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**Idun_Midgardsormr** · 08-30-2006, 08:59 AM

Re: My beastmaster topic

First off, grats on getting 21 so fast!!! Yes, the 2hour rocks - wait till you get to qufim and 2hour the kraken for a great exp session!! (not to mention scaring the pants off ever other player in there)

Different players have different styles, there is no right way to play this job, and there is no right sub either, so if /RDM works for you, run with it!

In general, the BSTs that get PLd to 20 just for BCNMs don't level much beyond that. They don't know how to play the job, they haven't learned all the important lessons about aggro and they very often end up dying in the BCNMs - ber very careful if you get partied with one of these for Wings of Fury - they will get you killed! These people also turn up in later levels when they discover that BST is a great sub for farming. I ran across a guy in Waojham Woodlands that was running around anon in RDM AF2 (so level 70+), charming puks to farm spiders. Turned out his /BST was only level 20 which was why he was /anon!

As far as BST in a party is concerned, a decently equipped BST can hold his own, damage wise, against a similarly equipped WAR. Granted, we don't get beserk or any of those other abilities, but we do get a jug pet and when you add their damage to ours, it really stacks up in our favor. BST is A- in single handed axe, the same as WAR, and with NIN sub, we can also dual-wield (at the appropriate level). Also, up to about AF, we can even equip the same gear as WAR.

Post-leave BST in a party is one of the best pullers there is. We can match the SMN abilities to pull a single mob from a pack, we have the widescan ability of a RNG and we have a highly developed sense of aggro and link management.

Unfortunately, early in the NA release of Final Fantasy, the Brady guide stated that having a BST in the party would cut exp by 30%. It failed to mention that this ONLY applied to the BST and has been a problem that we have had to deal with ever since.

Then there's this business of not getting exp off anything a BST has charmed - that's only true if the mob is not at 100%, and not always true then either. A friend of mine was in a party as WHM in Kuftal tunnel. Another party came and camped on top of them so I went along to 'PL' them, BST style! I could charm thier exp mobs easily, so I would run out, charm a crab, bring it back, and only release it when they were ready for it. As soon as I released, I went and got another ready. The other party got a lot of down time from long pulls and links, while my friends party just did straight killing exp and racked up some massive chains! The only person in that party that wasn't doing their job properly was the puller, and since they had the PLD pulling that was probably a good thing!

1. At level 23 with call beast do beastmasters get a lot better?

Jug pets are DC to the BST calling them, and they are much weaker than a real pet at the same level as them. For example, if you call a crab familiar at level 23, it will be about level 21. If you fight it against a level 21 snipper, the snipper will still be at about 50-75% health when the pet dies. Also bear in mind that the recast on 'Call Beast' is 5 minutes! With this in mind, some people level exclusively using jugs against EP to DC for reasonable exp. Where a lot of BST use the jugs is if the existing natural pet dies prematurely and the mob is fairly low HP, but not low enough to solo. Popping a jug means you can take the mob down and still get full exp. So yes, it does get better, but there's a ways to go yet before leave ^^

One thing to remember about jugs, they do level with you, but a lot of them cap out at certain levels. Hare familiar, for example, is a level 23 jug, but caps out at about 35, so its pretty much useless by level 40. HQ jugs have much higher caps - Courier Carrie is more expensive, but doesn't cap out until 75.

2. At what level do beastmasters get very easy?

Umm ... 75 with full merits? LOL! It never gets very easy in any job - if it does, you are probably fighting the wrong mobs.

3. Do they ever get better exp? (I currently get about 3000-4000 exp an hour.

3-4k per hour is great for your level - very few parties could beat that, let alone solo it. There are some camps and some levels where you'll get worse than that, and others where you will get far better. I got about 4-5k/hr behind the OP in Yuhtunga jungle, and better than 5k/hr in Cape Terrigan and Upper Delkfutts (without an exp ring). The real deciding factor here is leave. Once you get that, you can eliminate the 30% hit in your exp if the pet is still alive when you make the kill. It also does away with the extra down-time created by using ghetto leave (waiting for the mob to kill your pet).

