(edited by Adrian Guardian.9480)
Nature magic specialization
Supportive Bunker build.
Pretty much that.
“Observe, learn and counter.”
Its still going to be very good for Beastmaster builds as Fortifying Bond is there (and there’s also an Adept Trait for a pet stat boost, for some reason).
Also, depending on what they do with spirits it will still be useful for spirit builds, provided spirits themselves aren’t nerfed too badly.
Stock standard Frost Spotter will still use NM for Fortifying Bond too, you just get to pick up Strider’s Defense and Protective Ward at the same time.
Stock standard Frost Spotter will still use NM for Fortifying Bond too, you just get to pick up Strider’s Defense and Protective Ward at the same time.
In the frostspotter thread that popped up after the reveal, I saw people were preferring WS (for Peak Strength) or BM (for Zephyr’s Speed) over NM.
Peak Strength is nice, assuming you stay above 90%, but Fortifying Bond is the only trait really needed for pets because of the fury/might stacking and it adds a lot more damage than ZS.
I believe…
… That Frost Spirit doesn’t force you to invest for it if you think of using it for PvE only.
The 70% chance is baseline, and the passive benefits are going to be improved (as a compensation of being stationary).
Nature Magic for PvE provides nothing in terms of DPS boost apart from buffing your pet (that can be achieved much easier through Beast Mastery).
“Observe, learn and counter.”
Well, that is good to know, can you point me to the trait that provides 25×10s might stacks to the pet, in seconds, in the BM line? That is why Fortifying Bond is better. You also get Bountiful Hunter, which will be, say, 5% damage for both you and pet. Or you can take Nature’s Wrath for additional pet stats. Sure, you miss out on 30% crit damage, but your pet getting fury/might etc outweighs that, especially if you are using drakes or the such. Protective Ward will also be invaluable for keeping your pet alive and doing damage.
I think the baseline for Spirits is actually 75%, so a touch better. According to Dulfy anyway.
I cannot, but I’d appreciate if you could point me to one in NM.
I see your point, but half of it is inaccurate. 1st of all – that is the only DPS increasing trait. And it affects only the 30% of your total DPS.
BM trait line will provide your pet with might on each of your crit (roughly 10 uptime), provides both you and your pet with Quickness on swap (that you’ll need to use anyways, pets die quickly) in which scenario you’ll regain the Might on your pet faster unlike from NM where after swapping your pet is flat (Might is not blast on cooldown, but rather strategically to avoid overcapping).
Also, you can also take an almost permanent Weakness trait even in BM. Or you can make your pet live longer. While the trait is as it stands, the Protective ward only affects the ranger (and pet gets only 2-3 seconds of protection).
BM provides better pet DPS overall. Through higher uptime on a moving target (higher movement speed), through higher Ferocity, through higher alive uptime and even the error recharge in case your pet dies.
“Observe, learn and counter.”
Yeah, it’s called Fortifying Bond. It copies all the boons that everyone in your party buff the team with onto your pet. Without it, your pet gets none except might from companion’s might, but that is only half the duration. Actually, it is less because of Lingering Magic.
So, Nature’s Wrath and Bountiful Hunter don’t help do DPS? I could swear they did.
Phalanx Strength and Sigil of strength is how I was referring to the might being stacked, not through blasting, so its always at 25 stacks and always adding stacks.
If they moved Nature’s Wrath into BM minor, I would agree with you, and probably use BM line, but I can’t see it doing more DPS with the pets I use in dungeons, so prowess is less of a concern. Might stacking is far too easy with FB. BM does good damage, sure, and I will use it for WvW and sPvP, but for stacking on a mob in a dungeon? NM/FB all the way.
Well, you know better what suits you most.
I’m sticking to the numbers.
“Observe, learn and counter.”
The pet isn’t even close to be 30 % (this number keeps being thrown around all the time) of our damage in the PvE meta build. It was closer to 10 % of the ranger’s dps in a fully buffed group in a 30 seconds window before the September ‘14 patch. That’s with fortifying bond.
The aegis sharing is what makes FB really worth taking in this scenario. Keeps the pet alive against devestating boss attacks if you got a guardian that knows when to pop aegis.
I imagine the pure dps difference between NM and BM will be neglibile, if not in favor of BM. Other factors will be more important to take into consideration. BM offers shorter cooldowns for pet skills, movement speed, Pet’s Prowess, quickness and might on swap (which you may want to do with beastmaster’s bond in MM) and two-handed training for whenever you want to ditch the bow for a greatsword. NM is a bit on the defensive side.
(edited by Lazze.9870)
Without it, your pet gets none except might from companion’s might
Wrong. The sword applies might too. Jungle stalker applies might to itself aswell. And then there is the new GM trait in BM.
Between that and the fact that the pet is just a minor part of our DPS in pve meta build, FB is more prominent in terms of actually keeping the pet alive.
(edited by Lazze.9870)
The pet isn’t even close to be 30 % (this number keeps being thrown around all the time) of our damage in the PvE meta build. It was closer to 10 % of the ranger’s dps in a fully buffed group in a 30 seconds window before the September ‘14 patch. That’s with fortifying bond.
The aegis sharing is what makes FB really worth taking in this scenario. Keeps the pet alive against devestating boss attacks if you got a guardian that knows when to pop aegis.
I imagine the pure dps difference between NM and BM will be neglibile, if not in favor of BM. Other factors will be more important to take into consideration. BM offers shorter cooldowns for pet skills, movement speed, Pet’s Prowess, quickness and might on swap (which you may want to do with beastmaster’s bond in MM) and two-handed training for whenever you want to ditch the bow for a greatsword. NM is a bit on the defensive side.
Are you sure?
I see my cat hitting for roughly 2-3K, with occasional 6K crit from the bite. My sword usually goes for 3K with a faster attack speed. I can imagine it being over 20% at a stationary fight with full stacked might on the ranger, and around those 30% when the ranger is not fully stacked (the pet usually gets around 8-12 might without meta group from ranger alone, spiking up to 20 if crits go well on several targets).
I don’t see it that irrational. The 8 second tunnel is different, that’s for sure, but the overall can very easily be at 30%
“Observe, learn and counter.”
Are you sure?
In a 30 second window where the ranger is fully buffed, yes, I’m sure 30 % is too high. And we (as in the ranger itself) got buffed since those numbers were calculated (while the pet only got a slight negligible buff from predator’s onslaught).
There are several variables, but in a lot of cases the pet won’t be doing 30 % of our total dps, not even against stationary single targets. More importantly, that number isn’t a static 30 % on average, it’s way lower (the main reason I cringe everytime I see someone stating that “30 % of our damage comes from an unreliable AI”).
I imagine I will do some tests when they push out the trait changes, as I’m curious about the difference of dps depending on what 3rd trait line you chose.
(edited by Lazze.9870)
I imagine I will do some tests when they push out the trait changes, as I’m curious about the difference of dps depending on what 3rd trait line you chose.
I’d be very interested in seeing that data because I really don’t want to use NM for dungeon builds, it just seems to me that FB and BH will make it better than BM for that application. I would prefer to use BM though, even though NM has the boon duration and traits. Windborne Notes would also be handy.