Development Cycle Archive
Thread: IC 1-6: Combat Roles; Creature Handler
For most of a half year, I have been a MBE and a Creature Handler 2-4-0-4. I am related to the Creature Handler not only because I am one, I buy from them and sell to them.
What defines theCreature Handler role in combat? The many pets of a creature handler are tailor made for each situation they run into. Their role is to use these pets with enormous amounts of ham to take the hits.... To tank for the group.
What basic combat elements should they possess? The Creature Handler should have strong commanding skills that would allow their pets to do amazing defensive abilities including a strong ability to take aggro.
What offensive abilities? The Creature Handler should have the ability to order their pets to do kinetic attacks and more.
What defensive abilities? To take the hits as well as anyone in the game, but with their enormous ham, to take them longer.
What unique abilities? Trick attacks, unique attacks, attacks that will defeat the normal defenses that make it impossible to ignore. Perhaps even to share life with its master.
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat? Tanking
How could/should they interact with other professions? They should be first strike once the battle becomes melee range.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants? The pets should have unique abilities to take aggro for all in the group.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War? tanking.
The Creature handler should have amazing abilities to control pets, to have them do things that would be thought beyond their abilities. Perhaps even sharing life with their pets making the opposition impossible to ignore the pet.
Creature handlers should still be able to tame babies found in nature and BE's should be able to beef all creatures above their origional abilities.
As both a Master Bio-Engineer and a Master Creature Handler, this is a limitation, rather than a benefit. A good BE can make a Gnort with the stats, damage and overall health of a Rancor, and make a Rancor with the stats of the average gnort. The distinction needs to be something more like an "Attack Pet Specialization", which allows the CH to train the pet for an exclusive line of attacks or abilities, which are designed to enhance the pets abilities in a specific role.
This would mean a change in the pet-training process, in which a pet is "defined" as an Attack pet, and the commands trainable at each level are also "qualified" by the pet's specialization. Other pets might be "specialized" as Defensive, with commands enabling them to be less affected by intimidation, stun, etc, and more able to resist damage. Let a Defensive pet, given the appropriate command by it's trainer, act to shrug off a portion of the damage from any attack, much the way armor does presently.
These specializations should be a combination of the pet's definition and training, and the CH's level/ability. A pet would have to be defined as an Attack pet to respond to the "embolden" command, for example, and as a Defensive or Tank pet to respond to a similar commmand by the CH to enter a Defensive Stance.
An additional role or specialization for a pet might be "Pack Animal", giving the pet a 100 unit or so carrying capacity, similar to a droid's item storage compartment but larger, or expandable with a player made "Saddlebag" similar to a backpack, and usable by the CH. "Pack Animals" would not be combat pets, but might serve as mounts.
I like the idea and think there is significant room to expand the CH role and the enjoyment of the profession with these specializations. From the BE side, I see such creature's capabilties and effectiveness governed by their Ferocity, Dependability, Cleverness and other stats which are less apparent in their effect now. High Dependability would be a must for a Tank, High Ferocity and Cleverness for an Attack pet, and high Endurance for a good Pack Animal.
This might also help free the professions from the absolutism of the Creature Level as such a determining factor, and add depth to both the4 BE and CH roles, while not fundamentally unbalancing the power or interdependance of the professions. Multiple specializations might also mean more use of multiple pets, rather than the bigger / meaner is better single focus we have currently.
Ake'lan Farseeker - Master Creature Handler, Naritus
LLan Farseeker - Master Bio Engineer, Chilastra
i really love the pet specializations, that would be awesome. but knowing thunderheart and the devs they would botch it into another useless aspect of ch.
TrandoshanDroidTech wrote:
that was a little wierd, the whole board locked up for some reason......
I assume others can reply about other ppls ideas here
and something I forgot to say PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE FIX PET PATHING!
Aakhperkare wrote:
+40 Pet Terrain Negotiation I agree, some pets need better terrain negotiation
/trick 4 command healing all mind and wound damage by 100% curing any disease or poison as well I think two trick commands are enough
/breed command Allowing your Rancor to breed with another Rancorproducing a baby of that particular species for the Creature Handler to tame an intriguing concept!
I've always thought of having a ranch or something.
Providing breeding services for Bio Engineers. Providing non-combat uses to non-Ch's, such as rescue pets. (a pet that drags incapped PC's or delivers medicine). Entertainer pets that are trained to "sing" along or do tricks with their entertainer master, giving them bonuses to healing. So many ideas are already on the CH forum. I agree on this one
How about Giving the larger tameables (Tortons, Maklocs, Fambaas) an ability to carry shield generators to assist in battlefield fights. Or the ability for the same large tameables to do area kinetic damage as they run through a group of enemies in battlefield encounters. This could be a command reserved only for the large tameables such as Tortons, Kimogila's, Fambaas and such. A /stampede command used only for battlefield encounters.
