O
old.Charonel
Guest
This was on the vn boards, thought i'd share it with anyone who doesnt read them often, it gives an alternate idea of how to play the minstrel and actually enjoy it rather than just seeing the nerfs which you've been whacked with and crying 
anyway, this was the post which determined my decision to spec (yes, with points) all the way to 50 instruments, had me almost crying with laughter too since, being from hib, i've seen bloodletters many times before as we pass them each time we run to emain, and thought they were excellent (and HUGE)
post is as follows hope it's as much fun to read for you as it was for me
==========================================
Great post, and I'm sure as many people will tell you I'm all about a good Minstrel whine post since See Hidden, but last night I actually had a TON of fun in Emain with my Minstrel, for the first time in weeks.
I'm kicking myself for not going with my gut instinct, and going full Instruments and ditching Stealth completely. I -also being an optimist- put 25 points back into Stealth, because I thought not getting Camoflage HAD to be an oversight by Mythic. I mean we weren't the ones that caused them to implement See Hidden in the first place, NO WAY were they gonna stick ONLY Minstrels with gimped Stealth. Boy was I wrong. (But I did leave the road open to go to 47 Inst at 50, so that is now my plan.)
Stealth is mostly utterly useless. Anyway, so how did I have fun last night? Pets. Oh but I know what you're thinking, I've been using pets for weeks with VERY little results for the overwhelming effort it takes to control them. (I don't have a Nostromo either!) I mean getting in a group to Speed and unmez them, and leeching their XP when they kill, was FAR FAR more effective then my lil ole Loughery Man or Grogan occasionally getting a hit in before someone died. 25RPs! WOOHOO!
Well then last night I followed the zerg around w/o a pet, and amazingly the groups were full and didn't even take a Minstrel. Rare occurance these days with so few Minstrels left. I think people basically have adapted to having only Sorc speed, and relying on numbers..since as you say Hibs are obviously a tad overpowered.
So I really was very down on the pet thing...and as we ran to Bolg we run into the Bloodletters. Always having thought this to be just a "cool" pet, I had NO idea how big a difference the type of pet can make. So I picked up a yellow, and it was level 49 same as I. I have 44+11 Inst when wielding my grey Deluged Drum (Dunters Lyonesse). Wow what a difference a cool pet makes! Bloodletters own. Period. They are fast, mean, and best of all HUGE. You suddenly are last to be targeted, instead of first! Why? Cause no one can target you! You're basically standing inside this HUGE pet, so whenever they click all they get is the pet. If they attack it, AAHH HELL, they're gonna get worked like a cheap hooker.
Now the yellow was fun and all, but some bastage hibs nuked him to death. So I went and got another. Before I even knew it, I pressed "Charm" and here comes a level 52 Bloodletter. I'm like "oh shit!" with my lowly 44+11, this thing is gonna eat me alive. And well I wasn't entirely wrong, as that is how I eneded up dying for the night (but semi intentional, as it was 3am and I needed to sleep.) I kept this orange for at least 2 hours, and yes he got me past 50% health at least 3-4 times and had me worried that he was gonna get me killed.
However, the risk is worth it. I sent him against a level 50 Hero in one fight, and I don't know if it's psychology or what, but you could almost see the poor Firby's face as he turned to run in fear. I guess something about being in a large battle, and being targeted by this HUGE orange con creature. It ate him alive! He was running around frantically, and it was chomping him to bits. I got 500 RPs for his death shortly after, which is the largest single amount I've gotten since See Hidden went live. (I've not had a whole buncha luck soloing *anyone* since then.)
I swear the thing 3-4 shot 50 casters all night, and sticks to them like glue. Sprint? Forget it, the bloodletter is faster! They run fast and hit harder and faster then my Minstrel. At one point when my 52 bloodletter just took a couple of good chunks out of my rear end, an archer decides he's gonna gank me while I'm sitting down. I was at about 3/4ths health, and he CSed me. Well I was down to a sliver, and hit FA. My 52 bloodletter had already taken off like a bat outta hell after the archer, and in conjunction with an Alb nuker took the archer down so fast I didn't even have time to react.
