I never once believed it when my dear deskmate kept saying that he was not a DPS. Like Nubram, he was indeed one of the most dangerous forms with the array of utilities he provided for the entire team. And, unlike Nubram who used his variety of annoying magic to open up an opportunity for a powerful blow, Tier doubles down on the ‘being annoying’ part. Which of course made him insanely useful when he is in team.

The main annoyance that Tier could do to someone within his range - which is very very long - is the [Slither Drag] that gives him 30% chance to trigger some cheeky pesky debuff whenever he lands a critical strike. There were six random effects which are [Phyton’s Grasp] that stuns the target, [Fatal Acupuncture] that reduces attack power and would be pretty annoying when combined with the accuracy reduction of the standard [Venomous Sting], [Scorpid Sting] for some extra slow as if he did not have enough of those effects in his other abilities, [Komodo’s Bite] that reduces opponent’s defences like Flawed Scale talent was never sufficient, [Venom Shock] that reduces healing received as if the standard [Hemorrhagic Venom] was not enough, and finally [Death Roll] that causes continuous bleeding which duration will be extended up to five times whenever Tier landed a critical strike.

Though on the surface these abilities seemed random, it is important to note that each effect can not be triggered again unless other effects had been triggered, thus making any effect would eventually land if he managed to trigger the ability six times. Which definitely is not that hard for someone that has a freaking 55% critical strike chance unbuffed and without even using the best equipment around!

Here’s a thing, normally attackers in zurefgar would have around 30% critical strike because the damage increase would be only around 50% higher than normal attack. Therefore it would be more beneficial for them to go with higher attack power, other than the typical path combination would make it rather hard to get past 40%. Thus, other than due to his path combination, my deskmate definitely sacrificed attack power to favour his critical strike chance in order to trigger more passive effects from his path.

However, despite whatever he said, his overall DPS was not that far behind typical pure DPS build especially if the fight drags on. But we’ll get back to that later.

Now, let’s go for his other abilities. [Eagle Aim] is definitely his bread and butter, the low cooldown ability only gave him a pseudo sure strike effect while DOUBLING his critical strike chance and chance to trigger [Slither Drag]. Any excess critical strike chance will be converted to damage. How convenient, considering the damage he dealt is changeable depending on the projectile that he redirected. Yes, the projectile in question including Nubram’s freaking [Blaze Bolt].

At this point [Insularis’ Assault] felt a little more basic ability with how it would just slow the opponent or disable them if all of it hits. Because, [Cobra Manoeuvre] and [Primal Unleash] were also definitely far from something basic. I mean, ugh, countering every single attack even at half the damage would be one hell of a problem if the person performing it has more than 50% critical strike chance and some abilities that are triggered with critical strikes. And for the latter ability, it literally maps the entire battlefield instantly to his brain giving him advantage in reading situations as if he was not superior at changing tactics in the middle of battle in normal condition anyway.

Oh, I almost forgot that he has the [Kulbit Manoeuvre] ability that can be used to reposition himself for a counterattack. I mean, in the middle of the madness he brought to a fight, it would be hard to spot such a seemingly simple ability. Seemingly, because, again… giving him a chance for counterattack spells doom.

Now, after dishing out about his other ability, we’re back to how he was not that far behind other typical DPS in overall damage.

First, we really need to consider the effects of [Slither Drag] in considering his damage output. [Komodo’s Bite] and [Death Roll] are definitely the parts that increase his damage output. And by dealing much more critical strikes - including the increased chance of [Eagle Aim] and his counter strike abilities - Tier had more chances to keep these effects triggered over and over.

Second, the part we haven’t talked about yet, is his companion beast. Armed with custom ability [Silent Break] this one cute fluffy giant cat could wreck anything on its path. Further, due to Tier’s annoying abilities, the snow jaguar would have much more opportunity to land vicious strikes. Simple enough? But wait, there’s more.

The feline type companion beast had increased damage on their first strikes; they could regain this effect whenever they stopped attacking for a while. The increase in damage is proportional to the length of time they stopped attacking, maximum at around 200% bonus. And, due to the opportunistic style of the jaguar it would constantly shift in and out of the physical world to regain the minimum bonus of this effect before striking again. With Tier’s sheer capability to annoy people, this became a viable strategy. No wonder he was so hell bent in getting that jaguar. It literally completes his character.

Where Tier fails to land the killing shot, the jaguar would strike the final blow. When Tier fails to predict the movement of his opponent, the jaguar would land a staggering pounce. And, if his allies failed to follow up, the jaguar would be there to do so in an instant.

Oh, and have I told you that the freaking jaguar also increases his critical strike chance and damage?

What next? The jaguar triggering [Slither Drag]?