Pet Levels

My question is twofold.

First: Is there any way to capture a pet that is already high level? I'm a lv20 Elementalist who just changed secondary class to Ranger, and I have a pet that is only level 5. It dies. A lot.

Second: Failing the ability to capture a pet already at high level, can I adventure in low-level areas and still have my pet gain experience? I know I won't, but it would be nice to be able to level my pet without having it die all the time.

First: Yes. But only if you can get yourself a party sufficiently competent to survive a trip through the Underworld. The Black Widow that spawns there starts at level 20.

Second: Yes again.

Also, it is worth noting that your pets power is tied not only to its level, but also to your Beast Mastery trait. At level 20 with a Beast Mastery of 0 my Black Widow could hardly manage even the low level stuff in Ascalon. After I pumped Beast Mastery to 12 its damage output increased enormously to the point it became quite useful as a companion even in the Crystal Desert.

So if you haven't pumped up your Beast Mastery yet you might find that doing so gives your level 5 pet a boost in survivability.

I have my Beast Mastery at 8, which is as high as I can get it without sacrificing too much in my Elementalist attributes. I figure that's a decent balance.

It's worth noting that your pet gains experience even if it's dead. For example, when I acquired my bear, I didn't bother trying to keep it alive, and it pretty much always died at the first enemy we'd come across. Didn't matter though, and it gained ten levels in a few hours.

This is the best method for leveling a new pet. Don't worry if it dies, just zone in somewhere you can solo large groups and work for a bit, I just wish they would add an indicator for your pet's exp.

BTW, I don't believe that changing base beast mastery increases pet base attack, its a good idea, but I remember that ever being added. I'll have to do some testing....

every point in beast mastery gives your pet a chance to do a critical, much like other weapon masteries

or so it seems

Here's another consideration. I believe that the rate that your pet gains XP is independent of your own rate. Say you're level 20 and ripping through Charr levels 5-8 and your pet is level 2. You may get 0 XP but I'm pretty sure your pet is getting 100 or 200 XP per kill.