Creature Handler Archive

Nice reponse Nhari.

I've just taken up Swordsman (0,1,0,1) mainly because I looted a Gamorrean axe ages ago and wanted to use it rather than sell it! I used to be a Pistoleer which seemed to go well with MCH.Maybe I wasn'texploitingthe potential of Pistols to its fullest, but even at the very lower stages of 2 Handed, combat seems so much more satisfying (not to mention quicker!). Last night I was fighting head on with 4 sharnaffs at a time and winning (with some tactical heals).

I fight with my BE Mawgax on hand in case I need to bail out (1 click will send him in with a specials loop macro that MOBs find hard to break away from). Sometimes I'll fight with him alongsideanyway, as I'm not really grinding to level any more, and I love the stun and dizziness he dishes out. Once I'm a bit more skilled with the swords, I'll give PvP a bash as together I think we make a good team

For me it's more about the look and feel than the numbers.

Evilnerf is right, but I'll use several paragraphs to say what he said with a little bit of detail, mostly because I like to type. A lot of this will be for any non-creature handlers looking for information, since you already know the ins and outs of creature handling.

I agree that melee professions don't benefit quite as much from the tanking ability of pets. In fact, no melee profession really needs pets at all for that purpose. On the other hand, Teras Kasi do the same damage type pets do (random pool hits), which means pets can be used similar to bleeds. Teras Kasi don't get bleeds as a profession, so the added damage over time can be helpful.

Realistically, though, said damage is pretty small even if the pet is created with everything put into damage instead of HAM. Creature Handler is something to take if you like playing a pet class, not something to take if you're looking to gain a big advantage. Pet special attacks can be helpful when used correctly, but Teras Kasi are already filled with status attacks anyway. Petscan beuseful, but they're not really worth the skill credits you spend for them in terms of pure game mechanics.

That said, I'm a Master Creature Handler/Master Swordswoman and probably will continue to be until the serverscome down or a game comes out that issues bans for unattended gameplay (the only thing that really bothers me about SWG so far). I like pets and always have. I call them less frequently than I used to these days, but I still like to have them around. I like being able to gather up and train rasps for my entertainer friends, and I like the ability to look silly while chatting to my dewback as we plod across the purple plains of Dantooine.

As a master swordswoman, I really don't need my pets for anything at all, ever. I just don't. When it comes to PvE, I'm trouble waiting to happen, and my pets have difficulty keeping up with the kind of trouble I bring to bear. Poison and disease are nice little additional benefits, but they're usually not worth the time it takes to either A) pull the petfrom the data pad in the field, or B) fly at a slow enough speed to keep the pet withinradar range.

SWG has a more intricate pet system in place than any MMO to date, though I'd have to say that pets are less effective at this stagethan they are/have been inany MMO to date as well, primarily due to the nature of the game (the ability to mix and match professions). The developers have said that the upcoming (we hope) combat rebalance will return some relevance to pets, but I suppose we'll have to wait and see. As things stand, you don't need a pet to help you out. The question is, do you want one?

If you do, and you want to see any kind of contribution from your pet in combat, I'd suggest either TKA or Fencer in order to match damage pools. If you don't care whether the pet adds much, then the only real choice becomes whichstyle of meleeyou prefer.

EDITED: for spelling and usage.

Message Edited by Nhari on 05-07-2004 12:23 AM

If you want melee, TKM is the way to go. I was a MCH/MRM but switched to MCH/TKM because TKM is so much better. I agree that when buffed w/ brandy you don't need a pet because you can use knockdown and then spam /unarmedhit3 until the target dies. The ability to heal very fast from getting diseased by a Bull Rancor (or anything else)is a huge plus for you as well. In fact, when I buff and do Bull/Enraged Rancor missions solo, I don't even wear armor anymore because it's too much of a pain to take my composite off to regen my HAM. My friend who is also a TKM and I hunted Enraged Racors last week in our underwear. It worked much better than our armor and was quite funny to watch.

No matter what happens down the road, pets will always have a great advantage because it's a helper that you have control of all the time. I myself rotate between 10 Rancors which works out great when I'm not buffed and just messing around.