|
 |
|
|
Sign Up to Submit Guides and Earn Credibility! |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Author: Lite_Sabre
15,945 Views
21 Comments
|
Title: Turn your pet into a killing machine
Pets can be a valuable ally, but often they are under utilised. I have head many stories and read many articles concerning their weaknesses. For example, their tendency to wander off and cause mischief. This short guide aims to dispel this view and suggest tactics that will result in other players actually viewing your pet as a valued member of the team.
This guide refers to Shadow Fox, my Elementalist/Rangers big cat pet! I have completed many Player v Environment (PvE) missions and quests with Shadow Fox in tow. Never has he wandered off to attack something without a direct command from me. Indeed he has proven less troublesome than many of the fellow players I have adventured with!
In one particular instance a team leader wrote 'Normally we wouldn't let you in the team if we knew you had one of those, but whatever you do keep that pet alive!' This was after he had saved the last remaining party member from certain death by defeating a hydra and holding back a second.
So, how can you turn your pet into a killing machine?
(1) Read the guide Ultimate Pet Guide v 1.1 for some excellent background information on where you can pick up pets and the damage they can achieve.
(2) For your pet to adventure with you, you need to have Charm Animal equiped. Have this skill nicely tucked away in skill slot 8 out of the way. I will assume that you know where to obtain this skill (pre-searing from the ranger south of Lakeside over the bridge....)
(3) You can swap your pet to a creature of your liking - but this is best done early as the replacement is only level 5. Again refer to Ultimate Pet Guide v 1.1 for how this can be achieved.
(4) Invest in your pet- put skill points into your pet. I have 10 dedicated to him. Although I can't prove it, the Artificial Intelligence of the pet seems to increase. I have seen other pets attack randomly, but these tend to be lower level and I am sure don't have the points in Beast Mastery.
(5) Also equip an offensive pet skill, a speed pet skill and a healing pet skill:
Offensive Skills - all do the same damage, but some allow the pet to maim a foe, cause a foe to bleed, disrupt a spell etc. My personal favourite is Feral Lunge, but looking through the skill listings it is clear that some rather nasty wounds can be inflicted.
speed skills - pets are relatively slow. I have seen pets stand there seeming to do nothing! However, cast Call of Haste or Call of Ferocity and suddenly your pet will go absolutely ballistic!
defensive skills - Call of Healing, Call of Protection, Call of Vitality or my favourite a simple Comfort Animal will keep your pet in the fight.
These are a good balanced skill selection, but note - this takes up a further 3 slots. It is important at this point to remember, your pet is an important extension of your character. It is a source of unexpected damage for the enemy. If, you find a foe who is resistant to your fire, lightning or other magical attacks then concentrate all efforts on maximising your pets attacks!
So, I've mentioned how to obtain a pet, and equip suitable skills, but how do you level him?
Farming is a technique where you explore the world map (often alone) and hunt for treasure dropped from enemy foes. It is also an opportunity to gain rapid experience, particularly if hunting foes of your level or higher.
Say, you spot a group of foes - send in the pet. The enemy will almost certainly encircle it. This is an ideal opportunity to blast the area with an area effect spell. Your cat is in effect a warrior, attracting the enemies attention. At the same time, your cat gains in experience and level.
Take your pet on missions - it is best to inform those you are joining that you have a pet as a matter of courtesy. Other players will expect your pet to be useless, but fire in those pet skills and it will certainly surprise them.
I know this will sound somewhat odd - talk to your pet. Congratulate it for a good kill in the team talk box. This draws the teams attention to its activities and how useful it is! Then, you will often find that the party healer will start helping to keep it on its feet!
I am sure that my character has fallen in combat more that Shadow Fox! If you should fall in combat the pet will continue to attack the original foe. It may even attack another nearby foe - particularly if you target that foe from death (again I have no direct evidence of this).
If by any chance the combat drifts outside of the range of the pet, he will normally just stand next to your body. At this point draw this to the attention of the party. Get them to run back past your pet and he will activate, bringing an extra gun into the battle!
An example of this: We were mobbed by 9, count them 9 hydra! The team was a very good one and we took down 7, but that left a warrior and Shadow Fox on one hydra and the teams monk on another! Things were looking grim, but Shadow Fox and the warrior took down one foe, but the warrior also fell during the combat. The monk was out of range and Shadow Fox would not attack - calls then went out - RUN PAST THE CAT! This he did and Shadow Fox engaged the final hydra buying valuable time for the monk to heal and raise another warrior. Shadow Fox actually took the hydra down to 1/4 of its life before he lost, but this in effect turned certain defeat into victory.
So, I have given you some basic ideas on how to utilise your pet to the best of its abilities in PvE, but what about Player v Player (PvP) and Guild v Guild (GvG)? To tell the truth I wouldn't even bother taking the pet! Other players know that this is a characters achilles heel. There isn't anything as much fun as hacking someones pet to bits! Pets also don't seem to be anywhere near as effective in the arena. The one time I took Shadow Fox in he did absolutely nothing and died in seconds.
So, to conclude:
Find a suitable pet early in the game and stick with it.
Invest in the pet.
Equip offensive, speed and defensive skills.
Use all those skills whenever possible to turn the pet into a killing machine.
Use your pet for farming to gain items and level.
Draw attention to your pet when in a team (healing will almost certainly follow).
Never enter your pet into PvP or GvG environment - change him out for other skills.
This is my first attempt at writing a guide - I know it is somewhat unstructured, but I would appreciate feedback on how I can improve.
Finally above all have fun and surprise other players with the antics of your pet turned killing machine!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
