Beastmaster Info

Anekei

Anekei

Limit Breaker
Adventurer
Joined
Aug 2, 2005
Messages
340
Location
Columbia, SC
Linkshell
Perseverance
I just got my BST to lvl 10 and I was hoping for some advice. What are the best places to lvl? When should I start charming pets and stop soloing myself? At first should I fight with my pet or just let the pet fight? Any help on these questions or any other beginning BST advice would be great. Thank you.
 
You should start charming pets right away. Actually, you could have been doing it all along. Always let your pet get in about 4-5 hits and then join in. You should not be able to pull hate away from you pet. If you do, just turn around and let the pet regain hate - usually in 1-2 hits.

Be aware of how long your pet has been charmed. If you make it through one fight with him, don't jump into another one right away. Wait for him to come uncharmed and recharm. Also, if you can camp by a zone you can just zone after a fight to release him.

Ideally, you want your pet to die in the fight with the foe having just enough life left that you can finish it off with a weaponskill. Doesn't always work that way. Don't worry. You're going to take the exp cut with a pet....get used to it.

Do all cures out side of hate range - when they don't register on your radar.

When you get Stay and Heel, hello Ghetto Release. Let you pet fight up to the point you feel you can finish off the mob, then heel/stay it. It will stand there and let the mob whack away until it dies. Then you finish off the mob with no exp penalty. Another way to release pet is to just Temp Log to Play Online. Works good when you don't have a zone nearby.

Check out the Guide to Leveling Locations in the BST Forums at Allakazham. Lots of good information there. Also, at those levels, don't be afraid to sub WAR and jut try to get into a regular party. I leveled from 13-16 that way.
 
there's a bst leveling guide stickied on the BST allakhazam forums. You might want to try that out.
 
Just to note, "Ghetto Leave" doesn't work if you are within hate range of the mob. It'll run right at you if you are. You also don't need Stay for "Ghetto Leave", you just need Heel. The only difference between the two is that Stay makes your pet stop moving which is nice if the mob you are fighting has AoE attacks. Just using Heel makes the pet stand next to you and be a punching bag.
 
I soloed my BST to 12 before charming pets. From levels 12 to 14, I think I leveled in Konshctat Highlands (I tried La Theine Plateau, but that place is way overcrowded and difficult to travel in unless you like moving in manner in which you're waiting in the line at a bank or movie theatre). Tough it out, things start to get really fun once you're able to go to Bibiki Bay (about level 32), and then it gets even more fun once you can dismiss your pets.

EDIT: Accidently said Buburimu instead of Bibiki. >.>
 
They recently changed the experience you get from DC's and EP's so soloing past 10 (by just hitting stuff, not by using pets) is a lot more viable than it used to be...

I beat things up with a Scythe till L16, and 15-16 was still 2-3k/hr on EPs in Lathiene. At 16 I headed to the Maze for some Gobbie and Wormie goodness...
 
Yeah, forgot about the change. Maybe you'll have a funner time than I did at the lower levels. o.O The first 20 or so levels can turn anyone off really quickly.
 
For real. Get ready for many many deaths. :lol: It happens a lot as beastmaster.
 
"...or when to stop soloing?..."


I'm nearly at lvl60 bst now and I've solo'd most of it, with a few
duos here and there. Look me up when I'm online and I'll come
out and give you some pointers.

Some bsts party, some solo the whole way, most do anything they
can for xp. I've solo'd, duo'd, but never partied yet. I'd like to
try partying just for the (ahem, experience) but I'm mostly a solo'er.

Level 10? Try the very southern point area in w.ronnie or the northern
L.T. plat. you can even do some tahrongi canyon but I had a better
chance in tahrongi at 11.
 
don't play bst!!! noooooo save yourself..... before its too late D;
 
My advice is to not go for the big EXP, and don't melee with your pet if you can help it. Meleeing with your pet usually just means you get 2 hits in then have hate for a good 20 seconds, causing a lot of unneccessary downtime (thus killing any possible chains).

Remember, each area is different and you have to find the "flow" of it. Some areas have you charming Em's and doing nothing but slaughtering every DC-EP you can find until you make your level. Others, it's grabbing a DC-EM and taking on T-VT and getting those nice hefty chains.

