Curse

Alay · Jul 18, 2011, 04:27 AM // 04:27

I hate to say it... but I'm near my last ropes on my ranger. I've done quite a few different setups for PvE, and sadly none of them really feel like they give me enough punch that's not completely situational or easily countered using my bow.

As a last experiment, I have decided to go back to what I did when I first started playing--Beast Master. I've been winging around with some ideas, and this is pretty much what I'm using right now to 80% satisfaction:

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How could I improve this? Overall it seems very stable. my Dire Moa is both very tanky, hits like a train, and my energy management is working out well. Any suggestions to really make this build shine? :]

Siver · Jul 18, 2011, 06:24 AM // 06:24

It saddens me to see pet builds that don't use Heal as One

Amy Awien · Jul 18, 2011, 06:25 AM // 06:25

Why? Enraged Lunge is very strong as well.

You can set attrib points to 12/10/8 rather then 12/10/7 and if you bring expertise up to 13 your 5e skills cost only 2E

Bestial pounce is not so useful, imo, first pet attack I bring is Predators Pounce (low cost high yield), then Brutal Strike. With Enraged Lunge Brutal Strike may even take precedence over Predator's Pounce. Actually, from what I remember running these, you only need Enraged + 1 pet attack. A third attack is too much.

Poison is not so great, stuff should die fast and you already have deep wound to feed Scavenger's

PvE skills may help more

NRA - with so little from the bow it's less useful, call of haste helps your pet better. And without NRA there's no need for Scavenger's Strike.

Since you carry a bow, if you can pack Splinter weapon on your heroes, Volley will still land a very nice boom.

Venganza · Jul 18, 2011, 07:55 AM // 07:55

I use Heal as One, Never Rampage Alone, Call of Protection and others to suit situation.

I run 16 points Beast mastery + BM Runes.

I can do Slavers Exile with my lil old pet, and it only ever dies if I need to concentrate on getting FS back up in a tight situation

It saddens me to see dumb arse rangers (or anyone) use a pet with fully setting points in BM or taking appropriate skills.

Half the idiot rangers either put no points in, or forget the res the stupid pet if it dies, plus of course they get disabled skills every two seconds when their piss-weak pet dies.

If you are going to be Beast Master, do it properly or not at all is my advice.

Alay · Jul 18, 2011, 08:03 AM // 08:03

Heal as one is nice, enraged lunge is pretty baller though. I think heal as one is better for a hybrid bow+pet--my intention here is to have my pet kicking everything around while I keep myself busy auto-attacking or something.

Since I derped on my Norn armor and got a marksmen headpiece, I'm currently stuck with it (at least until I make enough plat to buy a new one, just dumped all my currency into my boyfriends primeval W armor.) For the sake of build discussion, I'll pretend like I'm using a exp headpiece with a minor exp rune though.

Modified build:
Exp: 11+2 BM: 11+1 Marks: 8+1

Code: OgATcX7mRSWi3A3YV8z43gzg2A

Going with Brutal strike for flat damage, since it's such a good followup. When you mentioned splinter, it occurred to me that I could be a super awesome troll and just weapon spell my pet, and what better way than Great Dwarf Weapon? Constant KD + DW + Flat hurt. I really like scavenger on the bar, because it lets me spam without much care.

-----

My biggest questions now are whether I should run:

or

.
On one hand, feral aggression is just going to make my pet hit harder than CoH will. On the flip side, CoH lets my Moa move between targets quicker, and it's also a bit cheaper.

-----

versus

.
They're both cheap and spamable. NRA gave my pet a bit more sustain with the regen, whereas the replacement does not. Call of protection gives a constant reduction, but I'm not sure if it will be enough to prevent the bird from just flopping under ele pressure. On the other hand, the split from sb could cause me to get nuked along with my pet.

-----

Finally, since GDW is on the build,

may be worth picking up for the additional shutdown. Thoughts?

-----

Quote:

Originally Posted by Venganza

If you are going to be Beast Master, do it properly or not at all is my advice.

While I disagree with a sup rune for it (I really dislike the health loss personally), this build is about my feathered friend. I'm just there to look pretty and point out the target

Ouwebak · Jul 18, 2011, 08:09 AM // 08:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy Awien

Why? Enraged Lunge is very strong as well.

I use Enraged Lunged and I'm pretty happy with it.
Comfort Animal, Enragen Lunge, Call of Protection, Never Rampage Alone, Distracting Shot, Volley, Otyugh's Call, 1 optional
11Exp, 13BM, 10MM with runes

Belzebu · Jul 18, 2011, 11:46 AM // 11:46

I usually don't use full BM bar, I run spear + BM.

