Skills
PRE-AE VERSION
First order of business – raise Call of the Wild to level 7, then rush Dissemination. After that get the nymph and raise Nature’s Wrath to level 10. Finally try to max Accelerated Regrowth, Heart of Oak and Survival Instinct in that order. Your build should end up looking something like THIS at level 29.
http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Wanderer&master1=4&master2=0&sa=0&m1=32-1-7-12-8-1-0-1-14-0-0-1-0-1-0-1-1-0-1-0-10-0-0-0&m2=0This is your early game build – it was designed to get you as far as the Wusao Mountain waypoint with minimum hassle. Up until that point your wolves/nymph should be doing crazy DPS while your toon kept his/her distance and spammed Regrowth.
POST-AE VERSION
AE considerably simplifies things for petmancers by introducing a quest in mid act 3 that increases the HP of pets in normal(the Yeti quest), allowing you to stick to only one build. AE players should have something like THIS by level 29.
http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Wanderer&master1=4&master2=0&sa=5&m1=32-1-16-1-8-1-8-0-1-0-0-1-0-1-0-1-1-0-4-0-12-0&m2=0Build 2: Post Wusao build, Level 30-33 and onwards
Playstyle
At this point mobs start to hit a lot harder and no amount of healing is going to be able to save your pets unless you twink heavily. Fortunately ature two critical skills to address this: Plague and Refresh.
Plague is an AoE nuke that forces monsters to attack you instead of you pets. It’s a very powerful skill in the sense that it does mostly HP reduction damage (ie, % of enemy’s current health as damage). This means the tougher the affected mob, the higher the damage (which is why we ignored the skill completely in Acts 1-2). The only problem with Plague is that due to the way HP reduction damage works it rarely kills off enemy mobs by itself.
The great thing about Plague is that with both of its synergies maxed it is also one of the game’s most powerful debuffs. While tanking mobs may seem like a crazy idea it’s actually a very effective strategy in act 4 normal. Your character will survive for as long as Plague is up (and in many cases you probably won’t even notice that you’re taking damage) as long as your resistances/DA are decent. Be prepared to move away once Plague’s duration starts to run out, however. Also be wary of mobs with the Onslaught skill – Onslaught’s charges counters Plague’s damage debuff.
Refresh is one of nature’s more humble skills and is usually ignored by most other builds. Regardless, casting level 4 Refresh completely removes the cooldown of Call of the Wild allowing you to instantly resummon a second wolf in case both of your wolves go down. With almost all your DPS coming from either your wolves and Plague, Refresh invaluable.
Your new playstyle involves casting Plague on enemy mobs and then blasting away with your staff while your pets defeat them. Use Briar Ward if you aggro too many mobs and don’t be afraid to use scrolls. In case both of your wolves die use the Call of the Wild->Refresh->Call of the Wild combo. You can try to sneak in an extra casting most other skills (Regrowth, Plague, or even Eruption/Stone Form or Distort Reality/Phantom Strike for summoners/ritualists) before casting your second Call of the Wild.
Against Typhon I suggest buying a Scroll of Sky’s Rage and then using it with Plague. Stay close to Typhon (the scroll summons a thunderstorm that travels with your character) and watch his HP drop to less than half its max value once Sky’s Rage finishes. And you thought defeating Typhon in under 20 seconds untwinked in normal was impossible. 😛
Of course in the AE you won’t even need Sky’s Rage, just rush the Battle Marker/Frostbite shrines in Olympus and your wolves should be able to defeat Typhon in record time.
Do not use Briar Ward against Typhon or his life leech attack will him to heal to almost full health.
Additional tips:
-Act 4 mobs are especially dangerous and I would recommend raising your poison/piercing resistances to 50% or higher in act 4. Note that with Plague (HP reduction and Susceptibility effect) act 4 mobs will effectively have about the same health act 3 mobs. This means that the survival of your toon should be your primary concern.
-By now you should start looking for a charm/relic with the “% slower attack” completion bonus (if you don’t know which relics/charms have this bonus check out this thread). “% slower attack” is a very powerful enchantment that can cripple most mobs, even bosses!
