Pet Owners Rejoice!

My friend happened to come screaming to me with the news of the pet information that Alan posted this morning on the Developers Corner. I have some news from Rich about changes we plan to make for pets. quote:
Hi, I wanted to take a minute to let you know about some pet upgrades that we've just completed. The changes are fairly significant, and we think they address a lot of concerns that have been brought up by players. Here are the changes we've made - Pets will not attack mesmerized creatures All pets now think of mesmerized creatures as being dead. Pets will not break mez, will not attack mesmerized creatures, and will forget any hate they had towards a mesmerized creature. In short, if a monster gets mesmerized, your pet will forget about it and stop attacking it. This is good for all pet classes, and especially handy for Enchanters, who can now trust their pets to not break every mez as soon as it lands. Pets are neutral to monsters Monsters will not attack your pet first. All monsters see your pet as a neutral creature, and will leave it alone unless your pet attacks something. This means if your pet wanders off, it won't bring a train of monsters back with it. Keep in mind, if your pet chases a fleeing monster, other monsters may still attack it. Your pet is only treated as neutral while it is not acting in a hostile manner. Pets no longer take experience in most situations In the past, pets would take a full share of experience if they did the most damage to a creature. We've changed this rule as follows - * Pets take ZERO experience from a creature, unless no player does damage to that creature. * Pets take 75% of the experience from a creature - if no player does damage to that creature. This means that your pet takes no experience from you or your group unless your pet kills a monster with no help from players. As long as you or your groupmates do damage to a monster, your pet will take ZERO experience. Due to the high potential power of dire charmed pets, they will continue to take a share of the experience. In the worst case, dire charmed pets will take a full share of experience – this is the same as it's always been. The amount of experience taken by a dire charmed pet scales based on how much damage the pet does. If the dire charmed pet is doing the majority of the damage, it's experience share gets larger. If you or your group are doing reasonable damage to a monster, a dire charmed pet will not take much experience. The more damage you do, the less experience a dire charmed pet will take. In most situations, dire charmed pets will take less experience than they did previously. As with all pets, if a dire charmed pet does the majority of damage, and no player does any damage, the dire charmed pet will take 75% of the experience from the kill. Overall, these changes are a significant boost to pet classes. The dev team has been hard at work on finding and implementing the right solutions, and we hope you'll enjoy these changes. Thanks for your patience as caster balancing continues, and thanks for playing. Rich Waters Lead Designer, EverQuest
Thanks Rich. Alan NO! Thank you Alan for passing it along, and thanks Rhuin for the heads up!

Comments

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not impressed at all
# Aug 14 2002 at 3:09 PM Rating: Default
If you think about dire charm is the best thing that happened to a druid since animals is the only thing they can charm seeing that thier bear is weak as heck now they gonna take the opportunity for a druid to dire charm an animal and use it as a pet but not get xp if he dosnt do enough damage is useless might as well keep the bear almost the same thing with the disadvantage seeing that all other casters who summon pets that are already slightly lower then the casters lvl ie: mage, necro give me a pet epic anyday thats in his 50
'











s
RE: not impressed at all
# May 16 2003 at 5:02 PM Rating: Decent
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1,494 posts
I'm not sure that I understand what you're trying to say (Lack of punctuation makes anything hard to read), but let me take a crack at it...

You're saying that because Dire Charmed critters weren't given the full treatment that other pets were, this is useless for Druids?

You're totally misunderstanding what has been said here. If a Druid Dire Charms something, and the monster does ALL of the fighting (The Druid deals zero points of damage himself), then the Dire Charmed Animal gets 75% of the experience, leaving 25% for the druid who did - what was that? right... NOTHING (Or very, very little). My heart bleeds for you. Really.

All you have to do is 1 measly point of damage yourself, and that immediately drops the pet's "share" of the XP to 50% (Assuming you're soloing). Start casting DoTs, Nukes, or meleeing, and you'll get even more of the XP.

