20 Jun 2006 at 01:13 - 6
@ the OP
The pet's trigger for attacking is different from henchies. Whereas a good old target calling will send henchmen into battle, the pet requires you to land an attack on an enemy and still be in the attack mode when that attack hits. Thus, your best bet to hold aggro with your pet is to use the longest range bow you can (either Longbow or Flatbow), use Call of Haste or Run as One so that your pet gets in the enemies' faces as quickly as possible, and to use some good old-fashioned kiting if the enemies do come after you (which they usually will). Notice that if you attack and start moving away or doing something else before that arrow lands, you will no longer be in that attack mode and your pet will not see it as a command to attack. This can be confusing when you're new, but is very helpful as it is the means by which you can pull enemies with a pet. Fire an arrow and strafe around before it lands and your pet will remain faithfully by your side.
The trick to kiting enemies without having your pet cut off its attack and just running after you is that you need to periodically attack amdist your kiting. If your pet thinks you're fleeing, it will join you rather than be left behind, so you must stop to land at least one solid attack every little while to keep it on target. Generally, trying to do so at least once in every 6 or so seconds has worked well for me.
@titan
The pet doesn't need to be anywhere near the action to gain experience. It gains experience based off of the battles you engage in, not the ones it engages in. This goes so far as to allow your pet to level while dead and on the completely opposite end of the map. I don't suggest leveling a pet this way, as it cannot result in a Dire pet, but that's a different topic entirely.