Skills
PRE-AE VERSION
Your build should look like THIS by level 33.
http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Wanderer&master1=4&master2=0&sa=5&m1=32-1-7-8-1-10-8-1-1-8-0-1-0-1-0-1-1-8-4-0-10-0&m2=0Alternatively, if you’re a TQ veteran and you have pre-farmed gear in your caravan you can instead use THIS. Note that you need +2 skills (total) to get your third wolf.
POST-AE VERSION
Your build shouldn’t be that much different form your pre-Wusao one and should look something like THIS by level 33.
http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Wanderer&master1=4&master2=0&sa=5&m1=32-1-16-1-8-1-8-0-1-8-0-1-0-1-0-1-1-7-4-0-12-0&m2=0Nature – The Wanderer
Small section for new players, people who like playing as a wanderer, or anyone not yet interested in picking a second mastery.
The wanderer is a petmancer that specializes in healing, defensive buffs and HP reduction damage. It is the ideal petmancer for beating normal with, with very few exceptions.
Suggested Skills:
Plague – max all synergies. This is your main nuke and debuff.
Heart of Oak – max base skill in normal, leave Permanence of Stone at level 1 in normal and max it in Epic, leave Tranquility of Water at level 1. This is your core defensive aura.
Briar Ward – leave base skill and Stinging Nettle at level 1, max Sanctuary. This is your panic button, a very powerful defensive skill.
Call of the Wild – max Maul, then Survival Instinct, and then Strength of the Pack in that order. This is your main DPS source.
Sylvan Nymph – max base skill, leave Overgrowth at level 1. This is your secondary DPS source.
Regrowth – max base skill and Dissemination at the same rate. This is your main defensive skill.
Refreshand Briar Ward – any extra points. At high enough Refresh levels you can start to use Briar Ward as more of a general defensive skill rather than a panic button.
IV. Items and where to find them
Your main items: staves and jewelry (rings and amulets) with the “Beastcaller’s” -> “Spiritcaller’s”-> “Summoner’s” -> “Invoker’s” -> “Ritualist’s” affixes.
While only wanderers, druids, summoners, soothsayers and some ritualists should be using staves, ALL petmancers should be using +pet damage jewelry.
Possible late-game items:
The game isn’t balanced around end-game gear, so feel free to swap these for any ultra-rare end-game monster infrequents/legendaries you find.
Weapons and Jewelry
-A staff with the “Ritualist’s” affix and with the Incarnation of Shen-Nong’s Dark Medicine (+”% slower attack” completion) legendary relic
-An amulet with both the “Ritualist’s” and “of Convocation” affixes with Incarnation of the Monkey King’s Trickery (standard completion/+resistance completion) legendary relic
-A pair of “Ritualist’s” rings with a +DA/HP suffix, both with the Incarnation of the Monkey King’s Trickery (standard completion/+resistance completion) legendary relics
-switch weapon: Druid’s staff with -recharge suffix (if your total +skills is less than 4) or any defensive staff like the Kirin (+elemental/poison/pierce resistance)
-For non-staff users, any weapon with -resist effects like Sapros and Mbuti’s Advocate
Armors
-“Hallowed” headgear (+vitality resist, +1 to skills) with a +DA/HP suffix
-“Honor Guard’s” torso armor (+pierce, stun resist, +defense) with a +DA/HP suffix
-“Of the Pegasus” leggings (+elemental resistances) or any leggings with both the +poison/pierce/bleeding resistance and +movement speed affixes. If you’re going for overkill try farming the incredibly rare Demonskin Walkers
-Any yellow/green armlet armlet with +poison/pierce resistance/bleeding and the +DA/HP suffix. A few monster infrequents and legendaries like the Stonebinder’s Cuffs and the Scourge Wrap are also worth using
Items for rounding out your character:
You will be using these items to fill out any weaknesses your character may have, like low DA/health and resistances.
