Hello Arenanet.
I know there are a lot of topics about this already. But I do want to make my own concerns noticed. Hopefully I can give some advice and not just complaints.
I am playing a Soulbeast as my main for about 2 years now and mostly playing PvE content. When the last Beta started I was looking quite forward to seeing the new ranger elite specialization in action but unfortunately I found myself being disappointed right away. My first, gut feeling was, when am I ever going to use this untamed class?, and then quit to play the other classes. A first impression counts. I would say. I know different classes have different roles to play. But it was not fun to play for me as a PvE player.
Some suggestions I would change.
1. If this is "the pet class" , why not make all the available pets "Veterans" with multiple smaller versions of the same pet, having a mix between clones and minions.
This for me would classify as a real pet class. This creates diversions, similar to the minion class in Necromancer- and clones in Mesmer-classes. A veteran beast could be able to spawn more smaller versions of itself (with a maximum cap: 6) , the longer the fight lasts (every 8 seconds). So it becomes a priority for other players to start targeting the Veteran [beast]. The smaller versions wouldn't be able to do much damage by their own but could be used for their abilities, such as:
Status and condition effects: Crippling Anguish on Iboga
Crowd control: Charge on Rockgazelle
Evasion:
Direct damage: Smoke assault on Smokescales
After the target is destroyed the life cycle of the summoned pet is slowly ending (de-spawn time 15 seconds) and cycle of summoning more creatures repeats itself. The feeling of being overwhelmed, if not killing the Veteran first, is a feeling that we all had in GW2. The "Oh kitten", I have bitten off more then I could chew" moment.
I would also recommend that the AI of the enemies know that the Veteran has priority over the smaller creatures. This creates an interesting dynamic in trying to keep your Veteran alive and killing the enemy. There should be a hefty re-spawn time for the veteran, since such a strong alpha is not easily created.
Suggestion
Major Traitline 1:
Major Trait 1: The summoned juvenile pets will use one primary skill (chosen by the Untamed)
Major Trait 2: The summoned juvenile pets will use a random skill
Major Trait 3: The summoned juvenile pets sacrifice their lives for the Veteran, de-spawning and healing the Veteran.
Major Traitline 2:
Major Trait: The spawn rate of juveniles is increased to 10 seconds, but the maximum spawn cap is increased 8.
Major Trait: The spawn rate of juveniles is decreased to 6 seconds, but the maximum spawn cap is also decreased to 4.
Major Trait: The despawn rate of juveniles is decreased to 20 seconds after the target is destroyed.
Example: Juvenile Fanged Iboga
Consuming Bite: Bite foes, dealing additional damage for each condition afflicting anyone struck.
Crippling Anguish: Launch a projectile that inflects conditions
Narcotic Spores: Spit a glob of confusing spores at the foe, inflicting confusion for a while at that location
It would be interesting to see players dealing with the veteran first. Otherwise in this case, when choosing the Major trait line 1: and the skill Crippling Anguish. That it could amount in a crazy amount of conditions that without proper condi-cleanse, could be difficult to handle.
There are other things I would like to mention but this, for me would be a good start. MAKE PETS MORE VIABLE AGAIN!!!!
Thank you very much for reading.
ps. Remember, this is a rough idea.