Pet class needed....

[SolarDawning]

... and City of Heroes and several classes in Anarchy Online and Ultima Online of course and AC and EQ and SWG and DAoC of a sort etc etc... It's pretty standard for MMOs to have at least one pet class and often more than one. Many of those games have pet classes that can have several pets at once too.

Some games give you real control over pets though, determining who they attack/heal/CC and when they use their special attacks etc. When that's the case, it certainly isn't an easier type of class to play - usually managing your pets on top of managing your own actions makes it much more complex than other classes. I think most players who are 'real' pet class specialists would say that you have to have control over your pets for it to really be a pet class.

Bards/Sorcs/Wizards are probably the closest thing to pet users in DDO, with summoned monsters, charms, suggestions and create undead etc. In reality, you'd probably only really see wizards trying for this as there are often better choices of spells for the others. But with game AI controlling them pretty much entirely, it's hard to see them as a proper pet class anyway.

X

I have fond memories of playing a Mastermind villain in City of Heroes.
My mad scientist had a robot army. (At any given time, three "grunt" drone bots with laser guns, two advanced killer bots (lieutenant rank), one giant death machine with missles and a huge laser cannon, and various devices, like remote explosive mines that flew around looking for targets.
And they had good pet AI!

[Elyanna]

Ok I'll bite...

Rangers can Summon Nature Ally and Improved Wild Empathy..TADA! Two pets at once for a time..

[Uskathoth]

Some games give you real control over pets though, determining who they attack/heal/CC and when they use their special attacks etc. When that's the case, it certainly isn't an easier type of class to play - usually managing your pets on top of managing your own actions makes it much more complex than other classes. I think most players who are 'real' pet class specialists would say that you have to have control over your pets for it to really be a pet class...

X

I agree and I think this would be a good basis for a (re-worked) Druid-as-pet-class. Other classes can summon pets but if they gave Druids a better interface for pets than other casters it would make them unique in the game. And the interface would only work on Druidic summons, no splashing just so you can control your Hell Hound better. It would not be a "sit back" kind of class to play if you wanted to be effective. I assume shapeshifting is just a pain in the butt to work into the game so instead the druids could be kind of bard-like i.e. lightly armored casters with some strong suits (pets), some moderate ability in several other spheres (healing, buffing and direct damage) with little or no ability in crowd control (other than redirection via pets).

(To clarify, bards seem like they have very good buffs, good crowd control, moderate healing and little or no direct damage; but I'm basing that more on PnP than DDO since I've not played high-level bards in DDO).

[Aesop]

Given the utterly feeble Summoned Monster AI - a pet class would be a complete train wreck.

I would assume that a Pet Class would use the Hireling Style control Bar and not just the Summoned Monster AI. Though the Hireling AI isn't much better over all. It definately needs to be more reactive to the desires of the controler


So yeah a WF Druid with their Pet, a Summoned Ally and an Adamantine Defender to help out occasionally... could be interesting ... or laggy one of the two or both


Aesop

[Gnorbert]

So yeah a WF Druid with their Pet, a Summoned Ally and an Adamantine Defender to help out occasionally... could be interesting ... or laggy one of the two or both

I have a vision in my head right now of a party of 6 of these characters....

24 members to your party including the players.... that would be amusing.

[hermespan]

You can play a cleric and have 5 players that are pretty much like a pet.

Often the AI is much worse than npc pets.

[Missing_Minds]

Yep, I said it, tho it bears to be repeated a few dozen more times, till it makes it IG....Dire Wolf ftw...

Have you looked at what wolves do in the game yet?

Give me a dire rat!
I'll summon a dam cat if I want a tripper.

[Atisha]

Sorry if is missed it, but I am surprised no one has said this yet:

Or instead of a "new" pet class we could give rangers animal companions per 3.5 rules.

Then of course Druids would get them as well when they are released in 2016.

I think that's an overly optimistic projection, don't you?

[clanqui]

Often the AI is much worse than npc pets.

And tamagotchi's also whine much less.

[Uska]

umm not really we dont pet AI is bugged and this isnt just another mmo and we dont need to be like the others.

[Eladiun]

you Can Play A Cleric And Have 5 Players That Are Pretty Much Like A Pet.

+1

As for the OP, ugg god no. The last thing this game needs is a pet class.

[Havenor]

So yeah a WF Druid with their Pet, a Summoned Ally and an Adamantine Defender to help out occasionally... could be interesting ... or laggy one of the two or both


Aesop

I tried making a WF Wiz with the Iron Companion and Summon Monster I. Summoned my Companion, but when I tried to cast Summon Monster, I was given the message that I could only have 1 summons active at a time. Now, this was prior to Pale Master released, so I don't know if those work on a different mechanic, and you could have your death scorpion of dewm and your skeleton pet up at the same time.