Soulbeast is fun - but it feels a bit clunky and inconsistent - Please, give it a second look <3

[Chrolo.8536]

I was exclusively playing Soulbeast since PoF's launch and overall I'm having a lot of fun with it. However, after giving it a closer look I feel like there are different inconsistencys within the elite spec itself and it's interaction with core Ranger skills and traits. Soulbeast doesn't need a complete rework, but it needs refinment and polish. This is my feedback after the first few days playing the "Beast". Please Anet, give it a second look and take action.

• Merging / Unmerging: I think it should never feel unrewarding when you merge or unmerge with your pet. At the current state, entering Beastmode your pet loses all boons and it's conditions inflicted by your pet don't do damage while in Beastmode (while the pet is inactive it's condition damage is 0). It's the same with pet swapping and that's a reason why you don't want to swap pets for max dmg output. In some scenarios it feels like a loss to go into Beastmode and that's bad design in my eyes. Possible solution for this: Fix the fact, that conditions applied by the pet don't lose their damage while in Beastmode AND when you unmerge, the pet should get the boons currently on you (Fresh reinforcments vice versa).
• The use of on-pet-swap-activation-traits feels clunky: Partly this is an issue that will decrease when I get more used to the spec. But after about 20 hours of gameplay it still feels very clunky how this interaction works (to name a few: Clarion bond, Spirited arrival, Poison master, Zephyr's Speed). If you want to proc one of this traits on purpose you have to unmerge and then swap. This also means that you lose access to the souldbeast skills of this pet (unless you run a second pet with the same skills). Possible solution: I think this skills should activate when you merge and unmerge with you pet. If nececessry ad a short ICD on each skill OR make pet swap possible while in Beastmode.
• Interaction with shouts and other skills affecting the pet: There are a few skills that affect our pet like all of the shouts and some weapon skills that give the pet an additional effect. For the most of them it's unclear how they work exactly and some of them don't work (warhorn 5 for example) while in Beastmode. Possible solution: Make the skills work and add aditional descritptions of how they work. Like it was done on some of the traits in the Beastmastery line.
• Traits: Live Fast is an example of an unfinished trait. It only works on Beast-Skills while in Beastmode. It doesn't activate on Pet skills allthough they are also marked as Beast-Skills (in the demo it worked on some of them). It's clear that this can't activate with all of the Pet-Beast-Skills because some of them have very low CDs. A solution would be to put an ICD on this trait. However, I'm sure this would feel clunky because then you have the ICD shared across potentially 4 different skills. Another weird thing with this trait is, that it gives the boons AFTER activating the Beast-Skills in Beastmode. It feels like you should get them at the start of the cast so that you can actually benefit from the decreased casting time. But then you have the issue that you could interrupt your own skill (with weapon stow for example) and repetadly gain the boons over and over again which would be broken. Possible solution: Maybe rework/remove the entire thing? Getting access to more quickness is fun, but this trait feels inconsistent and unfinished.
• Don't throw the Ranger out of Beastmode after dismounting.

Btw, thanks for making a great game! :)

[pez.4875]

I COMPLETELY AGREE!

Sorry for "yelling", but I was actually making notes on some of the issues that SoulBeast has and the ones you listed were among the top. Poison Master is a BIG one for me as well as having to come out of Beast Mode on dismount.

I really hope Anet can implement some fixes and adjustments "soon". I would LOVE the SoulBeast to live up to it's name!

[Lazze.9870]

@Chrolo.8536 said:

• The use of on-pet-swap-activation-traits feels clunky: Partly this is an issue that will decrease when I get more used to the spec. But after about 20 hours of gameplay it still feels very clunky how this interaction works (to name a few: Clarion bond, Spirited arrival, Poison master, Zephyr's Speed). If you want to proc one of this traits on purpose you have to unmerge and then swap. This also means that you lose access to the souldbeast skills of this pet (unless you run a second pet with the same skills). Possible solution: I think this skills should activate when you merge and unmerge with you pet. If nececessry ad a short ICD on each skill OR make pet swap possible while in Beastmode.

Pet swap in beastmode. Solved. That and making sure all traits and skill that affect pets normaly works in beastmode, and the spec is fine. From a functional standpoint, anyway.

I didn't like the maul change they did AT ALL, especially how they double dipped and nerfed it in two ways. But just to try and balance my feedback a bit; I'm still having fun with soulbeast. Aside from the interaction with pet traits and pet skills, my problems are mostly due to core ranger weapons.

[extremexhero.9178]

They should at least make beast mode exit count as a pet swap that way there is incentive to swap as you can just use trait or heal as one to reapply boons to pet. Also I agree with live fast, its crap. Should have that one give stance cooldown reduction. And please for the love of anything worth anything in this world make leader of the pack full duration on allies. The skills only last 3-4 on 30s+ cd when druid can have glyph for 6 seconds on 16 second cooldown and perma grace of land stacks. Where is the balance?

[Hya.5168]

What probably annoys me more is that I simply lose my pet after merging (which is logical), but why I cannot have the other pet on the battlefield during that? The fact I lose a tanking pet in PvE simply discourage me to use Soulbeast merge and although I am using it for the traits, I rarely (if ever) use the main functionality. Although I agree with the proposals in OP, the option to have another pet while merged on top of that will make it perfect. ;)

[Lazze.9870]

@Hya.5168 said:What probably annoys me more is that I simply lose my pet after merging (which is logical), but why I cannot have the other pet on the battlefield during that? The fact I lose a tanking pet in PvE simply discourage me to use Soulbeast merge and although I am using it for the traits, I rarely (if ever) use the main functionality. Although I agree with the proposals in OP, the option to have another pet while merged on top of that will make it perfect. ;)

And you would end up with 8 different "F" skills.Ye, no. Isn't happening.