Curse

Lishy · Jul 30, 2009, 12:52 AM // 00:52

Ever since the menagerie was released to the public, I've wanted to use it. Problem? Pets are useless, useless, useless, and USELESS!

So I propose a buff for pets.
I know they won't remove brutal mauling and that has been made clear. Though there are other aspects of pets that desperately needs attention in PvE.
But I'll be specific on what TRULY need a buff/rework with pets:

Charm Animal - Honestly. If you didn't need it to bring your pet, who would give a damn? You have to devote two whole skill slots (This and Comfort Animal) just to have basic use of a pet. And that's WITHOUT all the pet buffs and skills.
At least make this skill rez our pets so we're not forced to bring comfort animal.

IronSheik · Jul 30, 2009, 01:00 AM // 01:00

Charm animal could definitely use that buff, I don't know if RaO would be overpowered with it or not, but i could see both pve/pvp changed

Evasion Twenty · Jul 30, 2009, 01:08 AM // 01:08

RaO needs a buff.

longer duration or MUCH less energy...atleast a PvP-only version!

IronSheik · Jul 30, 2009, 01:09 AM // 01:09

There already is a pvp version, it's called rao, the pve version is called never rampage alone

Mad Lord of Milk · Jul 30, 2009, 01:25 AM // 01:25

This has already been brought up. The pet system is fine as it is.

refer · Jul 30, 2009, 01:39 AM // 01:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lord of Milk

This has already been brought up. The pet system is fine as it is.

Right, that is why you see so many beastmasters. Pets need a buff, and the title of this thread should be Buff pets, minus the PvE thing, since BOTH sides need it. Playing PvE favorites is never fun.

Lishy · Jul 30, 2009, 01:39 AM // 01:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lord of Milk

This has already been brought up. The pet system is fine as it is.

Bandaid answer.

Explain to me why pets are never used outside of IWAY or gimmicks?

Betrayer of Wind · Jul 30, 2009, 01:42 AM // 01:42

There are good builds u can run with pets,i cant say they are the most effective,but they defently have their uses.
And yes,i'd love to see charm animal revive the pet,that one skill slot would be very welcome for me

BUT,other than that,i think the system is ok.

Shewmake · Jul 30, 2009, 01:58 AM // 01:58

/agree with the Charm Animal buff

FengShuiDove · Jul 30, 2009, 02:10 AM // 02:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lord of Milk

This has already been brought up. The pet system is fine as it is.

No it's not. It's utter crap.

The first fix that would make beastmasters viable is an upgrade to pet AI. They're too slow to react, even when their pathetic micros are micro'd, and they're too slow to get to target. The pets are *animals*, they should get a movement buff so that it's viable to bring them as a form of physical damage/frontline damage absorption. Honestly, with all of the buffs available for pets, a 25-50% IMS and better reactivity to pinging targets/auto attacking would make them a good option without buffing skills themselves. In my opinion, when in battle, a pet should land its first attack on a target *the instant the Ranger's first arrow lands on that target*.

Second, yes, the skills themselves. Too many of the better buffs are just the recast-on-recharge flavor with insane durations and recharges. Make running a pet more viable, but more difficult to get good results out of. The pet skills' effects would be decent if the pet would obey (lawl) properly and if they were better suited for dealing damage.

Third, bar compression, and this applies to Rangers in general. Combine/buff Ranger/pet skills so that a successful beastmaster build can include a preparation and some bow/spear/scythe/whatever attacks to deal first-hand damage. Sure, it should be balanced so that it's not as effective at beast mastery as 5-6 beast mastery skills or as effective at sniping as 4 attack skills and 2-3 buffs, but allowing Rangers to run profitable hybrid bars would really spark some interest in the class in general as well as giving new playability in areas the Ranger has needed but hasn't had since release.

Arkantos · Jul 30, 2009, 02:13 AM // 02:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chocobo1

The problem is if you buff pets, there just going to get even more overpowered in HB (inb4 lolHB).

This is why ANet implemented a PvE/PvP split.

Chocobo1 · Jul 30, 2009, 02:27 AM // 02:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkantos

This is why ANet implemented a PvE/PvP split.

Came back to edit my post before anyone saw it, totally didn't read the title lol.

Edit: In my defense, they did start talking about IWAY.

bubafeast · Jul 30, 2009, 02:36 AM // 02:36

Ranger pets really need's buff.

If you think about it, MM minions could be considered "pets" and you can create minions with 1 skill slot and can configure their level with the attributes, not need to level them up :-/

Other nice "pets" for PvE at least are Asuran summoning skills and Assassin Support, and they take only 1 skill slot.

Combine Assassin Promise with Assassin Support and you could have multiple assassins.

Gennadios · Jul 30, 2009, 02:42 AM // 02:42

My main issue with pets is that they're very much akin to adding a Koss or Jora to the party, without careful control they'll just over aggro every mob around the target. The 'heel' command isn't enough, there really needs to be a flagging system.

