Curse

The undead Mesmer · Nov 17, 2006, 08:40 AM // 08:40

Hey epinephrine i have something that you should add. Hyenas can also be found in Crystal overlook heck there are far too manny there o_O.

Thalion Galad · Nov 17, 2006, 01:51 PM // 13:51

hi all

Gratz to OP greath job ... breath taking...

its a shame that a ranger only have one pet insted of collecting them and be able of using various types of pets...
btw i have a dire lizard on my ranger, it was fun training him, but i like other pets but losing my lizard is hard...

Anet let primary ranger collect pets...plz

gou · Nov 17, 2006, 05:07 PM // 17:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seiten Taisei

Oh lions! If i wasn't training a Crocodile to be a Dire at this very moment i'd so be charmign a lion and train it. I wonder if i could manage to turn it Dire...

Maybe when i get bored with the Croc

my hero barrage pet team, currently ripped nightfall to shreds...

Seiten Taisei · Nov 17, 2006, 10:29 PM // 22:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by gou

my hero barrage pet team, currently ripped nightfall to shreds...

..*stares*

Jokerking · Nov 18, 2006, 07:08 AM // 07:08

This is from GuildWiki

Pets receive Death Penalty in PvP (as of the Thursday July 13th update). Gaile Gray has confirmed that the same change will eventually be implemented in PvE play

some of the data may be wrong if you didn't take this into consideration

holyjew888 · Nov 18, 2006, 07:35 AM // 07:35

pets with dp in pve is just stupid, i disagree with this idea

getalifebud · Nov 18, 2006, 10:26 AM // 10:26

Holy crap, look at the massive croc and rat, I can't decide which I want to get for my ranger.

gou · Nov 18, 2006, 06:21 PM // 18:21

For the record, I recommend the croc. it is essentially a reskinned dune lizard and makes the same easy-on-the-ears noises. The Jahai rat (which loses its "jahai" upon evolution) makes annoying squeaks as it attacks and never changes it's gormless open mouthed stare, ever. I'd swap it in a heartbeat for a hyena, somehow a rat seemed fitting for an ex am fah assasin.

An interesting bug/quirk I hadn't noticed previously: the lion and tiger leave human footprints everywhere they go.

Seiten Taisei · Nov 18, 2006, 06:39 PM // 18:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by gou

An interesting bug/quirk I hadn't noticed previously: the lion and tiger leave human footprints everywhere they go.

So did my ex-black moa.

DL Lorre · Nov 19, 2006, 06:46 AM // 06:46

Lol

Would u reccomend getting a dire Croc?

I think id like it but maybe id miss my bad ass black moa

Epinephrine · Nov 20, 2006, 05:56 PM // 17:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by gou

For the record, I recommend the croc. it is essentially a reskinned dune lizard and makes the same easy-on-the-ears noises. The Jahai rat (which loses its "jahai" upon evolution) makes annoying squeaks as it attacks and never changes it's gormless open mouthed stare, ever. I'd swap it in a heartbeat for a hyena, somehow a rat seemed fitting for an ex am fah assasin.

I don't know, as soon as I saw an ROUS* available for my ranger I had to have one. Just too cool a reference; mine's called Nicodemus**.

As for the barrage pet thing, yeah, totally did that, though I was dumb and didn't realise that I wouldn't be able to pick up Jin if I picked Sosuke on my first go, so I only have a Zenmai and Margrid so far, I'll have to get Jin when I finish the game.

* Rodent Of Unusual Size
** from Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH

Windjammer · Nov 21, 2006, 06:42 AM // 06:42

I read about the dire tigers in Pongmei Valley and wanted to get one. So tonight I got rid of my pet (a lvl 20 hearty tiger) and went looking for a dire one in Pongmei. After countless runs all I see are elder tigers!!! Have the dire tigers been removed and replaced with elders? can anyone else confirm this?

gou · Nov 22, 2006, 05:39 AM // 05:39

AI being as it is the heros wont use barrage unless they can potentially hit more than one target, unlike the true barrage mentality of "spam it anyway", 1 on 1 they just pluck away without using the skill, so I dropped concussion shot for keen arrow which works nicely with "go for the eyes".

Oh and if you can be bothered to try it a hero bunnythumper team is also a lot of fun

Silk Weaver · Nov 23, 2006, 10:09 AM // 10:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by gou

my hero barrage pet team, currently ripped nightfall to shreds...

You're crazy... dire for both ranger heros??? Man that'll take me some time =/

Edit: all THREE I mean =/ crazy.

gou · Nov 24, 2006, 06:01 AM // 06:01

not at all, it is extremely easy to do if you have factions.
take hero with pet and max beastmastery, max expertise, zero marksmanship and a few pet attacks to tanglewood copse.
exit into pongmei valley and flag the hero where you are
aggro the one or two undergrowths that spawned nearest to you and stand idle at the petrified nearby tree trunk (you'll know it when you see it).
when the hero's pet has killed them rezone and repeat.

The undergrowths are level 23 which is fast leveling for the pet, if you stand in the right spot the kurzick priest from the res shrine will run in to keep you alive without problem yet the warrior stays put so doesn't steal the kill.
To speed things up you can put "brutal weapon" (ritualist skill) on the pet, or "judges insight" (monk).

Obviously the slowest was zenmai's pet, not having expertise she ran out of energy pretty quick.

Epinephrine · Nov 24, 2006, 05:09 PM // 17:09

gou, I'm interested in how you level those pets then - it sounds much faster, but I had problems in the past trying to get pets evolved to dire against high level foes; I assumed it was something to do with the damage/experience ratio or something - of course, I may simply have let too much damage get by. Do you protect the pet at all? I imagine a single hit from an undergrowth against a low level pet would be ruinous to the pet's evolution.

