Bio Engineer Archive
Thread: What to make with the new Clone system
First, a few assumptions.
I'm assuming that we will not be able to custom add speicals and that these will be determined by the critter you make. e.g. Kusaks will always do Intimidate, etc.
My other assumption is that we will be able to raise/lower CL by quite a bit (i.e. +/-10 levels). I know this is probably a long shot but what the hell ...
For a Master CH I have found that it is better to have three pets out rather than one powerful pet. The reason for this is that overall the pets will last longer as the mobs swap between creatures.
So, do we make a single CL70 death creature or 3 CL23's?
Maybe 1 40 and two 15's
From my sparse testing I'm found that when I have teamed up my Gurrek with a Kusak this worked out pretty well.
Maybe I could leave by Gurrek at CL 50 but increase th CL of my Kusak to 20
Another option would be to lower the Gurrek to 40 and have two CL 15 Kusaks?
Anyone have other thoughs on workable combos?
I'm assuming that we will not be able to custom add speicals and that these will be determined by the critter you make. e.g. Kusaks will always do Intimidate, etc.
The 'types' of the animals are completely blank. So they have no innate abilities nor resistances. Clean slate, tablar rassa ect..
My other assumption is that we will be able to raise/lower CL by quite a bit (i.e. +/-10 levels). I know this is probably a long shot but what the hell ...
A powerful Jax, that says alot really unless they mean 'powerful in jax terms' which would be true even if the Jax was increased to CL20. There has been utterly no mention of an upper cap however there is a minimum cap.
For a Master CH I have found that it is better to have three pets out rather than one powerful pet. The reason for this is that overall the pets will last longer as the mobs swap between creatures.
Actually 12'000 HAM spread across 3 pets is still the same as having one pet with 12'000 HAM. The reason why multiple pets work better is because the status effects influence multiple targets, plus you have more than one pet attacking every 2 seconds. This also leads the AI to often 'bounce' between different targets without attacking because they are being hit by more than one enemy and the AI can't focus on a single one and stick with it. This is often why you'll find ranged players going in opposite directions of the target and firing so that the mob gets confused about what to attack. There is another drawback to multiple pets though, if the enemy uses an area of effect attack then it will effect all pets equally. Thus lets say you look at it mathmatically and dump all of the HAM into a single pool. If an AOE attacks hits for 500 damage then with one pet you suffer 500 damage to that 12'000 HAM total but with three pets you actually suffer 1500 damage to that 12'000 HAM pool.
So, do we make a single CL70 death creature or 3 CL23's?
Depends on the situation and that is ultimately where the power of the new system comes in, pets that are made to order mean the CH is ready for anything. If you're up against something with an AOE attack then using a single CL60 pet is (remember the taming only goes as high as CL60, the pool is CL70) better. However if they are limited to non-AOE attacks then use more than one pet so that the damage on the target is rapid and the special moves are piled on.
Another option would be to lower the Gurrek to 40 and have two CL 15 Kusaks?
This is a CH thing really not a Bio-engineer one since not all of us are CH/BEs so we don't have any idea of combat effectiveness. Also recall that saying a Gurreck and a Kusak is besides the point. You could simply make a Bantha with the stats of a Kusak and an Angler with the stats of a Gurreck. Ultimately though if you gonna be using these pets against animals then you want to focus as much as possible into armor and kinetic resistance and have vulnerabilities to less common damage types like blast, stun, cold and acid so it lowers the CL a bit and allows you to pump more into the resistances for the stuff they will encounter.
I'm actually a Wookie so I get +10 to taming (not sure if this includes viscous) so I may very well have 70/70 (I don't think it works though).
If the clone shell is just that then is it purely for looks or as 'base' stats? That would kind of be interesting. If this were so then making pets really will be totally different to what it is now ...
That makes sence. Well, with this info I thought what kind of specialised critters can we put together. If we leave the shell out of teh equation we are left with specials, HAM, resist and armour.
Dizzy, Posture Change, Knockdown, Intimidate woudl be the most popular I'd guess? Do we expect that specials have a CL rating or is each special the same? Do you add together Cl if you combine mroe the one special? How many specials can you have on one critter?
Would greatly increased HAM be better than Armour Rating. For 'high damage' oponents would it be better to have incredible HAM with no armour but high resists?
Wouldvery high resists on just one type be better than lower on all? If you only intend PvE (creatures) then all you would need is Kinetic so you could sacrifice all the other resists.
I think the posibilities are very exciting ....
Dizzy (dizzy strike) is fairly common among the larger animals, it's also found on a number of the non-aggro species like the Torton so it won't be too costly for bio-engineers to gather. However dizzy isn't super reliable by itself so in terms of a knockdown-esque special it will probably be popular as it won't raise the CL as much as the actual KD attack.