This is my current bar:
BM 12+2, Exp 8+1, SM 10
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You can change Enraged Lunge for HaO and Comfort Animal for Brutal strike and Barbed Spear for a pet protection skill (Call of Protection is my personal favorite)
You can also change the EVAS for the GDW ... actually I may change it, I liked that idea, lol.

Shield gives you even more survivability and you can even tank with your pet to ball up the targets for the heroes, also reducing the travel of the pet after it kills the target and return to you.

cataphract · Jul 18, 2011, 12:32 PM // 12:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belzebu

I usually don't use full BM bar, I run spear + BM.

I use bow skills on my BM bar: Enraged, Scavenger's, Melandru's Assault, Call of Haste, D-shot, Triple Shot, Comfort Animal, SY! It was a fun build to use while vanquishing.

Amy Awien · Jul 18, 2011, 03:04 PM // 15:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alay

Going with Brutal strike for flat damage, since it's such a good followup. When you mentioned splinter, it occurred to me that I could be a super awesome troll and just weapon spell my pet, and what better way than Great Dwarf Weapon?

Yeah, that's one of the PvE skills I had in mind, the other one is EBSoH but I use the last one primarily for the bone minions and fiends.

Quote:

My biggest questions ... On one hand, feral aggression is just going to make my pet hit harder than CoH will. On the flip side, CoH lets my Moa move between targets quicker, and it's also a bit cheaper.

That's the trade-of, with Scavenger's you should be able to run Feral and have enough for the PvE skills. If Feral proves to expensive you could go back to CoH

Quote:

They're both cheap and spamable. NRA gave my pet a bit more sustain with the regen, whereas the replacement does not. ...

Regen is only of little use in a fight and will actually make the pet less attractive as target for the enemy AI, which makes it counter-productive when you really want them to hit your pets 33% damage reduction and 80AL

Symbiotic bond has risks, combined with HaO and CoP you can tank pretty much anything in PvE but by itself I find it less desriable the CoP. Being able to sacrifice your pet during a retreat is a tactical advantage of CoP.

Pet attacks are hard to time properly, bestial mauling would not have much effect I think, Technobabble is more reliable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Venganza

Half the idiot rangers either put no points in [BM]...

That doesn't seem to be an issue here.

Alay · Jul 18, 2011, 04:46 PM // 16:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy Awien

That's the trade-of, with Scavenger's you should be able to run Feral and have enough for the PvE skills. If Feral proves to expensive you could go back to CoH

Actually, it's more so the damage vs target switch speed that I'm debating over the energy cost. With high expertise and scav, I've only once gone 0 energy for a few seconds and that was during an area with +40% energy cost.
I guess I'll play around with both on Isle and come to a conclusion on which I prefer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy Awien

Regen is only of little use in a fight and will actually make the pet less attractive as target for the enemy AI, which makes it counter-productive when you really want them to hit your pets 33% damage reduction and 80AL

Symbiotic bond has risks, combined with HaO and CoP you can tank pretty much anything in PvE but by itself I find it less desriable the CoP. Being able to sacrifice your pet during a retreat is a tactical advantage of CoP.

I did not know the bolded. Symbiotic bond is not worth the toolbar space on this build in that case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy Awien

Pet attacks are hard to time properly, bestial mauling would not have much effect I think, Technobabble is more reliable.

Probably more reliable, but it comes with the disadvantage of non-boss shutdown. Not to mention my asuran scan is pretty horrific

Is there a table off hand somewhere that shows KD durations on moves? If it's long enough (or I bring earthbind/wanderlust rt pair hero) that daze may be better.

Thank you very much for your continued advice and input, it means a lot =]

RedDog91 · Jul 18, 2011, 06:14 PM // 18:14

Beast Mastery 11+1+2
Expertise 10
Spear Mastery 10
Barbed Spear, Predator's Pounce, Scavenger's Strike, Brutal Strike, Feral Aggression, Heal as One, OPTIONAL, Resurrect Signet

General PvE build. Can be used for pretty much everything from character creation to end-game. Upkeep Feral Aggression at all times when in combat for 33% faster attacks from your pet and to add 10 damage to each hit. Use Heal as One for healing both you and your pet, as well as giving your pet 15 seconds of stealing 19 health from targets per hit. These two skills will increase your pet's damage by 29 per hit. Consider bringing Great Dwarf Weapon in the optional slot to increase base damage even more and to provide occasional knock-downs. Use your pet's attack skills as you see fit. Use Barbed Spear to fuel the requirement on Scavenger's Strike to regain energy; it is recommended to use this combo as often as possible to ensure that you never run low on energy. Also recommend bringing a +5 energy spear.

Beast Mastery 12+1+2
Expertise 12+1
Command 6
Enraged Lunge, Scavenger's Strike, Brutal Strike, Melandru's Assault, Comfort Animal, Call of Protection, Symbiotic Bond, "We Shall Return!"