Artifacts
– Leafsong/Song of the Serpent/Shroud of Eternal Night/Druid’s Wreath/Thoth’s Glory/Star of Istar/Knot of Isis (basically any artifact with good resistances). For non-wanderers feel free to pick an offense-type artifact that complements your main nuke (eg, Ikon of Zeus would be great on a druid)
Charms/Relics
-Hag’s skin (+pierce resist or +DA completion)
-Pristine Plummage (+DA or +poison resist completion)
-Udjat of Horus/Guan Yu’s Grace (torso armor only, +DA/+armor/+movespeed/+resistance completion)
-Dionysus’ Wineskin (ideally +DA completion, but what really matters is the base enchantment)
-Monkey King’s Trickery (+DA or +poison resist completion)
-Crystal of Erebus (+1/2 to skills, +resists completion or “%slower attack” completion)
-Iron Will of Ajax (+DA or elemental resistance completion)
Note that the torso armor usually takes the most hits from mobs (this is how enemy attack works in TQ so the individual armor value of each of your gear matters, not the total) so the Udjat of Horus can be invaluable in act 4 normal.
Beware of bleeding damage – powerful enemies like Yao Guai, the Melinoe and mobs with rogue skills (like the Machae) like to use bleed damage. Bleeding resistance can be safely ignored PRE-AE but AE players should definitely consider stacking some bleeding resistance.
One other important thing – KEEP YOUR DA DECENT. Good DA is important to petmancers because Plague likes to redirect a lot of aggro to your toon. 400-600/800/1000 DA for normal/epic/legendary is ideal and you can reach these values easily using green items with the proper affixes and with the +DA completion bonus from charms and relics.
Item Location info:
Beastcaller’s
All throughout normal, as early as Helos.
Spiritcaller’s
I’ve seen one appear as early as the Village of Tegea (right after Sparta) although they’re quite common in Act 2 Egypt. Try to complete a set by mid Act 2 normal.
Summoner’s
All throughout Epic although they can start appearing as early as as the Chumbi Valley/Chang’an merchants. Get a set (or export one) by Chang’an normal.
Foe AE players, “Summoner’s” can now drop in act 4 normal.
Invoker’s
Act 3 Epic although I’ve seen one appear as early as Act 1 Delphi. Complete a set by Chang’an (Epic).
Ritualist’s/of Convocation
Legendary. Ritualist’s can appear as early as epic Chang’an but they are very, very rare.
I’ve seen the “of Convocation” affix appear as early as epic Rhakotis but you’ll want that to go with the “Ritualist’s” affix.
For AE players “of Convocation” can appear as early as act 3 normal.
“Hallowed” headgear
The Great Wall/Chang’an mage merchants like selling “Hallowed” headgear .
“Honor Guard’s” torso armor
Most merchants in late act 2/early act 3 will sell these occasionally.
Wanderer staves/amulets
Most merchants in late act 2/early act 3 will sell these occasionally.
Scrolls
Act 1 gives you scrolls of Unbroken Fortitude (for act 1 bosses), Harpy Witches (for act 1 bosses) and Ice Nova (for any annoying mob group in normal). Act 2 gives you Elemental Shielding (for Barmanu/Yao Guai) and act 3 gives you Sky’s Rage.
These scrolls have epic/legendary difficulty counterparts that appear in the same acts as their normal difficulty counterparts with the sole exception of Sky’s Rage, which appears in epic act 1 as Earthquake.
In Legendary you can also use Divine Scrolls of Stalwart Alliance.
Pristine Plumage
Note that items tend to spawn with a lot more pierce resistance than poison resistance, making Pristine Plumage charms a cheap and efficient way to raise your poison resistance.
There’s a very easy way to farm Pristine Plumage. Once you reach the Rebirth Fountain in Kairatos Bluff near Triton’s Ridge, Knossos (the one that precedes the Rebirth Fountain with the merchant) there should be a group of Harpies just ahead of the fountain and then across the bridge behind it. Clear these, port to Knossos, clear the Harpie group southeast/east of the Herakleion, then port to Helos. Proceed to the area north of the cave where you saved the cornered shepherd (your very first quest outside of Helos) and then continue to finish off all Harpies in the area (they should be all over the edges of the map) until you reach the man who gives you the quest to find his Dowry. There should be more Harpies in the north and east, near the cave entrance. Familiarize yourself with this route – a single run should only take somewhere between 4-6 mins and you’ll likely find at least 1 Pristine Plumage per run unless you’re very unlucky.
Hag’s Skin
Hag’s Skin charms are a cheap way for you to raise your piercing resistance. Note that a lot of mobs in act 4 deal piercing damage.
