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Thread: Bear Smash Guide

  1. #1

    Default Bear Smash Guide

    I copied the whole thread because im lazy. Credit to lurvi for the unshielded bit.


    Bear smash guide
    So Ive noticed a lot of seemingly inquisitive bears on the server and on the forums. Ill keep this to what I know, end-game pve dps.

    I kept this on my guild forums, but figured...why the hell not, maybe it will help some people along the way.


    This is a copypasta from a post I put up before the latest revamp, so Ill have to make some adjustments before I can get into build/rotation specifics. Ill be reserving some post-spaces.

    First, on the subject of shields and positioning.

    It’s your characters pov (so moving the camera behind the mob won’t affect it either) If you say in front of the mobs face theres always a chance the shields can suddenly be changed to the left side of the a mob (mobs pov), meaning right side your pov. When we talk directions it’s the opposite for your target, but when I say right finisher I mean our characters not the targets. Example in Malice: The girls always hit our left area, meaning their attack is a right-hit (for them!)

    Mobs and players have 4 areas: ‘left’, ‘front’, ‘right’, and ‘back’. ‘Back’ is ALWAYS unshielded. And remember you dont have to stay directly behind the mob to hit that area. Because you can always reach 3 areas from whatever position you are in with your 3 directional attacks / finishers. Meaning ‘back’ is reachable if you stay right side of the mob (use right-hit), behind the mob (up-hit), or left of the mob (left-hit)

    Easiest way to avoid shields is just stay on the right say of the mob, and your right-hits will always hit the unshielded back-area of the mob. Then move directly behind the mob for finisher (perfect for Internal bleeds and Shrewd Blows, with the exception of the combostarter from Shrewd Blow being ‘left’)
    Adjusting positions before combostarters is quite difficult, therefore we’re better off focusing on the presteps after: upper right –> lower right –> up-finisher.

    unshielded – 20% bonus damage
    1 shield – normal damage
    2 shields – 30% less damage
    3 shields – 60%(!) less damage

    in case you didn’t know. Once you start critting with 20% bonus damage, it shows


    This is *very* important-- as a dpser, and YES A BEAR SHAMAN IS A DPSER-- if you are not applying this method of positioning, you are basically giving up free damage.

    Example: If you're using a basic rotation (Simplified: IB4 SB6 SB5 repeat) you are going to land all your presteps (even the left one, its too much of a waste of time to go left-->right--->back for a single combo) on the right side. Now we know *right side* is subject to interpretation so ill make it simple.

    Assume you are standing in front of the mob, the side you want to be standing on is your pov right and the mob's pov left.

    Let's do a mock starter rotation
    __________________________

    Get your ass behind the mob, activate IB then finish it. Next step is SB6, you are going to go the mob's POV LEFT, you will now be standing at a ~90 degree angle from where the mob is facing, the mob will be facing your POV LEFT. This is where you land your SB6/5 presteps. It is important to know, you will actually see your hammer hitting the mob in the back, if you dont-- you are on the wrong side. Once the presteps are done, move back to the backside of the mob and finish the combo.

    Let me know if anymore clarification is needed on this.

    If you are the type of person that needs something a bit more visual, ive made a poorly drawn example for you in mspaint.

    http://i50.tinypic.com/2vj4en7.png

    If this is something you arent used to doing, starting out can be incredibly frustrating-- it forces you to move constantly, especially when aggro gets swapped erratically, you're probably going to **** up-- a lot. Don't worry, just keep at it, eventually you'll do it without thinking.



    On Build and reasoning

    http://joharaoc.eu/feat?link=v3_11d3...ae943b0263b7f4

    Thats a pretty solid build. It's what I run(or at least close to it) and after many wasted hours of my sad pathetic life beating on a straw man, it's the best I can think of. Maybe theres more testing to do? I don't know, but this game is about dead and unless something super cool or interesting is adjusted or added to bear, thats where Ill leave it.



    The most crucial parts of this build, and really what any dps bear(is there another kind?)should be, are as follows:

    Manifestation of the sun: Shitty fire dot (it is OMG BAD) then sexy ass +75% weapon damage for 6 seconds (this is useful for controlling your burst damage)

    Mutilation: Free damage on IB crits? YES PLEASE. It also puts your IBs in that golden 50% crit chance zone.

    Claws of the reaper: There is never, EVER, AT ALL EVER in a group environment a reason NOT be running claws of the reaper(I found the exception to this, the entity). 15% Group wide weapon damage buff, 6% personal weapon damage per point invested as it stacks<---Super sexy.

    Rampage: This is titsZILLA: 5 stacks = +82.5% (I think its 100% now) weapon damage. Can't think of a reason not to have this.

    Empowered renewal: This isn't just a green heal, and is not to be squandered recklessly-- use it right before the end-step of a hard hitting combo.

    Nature's revenge: Here's an interesting one, funcom took a really round about way to unninja-nerf us. They took our already erratic sb finisher damage and made it...well...more erratic, but with much higher damage potential. If you can(and you should by now) pay attention to timers and stacks, you can take advantage of the 6-10 stacks of this and get some great crits.

