, that way it draws aggro instead of myself? I use the sword icon on the little pet-bar, but many times the pet won't run over to attack right away. I would also like to know if I can hotkey a control to make my pet attack (i.e. shift+1)

That's about all that comes to mind, and I hope this post is not too-overbearing or obvious. As a casual reader of these forums and a first-time poster, I really think I will come to know the people of these forums better, as I learn more about the Guild Wars itself while I progress through the game.

Thank you all for your time and I am greatful for any advice given. I hope one day I can be an experienced and knowledgeable player, and be in the opposite position, helping players by answering their questions.

first of all the role of a character isnt defined by the skills you use, you first define the role than decide which skills suit you best inorder to accomplish it.
you say you want to play a support role, Rangers are usually considered a support character, however their support comes in the form of interruption and condition spreading, not in healing/damage mitigation.

as a level 9 character your options are pretty much limited to the skills you get as quest rewards. if you have money you can invest it in more skills/tomes. the most you will be able to do as a beast master will be charm+comfort animal and perhaps a pet attack or 2. the rest will be bow attacks.

Quote:

Here's a bit of an outline of what I want to know:
1. How should I begin to spend my attribute points starting out and down the long road?
2. How should the structure of my build be?
3. What kind of skills/spells am I looking to bring with me? (R/Mo)
4. How should I balance out my build between attacks(pet or myself), utilities, heals(for pet, others, or myself), preparations, and other things?
5. What would my assumed role be? I like the archer/beast master role, but while playing with other people or friends, I like to support in some way to where I can prevent their death in some way, and help for the both of us. By this I mean, not watch people struggle and die if I can help/support in some way.

1. you can always change your attribute points every time you're in a city/outpost. for what I think you're trying to run an even spread between expertise, beast mastery and marksmanship seems like a good bet. you should aim to get expertise to meaningful breakpoints, than fill up the other 2.

2. bow attack, bow attack, bow attack, stance, preparation, pet attack, pet attack/self heal/res, charm animal, comfort animal

3. no spells at all unless you bring mending touch(from nightfall) or hard res. as for skills, the answer lies in the answer to question 2.

4. again you're pretty much asking the same question in a different way, the answer lies in the answer to question 2.

5. your role is something you need to decide, than you fit the skills inorder to fulfil that role.

TheDragonmaster · Jul 07, 2008, 08:29 PM // 20:29

To Chayr:

Being a beastmaster has a lot of different possibilities. The only obvious thing they have in common is the pet, but I'm assuming you want to use your pet more than just putting Charm Animal on your skill bar and forgetting about it. I also assume you are using your beastmaster for PvE rather than PvP. Thus, let's go through the nessesary points to accomplish this:

Role

To be able to make a build and create strategies, you must ask yourself what you want to accomplish with the character. The beastmaster revolves around the pet, but otherwise you are pretty blank for now. As I see it, you have three options:

1) Pure beastmaster. Use the pet for damage, maybe tanking, condition spreading, and so on. The role revolves around the pet, nothing more.

2) Standard ranger. Uses the pet as additional support to the ranger's already impressive abilities to deal damage, pread conditions, interrupt, and survive.

3) Nonstandard attack beastmaster. Uses the pet and beastmaster skills to augment the offensive capabilities of the secondary profession's weapon of choice, such as hammers (bunny thumper), axes, and spears (I hear scythes work as well).

Profession

You are a ranger primary, which basically gives you what you need to be a competent beastmaster. Enough said.

Your monk secondary gives you the ability to support your party's ability to survive, probably via condition removal or perhaps hex removal rather than healing or protecting, since such endeavours usually need more dedication.

Other secondary professions that might be interesting at a later stage, when you are able to change secondary profession, are among other options warrior and paragon (and dervish), explained above. Perhaps try ritualist for different support skills and/or a different res.

Attributes

You obviously need a good score in beast mastery to power your pet, along with a good score in expertise for energy management. For the all-out beastmaster, it ends there. Perhaps add a few points in wilderness survival for a few support or survival skills.

Traditional rangers may want to add marksmanship to the list, but perhaps would be better off without wilderness survival (not to spread the attribute points too thin).

