Keeping my wolf pet alive

[Bonulino]

I really love my wolf pet, but he is kind of a mana sponge. Does anyone have suggestions for making sure he takes a little less damage?

[Hobgoblin]

I really love my wolf pet, but he is kind of a mana sponge. Does anyone have suggestions for making sure he takes a little less damage?

enhancements? maybe

[UurlockYgmeov]

fortification.
Draconic Soul Gem (if high enough level - else resists)

[CThruTheEgo]

Yeah, don't summon him lol.

I've not played a druid much so I don't know how useful/intelligent their dogs are, but if they're as bad as artificer dogs, then the best option is to simply use it as a lever puller when needed.

[Enoach]

Lessons I've learned with Pets (Artificer, Druid and Wizard Skeleton)

Make sure you level up the Artificer and Druid pets. Personally I found going the bluff route with them helped them survive better as it helped them avoid hits. But going the Intimidate route is also good as it keeps stuff from hitting you.

Gear - For the Artificer and Druid pets don't skimp on keeping the gear up to date. Craft collars out of named handwraps and ones like from Gianthold will allow you to slot augments that will increase their damage output. But also look for appropriate Armor/Docents any effects that can increase their survivability is a good thing.

Buffs - Ship buff your pet. Not just the amenity bar but if you have the old system shrines buff them there as well. But even more than that cast buffs on your pet. They benefit from these as well and an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

Manage your pet. Learn when to use offense, defense and when to direct your pet to attack a selected target. Also learn to call your pet back to you before it gets into a "more than it can chew" situation. You might even consider adding shortcuts to options on your pet to make it easier for you to do this.

[dunklezhan]

enhancements? maybe

Reminds me: Devs - please do a pet enhancement pass. I don't even care too much if no abilities change, just get the interface working in a non-clunky way for heaven's sake. Get it so that when I go to the enhancements tab of my pet's sheet and let me train/retrain my pet myself without visiting a trainer, let me spend points in that window and let me drag abilities to MY hotbars all from one place. That would be amazing.

[Qaliya]

Now having gotten to 7 on my first druid life.. I really enjoy having my wolf out.

A couple of points I haven't seen yet...

Park him before traps. The new banner seems to work much better for the wolf than for hirelings. Call him to you when well past the trap.

The "feed" enhancement allows the wolf to regain up to 20 HP each time it gets a kill. Since I enabled this, I rarely have to heal mine (usually when I do something dumb, or boss fights).

Use Spring's Resurgence.

[Memnir]

Find some at-level Leather armor with a fortification perk on it. Vitality is another good one to look for. Armor is an oft overlooked way to add durability to wolves and metal-mutts.

Also, I agree with Qaliya - get the Feed enhancement when leveling up your wolf. It's some nice self-healing for the lill guy.

[unbongwah]

Apart from what others have said, don't forget the summon-buffing spells: in particular Pack Aptitude (CON) and Tenacious Pack. If you really want to invest in summoning: Augment Summoning feat and Harper Leadership enhancements. If you're a caster build, don't forget to use Spring Resurgence; that's usually enough to save your wolf in heroics and provides a visual cue when it triggers so you know to rebuff afterward.

[Vooduspyce]

I really love my wolf pet, but he is kind of a mana sponge. Does anyone have suggestions for making sure he takes a little less damage?

Hey Bonulino, I'm just curious can you answer a few questions so that I and others can respond with more specifics...

1. What level are you and how many druid levels do you have?
2. What difficulty are you running quests on?
3. Are you planning on using your wolf in epics levels and if so will you be doing epic elites with your wolf?

[Livmo]

Hey Bonulino, I'm just curious can you answer a few questions so that I and others can respond with more specifics...

1. What level are you and how many druid levels do you have?
2. What difficulty are you running quests on?
3. Are you planning on using your wolf in epics levels and if so will you be doing epic elites with your wolf?

I'm not as versed in the druid wolf as I am the arty dog. Nacho is smart with the druid and I would love to read his responses on the topic, since I suck at playing druids compared to other classes.

You can gear an arty dog to survive in EE, but my druid is still a long way from epics so I'm unsure about the wolf. You still need to heal and buff the dog in epics. Take care of your pet and it will take care of you. I use a Thunderforged docent on my dog and various collars depending on my mood. Right now I have the new epic collar on the dog.

You can convert handwraps into collars at the trap station in House C. One of my favs is the Grave Wrappings handwraps from Unquiet Graves. I stay away from dog enhacments that entail aligment, so I can use stuff like this without a penalty.

EDIT ~ Also can make Alchemical handwraps and covert to collar for earthgrab. That is a fun one as well.

[Bonulino]

1. What level are you and how many druid levels do you have?
2. What difficulty are you running quests on?
3. Are you planning on using your wolf in epics levels and if so will you be doing epic elites with your wolf?

Pure Druid, just turned level 25. I typically run epic quests anywhere from level 20 through 25. Frequently at EN, but sometimes on EH. I only run EE if I am running the quest with my guildies. I have been upgrading his armor and collars of late, and that has helped. I would still like advice from others how they keep their pets alive and well.

