Next gen bow bears

[Mr.Wallace]

After hitting level 56 I put Mrwallace into temporary retirement and started some chars to find out more about the confusing world of birds and mages. I leveled them without friends' help, was just joining PUGs. And of course, i especially watched the bears around me, I will always have a very ursan perspective.

I noticed that there is a big number of bow bears now. Especially from level 40 on I think I saw more dex bears than "normal" bears. I remember when I switched to dex I was some kind of circus freak, times have changed...

But what concerns me, many of those bow bears run somewhere in second row, just auto attacking. I am not shy to ask them if they plan to tank, and after chatting with around 15 of those second row bears, I heard similar opinions about their role.

"I'm an attack bear, I don't tank"
"Bow bears shouldn't use beckon cause they need range"
"I just deal damage"

Sure I really like the great damage the combination of bow and rage gives, but I think a bear should do more than that.

So my question to my fellow bears, especially the newer ones: How do you understand your role? Are you primarily a damage dealer or a tank in light armor?

[Ellyidol]

Uh-oh, hopefully none of those bears misunderstood my guides to saying "You aren't supposed to tank".

*checks and edits*

Thanks Wallace!

[Conradin]

I tanked as bow-bear un sewers and tank as a intbear too- those guys are just nt as expirienced probably.

[Arterra]

Lol now I Feel awesome for maxing out stomp and beckon as soon as I hit that skill.

It makes a huge difference to actually be in the fight. At least until ao3, you are barely in any danger anyway, so just tell them to get rough.

[Sorcererssoul]

I am a starting dexbear atm, trying to keep up with 1 of wallace lvling alts :-/.
But i Will always tank, even if i am wear my scarab and pretty fragile that way.
I'll only hold back when i see an tank thats doing his job. (though dont see that happen much)
An hour ago, i did an run with some lvl 55's in CTK with 1 tank/dex bear.
But instead of him getting aggro, i took it from keeper + lorekeeper without any effort O.o

[Riccits]

the word "tank" is a bit huge. as dex bear u have the armor like a bird, so no really much. u can stun mobs by 3 major skills, ok, but when those skills restor u could come in trouble when many mobs are around u. a dex bear isnt a real "tank". if he woulb be, why we would need str bears?
some ppl asks me to tank too. but only work i can do is to stun mobs for the group. i cant make round ups or hold aggro of a hard hitting boss with my lousy ~80 amor and those bit of dogde..

wallace u know how iam playing with my bear i try to lead the group with stunning and making crowds but the group must be near behind me and help attack.

IMO a real tank is a str bear, not a dex bear.

[Tamino]

Mr.Wallace, I agree (after all, tanking is not only taking damage: is to teach discipline to mobs and keep them stunned - my dual bear is the funniest toon to play for this reason). But from your new point of view: you see how many bears are middle-room beacon/stomper? I know, proper beacon/stomp is one of most difficult skill to learn, but it is also THE ONE that makes the difference - good: all appreciate, bad: all dead. Facepalm emote!

[Arterra]

The thing is that Dex bear never even have to tank. Their whole existence revolves around their ability to STUNLOCK.

I sneak past a few mobs to get position where I can beckon them all, then I add in a stomp into a corner and a hellscream for good measure, to make sure they stay still.
I then move to the opposite wall, and by the time they reach me I can do it all over again.

If you guys want a fragile bear to tank, wrong approach. If you want him to keep moving and be a mob magnet, you got a deal mister. I use iron blood only to get past the first few, and for bosses.

[Irconfuzed]

I recently respec'd my lvl 45 bear to dex/str. I love it so far and it has me playing my bear again full time. I found my role hasn't changed much in dungeon clears. Im still leading the group and controlling the pace and my dps contribution is awesome.
Im glad you started this thread because I have a question. Im awful squishy and the only problem im having is in boss fights. I find myself pulling aggro with rage crits on boss fights fights and generally end up tanking by kiting. Not an ideal situation for the group as far as im concerned. If there's no real tank is it feasible to assume the role in a boss fight and strap on a shiv and wing? How do you handle boss fights in say AO3 when you're the only bear?

[Arterra]

Im glad you started this thread because I have a question. Im awful squishy and the only problem im having is in boss fights. I find myself pulling aggro with rage crits on boss fights fights and generally end up tanking by kiting. Not an ideal situation for the group as far as im concerned. If there's no real tank is it feasible to assume the role in a boss fight and strap on a shiv and wing? How do you handle boss fights in say AO3 when you're the only bear?

Tbh if I was the only party tank, I would switch to str gear unless I trusted the group.
Aka dual spec str and Dex.

[Ellyidol]

I recently respec'd my lvl 45 bear to dex/str. I love it so far and it has me playing my bear again full time. I found my role hasn't changed much in dungeon clears. Im still leading the group and controlling the pace and my dps contribution is awesome.
Im glad you started this thread because I have a question. Im awful squishy and the only problem im having is in boss fights. I find myself pulling aggro with rage crits on boss fights fights and generally end up tanking by kiting. Not an ideal situation for the group as far as im concerned. If there's no real tank is it feasible to assume the role in a boss fight and strap on a shiv and wing? How do you handle boss fights in say AO3 when you're the only bear?