Posture Change (crippling strike) isn't all that handy until it's applied to a species with dizzy really. It's very common even on the Naboo Nightspiders but I don't think it'll be very popular on the whole. But at least it won't increase the CL very much.
Knockdown (force strike?) will no doubt be something which adds a significant increase to the CL, this is afterall seen on the rockbeetle which is quire possibly the only yellow con CL15 critter I've come across at 4/4/4/4 marksman. However since the CL system is being revised I'd expect the KD attack to be something that tips the CL rating a fair but but will also be very popular with players. Luckly again it's possible to get from non-aggro species.
Intimidate is also popular and currently very common in the wild, however I personally expect this to change a bit since you're effectively more than halving the melee damage the enemy causes for a long period of time with a fair amount of reliability. I should be quite popular though with non-ch pets who want to avoid having armor and little else.
Do we expect that specials have a CL rating or is each special the same?
The new system is said to take specials into consideration as well for determining the CL rating of the species so it'll be a critical factor after taking ham, damage and armor into consideration.
Do you add together Cl if you combine mroe the one special?
Well each species can only have a maximum of 2 special attacks, some wild animals have combination attacks that are really a single special. One example might be the 'Combo Strike' which causes blind, stun and dizzy all in one hit. I've only seen this on two species this far, the Merek Harvester and the Dune Kimogila (which actually has an AOE variation of it)
Would greatly increased HAM be better than Armour Rating. For 'high damage' oponents would it be better to have incredible HAM with no armour but high resists?
Again this is situation specific, some NPCs have blasters which are clearly capable of penetrating armor. The majority of animals though have utterly no armour piecing attacks so on the whole armor is better since they're damage is lowered by 25% for light armor plus if then throw in the kinetic resistances and the possibility of intimidation into that as well you're not gonna see your pet being hurt much. Also it's far better to have a resistant pet than a resiliant one since they are much faster to heal.
Wouldvery high resists on just one type be better than lower on all? If you only intend PvE (creatures) then all you would need is Kinetic so you could sacrifice all the other resists.
Indeed for PvE Kinetic and Energy are about all you need. For PvP you will want Blast, Acid, Heat, Energy, Kinetic and Electricity as those are the more common damage types. However by spreading the resistances so far you'd ultimately end up with a weaker pet because it's diverse. In some cases specialization is alot better as long as you use it correctly.
I think the posibilities are very exciting ....
Thats what we've been saying now for 2 months since these details were first released....
I can hear the nerf cries now!!!!
This creature is much better then the wild ones.
This CH/BE is using his three AR1 100% kenetic resists Leviasqualls to harvest meat from creatures.
What's the point of taming when I can just buy a pet that is much better.
In PVPI just got killed by three Bearded Jax with 100% heat resists. I'm a Commando for Gods sake I shouldownJax.
Can anyone think of more?
Madd
I can hear the nerf cries now!!!!
Yeah and you know what I say to that...?
This creature is much better then the wild ones.
Thats the idea... durrr...
This CH/BE is using his three AR1 100% kenetic resists Leviasqualls to harvest meat from creatures.
Anything with 100% kinetic resistance and armor will never be under CL23 until it's got around 300 HAM and hits for nearly no damage.
What's the point of taming when I can just buy a pet that is much better.
Not all species typescan be made, plus the wild animals are free. It's the same as looted weapons and crafted weapons, the ones which you find are always weaker by design. Ultimately there would be utterly no point on giving bio-engineers the ability to make pets if they are not needed.
In PVPI just got killed by three Bearded Jax with 100% heat resists. I'm a Commando for Gods sake I shouldownJax.
It's not a Jax, it just looks like one. Appearences can be deceptive when genetics are involved. Get over it.
Can anyone think of more?
None that actually carry any weight aside from people who haven't realised that the CHs benefit a great deal from these changes.
Those who look at the skin as being an empty shell are only partly right. Different skins do behave differently. One noticeable example is speed, no I'm not talking about mounts. It might not be an important factor if you're a nonCH with little to no explore skill. But it is a pain to have a pet that can't keep up with you in the mountains. Also I have a suspicion that the more complex graphics are more prone to lag and so are more vulnerable to AI prblems. Then there is the size factor. I often find myself standing inside the larger animals whether I want to or not, so then it's difficult to see or target anything around me. Of course, maybe someone would want a large animal in PvP to act as a smoke screen, but in PvE it's just a pain.
Mount skins may become popular because I've noticed that it would be rather easy to /dismount and then command the animal to attack as usual. I don't have a CH on test, so this is just a theory. I don't know if riderless mounts attack or not.But it would save you from having to camp to call out a different pet from the one you're riding.