plh2034 · Apr 24, 2005, 03:58 AM // 03:58

Quote:

20 is the maximum level for all pets, not 15. When I said "Fully evolved", that was referring to the "Dire" in the Lynx's name. Depending on how you treated them, they would evolve to things like "Hearty Lynx", "Elder Lynx", etc.

Got that quote here but cant find any info on the subject of pet evolution.

Please tell me how. I played GW for first time this past beta weekend and got ranger to 8 or 9 and pet didn't evolve.

Is it based on the pet's level?

Is it tied to beast mastery skill?

Do i need to be a ranger primary?

Quote says it depends on how i treat the pet. Do i feed him something or keep him from dieing a certain amount of days?

Is pet evolution still in the game?

One more thing on pets, did they also remove the "Calls" that gave pet 5 - 50% armor piercing?

PS. This site is the best! I didn't grasp alot of things going on during the beta weekend before coming here. Extra thanks for the armor crafting guides i really didn't understand that part.

Halfy · Apr 24, 2005, 04:55 AM // 04:55

I'll give this one a shot, as I played with many different kinds of pets.

Generally speaking, the pets will level the same way you do, that is participating in battles and gaining experience. Occassionaly, the game would prompt me if my pet gained a new level, and yes eventually their description would change. Now naming your pet was a recent addition, so I am not sure how they would incorperate the advanced pet description into the name. The only connection to BM is that the pet will only level when you bring him along. I am not aware of any 'extra' xp for having a higher BM attribute, but the manual will surely clear things up after release.

Yes they removed the calls that gave armor pen it seems for the more specific attacks. Time will tell if those skills emerge again, but it seems they wanted to make the pets more elite and less general. With careful planning, pet companionship can supplament other skills to create some interesting combos.

Scaphism · Apr 24, 2005, 05:54 AM // 05:54

It's not pokemon, pets don't "evolve" into better pets.
They do level up, and their max level is 20, just like a character's level.
However, some pet's name may change over it's lifetime. The lynx, for example, begins as a lynx, becomes a playful lynx, then a hearty lynx. The name just indicates what level the pet is at, it doesn't gain any new abilities.

They got rid of all of the calls except Call of Protection and Call of Haste, and added a lot of new "pet attacks".

The exact figures on Pet attack damage, attack rate, and armor levels are unknown, but largely forgettable in serious competetive play.
You can name your pets however, so that made a lot of pet lovers happy last BWE.

Zarconis · Apr 24, 2005, 11:19 AM // 11:19

As of now, Pets seem like a welcome addition to any PVE party but not so in PVP.

Starsky-sama · Apr 24, 2005, 11:37 AM // 11:37

o man. imagine some type of "evolution" to pets included in an expansion.
that would draw alot of ranger builders. (ex. has anyone seen the new WOW patch that gives mounts the "armored" look.)

also. i would like to see something tangible on the pet that would include them in your guild. maybe a tatoo of guild emblem, a smaller cape perhaps, or a guild collar or (w/ ones with tails) get tail rings,,,etc.

-just suggestin'.cheers.

Xellos · Apr 24, 2005, 11:43 AM // 11:43

Pikachew!

No seriously though, why did they take out pet calls? Pet attacks seem worse.

Scaphism · Apr 24, 2005, 12:07 PM // 12:07

Pet attacks are a lot more interactive than calls. People who play with pets want to be involved in what their pets do- calls were fire and forget, and they were largely forgotten. On top of that, you can't see the damage your pet does, so you really had no idea how effective a pet call was in the first place.

Now your pet has the opportunity to act like a weapon- it can inflict conditions, interrupt, knockdown, and can even give adrenaline and energy. It gives the players who use pets more chance to interact and micromanage their pets, which is a good thing. As for people who never used them to begin with, it doesn't really change anything.

Krileon Reborn · Apr 24, 2005, 03:27 PM // 15:27

Seriously all the good pet calls were removed? Like call of brutallity? well motha trucka i was looking forward to having that plus my pet attacks.. ug.. Is there a link officially announcing that anywhere?

