Creature Handler Archive
Thread: spilling the beans on CH in beta (NDA lifted)
I'm not about to get too over-excited about this as I have an inkling how I suspect it will be achieved (No, I don't mean how the 'items' are obtained, I think there have been enough guesses at that in beta and probably arn't far from the mark i suspect). In all honesty I think everyone may be in for a bit of a disappointment with the reality when it hits live, for several reasons.
1. To obtain the 'items' if the rumours are to be believed will NOT happen overnight, or even remotely easily. As a few have already said, nobody in beta has managed to find them yet.
2. I suspect that as they will be given in increments it means each 'item' grants +2 Max Level and only by 'using' 5 items (all which you have to obtain in the first place) can you stack up to a max +10 modifier. Which brings me onto the rub.
3. If any of the current designs are anything to go by, most ability items, such as the Health crystals, Mind Crystals, certain *ahem* artefacts from Mustafar all grant temporary bonuses. As even the devs suggest they want it to push the CH's ability to the max without being frustrating. If I was a gambling man, my money would be on the 'item(s)' granting a bonus to Max Level of Pet for say only a few hours with a re-use timer. That would force you to use them very carefully indeed and in addition... I have yet to see anything implemented as an item that acts as a 'consumable' granting a permanent change to your skills. All permanent modifiers are generally through AA/CA/BE or other unique wearable/equippable (which is one possibility I guess)
4. The only Level 70-80 tamables are on Mustafar which makes them to be honest a very limited list anyway being only 6 or so current skins (other than BE critters obviously, but I dont know if thats part of the deal so can't say either way).
5. Even 'IF' you obtain said item(s) and 'IF' you can only use them for a few hours at a time, you still have to then find, tame and then grind said Mustafarian fauna to truly turn it into a great pet (during the items use time again of course)
Do I think this is worth having in game still? Heck yes, its a great challenge and piece of content to aspire to for novelty if nothing else. Do I think its a real sweet cherry or game breaker? Nah, its simply going to be too restrictive and convoluted to be anything other than a nice novelty for a patient and dedicated CH. In all honesty I just cannot see the Devs making this an easy to find, permanent addition to the skills modifier.
But thats just my thoughts, I'm not suggesting they are fact or based on anything other than what I've seen/read in beta and deduced from how things like this have been implemented to date.
I *hope* I am wrong and its a permanent modifier.... but
My money is on a nice 'holocron/crystal set' for us to all chase after 
Be interesting to find out when its implemented.
Happy hunting.
Mini-D
Indene wrote:
Hmmmm. So as a Master CH I am supposed to believe that I have to have a MASTER of an elite profession that has NOTHING TO DO WITH Creature handling just to tame and control the mystical new level 80s? I am NOT pleased at all and any other crafter in the game who is also a CH should feel quite negitive about this. Maybe I won't bother with the expansion since I cant use the one useful thing for a CH in it.
-Indene- (Grumbling quietly to herself)
I feel the same way.
theorb22 wrote:
A CL 70 critter in its currrent state pretty much does little if nothing to a PvPer with a good template, and even less if that template is ranged since the critter probably won't even touch him what with roots, snares, and of course paralyze and the like, plus the 1,500 damage shot to critters thing. I don't think asking for 10 more levels is really imbalacing at all looking at it from a competitive PvP standpoint.....
Since the average lvl 80 player can eat up a lvl 80 critter I do not see where a lvl 54 player with a lvl 80 pet is going to unbalance much. Also a lvl 54 or so rifleman( say Master Rifle and Master BE) can do great damage with a good rifle. A lot more damage than a lvl 80 pet and a master BE. After all if the MCH/MBE and MR/MBE are compared side by side the MR/MBE will be more dangerous then an MCH/MBE. The addition of lvl 80 pets simply reduced the gap between MCH and other Elite professions.
-Indene-
MiniDate can you explain the items in the last expansion that grant increased abilities then?
None of those have a timer on them either, If you need a hint how about the bionic man lol.
Your theory is a little flawed since looking at the last expansion and what the items grant it could be argued that this will just be a seies of quest's for items that will put together to form a robotic limb j/k but you get the point. It's all theory at this point and I wouldn't shoot it down so quickly.
Especially since no one on beta has leaked out it bites the durni yet, if it was really bad news would be leaking out lol. No bad news is good news.
Message Edited by jopenack on 10-12-2005 09:07 PM
/thinks to self "Nice Level 80 Carrot SOE is dangling just out of my grasp".
I look forward to the new content, grind, quest, pets. You gonna need new taming clothes and Almond Crunchies to be able to tame these new babies? These new babies gonna be more recalcitrant, stubborn, and take longer to tame than the ones found on Danthomir equipped with same already? Crikey!. /bleeds from bitten hand again.