    Untamed regeneration: Since our t4 gear sucks so much balls, this is a requirement. Especially in t4, you need lots of hit rating. Scattered gods gear is a huge hit rating nerf. In fact, if you don't need to be using aa heals, just put tigers back on or use the barb t4 stuff...with the exception of the hands-- barb t4 hands have no hit rating. Also you get a few percentage points of crit damage.

    Rune of aggression: Group wide +40% weapon damage, one point

    The reason I bother to explain these before I get into anymore specifics is that too often I see bears running around with buffs that don't make sense, doing strange things...that also don't make any sense. So take that stone, life, regrowth etc-- AND THE WHOLE GENERAL TREE, and just...throw it away.




    Lastly, on rotation.

    Here's the most basic, boring rotation there is: IB4 SB5 SB6

    A slightly graduated version of this would be: IB2 SB5 SB6

    If you want a fun, more challenging, and far more rewarding rotation:

    IB2, UB4, SB6 IB2, BT, SB6 IB2, SB5, SB6

    Admittedly, it doesn't matter ALL that much which one you chose (you'll get some more damage from the last one)-- what actually matters is what you do in between.

    A few things to keep in mind
    Bloodflow is responsible for about +45% weapon damage, this is awesome. Always keep blood warrior up, but for the love of god do not spam your blue heal. Cast it about every 12 seconds or so. If you are efficient, a Bloodflow on every IB of anyone of those rotations will put you at about 3 seconds left on blood warrior-- that works just fine.

    Spells are HORRIBLY delayed if cast incorrectly(dont know if this has changed). Only cast manifestations, runes etc..between combos, they should go off MUCH faster.

    Manifestations Free 15% weapon damage while they are up, why the hell not have one up?

    Empowered renewal I said it before, do not squander this. As best you can, ONLY on the end step of a hard hitter.

    Manifestation of the forest Damned near instant physical debuff, good filler mani.

    Here's what a pretty well done cycle would look like (using simple rotation)


    Manifestation of the Sun
    Bloodflow
    IB2
    SB5
    Rune of Aggression
    SB6 presteps
    Empowered Renewal
    SB6 finisher
    Bloodflow
    IB2
    SB5
    SB6 presteps
    Empowered Renewal
    SB6 finisher
    Manifestation of spirits
    Bloodflow
    SB5
    Manifestation of the forest
    SB6 presteps
    Empowered Renewal
    SB6 finisher
    Manifestation of the sun
    Bloodflow
    (repeat)

    This is by no means the only way of getting the best damage, but its a pretty good starting point if you aren't used to dynamic rotations.

    The best way to do great dps is to pay attention.

    Lets just add up the damage potential here:
    Blood warrior : 45%
    Mani: 15%
    Claws of the Reaper: 30%
    Empowered Renewal: 150%
    Rampage: 100%
    Vision of the Sky: 30%
    Manifestation of the Sun: 75%
    Rune of Aggression: 40%
    Unshielded side: 20% bonus damage

    Thats a potential +485% weapon damage and +20% bonus damage. Chances are, you won't have all of them up or maxed at the same time, but there is a lot to play with here, make the best of it.


    I don't know that there is much more to say, thats about as step by step as I can think of.

    Hope it helps.
    Last edited by llathander; 6th March 2013 at 22:37.

  2. #2

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    realy nice post nice candidate for a sticky imho
    FORUM PVP LVL 10

  3. #3

    Default

    Build link doesn't work. You could clean up the post when you'll have a less lazy day

  4. #4

    Default

    Iv'e cleaned it up a bit, link should work now. Theres more work to do to make it an easier read, ill get to it as I get more time
    Last edited by llathander; 6th March 2013 at 22:27.

  5. #5

    Default

    Ursine Spirit is and was never broken afaik. Some guy on testlive checked it out in Common district and proved it to be working.

    Unshielded bonus is not 20% weapon damage bonus as your post is implying here in the damage potential summary. It's a flat damage increase.

    Check your PM, Ila.

  6. #6

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Lurvi View Post
    Ursine Spirit is and was never broken afaik. Some guy on testlive checked it out in Common district and proved it to be working.

    Unshielded bonus is not 20% weapon damage bonus as your post is implying here in the damage potential summary. It's a flat damage increase.

    Check your PM, Ila.
    Fixed and Fixed.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by noite80 View Post
    realy nice post nice candidate for a sticky imho
    Seconded. Sticky Plz

  8. #8

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    Stickied - and another reminder to send all sticky requests via PM so the moderation team doesn't accidentally miss your request among the posts (as I did with this thread and the first request.)
    Arishanya ~ Head Moderator
    English Community


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    Note: The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Funcom or its management.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arishanya View Post
    Stickied - and another reminder to send all sticky requests via PM so the moderation team doesn't accidentally miss your request among the posts (as I did with this thread and the first request.)
    Why thank you!

  10. #10

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