Curse

Shantel Span · May 26, 2006, 08:31 AM // 08:31

I'm absolutely dead serious.

Screens:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...onAxe/pet1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...onAxe/pet2.jpg

I've messed around with the different builds, and this is what i've come up with:

Attributes:
Beast Mastery: 16 (sup rune + mask)
Expertise: 12 (minor rune)
WS: 7 (minor rune)
Marksmanship: 1 (minor rune)

My pet, a Dire snow wolf named Feral Span

Skills:

Feral Lunge
Brutal Strike
Bestial Pounce
Enraged Lunge [E]
Troll Unguent
Symbiotic Bond
Comfort Animal
Charm Animal

Feral Lunge, Brutal Strike, and Enraged Lunge are the principal damage dealers. Bestial Pounce is good to have for another spam skill for more damage and interuption - I'm still getting the hang of timing it. I would also consider replacing Bestial Pounce for Poison Bite, for a nasty degen build.

I've gone between Predatory Bond and Troll Unguent - with Predatory you can have a lower Expertise with no WS points, but enough to use my Drago's Flatbow. This, however, results in a somewhat unreliable and minor source of self-healing...enough to withstand some attacks on your pet with Symbiotic Bond, but not much of a sustained assault.

I use Symbiotic Bond because it prevents a lot more damage to your pet than Call of Protection - and, somewhat sneakily (but a valid point!) the monk WILL heal you, but usually not your pet. I would reccommend using both Call of Protection and Symbiotic Bond, but that takes away from your offensive power.

Comfort Animal and Charm animal are of course, must-haves. :S i'm still working on a way to integrate Rebirth, but I need to practice with it more first.

Without skills my pet deals roughly 15-30 damage, depending on the target and such. With skills the damage pops up to 50-100+

I've gotten as high as 172 but that was against a Frenzied afflicted warrior (similar to the first screenshot). It's real easy to max out Enraged Lunge, and the skills recharge fast enough that you can use one almost every other pet attack, if not more.

My real question is this - would you rather have, in PvE, a ranger like me in this build, or a warrior swinging away?

Francis Demeules · May 26, 2006, 05:42 PM // 17:42

I can't really answer your question but I rather playing beastmaster for fun and not for missions or serious events.

I prefer using only Enraged Lunge for the 5 seconds recharge and no other attack skill. I use Symbiotic Bond, Predatory Bond and Call of Protection for the long recharge and for Feral Lunge (no need to click every attacks and then Feral Lunge.

Quite Easy to get over 100 dmg thought

and do conditions at the same time.

Cymboric Treewalker · May 26, 2006, 06:33 PM // 18:33

The major problem still left for a beastmaster build is that there is NO weapon that uses Beast Master, Wilderness Survival or Expertise for a req. It would be nice to have one that uses those.

Elementalists don't need to have points in wand or staff do they?

Shantel Span · May 26, 2006, 06:52 PM // 18:52

Yes, in order to deal the damage required for a wand/staff they must meet the requirement. The mods will still apply, though - but an offhand must meet the requirement or you won't get the energy bonus.

A Pet-related weapon would be nice, but the damage you would deal with that - or a bow - is small compared to the damage dealt by the pet.

Francis Demeules · May 26, 2006, 06:55 PM // 18:55

You can use a Bow. Poison String anyone?

Azmodan · May 26, 2006, 07:03 PM // 19:03

The pet is the main form of attack so there is no real need for Marksmanship.

The high Expertise seems like a waste though. All of the skills are either 5 or 10 energy skills. At Expertise lvl 12, they end up costing 3 and 5 energy. But, if the Expertise was dropped to lvl 9, the skills would cost 3 and 6 energy. The build wastes 3 attribute levels to save 1 energy each time a 10 energy skill is used.

Francis Demeules · May 26, 2006, 07:10 PM // 19:10

Beast: 16
Expertise: 9-10
rest: Wilderness Survival

Beat_Go_Stick · May 26, 2006, 07:16 PM // 19:16

<-- Lucky!

I happened to find (way back in the beginning of the game) a gold Insightful Raven Staff with +15 energy, a 19% fire recharge (for some reason), and no requirement at all

It's made me happy in many situations for energy alone.......wish it had a better associated recharge tho :P

As for the build, looks very interesting. I really need to cap that elite....