I bet I got 4k RPs in 2-3 hours, just following the zerg around with my new best friend. Now that's solo. I don't think in all the 15-20 hours I've spent running around solo with everything from 47-50 Grogans, Loughery Men, and whatnot that I made that much combined. (Yes it was THAT bad!) Sure if I group up, I can farm much better RP then that...but I feel like a leech! I like to be IN the action, doing damage, and taking foes down...not watch others do it while I stand and wait for my turn to get stunned/nuked. Bloodletters let me do that in a way I haven't experienced since before See Hidden.
Orange pets, at 44+11 Instruments at least, are a HUGE pain in the rear. While twisting they're fine and rarely bug you all that often, but if you're just standing around you better have your finger glued to the Charm button! At times it wont resist for 2 minutes, but most of the time it resists every 10-15 seconds, sometimes even 5-6 times in a row. I still consider it well worth it, because finally I'm an offensive factor in a large battle. I'm almost as deadly as a caster, and once your own realm mates realize that you're pretty good with that pet of yours, they start showing some respect too.
People are of course skeptical of a Minstrel with a pet, because they obviously think you should be grouped pounding them drums. Make that an orange bloodletter, and many people will say "damn, now that's a friggin pet!" And once they see it in action, I think they realize you're actually not being a moron but an useful ally to the realm.
Of course I'm sure this will get nerfed soon too, because Mythic might find out that there is still a Minstrel with a pulse left in the game, and actually having fun at that!
So to those Minstrels who want an "easy" pet in exchange for a lower level (like I used to!) please! please! please! consider that you maybe just haven't messed enough with pets to know how to use them properly. I'm just beginning to get the hang of it, and after 20+ hours of frustrating pet experiences, I'm finally having some serious fun! Get an orange pet, and learn the tricks to control it well, that's all I can say. If I have to die once in a while to my own pet for every few enemies it kills, I consider that a good trade off. I only wish I had gone full Instruments now.
So my Minstrel whines are over until my hands give up from Carpel Tunnel Syndrome! Pet Minstrels are probably the most powerful pet class in the game, but that privelage comes with a lot of difficulty in controlling these pets!
We had a couple of Sorcs there that had yellow bloodletters too, and you could just feel the envy in their eyes as they saw your orange one. Of course when they see your pet taking 50% of your life in 3 fast hits, they probably are less envious.
Windwalker
anyway, this was the post which determined my decision to spec (yes, with points) all the way to 50 instruments, had me almost crying with laughter too since, being from hib, i've seen bloodletters many times before as we pass them each time we run to emain, and thought they were excellent (and HUGE)
post is as follows
hope it's as much fun to read for you as it was for me ==========================================
Great post, and I'm sure as many people will tell you I'm all about a good Minstrel whine post since See Hidden, but last night I actually had a TON of fun in Emain with my Minstrel, for the first time in weeks.
I'm kicking myself for not going with my gut instinct, and going full Instruments and ditching Stealth completely. I -also being an optimist- put 25 points back into Stealth, because I thought not getting Camoflage HAD to be an oversight by Mythic. I mean we weren't the ones that caused them to implement See Hidden in the first place, NO WAY were they gonna stick ONLY Minstrels with gimped Stealth. Boy was I wrong. (But I did leave the road open to go to 47 Inst at 50, so that is now my plan.)
Stealth is mostly utterly useless. Anyway, so how did I have fun last night? Pets. Oh but I know what you're thinking, I've been using pets for weeks with VERY little results for the overwhelming effort it takes to control them. (I don't have a Nostromo either!) I mean getting in a group to Speed and unmez them, and leeching their XP when they kill, was FAR FAR more effective then my lil ole Loughery Man or Grogan occasionally getting a hit in before someone died. 25RPs! WOOHOO!
Well then last night I followed the zerg around w/o a pet, and amazingly the groups were full and didn't even take a Minstrel. Rare occurance these days with so few Minstrels left. I think people basically have adapted to having only Sorc speed, and relying on numbers..since as you say Hibs are obviously a tad overpowered.
