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Ferals and their fire vuln...


Imoutgoodbye

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I've been tossing this around in my head for a while now.

Ferals can't touch fire weapons, take extra damage from fire based spells and weapons, etc...

They have their fury and other things.

I can't myself recall seeing many ferals hanging around. Ogres come and go, but seem to last longer. Maybe I'm going crazy, but do ferals seem a little....weak?

I've never played one myself. Nothing about them really appeals to me. I haven't seen anything per se that makes them worth that fire vuln.

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Tough to play

Seen many fire giants lately either? Getting by the vulns takes quite a bit of know-how with the current pbase. Consider this, ogres have a MAJOR vuln, but they also get a nice cushion just in case they make mistakes. Screw up with a feral and your dead. Same with a fire giant (unless your a freakin Fgiant cleric.) But ferals have something beyond fury that gives them a little edge.

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I don't know.

Reydik did well (Feral Cleric Syndi). A lot of Feral Clerics/Shaman that I've seen try to accomplish something similar go down too fast due to the fire vuln overpowering them faster than they can cure, however you could say that's just down to the feral player needing to alter their tactics, and perhaps get some better EQ for saves.

There have been a couple of good Feral Ninjas in both Watcher and Syndi, granted most were assassination-ninjas but Mindflayer's Feral Ninja was a strong melee feral. Being a Watcher does have it's perks though. ;)

There were a couple of Watcher Feral Blademasters about. I remember Mlar (Elder) but not sure how well he did, the other one that was a little more recent but didn't stay around for long (quite strong from what I remember), and even more recent, Zlitsh, who I rarely got to have a 'proper' fight with but seemed to have potential.

Feral Rangers? Well there was Senrail (WM Gladiator Leader) plus another few that seem to crop up at pinn that seem to have good potential but don't stick around for long.

I have never seen a Feral Warrior or Thief at pinn, of note. I seem to recall a WM Feral Warrior who was about for a very short time, though I can't check the record.

I think Feral Ninjas, Clerics, Thieves, Rangers and Blademasters can do fine providing people put a little thought into the Fire Vuln. Blademasters especially, who can do well against melee (fire melee) as well as casters (fire spells) and communers. Watcher (Stalker) Feral Blademasters especially. ;)

Warriors, and shaman, I don't know. High dex and 103 in three main defences means they should do well in melee, and fury against casters, but whether that works in practice I don't know. Same for Shaman, a long attrition game could be hard for a Feral Shaman when people can utilize an easily abused vulnerability to pile on the damage that little harder, but again I don't know about that.

Though, I have found (through painful experiences that were wholly unexpected on my part) that Ferals CAN touch some weapons that deal fire-based damage.

As far as their stats go, I think they're fine. 19 str, 24 dex, 19(20?) con, can't remember the int/wis figures off-hand. Automastery in three defences (which means 103% in those defences). Fury.

One thing I will say, not in argument as to how effective/overpowered/underpowered they are but just as a general comment, but with my Feral, I found that fury isn't the lifesaver against casters that many people think it is (I'll not mention anything specific as I'm not sure how taboo the subject is). Don't get me wrong, it is very effective, but anyone who thinks fury is just some form of blasphemy & silence combined in skill form will find out otherwise the hard way. :D

Feel free to disagree. As is the norm, and most likely, I could be wrong on some of this.

Dey

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Like most major vuln races it comes down to this - do you want to have a bit of extra fun for the cost of having to work your PK ring out (which is a hell of a lot of fun in itself :D )?

If the answer is yes, then ogres, ferals and fgs await.

If the answer is no then just be a boring, cookie cutter, no one will remember drow/elf whatever. You will have a lot easier time and probably less headaches in PK. You will miss challenging your PK skills and getting an extra buzz from extra's that vuln races have.

L-A

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My favorite part of the huge vuln races is that against anyone who can't really take advantage of that vuln you should have a serious upper hand. This isn't always the case, for instance, ferals just aren't great with all classes. Warriors for one are just better off as giants.

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Ferals are seriously good. Fury, yes, is not a guaranteed win by any stretch but it makes a HUGE difference, and it stacks, so use it wisely. I love ferals and have played quite a few, sadly lost my best feral pinn to a rage delete long ago, was a retrung feral blm (yes restrings help cuz not everyone will figure out right away you are feral, lol) but I stood toe to toe with a fire giant warrior in melee with my feral blm.

Ferals also have permanent sense motion which is VERY useful, and I think they even have a natural mini haste which throws in the occasional extra attack. There are ways to get around the vuln like people have said, certain cabals help, some items, saves etc...

Feral IMO is a very viable class, BUT sometimes you will just get smakced down in the wrong situation. I had a feral warrior once, not at pinn mind you, and I was fighting an avian invoker. I was actualyl doing alright, landed a few furies early with hit and run tactics, got the invoker on the run, sadly I overpursued and by the time I got ot him the fury had passed, he was sitting there sanced and firestormed, I walked in and got dispelled, about 2 seconds and a couple fireballs later I was ash.

BUT, a few easy deaths does not mean the race is no good.

edit: Oh! I wanted to add something about fury, even though it does not work 100% like silence or blasphemy, unlike the two former it cannot be saved against. So master fury and laugh as it lands everytime.

editedit: I hope I am telling the truth, just occured to me that maybe ac helps to make you miss fury, but I am pretty sure it is a lot harder to avoid than a silence or blasphemy.

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You do know that aff saves can negate most fire spells ?

Of course fire weapons are a lot more common than other vuln weapons.

But ferals do have the 103% defenses and good stats.

Then they have the class perks.

For example a feral warrior.

He can defend extremely well with its defenses and has an extreme output of attacks.

Against classes with prot shield and fly scrolls he can use the fury thing to get some benefit in combat, over other warriors.

The only fire spells that can hurt them are:

Invocker: Burning hands, Fireball, Firestorm, Fire shield.

DK: Fireball

Paladin: Flamestrike

Bards something, but who fight bards...

And that is it. (I think)

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Fireball is one of the easier spells to save against. In 'very nice aff' saves I found you can really reduce the damage it does. And fireball never did an unspeak against me, even with 0 saves. Now, some other fire spells on the other hand, they are REALLY nasty when you get caught with 0 saves and no sanc. But it's the price you pay.

Dey

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A level 54 mastered fireball pumped through a fire shield damned well better hit an unspeak on something lacking saves that has a fire vuln, especially since it'll hit mobs who don't have said vuln just as hard. Now, while fireball is fairly easy to save against, firestorm and flame arrow are far more difficult, and firestorm can be the equivalent of an auto-casted fireball every round.

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