My Ranger's pet - Page 2 - Guild Wars Forums

Ardus Shadowmane · Jun 09, 2005, 07:19 PM // 19:19

Yeah, I look at the Beastmaster skills, and they're as good as any other Ranger skill, but most cost less. If you want to run a beastmaster char, then do it. The only reason to not have a pet is if you don't want to use the skills or you can't manage to keep it from dying.

Undertakr · Jun 09, 2005, 07:43 PM // 19:43

I wouldn't expect a monk to heal my pet, I can do that on my own. Since I'm a warrior/ranger I have adrenaline for my Warrior attacks and energy for my pet. For 5 energy I use Predators Pounce for a big heal to my pet and since I have gladiator armour, I have plenty of energy for that.

You can't think of the pet as a tank, it's not. If something attacks my pet, I target it and kill it. A pet is a constant, high damage DOT. Yes, it takes up 3 skill slots, however, I only have so much adrenaline anyway. I could have more attacks, but I just take the top 3-4 for my sword and I'm set. I think of the pet as a +(whatever it hits for at the current point) bonus for my sword and a bit distractor whenever I need it.

I'd really love to see a whole group of rangers with pets and see how a group of 8 R w/ Pets would fair against a regular team.

I WILL say that pets with PVP created characters have tended to kind of stink, as far as I've seen, but in PVE they've been pretty cool for me.

Dragon Incarnate · Jun 09, 2005, 07:48 PM // 19:48

Pet Hit Points/Armor increase with each level same as you do. Their damage increases with attribute points same as every other skill you have. If you have 0 BeastMastery your pet will do minimum damage 6-9, with 12 BeastMastery it'll do max damage 15-28 along with chance for critical hits which do about 34 damage.

Undertakr · Jun 09, 2005, 09:31 PM // 21:31

Ok, so a maxed out W/R the pet would be like adding +15-34 damage plus pet skills to your sword IF you can keep your pet from dying. In PVE it's easy, in PVP if someone targets your pet, you'll be skillless for 8 secs or so. I think 3 skill slots for +15-34 damage plus bonuses and bleeding on top of that would be a pretty good build. Of course, it's dependant on keeping the pet alive. Does the pet attack as fast as a warrior? If it does, that'd be 30-68+bonuses from weapon AND pet skills+Crits an attack round?

Dragon Incarnate · Jun 09, 2005, 10:57 PM // 22:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertakr

Does the pet attack as fast as a warrior? If it does, that'd be 30-68+bonuses from weapon AND pet skills+Crits an attack round?

Pets attack every 2 seconds, with a 10% chance for critical hit with a 12 BeastMastery.

Ardus Shadowmane · Jun 10, 2005, 12:48 AM // 00:48

Dragon Incarnate--Thank you very much for the specific information about pets, as well as the polite way you state it.

Dragon Incarnate · Jun 10, 2005, 07:40 PM // 19:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ardus Shadowmane

Dragon Incarnate--Thank you very much for the specific information about pets, as well as the polite way you state it.

You're very welcome, and hopefully you're not being sarcastic, if my posts sounded like I have an attitude I don't

I'll be posting a full spread of pet stats soon which will include the previous info I just posted. I think a lot of people will be surprised by the results...

Sir Hammonsweet · Jun 10, 2005, 07:46 PM // 19:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by wgregory87

Pets are extremely weak. Regardless of how you look at it they are just a pain later in the game. You guys are probably all in the earlier stages where it wouldnt matter if your pet was doing damage or not. There is no arguement you can make. Pets are weak and no party would want one, they will just disable your skills come death, or provide a WEAK meat shield that the monks will have to waste so much mana if they chose to heal them in the first place. Personally (I'm a Mo/W), I let their pets die.

I don't know how much more I can convince you; I chose Ranger as my secondary on my elementalist upon the sole purpose to have a pet but quickly realized that it was not as valuable as any other spell. So, in conclusion, this is a non biased (or slightly favoring your guys' bias) opinion that pets are quite useless.

If you want to make a strong character I advise you to go another route. Traps or bow skills. I'm not saying a pet will not let you get through the game. I'm just saying that it will give you a harder time in the long run and will limit your character.

You must have had a ranger with a crappy pet then, or with no points in beast mastery. My pet is lvl 20 and holds his own in any battle. I am talking heavy battles in the desert too, not early in the game. A lot of times he is a meat shield, but a good one, because he can actually take a good bit of damage, and besides comfort animal takes like 1 second to cast, so it's not too hard to keep em alive.

Undertakr · Jun 11, 2005, 12:17 AM // 00:17

Well, I can see how a pet would be a detriment if you were a caster/R combo because healing the pet would mean not casting a damage/heal/buff/debuff and would lower your amount of energy. That makes sense. However, for a Warrior that doesn't use energy except for frenzy (that I use anyway), with gladiator armour, it's been relatively easy for me to keep my wolf alive in PVE.

Eclair · Jun 11, 2005, 12:48 AM // 00:48

15-28 extra damage every 2 seconds for 12 attributes seem like such a waste. That's basically a 11 dps spell that doesn't ignore armor. Not to mention, how do pets take hits from Meteor showers fire imps cast, or the hundred blades from Fist of Titans? Comfort animal won't heal anywhere close to amount u'll need to keep it alive in those situations. 100+ monk heals are barely able to keep 80 armor warriors alive in those situations.

Edit: I just read the pet guide stating that level 20 pets have 60 AL. From experience I can say that NOTHING with 60 AL should be anywhere close to the front lines.

