Khauruk's attempt to fix beastlords

[Khauruk]

I've asked Chanaluss to bring the below quoted material before the developers.  It's my attempt, feel free to make your own.

I don't want to go another expansion broken, especially when the next might be the last.

Current state of the Beastlord:

Note:  This is about fixing beastlords, not just things we'd generally like to see in the next expansion.  A couple high points there though:  Imbued Ferocity, upgrade Frenzy of Spirits to be useful, attack command for swarm pets (like every other class who gets them), combination of some abilitities (http://beastlords.org/index.php?topic=8754.0), new pet models (use existing ones even...DoD cat model, etc), track would be nice in some form, etc.


We are a pointless class in the higher end game.  Poor burn dps, mostly useless buffs (SE line being useful but not necessary for anything), and poor debuffing ability. Good sustained dps makes use useful in a group scenario, but the other problems all still hold.  Poor damage taking ability, useless healing, and very little utility.  Many guilds make no use of Focused Paragon or group Paragon AAs, since their high guild dps renders them unnecessary.  One top tier guild even has no beastlords on their roster, and isn't missing them.

Many high end beasts have mainchanged, even from top end guilds lately.  Many have retired.  I also don't think I've seen a class that is so poorly represented among alternate characters.

I've discussed problems with our current spell line-up here: http://beastlords.org/index.php?topic=8747.msg93217#msg93217 and the entire thread http://beastlords.org/index.php?topic=8747.0 and http://beastlords.org/index.php?topic=8722.0 deal with spell issues.  Our pets have improved somewhat defensively last expansion, but their dps is still far lower than is reasonable.  Our pet's melee dps now is lower than a Shadowknights, even with AAs and pet focus.  They are only 10-15% of non-burn dps for a higher end grouper.


So...what would help?

More utility and more dps, or more dps.

DPS version - Almost every class that out-dpses us has higher demand utility, so our current utility is not a viable reason to not upgrade our dps.  Monks have better CC, tanking, and can pull.  Rangers can tank, CC, pull, cure better, weaponshield, ranged dps.  Rogues can pull and can use poisons to accomplish many niche tricks (and still tank better from what I've seen in my guild).  Slow is an invalid reason to stagnate our dps - this isn't PoP.

If our utility does not get upgraded in any substantial fashion with House of Thule, our dps needs to be substantially boosted.  We should *significantly* out-dps monks and rangers in every normal burn and sustained situation.  We should be very close behind rogues.  The only situation that we should be out-dpsed by a ranger is when we are forced to play ranged dps.

I don't think any of use care where these numbers come from.  Melee, spell, or solid pet would work.  But, they *need* to happen.  See http://beastlords.org/index.php?topic=8750.0 for burst dps ideas (though these focus on AAs only)

Utility version - Our utility right now is very poor.  We can't offtank or CC at all (not even effectively with pets).  Our paragon, though upgraded, is not used by many in the raiding game due to lack of need (focused paragon upgrades are at 6mana/tick now anyways, which is miserable).  Two of our three main buffs are only taken when nobody else is around.  Our third is one which, while nice, has never been missed.  Slow mitigation and mercenaries have rendered slow unnecessary, and our small attack debuff is from an AA which cannot be kept on a mob consistently (Raven's Claw AA).  Our cripple line spell is a level 41 shaman spell.  Our attributed dps has fallen regularly - Ferocity spell is useless, and has been for at least the last six expansions.  Our group-dps AA was detuned several times during betas and rests at 30% melee dps boost.  This is hugely less useful than the version which rangers got at the time (Group Guardian of the Wolf - attack increase, 26% melee boost and 15% overhaste, medium HoT), and is often simply useless due to conflicts with other classes disciplines.

Utility upgrades:
   Offtanking/CC - Make a new basilisk swarm pet spell which pops the pet in the direction we're facing but 20' away.  The spell should require a mob to be targetted, and the basilisk would summon that mob to it and hold it stunned for some time (alternately, basilisk has huge HPs/mitigation so it can OT the mob w/o heals for 90 seconds or so).  Alternately, this would be a proc on our pet (10000% proc rate) which would glue the mob to it's side like the enchanter spell Compliant Lurch, and we can then reposition our pet using our Companion's Relocation AA.  This would need to result in similarly large mitigation so constant healing isn't needed for our pets.  This needs to be able to be used regularly, and not hampered by a long recast timer.

   Buffing - http://beastlords.org/index.php?topic=8747.msg93217#msg93217 has a few ideas for what to do with our buffs, or at least specific problems we have with them.

*Suggestion: make our spiritual HP line (doesn't stack w/ Brell's or ranger STR line) have a beneficial effect for spell casting.  This will carve out a niche for it, and make it useful for at least some classes.
*Suggestion - fix group haste in a way that's acceptable to the class, preferably by implementing http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=9018&source=Live

   Debuffing - You have been very resistant to giving us any debuffs to help our slows land, faster re-casting slows, or slows with better resist checks and/or duration.  We also have not received any of the slow-type upgrades which shammies have (AA cast, Lassitude line of defensive proc, etc), or any of the things which enc have to help it (stuns, tash).  Our pet-cast slow helps to relieve a couple issues, but doesn't go very far.  Slow mitigation combined with mercenaries have rendered slow a very small part of the game now.  So, we need a debuffing boost.  I'd love to see an attack debuff line of at least 250 or 300 attack (larger than Hand of Ro and current ice debuff line from druids combined).  Alternately, Beastlords should be the kings of cripples, and receive a cripple line which makes a very significant dent in mob dps...at least triple the strength of Fragmented Consciousness (enc cripple), and possibly even stronger, depending on actual results.  This should be on a poison or disease resist with a decent lure component (and one we can improve via our Focus of Animus AA line).

