New (main) pet

[Klodovik]

OK, since Means said something about new pets being introduced soon, we should discuss this a little...

I'll start first with a few suggestions.

New main pet:
Notum Scourge mesh (or something better/sinister looking), low HP, high AR, high def rating, immunity or at least high resistance to hostile nanos by default, no heal delta at all (must heal it "manually" with heal pet), not an end game pet only - available to MPs starting from level 165 - SL-like idea, with pet power/abilities scaling up accordingly.

New "mezz" pet:
Standard SL demon looking pet, a bit smaller tho, this one is intended to be additional damage pet but with proc abilities (short snare, stun (2 sec max), DoT, taunt... - only one or two running at once), low damage output (meaning, it might tickle but it does generate aggro), "regular" AR template, much higher HP then "regular" attack pet, available from level 165 and up (scalled up accordingly, again), maybe make it use Tormented Revenant nano resistance template (so, not better then the one above, but still better then regular pets), no special def rating (same as current pets?), high natural heal delta, even when in fight.

New heal pet:
No clue. Insta-cast heal, with longer recharge to compensate? Mesh?

P.S.
Ebag, if you gonna have problem with some posts, feel free to delete them (if they really deserve to be deleted, ofc), don't close the thread like you did with Stellar nanodeck one.

[Cdogg421]

i totally agree with the notum scourge mesh as that is the mesh i have been waiting to see on our main pet. but rather then those extra arm looking things replace those with some sweet looking black wings, and not wings like our teir 3 wings cause thats just stupid looking. and this thing should look so badass and scary that it should get like a 1% chance to proc a fear or stun (cause your either gonna piss your self and run from it, or be so scared you cant move). oh and one last thing, a big scary looking sword. we summon these things so why cant we summon a weapon for it? they know how to talk cause they let us know if they are following or attacking, so why dont they know how to swing a weapon???

as for mezz pet i would say something like a smaller demon but with a cloak on so it looks more like a casting type mob. as for fighting i dont think it would be such a hot idea, rather just have a stronger mezz/stun for it and have it casting that constantly.


as for heal pet i was thinking of some sort of small angel that flys behind us like the meatballs. some kind of plesent friendly looking humanish mesh with white wings (after all we do summon this to treat us and to heal us so we dont want something scary doing that).

[Ebag333]

New main pet:
Notum Scourge mesh (or something better/sinister looking), low HP, high AR, high def rating, immunity or at least high resistance to hostile nanos by default, no heal delta at all (must heal it "manually" with heal pet), not an end game pet only - available to MPs starting from level 165 - SL-like idea, with pet power/abilities scaling up accordingly.

Pretty much agree here, except for the no heal delta. Or pets only real defense is their heal delta, which is uber when out of combat but just okay when in.

For mesh, I've always been a big fan of the LotV style mesh (smaller of course, maybe the size of the mini-LotV's in Alb) but with a red hue to it. There's a PB (Devastator of Scheol? Destroyer of Scheol? One of the ones farmed off Greek Bosses anyway) that has the exact coloring that would be perfect. Since no one ever does that PB no one ever see's it, so unlike our 'Tiig or Engie's pet (though people see that less and less now that fewer people do cats), it's not well known (though of course the LotV in general is).

New "mezz" pet:
Standard SL demon looking pet, a bit smaller tho, this one is intended to be additional damage pet but with proc abilities (short snare, stun (2 sec max), DoT, taunt... - only one or two running at once), low damage output (meaning, it might tickle but it does generate aggro), "regular" AR template, much higher HP then "regular" attack pet, available from level 165 and up (scalled up accordingly, again), maybe make it use Tormented Revenant nano resistance template (so, not better then the one above, but still better then regular pets), no special def rating (same as current pets?), high natural heal delta, even when in fight.

I disagree with an additional damage pet. For one, it just turns us into crats or engies with a healpet. For another, a PvM setup MP can already do incredible amounts of damage, which would simply put us to where PvM engies are. (Thats a popular reason that engies don't need any more love, because they can OD anyone. Despite the fact that it's a pure PvM setup and won't do great in PvP.)

I do like the ability changer idea, though.

And all of our pets should have natural immunties. Players do (both standard immunities and from NR) so why shouldn't pets?

New heal pet:
No clue. Insta-cast heal, with longer recharge to compensate? Mesh?

Take existing heal and half the recharge on it. A larger heal that takes longer doesn't really help us much, we don't have enough HP (even with higher HP setups) to tank a lot of damage while waiting for our heal. A more HoT like heal (1500 HP every 3 seconds instead of 6 seconds) would be more beneficial than a bigger heal with a longer recharge.

I actually like the meatball mesh for healpet, it kinda fits it.

P.S.
Ebag, if you gonna have problem with some posts, feel free to delete them (if they really deserve to be deleted, ofc), don't close the thread like you did with Stellar nanodeck one.

There's a real simple way to keep the thread open.