This build I have used to a few times to turn my pet into our group's tank in FoW (NM and HM). Can be used in many elite areas, best used in PuGs or guild parties. Use a +15 energy staff. Keep Symbiotic Bond and Call of Protection up at all times, not difficult as they last much longer than their recharge. Use Melandru's Assault for AoE damage. Use Brutal Strike and Enraged Lunge as you see fit. Should be noted that Enraged Lunge is your best bet for fueling Scavenger's Strike, unless your party brings a lot of condition-applying skills. You should stay back either with or behind your group's casters, as you don't want to take damage from enemies while also taking half your pet's damage (though even in HM this damage is minimal as pet's have a base 33% reduction and CoP reduces damage to your pet by 19, both of which apply themselves before damage is halved and sent to you). Use Comfort Animal to heal pet and resurrect pet (should not be necessary). Use "We Shall Return!" to mass-rez your team mates should they die.

I have many more builds, and then further variations of builds, for Beast Masters, though due to time constraints I do not have time to post here. Should you be looking for anymore help, feel free to PM me in-game @ Rolin Mori.

Wenspire · Jul 18, 2011, 07:12 PM // 19:12

I was never a fan of Heal as One because heroes heal your pet, so they should seldom die regardless. The biggest issue with running a pet is it's slow reaction in starting agro from enemy to enemy which is pretty big of a disadvantage. Strike as One helps reduce the time, but only travel time; pet reaction time still being a problem.

Khaal · Jul 18, 2011, 08:31 PM // 20:31

I'm running R/P with a spear attack, ELunge, NRA, Call of Protection, GDW, "IaU," Comfort Animal, Companionship.

BM 11 +1 +1, Expertise 10 +1, Spear Mastery 10 +1.

I use a zealous spear mod (with NRA) for EManagement (which works great except for blinds and dodges, but I'll switch to a staff if I need to). "IaU" and companionship are just for emergencies. The only real problem I run into is that heavy degen can mess up my Soft Kitty because she's only got 420HP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wenspire

I was never a fan of Heal as One because heroes heal your pet, so they should seldom die regardless.

HaO works a little different now, so it's not as much a heal as it is a boon.

Belzebu · Jul 18, 2011, 08:45 PM // 20:45

Strike as One require too much micro imo for proper work, I tried to use it, but often the pet shadow stepped to the target and didn't attacked, you need to lock the pet and then cast it to actually work.

About HaO, it obviously isn't only about the heal, you save 1 skill slot and have added armor ignoring damage from the life steal.

Aldric · Jul 18, 2011, 09:53 PM // 21:53

I prefer Spears over anything else, usually running

NRA
Ebon Battle Standard of Honor
Spear of Fury
Blazing Spear
Enraged Lunge{e}
Scavengers Strike
Comfort Animal
<optional dependant of requirements>

Wenspire · Jul 19, 2011, 12:13 AM // 00:13

Ya, the added life-steal on Heal as One is nice. When I used it, I found it a pain to always renew since I was also using attack skills (bow/spear). I suppose if you are just going as an all-out beastmaster then that would be less of a problem.

Typically, the pet will only start it's attack when you attack the target. So running a pure beastmaster build rather than a beastmaster/weapon hybrid may be problematic. I have never tried just using pet skills, so not positive on this.

Alay · Jul 19, 2011, 05:39 PM // 17:39

It requires some finesse to get my bird to actually go in hit what I want. You can attack to get them to go, or target something, ping, set target, and go near the agro bubble for that NPC.

The second build I posted is what I've been using. It hits, more or less, like a train on whatever I target. The energy management is either enough to maintain full spam or even give extra GDW to other phys dealers in my group constantly. My pet is more or less three shotting NPCs in places like slaver's exile and whatnot.

Overall, I'm proud of the feathered fella.

jot. · Jul 19, 2011, 07:42 PM // 19:42

For those complaining about the pet's reaction time when targetting/switching targets, just micro the pet to lock on everytime you switch, and it will automatically go hit em.

Durai · Jul 20, 2011, 02:37 AM // 02:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by jot.

For those complaining about the pet's reaction time when targetting/switching targets, just micro the pet to lock on everytime you switch, and it will automatically go hit em.

How would I do that? I've looked for tutorials on how to micro the hotkeys but none of them show me how to do it for the pet lock-on function.

RedDog91 · Jul 20, 2011, 04:47 AM // 04:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Durai

How would I do that? I've looked for tutorials on how to micro the hotkeys but none of them show me how to do it for the pet lock-on function.

Where do you have your mouse most the time while playing? Place the Pet's command bar near that spot. Change your pet's mode as needed (heel when pulling with a bow or retreating, lock target to get pet to react to targets much faster, use guard mode sparingly)