Curse

TwinRaven · Jul 21, 2006, 03:15 AM // 03:15

Building around a pet is a tricky thing. High Beastmastery gives you plenty of options to choose from and takes some getting used to. You have to consider the pet as an extension of the character and as a weapon. While there are a few builds out there (i.e. Guildwiki and Guildwars Guru have limited postings) I thought I'd give it a shot and see what I could come up with. This is a build primarily used in my faction farming activities in either Alliance Battles or at Fort Aspenwood but has its uses in farming or running with henchies. (be cautioned: it leaves no room for Res Sig so make neccessary adjustments before playing with friends).

Attributes:

Beast Mastery 15 (11+3+1)
Expertise 9 (8+1)
Wilderness Survival 10 (9+1)
Marksmanship 9 (8+1)

Skills:

Troll Ungent: cost 5/ cast 3 / recharge 10
Call of Haste: cost 10 / cast 0 / recharge 25
Feral Lunge : cost 5 / cast 0/ recharge 10
Poisonous Bite: cost 5 / cast 0 / recharge 7
Disrupting Lunge: cost 5/ cast 0/ recharge 5
Enraged Lunge {E}: cost 5/ cast 0/ recharge 5
Comfort Animal: cost 10 / cast 0 / recharge 1
Charm Animal

Gear:

Druids armor with all minor runes except the Superior for Beast Mastery and Tamer's Mask. I have a staff I used for trapping (Fires in the East reward) for when energy runs low, otherwise I use the +5 energy longbow from Factioons end-game crafter....expensive(10k + materials), but modable (unlike greens i.e. Rotwing). I use barbed string and Defensive grip (mostly use it for the +5 energy and longbow range).

Technique: Assume Beast Mastery at 15...

Other than Troll Ungent, skills are pretty much in order of use: Call of Haste for the speed boost (a MUST for any pet build)...Even if your target isn't moving Feral Lunge hits a pretty +35 damage...if they are moving, they bleed for 20 seconds. If they are bleeding, poisonous bite gets the degen from conditions doubled up nicely (also 20 seconds). At this point, depending on the aggresion level of your target, they may go for a core healing or attack skill...pop them with Disrupting Lunge (with practice, this can be timed to hit with regularity). Whatever skill they were going to use is interrupted and disabled for an additional 20 seconds....having at least 4 recharging BM skills at this point, use Enraged Lunge for heavy hit...I typically spam Disrupting Lunge and Enraged Lunge to force them into healing and then disabling the healing (and some attacks) for those few precious seconds (20) while the bleeding and poison (spammed) take their toll.

Having a longbow in hand is REQUIRED for its tremendous range. You can hit an NPC (in the case of Aspenwood, for example) without stirring aggro against yourself while your pet does the dirty work with you pegging a few support points of damage upon your foes(average about 15 per hit +/-). It terms of APCs (Actual Player Characters), they are often hard-pressed to associate you with the pet and the damage it is doing if you are standing far away from the fight...a longbow (or possibly a flatbow) helps to keep you away from the fray. The damage you do seems negligable but it is how your pet knows what to attack (some folks are comfortable with no points in Marksmanship and the extra in expertise or BM....personally, I like to feel a little useful...I have killed folks off with my bow after my pet died...besides 15 damage every 2.4 seconds can add up.

The "Debatables":

Because Enraged Lunge requires at least 3 other BM skills to be recharging for full effect, I arrange my skill bar according to recharge time and skill use. Many pet builds go for bigger damage over a shorter period of time, using higher cost skills. Brutal Strike is a common one that deals +70 damage if your enemy is below 50% health...it has a nice, short recharge time of 5 seconds, but costs twice the mana of Enraged Lunge...other favorites include Scavenger Strike for added damage if your foe is suffering a condition...again, though, it costs 10 mana. Also, Predator Pounce is used because of the +35 damage and +50 health gained by your pet if it hits (at BM 15). While the math works out for bigger damage per mana, the math also assumes each skill hits....go against a warrior or ranger in a protective stance, and you waste quite a bit of mana on "whiffs"...also, using more than one of these "big damage" skills means you run the risk of not having enough skills recharging for Enraged Lunge to work to its maximum potential because of the 5 second recharge times.

