Tamer Hints

[Scoobs]

I was wondering if anyone could spill the beans on how they approach the more aggressive creatures with their tamer. I really struggle with area affect creatures, or ones that change target. I hunt with a nighmare and rune beetle which need alot of vetting.

All comments appreciated.

 

[Farsight]

1. Different pets for different situations - You wouldn't want to fight the Monstrous Interred Grizzle with a rune beetle, for example. But you can fight it with a greater dragon. However, you'll do just as well fighting the Putrefier with a rune beetle as a greater dragon. So rule #1 is "know your enemy."

2. Get used to bandage/greater heal/bandage/greater heal.

3. Have a mage weapon and a lot of DCI for when getting up close and personal is a requirement.

4. Magery, meditation and spellweaving is a great skill combination for things like Sir Patrick, where getting close isn't a realistic option.

 

[Wenchkin]

I was wondering if anyone could spill the beans on how they approach the more aggressive creatures with their tamer. I really struggle with area affect creatures, or ones that change target. I hunt with a nighmare and rune beetle which need alot of vetting.

All comments appreciated.

It's really a case of practice tbh. Start with easier foes and easier paragons for example then work up to the top end ones. All monsters have a range around them where they'll notice you, but if you sneak up enough times you'll get a feel for it.

I always set macros to cast invis on myself and heal and cure myself. I also have invis on a macro of it's own so I can precast it and invis myself if I get in trouble.

To begin with, precast invis and be ready to hit your "target self" key when something nasty targets you. Then step back, behind your pets - this means if the monster targets again, it'll go for the pets and not you Then tell your pets to kill. When you're waiting for respawn, stand under your pet so you can move a tile to the side and put your pet between you and the monster. Have a kill command issued so you just have to target the enemy.

Paragons are safe if you handle them slowly and carefully. Don't run! As soon as you see one on screen, land an all kill on it, then call pet(s) to you with "all stop, all follow me". Then you don't have to move and risk attracting the paragon's attention. You can also try teleporting to your pet, but I find it easiest to simply bring my pets back.

With anything that area effects or retargets however careful you are, it's a bit more complex. Ideally, have a pet that isn't going to die if you stand back and cast heals on it. Then you can heal from a safer distance and that should keep you pretty safe. Note that this doesn't mean only a greater or cu sidhe will do. It can also work on the basis of your pets killing the creature so fast, it can't kill one of them Or support your pets by attacking the monster yourself. This is one situation where disco tamers are really useful.

The alternative is to only take on those critters when you know you can kill them before their area effects etc kill you. The method I tend to use a lot is to move within vet range and apply a few bandies then move back. This is risky, however if you watch your health and have a strong suit of armour on, you can simply back off, invis and heal up then go back to taking care of your pets. Handy if you a) run out of mana or b) if the monster is poisoning your pet and it's on really low health.

I should mention that if you're hunting solo and your pet is struggling to survive, you can tell it to stop and follow you...walk slowly away from the monster while applying bandages. Even if the monster is a caster, this stops the beast from melee damaging your pet and can be really useful at reducing the damage it takes while you vet up. Handy if you don't want to recall out or recall is blocked.

Wenchy

 

[Maleachi]

Well said Wenchy!

One thing I can add about paragons and possibly other monsters with demon targeting is; Use teleport! Don't walk, don't run, teleport to them if you need to heal your pet up close. They won'target you!
I have no idea why I never thought of this myself, but saw a friend doing this with para Balrons and have coppied his method succesfully since.

 

[Scoobs]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Some really good hints and tips.

I have been a tamer for a long time believe it or not. My problem has been that I got greedy a long time ago and use a luck suit with really rubbish resits. Embarrasingly, I have to use regs as my suit does not have lrc! This is the main reason that I rely on bandages rather than gheals. I suspect it is time to update this character!

Please keep your experience and hints coming.

 

[Aldredge]

Aye about the paragons when they first came out everyone was going on about how they random target and im like what? no they don't. There targeting system is simple if nothing is moving near them they act like a regular mob.

If someone moves say walking there is a medium chance they will retarget that person.

If you run near one you are guaranteed 100% to be targeted by the paragon.

In this same situation any creature with a area damage spell or ability will immediately target you if you take damage from the area attack or ability note that some times you can stand just barely out of range of the area spell but this is rare and i have personally only accomplished it with the dark father.

 

[Harlequin]

I love my rune beetle and mare combo. Rb has elder magery, 170 dex, legendary poisoning. Mare is a pure, with max str, max hp.

They take down mobs fast, but the rb really don't have that much hp (tip, use the stable trick. I stable both and bring the rb out of stable before the mare, this way the rb will always attack first and be the one the mob will retaliate against). So the combo don't really work well for some higher end mobs unless you have discord/peace.

Different pets are required for different mobs. The GD is a great tank when going up against unknowns. Great hp and resists, but low damage (if you are used to the rb and mare combo).

Against mobs that cast area spells like sucubus and shimmering effusion, never use bandaids. Stand outside the AOE and use gheal instead.

Spellweaving with gift of life and gift of renewal works well with tamers too. Most of my tamers are also weavers. I am doing the bane invasion with a stealth/spellweaving/mage tamer with a pack of frenzies. Needs my wife's gd to tank if there's no one else, but it's really fun!

Use lrc suits. If u are concerned with luck, AOF gives 200 luck, and 40 lrc. Arms, gloves and leggings have no artifact version that gives more than 140 luck (unless I miss out an arti). So you can make imbued versions of these with 20 lrc, 8 lmc, 2 mr, 140 luck, plus a boost to 1 resist.

In a pinch, you can also swap chuckles hat/fisherman glasses with the 150 luck with an imbued item with 140 luck (it's only 10 less luck). Circlets are nice for elves if you dislike the leather cap. They can be enhanced with gold.

This will still allow you to use the etoile set plus the 300 luck mempo.


Cheap way to get 140 luck with imbuing, imbue to 100 luck first, screw pof (since you are not going to get damaged most of the time), enhance with spined/gold respectively.

If the item gets destroyed in the imbuing attempt, you suffer only minimal loses.

Then imbue the rest of the properties.

 

[YellowStarS2k]

Oh, wow, I had no idea about teleporting and walking in front of paragons, thanks.