RIFT: Warrior Class - Beastmaster

After writing about the Warrior class: Defender I thought I would potter around with my Beastmaster and test that out for solo ability. I like to write from a beginners perspective and never play for end game results so can only recommend you find experts in the raiding field if you are looking for end game information.

I try to keep it simple but please feel free to ask questions if I don't cover what you’re looking for and I will answer asap. The Beastmaster build is a support class build but actually did pretty well in level appropriate areas. At level 44 I now have 60 points spent in the skill tree as follows:

Beastmaster Soul Tree

As you can see Riftblade is left as the zero spec tree whilst 40 points are spent in the Beastmaster tree and the remaining 20 in Paragon. In order to solo you really do need this detail of the build. Unlike the Defender who has excellent healing capabilities, this build is limited for healing. Take what healing you can get from this build because if you are mobbed whilst alone, the heals that you do get, can help to a degree, if used wisely.

The Beastmaster is a fun build to play, but make no mistake it is not a Tank. Beastmasters' kill faster so you can move through quests a lot quicker than a defender if you are fighting one on one or one on two; any more than that at a matched level and you can go down fast. Glass cannon could be a word used to describe the Beastmaster as a solo class but it does the job well if you avoid the mobs.

I use Planer armour (you get the planer to pay for the armour from rifts and invasions - and in some areas daily quests too). I use sword and shield as this seemed to work better for solo rather than a two handed weapon. I was planning to try Duel wield with this build but just did not manage to find a good set of swords, this is something I still plan to test and will update when I have more information on this.

The only real downfalls to playing this build solo are Rifts and Invasions unless they are a level or two below. My first level appropriate Rift with this build caught me off guard and I did 'face plant' (die); after that however I managed to pick the Rift mobs off one at a time and I managed to close the rift but it was slow (even slower than my tank).

The invasion however was a different matter. I stood no chance trying to run in and go on the offensive, defensive action was not much better. My point is that if you are an invasion chaser and you really want to join in invasions with this build you cannot solo them, you need to be involved in the public groups.

So There you have it. If you are new to Rift or MMO's in general, it is a great game with loads on offer but depending on your play style you may want to prepare yourself for a tougher challenge playing this build. If however you’re looking for a more solid Tank build you can click the link at the top of the page for more information on that.

Many thanks and I hope you enjoy the game as much as I do.