How is this not fair? You're talking about a CHARMED critter. When it breaks charm, you'll presumably have it down far enough that you can kill it off, and get full XP from it... what are you whining about?

Nekojin
Celone Greenedge, L42 Ranger of Tunare, Luclin server

Edited, Fri May 16 18:53:17 2003
Welcome changes for Pets and thier owners
# Jul 29 2002 at 1:23 PM Rating: Good
I did not read every post here as I don't have time, but all this talk of being able to play with a pet and not have to burn all your mana to out damage him, and get exp being unfair is a crock of you know what.

Druids have had the ability to kite 4 mobs at once, and reap the benifit of that forever and a day it seems, wizards can kite 4 mobs with aoe snare, nukes and reap the rewards with ease. People complained about druids being able to do this but got used to it. Now pet owners are given a break to be able to solo and make a dint in thier xp bar faster then before and people are up in arms at that. I not get it, what do you have against a class who is forced to solo, by virtue of all you said prior about pets, getting a break and being able to xp on there own?

Sounds a bit selfish to me.

ps

Maybe if those of you who said no to mages and others with pets, instead of yes, and leaving them out of your cozy little xp groups, had not been so near sighted, pet owners would not have been such a loud voice, one that verant could no longer ignore.
Hmm...
# Jun 10 2002 at 6:02 PM Rating: Default
I don't really play EQ much anymore (lucky if I get 2 hours a week), but I just gotta say it sort of makes me mad I played a mage since it came out and no changes were made (that helped a lot, most were nerfs). Then, beastlords come out, and with all the new people wanting to play it, pet classes become good.
Exp just toooo good now
# Jun 09 2002 at 12:17 PM Rating: Good
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61 posts
This is almost to good to be true. I will never have to waste mana trying to ks my pet anymore, nor will i have to go around root dotting stuff to get decent xp.

I almost can't believe they put this patch in. Now I can just train weaker drk blue cons onto my pet and have him eath them for lunch while I go round up more mwahaha... I do think it's a little too much for us lol, my pet can already solo lower drk blues in old norrath no problem. I think this makes well at least my class (necro) a little too efficient at exping. I mean I can still solo a white and possible a yellow at my level, not that it's good xp compared to effortlessly killing drk blues hehe.

That's why I will always have the utmost respect for melee (esp Warrior's who dont get FD or Invis of any kind.. yeesh lol I dont know how you do it =)

Also for those of you that talk about these killer pet trains, well I dont think that's really the cause of the pet owner. In most instance its the *#(& up pathing in most of EQ that causes those huge trains. That's why I almost never run around a dungeon with my pet trailing, if we move i kill him, or if it is safe and he won't get agrro where he is standing (wich is anywhere as of this patch hehe ) then I can leave him and summon companion him when our group/raid gets to the new camp spot.

And I have only ever cause one pet train in my life and it was because the MA had clicked on something else while returning the pull and I stupidly sent pet in without visually checking the target. Hehe pulled a train of 6 drakes to CS zoneout in skyshrine lol... But seriously I think the pathing is to blame for most trains, which is why the pet is indiff to everyting now =)

Nemin
45th Necromancer
pets
# Jun 06 2002 at 7:42 PM Rating: Default
the new pet update will help me when i solo, glad for that. but one thing if iam looking for a group i state i not use pet. i have no proublem grouping then, if asked i will summond warder. many times i run solo with out pet and no group to build up my stats. so hope some get a idea from my way of finding a group with no proublems.
level 22 beastlord

i also run a mage, she is low level and find pet aggo more, still plan on building her up so now i may not get trained on as much.