4. Can someone post me a link on where to level?

Take a look at the Beast Anthologies on this site - there's a link in my siggy and another at the top of the BST forum. Just about every camp is in there, along with mobs to fight, pets to use, where to camp and what to avoid. Feel free to add to it if you find any others ^^

5. What jug should I use?

If you're a red headed elvaan and the moon is in the 3rd quarter on watersday, use a crab familiar, unless there's an earth effect, in which case you should use a hare familiar .... ok, being serious now! The jug you use depends on the mob you are fighting. As you already know, leeches have a very high attack rate, so use a crab against them for a higher defence. You also need to consider which mobs intimidate which and use a jug that will utilize that in your favor. There are numerous guides on this, take a look at the Beast Bible in the stickies in this forum for a lot of links. One more consideration is cost; unless you have cooking levelled, you are going to be buying a lot of jugs, so make sure you know which NPCs sell them!

**avhmia** · 08-30-2006, 09:29 AM

Re: My beastmaster topic

Originally posted by Guren View Post

1. At level 23 with call beast do beastmasters get a lot better?

Honestly, Call Beast isn't that revolutionary for exp, though jug pets are a great way to save yourself from a mischarm, link, or other unexpected mishap. Many times a Familiar has covered my while I made a hasty retreat for the zoneline.

2. At what level do beastmasters get very easy?

It never gets easy per se. After Leave at 35, exp does pick up quite a bit.

3. Do they ever get better exp? (I currently get about 3000-4000 exp an hour.

It varies from camp to camp, but I would expect to get more than 4k/hour solo. You will probably average between 2k and 3k in most places/levels.

4. Can someone post me a link on where to level?

I use this: http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Beastma...unting_Grounds

5. What jug should I use?

Again, this depends on level. At 23 I liked HareFamiliars for DDing and CrabFamiliars/CourierCarries for tanking/general purpose stuff. As you level, you get access to other jugs, but Carrie is probably the best general-purpose familiar there is (in terms of DD/defence/cost balance).

1. Beastmaster is such a fun job. I got level 1-14 in like 3 days. 14-15 took a full day because lot of mobs are just DC exept Dhamels are EM and T. then got 15-21(almost 22 like 500 exp left) In about a week and a half.

It's challenging and fun

2. I hear people say BST are only good for solo and in parties they are not that great. Or that BST sucks and that they got PLed to 20 just for BCNM 20 money making. Well I disagee and with my experience in BST so far I believe even without call beast or tame or leave or sic BST are very overpowered and if you know how to play it correct you could self chain for like chain 8.

BST is a perfectly good exp party DD, subbing either WAR or NIN. You obviously need to wear the right equipment, and expect to spend gil on good DD jugs (tigers, funguars, etc). BST is far from overpowered in either solo or party play, though. When soloing, there are always mischarms and links to avoid. In party play, a BST sits comfortably as a heavy DOT damage dealer (with pet

3. I LOVE the 2 hour ability for BST!!! I charmed a Even Match poison leech in the place near mhaura on the beach(name starts with bub. and currently where I will be leveling till 23) After charming the leech I 2hred it and had about 18 things of food. Now leeches are 21-24 I believe and I was just able to find a EM leech seeing that I am level 21 and about to be 22 but not 22 yet. Was rare for a level 21 leech to spawn.

Wait until you charm and 2-hr an IT!

**Guren** · 08-30-2006, 10:18 AM

Re: My beastmaster topic

What level can I charm the Kraken thing in qufim? I currently have 28 CHR + 10. Total of 38 and when I level I believe ill have 29-30 +10.

**avhmia** · 08-30-2006, 10:23 AM

Re: My beastmaster topic

Originally posted by Guren View Post

What level can I charm the Kraken thing in qufim? I currently have 28 CHR + 10. Total of 38 and when I level I believe ill have 29-30 +10.

At level 36+ you should be able to charm the Kraken reliably (by that I mean, first time). Around level 29 or 30 you should be able to get charm to land, but it will only last for a few seconds.

**Idun_Midgardsormr** · 08-30-2006, 10:59 AM

Re: My beastmaster topic

I agree with avhmia - but its real fun to land that charm at 29, then hit your 2hour and reap the rewards!!! Kraken pwns!!!!

