Girl v Boy (Beastmaster edition)

[cymyn]

Apologies if this has been hashed out previously, but I just got Kumanjaro and tried the new(ish) Jokhtari Beastmistress.

Her swarm of woodland creatures handily munched a necromancer in a bare few turns, due in part to awesome rolling & a few minor tactical errors on the Necromancer's part.

I did not get a chance to use her "wounded prey" ability because her enemies were undead.

Question 1:  What is the thinking behind giving her "fast" and +1 ranged? +1 ranged attack ability contradicts her "fast" ability -- one which is geared toward distnce combat and the other toward face to face battle.

Question 2:  Why would I ever use her over the OG beastmaster, who is better at pumping out a swarm?

Your thoughts?

[Aylin]

The SBM can summon level 1 creatures faster, but Wounded Prey is almost like a free Marked for Death that is reusable...which is pretty darn powerful. The main problem with her is that it doesn't work on either Necromancers or Earth Wizards...both of which are popular. Right now she's one of the weakest mages because of it. While she's great against other mages (Wounded Prey can bring down a Pet/Holy Avenger/Blood Reaper/Veteran/Legendary/etc quickly), they focused her design so heavily on Bleed (Dire Wolves, Hunting Bow) that she doesn't have any tools for when Bleed doesn't work. I think after more mages come out (that don't rely on nonliving creatures) or we see some more nonliving hate she'll get better. I also think they should release a second bow for her that gives a condition other than Bleed... (anything that will apply to nonliving creatures will do).

To me, Fast actually works with Ranged +1. You can't use both at the same time, but you won't be shooting your bow every turn either. Having Fast lets her relocate up to 2 zones for safer/better shots in one turn. It's a little oblique, but it does work. The bigger issue to me is that Wounded Prey gives her +1 melee instead of +1 die. -_-

A build with JBM normally involves Deathlock, Hunting/Ivarium Longbow (depending on how you weigh 3 mana vs. 1 build point and situational pierce/bleed), some Dire Wolves, Galador, Tarok, etc. Some people use Meditation Amulet + Lair, though I'm...not fond of Meditation Amulet (plus it takes her full action to meditate, so no shooting!).

[sdougla2]

If you want to build around your mage's abilities, play the Straywood Beastmaster. If you want to run a build that doesn't care about Quick Summoning, Battle Skill, or Melee +1, then play the Johktari Beastmaster.

I'm working on a Johktari Beastmaster build that runs Steelclaw Grizzlies, Dire Wolves, Galador, and Tarok. The idea is to play creatures and buff them, while staying out of the fray as much as possible. In this style of play, having Fast innately is nice; initially it helps me pressure my opponent faster while still being able to do some buildup. Later on, I can cast Mongoose Agility and start running away from my opponent. Wounded Prey is free bonus damage if I decide to kill one of my opponent's creatures (and they happen to be Living). Pet isn't nearly as efficient when you don't plan to stay in the same zone as your Pet regularly, I don't want to play level 1 creatures in this build, and I don't want to get close enough for Battle Skill to help. I don't use Archery, but I still expect to get more out of the Johktari BM's abilities than I would out of the Straywood BM's abilities.

On the other hand, if you want to swarm, even if you just want to swarm as a side project, play the Straywood Beastmaster. Also, if you want to punch things, play the Straywood Beastmaster. If you don't want to do either of those things, or if you want to use a bow, play the Johktari Beastmaster.