Ideas to make pets usable

Hello there, simple idea here. I dont like that pets are so underappreciated. They are useful but it is true they can waste skill slots. Thats why i think it would be nice if pets had inherent skills (only 1) like the bears brutal mauling. all of them could cost 4 adrenaline so they couldnt really be spammed and all would take as long as brutal mauling does. This way they arnt overpowered. But...unlike brutal mauling, ACTUALLY MAKE THEM DO SOMETHING!

For example
Bear: Brutal Mauling: Causes Deep Wound.
Spider: Inject Venom: Causes Poison
Cats (Lynx, Lion, and such): These have no skill but atk 15% faster (or 20% idk)
Rat: Plague Bite: Causes Disease
Dogs (wolf, hyena): no skill but deal 15% more damage (or 20% idk)
Birds: No skill but have 15% armor penetration (or 10% idk)
Reptiles: Thick Skin (yes a skill): Gain +30 armor
Warthog: Boar's Rush: Knocks Down
Crab: Low Pinch: Causes Cripple

These are just my ideas to make pets actually do something and then it is also balanced because each pet does different stuff that is equally helpful. Many new builds could arise from this and also ppl would start using pets more. I mean a-net had tried to encourage our use of diff stuff ex: smite monks, earth ele, etc. but never really encouraged the use of pets instead of rangers with ONLY bow attacks. Just my thoughts, cuz i know this would make me love my crab a whole lot more

/signed

This could make your choice of a pet effect certain builds. Although the rats' skill is a bit overpowered...i still think this is doable, and should be done

*EDIT*:Cats (Lynx, Lion, and such): Swipe:Interrupt target foe's action
Birds: Peck(?) Give target foe cracked armor (look it up on guild wiki)
Dogs:Growl Target foe loses (maybe) 3 energy

I think they should have skills if we are going to do this, i dont like the idea of some attacking faster then others. Also, like with heros, we should be able to control this skill via the pet control bar

/signed

I gladly agree with this. I love my pet Crocodile named Dundee but sometimes i just cant bring him along because i need to do that extra bit of damage, or need an extra skill for interupt and such. Giving pets an added bonus seems like a great idea.

I mean the added sunspear skill for them is amazing and I cant wait to see what EN adds, hopefully it will be something along these lines.

I like the idea to buff pets a bit, but not with the skills you suggest. THey are not balanced. (For example: a knockdown is quite a heavy effect compared to some conditions of other pets)

Imo the rangers should be able to have a maximum of 3 pets within them. and those pets should be EVER automatically with him. only then they r real beast masters imo ...
To make this better balanced, rangers should change primary attributes ...
Beast Mastery should become main attribute, not this other crap, that lowers energy cost and has mostly only crap skills, which are only good for defense but lack on duration time and have too long recharge times for the very short times they work ... and the attacks skills are not compared to Dexterity Skills not worth it to be taken into the bar. The trapper attribute should not be main, beast should be it ...
Then giving automatically every 5 points 1 pet more that will follow u whereever u go except towns, and when u#ve tamed enough.
When uve tamed only 1 pet, but uve 10 points at beast mastery, then will follow u only 1 pet, not 2 ...
with this change beast master would become alot more interesting, especially when u have not to waste 1 slot only for hving ur pets at ur side. no they should simple follow u, when u've enough points in ur attribute. this would make much more sense ...

and then with this change for balancing i appriciate pets max level lowered then to 15.
I think its really only fair, when a ranger can get up to 3 pets, that r level 15 max then, when there r MM necros, which can run around with a flesh golem, that can be like lvl 26 or so and then like 10 more minions that can reach with death magic at 16 easily lvl 18 or so ...thats just really weird and is really near overpowered imo, but in other facts somehow sometimes needed vs overpowered groups of enemys in pve, simpe to be able to survive, because the developers of factions were for 100% sure necromancer freaks ... when i see, how often u need there MM necros to come further, especially more at the end, but for pvp, its overpowered and vs that the ghosts of the ritualist r massivly underpowered, because they cant move and r mostly only like lvl 7-8 oO the ritualists needs in this fact really finally an elite ghost, that can MOVE and follows its master, something like those Smoke phantoms, which r lvl 17 and some nice wind elementalists

And pets should become controlable like heroes. The ranger should not set attack beast mastery skills into his own bar, the player should set those skills which are attacks of beasts into the bar of the beasts self, so that the beasts use those skills self and dont need orders for this ...
The only beast mastery skills, that should be in the bar of the player itself, shold be healing and buffing skills, but attack skills should be in the pet bars...

Example:

my Bar:

1 self heal skill, some bow attacks, a defense skill and some healing/buffing skills for my pets, sunspear res signet

3 pets, all with 8 different attack skills that they will use automatically by themself as npcs like heroes, with u as player being able to order attacks over their skill bars, which u can open ber button press on the HP bars...
in this case u can easily control then more than 1 pet, without losing the overview. and more important, u don't waste any slots for ur pets.
Then should be improved, that certain attack skills r only for certain types of pets ...

example:
a black moa has no claws, so for a black moa it should be impossible to do any claw like attacks. a black moa has no venom tooths or so, like a black widdow, so for a black moa it should be impossible to do attack skills, that poison enemies ...
this is something, that should be really done for the sake of natural realilism in the game. when done this, and having then 3 different pets with u, u can give then every single one only certain attack skills that those pets are biolocal able to do, and by doing this, this will automatically balance this all more

Okay Pheonix Tears above me...where to start...
A) Beast Mastery is the skill I use least - u get the tanking part of the pet free...Is your pet your main source of damage
B) Primary attributes for most classes are the energy management attribute - and Expertise is by far the best of them I feel - essential i would think for all Bowmasters. I jsut dont even know how a half decent ranger could go without.
C) Yes why don't we let have all rangers have 3 pets - that dosn't sound overpowered at all (oh lvl 15 great so only a combined total of 45 XD).....and without a skill slot needed christ does it get worse - oh yes each pet can have different skills as well.....:O

Please rethink how bad this suggestion is XD

My rangers my main character - I love my White Tiger Tiddles. In parties of 8 human players tho pets are about as much use as an ogre slaying knife. (except the B/Ps I'll admit as a temporary quick lads while there on them fire! shield). There just another thing the monks have to heal when they'd rather concentrate on one heavily armored tank.

