Petmeister Bowtana

Hey guys,

For something new, different & very hybrid, I converted my (VIT>DEX) personal tank merc char to a Pet Support Bowtana

Attack skills: Pet MP Heal (>Pet Lvl 10 Magic Lance) | Snipe | CF | Garyou
Support skills: Brave Aura | Decoy | Pet HP Heal | Recovery | Kariki Ranshin
Equipment: Atk is pretty low (only 1.5k) because I opted for high MP | -100% aggro | 100+ crit | 1000+ ASPD instead (and stats are VIT>DEX so not optimized anyway)

Its a unique+rewarding playstyle that that maximizes the potential of a capable DPS pet (link), and its proving tons of fun because there are many things to manage in the battle:

• Two health bars
• Two mp bars
• status ailments (i hate wasting pots by deliberately burning myself)
• decoy (and keeping in range too)
• garyou stacks
• garyou execution
• brave aura buff
• CF stacks
• CF execution

Gameplay Videos (gear + pet stats in 1st video):



Hope you all like it~

 

Rydalis sees Bowkatana, and is now here
I love bowkatana for being much more versatile than normal bow, which also makes it better than bow+arrow in every way
This build is unique and it's a very good thing to have CF and Katana skills as backup while being a beastmaster. I would say that you may not need the 100 crit gear if you use Meikyo but I get why you wouldnt with a Vit build, which is probably why you opted to use Pet MP/HP heal so you wouldnt die if you got hit while charging.
It's good, I can say, just that it does look like a kinda niche style which I personally love. If people were more open to the idea, im sure it would do very well. Though with a DPS-centric meta I think doing Dex>Str>Vit would probably more optimized if anyone wanted to make this for themselves but more agressive.

 

Thanks! I finally joined the bowtana clan, with my own version of it

Agreed with you on a number of things, but this char is staying VIT/DEX (its still my personal merc tank when i'm not using him). There are a few ways to improve the attack damage of the char, but that might take away the fun of letting the pet do most of the leg work . Also the massive hp pool is really handy because the Pet MP Charge does take a while (even when swifted), and I am taking a lot of hits that way.

On meikyo, that's a interesting point to allow me to drop the crit gear... gonna see if I can work that buff in.

Lastly, one final point i didn't mention is that Zantei (no combo) on shortcut is really handy for emergency too (like when pet died and i'm being cornered by the boss trying to exit the battle LOL~ )

 

It’s good that you’re sticking to what you like, my bowkatana is made to be a balanced juggernaut that can fight anything, but I say it’s DPS so I can get into pts XD though even without a full dps set I do sometimes get attacked so it’s all well and good.
Yeah, I do see that Pet MP Charge can take a bit, which is kinda like using Finale while charging CF, would be amazing if it worked 100% of the time. Though bowkatana can be an amazing tank, mine use to be Zentei-tank with Snipe Armour Break support before t4 skills. You could probably slap Bowtana onto most niches and it’ll do it well.
Meikyo gives +65 crit when it’s active and it gets used up on the next skill, so it’ll work on normal attacks until you use another skill. I find it very useful on making sure CF, Garyou, Snipe, Zentei hit (though evasions sucks)
Fun fact: CF still charges even if you take 0 damage while using Zentei but this does not work for Bowgun Shield and P. Defense.

 

I have a question. Do katana's stat matter for bowtana?
I have an experimental dex>vit bow tamer/support. Was aiming to make a tank merc with it. But now with stat cap raised, I'll just use my vit bs for it. Wondering what i can do with this character. Would probably still be tamer/support mix but searching for idea right now. Would i have enough sp for bowtana anyway?

 

Nope, stats on katana dont count if equipped on 2nd slot.

As for your DEX/VIT char, do what you want with it. . It won't be your best dps if its not 2nd stat STR and there'll be a reset at the end of the year too, so you can always change it later. Also always count your sp using coryn club website's skill simulator page before starting any new build.

For me, my VIT/DEX is both my tank merc and a (pet) support bowtana at the same time. I can also gear it up as a more typical ninja archer with bow+arrow (low aggro/ high pierce) which can still hold its own at venena nm+ult parties (so i'm not completely leeching there ).

 

Nice build. Btw, i wanna know if zantei can also protect the aura buffs along with the cf buffs.

 

Thanks. Good question too, but i don't know the answer sorry and my tank merc is currently sitting “on the bench” waiting to see what the next 215 skills will be like before he picks up a weapon again

 

I just tested it out. Zantei can protect them aura buffs. Who knew that bowtana can be this versatile. On the downside, i need work on my combos and timing since them aura buffs are a big thorn in my side and fragile af.(glassy vit build lol)

 

Its fun to have something you can really practice (which isnt just impact dps spam).

Also this build is a bit too versatile even. Would have been easily doable to add tenryu into the mix, but there's too much to manage already

 

I am guessing you’re using your dps bow for this build. Yo me what would be even more exciting is u tanking full time holding aggro. Katana can potentially tank well but it just requires a certain lv of skill imo.

 

Micro management of the whole team is kinda fun for me. Keeping the team alive while dodging to maintain the aura keeps me occupied to even notice the cf charge wait time. Plus, have to choreograph on the fly on how you can land that garyu clean and not lose the aura buffs. Backstep is my common ender/combo filler in my combos since it clears me out of them nasty aoe mid combo and giving me chance to land my decoy as close as possible.(my buff combo is issen-decoy(save)-backstep(swif)-pet heal(cons)-kairaikiri(cons)-crossfire(swift)-meikyo(cons) )

 

Lol i don't have that patience. Once i see 10/10 stacks, it's like i HAVE to dive in and garyou

 

Tanking full time is pretty doable, but that pet mp heal skill does takes around 3s which is a dangerously long tine for a tank, and without spamming it your pet wont be doing much dps...

 

There are ways of buying time while tanking stun is one another is less conventional stop and double back step for distance . Either way it spells for an intense battle and would make you not feel like a leecher xdd. Any rate I like your build I always liked the idea of bowtana but never thought of it as a pet trainer, I always limited myself to the idea of mage .

 

Lol kinda hard to do with a bow in hand and a katana in the hip. At best, you have to poke it twice with the handle and pray for a stun so your life will move on. Altho para-pommel strike combo is sumthing i haven't tried yet tho. Usually it is moeba-back step so i can gain distance.

 

If bowkatana can keep CF up with Zentei then it could also keep Aura's up, but yes, I believe Bowkatana is the MOST versatile weapon combination in the game. It is also what many would just call "Balanced Archer" builds. It can do anything, just not as well as everything else can, so it's a very good build to have as a slot filler in a party if there aren't many people farming or you wanna be sub-tank for when tank dc or dies.

The only issue I would say would likely be that people don't like thinking too hard while playing, which bowkatana requires a good amount of micromanaging. Tracking CF + Zentei for DPS, tracking boss movements for Zentei Tanking, tracking support skills if you have those, and even tracking interruption if you have tumble-flinch-stun. It's honestly kinda fun once you get the hang of it.