[scenenheard]

For mesh, I've always been a big fan of the LotV style mesh (smaller of course, maybe the size of the mini-LotV's in Alb) but with a red hue to it. There's a PB (Devastator of Scheol? Destroyer of Scheol? One of the ones farmed off Greek Bosses anyway) that has the exact coloring that would be perfect. Since no one ever does that PB no one ever see's it, so unlike our 'Tiig or Engie's pet (though people see that less and less now that fewer people do cats), it's not well known (though of course the LotV in general is)

Penumbra west Isle dyna near notum scourges ironically (can't remember the name tho) drops Worm King? PB pattern

[Klodovik]

I disagree with an additional damage pet.

Well, I don't plan for it to be actual damage dealer, but current mezz pet job is kinda dull. This one would add some diversity and damage should really be laughable (some 500-700 pts on high AC mobs, at best).

I do like the ability changer idea, though.

There. That's the actual main ability of that pet.

There's a real simple way to keep the thread open.

Yeah, whatever. Just, don't.

[JustinSane4]

I could be wrong, but I would guess that it may be politically unwise for damage to be added to the mezz pet, as then other professions would counter legitimate MP concerns with "Quit whining! You've got 2 attack pets and a heal pet, and the other pet profs only get the attack pets!". In other words, it might be perceived by others as being more useful than it actually is and create backlash against fixing other parts of the MP toolkit.

[Ebag333]

I could be wrong, but I would guess that it may be politically unwise for damage to be added to the mezz pet, as then other professions would counter legitimate MP concerns with "Quit whining! You've got 2 attack pets and a heal pet, and the other pet profs only get the attack pets!". In other words, it might be perceived by others as being more useful than it actually is and create backlash against fixing other parts of the MP toolkit.

Exactly.

If the main point of it is different abilities, why even have damage at all?

[Klodovik]

If the main point of it is different abilities, why even have damage at all?

'cos I personally think it would be nice. :shrug:

Do you cast mezz pet at Beast/Zod runs? No, you (usually) don't. This way, you would.

[scenenheard]

give it the ability to actually mez a zod/beast then yeah I would.... chances of that happening would be remote tho.... most of the time I cast it as a purple advertising barrage balloon (ps: can we have "MP Buffs here" tattooed on its sides?)

[Dancingrage]

The idea of new pets is nice but the problem with implenting any new pets, and this goes triple-dog-dare extra for the MP is that MPs can get some of the highest nanoskills in the game, and our current pet reqs 2040 TS MC.

Because different MPs use different setups you wind up with wildly different nanoskill totals. Tigress MPs won't have the same nanoskills that a defensive shield MP vs offensive shield MP or 1hb, etc.

Id put out the idea of scaling pets before to actually make use of those wasted nanoskills, and while it'd be a tough job to implement, would be useful in making sure our pets can keep up with the future expansions of the game as it goes forward.

I also like the idea of a mezz pet that's more of a utility player, with the ideas I'd listed earlier of a piercing mezz with low NR check, an AOE mezz and a few other options so it can do more than just sit there and look cute. If it gets damage it probably shouldn't be very high overall and should probably have a taunt to get it killed quickly (which gives options in many situations)

More later, since I got rk4 agg.

[Ebag333]

Do you cast mezz pet at Beast/Zod runs? No, you (usually) don't. This way, you would.

No, because they're usually not allowed.

But if they had useful abilities, IE: mezz as standard attack but then also an init debuff, or stun, or damage debuff, or <insert option here> then they'll be used.

No need for damage. *shrug*

Besides, it's the perception of something rather than the reality of it that's important. You're suggesting a damage add that would be pretty minimal, but all anyone else would see is "you get two attack pets!". Same holds true for SS ("zomg free 5 spec blockers!") and for SoZ ("MP's get free AMS!").

We don't need to do anything that adds to that perception, we already get enough of it with Tigress, SS, and SoZ.

[Chrys]

Don't care for Notum Scourge mesh anymore, unless it's hideously shrunk in size because if you thought chicken bot was bad filling your screen and annoying the heck out of everyone, scourge will be worse. A small lotv without having him float 500ft above our head sounds cool.

The idea for a new "mezz" pet is that it's supposed to disable to defend the master or help him deal with adds. It obviously works in PVM, but not in PVP... I'd go with any idea that has our mezz pet disabling people or at an even more basic level, defend the master. There's lots of possibilities, and I've suggested them in previous posts before:

A straight up debuff to combat abilties

A range of disables that we can pick from:

Have a dd debuff pet (that stacks with ours, and duh, affects perks), a NR debuff pet, an init debuff pet, etc. And maybe even have a 'bomb' function where we can send them in for a big AoE debuff of their type but it terminates the pet and puts us in a lockout.

And of course my favourite is to give one of the pets a knockdown/knockback proc. When you've played a prof where the pet is more than just another bit of DD, you'll never see pet classes the same again.