level 10 mage
Balance??
# Jun 05 2002 at 11:10 AM Rating: Default
Sorry , but i can't go with anyone saying all classes should be balanced....why?? i did not pick a mage because i thought it would be the same as a warrior and i did not start a warrior because i thought it would be the same as my mage.... you were given what ? 8 slots to make char's .....make a couple, play them all, i have leveled 3 up war at 54 , mage at 54, druid at 55,
yes is hard for mage to get a group , yes is easy for war to get a group but do i think they should be changed to be more balanced?? get into the game .... stop worrying about who has more then you... and yes everyone gets a say and this was mine
Balance??
# Jun 05 2002 at 11:09 AM Rating: Decent
Sorry , but i can't go with anyone saying all classes should be balanced....why?? i did not pick a mage because i thought it would be the same as a warrior and i did not start a warrior because i thought it would be the same as my mage.... you were given what ? 8 slots to make char's .....make a couple, play them all, i have leveled 3 up war at 54 , mage at 54, druid at 55,
yes is hard for mage to get a group , yes is easy for war to get a group but do i think they should be changed to be more balanced?? get into the game .... stop worrying about who has more then you... and yes everyone gets a say and this was mine
RE: Balance??
# Jun 06 2002 at 7:24 AM Rating: Good
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300 posts
Balancing classes doesn't mean making them the same. It simply means preventing one class from being enormously powerful, or another class from being completely helpless. Now, when I say enormously powerful and completely helpless, I don't mean in a specific situation, I mean overall. For example, if you're trying to tank Tormax, a mage is completely useless. However, if you need someone to kill Rak Ash'iir, a warrior is relatively useless. Why? Well, a mage doesn't have the AC, HP, defense, or damage avoidance/mitigation, so you want a warrior for TMax. However, Rak will tear apart a warrior with his uber-dot DT whatever it is, where a mage fire pet will be immune to that. That's just an example, but it's an example of class balancing.
PETS ?? CONTROL ??
# Jun 05 2002 at 6:14 AM Rating: Default
The pets could be easier to control now but that removes some of the challenge in the game. Sure, it was tough trying to keep track of him in dungens, but it could be done with practice and very easily. Pets are very helpful in and out of groups, it's the owner that don't know how to control his pet that makes it hard for others that do. I am a shaman and have my pet out always and welcome in all groups that know me. If you want your pet to stay somewhere then tell him to sit, if you want him to stay with you tell him to guard you, always remember to walk not run because pets are slow and you will lose them. I summon a wolf for my pet and for some reason I have to cast sow on the wolf or I'll out run him and then have to go back and find him. As for not being able to attack a mezzed mob, I guess I'll have to get use to it but it was handy when the group was all casters and the pet is the tank.

people won't want to ride with you if you can't control your car, why would they want to group with you if you can't control your pet ??

