Building a Bear, what i have and my plans.

[Colin Healey]

at lvl 23 with just 4 skills that combo is a must, also keep your double buff for taunt up and it almost makes a healer moot... lols...

[Otukura]

at lvl 23 with just 4 skills that combo is a must, also keep your double buff for taunt up and it almost makes a healer moot... lols...

Is rage one of your four skills? I'd say it would at least triple your damage.

[Colin Healey]

Is rage one of your four skills? I'd say it would at least triple your damage.

no. as it says in the first post, skills at that time are taunt, SMS, stomp, crushing blow.

at this time i have removed the crushing blow to replace with hellscream. i've looked into using becken instead of taunt, and i do not see a need for that switch at this level. taunt fufills the aoe pull, and hellscream replaces a single target with an aoe target, allowing all incoming mobs to be debuffed and weakened.

with a high enough h/s damage recieved will become moot. combined with the trick of setting your armour with the mob/level damages, and you are more then a tank.

[Ellyidol]

no. as it says in the first post, skills at that time are taunt, SMS, stomp, crushing blow.

at this time i have removed the crushing blow to replace with hellscream. i've looked into using becken instead of taunt, and i do not see a need for that switch at this level. taunt fufills the aoe pull, and hellscream replaces a single target with an aoe target, allowing all incoming mobs to be debuffed and weakened.

with a high enough h/s damage recieved will become moot. combined with the trick of setting your armour with the mob/level damages, and you are more then a tank.

At that level, I wouldn't worry too much on HS/Taunting the mobs, a 6 Rage/6 Stomp/6 Beckon should pretty much wipe them out until, maybe, AO1.

The debuffs only start getting important starting from LE, IMO. Before that, I'd just try to kill them as fast as possible.

[Colin Healey]

At that level, I wouldn't worry too much on HS/Taunting the mobs, a 6 Rage/6 Stomp/6 Beckon should pretty much wipe them out until, maybe, AO1..

I'ven used beckon a bit, and i dont think its worth swapping out from taunt, for my 4 skill block i have. i've gone into dungeons with alot of well equiped bears who have great dps, and i'm using a dex talon, and i still out kill them even though a thrown weapon makes sms mostly useless (timing is everthing) now try to solo the goblin king atlevel 23. good luck.

[csb]

Start saving up for iceberg plate, shield, and hatchet. Those are my favorite items in the game.

[Sky../]

I can't believe you don't have rage.

[Otukura]

If you havent tried beckonbat level 6, you don't really know it. Level 1 is useless, but level six will pull all enemies right to you instantly, with an extra bonus of a mini stun, followed by hell scream for another mini, then stomp to keep them pinned in one spot. Taunting at your level won't help if you cant continue doing damage. the aggro will be lost immediately.

[Colin Healey]

If you havent tried beckonbat level 6, you don't really know it. Level 1 is useless, but level six will pull all enemies right to you instantly, with an extra bonus of a mini stun, followed by hell scream for another mini, then stomp to keep them pinned in one spot. Taunting at your level won't help if you cant continue doing damage. the aggro will be lost immediately.

Beckon at level six, this morning, yes its awesome, total control of mobs, but lose the dodge bonus.... its a toss up, only if you are in a group..... thats the toss up, i found solo i could control the mobs how i wanted, had a few issues when another bear came in and stomped them i think he ran taunt... so i lost a bit of control but spam it again and its back.

for you levels 20-30 ish, take beckon level 6 don't build it up once its available swap out taunt for it straight across, it is great for this build skill set.

soon i will be running an experiment with points per str/dex as a leveling comparason. ie, if i use x dex i get x stat boosts.

until next time

[Sky../]

Are you aware that there is a combo (extra damage) for beckon + stomp?

[Colin Healey]

Are you aware that there is a combo (extra damage) for beckon + stomp?

yes i am, are you aware that beckon may bring the mobs to you but it does not give you a nice dodge buff.

[Sky../]

yes i am, are you aware that beckon may bring the mobs to you but it does not give you a nice dodge buff.

Yes

Are you aware rage gives 30 crit and 60 damage?

[Ellyidol]

Not to sound rude or anything, and I'm sure you have perfectly valid reasons why you prefer Taunt over Beckon, but that's the first time I've heard of that.

IMO, Taunting at that low level wouldn't help as much as beckon, especially if you compound it with a 6 Rage/6 Stomp.

Taunt dodge is definitely useful, better than the Evade buff, but it's only maximise in PvP, IMO.

In PvE, like you said, you have your max armour to work on.

[Colin Healey]

Yes

Are you aware rage gives 30 crit and 60 damage?

yes i am. what skill would you suggest i remove to bring in rage?

in fact, lets recap, stomp, beckon, SMS, Hellscream.
so we take out SMS for RAGE?

i think that may just work, especially since i'm geared with dex items, and a talon.

