Thinking about creating a Beastlord, but I don't want to worry about constantly getting gear for my pet. Later in game, how much weaker will my pet be without getting gear from a mage? When people talk about what a Beastlord is capable of, is this with or without gear for the pet? Thanks!
You can also use mercenary gear. I know it's more rare to find it, but you can always save it in your inventory for when your pet wipes, and you need it for tanking a named mob, for example. I was farming EoK for a while and ended up with tons of 105 mercenary gear, so I would use it on my BL pet. It generally has really nice stats for a pet.
The mage gear adds a slight increase in damage through procs, but it's only meaningful in a long fight. I never get pet gear for my mage, necro, or beast. The swords that proc a hate increase are absolute garbage and do nothing btw, so don't worry about that. The procs from the other weapons cause just as much hate or more.