practice with your pets , it's the lazy ones that need the changes to em ... sheeesh, this games starting to get to easy now. I had to work my way up in lvls but now people can just do suicide runs till lvl 10 ??? .... why ??
RE: PETS ?? CONTROL ??
# Jun 05 2002 at 9:15 AM Rating: Decent
Dude, maybe you know at start many people to group with, or they are more desperate looking for a shaman so they give you a chance even with your pet.
But as a Beastlord I am the pet.
Without Pet it makes no sense to have me in group, and with pet i can easily kill the whole group if i dont watch carefull for it.
So as long people dont know me they rather dont group with me what makes it hard to know me...
Still no raids for me.
Why?
Pets attack mobs casting areaspells, so still most planeraidgroups will think twice inviting me.
A shaman is usefull for his buffs and adds some
damage with his pet.
But think about other who do most damage through there pets and are not able to buff an n00b warrior to superman.
W00T!
# Jun 05 2002 at 12:02 AM Rating: Decent
Finally, some relief from my STUPID FARKING WARDER. Sheesh, nothing worse than having my warder get lost due to stupid pathing issues and bring a train of critters down on me while i am trying to heal back up. I don't care about the experience, I am just glad to have the possibility of pathing errors killing me reduced greatly.
Lol
# Jun 04 2002 at 9:17 PM Rating: Decent
Well If An Enchanter Is A Pet Class Then So Is A Cleric With Unswerving Hammer Of Faith..Lol
Maybe a mage can get a group now???
# Jun 04 2002 at 2:00 PM Rating: Default
As a mage this hopefully will be good.Many groups its seems do not want a mage with a pet for the simple reason is that they don't like a pet training mobs to them.I have a level 41 mage (almost 42) and it is hard to find a group.It is very lonely soloing all the time.I speak for many mages who think they shouting for a group for 2 hours and still not finding one is a bit of a burden to us.Yes we are made as a soloing class,but how would you melee classes like to solo constantly.True exp is good soloing,but the other side to it is boredom.Maybe i'll see 44 in the near future with these new changes,but then again maybe melee classes will be jealous and just say the hell with casters (well besides a cleric).I'll group with anyone regardless of class.Everyone deserves a group once in awhile.So any of you caster classes out there on Ayon Ro want a partner send a tell to Dainkai.
A major boost for the Beastlord
# Jun 04 2002 at 1:16 PM Rating: Decent
Wow, this is great news. I play a Beastlord and hate giving my xp's to my lovely pet. My pet is always out damaging me so and it takes forever to level. I'm surprised to not see more posts from the Beastlords in praise of this change. Thank you Verant for this change. Not to mention the benefits of traveling through a dungeon with a pet that won't train you. As for why aren't the melee classes getting new things? Do you ever look at the new items listed on Allakhazam you get new things everyday. I know that I can use some of it, but melee classes are the ones who get the most benefit from these items as they use them more effectively. Anytime there is a new weapon or armor put in the game, it is the same as having a new spell made available to a caster, so melees are constantly getting new things.
Again, yeah!!!
Melee classes being mistreated?
# Jun 04 2002 at 12:41 PM Rating: Decent
Hello. I have decided not to sign in and stay anonymous for flaming purposes. I hope Verant reads this and I just want to put in my 2cp. With Luclin and now this, casters (including pallies,shadow knights,and ranger) have gotten new spells, med while sitting, and other such bonuses. But what have we melee's gotten?..they got new spells with Luclin...we did not get new skills..they got med while sitting(used to be 35 skil) we got nothing...they are now getting this...I just think maybe full melee classes(warrior,rogue,monk) should get some special bonuses also. I currently play a monk and a love him to death..but I don't understand why they are getting so many upgrades and enw spells and we are getting nothing new...they starting to pass us up...

Anonymous Monk of Tunare
RE: Melee classes being mistreated?
# Jun 04 2002 at 3:36 PM Rating: Decent
19 posts
The reason the casters are getting revamped now is because all melee had their balancing act done awhile ago. It's not fair to take one change to one group of players and ask why another group didn't get improved. Look at the overall picture ;)

RE: Melee classes being mistreated?
# Jun 05 2002 at 5:25 AM Rating: Default
You call this a balancing act for casters...ha sorry to say this but I play a 39 warrior and I dream of the day I may solo a hill gaint or something that is close to my level. But I will never see that even with new equipment. My brother plays a 39 Mage and he kills what ever he wants. And now his pet will take no exp from the kills. So Now as a melee I have to play twice as much just to keep up to a caster at the same level because I don't have anything helping me kill stuff and not take exp.

Don't get me wrong this is great for casters....well thoose with pets anyway, but it is by no means a balancing act. If anything now they nead to revamp the non pet classes to give them a greater exp bonous or increase their skil levels and make it easier to increase skill levels.

Sorry about this just my 2cp's anyway.
RE: Melee classes being mistreated?
# Aug 10 2002 at 4:07 PM Rating: Default
Why do melee fighters keep complaining that they can't solo as well as pet classes? Melee fighters are not meant to be strong solo classes. Melee fighters are the ground troups, casters are the fighter jets. You kick them in the face, we lob missiles. They're completely different fighting tactics. Each has its place, each is equally valuable when applied appropriately.

To me, melee fighters have a huge advantage in levelling. If you're in a group (like you should be), chances are you're getting buffs & heals to allow you to do your job optimally. That, in a way, equals being constantly PL'd. I'm not saying melee fighters don't earn it with the beatings they endure, but it is an advantage casters don't have.

