The Beastmaster
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Like all classes in Rift,
the Warrior has a vast amount of diversity in
the available souls within the calling. One of the most intriguing is
that of the Beastmaster, a powerful melee class that derives much of
its capability from the bond shared with their combat pet. The
Beastmaster can be a focal point of your build if you want to create a
melee support class or a nice bit of flavor to round out other more
traditional warrior builds.
Pros
- Great soloist
- Can offtank adds and handle multiple mob pulls easily
- Offers group enhancements
- Easy access to armor and mitigation buffs early in the tree
Cons
- Lack of diversity as prime soul
- Lower mobility than most other warrior souls
- Lack of PvP talents
- Dual wield itemization is lacking in certain level ranges
Overview
Fans of the Beastmaster in FFXI and the Beastlord in EQ1 will instantly
be drawn to this soul, and with a bit of planning will find they can
recreate that playstyle with ease. Masters of avoidance and
hard hitting dual strike melee attacks, the Beastmaster is a wonderful
pet class that offers tons of upside.
Solo Play
Beastmasters are master soloists, bringing their own backup with them
in the form of a summoned spirit companion. Digging deep into
the tree you will find a slew of potency and survivability upgrades, as
well as some nice statistical enhancements. With a nice combo
heal that effects the caster and the pet equally, the Beastmaster can
handle the unexpected add with ease.
Group Play
Beastmasters bring quite a bit of utility to a group, via enhancements,
buffs and damage. While there are better choices for damage
output and group buffing, the Beastmaster is a great utility infielder
that can handle both duties.
Pairs Best With
Champion
The Champion is the social butterfly of the warrior calling, fitting in
anywhere and everywhere. At a measly 4 points into the tree you can
pick up a 5% damage increase with Soldiers Bearing, a root side
bargain that packs a huge punch. Other damage modifiers
abound in the tree, but players looking for a dual wield playstyle will
need to navigate around the many two-handed talents in the tree.
Warlord
This pairing is one
suggested at the in game tooltip and one that makes sense for most
players.
The Warlord adds a measure of survivability and group enhancement that
is a perfect complement to several builds and gives the Beastmaster the
increased armor and avoidance they will need to stay viable. At 6
points into the tree you gain Call to Battle, a scalable battle cry
that buffs a groups attack and spell power by 6 as well as unearthing a
scaling health buff and a hefty dodge increase in the root system.
Riftblade
My personal favorite pairing for a
third soul of a
Beastmaster is the Riftblade. The Riftblade adds elemental damage and a
couple
ranged spells that give me the feeling of playing a Beastlord from EQ
again.
You can gain a decently powerful punch with as little as 11 points
spent in
this tree, gaining spell damage enhancements, dodge increases and a
nice snare
ability. One of the coolest upsides is found 2 points into the root in
the form
of Fiery Burst, a triggered ability that adds a DoT to weapon damage
and is off
the global cooldown timer.
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