So i've been reading a lot of different posts and things about how pet nerfs basically wrecked their defense/mitigation. I couldn't find many specific answers about the changes other than a few people saying they're garbage now, or people saying they're still OP so i wanted to just ask a few of my questions here before the new servers. What specifically was changed about them? How well do mage pets (water/earth) tank in classic/kunark/velious? How about with shaman slows/buffs? How much do cleric buffs help mitigate the nerf? How much does giving them dropped armor (raw hide, bronze, whatever) help mitigate the nerf?
The pet tanking, specifically, was nerfed very hard in both groups and raids. Their dps is still very strong. On fresh servers they are always a favorite because they need no gear to be above the pack. Shaman slows are always great, but that's going to help anything tank better.
Their melee mitigation was severely reduced. Prior to the change they were absolutely absurd powerhouse tanks in classic content. Now they have very low AC and usually take full damage from melee hits. Their dps is still good though. They are unable to tank raid bosses that have Mitigation of the Mighty as the aggro they generate is just transferred to the mage. If you use a lot of mage/necro pets on a single raid mob, their dps decreases. These nerfs are (I think) somwhat reduced in Luclin, and then entirely removed in LDoN. Can tank a single unslowed level appropriate xp mob just fine. Needs heals. 2 is doable with on point heals. 3+ is basically not doable. Tanking 2 slowed level appropriate xp mobs is pretty easy. 3 is doable. 4+ is pretty difficult or impossible. A bit. Not much. A bit. Not much. Thanks for your helpful reply. You seem like a cool and well adjusted person.
Thanks, that was exactly what i needed. Sounds like theyre still gonna be fine for pretty much whatever i'll be doing when i can't find a group.
FWIW: Still leveling up a Magician on Mangler. @40ish I had a water pet equipped with full summoned plate, jewelry, Elemental Defender, Fist of Ixiblat<?>, Belt of the Magi'Kot, Muzzle of Mardu. Spells up on it were Burnout, Expedience, and a fire shield. I think the healer in the group put up a couple of beneficial spells like Chloroplast. The <?> is I may have used a Gnoll Hide Lariat for the stun process, can't remember. Anyway, that combination against some pretty serious twink tanks the elemental could pretty much holds its own. Only used that one elemental for 5 levels. Every time the healer or spell would make a mistake and draw aggro from the herd of mobs, I would send the elemental to pull them off. Had as many as three MOBs on it at one time and managed with healer to keep it alive. I understand not everyone likes to go shopping in the Bazaar and spending half an hour doing this. You also spend close to 100 pp on equipment which is a lot if it is your first character. Point being, the game is somewhat balanced for what happens if you throw the kitchen sink of buffs and equipment at a character or pet. You don't have to do it, but if you take advantage of every perk in the book an Elemental will get along just fine. A naked Elemental, not so much.
i always make a mage on a new tlp because i hate using charm,a mage and a cleric and if you want another class to be your main just add them.
Hello there Pets suffer a defense malus (less hps ac avoidance and mitigation) till LdoN era if I recall that correctly. But as soon PoP is live on your server, you will notice a significant increase in pet tanking/survivability, the malus in PoP has been narrowed down to a quite weak value. If you look for more infos about pets in early expansions, I'd suggest that you check the TLP section of EQmagetower, here the link : https://eqmagetower.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=68 At your disposal per pm here or ingame tell if you need any more specific information. Good luck !