Does the henchman's pet automatically defend you? Does the hench need to be on guard, or can it be passive?

gou · Nov 24, 2006, 10:28 PM // 22:28

Hero is on offensive, I find that flagging him/her back is enough to keep them from attacking too early, I do all the tanking as I said the kurzick preist keeps me alive without any problems, the undergrowths settle on me pretty quick and only switch to the pet if I move. I dont attack at all, the hero does to defend me, although it is sometimes required to fire off a shot to aggro the undergrowths in the first place.

I tried using "greater conflagation" because although I have no proof to suggest the undergrowths take any extra damage from fire (hey they are plants after all) I am a ranger and having increased armour against elemental damage is always nice, unfortunately every so often another undergrowth strays nearby and it usually kills the spirit before hitting either me or the pet.
For such occasions having "symbiotic bond" on the hero is handy, again the kurzick priest has no problems keeping the hero alive or if need be the pet itself.
You don't need to be aligned with kurzicks for him to come help you out btw.

In my experiance the only factor that counts towards dire/aggressive is damage dealt by the pet through the use of pet attack skills, taking damage and death hasn't hindered them in them slightest, my own croc died far too many times to count and although evolved late at level 17, still went dire. The hero's pets never died or went below half health.

If that really is a concern, the town portal is right there behind you so you can zone to prevent deaths.

chichory · Nov 25, 2006, 02:08 AM // 02:08

Just to add another way, probably slower though

See i read in the NF manual (or atleast i understood it as saying), that the amount of Xp you get from monsters caps out at 6 levels higher than yours. So what i did to get dire pets for Magrid and Jin was level them first to level 8 on the minos outside of ice tooth as stated in the guide.

After i took them to Destiny George and zoned with Magrid (or Jin) and Dunkaroo. Dunkaroo had Life barrier and life bond which he put on me, Magrid and the pet Dune lizard(hog for Jin

). I then flagged him on the edge of the map so he did not get xp and got Magrid to kill all the griffins as i just sat there using healing breeze, escape and such. Only thing i timed was that it took 13 minutes to get from Level 14 to 15. Griffins didn't seem to touch the Lizard, it was either me or Magrid they targeted.

But yeah, the bit about only getting Xp max at six levels above may be wrong as i never tested it ingame, however it seemed to be what the manual is saying. Hope that helps.
~chichory

LouAl · Nov 27, 2006, 07:31 AM // 07:31

My personal favorite (and fastest that I know of) place to level pets is north of Thirsty River. You can kill all the lvl 20-22 monsters there easily with one pet at lvl 13 or above (I have never tried with lower lvl than that). The best part about this place is that there are a lot of stationary monsters and most everything is spread out enough to lure and kill it individually. You can take on 2 of the little necros and a dune burrower if you have to, but it is easier to not.

Also, a bonus of this place is that every once in a while you will get to hit a rock eater for 150+ damage when they use frenzy.

I just to my warthog there and went from Aggressive to Dire with no problems (I got him to aggressive somewhere else, but can't remember where). I was using a longbow with max stats in WS and BS and none in Marks. I let my pet take all the damage and used Symbiotic bond and Call of Prot to negate/heal what it took. This same warthog had died a few times (5-10) mostly against big hits from minotaurs outside Augury.

Dralspire · Dec 02, 2006, 09:06 PM // 21:06

Regarding dire pets for heroes, I did a little write-up at guildwiki that takes about one hour until level 15 dire.

Quote:

Dire Hero Pets

Heroes can charm their own animals. As of December 2, 2006, heroes are unable to turn in their pets at a tamer. Accordingly, each hero is stuck with the first charmed animal. For that reason, it is particularly important to consider the matter of evoluation prior to charming.

If a hero charms an animal that has not evolved yet, it will most likely turn into a hearty pet because the player is unable to clearly control the evolution.

If a hero has not charmed an animal yet, the following method will always result in a dire pet for the hero - regardless of the unevolved type of animal:

1. Equip Charm Animal on the skillbar of Hero 1 that will charm the animal and deactivate the skill by holding Shift and clicking the skill.
2. Add a Hero 2 of your choice that has equipped Resurrect. Hero 2 ideally carries no other spells and has all attributes reduced to zero.
3. Add another hero and henchmen to your party as you see fit.
4. Approach the area of the animal the hero will charm and clear it of enemies.
5. After clearing the area, set Hero 1 and Hero 2 to Avoid Combat.
6. Move your entire party by means of the "Order henchmen and your heroes" flag to the edge of your radar.
7. Use the flag for Hero 1 to return the hero to your position. Click Charm Animal in the skillbar of Hero 1. IMPORTANT: Hero 1 must not complete that skill. In order to prevent it, use the flag for Hero 1 to order the hero into a different position as soon as the animal label turned from green to red.
8. Order Hero 2 to the edge of your radar and position yourself in such a manner that the animal starts attacking you.
9. Take off your armor (required) and equip a vampiric weapon (optional). As the animal attacks you, order Hero 2 by means of the respective flag into your aggro circle (Resurrect range).
10. Every time you die, the animal will start attacking Hero 2. Hero 2 will resurrect you and run from the animal at all times.
11. After the animal has reached level 15, order Hero 1 by means of the respective flag into your aggro circle and click Charm Animal in the skillbar of Hero 1.
12. Hero 1 charms the animal and it is added to your party list as "Dire ..."

Notice: The animal does not display the evolution throughout the progress to level 15. That is entirely normal. The progress to level 15 takes approximately one hour.

Thought: While this method has only been confirmed for heroes, it may well work for all leveling purposes - both for hero pets and for player pets. There is no reason to assume that a pet that can be charmed by a hero cannot be charmed by a player as well.

This screenshot attempts to clarify the method: