Beastmaster
by Charis

Class: Sorcerer (typically)
Tag: BM

Introduction

The Beastmaster is always surrounded by beasts. He nurtures all forms, mammal, reptile, and monstrous. A Beastmaster is evident from his clothing, lack of Mana Shield, and some odd spell habits.

Items

Weapons & Shields
The staff is the main weapon of the beastmaster, but early beastmasters, multiclassed BM's, and others who like melee may use a shield.

Since swords cause extra damage to animals, blunts are preferred by almost all Beastmasters.

Allowed Enchantments
Only items with the following prefixes/suffixes allowed.

Spider, raven, snake, serpent, drake, dragon
Fox, jaguar, eagle, wolf, tiger, lion, mammoth, whale, giants, titans
Hyena, frog, vulture, jackal
Bear, Bat, Leech, Vampire (these last 4 are less favored than the above)

Allowed Uniques
Scavenger's Carapace, Eaglehorn, Dragon's Breach, Grizzly, Falcon's Talon, Griffon's Claw, Shadowhawk, Civerb's Cudgel, Gibbous Moon, Rod of Onan(Golem), Mindcry(Guardian).

Spells

Once the beastmaster is able, he never makes a move without his beasts by his side. Four spells are key: Guardian, Golem, Elemental, Bone Spirit.

The only spells disallowed at the start (even from scroll or Staff) are Stone Curse (until he has learned Golem), and Guardian (which must be learned before used from scroll/staff).

Note that only Naked Beastmasters may use Mana shield.

Quests

1) Beastfodder
No restrictions on spells, but may not use potions or Pepin(!). Nor may he use magic items, offensive scrolls or staff spells yet.

Stage lasts from clvl 1-7, or until a beast item is found. No contact with townfolk. The Beastfodder seeks to gain the pity of beasts by his intense suffering and strong determination. Play a mage with 1 hp, 0 mana pts and no usable staff and you'll experience this suffering. Level ups and fountains are glorious.

2) Beastfriend
Once he reaches lvl 8 he may use potions _found_, but may not buy any, nor buy anything from Adria yet. Repairs, ID and Pepin heal are now allowed.

The Beastfriend seeks a sign that he is accepted by the beasts of Tristram, as he searches to find a Beast item. When he does, it is a happy event! Finding his first Item of the Beasts allows him to shop in town (buying pots, books, more beast items). If he believes in fate he will let the type of item found determine his 'realm' (described after this section; "Realms"), Sea/Air, Mammal, Reptile, or Naked Beasts.

3) Beastlover
Having found his first Beast Item, the Beastlover begins in earnest to surround himself with other beasts. He will sell off unallowed items and buy choice items, likely fox, spider at first, moving up to serpent, wolf and leech. The realm need not be picked if undecided.

His first goal is to wrap himself in the power of _five_ beasts. Hence double jewels or staff are rather nice (e.g., Snake's Ring of Eagle). The stage is complete when this wardrobe is assembled and he finds or buys the cherished 'Guardian' spell to become a Beastmage.

4) Beastiary
Once the BM is introduced to his Guardian, he is never far away from his side. As a Beastiary (and later as Beastmaster) *NO* spell can ever be cast if there is not one of his Guardians present. (Yes, this means casting one even before MS or TP on a new level). The other key spells are favored, but under the watchful eye of the Guardian, the power of fireball, chain lightning and others may be unleashed. Stone Curse is now allowed, _but_ may only be cast under the watchful eye of the Golem. A realm must be chosen, if that has not already occurred. It is now time for Diablo to die.

5) Beastmage
Now with his first dot, the Beastmage must grow strong in his chosen realm (see the Beastial Quest below). He should also get his 2nd dot in coop, to try to show others the power of the beasts. His toughness, lack of mana shield, and constant Guardian companion should be his witness...

6) Beastmaster
To become a full-fledged Beastmaster, the BM must fill out his wardrobe to wear items representing 8 beasts, have 20 separate beasts represented on him (worn or inventory), and slay Diablo in H/H. The eager BM will wear each of these beast symbols for at least one dungeon level on that run. (BNBM's need only wear the four 'cursed' types, but may have hybrid/useful items combined with them. They should carry as many of the other beast symbols they can manage.)

After successfully becoming Beastmaster, they need only wear five beast symbols, but are encouraged to continue to carry as many as they can.

Optional
A Beastmaster who does a solo 3@30 is termed a Golden Beastmaster, and has one privilege. He may wield a Beast prefixed Staff of Mana shield to cast MS, but must continue to wield it while the shield is up.

7) The Beastial Quest
Undertaken by the Beastmage after formally choosing a path, it includes two tasks.

