[dev1135] Beastmaster 2-Hour Ability Comments After Testing.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

The sheep will give you 500 Stoneskin.... I bet'cha.

[Minikom]

I have done server test to check the new 2 hours Bst but if stonesking is just like Mighty guard should be something really cool, SE said familiar was for pet and new one for master, stoneskin and regen should be nice then

[Shadax]

We're still collecting all your feedback regarding all these new abilities so please let us know your thoughts.

Okipuit, can you please explain to the devs that the reason we're all so upset is because while we understand they want the duality of having an offensive and a defensive 2-hour ability, the problem is that while the offensive 2-hour augments our pet as it's supposed to seeing as how we are one with our beasts, the defensive 2-hour selfishly destroys our companion to give us a souped-up version of a spell that most mages can recast every 30 seconds. It is in no way comparable in strength to any other job's 2-hour ability but more importantly, it just makes no sense. A defensive 2-hour ability, if that is indeed what the devs think is best for the job, needs to augment the defensive capabilities of our pets and it would have to have a strength and duration that actually makes using it useful - something like pet damage taken -50% for at least 5 mins.

Of course, considering the devs went from Reraise to Stoneskin... I'm not expecting much of a change at this point. I just hope that they are at least hearing the large amount of dissent to this new 2-hour and will realize that there's only so much the player base will take before they just get frustrated by the lackluster sideways "improvements" they keep wasting their time with.

[Leonardus]

SE,

Please stop with the "kill your pet" abilities. I've forgotten I even have "Run Wild." What is so exciting about Dooming your pet or eating them to recover HP? I consider them my ally in battle. Why would I want to make them disappear? Isn't the enemy trying to do that?

Some future suggestions:
-Pet "Regain" effect (Not on an outdated Glyph Axe)
-Pet "Wall" effect (Protect/Shell)
-Pet "Drain Daze" effect
-Pet "Trance" effect (Free use of Charges)
-Pet "Unbridled Learning" effect (Thunderbolt/Nihility Song/Disorienting Waul/Frigid Shuffle/Mucilaginous Ooze/Petrifactive Breath/Etc, this existed in FF Tactics as "Monster Skill/Beastmaster")

It would be nice if, in the future, we could temporarily boost the ferocity of our pet. A "morale" boost, if you will, like "Spur," but with a little more empathic flavor.

Thanks.

[Calamity]

SE,

Please stop with the "kill your pet" abilities. I've forgotten I even have "Run Wild." What is so exciting about Dooming your pet or eating them to recover HP? I consider them my ally in battle. Why would I want to make them disappear? Isn't the enemy trying to do that?

Some future suggestions:
-Pet "Regain" effect (Not on an outdated Glyph Axe)
-Pet "Wall" effect (Protect/Shell)
-Pet "Drain Daze" effect
-Pet "Trance" effect (Free use of Charges)
-Pet "Unbridled Learning" effect (Thunderbolt/Nihility Song/Disorienting Waul/Frigid Shuffle/Mucilaginous Ooze/Petrifactive Breath/Etc, this existed in FF Tactics as "Monster Skill/Beastmaster")

It would be nice if, in the future, we could temporarily boost the ferocity of our pet. A "morale" boost, if you will, like "Spur," but with a little more empathic flavor.

Thanks.

At least with run wild I can pop it near the end of an nm fight to ease things along (assuming I'm warping out right after) But this, this is something else. Something without any real practical use. And as I've said before, it's the bsts that don't really know what they're doing that are more likely to find use for this 2hr than the ones who do. -.-

[Hashmalum]

Dear dev team: you still don't understand. The core concept behind this ability is fatally flawed. We will not tell you how to "fix" this ability, because it cannot be done. There are two things you fail to understand here that I must now explain to you.

The first thing is, what makes a good 2 hour ability. Some of the best 2 hour abilities fall into the category of "ignoring restrictions". Examples include Manafont, which lets Black Mage ignore the restriction of having to use MP to cast magic, and Chainspell, which lets Red Mage ignore the restriction imposed by casting time.

Another category of 2 hour abilities is the category of "enhanced specialty", that is, allowing a job to do something they are already good at to the highest degree possible. Examples include Invincible, which is the natural progression of the Paladin's ability to reduce physical damage taken, and Benediction, which is the White Mage's ability to remove damage and negative status effects taken nearly as high as it can go. Even our current 2 hour ability, Familiar, lets us charm stronger pets for longer and thus mostly fits into this category.

