Curse

denshuu · Mar 31, 2006, 02:45 AM // 02:45

I tossed these together while looking through some of the new skills in the GWFreaks update, though I never got around to testing any of these over the FPE. But, since I have a habit of sneaking hammer R/Ws into just about everything, I'm sure it'll get plenty of playtesting on the 27th. Anything anyone'd like to add would rock the boat docks.

12 Beast Mastery (+3, +1)
12 Hammer Mastery
11 Expertise (+1)
195/200

Bestial/Tiger's Fury
Backbreaker
Crushing Blow
Bestial Mauling
Irresistable Blow
Run As One
Charm Animal
Res Sig

There are two things I love about this build. Firstly, Run As One is more than a welcome addition, giving both you and your pet a 25% speed increase for 13 seconds. Dodge/Zojun's Haste (which annoyingly ends after you attack) and non-BM/Expertise skills no longer have to be used to catch running foes, which wins all my internets.

Secondly, the new Bestial Mauling skill looks like it was made specifically for thumpers ("Your animal companion attempts a bestial mauling that deals +17 damage. If the attack strikes a knocked down foe, that foe is dazed for 17 seconds."). With your hammer swinging IB and CB every second, this translates to an insta-cancel to any spell your target attempts to cast that has a casting time greater than half a second (As an aside, I can see this skill pissing off boatloads of casters when Beastmasters start carrying both Savage Pounce and Bestial Pounce).

The rest of the skills are standard fair. A constant Bestial/Tiger's Fury, continual use of IB and CB, with Backbreaker for a nice 4 second knockdown.

Did anyone get a chance to run a thumper build during the FPE? I'm seeing lots of new hammer skills that make use of Weakness (Forceful Blow, Fierce Blow, Auspicious Blow, etc.) but can't find many places where they'd be more useful in the hands of a ranger than a warrior.