So all the rangers go - Gods Tiddles is nerfed - Pets need a buff!

But the problem is that soloing with a pet and a longbow what you have with you is a portable shield that can be easily renewed , suffers no DP and can be rezzed from miles away.... Soloing with just a pet and running just as it dies has allowed me to kill countless mobs with no threat to myself. I've been able to take out more than my fair share of bosses this way.

So every other class goes - Gods Tiddles is Broke - Pets need a nerf!

So what we really need is a solution that gives pets an advantage in parties but doesn't increase there power soloing. As a basic off the top of my head suggestion make them hit for more base damage, give the pets all a chance to inflict minor conditions, combine Charm+Comfort (suggested so many times but I'm still loathe to do it as pets are such a major boon soloing) , lower the "disabled" time if a pet dies but increase the Comfort Animal Recharge to 60-120 secs maybe - oh and decrease how far away you can be to pet res.

I'd rather make a skill called 'hidden power' that makes different things depending on pet, that giving each pet a different behaviour, unless they add a way to keep multiple pets or trade them with your heroes (and of course in PvP)

LoL. Like in pokemon?

Eh... more like we currently do with heroes.

You have either primary or seconday Ranger, and the lisbox appears, for example.

/Signed

Good idea/concept....after all those blasted spiders are always poisoning me in magumma jungle (SWINES)
Maybe a lot of re-jigging of the damage output...i.e if it poisons it only does half damage or something. otherwise i see it becoming overpowered, and my ranger will just use it to tank all the time.
Id like to use my pet as a good team member, but if all he does is go and poke them with a spider leg then im not impressed. lol

I like the crab one though...be even better if he had a skill like ... GRAB BA**S
Induces EXTREME pain to male foes and induces female foes to ROFL for 30 secs.....or something like that

And if im honest ...get rid of the Rats completely...i mean ...can you imagine a ruddy great bone dragon going " AGHHH A RAT" and running off....( and ive not seen any elephants in GW yet)...whats i gonna do, nibble its toenails? LOL just kidding

Actually i used my pet to beat the doppleganger in Tyria....not that...ya know it means anything like but well you can if you get the build right....bit pointless though if all your'e gonna do is say... FANG "Go fetch monster" and plink arrows at him going ..."oi stop throwing sticks they arnt damaging me"
all day!
as i said I'd like a team ally that does something. If you got a monstrous great moggy swiping at you surely your going to bleed a little, ...unless you secretly file its claws as at night or something

ok so if u thihnk they are overpowered then i like the idea of having the skills do less damage (if they are atk skills). also te hidden power thing? nah deff dont like as thats kind of defeating the purpose of each pet having its OWN special skill. seeing a spider cause deep wound i think i would be like "wtf". bear causing deep wound i'd be like "makes sense". If they are still overpowered think of this, make them cost more adrenaline, everything can still be changed to make it all balanced. i never said any thing HAS to be like this.

I like the idea, but balance it out a bit more. And the boar's rush thing seems like it would have to be used from a distance, hence "rush" and that would make the pet kinda useless until you need to knock down a foe; you don't want to start a battle with knockdown, you want to wait til its needed.
And reptile pets should have something different, such as Shed Skin (rather than tough skin, seeing as they are more known for shedding than they are for having strong skin) which can remove Diseases and such, but has quite a lengthy CD.
I dunno, it sounds good to me.

battle wouldnt start with knockdown as it costs adrenaline to use :P also removing conditions puts them at a huge disadvantage to other pets. also every1 is saying to balance it more, but is any1 actually giving suggestions how? im not getting mad or anything but i really want to know what suggestions you have for balancing it and not just repeating what u see others saying

/signed
WooW great idea

bumppp it uuupp

I like the idea, using pet attacks atm is pretty diobolical (or mabye Im just bad at it) especially iterupts, mabye yopu can equip your pet with one pet attack that they can use, and give them a bar like heros. You could also do it that you still had to have the pet attacks on your bar but the pet could use them, when it feels fit, this would only drain pet energy, but if you decide to uyse it it would drain yours.
Mabye putting in some adrenal pet attacks would be good too.

/signed (that pets need rethinking)

~A Leprechaun~

very good idea

i like the cats 15% faster thing and dogs 15% more


i think it would be better to have more like an actual inherit affect

ex Spiders : Cause poison 5% of the time
Rats: Cause disease 5% of the time
Birds : Cause Dazed 5% of time
Reptiles : +20 armor but attack 10% slower
Cats : Attack 10% faster
Dogs : Deal 10% more
Bears : Cause bleeding 5% of time
Crabs : Cause Cripple 5% of time

(conditon durations affected by beast mastery level)


very good concept and pets do need rethinking ( Dire Stalker FTW)

As long as they only ever have effect in PVE and not PVP, no worries.