Shantel Span · May 26, 2006, 09:21 PM // 21:21

Staves and the like don't make you meet the requirement for the Energy bonuses - i've been using an old Milius' Pillar with my ranger for trapping/BM when I don't have Marksman points.

Thanks for the info on the Expertise - as a default I usually have low WS but dump a lot into Expertise. Good to know in this case. More suggestions welcome

Maria The Princess · May 27, 2006, 10:24 PM // 22:24

i did 1 vs 1 with my wammo agains her pet. not that im a great warior (its kinda new to me) but i was using a basic build my i got from my guildie.

with my max armor the pet degened me with poison bite+bleeding (forgot attak name). i was waistin all my energy for condition removing, self defence etc. even with all adrenaline damage skills and bonneti defence, the pet killed me!!!

gotta give credit to a good BM

*i never realy got into it and was using BM mostly for B/P runs and some ettin farming. i actually posted a BM farming build somewhere here a while ago, but still used trapping much more

Francis Demeules · May 28, 2006, 12:08 AM // 00:08

The thing is with the Beast Masters, they're pretty rare to find one, like PvE mesmers, and players use their pet as a meat shield most of time and do Barrage.

I wonder how good is it a team of Beast masters for farming.

Shantel Span · May 28, 2006, 02:15 AM // 02:15

One thing that I noticed - and love - is that I can strafe and dodge arrows/missiles whilst my pet beats the crud out of an enemy - all the time i'm using pet attacks and shouts. You can't get interupted unless of course you're casting Troll, but in that case run behind a corner where the view is obstructed.

After taking my ranger from the boat at Kaineng Center to Cavalon in the past week, not one single PUG has noticed that i wasn't using a bow, or that I was using pet attacks. Every group, however, had a very high damage output. Not entirely mine to take credit for, but it shows...sometimes.

Francis Demeules · May 28, 2006, 02:27 AM // 02:27

Well, if you want a self heal (Cheap but still good and without being interrupted): predatory bond. Each time your pet attacks, it heals you at the same time. you can use it for Enraged Lunge booster too

Maria The Princess · May 28, 2006, 02:54 AM // 02:54

maby heal as one? new elite

Francis Demeules · May 28, 2006, 02:58 AM // 02:58

If you want to remove your Enraged lunge ok but if you want to keep it, which skills instead Troll can you use? Melandru Resiliece? I dont think so. Except if you're R/Me and you have Arcane Mimicry with another beast master

Maria The Princess · May 28, 2006, 03:04 AM // 03:04

maby a monk bond? the 1 that does "when target ally attks YOU gain +? hp" is it Life attunment? that might counter effect simbio bond

Jenosavel · May 28, 2006, 04:11 AM // 04:11

I personally would much rather have Call of Protection on my bar than Symbiotic Bond, but then I tend to play with people who will heal my pet if need be and don't need to do anything sneaky to help the heals along. Aside from the one pip of regen, Symbiotic Bond isn't doing anything but moving damage around whereas Call of Protection will actually reduce the damage coming in. Damage absorbtion can be so helpful, that if I want to buff my pet's defenses, Call of Prot is the first thing on my list of necessities. It's especially crippling to an assassin's damage, as they rely on a huge quantity of small bits of damage.

On a similar note, I'd really recommend dropping Feral Lunge or Bestial Pounce for Call of Haste. Not only will Call of Haste increase your pet's attack speed and thus damage output by 33%, but it will also reduce the travel times for your pet as it runs to each new target. The is extremely important with any enemy that might move on you, since all pets need to waste a full attack cycle standing still next to an enemy before they attack. The faster they catch up, the more likely they'll be to actually hit their target (and when that attack you're trying to get to land is a charged Enraged Lunge every 5 seconds, you really want your pet to hit that last blow as your enemy flees). While not nearly as important in PvE as it is in PvP, Call of Haste is an awesome skill for adding damage output to your pet. In addition to that, it is an extremely cheap skill with a long duration and recharge. In other words, it's perfect for pairing with Enraged Lunge.