[Sky../]

I would sugest leaving sms at 1, take one out of stomp or beckon or hs; or keep rage at 5.

Damage difference between lvl1 and lvl6 sms should be around 50 damage. Rage 5 provides that 50 damage back, plus 30 crit and all attacks are affected.

[Otukura]

I would sugest leaving sms at 1, take one out of stomp or beckon or hs; or keep rage at 5.

Damage difference between lvl1 and lvl6 sms should be around 50 damage. Rage 5 provides that 50 damage back, plus 30 crit and all attacks are affected.

That, even at level 55 my slashes aren't even near max for the most part.

[Colin Healey]

I would sugest leaving sms at 1, take one out of stomp or beckon or hs; or keep rage at 5.

Damage difference between lvl1 and lvl6 sms should be around 50 damage. Rage 5 provides that 50 damage back, plus 30 crit and all attacks are affected.

so at this time the plan is dump sms pull out RAGE, and see how that pans out.

just for everyone to understand, my idea for the build is 4 skills for level 25 before branching out. at this time i have only stomp at 5 the rest are at 6. main weapon is a talon. (kept my str gear) but all gear is dex gear, current stats are

lvl 24
str 54
dex 98
int 1
hit 97%
crit 14
dodge 4
health 637
regen 7
mana 400
regen 5
damage 44-49
dps 69
armour 38

gear
jewel thiefs archery cap, on level 25 will swap out for jewel thiefs avian helmet for +1 armour.
jewel thiefs avian talon
jewel thiefs leather armour
jewel thiefs avian wing

using the iron ring of life as my fine steel ring of life is str based and without str gear cannot use.

skills stomp 5, sms 6, Hell scream 6, beckon 6, on the process of swithcing SMS with RAGE 6

will post the outcome. until then ttfn,

[Sky../]

No leave one for sms.

[csb]

imho, dex bear is not interesting until about level 45. From 15 to 30, str bear with board and nail club rocks. And from 30 to 44, I like iceberg armor with frosty hatchet. No dex weapons will out damage these. The only reason birds can do more damage is because of skills. The bear weapons are better than bird weapons, unless you want to run in a circle and kite. But, both board-n-nail and frosty hatchet will kill faster than any bow until level 40s.

At about 31 you can dual spec your bear to do either bow or iceberg. After dying often with the bow, it's nice to put on the iceberg and get some payback.

[Colin Healey]

imho, dex bear is not interesting until about level 45. From 15 to 30, str bear with board and nail club rocks. And from 30 to 44, I like iceberg armor with frosty hatchet. No dex weapons will out damage these. The only reason birds can do more damage is because of skills. The bear weapons are better than bird weapons, unless you want to run in a circle and kite. But, both board-n-nail and frosty hatchet will kill faster than any bow until level 40s.

At about 31 you can dual spec your bear to do either bow or iceberg. After dying often with the bow, it's nice to put on the iceberg and get some payback.

ok heres the shisaz...
lvl 25
respec full dex, stats are
str 7, dex 150 int 1
hit 105% crit 14 dodge 3
health 604 regen 7
mana 400 regen 4
damage 59-64 dps 91
armour 38

skills
Hellscream, Beckon, Rage, and stomp all at 6.

now this set up does a full 20 more dps on the respec page(no gear) that is alot, what i can do is run into room, dropping rage on way in, then beckon followed by hellscream then stomp, the sequence pulls them in and weakens them then FLINGS them out. since i am equiped with a talon, i just shoot off at the survivours, i can guarentee after 2 sets all regular enimy. this is through the levels within the lost expiditionl.

PROS; mass damage aoe and enimy control.

cons; cool down 8 seconds of nothing; but hellscream and healing.

Previously set up with str gear, killing was a bit slower but i had a higher survivability rate, with no cool down.

if you are geared with a nice fast range weapon that will maximize your potential damage, I am using the gear in the previous post of mine, all pink dex gear.

remember this is all a 4 skill level 25 build (maxed skill levels for 4 here) with this build you go out with a healer this is a must. otherwise if you go for the big mobs like me 12-15 you tend to die if you don't spam the heal pot button. but the moment your beckon/stom is open they all scatter/ stun, throw in rage first (8 seconds is a long time) and 90%+ are dead. shoot/ throw a couple bolts/arrows/daggers at the survivours due to speed of weapon and rage up you WILL cut them down fast, this is where dps comes in over pure damage, to get in as many hits with a fast as possible weapon.

yes i am going to do the same test as a pure str bear with min dex, and i will test with a duel dex/str bear with a mix of items to get a good compare.

until then Mrknify.