Newb question: How powerful is the pet?

[Badspeller]

<p>So I'm trying eq2 for like the 67th time, this time as a mystic. So far I Like the class, enough that I might actualy play the game for more then a few weeks.</p><p>At 11 the pet is strong enough to hold a group of mobs while I pick them off one at a time. Was just wondering if it stays powerful or if it becomes worthless later on, also if its worth spending AA points on to improve</p>

[Banditman]

<p>The pet is not a tank.  It *might* off tank one mob for a little while if you Ward it up heavily, but that's highly inefficient since the pet has no mitigation, making those Wards you put on the pet nearly worthless.  Then again, it might not off tank it.  The pet doesn't do much damage, and if it gets hit hard enough, the aggro from the Ward will bounce the mob right onto you, and you'll be standing there with no Ward at all because the pet just soaked up all of them.</p><p>Consider the pet a "DoT with benefits".</p>

[Gahnand]

<p>The dog is pretty OP by end-game (especially if you know what it was like back when it used to be a vvv). As you are leveling you are going to have to be a lot more careful about positioning the dog to prevent AE damage. Personally, I'd get all my melee points in line before picking up the dog until you start grouping more than soloing. At the bottom of the STR line, the dog is immune to non-direct AE damage, this means that you will need to make sure your dog is not in front of the mob to prevent it from getting murdered.</p>

[Harduc]

<p><cite>Gahnand@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>At the bottom of the STR line, the dog is immune to non-direct AE damage, this means that you will need to make sure your dog is not in front of the mob to prevent it from getting murdered.</p></blockquote><p>doh! I always thought the "non-direct" meant "not the target of AoE" and thus as long as it didnt have agro it would survive. Havent raided with my mystic yet, so I havent eny experience with the dogdog on raids though.</p>

[Greggthegrmreapr]

<p>The only AoE's that generally hit him are AoE auto attack procs that many mobs get now.  It may have been fixed in the few months I was gone recently due to work, because mine hasn't died that much lately.</p>

[Banditman]

<p>AE Auto attack still hits, and there are a few PBAE's that also hit.</p>

[SonnyA]

<p>I can't keep my pet alive on Tyrannus and Munzok. But that's about it. As long as you have the strength endline, survivability is not a big issue</p>

[Banditman]

<p>The issue with Tyrannus is his port, the tank can't really keep the mob still and the pet tends to eat a riposte or AE auto attack when mobs wiggle around like that.</p><p>It's sort of annoying.</p>

[AziBam]

<p><cite>Gahnand@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>The dog is pretty OP by end-game (especially if you know what it was like back when it used to be a vvv).</p></blockquote><p>This made me chuckle.  OP is never a term I've pondered or heard when discussing our dog.  <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" />  Shall we agree to say that he's a lot more durable than he used to be? I generally just view the pet as a bit of free dps and free healing.</p><p>Oddly enough, I've had more problems keeping him alive in heroic content than on raids.</p><p>Edit for typo.</p>

[Yongqi]

<p>Yeah that made me laugh as well.  Dog overpowered?? lol.</p>

[Gahnand]

Compare him to the illusionist pet, and I think he's pretty OP. He does lots of DPS if you have a solo spec, and he can take a good beating. I think he has about 8k hitpoints or something like that. I forget. When I have a dirge/illy group makeup my dog can do 700-1100 dps.. so idk, imo that's pretty OP for a pet. I can see how OP might be an over-exageration, but again, I'm coming from when the dog died if you looked at it funny when it was a triple down. Compared to that, it's a huge difference in power.

[Gahnand]

Also, if you are having trouble keeping the dog alive in heroic content then you aren't positioning him correctly. I can think of very few fights where my dog dies in heroic content.

[AziBam]

<p><cite>Gahnand@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote>I can see how OP might be an over-exageration, but again, I'm coming from when the dog died if you looked at it funny when it was a triple down. Compared to that, it's a huge difference in power.</blockquote><p>LOL I'll definitely concede that point.  It's vastly improved.  I also remember the dog from his earliest days and..yeah..that was just lovely back then.</p>

[Gennyfer]

<p>I think the dog might be useful as a doorstop.</p><p>Other than that, it's a barking nuisance.</p>

[ROCKHEART]

<p>Hello, fellow Mystics. I have used the dog to Tank yellow non heroics and he has held as long as i cast the debuffs and let the dog get him down to about 80% before dealing damage. I use the spells for damage if the dog is tanking as the CA's and meele will rip agro just from proximity, range is best for this option. I have noticed that the dog seems to be doing more dps in the last week, does anyone knwo if there has been an increace in his dps?</p>

[Banditman]

<p>You realize of course that tanking yourself and using the CA's the mob would be dead in the time it takes to debuff him?</p>

[ROCKHEART]

<p>I know that tanking the mob my self and using CA's/Meele it would die faster. I use the pet tank spell option inbetween raids/groups when I am in heal spec (I have 164 aa currently) no aa in spell/ca conversion. If I am going hunting solo i use the mirror to switch.</p>