   Attributable DPS - if we don't have the dps ourselves, we should have our attributable dps role returned to us.  Group Bestial alignment should work in a fashion which stacks with primary dps disciplines for melee classes, and which complements current (bard, ranger, zerker, shaman) melee boosters.  I think Skill Damage Amount (xx) ability would work nicely as an upgrade to it, and allow for easy tuning by developers.  Alternately, GBA should be changed to a large spell damage discipline which we can put on a caster dps group (needs to be targettable to them, otherwise we need more dps boosts to supplement for our not having a chance at melee dps groups ever again).  Ferocity needs to be fixed - there's a thread that has started http://beastlords.org/index.php?topic=8760.0

   Healing - Our heals suck nowadays.  we should be given the Imbued Ferocity AA to help with self healing as a burst self-healing ability.  We also need some form of improved heal for this portion of our utility to have any meaning.

   Something new - without superseding another classes utility role, I don't think there is a compelling niche which beastlords can move into in Everquest.  So, one would need to be made, as the above probably still won't make people want a beastlord.  I don't have any ideas on this yet which wouldn't fall under the role of expansion gimmick, but will provide some as I am able.

Thank you for reading this.  Please enterntain these suggestions.  Even though they are a large jump from the current state of beastlords, they are all reasonable and thought out.  Beastlords are simply in need of a massive revamp now.

If you wish to discuss anything, you can get ahold of me in-game on Luclin.Khauruk, at beastlords.org forums (username Khauruk).

[Sikkem]

Good luck and thanks for your efforts.

[Brane]

attack command for swarm pets (like every other class who gets them)

:?

Not sure what you mean with that? Swarm pet AA?

[Khauruk]

primary intent is for our Yowl Pet, but swarms would be nice also.  Right now we cannot redirect their attack if their target is mezzed, or they die.  I think every beast and mage would love to have that ability, and we have been asking devs to code it for a while.

[Hamtarro]

Khauruk, to fix our tanking (IMO), see if they won't return beastlords to the AC table of monks/rangers. There really isn't any reason for us to be on te rogue/berserker table since we aren't a pure dps class. That would "fix" our offtanking and seems like it'd be a pretty easy change to implement.

[Catnip_Inny]

GL and i REALLY hope something comes of it, itd be nice to be the class we should be for a change :)

[Karve]

Good job Khauruk, I do hope the devs will take notice, we so need a bif revamp now. Reading the class description at login is just so far away from where we are now its a joke.

[nedoirah]

I'm at my end. If this doesn't work then I'll more than likely mainchange to my shaman. Lately I've been playing my shaman more than my bst. on that note I've been windowing to my shaman to debuff and heal and simply been leaving my bst on auto-attack. Once he gets a few more aa he'll probably end up dps-ing as well.

Pets: My pet only lives because I control her so well. hp, defensives, attack, and so forth... all suck.

Spells: buffs are a joke, dps spells are below par, debuffs... why bother?

Utility: I used to be an avid paragon user, now it barely helps with current content. I still use it on raids to help get casters back in the raid after a rez. rarely.

DPS: I recently had been parsed on a raid fight and even with everything mashed and kept mashed... I only parsed at just below 3k. (my hands hurt so bad after that... i had to take a 5 min break and give them a good rubbing)

I hope you can get us seriously fixed. I don't want to mainchange and start all over again with a new class (ok not so new). Fortunately with the groups and guilds I play with, I'm considered dps mainly and I can hold my own. So DPS role is fine with me but I would like to see us get better utility. I used to see myself more as a utility bst than anything. But that was years ago.

[Khauruk]

I'm hoping that somebody wants to trade me a ranger or enchanter for by bst or sk, honestly, or that I can find one cheap (I don't have enough time really to get one up where I want it).  Barring that, I am slowly levelling/AAing a ranger which I hope will be decent enough to raid w/ by the time beta starts, and I'll switch based upon what I see in beta (or not).  Pretty sad, but /shrug.

[Grbage]

I'm hoping that somebody wants to trade me a ranger or enchanter for by bst or sk, honestly, or that I can find one cheap (I don't have enough time really to get one up where I want it).  Barring that, I am slowly levelling/AAing a ranger which I hope will be decent enough to raid w/ by the time beta starts, and I'll switch based upon what I see in beta (or not).  Pretty sad, but /shrug.

Luckily I kept my original main (warrior) at max level through the years so all I had to do was add gear and aa's when I made the switch. I keep hoping they revive bst, if they do I'll make the switch back again.

[Caurion]

Thanks for going to bat for us Khauruk!  I have been pretty miserable in UF with the current state of the bst class. If the HoT expansion doesn't boost us in any direction ( I could care less if we focus on dps or utility) as long as we get a significant boost and become a valuable class again in both the group and raid game.

[Sikkem]

Working on a wizard and a rogue atm to see what one I like best when the time comes.

Hopefully it wont.

[Hzath]

I support you on your crusade Khauruk.  If there's anything I can do to help let me know.  I parse literally EVERYTHING, and if it's for the good of the class I'm more than willing to share anything you need from the high end.

[Hamtarro]

Are you guys not the only beastlords in your guilds or something? I have been for the entire year, I don't see a main change being viable for a while haha.

[nedoirah]

I am pretty much the only bst in my guild currently. Some play them as alts but no one is a bst main. Same goes for my last guild too. I think it's been that way since before SoF.