Some Squig Herder (Ranged pet class in Warhammer) abilities I would die for:

1) Pet specials damage you have control over
2) Ability to have different types of attack pets for different situations: AoE damage pet, Anti-magic (NR8? o.O) pet, DD pet, etc. (you only have one pet at a time though, no stacking)
3) Pet abilities that protect the master: Knockdowns, taunts, snares, etc.
4) Combined arms - when both pet and master are near each other and attacking the same target, certain abilities become more powerful
5) Blowing up your pet to do an AoE last-resort massive damage that will make killing pets risky for your opponent

Sadly however, what we're more likely to see is biggerdotpet, biggerhealpet, biggermezzpet and Aimed Shot nerfed on top.


Now another one i'd like (assuming our main attack pet is fixed), is a PVP taunt. Obviously shamelessly ripped off Warhammer here: When tanks in WAR taunt, they reduce their targets's damage by 50%, and the target has to hit the tank to get his damage back (I believe each hit on the tank reduces the debuff by 10%). Now if a new attack pet could have a similar PVP taunt that hits a heavy debuff or even puts a reflec up on the caster, and then the attacker has to smack the pet to remove it, then we'd get better defense and force people to take notice of our pets. Not recommended vs soldiers ofc but against melee profs that don't get big scaling capping hits on our pet, this would solve our alpha problem.

[scenenheard]

Give Mezz pet CoC

[Klodovik]

No, because they're usually not allowed.

But if they had useful abilities, IE: mezz as standard attack but then also an init debuff, or stun, or damage debuff, or <insert option here> then they'll be used.

No need for damage. *shrug*

I just thought for it to become some kind of extra tank for us, so I added damage as well (if that's gonna help keep aggro a little bit longer). I'm thinking about a whole new concept for "mezz" pet.

It should be the first pet that gets all the punching, hence the great healdelta, more HP, aggro magnet etc... I don't know, why shouldn't we add a little difference to our gameplay? For all I care, damage dealing ability is not really needed, it was just an icing on the cake.

Besides, it's the perception of something rather than the reality of it that's important. You're suggesting a damage add that would be pretty minimal, but all anyone else would see is "you get two attack pets!". Same holds true for SS ("zomg free 5 spec blockers!") and for SoZ ("MP's get free AMS!").

We don't need to do anything that adds to that perception, we already get enough of it with Tigress, SS, and SoZ.

People will bitch anyways, unless they get something new as well, which they will.

Hmmm and I like that knockback and PvP taunt features Chrys mentioned.

[JustinSane4]

If we want a Mezz Pet that works a bit differently, what about having a moderately high HP mezz pet that casts a damage/init debuff with a rather strong taunt? We could call it "Floating Sphere of Infinite Annoyance" . I don't know whether or not that would be OP, but it seems like it would make all 3 pets useful in pretty much all circumstances, including PvP. Even without a PvP taunt mechanic, a pet debuffing initiative and damage would be useful. It would be useful against bosses. And it would have some use against adds, though not as great as the current Mezz Pet.

To me, it makes sense for a Mezz Pet with a different attack not to retain mezzing ability as well. It seems a bit much for one pet to fill both functions.

One last idea: If we get a Mezz Pet with an alternate attack, I'd love to see a mid-level version available, possibly around lvl 120 (kind of like Engineers get a mid-level dog 100 levels before they get the real one).

[Koizumi]

New heal pet:
No clue. Insta-cast heal, with longer recharge to compensate? Mesh?

And make the pet immune to all init debuffs/calms?
Nope

[Klodovik]

And make the pet immune to all init debuffs/calms?
Nope

Ofc not.

BTW, I forgot to add one more reason why the damage dealing "mezz" pet.

I like how SL demons fight, so it might look stupid if they start jumping/doing back flips while not doing any damage at all.

Did I mentioned that I dislike floating ball shaped pets? WTB cute little SL demon to fight along with big/mean main pet.

[Koizumi]

Ofc not.

How come? Instant heals would mean that neither UBT/Decreptitude, red tapes, malaise, nor calms would slower its healing. (btw, if you didnt realize yet, calms dont stop healpet from healing, just slow them down).

[Klodovik]

How come? Instant heals would mean that neither UBT/Decreptitude, red tapes, malaise, nor calms would slower its healing.

Nope, if you have instacast heal (by insta I don't really mean 0,0 sec cast now, I thought more like 0.25s or something like that) and you have zero nanoc init (like heal pet probably has), casting init debuffs on him would still slow it down.

(btw, if you didnt realize yet, calms dont stop healpet from healing, just slow them down).

No, it stops heal pet from healing and moving.

[Koizumi]

Nope, if you have instacast heal (by insta I don't really mean 0,0 sec cast now, I thought more like 0.25s or something like that) and you have zero nanoc init (like heal pet probably has), casting init debuffs on him would still slow it down.

Slow it down yes.
But the difference compared to atm would be lolworthy.

No, it stops heal pet from healing and moving.

Just checked it with a friend, my bad.