Guide for Vah Shir Beastlords

Warder and Spells Strategy (level 60-65)

Level 60

At level 60, the beastlord is at the pinnacle of what was intended for a character created in the Luclin era, before the extra levels were added with Planes of Power.

You get several new spells, all of which are now available on vendors (Alacrity, Spiritual Strength, Savagery, Sha's Advantage and Spirit of Khati Sha).

Through the 50s, there have been incremental increases in power, as your warder is upgraded every two levels, and a gradual shift as you adopt new roles. The level 60 slow spell marks another of these changes, as you become a competent slower for groups, instead of your slow being a useful tool for soloing. The types of monsters you will be fighting will make incapacitate very effective in some situations. More significantly, increased skill caps mean that at last you can out damage your warder when properly buffed and with the right gear.

All spells from now on (to 65) come from one main source: parchments and runes dropped in PoP zones. These are unlikely to be available to a soloer, and will be rare in groups this side of 65. Ethereal parchments can be turned in for level 61 and 62 spells, spectral parchments for 63/64, and glyphed rune words for level 65 spells. Ethereals drop in tier 2 zones rarely, spectrals from tier 2 bosses, and runes from tier 2 bosses and elementals mobs. If you don't raid, you won't be able to get any level 65 spells from a turn in, and are unlikely to get any level 63/64 spells. However, as these items drop commonly on raids and in groups in elemental planes, they are reasonably cheaply available in the Bazaar. So save up and buy the spells in the Bazaar before you level - the 64 pet and 65 slow are the most expensive, typically.

Strategies for level 60 expand your power considerably. The warder is still under level 50, so not very effective against PoP mobs, but the new slow (50%) is great, and 40% haste from Alacrity is a good thing. Savagery is the one that will require the most adjustment to get used to. Firstly, it is expensive - it consumes a peridot, doesn't last long, and uses more mana than almost anything else (same as the 60 warder). However, the resists boost can make a big difference when fighting casters.

Level 61

There are three parchment spells at 61: Infusion of Spirit, Healing of Sorsha, and Scorpion Venom. The pet heal is a big heal with a slow cast again. Scorpion Venom is a fast (7 ticks), slow and expensive DoT; being poison based it generates a lot of aggro. It's main use for me is when I need the extra aggro and have mana to spare (which means in a group with KEI), and even then the low level dots are just as effective for this purpose. Infusion of Spirit can only be obtained from a hand in, and is shared with 49 shamans, making it very expensive to buy in the Bazaar. Which is unfortunate, as it is a very good buff, increasing str/dex/sta as well as hit points; IoS + Kragg can be better than Focus for this reason. IoS also stacks with the cleric self buff, which Focus does not; so remember to cast it on clerics, they will appreciate it.

The remaining 61 spells are: Counteract Poison, Annul Magic (both on lots of vendors), and Talisman of Shadoo. Shadoo is a return from the shaman spell hand in quest in Kunark; there are NPCs for this in both Firiona Vie, Cabilis and the Overthere.

No strategy change for 61.

Levels 62-64

At level 62, we get 2 parchment spells: Spirit of Arag and Spiritual Vigor. The new warder is level 60, which means that he can effectively hit those annoying higher level PoP mobs in tier 2 and above. Other spells are Chloroblast (sold in the East Commons tunnels) and Talisman of Kragg. The improved healing of Chloroblast can make a big difference if you don't yet have defensive AAs. The increase in power from the new warder is the biggest power increase since the 49 warder; many people chose to sit at 62 to gather AAs in easy old world camps (I chose Nurga tier 4 mobs for this).

Of the 63 spells, 3 are parchment turn in results: Arag's Celerity, Spirit of Rellic, and Frost Spear. Frost Spear is a larger PoP nuke, but with a worse damage/mana ration than the previous ones; worth memming for fast damage on runners, but not exciting. Spirit of Rellic is the first new pet proc for most of us since Spirit of Storm at 53, as both Snow and Flame are still too hard to get. The proc is magic based, and so isn't preferable to Snow/Flame in all cases.

Other spells are Abolish Disease, Celerity (50% haste), and Talisman of Jasinth. Jasinth is found as a Kunark drop only.

Power increases at 63 are a significant improvement over 62, although nowhere near as big as the leap from 61 to 62.

Level 64 parchments result in Spiritual Dominion and Spirit of Sorsha. Regrowth is a vendor spell from Firiona Vie, and Protection of Calliav is the LDoN pet rune (for 650 points in Takish/South Ro). This level is another incremental increase.

Level 65

Level 65 is another pinnacle, this time for the Pop era, and hinging all one one spell: Sha's Revenge.

For level 65: Plague (from vendors), Acumen (a Kunark drop shared with shamans), Sha's Revenge and Ferocity. Sha's Revenge is the big 65% slow that makes beastlords wanted badly in groups as a substitute for shamans and enchanters. Ferocity is as big a deal in its own way: 600 mana and no reagent for an upgrade to Savagery; cast it on yourself, or rangers or rogues if you are grouped - they get better improvements to dps from Ferocity than we do. I use it for resists, as it usually means that I can resist almost everything cast at me (apart from lifetaps, splurt and some harm touches and dispells). Acumen used to be prized for its stamina regen, but is now almost worthless.