BrokenSymmetry · Jun 11, 2005, 09:48 AM // 09:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eclair

15-28 extra damage every 2 seconds for 12 attributes seem like such a waste. That's basically a 11 dps spell that doesn't ignore armor.

This is 11 damage per second (DPS) that you get for no cost in energy, so in combination with a max bow you get a base damage of 22 DPS, still without expending any energy at all. Together with bleeding conditions caused by your pet, poisoned arrows, etc. you can easily get into a continuous 30-40 DPS, wich really isn't bad, because you can still spike this damage with other bow or pet skills.
Also note that that the 12 attribute points in Beast Mastery do a lot of other things besides improving base pet damage. For example, bleeding caused by Feral Lunge increases from 3 to 21 seconds, so that the total damage caused by Feral Lunge can be 164, for an energy cost of only 5 (or even less with any rank in Expertise) !

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eclair

I just read the pet guide stating that level 20 pets have 60 AL. From experience I can say that NOTHING with 60 AL should be anywhere close to the front lines.

That's where the skill of a beast master comes into play: With Call of Protection you can greatly reduce the damage your pet receives, Predator's Pounce self-heals the pet on each attack, Symbiotic Bond shares the damage between you and your pet, etc. In bad situations you can simply spam Comfort Animal, with its ridiculously short recharge time of 1 second, to heal your pet.
Much of the success of using a pet lies in keeping it alive with the right combination of skills. I take pride in the fact that my pet never dies, and almost always is the last "man" standing when the whole team has died.

Jun 11, 2005, 12:48 AM // 00:48	#30
Eclair Desert Nomad Join Date: Apr 2005	15-28 extra damage every 2 seconds for 12 attributes seem like such a waste. That's basically a 11 dps spell that doesn't ignore armor. Not to mention, how do pets take hits from Meteor showers fire imps cast, or the hundred blades from Fist of Titans? Comfort animal won't heal anywhere close to amount u'll need to keep it alive in those situations. 100+ monk heals are barely able to keep 80 armor warriors alive in those situations. Edit: I just read the pet guide stating that level 20 pets have 60 AL. From experience I can say that NOTHING with 60 AL should be anywhere close to the front lines. Last edited by Eclair; Jun 11, 2005 at 12:52 AM // 00:52..

Jun 09, 2005, 07:19 PM // 19:19	#21
Ardus Shadowmane Academy Page Join Date: May 2005 Guild: Guild of the Burning Tree Profession: R/W	Yeah, I look at the Beastmaster skills, and they're as good as any other Ranger skill, but most cost less. If you want to run a beastmaster char, then do it. The only reason to not have a pet is if you don't want to use the skills or you can't manage to keep it from dying.

Jun 09, 2005, 07:43 PM // 19:43	#22
Undertakr Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2005	I wouldn't expect a monk to heal my pet, I can do that on my own. Since I'm a warrior/ranger I have adrenaline for my Warrior attacks and energy for my pet. For 5 energy I use Predators Pounce for a big heal to my pet and since I have gladiator armour, I have plenty of energy for that. You can't think of the pet as a tank, it's not. If something attacks my pet, I target it and kill it. A pet is a constant, high damage DOT. Yes, it takes up 3 skill slots, however, I only have so much adrenaline anyway. I could have more attacks, but I just take the top 3-4 for my sword and I'm set. I think of the pet as a +(whatever it hits for at the current point) bonus for my sword and a bit distractor whenever I need it. I'd really love to see a whole group of rangers with pets and see how a group of 8 R w/ Pets would fair against a regular team. I WILL say that pets with PVP created characters have tended to kind of stink, as far as I've seen, but in PVE they've been pretty cool for me.

Jun 09, 2005, 07:48 PM // 19:48	#23
Dragon Incarnate Academy Page Join Date: May 2005 Guild: The Dragon Guild	Pet Hit Points/Armor increase with each level same as you do. Their damage increases with attribute points same as every other skill you have. If you have 0 BeastMastery your pet will do minimum damage 6-9, with 12 BeastMastery it'll do max damage 15-28 along with chance for critical hits which do about 34 damage.

Jun 09, 2005, 09:31 PM // 21:31	#24
Undertakr Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2005	Ok, so a maxed out W/R the pet would be like adding +15-34 damage plus pet skills to your sword IF you can keep your pet from dying. In PVE it's easy, in PVP if someone targets your pet, you'll be skillless for 8 secs or so. I think 3 skill slots for +15-34 damage plus bonuses and bleeding on top of that would be a pretty good build. Of course, it's dependant on keeping the pet alive. Does the pet attack as fast as a warrior? If it does, that'd be 30-68+bonuses from weapon AND pet skills+Crits an attack round?

Jun 10, 2005, 12:48 AM // 00:48	#26
Ardus Shadowmane Academy Page Join Date: May 2005 Guild: Guild of the Burning Tree Profession: R/W	Dragon Incarnate--Thank you very much for the specific information about pets, as well as the polite way you state it.

Jun 11, 2005, 12:17 AM // 00:17	#29
Undertakr Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2005	Well, I can see how a pet would be a detriment if you were a caster/R combo because healing the pet would mean not casting a damage/heal/buff/debuff and would lower your amount of energy. That makes sense. However, for a Warrior that doesn't use energy except for frenzy (that I use anyway), with gladiator armour, it's been relatively easy for me to keep my wolf alive in PVE.