Can the Bear be saved?

[wvhills]

I think it was a mistake to make beckon+stomp a combo. I just play in Trials but when I see a bear enter who starts beckoning and stomping everything I just go to another game. It takes too long picking off enemies one by one once they're stomped all over the place. There was a good one few days ago who would just beckon and the rest of us would wipe the mobs out while they were centered around him. That was a good bear. Then there was a bear who constantly beckoned mobs away from me after I had shattering screamed but before I could blast shot.

The problem to me is that if a bird or mage misuse their skills it's not as noticeable as when a bear misuse theirs. Plus it takes more skill to play a bear.

[BeardedBear]

I think since the original "bear nerf" people still have it in their heads that bears are no good. While they don't output a ton of damage - although they can with certain builds - they are more for crowd control. I think a str bear takes the most skill to play successfully and not slow the party down. People bash on them because it's easy to spot a bad bear, as their performance makes a heck of a difference. In PVE, Birds are a cinch to play, and Mages aren't that hard either.

[wvhills]

I think since the original "bear nerf" people still have it in their heads that bears are no good. While they don't output a ton of damage - although they can with certain builds - they are more for crowd control. I think a str bear takes the most skill to play successfully and not slow the party down. People bash on them because it's easy to spot a bad bear, as their performance makes a heck of a difference. In PVE, Birds are a cinch to play, and Mages aren't that hard either.

I agree. I started off with a bear (he's lvl 37 now) but switched to a bird because I wasn't have much fun with the bear. Mostly because i didn't know how to play him I think. I may go back and try him again after I get my bird leveled. Bad bears are def easy to spot and, unfortunately, I was one. Lol.

[krazii]

I think it was a mistake to make beckon+stomp a combo.

Oh, please don't think that, the bear combo is devastating when used correctly and speeds up a party greatly. I lead with this combo, generally followed by a birds combo (scream and blastshot) or mage combo (freeze and firestorm) and the mobs are wiped. I move on to the next group of mobs while a few lingering mobs are cleaned up.

NOTE: If you play a bear, never just run in the middle of a room, hall, etc and beckon/stomp, go to a wall, corner, etc where the beckon will group the mobs.

I also agree with Bearded, Bears can be tiresome to play sometimes if you don't mix up your game play. I generally keep different sets on my bear. For instance I use Fury now when tanking, but if I wanna do more damage (or at least feel like it), I'll use Rooters (great for crits, not great for armor), just to feel a little more useful (while spamming health pots). Also, you can customize your bear by varying your skills and attribute points. Mine's built for tanking (mostly str, buffs and party buffs maxed), but you can build yours for damage by adding more dex (to raise dmg and crits) and maxing all the slashes thus making sacrifices elsewhere. Won't be able to absorb as much damage, but you can do a nice amount. Elly wrote a good guide about this, http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...ack-Bear-Guide

Thx,

Kraz

[Kalielle]

I usually play mage and in my experience having a good bear or two in a party can make all the difference. I think the fire traps actually make bears more useful, because a good bear will know where to pull to keep the fight off the traps and not on them. Even in all 55 pinks with a shield, my mage often gets one-shotted by a fire trap if my buffs are depleted. So bears are vital for keeping the fight in the right corner.

Also bears do the second spell in the terror and ice shatter (or whatever it's called) combos, both of which are awesome - especially terror. A good bear that times his combos right can make the team just wipe a whole group in seconds.

And finally it's just so much nicer to have a bear who runs ahead and takes the aggro, so you can go after him and blast the mobs without having to kite and run in circles and worry about dying all the time.

Oh yeah, and hats off to Xom and Kraz - they're the bears I usually run with and they're freakin' amazing. They can speed runs up like you wouldn't believe it. Makes clearing runs seem faster than rushing I swear.

[thugimmortal]

How about giving bears one high damage skill eg. the spining sword move in zelda with fire damage or other diffrent procs depending on weapon used. A move like this would give us a better area skill rather than stomp. also bears really need a new 1h weapon thats got good dps because im still using the limbchopper and thats abit out dated now

[skavenger216]

NOTE: If you play a bear, never just run in the middle of a room, hall, etc and beckon/stomp, go to a wall, corner, etc where the beckon will group the mobs

I can't help but feeling like this message should be on the game login screen lol

[Doubletime]

After playing several hours today on the 55 to 56 xp grind, I stand by my earlier comments that while a bear may not be neccessary to run the sewers, it sure is nice when you have a good one that knows how to tank in the party. Don't get me wrong, bears that don't tank well slowed down some of my groups. But when I had a good one (Aabe and MrWallace come to mind), man it made runs so much more fun and fast. It was faster and combos were absolutely devastating. Funny thing is neither of them have apparently read Ellyidol's tanking guide for the sewers in the Warrior section, but both of them followed his methods to a tee.

I was practically jumping for joy when one of them would join my groups. Of course, I had the frustrations of dealing with multiple bears beckoning against one another at times as well. But it comes down to the skill of the bear as to whether they are a real asset, not the character class in general.

Doubletime, avian friend of the bear.

[Zeus]

I usually play mage and in my experience having a good bear or two in a party can make all the difference. I think the fire traps actually make bears more useful, because a good bear will know where to pull to keep the fight off the traps and not on them. Even in all 55 pinks with a shield, my mage often gets one-shotted by a fire trap if my buffs are depleted. So bears are vital for keeping the fight in the right corner.

Also bears do the second spell in the terror and ice shatter (or whatever it's called) combos, both of which are awesome - especially terror. A good bear that times his combos right can make the team just wipe a whole group in seconds.

And finally it's just so much nicer to have a bear who runs ahead and takes the aggro, so you can go after him and blast the mobs without having to kite and run in circles and worry about dying all the time.

Oh yeah, and hats off to Xom and Kraz - they're the bears I usually run with and they're freakin' amazing. They can speed runs up like you wouldn't believe it. Makes clearing runs seem faster than rushing I swear.

You can add me to that list . When I play on my bear (Bodyguardz Level 51). I can almost guarantee you that you will not get aggro and I will speed up the run .

[Ellyidol]

This thread justified the new item sets and changes for bears.

We lose 8 Dodge, 8 H/S, and 8 Armour on a Fury Set.

All for what? Wait for it...

30 MS! Yes 30. We can barely out-spam 10, and we have 30

[Zeus]

This thread justified the new item sets and changes for bears.

We lose 8 Dodge, 8 H/S, and 8 Armour on a Fury Set.

All for what? Wait for it...

30 MS! Yes 30. We can barely out-spam 10, and we have 30

Pssh it's for this whining complaining paladins silly! Nobody cares about us bears .

[Ellyidol]

Pssh it's for this whining complaining paladins silly! Nobody cares about us bears .

Ikr..

Well I'm happy for the paladins, since a lot of my friends are mages and paladins. I might consider just lending them my set since it does more good for them than it does for me.

[krazii]

This thread justified the new item sets and changes for bears.

We lose 8 Dodge, 8 H/S, and 8 Armour on a Fury Set.

All for what? Wait for it...

30 MS! Yes 30. We can barely out-spam 10, and we have 30

Yea. Disappointing. Nerf the gear. Then give bears way more mana then they need. Makes me wonder if any devs actually play the game? That said. Its nice to not have to spam mana pots.

[KingFu]

I'm dissapointed, it's like devs are trying to make pally OP again. I hope it doesn't last. 30 MS is ridiculous. Anymore than 10 goes to waste on a bear IMO. I only see the use for that much if you're int bear. For a tank, it's too much. I swear, devs are letting pallys sit back and be op with ease again:/