Update to top 10 list (9/10/04)...

[Tastian]

1) Weapon skill caps – Currently the difference in skill caps does very little as far as beastlord power is concerned. However, it has a very negative effect on weapon selection. HtH weapons are quite rare and if you look at the case of PoP progression you see Battle fists on TZ, pet weapon in fire, followed by wraps on Xegony, then shinai in time. That's it. Now a beastlord who is duel wielding needs two weapons and like most weapons all of these are lore. What happens is you have Beastlords looking to other weapon types such as 1hb and piercing. The problem becomes a weapon that is a clear upgrade for another class might actually be a downgrade for a beastlord. HtH weapons will always be highly desired by Beastlords because of the quality of the weapon.  Having 1hb/piercing and 2hb capped the same would simply allow Beastlords to help fill the gaps at times when hth weapons simply aren't available. Also it would make most upgrades much more intuitive. Other classes don't have to ask around before going from a 17 on 20 to an 18 on 20.



2 hand blunt and 1 hand blunt skill cap will be raised to 250 with the 9/14 update


2) Pet buff box – The recent changes to pets have been wonderful and I think it's safe to say all pet classes are very happy with the changes. What most of us were wondering is if it's possible to have the pet buffs display their remaining time and to also be able to click off pet buffs like we do our own buffs.



Situations where this would be very useful -

   *
     Pet haste is a very important buff, but it has a big refresh timer when you first memorize it. If it fades during a fight the beastlord will be in a much harder situation. Spell slots are already pretty limited as it is and not everyone has half a dozen egg timers around to keep up with pet haste, fero, haste, regen, etc.
   *
     Hobble of spirit and other buffs that once they land on the pet you can't get rid of them or overwrite. When a paladin lands Brells on the pet there is no way to get vigor on the pet for the extra attack outside of waiting for Brells to fade or dispelling the pet down to the buff you are after. With all the ninja buffing going on, pet affinity and now pets zoning it's simply become more and more common to find a buff on your pet that you simply don't want or that is blocking something you do want from taking hold.  

Discussions on hold until after the Omens of War Launch


3) Agro issues – This is a big beastlord issue that a lot of people don't quite understand. Beastlords are ok with getting agro from high agro spells such as slow and incapacitate. Beastlords are also ok with getting agro when they are simply putting out more damage or doing things that obviously should draw the mob's attention. The problems with beastlord agro become clear in raid situations and many grouping situations though. What you'll have is the beastlord operating in a total DPS role. By that I mean the beastlord isn't on slow duty or de-buffing the mob, but rather is just contributing damage via melee/nukes/dots. In this situation a beastlord is generating far more agro for the damage they are doing than most if not all other classes.  Again the problem isn't when a beastlord is doing 200dps and they get agro over someone doing 150dps.  Rather you have situations where a beastlord is actually doing less damage than many other classes, they haven't de-buffed the mob or done anything else to generate agro, yet they are the ones that pull agro off the MT or get summoned and killed first on tank changes. Some would say that the beastlord simply has to do less damage or watch their agro with that tank.  However, this same tank that can't keep agro off the beastlord doing X damage is successfully keeping agro off the wizard doing X+100 damage or the rogue doing X

+ 50 damage, etc.

Discussions on hold until after the Omens of War Launch


4) Improve pet heals –

Currently healing of Sorsha (62 beastlord heal) is all but unusable by Beastlords. The spell sees some use as the beastlord levels up, but as the beastlord progresses the spell gets used less and less. The main problem with the heal is its 9 second casting time. In almost any situation a beastlord would find themselves wanting to cast a heal on their pet 9 seconds is just far too long to wait. As such many Beastlords simply don't memorize the spell at all.

Currently being evaluated


5) Feral swipe -
Feral swipe is an AA that has a lot of potential, but unfortunately suffers from several issues. The first problem with feral swipe is that its current DPS boost is very minor. In even the best of situations the skill does notably less damage than kick does. The skill being on a one minute refresh is very streaky and it's not unheard of to go 15 minutes without having a single feral swipe land.  Also the AA still has a small range issue. The range was increased once, but it wasn't quite enough. There are still monsters that you can melee, but you can't land your feral swipes on. Spacing is extremely important in these cases and as such feral swipe becomes completely useless. Finally, feral swipe takes up yet another hot key space that is getting to be in almost as much demand as spell gem spaces. When a beastlord has pet controls, kick, prot spirit, possibly spells and macros along with other AAs in their hot key bank they simply don't have room to add another button. I know several Beastlords that haven't purchased this skill simply because they have no room to actually activate it well playing.