As a mage my pet is my sword and my shield. Mostly, he's my shield. I have no sow, no heal, no root (no, I don't count on the weak earth pet root), no evac spell, no buffs. I don't especially mind this. My pet is an excellent weapon, but that's all that he is, a weapon.

You can't solo things as fast as a pet class? Well, that's true. That's how our classes were designed. If you're a group oriented player, be a melee fighter or healer, if you like to solo, a pet wielding caster may be better for you.

So don't despair, melee fighters. Do what you do best and you'll reap the highest rewards. If you try to do what WE do best, you'll always be frustrated.
RE: Melee classes being mistreated?
# Jun 05 2002 at 6:29 AM Rating: Decent
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88 posts
hehe yeah...Let's think..a L1 warrior in full cobalt with a wurmie plus (hmmm) a glowing sword. Lets go kill stuff. Jeez, you can level so fast as a newbie these days....

Wow, say you...see that L1 mage with (ummm) a green silken drape and no pet casting 10dd spells against a mob with 40 or so hps. Oh dear..he died..and again..and again..

Lets see...this time...L40 warrior, full cobalt, haste item with afore-mentioned weapons LFG.. 'Yes!! we want ya!!!!' is the cry from everywhere in the zone.

However....

'L40 mage LFG.' <stoney silence> 'L40 mage, 220 int LFG.' <stoney silence>

My heart goes out to ya, Mr Warrior...maybe you should start a mage or wizzie and enjoy the good life.

Jacynth (L51 mage, the Rathe) [BTW, have a 52 SK as well so I do have a bit of an idea what I am talking about]
Grouping Issues
# Jun 09 2002 at 12:46 PM Rating: Decent
49 posts
One of the saddest things to me, is to see someone who is trying to get into a group, and people don't want them because of their class.

Now if they don't want them because of their reputation, that's different, but because of class?

I'm only going to say this once, and here, then shut up about it. There is no single class that cannot contribute to a group. Period. Does it "take away" from the overall "levelling efficiency" of the group?

Sheesh, who knows, and who the heck cares? Its SUPPOSED to be a social game. Its why, even tho I could solo DSP as a ranger more "efficiently" or quickly, I don't if I can find/create a group.

Unless someone is a jerk, a ninja looter, immature, annoying or has some other negative personal behavior, make a place for them.

I've never turned down a request for someone to join our group when we've had room. I am urging the rest of our community to rethink this as well.

The other day we had a cleric who needed a group. We didn't "need" a cleric, already had a good one. Despite some mildly negative comments from the rest of the group (this is called leadership), I invited the person in. Know what? Everyone had a good time, and when a ton of wolves seeemed to all want to make our camp their home, we happened to survive and make a ton of exp because we had TWO clerics healing their butts off and pounding away too. But even without that, we all had a great time.

And THAT, dear friends, is the POINT of the GAME.

Sincerely,
Elessarion, Ranger of 40 Oktoberfests
The Rathe.

PS Oh yeah, on topic... as a beastmaster alt, this is a wonderful change, but can someone please tell me how to keep my tiger following me, even down a SIMPLE tunnel? Like into the trader cave in Shadeweavers? I usually end up having to log and resummon to get it fixed, a pain for my group. Kzinnia - Beastmistress of 16 Litters

PPS Jacynth, you'd be welcome anytime (if we werent too low level for ya that is)
RE: Melee classes being mistreated?
# Jun 06 2002 at 6:33 PM Rating: Default
I guess I should have mention I play a Necro, a Cleric, an Enchanter, and Wizzard. They all arange from levels 10-20 but my warrior is the highest level and I play him the most cause I can still group with my Brothers with him. Anyway what I was talking about was the pets not sharing exp anymore...... Not the new spells I love the new spells and they rock. It is just that now the pet owners can kill things faster and more of them because they have a pet to help them. It is like having a permenent druid warrior combo. I do now cause I have played everything. What I was talking about was the exp use to be share by the pet and his master, but now it is not. Which means getting back to my permenent warrior druid combo now instead of both sharing exp just one gets the exp. The other point was as you know every killed anything conning even or even yellow to you when you were 35 soloing????? No... will maybe your mage did cause my brother who now has a 40 mage does it still..... Great for him and I look forward to it with my Necro, but I guess my warrior will be stuck killing light blues to level or get into a group. But hey that is great for csaters and my caster loves it. Cuase in a little while my Necro will be 40 and while my warrior is still tring to get out of 39.