I'm thinking of making a pure ranger build isntead of my necro/ranger build, but the ranger is mostly only gonna have 3 bow attacks or so, but mostly pet based.. so pretty much an archer with a tank.. *shrug* guess i'm not gonna anymore

Halfy · Apr 24, 2005, 04:00 PM // 16:00

I was dissapointed as well. I liked the armor penetration and extra damage that was available. I suppose we may see less pets around now, only those who are truly committed to them. The question is whether they decided to stay with the DP or not.

Either way I think full ranger pet builds may be a thing of the past where most ranger builds will incorperate charm animal + 1 or 2 pet skills at the most now. Time will tell.

Krileon Reborn · Apr 24, 2005, 04:05 PM // 16:05

Well instead of call of brutallity I replace it with disrupting lunge which I can use every 5 seconds and it interrupts the skill the enemy is using plus disables it for 20 seconds, but that isn't as useful as 50% armor pen abd +14 extra dmg per swing. It's so dumb man now my pet won't even make a stinkin scratch on enemys. They either need to up pet damage or they need to give us our calls back. Screw the extra pet styles, because over half of them are so crappy they arn't worth even putting on my bar

HotSnack · Apr 24, 2005, 04:11 PM // 16:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halfy

I was dissapointed as well. I liked the armor penetration and extra damage that was available. I suppose we may see less pets around now, only those who are truly committed to them. The question is whether they decided to stay with the DP or not.

I believed they removed DP for pets yet again, now it's something like a 5 sec skill lock when your pet dies. As for pounces, I hardly see how this will scare pet users, I've been advocating for conditional skills over 'generic' buffs for pets for a while now, and I'm glad to see this change.

Spooky · Apr 24, 2005, 04:20 PM // 16:20

In response to the original question, Pets evolve based on your playing style. If you play very defensively, you'll end up with a Playful / Hearty pet that takes less damage, but does not deal as much. If you take a riskier approach, not healing the pet as much, you'll end up going down the Dire path, which results in a pet with less consitution, but a higher base attack.

HotSnack · Apr 24, 2005, 04:25 PM // 16:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spooky

In response to the original question, Pets evolve based on your playing style. If you play very defensively, you'll end up with a Playful / Hearty pet that takes less damage, but does not deal as much. If you take a riskier approach, not healing the pet as much, you'll end up going down the Dire path, which results in a pet with less consitution, but a higher base attack.

Now that's a strange thing, I remember an old lynx I used to have turning into a playful lynx, even though I always let it die. Perharps using a pet res still counts as healing the pet.

Scaphism · Apr 25, 2005, 09:50 AM // 09:50

Again, they did not remove all calls from the game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scaphism

They got rid of all of the calls except Call of Protection and Call of Haste, and added a lot of new "pet attacks".

As I said before, I'm in favor of the change. You could never see how much damage your pets were doing before, and passive calls were no help either. With the change to pet attacks, pets became a lot more interactive. Now when you use a pet attack that does +15 damage, you know exactly how much extra damage you added. In addition, it adds a level of micromangement that was completely gone before. Pets function as another weapon- you need to use attacks to fully utlize them, just like a sword without any sword skills is being underutilized.

Passive boosts, when you can't see pet damage to begin with are simply a boring mechanic. That's part of the problem though- people want to know how much damage their pet is doing and is taking- otherwise they seem much less real.

Xellos · Apr 25, 2005, 02:14 PM // 14:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spooky

In response to the original question, Pets evolve based on your playing style. If you play very defensively, you'll end up with a Playful / Hearty pet that takes less damage, but does not deal as much. If you take a riskier approach, not healing the pet as much, you'll end up going down the Dire path, which results in a pet with less consitution, but a higher base attack.

I have never seen a Dire Lynx. Only Dire Wolves.

Even if this is true, the fact that in most PVE, the pets aren't subject to target by the AI mostly compared to the humanoid targets makes them almost always Hearty.

FrogDevourer · Apr 25, 2005, 02:36 PM // 14:36

Last BWE, I checked the attribute description (hadn't played a ranger since WPE) and according to the tooltip pop up, BM brings a passive boost to your pet (dmg dealt & critical hit chance). Does anybody has more details about this passive bonus?