Currently being evaluated


6) Pet run speed –

This is mainly an issue indoors, but what happens is you have Beastlords with various ranks of AA run speed and swift journey that leads to the pet simply getting left behind sometimes or taking awhile to catch up.

Currently being evaluated


7) Pet spam -

This is an issue for all pet users, but one that could really use some looking into.  Currently messages for "backing off" and "holding" are done in /say and with a couple pet classes present the spam quickly becomes annoying.  Another pet spam issue is that of bard songs + pet affinity.  If a beastlord (or any pet class) has a bard in their group they will constantly get "fade" messages from the songs the bard is singing.



Proposed solution:

   * Change the pet messages to be "tells" to the pet owner and allow filters to turn these on and off as the owner sees fit or atleast put them into a different window if they so choose.
   * Allow a toggle to turn filter out spells fading off he pet.  Make it so short duration "buffs" such as bard songs don't give a message when they fade.

This item will be looked into after the Omens of War Launch


9-1) Hobble of spirits –

This AA has very few uses - First of all the proc buff overwrites relic, but you can't overwrite hobble back again. This would be a non-issue if #2 from above were done, currently though being locked into hobble and losing your other proc for its duration is a problem. Also hobble doesn't stack with relic. The beastlord gives up a lot of damage and a stun to get a semi-reliable snare currently.

Currently being evaluated


9) Tureptan Spirit –

This spell is the result of the KT rune turns in for Beastlords in Gates. The spell is a copy of our level 61 spell "infusion of spirit", but hits the entire group instead of a single player. The main issue with this spell is that by the time almost every beastlord can acquire it they simply don't need it. The spell was something lower level Beastlords had requested, but for where the spell comes from it has almost no use. Beastlords simply want this looked into and made into something that is at least worth looting the rune for.

Tureptan Spirit is being changed to a heal with the 9/14 update


10)  Warder names -

This is actually a two fold issue.  Some Beastlords want the ability to name their warder as their warder is a close friend and life long companion.  Another issue with the current warder names is that it creates issues with targeting.  If you use /tar you are likely to get the Beastlord's warder and not the beastlord.  This can lead to issue with buffs and heals.

Proposed solutions:

   * Allow beastlord warders to be named upon reaching a certain level; similar to how surnames work.
   * Make it easier for players to properly /tar the beastlord or their warder

This item will be looked into after the Omens of War Launch

[Rhaynne]

I know piercing was upped to 250 on test too, or at least heard it was.  Is that going to not be the case on live now?

[Lheo]

a lvl 70 bst will have all weaponskills raised to 270, piercing too.. :D

[bham]

If Omens spells stay as they are, then they should be somewhere on the top ten list, possibly quite high up.

My main is a 65 beastlord, about to ding 66. I also box a mage, cleric and wizard. Having looked at the spells for these classes I can tell you that, despite being my main, my beastlord will be last to get any spell runes I find except for level 68 ones.

Bham has always been my prioirty for anything I do in EQ. This will continue to be the case, but with Omens spells the way they are now, the best thing I can do for Bham is to get the new spells first for the toons that support him.

Right now mages get their 2 most commonly used pets, the air and water ones, at 66 and 67 respectivel. We get our first warder upgrade at 68. I dont want to see mages nerfed, my mage is my second toon. But I dont want to see beastlord warders fall further behind mage pets either.

[Tastian]

hehe I think it's a pretty safe bet that omens spells will be on the list.  8P

[Rhulan]

Hi everyone...First time posting here...from what I see the whole 10 list become a fix OOW issue. At first it looked like it was going to be a good expansion, but Beastlords just got the shaft. Hopefully SOE will wake up and get things fixed.

On a side note, since this my first time posting I'd like to say THANKS to Tastian. Been reading for a while and from what I can see you're doing a great job. Thanks.

[Graace]

HAHA make each of the spells we hate as a number in the top ten, and make Paragon the #1.

[Rhulan]

LOL...I think that would equate to a top 13. Although not too impressed with placement of the pet spells I do want them as I'm sure most beastlords do.

[Deathclaw]

HAHA make each of the spells we hate as a number in the top ten, and make Paragon the #1.

we can only have 10 things - if we did that, only 2/3 would be on the list....