Urgent! Royen Beastkeeper's Elder Crane

The wiki states this is a charmable pet, since I was doing the Zaishen mission anyway, I figured I'd pick it up.

Would there be a reason that I can't charm him?

I've only started playing the game again after a three year hiatus, so I can't remember all the nuances involved.

It keeps giving me an "invalid spell target" message each time I try to charm it.

The question is urgent, as I'm still in game with the thing attacking me, and I'm keeping myself alive as it tries to whittle me away.

I know I could just pick it up elsewhere, but since I'm here I'd like to get it now. >_<

Is it something silly like I have to charm it before Royen does, like with the Yeti (If I recall correctly)? And if so, is that even possible in this instance?

I'm not exactly sure, but you can't charm an animal that already has a master.

EDIT: always use wiki before asking.. just saying.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Elder_Crane

oO

Did you miss that part?

That link seems to back up my statement that the wiki states it as a charmable animal, so what exactly are you referencing in that link that I haven't already stated?

Royen Beastkeeper, along with a number of other Ranger enemies in the game, has pets that they actually only charm when the player comes near them. The charming is instant, but you can sometimes get your heroes close enough to the enemies to be able to charm the animal, as long as you don't get within a certain range of the ranger enemy yourself.

TL;DR: Micro your heroes to charm it while half a mile away, you can't charm it yourself.

That's what I figured, thanks for the confirmation. ^_^

The wiki page doesn't actually state that Royen's crane is charmable by players. Only that "A Crane is a charmable bird" and that in Nahpui Quarter (explorable area) there is "one level 15 elder evolution as Royen Beastkeeper's pet"

Now I'm not sure if Royen has the pet pre-charmed or not. Given that the first action of a Beastmaster foe without a pet, when a player comes into aggro range, is to charm the nearest pet the matter is pretty much moot.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Animal_companion states:
No idea how successful that would be, given the geography

Does this still work after the speedbooking neft ?

There's a thought. In honesty I don't know

There are a number of level 15 elder animals in the game (e.g., crane, tiger, white tiger, snow wolf, reef lurker) placed for the convenience of beastmaster foes that can sometimes be charmed with careful hero flagging. However, it is difficult to pull off and usually fails, so it may take many tries. I believe at least some of these were fixed soon after the introduction of the Menagerie so that it is impossible to charm them before the foe does, because it was never intended that players be able to charm higher level animals in the wild. If you want an elder crane, your best bet is to try for one in Pongmei Valley, working out of Boreas Seabed, rather than Royen's crane.

This skill will only activate if you do not currently have an animal companion. ->wiki.

Do you have a pet already?

This is Livingston. The guy knows his poop