the bear..

Does anyone know if theres any difference between the skill set / health / energy of a presearing black bear and a bear from post.

ive got a pre char who i will be taking through to post eventually. and i was thinking of getting a black bear. i have read myths that pre bears are stronger and do more damage but are slightly slower. but im not 100 percent on this.

so can anyone shed any insight? perhaps with some figures or something, thats if anyone actually knows.

many thanks

Only difference is that it uses this skill: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Brutal_Mauling which works well with paragons in party.

Post-searing black bears use it as well.

so theres no difference in capping the bear in pre to capping one in post?

Not as far as I know; I think there is some issues with the pre-searing Bear having bunk behavioural A.I. seems they weren't really supposed to be charmable (so they act like monsters). But these go away once it levels up. Other than that there's no difference between the two as far as I know.

only real difference is that the pre-sear Black Bear is level 3 as opposed to level 5 in Post...plus the pre BB seems to require a second person along to help distract the bear while you charm it. According to the wiki article, the pre Bear interrupts Charm Animal without a passive tank.

yeah i know the pre bear needs 2, its a shame really cuz it can be a pain to cap and you woud think the beast might do a little more damage

You'd think so, but the bear truth is that, if you can bear it, it's often much more bearable to just wait and cap the bear in post.