Unimpressed by Feral Guardian (Bear) Ultimate

GrumpyDuckling · June 2017

The bear is basically the Sorcerer's Unstable Clannfear, except worse:

- It has a big model so it spends a lot of its time "missing" in the walls of narrow areas, so it's not even attacking enemies.
- It takes up an ultimate slot (two, if you want it up at all times).
- It spends more time running towards the enemy than attacking them.
- It misses a lot of attacks if the enemy is mobile (ex: a melee enemy chasing you, with the bear, in tow, swinging and missing).
- It needs to be healed by the caster, even outside of combat (like all toggle pets, now).
- It only attacks one enemy at a time, in a game where it is rare to be fighting one enemy at a time (in PVE, anyway).

The idea of Feral Guardian is awesome... but it's just so... meh. It doesn't feel good to use.

JimT722 · June 2017

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

The bear is basically the Sorcerer's Unstable Clannfear, except worse:

- It has a big model so it spends a lot of its time "missing" in the walls of narrow areas, so it's not even attacking enemies.
- It takes up an ultimate slot (two, if you want it up at all times).
- It spends more time running towards the enemy than attacking them.
- It misses a lot of attacks if the enemy is mobile (ex: a melee enemy chasing you, with the bear, in tow, swinging and missing).
- It needs to be healed by the caster, even outside of combat (like all toggle pets, now).
- It only attacks one enemy at a time, in a game where it is rare to be fighting one enemy at a time (in PVE, anyway).

The idea of Feral Guardian is awesome... but it's just so... meh. It doesn't feel good to use.

I really like the bear, however I have to agree with everything you say. I think the maul ultimate misses as well. Definitely needs ironing out.

Reorx_Holybeard · June 2017

Also have to add that sometimes it "gets lost" for no apparent reason for minutes at a time and then reappears again. This happened a few times in VMA even though there is no where it should be able to go.

Toc de Malsvi · June 2017

It is entirely underwhelming.

theamazingx · June 2017

The ult is actually being reworked, here's a preview:

Biro123 · June 2017

theamazingx wrote: »

The ult is actually being reworked, here's a preview:

Lol!

I'd just like the ability to buy different models for it (not just a grey skin) - so your bear, could instead look like a lion - or a big dog, or a panther or something..

But this is just me - since I've modelled my stamwarden after that old 80's movie - Beastmaster... 2-H, cliff-diver for the hawk and using the black panther non-combat pet. I just want my bear to look like a black panther instead, then I can turn off the non-com pet. Otherwise it's Dawnbreaker, I guess.

SodanTok · June 2017

Interestingly enough while it is the obviously supposed to catch an eye of new players/RPers, it is far better in 'lower tier' endgame (dungeons) boss fights than in overland content. Those are mostly stacionar and long fights, where the bear excels.

GrumpyDuckling · June 2017

SodanTok wrote: »

Interestingly enough while it is the obviously supposed to catch an eye of new players/RPers, it is far better in 'lower tier' endgame (dungeons) boss fights than in overland content. Those are mostly stacionar and long fights, where the bear excels.

I haven't used the bear in many end-game boss fights yet, does it stand in the red and die often?

SodanTok · June 2017

GrumpyDuckling wrote: »

SodanTok wrote: »

Interestingly enough while it is the obviously supposed to catch an eye of new players/RPers, it is far better in 'lower tier' endgame (dungeons) boss fights than in overland content. Those are mostly stacionar and long fights, where the bear excels.

I haven't used the bear in many end-game boss fights yet, does it stand in the red and die often?

I cant speak directly about the hard (DLC veteran) content, but from experience (of regular normal and veteran dungeons) the bear is very resilient (all pets have like 85% aoe damage reduction I think) to AoE and, since it completely fails at keeping aggro, is never subject to hard hitting direct damage. Just some offheal source (like AoE healing, or warden lotus, or vigor use) should keep him alive for long periods of aoe heavy fights.

Minno · June 2017

The Ice ultimate is lacking too. If you bar swap, the ultimate goes away, so it wasted 200 ultimate lol.

I deslot any ultimate like that for PvP. Much better to use Dawnbreaker, meteor, or weapon ultimates over the warden class ultimates in PvP.

LazyLou · June 2017

Minno wrote: »

The Ice ultimate is lacking too. If you bar swap, the ultimate goes away, so it wasted 200 ultimate lol.

I deslot any ultimate like that for PvP. Much better to use Dawnbreaker, meteor, or weapon ultimates over the warden class ultimates in PvP.

Seems like a bug, for me the ultimate persists when I bar swap, as long as my character has started the "incantation".

Dixa · June 2017

Minno wrote: »

The Ice ultimate is lacking too. If you bar swap, the ultimate goes away, so it wasted 200 ultimate lol.

I deslot any ultimate like that for PvP. Much better to use Dawnbreaker, meteor, or weapon ultimates over the warden class ultimates in PvP.

reason to have the ice ultimate is the 8% max magicka morph. it's damage is lackluster

MLGProPlayer · June 2017

Bear needs to be single bar and have some kind of AOE damage to be viable.

DDuke · June 2017

Well, atleast the bear ultimate passively gives you +2% damage with Advanced Species and the activate is some decent burst damage (when it works).

That said, they definitely need to make the bear AI a lot better, make the attacks/animations faster - and it'd be nice if the bear had more abilities than just the occasional stun it does, a charge maybe?

STEVIL · June 2017

I view the base bear as the equivalent to the UK to passive which give inc damage or stat when slotted. So I don't expect a lot from the passive bear is out gains and every attack bear draws in is a boost.

The UK to value I look at is its key click effect.

But its unpredictability always winds up keeping it off my bar.

I think pets with strong single target effect are just bad ideas in a game with as fluid a combat plus limited pet control.

Hoping your bear happens to be in right place, right time for multi use is fools gambit imo.

imo most pet abilities key-clicks should be area or group. That way they would not be shackled to bad AI or mobile situations.

That's on reason vol fam is so much better as a damage producer pet... Aoe radius bursts.

Silverwulfess · June 2017

Biro123 wrote: »

theamazingx wrote: »

The ult is actually being reworked, here's a preview:

Lol!

I'd just like the ability to buy different models for it (not just a grey skin) - so your bear, could instead look like a lion - or a big dog, or a panther or something..

But this is just me - since I've modelled my stamwarden after that old 80's movie - Beastmaster... 2-H, cliff-diver for the hawk and using the black panther non-combat pet. I just want my bear to look like a black panther instead, then I can turn off the non-com pet. Otherwise it's Dawnbreaker, I guess.

I definitely want different "skins". I thought I read before release that this was going to be a thing. Maybe upcoming in crown store?