Having skills on your bar to charge Enraged Lunge is nice, but if you can charge it with skills that normally benefit you while they recharge then you're much better off than if you take some throw-away skills for the sole purpose of charging up Enraged Lunge.

This is why I really like the idea of using Tiger's Fury in an Enraged Lunge build. You can turn two mandatory pet skills which normally do nothing, Charm and Comfort Animal, into Enraged Lunge batteries. It prevents you from needing to fill your bar with slow-recharging relatively useless attacks like Bestial Pounce. However, Tiger's Fury does have the drawback of making your build relatively energy intensive, so I understand why some people don't want to go that route.

Any way you look at it though,working Call of Haste into this build should be a top priority for improvement.

Shantel Span · May 28, 2006, 08:12 PM // 20:12

w00t for feedback

I've played with Predatory Bond - and no, it's not a maintained enchantment. It's a shout with a recharge a bit too long to keep up all the time, and doesn't heal you for too terribly much. The monk enchant you're thinking of, probably Live Vicariously, would work but the problem of energy comes up.

I've messed with Call of Haste - I will experiment with that. By your title (Master of beasts) I think you know what you're talking about.

Most likely I'll take out Feral Lunge if either of the two attacks, as Brutal Strike is a very high damage dealer, giving almost as much damage as Enraged Lunge does.

Heh, it took me a minute to figure out what you were talking about with Tiger's Fury - but yes, when it disables skills it'll amp Enraged Lunge. Thing is, at 16 BM, it's almost too easy to max it out :/ +24 for each recharging skill...three almost maxes the +80 out. I will definitely give it a try though

Francis Demeules · May 28, 2006, 08:51 PM // 20:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shantel Span

Heh, it took me a minute to figure out what you were talking about with Tiger's Fury - but yes, when it disables skills it'll amp Enraged Lunge. Thing is, at 16 BM, it's almost too easy to max it out :/ +24 for each recharging skill...three almost maxes the +80 out. I will definitely give it a try though

Already thinking about tiger fury and marauder shot as primary disable skills in another thread.

Jenosavel · May 28, 2006, 10:47 PM // 22:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shantel Span

w00t for feedback

I've played with Predatory Bond - and no, it's not a maintained enchantment. It's a shout with a recharge a bit too long to keep up all the time, and doesn't heal you for too terribly much. The monk enchant you're thinking of, probably Live Vicariously, would work but the problem of energy comes up.

I've messed with Call of Haste - I will experiment with that. By your title (Master of beasts) I think you know what you're talking about.

Most likely I'll take out Feral Lunge if either of the two attacks, as Brutal Strike is a very high damage dealer, giving almost as much damage as Enraged Lunge does.

Heh, it took me a minute to figure out what you were talking about with Tiger's Fury - but yes, when it disables skills it'll amp Enraged Lunge. Thing is, at 16 BM, it's almost too easy to max it out :/ +24 for each recharging skill...three almost maxes the +80 out. I will definitely give it a try though

It's not too hard to max out the +80. Three skill will bring you close and 4 will top you off. That's what makes Enraged Lunge so appealing; it takes relatively little thought to make a build with it that will pump out some large numbers. However, since it is so easy to max out the numbers, if you're looking to create an above average Enraged Lunge build your focus shouldn't be on maxing out Enraged, but doing it with skills that also perform a useful function on their own.

It's for this reason that, although I did experiment with Bestial Pounce, I really dislike having the skill on my bar. Bestial Pounce is a rather poor skill all around, and thus taking it solely because it will charge Enraged Lunge just doesn't fly for me.

I'm not saying that Tiger's Fury is the be all end all answer. I'm just saying that it's at least one option that can support Enraged Lunge without wasting skill slots. Afterall, if you take even one throw-away skill to charge Enraged Lunge, then at best you're halving the effectiveness of it.

Of course, with no points in Marks then Tiger's Fury is a throw away skill as well. However, if you switch your attributes from WS to Marks and forego Troll Unguent, Tiger's Fury is a very nice addition to the build. Then, if you absolutely must have a self-heal you do always have Predatory Bond. It may not be as effective as Troll, but at least it allows you to spend your attribute points elsewhere.