First, he must find/buy/trade-for an emblem of his realm. The emblem should be of very high quality. Examples would include sea/air - prefixed Whale item; Mammal- prefixed mammoth item; reptile - Dragon's Staff of Elemental; BNBM- Hyena Staff of the Bear.

Second, a Normal/Hell clear is undertaken alone. Items from his realms should play the dominant role. In the end, Diablo must be killed with Guardian alone.

Realms

Four paths the Beastmaster may take.

Sea/Air
They are the only ones who may wear Whale, Drake, and Eaglehorn. Bone Spirit is a favorite spell, and is almost always launched before entering a new area to 'scout'. Their idea of 'wave' does not include Flame Wave, and if they cast Lightning, it's always Chain, never common Lightning nor the haphazard Charged Bolt. Sea/Air Beastmasters have a fondness for melee.

Mammal
They are the only realm allowed Mammoth, Titan, Bear, Windforce and Grizzly. Golem is a beloved spell, and they are very seldom seen without a trusted Golem companion. Flash, which might hurt their golem, is disallowed.

Reptile
They are the only realm who may wear Dragon items, including the Dragon's Breach. Elemental, representing the Fire Lizard, is their favorite. Fireball is disallowed, with the guided Elemental considered superior.

Beyond Naked Beastmaster (BNBM)
If the beasts are virtually naked, the BNBM feels he should be too. Frog, hyena, jackal and vulture are the items allowed to be worn, but if they happen to have a good suffix, that's great. (Not a tough guy attitude, but one of humility toward the beasts.) They *do* use the other beast symbols as readers. They feel unworthy to wear the uniques listed above except Grizzly, Gryphon's Claw, Shadowhawk, Gibbous Moon.

Their one advantage, they _alone_ are allowed to freely cast or read Mana Shield. (Golden BMs may use MS staff, and it's allowed - yet not encouraged - for all during recovery.)

The Wayfaring Beastmaster
The Wayfarer applies the full teaching of the Beastmaster and their loves for beasts to other disciplines. As a multi-variant character, and as one seeking to promote all forms of Beastmastery, he may freely wear items of all four realms, but still (second class allowing) forsakes Mana Shield. To prove the worthiness of the Beastmaster way, they are more likely than others to attempt a 3@30.

Comments

This may sound tough, especially the early stages, but it's doable. I've brought 3 mages to lvl 10 with no pots, and no townfolk. You die alot, and redo dlvl 1 and 2 a few times, but it builds character :)

Playing a Geezer and Muscle mage has shown that not using Mana shield and limited Stone Curse are the two most powerful restrictions that keep Sorcerers from being grossly overpowered.

Tip! When you find first Guardian book and become beastmaster, it will be quite rough for a while -- slvl 1 only lasts about 4 seconds doing around 10 pts per bolt. So when you find, try to shop for more, and/or not go too deep in dungeon until it's a few lvls higher and firebolt spell is good.

It could get a little hairy for coop partners to ALWAYS have a Guardian around, and with Bone Spirits to scout new enemies. Compensate them by not using chain lightning in coop, by not causing a stair mob by going down first, and be sure to carry a res or two.

The lack of MS and spell behavior could make other dual classes more challenging. Or go with a second class that also avoids MS - Geezer, Ogre, Muscle Mage. The Geezer is normally not allowed jewelry, but for a BMGeez I would wear the weakest possible jewels, maybe balancing with cursed ones, i.e. Spider Ring of Fox, Ring of Giants, Frog Amulet of Jackal. The spell-avoiding MM, as a BMMM would use a _single_ Guardian and scout spells, and avoid offensive spells. The club wielding Ogre would be a melee BM, and would not be hurting at all with a King's Club of Vampires or CC and Emerald Shield of Tiger ;) Reptile, Mammal and Sea/Air would be recommended for BMGeez, BMOGre, and BMMM, respectively. A Druid or Marshall, or Elemental Wizard would also make nice dual classes, as would a Dragon (reptile of course :)

Why Gibbous Moon and Civerb's Cudgel? The phase of the moon is thought to have a strong affect on many beasts, and knowledge of this lunar effect may aid the Beastmaster. It also gives some mana and renders the wielder difficult to see. Civerb is rumored to be the first Beastmaster. He fashioned a mighty club that would smash demons with gusto, while causing scant half damage to natural beasts.

Non-sorcerers? A Rogue Beastmaster would work nicely, with a bit more melee, good blocking and decent hit points. AMZBM works too (heck, try a Jungle Amazon while you're at it!) A Warrior would not mind all mammal type items, but will be hard pressed to cast Guardians all the time (Vampire sword recommended). A Lycanthrope would have several other beasts teamed up with his Wolf gear.