Curse

Racthoh · Apr 05, 2007, 06:09 AM // 06:09

Looking at some of the changes soon, the potential for a beastmaster becomes very interesting. Decided to mess around on the Isle of the Nameless to see what pets are currently capable of doing (and then imagining what they will become).

Otyugh's Cry will obviously become a lot better since the pet can't be blocked and at 16 Beast Mastery can be cycled to maintained constantly. Brutal Weapon will become +25 damage, and with the length increase, can be maintained on the beast mastery and beast without energy issues.

Enraged Lunge is fueled to the +80 potential with ease. Call of Protection sits with a 90 second recharge, Call of Haste and Otyugh's Cry at 30. None of which can be stopped except by Well of Silence and Vocal Minority as they are classified as shouts. So basically you have your own little meat shield; 21 base damage reduction, soon to be +24 AL, and to top it all off attacks 25% faster with a 25% boost to its movement. And for kicks, every 5 seconds swings in the area of 120 damage that can't be blocked.

A zealous spear helps compensate the energy issue provided you have a target to hit reliably. PvE battles never extend too long; consider a 15^50 communing wand and slap a brutal weapon on yourself instead once these changes come into play.

EDIT: I forgot I fail at reading update notes and what Anet actually changes the skill to read ingame. In the update notes the max damage they list is based on a 15 spec whereas ingame when you mouse over a skill it shows the max as 12. Brutal Weapon is +22 @ 12, Otyugh's Cry is 26 seconds.

Arkantos · Apr 05, 2007, 06:12 AM // 06:12

Watched his pet destroy a warrior. Was quite interesting tbh.

Evilsod · Apr 05, 2007, 12:37 PM // 12:37

Ractoh in the Ranger section!? It must be a buff to Otyugh's Cry!

You'd struggle to keep that up with 4 expertise. Enraged Lunge can be spammed alot, and unless you keep the Calls/Cry recharging Enraged will do nothing, so its surprisingly energy heavy.

This is the sorta thing where Razah comes in use. He's already set up as a Splinter Weapon/Resto Rit, only takes another sup change to make him max Communing, then my 3 Dire Pets can come into play once more

Amy Awien · Apr 05, 2007, 01:35 PM // 13:35

Whooaah, am I missing out on something? .... what upcoming changes?

SnipiousMax · Apr 05, 2007, 01:52 PM // 13:52

Look at the Dev update towards the top of the Riverside Inn. It sounds like the Ranger Pet controls are being implemented soon. As good as that sounds, there is much bigger news... Otyugh's Cry will soon no longer be considered one of the worst skills in the game. In fact it's quite possible to be one of the more powerful ones.

Xenex Xclame · Apr 05, 2007, 01:54 PM // 13:54

This change :
Otyugh's Cry: changed to "For 10..25 seconds, all allied animal companions gain +24 armor and cannot be blocked."

And also possibly pet controls

@Racthoh : i hope that that is just to see what the pet can do and not really a build, cause from the skills, it seems like your just gonna stand there and do nothing.

malko050987 · Apr 05, 2007, 02:05 PM // 14:05

Well, that's what a Beastmaster does. ^_^ Sits there while the pet pwns the enemy ^_^

Can't wait for this update.

XvArchonvX · Apr 05, 2007, 02:44 PM // 14:44

Brutal Weapon on a BM build is an excellent idea Racthoh, but I think there might still be some energy issues to deal with in that build.

Who knows, maybe these skill buffs along with the new pet controls will be enough to make pets start making regular appearances in high end PvP.

King's Spectre · Apr 05, 2007, 03:44 PM // 15:44

Nice build! It would be easy to take BM or Com down a peg or two and boost Exp if energy was a problem. I strongly suspect that the "no block" aspect of Otyugh's Cry will be nerfed later on.

Racthoh · Apr 05, 2007, 09:58 PM // 21:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evilsod

You'd struggle to keep that up with 4 expertise. Enraged Lunge can be spammed alot, and unless you keep the Calls/Cry recharging Enraged will do nothing, so its surprisingly energy heavy.

For PvE use, the energy isn't so much of an issue as battles never extend too long any how. Call of Protection is basically a free +24 from Enraged, and is hardly an issue on the energy (4 energy every 90 seconds

). Call of Haste is the real energy drainer with the 10 cost; a zealous spear can only do so much. But again, it's PvE; if battles are taking an extended period of time you're probably in trouble anyhow. You can always focus swap to a +30/-2 energy set to use the skills, then back to a zealous spear/focii set to regen inbetween.

If energy does become an issue, a point or two off BM or Communing isn't going to be that noticeable. Perhaps a 16/10/9 (BM/Communing/Expertise) split would be best to reduce the energy costs to 3 and 6 respectively.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evilsod

This is the sorta thing where Razah comes in use. He's already set up as a Splinter Weapon/Resto Rit, only takes another sup change to make him max Communing, then my 3 Dire Pets can come into play once more

True, and with the duration of Brutal Weapon there is hardly any microing to worry about.

Quote:

@Racthoh : i hope that that is just to see what the pet can do and not really a build, cause from the skills, it seems like your just gonna stand there and do nothing.

Brutal Weapon yourself and wand; +2X damage with a 15^50 wand (assuming you aren't being hit with enchantments) is *okay* damage for just c + spacing.

lennymon · Apr 05, 2007, 10:30 PM // 22:30

oh, wait no longer... the update is hot, along with pet controls

Evilsod · Apr 06, 2007, 01:25 AM // 01:25

I suspect we'll be seeing alot more of Otyugh's Cry. I confused the hell outa a guildy in a Scrimmage earlier while testing it out when his Whirling Defences was completely ineffective vs an Enranged Lunge/Brutal Strike spamming pet w/ Disrupting Lunge.

Problem is it lacks a snare, Maiming Strike can only do so much, even if it is unblockable.

Thats also the other reason i think you'd be far better off bringing this on a Rit ally. Leaves you open to spam Brutal Strike in between for a +37/74 attack.

I'm considering saying that an Order Necro is really out of business now. If you think about it.
These Weapon skills last an extremely long time, while only single target, they do alot more damage, which is almost unconditional. B/P teams run with almost 0 enchantments outside of the Order necro if the monk doesn't take Vig Spirit, if a Ranger brought along Judges Insight/Heart of Holy Flame the 'holy' damage would bypass the Order anyway so changes nothing.
The recharge time can be sorted out by using things like Weapon of Quickening on yourself. This only takes us 2 skill slots, isn't exactly spammed been as theres a 10s recharge even with WoQ and lets you run spirits on top of that (offensive or defensive).

eggs0wn · Apr 06, 2007, 03:00 AM // 03:00

I just hit a 153 on the 60 AL Suit of Armor. I had 16BM/10Com/9Exp. Nice build. Enraged Lounge is FTW!

-Hopes Pets don't get nerfed-

XvArchonvX · Apr 06, 2007, 04:30 AM // 04:30

I've ran this build now since the update has been released a bit and I'm quite impressed. I did however bump Expertise up to 8 at the expense of Communing for a more stable energy control.

eggs0wn · Apr 06, 2007, 12:28 PM // 12:28

Only bad part is no self defense. I'm considering putting Whirling Defense in for Comfort Animal. No one ever seems to attack my pet so a Heal/Res is not need.

Evilsod · Apr 06, 2007, 12:33 PM // 12:33

Pet builds 'very' rarely have defence. The best you can do is Predatory Bond, taking out points into Wilderness makes you much less effective.
By sods law the moment you take out your pet res, your pet will die very quickly. I guess you could maybe let it slide in AB since the pet is ressed when you die anyway.

Amy Awien · Apr 06, 2007, 01:44 PM // 13:44

Woot, I've just seen the update news. Haven't been on for nearly a week, but that'll change very, very soon

Wolydarg · Apr 06, 2007, 02:50 PM // 14:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evilsod

By sods law the moment you take out your pet res, your pet will die very quickly.

Murphy's got nothing on you.

It's been far too long that my pet's been collecting dust. For PvP, though, are the beast master builds strong enough to warrant taking a Beast Master who can accumulate DP on 2 'characters' over pressure such as a Dragon Slash war?

Evilsod · Apr 06, 2007, 03:44 PM // 15:44

I was messing around in the hero arena with this. Its a shit place... there no point fighting it out because you can't dp your opponent, its a complete waste of time.

Anyway, major weakness is Prot Spirit. RoF can often be stopped by your 3 damage spear hit, ZB is neutralized very quickly and can often be spam interrupted once they get below 50% health. Straight healing goes nowhere. Its all down to prot spirit, moment that goes up you can't do jack.