My 2cp revised.

P.S. read it again slowly and you will see what I am talking about.............exp unbalanced.
RE: Melee classes being mistreated?
# Jun 04 2002 at 2:19 PM Rating: Decent
Most melee classes are rated by thier level (as is every class) and thier weapons and armor. A caster class is rated on thier spells. Int only helps for dragon type raids, and ac doesn't help much with our 145 max defense rating. Luclin not only increased the quality of armor and weapons for melee types, but also the quanity of them. Casters are spells, and melee is armor and weapons, and each are being upgraded as we go forward into the EQ future.

Tatly Ferrotbane Ferrotbane
52nd Warrior 34th Magician
Medieval Brethren Battlehammer Reborne

Druzzil Ro
RE: Melee classes being mistreated?
# Jun 04 2002 at 4:42 PM Rating: Default
Hmm I am at a loss to what the point of this post is, yes melee are rated on ac/hps but casters are rated also on int/wis etc, as a melee increases his damage bonuses raise, but unless I am mistaken casters often get an increase in damage, heals etc as they level. Now unless I have mis-read all the equipment lists the new items in Luclin were not Melee only but new items for all classes giving new stats to everyone. So why make a statement that infers melee have been updated in some way and now its the mages turn. Yes its about time they fixed the Mage class but in no way does that detract from the original posters comments on playing pure melee.
Melee Classes being mistreated?
# Jun 04 2002 at 12:37 PM Rating: Default
At last, something useful
# Jun 04 2002 at 12:32 PM Rating: Default
As a Mage, I welcome these changes. My only concern is those rumors that you cannot "force" a pet to attack a mezzed monster.

I always thought Enchanters weren't too good at soloing. Not because they can't debuff a monster up the wazzoo (one reason why I never duel an Enchanter), but because they don't have the same kind of firepower as other pet classes. Their DDs are comparatively weaker, their pets are much weaker, and they lack the same kind of control over their pets as other pet classes. Of course, we forget that Enchanters can charm monsters (Much to my delight in Frontier Mountains!), and charmed mobs are considerably stronger than other pets.

Speaking of pet classes, Mages do indeed pay a hefty price for having a pet: No Root. Mage pets are very strong and very good at taunting the mob off of us, but not even Earth pets are a good substitute to Root.
enc pets
# Jun 04 2002 at 11:45 AM Rating: Default
enchanter pets are still the WEAKEST pet out there. they come close to SK pets. i know i got a 15 enchanter with a pet that still cons GREEN to me. it WON"T listen
enc pets
# Jun 04 2002 at 11:45 AM Rating: Default
enchanter pets are still the WEAKEST pet out there. they come close to SK pets. i know i got a 15 enchanter with a pet that still cons GREEN to me. it WON"T listen
Shaman
# Jun 04 2002 at 10:28 AM Rating: Decent
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147 posts
Well I can say this will make all classes with pets jobs easier, no more worrying about pets in dungons, breaking mezz's, ect. I think we will see a lot more usage of pets now because of this, I know Shaman will. Always afraid to pull it out in a lot of higher ends zones, but now it can be done without worry.