Sausaletus Rex · Apr 25, 2005, 02:42 PM // 14:42

The passive bonus is pretty hard to figure out as, again, you can't see the damage your pet is doing. It is fairly considerable, though, judging by the change to percentages of health bars flying off, I just couldn't put a number on it. I'd guess that it works just like the passive bonus for a weapon's attribute (which Marksmanship and all the Warrior weapon attributes make note of, too, in almost the same language) that, in other words, it approaches 100% damage as you get to 12 and increases slightly past then.

The problem, of course, is that we don't know what is 100% damage. And won't until someone takes the time to raise and test out the various pets available. Barring some sort of change to the UI, of course...

Iain ap Cuilleain · Apr 25, 2005, 02:44 PM // 14:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spooky

In response to the original question, Pets evolve based on your playing style. If you play very defensively, you'll end up with a Playful / Hearty pet that takes less damage, but does not deal as much. If you take a riskier approach, not healing the pet as much, you'll end up going down the Dire path, which results in a pet with less consitution, but a higher base attack.

Now, that is interesting -- I don't think I've ever seen this mentioned before. Do you have any idea what, if any, effect the BM attribute level has on your pet's constitution, rate of leveling, speed, damage, etc.?

My Ranger wants a Bear . . .

Spooky · Apr 25, 2005, 02:50 PM // 14:50

I have no idea on what the exact effects are related to the evolutions in terms of damage output and increased defense, beyond "It goes to one end or the other." As for the Dire Lynx, I actually came across one that was just that, a 'Dire Lynx' roaming around in the wild untamed, during one of the previous BWEs. So, it seems like a possibility that you can tame them as is - but given how well it was hidden, i'm assuming that pre-evolved pets are going to be a rarity and only for people that want to search them out.

Iain ap Cuilleain · Apr 25, 2005, 02:59 PM // 14:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scaphism

Pets function as another weapon- you need to use attacks to fully utlize them, just like a sword without any sword skills is being underutilized.

This is what I see as being the primary problem with having Charm Animal as an occupant of your skill bar, rather than occupying, say, a weapon slot. The pet is really just a weapon (or, perhaps, more a damage modifier), so to make its' existence remove one of your skills seems to me to be a penalty, one that was ameliorated to some extent by the use of Calls, which would allow a pair of Rangers with pets to team up on pet buffs. With the change over to specific pet attacks, that slot that Charm Animal takes up is a serious detriment. After all, how would a Warrior feel if her axe took up a slot in her Skill Bar?

One possible solution to this might be to have your pet travel with you when you have any animal-related skills in your bar, so that carrying an attack skill, a buff or Comfort Animal makes the pet come with you. Charm Animal is, after all, used only to do the initial charming of a pet, right?

Apr 25, 2005, 02:36 PM // 14:36	#16
FrogDevourer on a GW break until C4 Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: In your shadow Guild: Servants of Fortuna	Last BWE, I checked the attribute description (hadn't played a ranger since WPE) and according to the tooltip pop up, BM brings a passive boost to your pet (dmg dealt & critical hit chance). Does anybody has more details about this passive bonus? __________________

Apr 25, 2005, 02:42 PM // 14:42	#17
Sausaletus Rex Death From Above Join Date: Dec 2004	The passive bonus is pretty hard to figure out as, again, you can't see the damage your pet is doing. It is fairly considerable, though, judging by the change to percentages of health bars flying off, I just couldn't put a number on it. I'd guess that it works just like the passive bonus for a weapon's attribute (which Marksmanship and all the Warrior weapon attributes make note of, too, in almost the same language) that, in other words, it approaches 100% damage as you get to 12 and increases slightly past then. The problem, of course, is that we don't know what is 100% damage. And won't until someone takes the time to raise and test out the various pets available. Barring some sort of change to the UI, of course... __________________ In my day, we didn't have virtual reality. If a one-eyed razorback barbarian warrior was chasing you with an ax, you just had to hope you could outrun him.