Currently in a PvP situation, pets are just not viable. They die much to quickly and can be ignored for several reasons.
1. Pet damage output only consists of kinetic.
2. They have no armor piercing.
3. They do not hit hard enough.
4. They do not hit fast enough.
5. They usually stop attacking when the CH is killed, they do not protect to the death as they should for theirmasters.
I agree on all of this
What defines theCreature Handler role in combat?
***CH should be able to supplement for a lack of brawlers in a group, or to help protect brawlers by the user of their pets. Pets shoud have fairly good damage, and be good tanks. We should be somewhat similar to that of brawlers in the sense that we are there trying to protect ranged players.
What basic combat elements should they possess?
***Well, only the ability to control the pets, and to have the pets respond to the master being killed (not just to stop combat until attacked)
What offensive abilities?
***To maybe fix the specials dealing with pets. So far specials are hard as heck to get the pet to do. along with this, maybe we can get another bar or something to see the pet's queue of attacks, so we can stack the specials like we do when fighting. Maybe another tab?
What defensive abilities?
***Since we rely on our pets to defend us, we shouldn't have that many defenses.
What unique abilities?
***The specials went a long long way, maybe a few more types of specials?
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
***To help protect ranged, and some of the lower level melee combat players.
How could/should they interact with other professions?
***The breed idea posted earlier is awesome. This would help out bio-engineers. Maybe along with that, CH can have the ability to 'harvest' from their pet from time to time to get extra stuff. Maybe add a fur type of thing in the game, so it's like shaving a pet. Also the ability to customize the pet outside Bio-engineer would be nice in this area. Armor would be nice, maybe allow image designers to work with the pets. Also, special pets could be used for healing (dance), and stuff like that. The ideas for this is endless.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
***With little defense, and little offense - we should need othe combat characters...and really do already.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
***Creatures, so far, are already used a lot in the crafting and creation of many items. I think revolving around this idea would be a better idea. Creating tanks, and things that can hold shield gens would also be very interesting for combat.
***ANOTHER THING****
There was a post about an idea to add a sort of ability for the CH to view through the 'eyes' of the pet. This would be nice if there was a sort of meditation, or something else where the CH could do just that...view through the eyes of the pet, maybe unable to attack or defend the main character....but would be great for scouting.
along with this idea, maybe with the space expansion should be the ability for birds that actually *fly*. What do i mean? I mean like a bird that can fly like ones in real life. The 'view through them' option would be sweet if there was a way to look through maybe a small bird, and fly way overhead and view the ground from a high distance. This may not be very SW-ish, but is extremely fun in other MUDS/MMORPGS.
The problem - mounts aren't as useful as they should be
Mounts don't really have much purpose anymore. Maybe it's just lag, but I seem to run as fast as most mounts do. When riding one I havn't seen any noticable increase in speed, I've also ran side by side of people on dewbacks, carrions, & such and there doesn't seem much of a dif in speed if any at all. Gallop works nice but only seems to be of better use if running from cats, otherwise burst run works just the same.
There is also no reason to ride a slow mount when you can ride a swoop and get to your destination a whole lot faster. Only advantage really (besides having to repair vehicles, which is broken right now anyhow) is that you don't have to call out your pet when you get to where you want to fight since you're already on it, but that is also going to be lost in the near future when you won't need camps to call out things.
proposed fix
make mounts a little faster. Close to speed of a landspeeder maybe. This would have to be fixed in a way though, that would prevent kiting. Maybe changing gallop from being a burst run ability to a constant default full speed gallop. While galloping you nor your pet can attack. If you attack something your pet slows down to the current run speed and you can attack as normal. If you want to get away and not fight you hit gallop, you stop fighting and after a 20 sec pause or something you will resume galloping but unable to attack. This would prevent kiting with ranged weapons, it would work just the same as if you had your swoop nearby so nothing really being too useful compared to how it is now.
nother idea...
Mounts could also be able to attack while mounted, making this a master skill would be very class defining. Think of it, a group going out to hunt something, the masterCH would be riding his dewback while in combat, that seems very creaturehandlerish to me. Since they'd be running at the current run speed it wouldn't be overpowered or anything by allowing anyone to kite. This would be a very unique class defining skill. Instead of just sitting back and sending in the pet, a master CH could have the option of riding his mount while his pet is in close combat.
In addition to mounted attacking a good idea could be that while mounted, damage is split between you and your pet. Something hits you for 1000 damage and 500 goes to you and 500 goes to your pet. If you die, well you die, if your pet dies, you dismount. Just some ideas...