Creature Handler Archive
Thread: What is SOE's vision for Creature Handler?
Just a thought if we should use pets for other means then fighting why not give us ways to earn xp with our pets instead of just fighting. I know we have taming but that still involves going out into the wilderness and sometimes fighting to get to the baby.
I just think if we have other alternatives to gaining exp as a creature handler we would see more people doing different things. As a example setting up shows etc in the theaters/hotels etc. Maybe have it so they can gain exp the way entertainers do by people watching. Add more tricks that the pets can do or ways that if you have multiple pets out they can do tricks together kinda like flourishes.
Because at the moment are pets are made to be fighters which i'm not complaining about but just would like to see other ways of advancing up the skills. Even if its just a little bit of exp it would still be nice to see.
Ok a Pistoleer can spec several other lines as well right?
So if Master Pistoleer > MCH and both have points can spec other lines?
Isn't this a wash?
Sigh nevermind........
Holocron wrote:
Berratus, because the game is classless, the assumption is that you pick up multiple skills, multiple professions. Making an elite creature handler equivalent to an elite combat profession would mean that every combatant would need to be a creature handler, because the added benefit of having an NPC tank is enormous. Some of the pets you control are by themselves as powerful as an elite combat player, and that's not counting you, the CH, into the combat equation.
I guess all I am saying is that it's not a one to one comparison.
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By making that leap of logic there you have made it so the CH NEEDs to add an elite Weapons profession to be viable also. Because you nerf the class down to where the CH/Pistoleer master will be equal to a Pistoleer. We are meant to be PvE masters. Yet we keep getting nerfed because of the PvP realities. Yet you fail to realize that mastering a doctor skill is better than mastering a CH when it comes to PvP. So why not take time to see all the combos that pop up over time instead of dropping bombs on us until no one wants to play CH no more.
Thats not how you fix a profession. That is how you get rid of a profession.
Stars-
Holo? Just one thing you have given us..thats all I asked. What was justone thing you have given us with all this change to make us say wow..thats why I stay with this class....
Dear Raph Koster, Creative Director
I would like to work towards a lvl at which Ch would be satisfied. You have had to read most of the flaming/griping post about the nerfs.
Here is my thought,
1 Raise the pet cap for Master if not there is no signifiagnce in Master.
ONE?
How long will it be until my pet actually learns the follow command?
How could armor on a fookin Gurreck be more importan than my pets not following me?
/boggle
Holo,
Let me first explain my situation. I lurk on these boards daily and up until about a week ago was completely and utterly obsessed with SWG. About the time the official notice for when the big patch was to be release was announced, all the magic died and it became more of a chore than a fun experience. Over the past week I have played enough to understand the changes, but not much past that.
That being said, in a previous post in this thread you say that you're not accustomed enough to know the difference between a master CH and someone who goes 4/4/0/4 or 4/4/4/0. The simple answer is there really is none. With 70 clvls to work with let me explain briefly the scenarios we have available to us.
1. A Master CH decides to go with 1 clvl 50 pet and 1 clvl 20 pet - The obvious choice for this is to use a gurreck, though now it'll be a toss up between them and rancors. The second pet is not effective for any circumstances a master CH would be in. Also as you've said all along the object is to view our pets as companions, which I do. So there is no way I'm going to risk that fragile lvl 20 pet in any encounters where I need them. So in actuality for the most part the clvl cap for masters is at 50 in this circumstance.
2. A Master CH decides to go with 2 clvl 35 pets (kliknik queens for this example) - This is a reasonable solution and decently effective, though not against high level encounters. However, this is also a slap in the face as someone with 3/3/0/0 would be able to use these beasts. So the incentive here is what? To go Master CH in order to have two mediocre pets? Seems kind of lame to me but maybe thats how you envisioned it, sigh.
3. A Master CH decides to use 3 lvl 23 pets (greater sludge panthers for this example) - Many non-CH and people not familiar with the profession get confused in this situation, because they follow the general idea of more is better. This could not be farther from the reality of the situation. GSPs are very effective for mid level creature handlers, and one of the nicest pets for them. But did we honestly spend all those skills points to have 3 sub-par pets?