I recommend going to ffxi.allakhazam.com and looking up a thread on the BST forums called "The BST Bible." Probably by far the most compiled info on BST there is.

Charming wise, it's really up to you. I charmed from level 1, whereas a lot of people say go BST/WAR from 1-12, then switch to /WHM and start lvling.

Same advice for the soloing issue. It's more or less up to you. If you are lucky enough to get someone to invite you to a party as a BST (consistantly) then go ahead and and do that. However, you'll find most times you'll still be on your ass in Jeuno when the DRG finally waltz off to their not so frequent parties.

A few tips for partying: Use a WAR sub (yeah yeah, hypocritical of me, shush) or a NIN sub, as those are more or less your best options. Some areas /WHM works, especially if you need that extra CHR boost for charming links or for getting a pet (some areas you'll actually be able to use an EM pet while exping rather than a jug).

Pre-23 you just play your BSt like you would a slightly less powerful WAR, save tanking. Just whack away at the mob and use TP for weaponskills/skillchains. Post 23 it gets a bit more complicated if you want to be good. Remember what pets intimidate what (not that it will matter, since your pet will rarely steal hate). Also, always look around before using Sic in a battle. Most pets have an AOE type move, and in places like Kazham, this can be very very bad.

Other than that, just read up on the BST forums at allah or send me a PM or two.
 
Excellent Advice. :D

You mentioned not to fight along-side your pet. Is this really almost always the case? I find I have less downtime if I attack with my pet after it's gotton a good 3 or 4 hits (if even-match) or 6 to 8 hits (decent-challenge) in beforehand. I can understand not fighting with your pet if the mob frequently uses AoE, but... really? We're supposed to just sit and watch? :(

I do a little more sitting and watching after about 3/4 of the way through the level after I've capped my axe, but the job is generally more exciting for me when I'm duking it out with my pet.

As a side-note, for any of you beastmasters at lvl 35-36, i found a sweet camp at Lufaise Meadows. Allakazham lists the area by the lake as the best spot with acrophies or sheep vs orcs, but if you mischarm an acrophie, you're dead. Crazy Linkage. And the orcs tend to wander close to the lake, so even more linkage. Died at that lake three times before I decided to try a new camp. If you go just south-west of the lake through the narrow path, you'll get to a new small area with two bees and one sheep. Use this as your camp and pull even-matches and tough's all day long. Much safer, no worries about links, and if you run out of mp, you can have the bees fight each other while you rest (both EP or DC).

Sorry for the long post. I'm just loving this job. Hope you are all too.
 
I avoided meleeing with my pet until level 35. If you have a powerleveler, for whatever reason, though... just charm something fairly powerful and 2-hour it while meleeing with your pet.
 
Quick question. On Alla I was reading a few posts where beastmasters were talking about converting pets to Even Match when all that's around is DC and T or higher. What exactly does this mean? Forgive the noobish question.

Update:Found the answer. I thought maybe it was some built in ability but now I know it just means killing off the DC's or T's or etc until they respawn as EM. Makes sense..
 
Lol, ok, apparently I'm horrible at BST. I keep lvling down from 12-11.
 
Pakomen:
You mentioned not to fight along-side your pet. Is this really almost always the case? I find I have less downtime if I attack with my pet after it's gotton a good 3 or 4 hits (if even-match) or 6 to 8 hits (decent-challenge) in beforehand. I can understand not fighting with your pet if the mob frequently uses AoE, but... really? We're supposed to just sit and watch?
Click to expand...

No. I've always fought alongside my pet, with the exception being fighting undead in Sea Serpent Grotto that like to spam that AOE blood drain move, and fighting any type of bomb.

Other than that, grab and axe and hit away. Just let the pet get 4-5 hits in first to establish hate. Pet is always going to hit harder than you do if it's EM or even DC to you.
 
I've gotten to 16 Bst, and I'm still having the problem of being able to peel hate. I am using attack food though, is that my problem?
 
Maybe that's why I got some hate too...I was using Meat Mithkabobs. I've lvled down to lvl 11 5 times now ><. Apparently I'm no good with a pet.
 
Don't use food in those early levels. You don't need to do uber-damage, just need to hit and build up some TP.

I think I used Mithkabobs sometimes, but you don't really need it. I think you're better off using MP food for now.
 
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