**Kitalrez** · 09-03-2006, 03:36 PM

Re: My beastmaster topic

Well, up until lvl 23, I solo'd exclusively. Since then, however, almost all of my levelling has been with a party, (Yes, I know, heresy). In a party, jug pets are extremely useful as an added source of DD. Most parties will invite jobs favoring the burst style DDs, (jobs like RNG or DRK who can do massive damage with a single big WS). We, however, fall more into the DoT camp of DDs. We're rarely gonna hit for very much, but over time we can do more damage than either the RNG or the DRK unless they get a good run of WS numbers. The jug pets are a big part of this.
As avhmia mentioned, the CrabFamiliar is more of a tank version, so you want to avoid him if in a party situation where you're DDing. I generally prefer using HareFamiliar, TigerFamiliar, or FlowerpotBill as my pet for 34 BST/NIN. The AE effects from pets are generally mitigated by the fact that any links will proceed to destroy the jug pet, then completely ignore the rest of you unless you're standing near where it spawns. Roar from TigerFamiliar is particularly effective in a party situation, since its paralysis effect seems to activate alot. You also want to position your pet so it's attacking from the side in a party, especially if you're attacking something with counterattack like Mandragoras, or are going after something that's got a killer trait for whatever pet you're using (I.E. Tiger pet v. Mandragora). The killer trait won't activate on your pet so long as the mob isn't facing it, which allows you to ignore the mob correlation chart somewhat.
Jug pets are also extremely useful when you head out to pull prior to /leave. When I notice, (either on WideScan, or using my mob radar on the compass), that a given mob is likely to link, I generally wave goodbye to the jug pet and send him in to attack whatever I want to pull. As an added safety measure, you can also /retreat and /assault again, to ensure he picks up any links between you and the edge of the mob spawn area before you leave him to his fate. As soon as juggy dies, you can guarantee that only one mob will be coming back to greet your party, that being the first mob you originally attacked, (keep this one targetted the entire pull, as your pet likes to switch targets harmlessly during battle and you want to make sure you're always signalling /assault on the same mob).
As you can gather, I mostly use jugs for party work. This seems to be pretty common among the BSTs in my linkshell. We don't like using a jug unless we know it's got a killer trait for the type of prey we're soloing, or the prey is definitely weak enough that the jug pet's going to completely destroy it, (BRD beastmen are a great example of this). Charmed pets tend to be much better solo ATM, they hit harder and survive longer. Just make a "ghetto-leave" macro. I use:
/pet "Heel"
/wait 1
/pet "Stay"
Once the mob I want to kill is below 10% hp, I move back to where I can barely see the pet's hp, and punch this. Mob kills the pet off, (which just stands there and happily dies for me), comes running for me with less than 10% hp, meets a few well placed Axe Swings and a Dia, and gives me all it's precious, precious exp.
If you do plan to solo with jug pets, and it looks like you're taru, you want to stick mainly to the crab pet. Sheep are also good, since they have a lot of hp and can take a beating, also Lamb Chop is brutal when it hits for full damage. The one major benefit of jugs is that whether solo or in a party, you do not recieve any negative exp consequence for either you or the other players in your party if the jug pet is still alive when the mob dies.
As for links to solo spots, Here's the BST solo guide from the wiki

**pearlsea** · 09-03-2006, 06:54 PM

Re: My beastmaster topic

1. At level 23 with call beast do beastmasters get a lot better?

As the others said, jug pets have hp comparable to normal players which makes them not that good at soloing, however it makes it convinient for partying since they give no EXP penalty and add to your DoT, also they are very useful in BCNM.

2. At what level do beastmasters get very easy?

Never >.>; well actualy once you get 35 it gets faster with leave but dont expect it to be easyer, plan to die alot on the road to 75.

3. Do they ever get better exp? (I currently get about 3000-4000 exp an hour.

3-4K an hour is about average for bst when they are lvling on standerd mobs, lvling on bombs dolls and gobbie can potentialy give you 5k+ an hour of your lucky with the self-distruct type moves.

4. Can someone post me a link on where to level?

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Beastmaster At the bottem there are great bst guides, including where it is recomended to lvl.

5. What jug should I use?

In partys generaly what i recomend is bunnies or sheep 23-35, tigers 35-45, fungys 45-65, carrie 65-75. of course there are special events that you may use a different jug like Amigo Sabotender for endgame on gods and HNM, Chopsuey Chucky or Lifedrinker Lars for maat or if you just have the gil to burn >.>;

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