Obviously, if you plan on using different weapons, such as hammers or spears, invest in attributes accordingly.

Skills

I'll just discuss the needs of different roles, rather than providing a specific build, as that was (as I understand you) not what you were after.

The matter of capturing an elite skill might be a bit tricky, since the only elite beast mastery skill in prophecies is [Ferocious Strike], sadly a skill which is seldom nessesary for a balanced ranger build. The three elite skills I suggest here are [Enraged Lunge] (2 missions in factions after travelling there), [Heal as One] (4 missions in factions), and [Rampage as One] (3 missions in nightfall). Until you can capture one of those skills I suggest you use an elite skill that works well with the rest of your build, such as a bow attack for a traditional ranger beastmaster.

Obviously, you need [Charm Animal].

You will also need a way to resurrect your pet should the unthinkable happen, so always bring either [Comfort Animal] or [Heal as One]. This is also your emergency pet heal.

You will probably do well with one or two pet attacks, perhaps even three for a dedicated beastmaster build. Alternate between damaging skills, such as [Predator's Pounce], [Brutal Strike] or the godly [Enraged Lunge], and those that inflict conditions and effects such as [Poisonous Bite], [Bestial Mauling], [Pounce], or [Disrupting Lunge].

Bring one or two strong pet protection skills, such as [Symbiotic Bond], [Call of Protection] or [Otyugh's Cry].

A self-heal is sometimes needed, and [Troll Unguent] does the work nicely if you don't use [Heal as One]. For self-protection skills I suggest stances such as [Whirling Defense], [Lightning Reflexes] or [Natural Stride].

If you want to play a traditional ranger, bring a few bow attacks, preferrably including at least one interrupt such as [Distracting Shot] or [Savage Shot]. Damaging or conditioning attacks are also useful, if you lack an elite beast mastery skill, using a skill such as [Crippling Shot], [Barrage], or [Broad Head Arrow] is never wrong. You might also want to bring a preparation such as [Read the Wind] or [Apply Poison].

If you plan on attacking, aim for bringing an IAS skill that benfits both you and your pet such as [Rampage as One] or [Never Rampage Alone] to free up a slot. If you are letting your pet deal all the damage, [Feral Aggression] or [Call of Haste] will suffice.

Bring an IMS skill such as [Run as One], [Dodge] or [Natural Stride] unless you brought [Rampage as One].

If you decide on swapping your secondary to allow for more carnage, add a few attack skills as applicable, such as [Hammer Bash]+[Crushing Blow] or [Dismember]+[Executioner's Strike] for a warrior, [Barbed Spear] and [Disrupting Throw] for a paragon, or maybe [Mystic Sweep] and [Eremite's Attack] for a dervish.

Otherwise add one or two support skills from monk, condition and hex removal may be the best, [Mending Touch] (recommended) or [Purge Conditions] (or even [Mend Body and Soul] for a ritualist) for condition removal and/or [Remove Hex] or [Holy Veil] for hex removal. Consider [Empathic Removal] in extremely hex-heavy areas if your party needs it, as you can purge friends while your pet attacks.

Also, utility skills such as enchantment removal [Rending Touch], anti-blocking skills [Seeking Arrows], [Wild Blow], [Wild Throw], or [Guiding Hands], or adrenaline gain [Mokele Smash] or ["For Great Justice!"]. The EotN title track skills go here as well, as [Pain Inverter] and such skills are wonderful ([Great Dwarf Weapon] is the perfect pet buff), but as you seemed uninterested in grinding titles atm, let's not dwell too long on those.

Finally, add either a soft resurrection skill such as [Resurrection Signet] or [Sunspear Rebirth Signet], or add a hard resurrection skill such as [Rebirth], or if you change your secondary to ritualist, [Flesh of My Flesh] or [Death Pact Signet].

Equipment

Your armor should have either radiant/survivor's insignias for a more generic approach or beastmaster's insignias if you dedicate a whole armor set to beastmastering. Stick to minor runes, as the life loss can be a bit more unconvenient than one might initially think. Use a vigor rune and fill the rest of the slots with attunement/vitae or perhaps a rune of clarity/recovery/restoration.