I kite "tank".

What Arterra said on his previous post works really well as to kite tanking.

For bosses, attack from a distance. Rage + crits should get you aggro, if not, use Taunt. Moment bosses aggro you, move next to a wall, Beckon - Crushing Blow (to reduce boss dodge) - Stomp - SMS/Hell Scream or both. Then start running opposite side. Usually takes boss a few seconds to start running to you again. By that time, either kite a bit until Beckon combo ready again or it should be ready, rinse repeat.

That way I barely take constant damage from bosses. When I do, my natural HS is enough to usually fill me up again. Health pot occasionally

[Arterra]

Lol what is this taunt you speak of? Never needed it, never will. Nice thing about dexbear is that it has enough damage and debuffs that it speaks for itself, and mobs listen.

[Ellyidol]

Lol what is this taunt you speak of? Never needed it, never will. Nice thing about dexbear is that it has enough damage and debuffs that it speaks for itself, and mobs listen.

Lol

It's this skill bears have that "take" aggro

[Arterra]

Insert sarcasm.

We need a sarcasm emote...

But no really, I dont even have a point in taunt at 35.

[CrimsonTider]

I have noticed what MrWallacebis talking about as well. More and more dex bears but they stay in the back of the crowd like bird/mage. Personally, I still lead, taunt, and do what I need to to make things easier on my group.

I still think the major problem is the lack of understanding of crowd control. With the increase in dex bears comes the decline in the ability to properly use beckon. I have learned as a 27(well, the secrets out!!), that many mvp 30-45 bears have no clue of what beckon is or its proper usage. These bears are concentrating so much on being killers (maxing all the slashes first) and don't realize the role of crowd control still exists. This is even carrying over into the sewer runs I am involved in. Most of the time, I will take the lead but when I don't, it becomes a game of freeze tag for the group to take out the mobs. I try to remedy this by teaching but it is becoming harder to find individuals willing to listen.

I know those of us whole love our bears are always striving to get better and keep respect within our character race. Just hope the newer generation will be more receptive to teaching.

[wvhills]

In all honesty I don't know why you would want to be a bowbear. If you want to stand back and deal damage then be a bird. I expect all bears to tank and perform crowd control. Lol. It's the same with "warbirds". If you want to tank and use str gear then be a bear!
That's just me though, whatever floats your boat.

[Riccits]

a dex bear risks lesser booting. so i think thats why many respec.

[KingFu]

I very recently leveled my dex bear. I was a talon bear, and I tanked just fine. Granted, I had top tier dex gear and pots to splurge, but it wasn't much of a problem. I met literally 1 other bear than me tha actually beckoned, and groups mobs, taunted them after combos, and cornered bosses. All the other bears did was ungroup my already grouped mobs, stomp, send em flying, and have em reset as they run ahead. It was fairly aggravating and it got to the point I was either hosting and booting bears that didn't listen, or leave and join a different PUG at the sight of one.

I haven't used a bear in a while. I leveled two to 50, only took one to 55, and recently leveled another different one from 1 to 55. I have full fort, but all I do is tank and group. I'll through in some slashes at left over mobs, and he'll scream to stun, and use taunt as I run ahead to group more. I'm a little rusty though so yar.

[Tamino]

In all honesty I don't know why you would want to be a bowbear. If you want to stand back and deal damage then be a bird. I expect all bears to tank and perform crowd control. Lol. It's the same with "warbirds". If you want to tank and use str gear then be a bear!
That's just me though, whatever floats your boat.

Full DEX bear... sounds strange, maybe you're right; but a full STR bear is worse. Bears are naturally forced to add some DEX to their stats to be effective even in tanking, the matter of choice is the STR/DEX balance. For me, 142/137 worked fine; it allows me to wear all endgame STR gears for proper tanking and purple/pink 55 DEX sets for mob controlling / clearing.

Wearing DEX sets do not change the playing style, a bear still need mobs contact because of the skills short range; but ranged damage is useful for dispatching the survivors while beacon cools down, and the hit and crit % gifted by bows and pumped up by Rage is really awesome!

[KingFu]

In all honesty I don't know why you would want to be a bowbear. If you want to stand back and deal damage then be a bird. I expect all bears to tank and perform crowd control. Lol. It's the same with "warbirds". If you want to tank and use str gear then be a bear!
That's just me though, whatever floats your boat.

I can easily understand your point, but the main perk of a dex bear is having high hit (which tanks no longer have), and high crit. Yes, damage dealing is for archers and mages mainly, but the hit helps with taunt and beckon, and crit allows them to clear mobs faster. I'm a Mage first, but if there's a dex bear in the party, and he can stay alive (with or without my help) and is grouping, I'm not gonna complain. Warbirds are really for PvP players, they are a pain to face, and are effective, but in PvE I don't see the point in them either since it's hard not like you can't taunt to get aggro, and it might be hard to maintain as one if there's a pure dex bird near by.