Speculate do I. Some of the itemsmight be clothing types. Hopefully new styles reminisient of the Rancor Keeper's at Jabba's Palace. (Forgive me not knowing his name atm). But I am a Wookie! So I am sure these items are cross species accessable.
jopenack wrote:
MiniDate can you explain the items in the last expansion that grant increased abilities then?
None of those have a timer on them either, If you need a hint how about the bionic man lol.
Your theory is a little flawed since looking at the last expansion and what the items grant it could be argued that this will just be a seies of quest's for items that will put together to form a robotic limb j/k but you get the point. It's all theory at this point and I wouldn't shoot it down so quickly.
Especially since no one on beta has leaked out it bites the durni yet, if it was really bad news would be leaking out lol. No bad news is good news.
Message Edited by jopenack on 10-12-2005 09:07 PM
Oh - I hope it isn't a robotic arm.
I have kept my female trando free from disfigurement so far, not yielding to any of the temptations of even the rez arm. I would be very sad if I could only be a CL80 pet user if I had to look like something from a scrapyard.
Message Edited by OddWan on 10-13-2005 05:44 AM
OddWan wrote:
jopenack wrote:
MiniDate can you explain the items in the last expansion that grant increased abilities then?
None of those have a timer on them either, If you need a hint how about the bionic man lol.
Your theory is a little flawed since looking at the last expansion and what the items grant it could be argued that this will just be a seies of quest's for items that will put together to form a robotic limb j/k but you get the point. It's all theory at this point and I wouldn't shoot it down so quickly.
Especially since no one on beta has leaked out it bites the durni yet, if it was really bad news would be leaking out lol. No bad news is good news.
Message Edited by jopenack on 10-12-2005 09:07 PM
Oh - I hope it isn't a robotic arm.
I have kept my female trando free from disfigurement so far, not yielding to any of the temptations of even the rez arm. I would be very sad if I could only be a CL80 pet user if I had to look like something from a scrapyard.
Message Edited by OddWan on 10-13-2005 05:44 AM
Personally I think it would be funny if it was a chef's hat. What can I say I like putting a chef's hat on my wookiee
So if you feel left out because you aren't CL 80 at least the MCH among us get new creatures to tame meaning new content. Many of the professions get nothing and a few get an insult. I have to buy the expansion for my master entertainer to truly be a master and perform all the songs and dances, I don't get any content at all and a quest item my level 10 can't get, but hey SOE got their 30 bucks so I could feel like a real master at my craft.
TheLoneBowler wrote:
Ok they just lifted the NDA so I can talk!
CH is getting some love in the expansion-here are some highlights I will add more later-
-CHs will be able to tame up to level 80. requirements are Master CH, level 80 combat level, and undisclosed items or skills that you will get that will increase your taming by levels of 2 until you get to 80. All of the creatures on Mustafar 80 and below are reported to spawn babies. Babies 71 and above are supposed to be really rare.
-AI has been significantly changed. Pets and NPCs will now use specials in combat. NPCs will follow profession specific ability rulesets (TK, Jedi, Etc)
-In my testing pets are much stronger. My level 67 was able to solo level 65-69 with no help.
I will get more info as soon as I can.
Message Edited by TheLoneBowler on 10-10-2005 04:08 PM
Ok this will rule out my CH that i love, he isnt a fulltime warrior and only lvl54, either i scrap my +2 SW i got together with CH and make a warrior or i scrap my CH because i cant use the new improved CH contents and in that way cripple me, i havent seena rifleman need to be lvl80 for use there best rifle.
Fein out
jopenack wrote:
MiniDate can you explain the items in the last expansion that grant increased abilities then?
I was referring to items like the Health and Mind Buff Crystals that have re-use timers on them or certain reward items on Mustafar that increase abilities temporarily and have a timer on them also. Sorry to be so deliberately vague, but I'm trying not to slip into revealing any spoilers of the Mustafarian rewards and spoil anyones fun. All I am intimating at is stat enhancing buff items that can be re-used again and again, but have a fixed time limit to their 'buff' and re-use. There are several items in ToW that fall into this category of design.
None of those have a timer on them either, If you need a hint how about the bionic man lol.
Your theory is a little flawed since looking at the last expansion and what the items grant it could be argued that this will just be a seies of quest's for items that will put together to form a robotic limb j/k but you get the point. It's all theory at this point and I wouldn't shoot it down so quickly.