Right before the town in the Lower Nile there’s a Rebirth Fountain. There will be several hags in the east and northeast areas, in the cliffs and near the cave. Just activate the fountain and keep exiting/reentering the game while clearing these areas.
Relics
Your best chance of getting Monkey-king’s Trickery/Shen-long’s Dark Medicine/Dionysus’ Wineskin/Will of Ajax and other relics is to use the massbosses/xmax mods to from act-specific gods and titans (bosses that spawn a magic orb)
A note to casual players:
Grinding is completely optional. If you don’t want to grind for items just make sure you carry around an extra set of gear with vitality/stun resistance/bleeding/elemental/poison and creature type (eg. -x% damage from beasts) resistance for use against specific mobs/bosses. Switching gear for dealing with specific mobs is a cheap and easy way to avoid having to farm/grind for items.
General rules of thumb: if the boss uses attacks that distort the game graphics switch to vitality/stun resistance. If it’s a green-colored attack switch to poison resistance. Red attacks usually do vitality/bleeding resistance.
Pay attention to mob/boss creature type (appears right below their name). Creature type resistances from charms/gear (like -x% less damage from beasts from the Hydradon Hide monster charm) are rare, but incredibly effective and valuable.
VI. Multiclassing, ie, choosing a second mastery
All classes in TQ are viable, even solo mastery classes like the wanderer, but it’s important that you enjoy your character. The wanderer is the support petmancer, the “doctor” class. If you want a more aggressive petmancer feel free to combine nature with any other mastery.
I’d also like to point out that ALL single mastery classes are incredibly powerful in normal while dual-mastery class builds usually start to come together at around epic. If your planned build requires a lot of skill points (like you need to be level 38+ to get all your core skills) you may wish to stick to playing a solo mastery in normal.
General guidelines for picking a second mastery early on:
1) Max Call of the Wild and get Refresh to level 1-4 depending on how many +skill items you use.
2) Try to max the Plague line as soon as you reach Wusao Mountain in normal. This allows you to pull aggro away from your wolves, raising their survivability and thus keeping your DPS intact. Dead wolves = no DPS. Maxing Fatigue is optional for non casters.
3) Weigh your options. When it comes to AoEs the nymph’s Nature’s Wrath, for example, pales in comparison to Earth mastery’s Eruption. Even if you decide to max Nature’s Wrath later you should pick Eruption first, given the choice.
4) For act 4 normal focus on improving your character’s survivability – a full +pet damage gear, Plague, your wolves, a level 4 Refresh and a strong nuke are basically all you need DPS-wise. Increase your survivability by taking skills that help minimize the damage you take like Distortion Wave (massive slow), Visage of Death (fumble and fear), Ravages of Time (enemy damage penalty), Squall + Reduced Visibility (protection from enemy attacks), Soften Metal (enemy damage penalty), Stoneskin (massive fire resist and armor boost), Trance of Convalescence (HP regen and damage absorption), Sands of Sleep (sleep effect), Knives + Mandrake (fumble and confuse), Enslave Spirit (crowd control), and Heat Shield (fire and physical damage resist).
5) Always have at least 3 pieces of +pet damage gear. This is mostly for non-staff users.
6) Get “% slower attack” items.
7) Against Dactyls use items with the -%damage from monster effect like Ritual amulets and Tortured Soul charms with the Ritual completion bonus
When planning your build make sure they’re fully functional by level 33. This is the level most characters are in before the normal Typhon fight (without farming/grinding).
9) Always remember that your toon has the potential be tougher than any pet in the game. Only dedicated caster builds should ever rely on their pets for tank/support. One of the most common mistakes new players make with nature/x petmancers is to rely on their own toons for DPS while letting their pets deal with aggro – this never really works and there are mobs in the game so powerful they can kill even the toughest pets in the game in seconds. The same isn’t true for a well-prepared character.
Generally speaking leave the DPSing to your pets and the surviving to your toon.
Bottomline, your core build should look something like THIS.
http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Wanderer&master1=4&master2=0&sa=0&m1=32-0-16-1-0-1-8-0-1-1-0-0-0-1-0-1-0-8-4-0-0-0&m2=0This build will be used as the basis for the next section.