[Vooduspyce]

Pure Druid, just turned level 25. I typically run epic quests anywhere from level 20 through 25. Frequently at EN, but sometimes on EH. I only run EE if I am running the quest with my guildies. I have been upgrading his armor and collars of late, and that has helped. I would still like advice from others how they keep their pets alive and well.

The wolf should be able to be made very surviveable for EN and EH questing on a pure druid.

If you have Heavy Armor proficiency then your wolf does too, so consider getting him some heavy dragon armor and if you're staying as druid for endgame then the heavy shadow dragonscale armor with 30/60 DR will help. If you do not already have heavy armor proficiency, you should seriously consider taking it for any non-evasion druid, as it offers some really nice added PRR and MRR.

Wolf gear augments: sapphire of defense, con and fort will be valuable. These will function the same whether they are on your wolf's collar or armor.

The Necklace of Mystic Eidolons gives you the Augment Summoning feat, so that could help as well if you can fit that into your gear.

Harper Leadership in the Harper tree is a relatively low cost investment to give your wolf +4 to all stats.

If you are interested, I have a video that shows how the wolf performs in EE Maze of Madness and in it I go over the gear that I use for my wolf.

If you're running in Primal Avatar destiny, there are enhancements there to improve your animal companion, but I would not recommend twisting anything just for the wolf.

I have another video that discusses level 20 wolf armor options that may also interest you.

Epic Ivy Wraps are a good collar option, which has vampirism on it so will help keep your wolf healed.

For enhancements, stay away from Alpha Wolf and Growl, as they just draw more aggro to your wolf. You can use Cunning Wolf to help keep aggro off the wolf. Wolf Instincts will help saves vs. traps and Wolf Evasion I and II will also help.

You can also use the intimidate skill to pull aggro off your wolf.

And finally, each druid past life you have will give your wolf (and summons and hires) +2 to all stats, which can stack up to 3 times for up to +6.

I am also optimistic that the druid enhancement pass will include more options to boost the wolf. I believe that may happen later this year.

I hope some of this helps and good luck!

[mezzorco]

As someone already said, wolf has the same armor proficiency as you, so dragonscale medium armors are your friends.
If you happen to have heavy armor proficiency, consider heavy dragonplate for your pet.

Not your case, but I'll write this aswell.
In early heroic levels it is difficult to find non metal medium armors, since lootgen darkwood, darkleaf and hide armors don't drop anymore.
Lion's Head Armory in House Deneith sells +1 hide armors, you can start from those and craft medium armors for you and your pet.
However, note that their AC bonus and MDB are not up to date, so it is a temporary solution until you find something better.

[Livmo]

The wolf should be able to be made very surviveable for EN and EH questing on a pure druid.

If you have Heavy Armor proficiency then your wolf does too, so consider getting him some heavy dragon armor and if you're staying as druid for endgame then the heavy shadow dragonscale armor with 30/60 DR will help. If you do not already have heavy armor proficiency, you should seriously consider taking it for any non-evasion druid, as it offers some really nice added PRR and MRR.

Wolf gear augments: sapphire of defense, con and fort will be valuable. These will function the same whether they are on your wolf's collar or armor.

The Necklace of Mystic Eidolons gives you the Augment Summoning feat, so that could help as well if you can fit that into your gear.

Harper Leadership in the Harper tree is a relatively low cost investment to give your wolf +4 to all stats.

If you are interested, I have a video that shows how the wolf performs in EE Maze of Madness and in it I go over the gear that I use for my wolf.

If you're running in Primal Avatar destiny, there are enhancements there to improve your animal companion, but I would not recommend twisting anything just for the wolf.

I have another video that discusses level 20 wolf armor options that may also interest you.

Epic Ivy Wraps are a good collar option, which has vampirism on it so will help keep your wolf healed.

For enhancements, stay away from Alpha Wolf and Growl, as they just draw more aggro to your wolf. You can use Cunning Wolf to help keep aggro off the wolf. Wolf Instincts will help saves vs. traps and Wolf Evasion I and II will also help.

And finally, each druid past life you have will give your wolf (and summons and hires) +2 to all stats, which can stack up to 3 times for up to +6.

I am also optimistic that the druid enhancement pass will include more options to boost the wolf. I believe that may happen later this year.

I hope some of this helps and good luck!

I have a hard time keeping my wolf alive and I'm only mid-level. If I have time this weekend I'm to look into armor prof. I'm good on collars since I have allot of arty dogs, but I don't have much armor for my druid's wolf. I may even try and craft some armor for Wolfie. TY for sharing the info!

[Tom116]

Reminds me: Devs - please do a pet enhancement pass. I don't even care too much if no abilities change, just get the interface working in a non-clunky way for heaven's sake. Get it so that when I go to the enhancements tab of my pet's sheet and let me train/retrain my pet myself without visiting a trainer, let me spend points in that window and let me drag abilities to MY hotbars all from one place. That would be amazing.

Agree, maybe giving the skeletons a better enhancement system too. As it is, wolves/defenders get their own AP, but skeletons eat into your own character's AP which is a big turn off, especially for a DC caster.