However, these are not the only categories of 2 hour ability that exist. There is also the category of "sacrifice something valuable to do something your job is bad at", previously filled by the very worst 2 hour in existence, Mijin Gakure (in this case sacrificing your life to do non-elemental HP-based magical damage). Guess what category your proposed ability falls into? Yes, that's right, you guessed it--sacrifice something valuable (your pet) to do something your job is bad at (take damage). Not only is Mijin Gakure now not alone, it is no longer the worst 2 hour ability that there is. The pet is Beastmaster's defining trait and most important tool. Losing a pet is never good; wasting your 2 hour ability to do this to yourself is about the stupidest thing you could possibly do.

The second thing you need to learn is this: offensive utility always trumps defensive utility. "The best defense is a good offense." There is a reason Fire Geodes cost as much as the other types put together, and is because they are associated with boosting Strength and Attack--physical offense (the best type) in its purest form. You "win" in this game by killing monsters. 99% of the content in the game is based around doing this. 1% is based around avoiding monsters (HELMing and fishing). Precisely 0% of the game's content is based around minimizing damage. This is why Perfect Dodge is considered such a weak 2 hour ability. But at least it doesn't require the Thief using it to sacrifice something valuable to do so. Abilities that sacrifice offense for defense do not help you win, they just help you lose more slowly. The objective is not to lose at all, but to win, and this ability actively hinders that ultimate goal.

[Hashmalum]

Now, dev team, you want to know what our 2 hour ability should do instead? Well, I'll tell you. I suggest that we get an ability that allows us to ignore the restriction of having only one pet at a time. Have the current pet go into a semi-NPC status, no longer controllable and attacking automatically, while allowing us to charm or call another normal pet. Certain enemy beastmasters, like Gig'ghi Cockchopper, can have 2 pets out at once. We should be able to do this too.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

I have done server test to check the new 2 hours Bst but if stonesking is just like Mighty guard should be something really cool, SE said familiar was for pet and new one for master, stoneskin and regen should be nice then

Says on the JAP forum, Stoneskin is 1/2 the Pets HP.

[ProfessorD]

Here is a quick fix i think would be good for bst 2 hr. Why not make it where when you use it the pet disappears but in its place either a HNM or NM type from the same family appears gives you some buffs and damage based off of there tp moves. Example would be like CC. When used she will disappear and be replaced by a huge crab that does scissior guard on you and then lets say bubble shower on the mob then disappears. That way will kind of keep the way they want to go and I as a bst wouldnt feel so bad about using it.

[Vandheer]

Says on the JAP forum, Stoneskin is 1/2 the Pets HP.

Thank you Daniel_Hatcher for getting the info from the Japanese forums but now its official.

Greetings!

During this week’s Test Server update we will be making the below changes and additions to the new 2-hour abilities.

• Beastmaster
  Reraise effect will be changed to a Stoneskin effect
  (The strength of the Stoneskin effect will differ depending on the type of jug pet called, and will be half of the pet’s max HP.)

While this week’s update will only encompass the above changes, we are continuing to look into other jobs as well, so there is a possibility for further changes and adjustments.

I went ahead and took the Max HP of all the pets most commonly used at the 99 cap (with the acception of Nursery Nazuna at the level 86 Cap) and divided them in half for the total amount of damage the Stoneskin from each pet would absorb. Bellow is a list containing the totals.

Commonly used Jug Pet Stoneskin

• Lucky Lulush LV 99 (4912 HP): 2456 Stoneskin
  
• Dipper Yuly LV 99 (4092 HP): 2046 Stoneskin
  
• Nursery Nazuna LV 86 (5114 HP): 2557 Stoneskin
  
• Fatso Fargann LV 99 (4298 HP): 2149 Stoneskin
  
• Faithful Falcorr LV 99 (4968 HP): 2484 Stoneskin
  
• Gorefang Hobs LV 99 (5218 HP): 2609 Stoneskin
  
• Gooey Gerard LV 99 (4298 HP): 2149 Stoneskin
  
• Crude Raphie LV 99 (4212 HP): 2106 Stoneskin

The damage absorbed by the spell Stoneskin maxes at 350. While these numbers are far over the normal Stoneskin numbers we still need to know how long it lasts and if it can be dispelled. I'm still disappointed that this 2-hour kills off our pet in exchange for the various effects it gives and will continue to question when us Beastmasters would actually have a use for this.