Apr 24, 2005, 04:55 AM // 04:55	#2
Halfy Academy Page Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Canada Guild: Charter Vanguard Profession: Rt/Me	I'll give this one a shot, as I played with many different kinds of pets. Generally speaking, the pets will level the same way you do, that is participating in battles and gaining experience. Occassionaly, the game would prompt me if my pet gained a new level, and yes eventually their description would change. Now naming your pet was a recent addition, so I am not sure how they would incorperate the advanced pet description into the name. The only connection to BM is that the pet will only level when you bring him along. I am not aware of any 'extra' xp for having a higher BM attribute, but the manual will surely clear things up after release. Yes they removed the calls that gave armor pen it seems for the more specific attacks. Time will tell if those skills emerge again, but it seems they wanted to make the pets more elite and less general. With careful planning, pet companionship can supplament other skills to create some interesting combos.

Apr 24, 2005, 11:19 AM // 11:19	#4
Zarconis Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Atlanta,GA	As of now, Pets seem like a welcome addition to any PVE party but not so in PVP.

Apr 24, 2005, 11:37 AM // 11:37	#5
Starsky-sama Forge Runner Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Land of the Z Chest \o/ Guild: [NOT]-Nomads of Turmoil. Profession: W/	o man. imagine some type of "evolution" to pets included in an expansion. that would draw alot of ranger builders. (ex. has anyone seen the new WOW patch that gives mounts the "armored" look.) also. i would like to see something tangible on the pet that would include them in your guild. maybe a tatoo of guild emblem, a smaller cape perhaps, or a guild collar or (w/ ones with tails) get tail rings,,,etc. -just suggestin'.cheers.

Apr 24, 2005, 11:43 AM // 11:43	#6
Xellos Jungle Guide Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: No Idea	Pikachew! No seriously though, why did they take out pet calls? Pet attacks seem worse.

Apr 24, 2005, 03:27 PM // 15:27	#8
Krileon Reborn Academy Page Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Missouri, US Profession: R/Mo	Seriously all the good pet calls were removed? Like call of brutallity? well motha trucka i was looking forward to having that plus my pet attacks.. ug.. Is there a link officially announcing that anywhere? I'm thinking of making a pure ranger build isntead of my necro/ranger build, but the ranger is mostly only gonna have 3 bow attacks or so, but mostly pet based.. so pretty much an archer with a tank.. shrug guess i'm not gonna anymore

Apr 24, 2005, 04:00 PM // 16:00	#9
Halfy Academy Page Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Canada Guild: Charter Vanguard Profession: Rt/Me	I was dissapointed as well. I liked the armor penetration and extra damage that was available. I suppose we may see less pets around now, only those who are truly committed to them. The question is whether they decided to stay with the DP or not. Either way I think full ranger pet builds may be a thing of the past where most ranger builds will incorperate charm animal + 1 or 2 pet skills at the most now. Time will tell.

Apr 24, 2005, 04:05 PM // 16:05	#10
Krileon Reborn Academy Page Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Missouri, US Profession: R/Mo	Well instead of call of brutallity I replace it with disrupting lunge which I can use every 5 seconds and it interrupts the skill the enemy is using plus disables it for 20 seconds, but that isn't as useful as 50% armor pen abd +14 extra dmg per swing. It's so dumb man now my pet won't even make a stinkin scratch on enemys. They either need to up pet damage or they need to give us our calls back. Screw the extra pet styles, because over half of them are so crappy they arn't worth even putting on my bar

Apr 24, 2005, 04:20 PM // 16:20	#12
Spooky Bokusatsu Tenshi Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Bellevue, WA Guild: KEA Profession: E/Mo	In response to the original question, Pets evolve based on your playing style. If you play very defensively, you'll end up with a Playful / Hearty pet that takes less damage, but does not deal as much. If you take a riskier approach, not healing the pet as much, you'll end up going down the Dire path, which results in a pet with less consitution, but a higher base attack.

Apr 25, 2005, 02:50 PM // 14:50	#19
Spooky Bokusatsu Tenshi Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Bellevue, WA Guild: KEA Profession: E/Mo	I have no idea on what the exact effects are related to the evolutions in terms of damage output and increased defense, beyond "It goes to one end or the other." As for the Dire Lynx, I actually came across one that was just that, a 'Dire Lynx' roaming around in the wild untamed, during one of the previous BWEs. So, it seems like a possibility that you can tame them as is - but given how well it was hidden, i'm assuming that pre-evolved pets are going to be a rarity and only for people that want to search them out.