Many builds will promote Call of Protection to keep your pet alive longer as it reduces base damage by 14 (at 15 BM) and will also suggest that it is better to use Predatory Bond for healing. One of the reasons for this is to maximize the effect of Enraged Lunge by having the long recharge times (Enraged Lunge gives +23 damage for each recharging BM skill up to +80 damage). Reguarding CoP: I find that in spite of the base damage reduction, my pet dies at nearly the same rate when set upon by conditions, hexes or a very persistant Warrior, so I opt NOT to use it. As for those who suggest putting 16 points into BM, using Predatory Bond for healing and skipping Troll Ungent...I've seen the math...It IS true that at BM of 16 you theorecically get more healing per mana spent over a shorter period of time....math does not always meet up with practicality. It has a 30 second recharge time and only gives you 20 seconds of healing provided you pet does not die and attacks continually for the duration. If you kill your enemy and your pet is running to the next target, you have NO healing going on. With Troll Ungent(+8 regen at 10 Wilderness Survival), you have more controll over the timing of your healing and consistency over time. Less theoretical healing, more practical use.

Variations:

Other than the variables mentioned above (which I have chosen NOT to use in my build) there are a couple worth exploring, depending on your needs and/or favored targets. While what I have constructed works well as a general target build, an anti-caster build can be made by substituting the conditions causing skills with Bestial Pounce and bestial Mauling...a knock-down and daze combo if you can time it right...Pounce makes a good backup to bestial pounce if the target it moving...good against warriors and other non-casters...Maiming Strike is also a lot of fun....cripple them, then use pounce to knock them down while they limp away...then Bestial Mauling for the 20 second Daze...then use Enraged Lunge...Can be VERY effective...IF the timing is right. This is a challenge in the heavily populated areas as you can't clearly see a knockdown and may waste your Mauling.

Weaknesses:

The biggest weakness is self-preservation. Even with a very nice regen of +8, enough hexes and conditions with no means to cast them off makes for trouble. Antidote signet, or plague touch (if necro secondary) in place of a lesser skill (maybe poisonous bite) can add some relief. Adding a stance may help as well, but every skill you subtract from your pet and give to your character, reduces the effective damage output.

An assumed weakness is the recharging skills as penalty to pet death...at higher Beast Mastery, the recharge times are nearly immidiate and not often an issue.

Summation:

I have run this specific build for the past three weeks and tried several variations. I find the low cost skills combined with the just long enough recharge times for use with Enraged Lunge ideal. Keeping back from the battle and having my pet take the tanking damage while I call targets has been a hoot. Assassins HATE my pet, and warriors are amazed when they can't out-tank my pet....casters run in abject terror (caster reaction overstated for dramatic effect)...I have got into Random Areanas and done 10 flawless in a row once and 10 mixed wins in a row 3 times (once with another beastmaster and 2 monks...VERY nice.

Any suggestions or questions not addressed already are greatly appreciated...arguments over the debatables will be tolerated, but not likely debated by me...I understand the damage ouput within the rigid confines of mathematics and understand that theoretically, I can do up to somewhere in the neighborhood of 15% more damage....however...this build suits my style and I like the lowcost skills....and my favorite part: It kills Touch Rangers (which I love to play and hate to face). The degen at a distance and the interruption and 20 seconds added to recharge of skills (especially Vampiric Bite and Touch) makes them drop right quick...I use this build to counter arguments that Touchers are overpowered....mostly by pointing out that if my pet can kill a Touch Ranger and you can't....ummmm...rethink your build.

Shantel Span · Jul 21, 2006, 12:23 PM // 12:23

With the upcoming pet nerf (pets getting DP now) you MUST be able to keep your pet alive - sometimes he's stupid and doesn't pull out. Call of Protection and Symbiotic Bond never leave my bar.

Amy Awien · Jul 21, 2006, 03:13 PM // 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwinRaven

... Predator Pounce is used because of the +35 damage and +50 health gained by your pet if it hits (at BM 15). While the math works out for bigger damage per mana, the math also assumes each skill hits....

