test content
  • Games
  • Social
  • Arc News
  • Support
  • Zen
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Forums > Home› Neverwinter Discussion › General Discussion (PC)

Man-at-Arms vs. Neverember Guard vs. Galeb Duhr

bookwyrmmbookwyrmm Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 94
edited January 2014 in General Discussion (PC)
I am loving my ranger, and enjoying playing him as a pure archer - those pesky swords almost never come out. But with that choice (and the fact that I largely play solo) I am entering the mid-thirties and discovering that I need a large critter out in front of me to hide behind whilst I rain death on my enemies. My Man-At-Arms seems to be faltering and going down faster and faster these days, so it is time to examine options. So...

Of the three Defender pets, which one wins out in the cost vs. usability rankings?

The Man-at-Arms certainly has the lowest initial cost, purchasable with good old gold. But to get it up to level 30, the cost is fairly prohibitive in AD. He has decent threat generation but unless you invest 1.5M in AD, won't get him from 15 to 30 and as such is pretty useless for mid-late game use.

Neverember Guard can be bought in the AH for ~350K at the moment or from the Zen Market for 1,200 and only needs to be ranked up once (750K AD) to get to purple and level 30. But I have no experience with his threat generation.

The Rock is already purple, so its just a matter of training him/her/it up to level 30. But the highest initial cost (2.5K Zen or 750-800K AD) makes him a tough sell out of the box. Again, no experience with his threat generation though.

So, the questions are, for those who are keeping score, which one is the best value for what you get, and which one wins in the "most useful" category?

Seems that the Rock would win out in overall cost effectiveness - you can purchase his service for the cost of upgrading the Guard to purple... so does that mean he wins out overall?
"Not all those who wander are lost." J.R.R. Tolkien
Post edited by bookwyrmm on

Comments

  • tokraxtokrax Member Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    On my HR I use Galeb Duhr and like him a lot - he's not so good at tanking multiple things, but did a decent job until 60 on the bigger baddies. I am now in all Tier 1 with a single Tier 2 piece, and he is starting to have troubles holding aggro for more than a moment or two when his hard taunt goes off. I have no experience with the others, but in terms of value, I would be inclined to think Galeb is the best option... that upgrade cost for the others is seriously steep.

    Recently, I've started running with an Acolyte of Kelemvor (healer) and if you gear her with a decent amount of life steal and adapt your playstyle to move around a little more than with the tank, she works really well. In fact, I swallowed the cost to upgrade her from blue to purple and don't regret it at all.
  • jorifice1jorifice1 Member Posts: 1,042 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Honestly? I wouldn't bother with a Tank at all for a Ranger. You have the capacity to kill stuff fast enough and get away quickly enough, that shouldn't have the time to get Agro. Split The Sky and Thorn Ward keep the DPS up while you dodge around.
    But if you want pure, raw, threat generation, go for one of the Healers. Healing Agro in this game is CRAZY. It tops everything else, all the time. The only exception is the Fawn, which, in a few rare cases, does not get all that much Agro. Just outfit them with +HP and +Defense, and boom, Tank.
    'Wen considered the nature of time and understood that the universe is, instant by instant, recreated anew. Therefore, he understood, there is in truth no past, only a memory of the past. Blink your eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, he said, the only appropriate state of the mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it.' Terry Pratchet The Thief Of Time
  • diogene0diogene0 Member Posts: 2,894 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    If you enjoy being a sniper, you'll never survive endgame, unless you don't mind annoying the cleric to the last degree. So you better learn to use daggers. :)

    It's a bit off-topic but not completely. Due to how other class works, snipers are counterproductive and just mess up everything, and the solo dungeons are too forgiving and will never teach you how to play with a team, unfortunately.
  • millertime197933millertime197933 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 124 Bounty Hunter
    edited January 2014
    I would suggest getting the Cave Bear. It is a tank type companion but it also has a great active bonus in that it gives you bonus HPs. While upgrading it to purple is expensive, it is cheaper than purchasing a rank 10 radiant, but gives 1200 hps fully upgraded to purple. Tanking pets will lose their value when you hit 60 so having a good active bonus should play into your decision. The cave bear has plenty of taunt type attacks, is very survivable for non epic dungeons as well as the leveling process. The non upgraded cave bear is green and gives 400 hps. One of the major weaknesses with a ranger is that they are squishy, so this helps the problem.
  • angryspriteangrysprite Member Posts: 4,982 Arc User
    edited January 2014
    Galeb Duhr, hands-down, full-stop.

    Here's why: it states directly in its description: "Will attack the strongest of all encounters directly" (paraphrased) - meaning it will go directly for and pull aggro from the elites and bosses while you take-out the adds. No other tank Companion actually does this (immediately singles-out the strongest of any mob). Galeb Duhr actually does this. I know - he saved my Cleric's bacon countless times.

    Buy him in the Auction House because even at 350/1 AD/Z conversion the actual cost would be about 850K Astral Diamonds at his current (new) Z-Store price. So it will be like getting him on sale.

    I have three Galeb Duhrs (in addition to the one I used to fully level-up my Cleric) in-waiting that will be going to my ranged alts. Yippie-kai-aye-aye-aye.
Sign In or Register to comment.