Now you have to figure in the most recent changes, regen rate and the AR nerf. Both of which make 2 and 3 practically useless. The reason behind this is that in any upper level encounter the any pet with AR1 or AR0 is going to fall extremely quickly as soon as it grasps aggro. This makes the pet much less effective and much more likely to die, which makes me not want to risk it in battle. Thus the entire profession I mastered is useless, since we must use pets to take advantage of those points.
My proposal is this. Do not nerf AR2 pets, but instead raise their clvls to be 46. Also raise the the max clvl for master only to 95, keep all other lvls in the CH profession the same (so basically from 4/4/4/4 to master you'd pick up an extra 25 lvls). This way no novices could control ar2 pets and a master would be able to control a maximum of 2 ar2 pets but with nothing else. Also alter the regen so that pets regen (at the same rate they do now) while stored in the datapad. It makes sense that if we leave our pets a home to lick their wounds they will regen somewhat.
This would give people more than enough incentive to become a Master CH and would give actual meaning to the title Master CH. As it stands now there really is none. I would very much welcome your thoughts on what I have proposed and any problems you would see with that solution. It addresses all the concerns of the people working towards and currently titled Master CH and instills more purpose into our profession.
sorry hit the button
1. raise the cap so a ch can have two descent pets out.
2. allow slow healing in the datapad
3. if you wan to change creatures stats around by raising the Cl of ones with high ar or making other creatures have low ar but a tougher attack then I am all for it. So each Ch can adjust to play either as a support combat role or plain Ch.
4. If I am not mistaken what you do not want to see is every comabt class taking on Ch just for the added tanks? ( Is that right)
5
Also,
You keep saying that a level 50 pet is BETTER than a maxxed palyer??? You are soooooo wrong. If that was true a maxxed player would never have a chance at beating them. That isnt the case though. I have soloed level 150 critters not to mention jedi WITHOUT using any of my CH master skills. So how can you honestly compare human AI to some extra stats on a mob? Nothing will ever beat human AI. Btw yes I know what AI stands for.
Stars-
If Holocron and I were having a beer together and He asked me what I would give the Master CH. I would first finish off my beer. I like my beer cold. lol
Then I would reply:
Leave the system as is, Dont recreate the wheel and creat new problems. Keep working on smoothing out the class. I would suggest that those that master CH should be rewarded with an addition pet that can be up to lvl 60. Im not suggesting changing the system, Master CH still only has 70 pts to play with but he gets an additional pet that doesnt count against the 70 pts ( up to lvl 60 pet).
Heres how it would work in theory:
Master CH calls:
1) A lvl 50 pet
2) A lvl 50 pet
3) A lvl 20 pet
The system would take the highest lvl pet called and count it as the "additional pet no higher then lvl60". Then use the current 70 pt system on any other 2 pets the Master CH called.
In the above example:
1) pet #1 would be the additional pet.
Note: A system could be worked out that makes the problem of coding easier. Meaning: You could make it so the first pet a Master CH calls is the additional pet, which doesnt count about the 70 pets. This way its easy to code in and puts the burden on the CH to make the decission on what the additional pet will be and not the code trying to figure it out.
Then I would ask Holocron to buy the next round. lol ............
But that's where a balance issue comes in. You have enough skill points left over to master quite a lot of combat skills.
...ok, but you could also NOT have a lot of skill points left over for combat skills. How about people that are double-master in scout/marksman and went up the survey line of artisan for instance. I have enough points to go for master CH and I currently use my pet as a companion, but I also use him to compliment my lack of any elite combat skills...so I'm good with a pistol/carbine/rifle...I still regularly get my @zz handed to me by red cons WITH my pet helping me (CL18 dewback but that's not the point). It's not right for the immediate assumption to be made that everyone that goes into the CH tree is doing so to become UBER, I thought the idea of being able to have a companion on the long trips was fun, I also thought the idea of taming wild creatures was fun, i've held onto my dewback since I got him (pre-patch) which has really hindered my progress to be honest, but I stuck with it. Now I'm starting to feel like there is no real value to the CH tree. I could drop those skill points and go for something better (but quite possibly MORE broken) and pickup a CL15 pet for companion...maybe he WOULD die, but I could just pickup another for cheaper than a good gun anyway...
There are different play styles and personally I just can't understand WHY all these changes are even needed. Who was really getting hurt through all of this that nerfs were the remedy?