So I really was very down on the pet thing...and as we ran to Bolg we run into the Bloodletters. Always having thought this to be just a "cool" pet, I had NO idea how big a difference the type of pet can make. So I picked up a yellow, and it was level 49 same as I. I have 44+11 Inst when wielding my grey Deluged Drum (Dunters Lyonesse). Wow what a difference a cool pet makes! Bloodletters own. Period. They are fast, mean, and best of all HUGE. You suddenly are last to be targeted, instead of first! Why? Cause no one can target you! You're basically standing inside this HUGE pet, so whenever they click all they get is the pet. If they attack it, AAHH HELL, they're gonna get worked like a cheap hooker.
Now the yellow was fun and all, but some bastage hibs nuked him to death. So I went and got another. Before I even knew it, I pressed "Charm" and here comes a level 52 Bloodletter. I'm like "oh shit!" with my lowly 44+11, this thing is gonna eat me alive. And well I wasn't entirely wrong, as that is how I eneded up dying for the night (but semi intentional, as it was 3am and I needed to sleep.) I kept this orange for at least 2 hours, and yes he got me past 50% health at least 3-4 times and had me worried that he was gonna get me killed.
However, the risk is worth it. I sent him against a level 50 Hero in one fight, and I don't know if it's psychology or what, but you could almost see the poor Firby's face as he turned to run in fear. I guess something about being in a large battle, and being targeted by this HUGE orange con creature. It ate him alive! He was running around frantically, and it was chomping him to bits. I got 500 RPs for his death shortly after, which is the largest single amount I've gotten since See Hidden went live. (I've not had a whole buncha luck soloing *anyone* since then.)
I swear the thing 3-4 shot 50 casters all night, and sticks to them like glue. Sprint? Forget it, the bloodletter is faster! They run fast and hit harder and faster then my Minstrel. At one point when my 52 bloodletter just took a couple of good chunks out of my rear end, an archer decides he's gonna gank me while I'm sitting down. I was at about 3/4ths health, and he CSed me. Well I was down to a sliver, and hit FA. My 52 bloodletter had already taken off like a bat outta hell after the archer, and in conjunction with an Alb nuker took the archer down so fast I didn't even have time to react.
I bet I got 4k RPs in 2-3 hours, just following the zerg around with my new best friend. Now that's solo. I don't think in all the 15-20 hours I've spent running around solo with everything from 47-50 Grogans, Loughery Men, and whatnot that I made that much combined. (Yes it was THAT bad!) Sure if I group up, I can farm much better RP then that...but I feel like a leech! I like to be IN the action, doing damage, and taking foes down...not watch others do it while I stand and wait for my turn to get stunned/nuked. Bloodletters let me do that in a way I haven't experienced since before See Hidden.
Orange pets, at 44+11 Instruments at least, are a HUGE pain in the rear. While twisting they're fine and rarely bug you all that often, but if you're just standing around you better have your finger glued to the Charm button! At times it wont resist for 2 minutes, but most of the time it resists every 10-15 seconds, sometimes even 5-6 times in a row. I still consider it well worth it, because finally I'm an offensive factor in a large battle. I'm almost as deadly as a caster, and once your own realm mates realize that you're pretty good with that pet of yours, they start showing some respect too.
People are of course skeptical of a Minstrel with a pet, because they obviously think you should be grouped pounding them drums. Make that an orange bloodletter, and many people will say "damn, now that's a friggin pet!" And once they see it in action, I think they realize you're actually not being a moron but an useful ally to the realm.
Of course I'm sure this will get nerfed soon too, because Mythic might find out that there is still a Minstrel with a pulse left in the game, and actually having fun at that!
So to those Minstrels who want an "easy" pet in exchange for a lower level (like I used to!) please! please! please! consider that you maybe just haven't messed enough with pets to know how to use them properly. I'm just beginning to get the hang of it, and after 20+ hours of frustrating pet experiences, I'm finally having some serious fun! Get an orange pet, and learn the tricks to control it well, that's all I can say. If I have to die once in a while to my own pet for every few enemies it kills, I consider that a good trade off. I only wish I had gone full Instruments now.
So my Minstrel whines are over until my hands give up from Carpel Tunnel Syndrome! Pet Minstrels are probably the most powerful pet class in the game, but that privelage comes with a lot of difficulty in controlling these pets!
We had a couple of Sorcs there that had yellow bloodletters too, and you could just feel the envy in their eyes as they saw your orange one.
Of course when they see your pet taking 50% of your life in 3 fast hits, they probably are less envious. Windwalker