Garborg
Mystic of Lany's

Edited, Tue Jun 4 11:18:11 2002
Enchanters
# Jun 04 2002 at 9:33 AM Rating: Default
Bah Enchanters have it all over mages for
groupage, so live with the winie pet.
Thank You
# Jun 04 2002 at 7:59 AM Rating: Decent
As a necro I appreciate Verant addressing this. Don't know how many times in a dungeon my pet has overshot me when I have moved and inadvertently pulled a mob that I didn't intend to pull. Will also be nice not haveing to worry about trying to out damage my pet so i get the xp for the kill...and beleive me, its is sometimes hard to out damage my 49th pet.
SK pets
# Jun 04 2002 at 7:20 AM Rating: Decent
Perhaps SK pets are better when you get a bit higher, but at level 14 before my new pet at 15, my pet wasn't even a dot. It couldn't scratch anything that would give me any kind of decent exp. I shudder to think how useless Boney is going to be at level 21. It won't be able to hit anything, because all the mobs I am fighting will be very deep red to it (and yes, I DO put my pet behind the mob).

I am, however, VERY pleased about the aggro change. Now I can have a pet along with me in case something serious comes after me during travels, without attracting all of the greenie trash on that way that attacks my greenie pet.

This is going to make life as an SK with a pet that is a low-level aggro target MUCH easier.

Hurrah to Verant for actually listening.
RE: SK pets
# Jun 05 2002 at 6:41 AM Rating: Decent
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88 posts
you hafta remember you are a melee-er with a bit of a pet attached, not a pet class. If you were a true melee class, you wouldn't be able to dark and fear etc and grab easy xps. Your pet is not a pet, he is a long(ish) lived dot and you should treat him as such. Use the /pet no taunt command, sic him on, but always expect to be able to solo the critters you hit, not have him solo them with you adding a bit. SKs are not mages/necros.

Is true that at 49+ or better 52, you will be scarily strong, but most SKs fold before getting anywhere close to that cos they dont/wont research and think about tactics, or (even worse) think they are a solo class. They can be, tis true, but in very very limited circumstances. If ya can last, the rewards are worth it but it's a hard road, made easier by grouping every time ya can.
Pantha (L52 SK, the Rathe)

PS I can now solo HGs and the EC griffon finally :)
One question...
# Jun 03 2002 at 8:50 PM Rating: Decent
I have only one question... WHEN?!?!
I think these are some wonderful changes, and love the aspect of getting full credit for using what is really our primary weapon. The Mez changes will finally (perhaps) let us be valued as group members instead of red-headed step children...
Tyrac Traleblazer
55th level Mage
Utopian Guard
Morell Thule
SK pet
# Jun 03 2002 at 8:17 PM Rating: Good
The reason the sk pet is not up to the same level as the rest of them is that the sk is a very effective tank in his own right, and with all the necro DoTs and Debuffs. Bringing the sk pet up in levels would be like allowing one player to control a necro who can outmelee many tanks and a similarly strong warrior at the same time. There just would not be very many mobs that could stand up to that combination. The sk pet is lower in level for that reason. Any sk that stands back and watches his pet die because it draws all the aggro is an idiot anyway. You are supposed to tank for the pet, not the other way around. The pet is there for extra damage, not to be a shield you hide behind.
Give the Design Team Some Credit
# Jun 03 2002 at 7:56 PM Rating: Default
As a Mage I would like to thank the design team for addressing some of the major problems we have had with our pets. These fixes along with the addition of the armor and focus item spells has gone a long way to rebalancing the Mage class. By rebalancing, I am talking about making it possible for Mages to once again be able to effectively solo beyond level 39. Also, I have noticed groups are less hostile to Mages seeing as how they have that nice DD enhancing bracelet.

I still have issues about the Mage class :) of course. But I believe in rewarding positive moves with positive encouragement.