That argument would apply to all attack skills, Feral Lunge and Poisonous Bite suffer as much from defensive stances as Predators Pounce. PP is still a high damage bonus and health recovery in a single skill at a mare 5energy. It can perhaps not be depended on for health due to defensive measures, but it helps. Favoring conditions or interrupts above immidiate damage and health is fine, but it is a choice and not a neccesity.

Quote:

...also, using more than one of these "big damage" skills means you run the risk of not having enough skills recharging for Enraged Lunge to work to its maximum potential because of the 5 second recharge times.

That is where CoP comes in so handy :P Two buffs (CoP + CoH), one attack and EL is fuelled

It's just a bit odd to favor one skill over another because it has a longer recharge :S but it could just work here?

Damage over Time works better when Fluffies dinner lives long enough, most PvE critters however are somewhat disappointing in this respect. I'd think your build has better use in PvP then in PvE?

TwinRaven · Jul 21, 2006, 05:36 PM // 17:36

Quote:

With the upcoming pet nerf (pets getting DP now) you MUST be able to keep your pet alive - sometimes he's stupid and doesn't pull out. Call of Protection and Symbiotic Bond never leave my bar.

Pet nerf? Dammit. Seems that's the third time I've started to enjoy something to have it made less than what it was intended to be. DP on pets after a YEAR of playing....just stupid *sighs* I guess it's time to take my own advice and rethink my build...sheesh.

As for Amy Awien's points: I think my favoring degen (-7 with bleeding AND poison) is the panic factor....a negative degen for 20 seconds, if not cast off seems to inspire folks to hit healing skills, which I like to interrupt....then spam Disrupting Lunge and Enraged Lunge...interrupt/100+damage/interrupt/etc. Whith the conditions, it is especially effective against touch rangers and assassins...but I'm starting to see (in light of the new nerf) that doing strain damage with Predators Pounce for the healing...and other pet protection skills, may become more of a neccessity.

As for CoP...I just never minded my pet dropping dead since comfort animal is so effective at high BM and recharge of skills at pet death is so short. Again, though, I'm going to have to rethink this.

I've used the build in PvP (mostly Aspenwood an AB) but have had fun running it through Maguuma Jungle and running through the Crystal Dessert to finish Mesmer's Path (to just get it off of my quest log). So, PvP vs PvE...I'd say it favors PvP, but I've used it successfully in both.

The whole idea for the build was to have an effective Beast Master build that relied mostly on the pet for attacks rather than as just a meatsheild...kills effectively while keeping the ranger out of the fray...hmmmm...first ANet gets rid of the "pre-training" for pets, now a DP? Sh*t...

Jenosavel · Jul 22, 2006, 12:25 PM // 12:25

I'd just like to point out that this build could drop Wilderness Survival and Troll Unguent all together, since there's already a self-heal under beastmastery, and its a self-heal that will contribute to your Enraged Lunge's damage.

Maybe drop the points into expertise for some added endurance.

TwinRaven · Jul 23, 2006, 07:32 AM // 07:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jenosavel

I'd just like to point out that this build could drop Wilderness Survival and Troll Unguent all together, since there's already a self-heal under beastmastery, and its a self-heal that will contribute to your Enraged Lunge's damage.

Maybe drop the points into expertise for some added endurance.

ADDRESSED THIS:

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwinRaven

As for those who suggest putting 16 points into BM, using Predatory Bond for healing and skipping Troll Ungent...I've seen the math...It IS true that at BM of 16 you theorecically get more healing per mana spent over a shorter period of time....math does not always meet up with practicality. It has a 30 second recharge time and only gives you 20 seconds of healing provided you pet does not die and attacks continually for the duration. If you kill your enemy and your pet is running to the next target, you have NO healing going on. With Troll Ungent(+8 regen at 10 Wilderness Survival), you have more controll over the timing of your healing and consistency over time. Less theoretical healing, more practical use.

I know it's a long post and the details are easy to miss....as for contributing to the damage of Enraged Lunge, the recharge times for the damage dealing skills still allow for it and cause a -7 degen.