Mage Pet Or Merc For Tank

Discussion in 'Casters' started by qsnoopyjr, Jun 17, 2021.

  1. qsnoopyjr Lorekeeper

    I'm hearing that L 115 Mage with a L 115 Tank Merc holds bettter aggro and will out survive Mage pets. Is this true? I'm returning and would appreciate your opinions here. I pretty much play solo.
  2. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    Aggro - Merc are a bit better at holding aggro off DPS players than Pets are.

    But in my experience for single targets even an unfocused fully equipped Mage Earth Pet is tougher then a Max AA Merc Tank with the best available Merc Gear, equipped Beastlord & Necromancer pets are also easier to heal.

    Heck even a fully buffed up & geared max AA Shaman Pet is actually tougher than a Merc Tank if you keep popping aegis etc on CD, Merc Tanks are basically crap, a speed bump at best, If I didn't have to bother with them I would not.
    As a 3 boxer I either end up tanking on my zerker when the Merc Tank dies - which is frequently - or using a combination of the Merc Tank & the Shaman Pet with taunt on to spread the damage around some & reduce Merc Tank deaths and I never pull without a HoT running from the Shaman.

    But a Merc Tank does have disciplines and can aggro multiple mobs so long as you aren't getting too many & you have a proper priest class in group to heal them effectively - them using their disciplines well is very hit or miss & pretty much luck.
    JimBob likes this.
  3. Chaosflux Augur

    Idk who you heard that from but that doesn't sound right at all, merc tanks are not very strong between host in the shell, 2nd ward, pet fort, companions fort your pet has ungodly survivability, you can use Host and servants to pet wall or offhand adds as well. I haven't used a tank merc recently but I've never heard anything positive about them :/

    Id use the air or water pet over earth tho, earth is beefier, but garbage aggro and dps, 9/10 water is more than stout enough to tank anything you need tanked.
  4. Marton Augur

    Personally I would chose 115 mage pet + cleric merc for solo adventuring.

    Will have to pick camps more carefully then, let's say necro or beastlord, but you will still do well with your mage.
  5. Cicelee Augur

    Who is healing the tank merc?
    Tucoh likes this.
  6. Cicelee Augur

    The issue is for every nine mobs the water pet can handle, it is the tenth that it cannot. And when that tenth mob comes with a friend, you can't just switch to earth for that one. I personally use earth all the time as a solo mage, and I never have any aggro issues on the mage.
    Stymie, Eaedyilye and Skuz like this.
  7. gfnothing New Member

    I like to use water pet & merc healer as a mage. I like the stronger damage, plus water can also be a pretty good tank, especially if you use your AA's accordingly. Typically I only use earth if I am soloing and I am in a spot where I need them to root.
  8. Eaedyilye More stonehive bixies.

    I box 2 mages. I use the earth as my tank and the water for DPS. The earth equipped with 2 rage swords and the Guardian's Conflagrant Mask which is another aggro generator. The earth pet has no aggro issues. I also equip a full set of conflagrant Overlord's armor on my earth pet. So it quite beefy. It hold s up well to most mobs in the game.

    In my little group, I never use the water pet as a tank. It just doesn't hold up as well against tier 2 COV mobs, which is where I am frequently. Both pets are EM 29.
  9. Vumad Cape Wearer


    Solo you are going to use cleric merc. The wizard merc wont make enough DPS to justify you trying to heal your pet. Solo, not sure who you plan to heal the tank merc.

    I myself 3-box ENC, MAG, CLR. I use TANK, ROG, ROG. The Tank merc does very well. Not sure I can say one is really better than the other in normal situations. They both tank fine and I don't know which would out tank the other. Tank merc is easy, does 50k DPS and keep the aggro off the 150k DPS rogues. Tank merc wont disc like a mage pet for named, but I am boxing a cleric who can disc heals, so I don't have a problem with named. In bad situations, I do WAR, ROG, CLR mercs, but that need is rare. I always use water pet with earth in the pocket.