PS. Too the other classes complaining about their so called pets: Only Beastlord and Mages have true pets; in that an animated and commandable offensive weapon. In exchange for this Pet Mages lose out on a lot of other lines of spells. Look how long it is between DD spell upgrades. And all our buff spells are pet specific. When I play my SK I never use my pet as an offensive force; it is merely a supportive item good for a few extra hp damage and a little time before making a hasty escape when necessary. I've found that by playing my SK pet like an SK pet and not trying to make it into a Mage pet very successful and rewarding. Sometimes its nice to get in the fight down and dirty like. A true Mage will only mele if left no other options and is completely disgusted at having to do so as well.
RE: Give the Design Team Some Credit
# Jun 04 2002 at 5:07 AM Rating: Default
LOL....You think Mage's and Beastlords are the only ones who have worthy pests??? You need to do a little research on Necro's before you post again buddy =)
Compare the stats between the Mage and Necro pets level for level. You will find they are almost identical on HP and damage. The only exception are the spell and abilitiy diffrences, ie: Damage Shield, Root, Stun, Lifetap, Backstab, triple hit.

Mage's get a wider range of pets to help them against certin mobs. Necro's get incredible mob control spells, but no "choice of pet".
Both are great classes, and this patch will make all pet classes more desirable. I hope =)
not impressed yet
# Jun 03 2002 at 7:36 PM Rating: Decent
Im still not impressed.

These changes finally acknowledge that enchanters are a pet class. Who here remembers how around 2 years ago we chanters were insulted by verant royally during The Great Enchanter Pet Nerf? To fix a problem with the way mage pets dual weild they changed all pets. The change reduced the damage output of a chanter pet by a third. After that even tanking for my animation was pointless, it simply couldnt live long enough to do much for me

The change wasnt even necessary as the mage pets had already been boosted to do the correct damage but some whiny mages complained that it didnt look like their pets were attacking correctly.

Anyways, when many of us complained about the enchanter nerf, we were told "Enchanters are not a pet class and therefore were not affected by the change".

Necro's were similarly affected however they received some spells to make up for their loss. Chanters were left to suffer with one less way to play our toons.

Now that we are officially a pet class again, I demand that we either get the damage output boosted on our animations, get command of them, or else get pet specific buffs to finally fix the imbalance.

I didnt play my chanter after that until recently when hell levels were fixed (frosty in hell it seems)
RE: not impressed yet
# Jun 04 2002 at 2:13 AM Rating: Default
pets to a mage are our root our mez and our tanks we cant debuf the mobs and we cant boost ourselves we pay a hefty price for our pets and try playing without breeze/clarity or root and see how much you like spending hundreds of mana to summon pet and all his accesories every time you summon one not to mention keeping burnout on them i have 2 to 4 spell slots with spells only to support my pet with no other purpose and try buying all your stuff without being able to make money off simply casting a spell wiz get port chanters get clarity and enchant metals necros at least have find corpse and us mages can summon everything under the sun but noone wants because theyre no rent BTW THANKS SONY FOR PUTTING IN FREE BINDING SO I CANT MAKE MONEY ON THAT EITHER
RE: not impressed yet
# Jun 03 2002 at 9:31 PM Rating: Default
Enchanters are not a pet class. They have them lil flying swirds and shields to save their butts when they get into trouble. Not to send in to kill a mob. Enchanters are mezers and... "enchanters".
#Anonymous, Posted: Jun 04 2002 at 5:20 AM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Spoken like a true tank. MORON! How can you say Enchanters are not a pet class? Those are not familiar's floating behind them.
RE: not impressed yet
# Jun 04 2002 at 12:16 AM Rating: Default
How can you possibly say that enchanters are not a pet class. Just because their pets look like inanimate objects does not make them any less of a pet... that is why the spells have the word "animation" - they animate them. The only reason that the chanter pets are only used to "save their buts when they get into trouble" is that they did get baddly nerfed, and chanters could no longer "send [thier pets] in to kill a mob"... they couldn't command them! Chanters certainly are mezers and enchanters, but that doesn't mean that they are not also a pet class.
RE: not impressed yet
# Jun 04 2002 at 10:17 AM Rating: Decent
Sorry, animations are not real pets. Real pets understand /pet commands. An enchanter's version of a "real pet" is made via charm.
RE: not impressed yet
# Jun 03 2002 at 7:41 PM Rating: Decent
oops, wasnt logged in, that was me that posted.
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