How does enemy AI prioritize targets?

I'm basically trying to figure out if I can eventually get things to attack my pet rather than me.

It seems like, if there's only one target in range, they'll attack that target (like if I send my pet up to a melee monster). But how do they prioritize when multiple targets are in range? Is it strictly armor, or remaining health, or some combination?

If I go with Beastmaster armor, I should always have 90 armor when my pet is with me, while the pet has 80 armor. Is that enough to make the AI attack the pet as the first option, even if the pet (Hearty) has more health than me?

I belive they go after level.

isnt it armor lvl then health then toon lvl?

It can't be level alone. I'm level 11, my pet is 6, and when I go out solo, I don't attack until my pet has gotten at least one hit in. Yet ranged attackers ignore him and run toward me so that they can wand me.

Hmm, that might make sense, Hookecho. Level 6 pet should have 38 armor, and I'm still in 10 AL starter gear. If I end up with more armor than my pet at 20, will enemies usually attack him instead? I'm guessing he'll end up with 560 health, while I'll have less than 500...

1. At the moment of aggro, they choose a target from among:Anything in their aggro bubble The ally who actually aggroed them Anything in the aggro bubble of the ally who aggroed them.
2. Which target they choose is based on a weighted composite of factors. We are certain that these factors include:Current HP Armor Proximity to the monster

Whether or not monster is already in range and attacking that target. (The monster's currently-attacked target gets a huge preference bonus.) There is speculation, but no conclusive evidence, that either or both of these factors is also considered:Class. (They really might just prefer monks.) Weapon type. (They seem to prefer those using caster weapons.) There may be other factors, but they are likely have such low weights as compared to the above that would be extremely hard to isolate and test for them.

3. Monsters continuously re-evaluate their target choice. However, the preference for the currently-attacked target is so great that they very, very rarely break off of an accessible target once they begin hitting it. Changes in the choice of target usually come when your party ends the monster's I-am-currently-attacking-X status by (1) knocking them down, (2) making them AoE flee, or (3) having X flee from the monster.

Wow, great info, thanks. I do notice that they tend to beeline for the squishies, figured that was because of armor. A lot of stuff to think about, thanks!

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I find maximum health to be the most influential deciding factor. Running a superior, a major, and a minor brings me to 475 health, which seems to result in frequently being trained; however by removing the minor I have 485 health, which is more than henchmen have, and I no longer get trained.

Get a Dire or Elder pet, Dire if you're solely for PvE and Elder if you want to do PvP too. Hearty is really useless, the pet will do terrible damage and be bad at tanking.

As for the first person in the aggro bubble thing, it's true as long as they begin attacking that person before others arrive in their aggro bubble. If they are running towards the first guy inside the bubble and another [more squishy] target enters their bubble, they will most likely head towards that second target.
Casters tend to ignore this though.

I think it's more dependent on AL because sometimes squishies have more hp than front-liners and they're still gone after first.

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