For a weapon, a traditional ranger obviously uses a bow and the bunny thumper obviously uses a hammer etc. More relevant might be that you should wield a staff (with maximum energy and/or health bonuses) if you plan on going the all-out beastmaster route, since you both need the extra energy and the ranged attack (to reliably lock the pet on the target). Always bring a long-/flatbow for pulling, regardless of your weapon.

Also worth noting: If you are unable to fit in a resurrection skill in your tight skill bar, bring a scroll of resurrection or two at all times.

Hope that helps!

TheDragonmaster

Draginvry · Jul 09, 2008, 01:44 PM // 13:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by spin

Just take it allong lvling, ensure it doesn't die. And each time it gains a lvl, have it beat for a minute or 10 on the suits of armor outside the great temple of balth.

Oh, I soooo have to do this for my beastmaster. Time to go charm another tiger.

So it only depends on how much damage the pet deals before it levels up? In that case, I'll have my new cat just pound on some punching bags every level and then I'll go wipe up some mobs real fast.

I Phoenix I · Jul 12, 2008, 06:10 AM // 06:10

I really like having a Tiger's Fury on my bow-pet bar to use it to power up Enraged Lunge, which does crazy damage.

Just.nl · Jul 22, 2008, 07:55 PM // 19:55

Hey folks,

How do you get a dire pet? I always get if i train them to 20 first a Playfull and than a Hearty, but how you get a dire one?

~Just Aka Drogo Ironarrow

Miska Bow · Jul 22, 2008, 08:59 PM // 20:59

Kick it till it becomes a really pissed off bad ass pet.

Or you can check here

gremlin · Jul 22, 2008, 09:02 PM // 21:02

According to all the guides I have read, if they take loads of damage and die a lot you get hearty ie they do less damage but have more health.

If you can work it for them to do the damage in the fights and keep them alive your likely to get Dire.
That said I haven't managed to get either dire or elder as yet

wesman · Jul 22, 2008, 09:24 PM // 21:24

In the guide that Miska Bow gives you they mention death lvling the pet before you tame it... I have found that to be the easiest way to get a dire pet, pretty much just pull one to a shrine and let it kill you for a few hours... Obviously that will not work if you are going for survivor tittle though

Summer Stormbringer · Jul 22, 2008, 09:31 PM // 21:31

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10308592

this helped me big time, just caught my bear and did as follows

Brimstonez · Jul 22, 2008, 10:09 PM // 22:09

I have a Black Widow, from the UW. But, 'Black Widows come in three final evolutions, Hearty, Elder, and Dire. Since they are already at level 20 and thus cannot be trained for a new evolution.' How do I know what mine is? Nothing about my pet tells me what type it is...

Asta Moon · Jul 22, 2008, 10:12 PM // 22:12

death leveling seems to be the best way: guildwiki has instructions

basically you can either go to a shrine or park a monk healer out of aggro and let the pet kill you over and over. Removing your armor helps.

my bear took me approx 30 minutes

Miska Bow · Jul 22, 2008, 10:31 PM // 22:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brimstonez

I have a Black Widow, from the UW. But, 'Black Widows come in three final evolutions, Hearty, Elder, and Dire. Since they are already at level 20 and thus cannot be trained for a new evolution.' How do I know what mine is? Nothing about my pet tells me what type it is...

By its health

540 HP = hearty
480 HP = Elder
420 HP = Dire

gremlin · Jul 23, 2008, 01:28 AM // 01:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by wesman

In the guide that Miska Bow gives you they mention death lvling the pet before you tame it... I have found that to be the easiest way to get a dire pet, pretty much just pull one to a shrine and let it kill you for a few hours... Obviously that will not work if you are going for survivor tittle though

Please God there will be no such thing as death levelling in GW2, Its a silly exercise allowed through a exploit in the game made by dumb program code

wesman · Jul 23, 2008, 12:48 PM // 12:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by gremlin

Please God there will be no such thing as death levelling in GW2, Its a silly exercise allowed through a exploit in the game made by dumb program code

Hehe... well as we say at NASA, "the code is only as good as it's programmer"

Anyhow I think they are aware of the issue, but chose to leave it in for those folks who did not want to spend hours lvling their pet to an evolution thy did not want.