Spirit Fox feedback

[Niph]

(Also posted in-game)


To provide some context, I'm a high-level player with access to all skills and features of the game (except: not Druid, not Lycan)


I started playing Spirit Fox as soon as it was introduced. Getting the skill was not hard since I had a few Spirit Stones saved, and I think it won't be hard in the long run, now that the purpose of the stone is known.


After several weeks playing it, it looks like fox is a good animal form, mostly thanks to the free ability to sell to vendors that don't talk to animals.


Another perk could have been the high resistance to cold environments and the +5 sprint speed (with mods). However, it only works far away from mobs, something rarely convenient. So for travelling I stuck to my BC/Psychology set. It only works out of combat, but usually when I pass by mobs they don't have a chance to hit me, and only casters do. Compared to Paradox Trot that instantly slows you down before you have a chance to move far enough they can't hit you. And must be refreshed, which is a problem because when you click an ability in sight range of a mob you are also slowed down instantly, even if it gives in-combat speed!


Skilling up the skill was not a problem, with the usual tricks: Animal Handling and a high-level pet, and later Warden with a maximally-moded Privacy Shield.


Looking at Spirit Fox pairing options, it seems obvious that the main synergies are with Necromancy (the only other skill with Darkness main damage type) or Fire-based skills (since three abilities can be moded to deal Fire damage instead of Darkness). Unfortunately, I don't particularly like Necromancy, and I dislike Fire for its effect on rage. So instead I went for Fox/Animal Handling.


The idea is to take advantage of another good fox tool: abilities that let you evade, stun, knock back and root enemies. The pet has all aggro-reducing powers, while I stay away from the mob that's trying to catch me. Alas, it doesn't work well for a variety of reasons:

• One need some room to run for the concept to work.
• Casters and other mobs using projectile or with burst attacks can still hit me.
• Several Fox attacks are in melee range.
• It's hard to keep aggro while the pet hits hard on the target.
• The ability to evade and stun only have a chance to work, not 100% of the time.

People interested can take a look at my build (items are what I managed to loot and craft in a few weeks, and the pet is a tiger, it has slashing attacks only):

Overall, foxseems a nice animal form. It's certainly the one that I kept the longest after maxing it. I look forward to the development of this preview.