Conceded, I know what you are saying, I hadn't actually considered the possibility of it being a single stat changingreward of multiple parts. Mainly because I haven't seen anything in live that uses that design approach (although I am sure you will suggest one), but I have seen many items in live and test that uses the design I detailed above. In that respect I'm not sure how the theory is flawed? I'm simply thinking out loud here and saying that my gut feel is they may employ an existing code design to make the bonus temporary with re-use, as opposed to a permanent stat change.
They may of course use the approach you considered above and make it like another cyber arm buff (not very in character in my opinion, but its a possibility). Bottom line, it was just a theory and like you say its nothing more than that
Especially since no one on beta has leaked out it bites the durni yet, if it was really bad news would be leaking out lol. No bad news is good news.
To the best of my knowledge nothing has leaked out because nobody has produced it yet, or if they have they are sure as heck keeping quiet about it on the beta boards
So we simply don't know at this stage whether it bikes the Durni or not (not sure I approve of this Durni biting, what did the Durni do to you?). Until someone finds the missing parts we can't say whether this is a permanent stat change or not. So until then, yup, all I got is theory, just adding my thoughts to the melting pot is all
Message Edited by jopenack on 10-12-2005 09:07 PM
Tarlon wrote:
lammergeier wrote:
I wish everyone was as open to constructive debate as you are. the last paragraph, specifically concerning CL as a gate to content, has been argued for and against since it was introduced in the CURB (the best description of it I've seen so far: "it's like stapling bacon to a television."). I'm sure the arguments will continue.
BioE IS a special case... and it has always been problematic. when the game was launched, BioE's couldn't use factories... at all. BioE's STILL require 'fish' as a resource, and even with changes to the yield from fishing, the problem hasn't been resolved. BioE tailor tissues still have problems. in short, BioE has a heap of issues that weren't addressed with the CURB, and more issues that were caused by the CURB. CL is only ONE of the problems that needs a resolution.
but the CL problem isn't limited to BioE. if a CL80 pet is overpowered for a CL54 toon, then a CL70 pet is also overpowered... as is a CL55 pet. the answer for the last two-plus years hasn't been 'reduce the CL of the pet to match the CL of the toon (not that toon CL was ever accurately calculated or displayed before the CURB)', and I don't think that's the answer now.
WEAPONS are limited to CL54... I have yet to see a lightsaber, a rifle, a sword/axe, or any other weapon that requires MORE than a single elite mastery's CL of 54.. in THEORY, a CL80 toon should be an even match for a CL80 pet... we've all seen that this isn't the case (if only because a CL80 toon has a player controlling them, while a CL80 pet or mob is driven by AI). do we need a weapon rebalance, with certs ranging from CL1 to CL80, rather than CL1 to CL54?
where do we draw the line? CL70 isn't overpowered for a CL54 toon, but CL80 is?
mCH doesn't exist in a vacuum, to be sure. a mCH has the skill points left over to master another combat profession and increase their CL to 80, but the OPTION to buy more combat skills shouldn't be a REQUIREMENT.
this isn't a BioE problem (though it DOES affect BioE's). this is a problem that highlights the foibles and inadequacies of the CL system, and it is a problem for any toon that doesn't sport a shiny CL80 next to their name.
This statement brings up another point.
Since launch the game has made certain professions easier to master by lowering the requirement to become said masters. Master doctor doesn't need master medic andmaster bounty hunter doesn't need master marksman are two I can think of off the top of my head. Yet now, they are making the master creature handler profession master another FULLelite combat profession just to BECOME a true master creature handler now.
Not right.
Dunner
I agree its wrong. We should not be forced to get another elite combat profession just to use the ability to tame and use CL 80 pets.
No other combat profession has such requirements on their weapons, so why should we ?.
OddWan wrote:
jopenack wrote:
MiniDate can you explain the items in the last expansion that grant increased abilities then?
None of those have a timer on them either, If you need a hint how about the bionic man lol.
Your theory is a little flawed since looking at the last expansion and what the items grant it could be argued that this will just be a seies of quest's for items that will put together to form a robotic limb j/k but you get the point. It's all theory at this point and I wouldn't shoot it down so quickly.
Especially since no one on beta has leaked out it bites the durni yet, if it was really bad news would be leaking out lol. No bad news is good news.
Message Edited by jopenack on 10-12-2005 09:07 PM
Oh - I hope it isn't a robotic arm.
I have kept my female trando free from disfigurement so far, not yielding to any of the temptations of even the rez arm. I would be very sad if I could only be a CL80 pet user if I had to look like something from a scrapyard.
Message Edited by OddWan on 10-13-2005 05:44 AM
I'm glad I am not the only one who things those things look stupid.
-Indene-