Besides that, I agree with the above points that they move far too slowly, if the skill designers saw fit to include a pet rupt skill, they should at least have the capacity to shadow step to the target so that they connect immediately instead of 2 seconds after the skill was used.

wilebill · Jul 30, 2009, 02:50 AM // 02:50

Pets work well enough. I have a hard mode pet build that I often use in explorables, not dungeons. What needs changing is the two skill slots for the pet. We have been asking for that since the game was released.

Charlotte the Harlot · Jul 30, 2009, 02:58 AM // 02:58

make never rampage alone have a res in it. I still think it needs a lower energy cost but the pet res is important part.

Ugh · Jul 30, 2009, 02:59 AM // 02:59

As of right now, Beast Mastery is absolute shit and I wouldn't mind seeing it replaced in GW2. Or, they could fix it... either is fine. >.>

Quote:

The first fix that would make beastmasters viable is an upgrade to pet AI.

Agreed. They do already have faster movement, though. Like 25% or something. Anyways...
-Decrease the amount of time that a pet takes to switch targets and make them react to pings
-Ya know how pets freeze for like two seconds when they reach their target? Get rid of that.
-Pet attacks should function like other attacks. When I click a bow attack, I automatically run to my target and use it. When I click a pet attack skill, my pet should drop whatever it's doing and do the fricken attack on whatever I'm targeting.

Quote:

Second, yes, the skills themselves. Too many of the better buffs are just the recast-on-recharge flavor with insane durations and recharges.

Agreed again. Pet buffs are basically one-sided skills that you have up constantly. Makes for a dull build, IMO. Another thing I'd like to see is skills that buff both the pet and the master.

Quote:

Third, bar compression, and this applies to Rangers in general. Combine/buff Ranger/pet skills so that a successful beastmaster build can include a preparation and some bow/spear/scythe/whatever attacks to deal first-hand damage.

Agreed x 3. Bar compression is one of the biggest reasons why pets are only used with thumpers and packers. Hammers and spears can do nice damage using few skills and they use adrenaline for e-management. With a bow, you're almost forced to use Scavenger Strike or Ferocious Strike (if you like wasting your elite) to manage energy and you do crappy damage.

Also, buff Charm Animal.

Charm Animal
10e 10c 10r
Charm target animal. Once charmed, your animal companion will travel with you whenever you have Charm Animal equipped. You cannot charm an animal that is more than 4 levels above you. If your animal companion is dead, this skill activates in two seconds and your pet is returned to life with 5...29...35% health.

Something like that would be nice. Not sure if the activation time change is possible, though, as there are no skills like that now. :/

draxynnic · Jul 30, 2009, 03:21 AM // 03:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ugh

Agreed. They do already have faster movement, though. Like 25% or something. Anyways...
-Decrease the amount of time that a pet takes to switch targets and make them react to pings
-Ya know how pets freeze for like two seconds when they reach their target? Get rid of that.
-Pet attacks should function like other attacks. When I click a bow attack, I automatically run to my target and use it. When I click a pet attack skill, my pet should drop whatever it's doing and do the fricken attack on whatever I'm targeting.

Aye, the thought crossed my mind that pets probably do in fact move fast enough - it's the AI that's the problem.

Having the pet reach a target before an arrow arrives is probably a little silly - especially if the Ranger is using a recurve with Read the Wind!

With decent AI, the pet really should have other advantages that make up for having a slower response time than an arrow.

Quote:

Also, buff Charm Animal.

Charm Animal
10e 10c 10r
Charm target animal. Once charmed, your animal companion will travel with you whenever you have Charm Animal equipped. You cannot charm an animal that is more than 4 levels above you. If your animal companion is dead, this skill activates in two seconds and your pet is returned to life with 5...29...35% health.

Something like that would be nice. Not sure if the activation time change is possible, though, as there are no skills like that now. :/

Heck, you don't even need the activation time change. Better without it, in fact - that means you still have an incentive to bring pet resurrection skills to do it faster, but you can choose to just bring Charm Animal on its own without it being a wasted slot after one death of your pet.

MagmaRed · Jul 30, 2009, 03:48 AM // 03:48

Charm and Comfort are required because of balance. And yes, I know PvE throws balance out the window a lot, but I'd not like to see it done more than it already has. Having a pet means you do more damage. So hitting a target with your bow and pet will do close to double damage (depending on attributes). Now toss in skills to do more damage and the numbers can get quite large. If Charm Animal was merged with Comfort Animal, I'd like to see the pet become your weapon so that you can't wield a bow, hammer, spear, axe, sword, daggers, wand, staff, etc. if using a pet.

No, pets aren't used often, but that doesn't mean they aren't useful. Making them useful on a build that isn't designed around the pet would NOT be good for the game.

Evasion Twenty · Jul 30, 2009, 04:11 AM // 04:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubafeast

Ranger pets really need's buff.

If you think about it, MM minions could be considered "pets" and you can create minions with 1 skill slot and can configure their level with the attributes, not need to level them up :-/

Other nice "pets" for PvE at least are Asuran summoning skills and Assassin Support, and they take only 1 skill slot.

Combine Assassin Promise with Assassin Support and you could have multiple assassins.

thats a summon....not a pet