Beastmaster Concept

[Leukah]

Hey y'all,

I know there've been oodles of these pitched and it probably doesn't matter one way or the other, but I've been mullin' over this job concept and I just wanted to see what y'all thought about it.

Basic Class Info
Job type: Melee (limited), but with DOH/DOL aspects.
Main hand: Whip
Additional tools:
Compendium (basically an encyclopedia listing what beasts the BST has tamed, what their training level is, and the three "active" beasts in the BST's party - see below, not all 3 are on the field at once)
Traps (see below)
Lures (see below)
BST Basic Combat Skills
Whistle 1 - calls to the field the beast in the BST's first active beast slot; it will replace any other beast on the field
Whistle 2 - as above, but for the second active beast slot
Whistle 3 - as above, but for the third active beast slot
Stun - a basic stun, does not last very long
Charm - used to charm wild beasts; there is a cast timer, so best to use on stunned creatures
Keen Eye - stance; when active, it allows for BST-specific loot from monsters slayed by the BST or his beast (example, hearts, keratin, fur, feathers that are not typical crafting materials). At the same level the BST learns Contrive, Keen Eye reveals environmental nodes the BST can scavenge for additional materials (sticks, berries, manure, etc - things that aren't typical gathering materials).
Contrive - allows the BST to create traps and lures from materials he scavenges from monsters and the environment. Traps increase stun time; trap efficacy depends on monster type (simple snares won't work on large monsters, for example). Lures cast a debuff on the target monster, increasing the likelihood of Charm succeeding; lure efficacy differs depending on monster type (herbivores won't be lured by meat-based lures, for example).
A series of heals - only work on the BST's tamed and active beast. Potency increased with traits as level increases.
A series of buffs - only work on BST's tamed and active beast; can buff skill/spell speed, damage, tenacity, etc. I'm envisioning a series of them, unlocked at different levels.
Maybe some DoTs - because I miss them on SMN. =)
Melee combo - a very basic oGCD melee combo, so that the BST isn't completely screwed if all of his beasts are KO'd.

Beast Basic Combat Skills
Will vary widely depending on the type of monster. I'm envisioning each can learn up to 5, perhaps with various procs, depending on the training level of the beast. The BST can direct his beast in combat, so that essentially these skills are cast by the player, but performed by the beast. I picture that most of the BST rotation is based on the beast's skills, woven with BST's buffs, heals, DoTs, and oGCD whip melee combo.

(Part II below - ran out of characters)

[Leukah]

BST Gauge: Rapport
This gauge fills as the BST heals and buffs his active beast. When full, it triggers a combo attack, with the BST and his beast attacking simultaneously - sort of like a miniature Limit Break. If a beast is removed from the field (either by Whistle or by knockout), then the gauge empties. Different multipliers can exist - for example, healing a beast that has 30% HP remaining will increase the gauge more than healing a beast that has 90% remaining. A beast at a higher training level will have a baseline multiplier across the board ('cus he trusts his master, of course!)


Beast Charming Mechanics
Alluded to above, but Charm is a timed cast and is interruptible, so the BST will need to stun his target to give himself time to cast. The effectiveness (the likelihood he will tame his target) is based on the monster he's targeting and whether or not he has used lures. And maybe HP %age.

Lures will increase the likelihood of Charm working, depending on what lure was used for what creature. And a note - I'm picturing fairly general things, here. Like an applecake for herbivore creatures. It doesn't have to be creature-specific.

Traps will increase the length of a stun, again depending on what trap was used for what creature, and again in general.

Traps and Lures would be used like current lure/trap quest items - the BST would set it to their hotbar and use it that way.

The BST can have charmed as many monsters as he wants, but only one of each monster type, and only 3 will be "summonable" at any one time.


Beast Training Level Mechanics
All beasts will begin at training level 1, no matter the level of the beast caught in the wild. They will earn experience through battle just as the player does. New skills/traits are unlocked as the training level increases.

The Arena
Obviously we can't have a creature capture minigame without an arena to force our beloved monsters to do battle. The Arena will be a Duty where players can either choose to queue for a PvP battle or a PvNPC battle (sort of like Lord of Verminion). The BST himself won't participate in battle, but will command his beast to attack from afar. I feel like this would work best as a turn-based Duty, but I don't know. Beasts that participate can earn exp this way as well. Maybe their lvl/skills could scale the way that Duties for players do.


Anyhoo. This kept me up last night so I just wanted to put it out there, so it wasn't rattling around in my head anymore. I feel like it'd be a really fun way to incorporate all of the current aspects of the game into one job, it scratches the itch for completionists and creature collectors, and it adds a new type of combat. Curious to hear everyone's thoughts.

[Kaliesto]

Personally I once liked the idea of whips for Beastmaster, but then I remembered that whips+animals have a negative worldview in real life.

I think a Quarter Staff could be a better substitute to have the Beastmaster being closer to a Druid.

[Leukah]

Personally I once liked the idea of whips for Beastmaster, but then I remembered that whips+animals have a negative worldview in real life.

Yeaaah, that is true. I just think the aesthetic of a whip would be quite different compared to the existing jobs. Maybe a lasso so we can keep the ropey look? =)

[Johners]

Charm - used to charm wild beasts; there is a cast timer, so best to use on stunned creatures

Asking Square Enix for a pet based job, even if it's a limited job, is just like asking them to add the Glamour Collection. They've clearly got no intention of actually investing into the game enough to resolve key underlying technical issues which is why existing jobs, full fat jobs you take into current content, had their pet interactions removed or minimised. If you want to play a class/job that lets you collect and control pets, Beast Master Hunter in World of Warcraft is ready and it's actually functional. More importantly you won't have to wait for Yoshi-P to issue seven apologies and either technical deep dives before they even attempt to fix the underlying problem.

[Leukah]

Asking Square Enix for a pet based job, even if it's a limited job, is just like asking them to add the Glamour Collection. They've clearly got no intention of actually investing into the game enough to resolve key underlying technical issues which is why existing jobs, full fat jobs you take into current content, had their pet interactions removed or minimised. If you want to play a class/job that lets you collect and control pets, Beast Master Hunter in World of Warcraft is ready and it's actually functional. More importantly you won't have to wait for Yoshi-P to issue seven apologies and either technical deep dives before they even attempt to fix the underlying problem.

I think one of the reasons why the current pet classes are so restricted is because there is such standardization across non-limited jobs and how much dps they're able to do in a rotation. By making BST a limited job, it opens up the field to a bunch of individual variations in gameplay (eg which beasts people tame and to what level they train them, etc). I don't know enough about the underlying technical issues in this game to really understand their full impact on gameplay.

It may be that it isn't worth their time, and that's fine. I think if it incorporates everything I outlined above, then it builds on existing systems and provides an entire parallel branch of gameplay - it might be worth it. There's an entire genre of game dedicated to creature capture that has a loyal (if niche) fanbase, which might could help FFXIV coax in some of that market share. But given the size of their current active playerbase, you're right that it might just be drops in the bucket.

I've tried playing WoW, it just doesn't do it for me, but I appreciate the suggestion.

[Jagick]

Personally I once liked the idea of whips for Beastmaster, but then I remembered that whips+animals have a negative worldview in real life.

Considering this is a video game, that doesn't really see relevant. Guns and knives and countless other things and subject matter already in the game also has negative connotations in real life. The absolute worst thing we can do is drag IRL nonsense into this game.

[SassyAssassin]

That whip will come in handy in many ways.

[Darthgummibear]

That whip will come in handy in many ways.

[SassyAssassin]