Curse

Amy Awien · Jan 28, 2011, 10:45 PM // 22:45

Timing that bestial pounce is hard, if not impossible. I used Predators Pounce - back in the day when Enraged Lunge required 4 recharging BM skills - still lloks good. One advantage of using Enraged as lead is that it will help a great deal to prepare the target for Brutal Strike.

Wouldn't the attack button get your pet to fight? After that, just autoattack.

Strike as one is a fun skill, not all too usefull, but with a high amusement value.

Voodoo Rage · Jan 31, 2011, 04:12 AM // 04:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy Awien

Timing that bestial pounce is hard, if not impossible. I used Predators Pounce - back in the day when Enraged Lunge required 4 recharging BM skills - still lloks good. One advantage of using Enraged as lead is that it will help a great deal to prepare the target for Brutal Strike.

Wouldn't the attack button get your pet to fight? After that, just autoattack.

Strike as one is a fun skill, not all too usefull, but with a high amusement value.

I disagree about the skill not being useful. Just doing most of the EoTN missions, I found I was really having a bigger impact on the fight by not having to wait for my pet to run to his target. I wasn't timing the bestial pounce at all. I would actually call the attack before I even teleported the pet and it was pretty darn effective at interrupting and knocking down the first spell that the caster tried as they reacted to my presence. Overall I think that Strike As One should be mainbar on a beastmaster IMO.

Rites · Jan 31, 2011, 07:19 AM // 07:19

hmm, i wonder if they created a "pet bar" with maybe 5 skill slots, that would seem interesting i think. of course it would have to be micro managed, but at least you can free up skill slots on your ranger so you can be more effective

anyway..

I recently switched to having strike as one on my bar, and it has almost completely eliminated the "find path to target" issue that everyone dreads.

Xiaquin · Jan 31, 2011, 04:43 PM // 16:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rites

I recently switched to having strike as one on my bar, and it has almost completely eliminated the "find path to target" issue that everyone dreads.

This sacrifices the elite skill, a costly move given that bleeding and cripple don't help in PvE (and it requires hitting with an attack to inflict the latter, so it can be blocked). It's little more than a pet shadow step. Personally, if I'm bringing a pet, I want it to be as useful or more so than my bow. YmLaD would be more useful than SaO.

Voodoo Rage · Jan 31, 2011, 05:17 PM // 17:17

I'm learning that this game is really all about speed and taking down key targets as fast as possible. Yes, I realize, that enraged lunge will give you more damage as your pet is attacking but ultimately I would think that getting your pet to the target instantly instead more than will make up for it. The big problem I keep seeing with pets is that you try to pick a caster or healer to target and your pet gets hung up on a charging melee monster that blocks their path and they just sit there.

Ugh · Feb 01, 2011, 08:19 PM // 20:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voodoo Rage

I'm learning that this game is really all about speed and taking down key targets as fast as possible. Yes, I realize, that enraged lunge will give you more damage as your pet is attacking but ultimately I would think that getting your pet to the target instantly instead more than will make up for it. The big problem I keep seeing with pets is that you try to pick a caster or healer to target and your pet gets hung up on a charging melee monster that blocks their path and they just sit there.

But then it's only really useful once per battle (and personally, getting my pet stuck on frontliners has never been a huge issue). After you get your pet to the backline, your pet will stay around the backline as long as you keep attacking and/or locking your pet, so travelling between targets should be quick and non-problematic for most of the battle. And after the back- and midline's finished, it's just a short, unopposed dash back to finish the frontliners.

Voodoo Rage · Feb 03, 2011, 08:26 PM // 20:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ugh

But then it's only really useful once per battle (and personally, getting my pet stuck on frontliners has never been a huge issue). After you get your pet to the backline, your pet will stay around the backline as long as you keep attacking and/or locking your pet, so travelling between targets should be quick and non-problematic for most of the battle. And after the back- and midline's finished, it's just a short, unopposed dash back to finish the frontliners.

Yeah I think I changed my mind on that Strike As One skill. I rolled through EoTN (normal mode) with my beastmaster and even with SaO, the stupid pet would still just stand there a solid second or two before deciding to attack regardless of the targeting orders I gave it. I think it's just an inherent flaw in pet AI that they have a hard time reacquiring and pathing to a target that moves on it. I just did Vizunah (sp?) Square with the Enraged Lunge build and just using Call of Haste to send him to his target. It did seem more effective.

I guess the question is whether or not it's worth squeezing a couple PvE skills onto the bar. I'd love to be able to fit in an Ebon Assassin or even Tryptophan Signet but it seems like I must sacrifice an attack skill. While Enraged Lunge has a pretty fast recharge and I am still mixing in a Scavenger Strike, it does seem like I need a 3rd attack skill in there to keep my little beast busy at all times.