Creature Handler Archive

If a person enjoys themselves in any given profession, then by all means, let them play it.

There seem to be two groups within the CH community, those that say the CU made CH better, and those that say the CU made CH worse.

Some things to think about being a CH in this CU era though, ferocity issues, pets disappearing, pets not keeping up with vehicles, pets doing small amounts of damage in combat, pets not with high ham scores, other wonderful issues with pets in combat.

I loved ch pre-cu, I found that it allowed me to do many things without the need for the 2500 pt doc buff, and comp armor. After the cu, things seemed different. As a lvl 80 character, I am able to wipe out lower level mobs without a sweat without a need for the help of my pets. Pets that had too many bugs to worry about. For those encounters that are equal level or above level, the pet would just get wiped out too fast to be of much help or just not be of any use.

Granted, before the CU, ch was far from being balanced, but it was easier to deal with.My character is much more balanced out now without it. I get better specials, I get better defensive mods, better offensive mods, better damage than when I did have CH. The damage I can do with a laser rifle more than makes up for the extra damage a pet could add.

I hated dropping it, but I got tired of dealing with the frustration of a hosed profession that just gets more and more surprises with each update.

I thought long and hard about this too - and then decided to hang on to my current set-up.

Ask yourself what you want to do in the game - what is fun?

If it's just dealing damage etc. then you probably are better off going down the FOTM combat class route.

If you like hunting and taming/sampling critters (which gives me a point to all those travels) then stick with it.

I've found that CH is an "OK" combat class - definitely not up there with the other elites but enough to get along with for the odd bits of meat I need and to haul disgruntled "test subjects" off me. But if combat was all I was into it would be well below par.

I feel that the CH profession doesn't currently have the tools available to fill the revamped CURB role that Sony gave us, a hybrid tank. Even disregarding all the bugs with pet pathing, following, obeying, despawning; the damage, tanking, crowd control or combination of all those elements do not give us the same utility level of any other elite combat profession. The best thing I get from CH right now is the battle armor certification that has very little to nothing to do with the class itself. I tank better than any combination of pets available to me, and generally have to be the tank because my pet's ham is too low or they don't generate hate to hold aggro. Right now, for any asset you would use the CH profession such as tanking or crowd control, I think your pets would be better spent elsewhere if that is what you are seeking.

There have been some adjustments and the dust needs to settle. Things will probably be changed in the future. They might boost the embolden ability, they might allow wearable armor for pets (giving something new to armorsmiths too), the planet to planet creature reviews might give us a few more options for pets, or they might give some boosts to Bio Engineers. There is potential, but I don't see anything happening anytime soon.

All that being said - I have been a CH from launch and I enjoy my pets no matter how worthless they may be. My other professions are enough for me in combat and I use my pets for additional company. I don't really need my pets for anything. I didn't start my character to be a Bounty Hunter, a Smuggler, or a Jedi. The day I can't use my first Mountain CuPa (Brain) or my CL44 Gurreck (Alpha) is the day I respec. I lost one Gurreck(Nermle) already, a BE pet that went 1(0) in the second adjustment that hit us after launch.

Message Edited by albybum on 05-29-2005 09:51 AM

Ch got hit with the nerfbat in december of 03

it's 1.5 years later and the profession would be unnerffed if it wasn't for the broken specials, stats and new nerfs they applied with publish 17

so don't hold your breath expecting the devs to fix anything soon.