How do you use houndmaster?

[HyperKnight]

I have examined his skills and found them low damage low utility meh: 50% dmg stun, no dmg aoe bleed, guard companion with dodge instead of armor? I have took him on a short weald run and he felt like a freeloader compared to my usual second slot hellion with her 21 crits. I have played this game very little so maybe houndmaster gets better at higher levels?

[azammeen]

you missed the most important : he can reduce PROT and mark. So this guys is almost a must have at high lvl.

[FreyaMaluk]

2 Rank.... his best position IMO: Blackjack is pretty cool
You need to capitalize on the marked ATT buff. Bring an OCC to mark targets or mark them with the HM himself for a powerfull ATT next turn.

[Kristoffer]

Mark + Prot is good on a lot of bosses.
His stress heal is also pretty solid if you've got a decent spread on your stress.

[SorenK]

??? And I thought the houndmaster was close to OP. At least he was since before the latest patch since I haven't played since then.

[Black Guy]

I really want to like this guy too. What is the ideal party set-up for him?

[FreyaMaluk]

Originally posted by Black Guy:

I really want to like this guy too. What is the ideal party set-up for him?

A tanky character + HM + OCC + Arbalist: a killing party. They can work very well together. Use the mark non stop and get marked ATT buffs every single turn

[Vanagandr]

The stun's solid; Guard's okay, especially with the +dodge collar and a buff here and there. The Mark is where things get good - drop that one on a big tough nasty and life gets interesting. The rush is cool.

Arbalist/Occultist/Houndmaster/Bounty Hunter for a good time.

[Zekzt]

I use mine in 3rd rank in mye new "dream team" party =)
1. Man-at-Arms, builded as tanky stunner [rampart, protect ally, bolster, bellow]
2. Abomination [with the stress lowering trinket!]
3. Hound Master [rush, whistle, howl, guard]
4. Occultist [artillery, wyrd reconstruct, curse, pull]

I was able to end few champion dungs with this setup, i didnt try any long one thou [few shorts and one medium], thou i have to admit i was very lucky with wyrd reconstruct few times [no bleed and max heal + crit]

This party requires to focus on last enemy asap since there is no way to stun that row. But thats why you use OC pull ability :)

HM is awesome in stress management + his prot debuf and the fact it makrs the target gives you some nasty way to butcher bosses. You mark the boss, use the cookie to boost rush and destroy the boss hp :)

[LaserGuy]

Originally posted by Areetsa:

Arbalist/Occultist/Houndmaster/Bounty Hunter for a good time.

I love this kind of team for dropping bosses. So much great synergy.

[Arcangelo]

I usually put him in 3rd or 4th rank. I give him the 2 attacks with the dog (the single one and the AoE), the self-heal and the Mark. It's a totally self-sustainable character, can hit everywhere and unleash massive damage (expecially with dog's treat, use it for the Bosses). Like other heroes, he's better in specific dungeons (ex: Warrens).

[LaserGuy]

Also note that the Houndmaster has very nice camping skills. It's not a huge thing, most of the time, but you can get a cheap 70% scouting chance or 25 points of stress recovery with a Houndmaster.

The dog treat is also crazy powerful for crisis/boss situations.

[Yanomir]

I keep Houndmaster in rank 3.
From my experience:
His guard abilty is very useful in longer fights because dodge buff stacks.
I don't usually use his bleed attack. Too low DoT for my taste, even when stacking. It's very powerful against against Flesh boss though.
His base attack is nice because it can hit every rank. Also, Marked buff. Great in Warrens.
Mark and self healing are both decent decent.
I didn't use his other two abilities so can't say anything.
Can't really say anything about dog treat because I almost always forget to use damned thing.

[LaserGuy]

The dog treat is supposedly 100% DMG, +20 ACC +5% CRIT for 3 rounds, and it doesn't cost a turn to use it.

[Vanagandr]

Adding an Unholy-Slayer ring is thematic, I find - sending a dog after a living skeleton has a certain appeal.

[geepope]

His AOE is pretty legit, it adds up to quite a bit of damage and is a great way to soften up enemies en masse.