Q: Pet Build - Good late game?

[Lightning]

Just downloaded this again on my new comp and thought to give it a try again, I like open world rpgs and was just wondering how good late game pet build is anyway, for some reason its just plowing through all this low level content so fast lol.

[Sebastian]

well, it depends on what you mean by lategame and what pet build.
if you mean act 4 normal as endgame, then no, pet builds are terrible late normal.
if you mean act 4 legendary, champion for example can wipe out hordes of monsters with little issue, even dactyls are little more than oversized pinatas to you.
you do need a few items to make pet builds good though.

[Lightning]

Yeah I went spirit & mind specs for my caster, thought the lich was pretty nice, just getting back into playing this a bit from along time ago and was wondering about the pets.

For now the Lich is just dominating everything for me right now even with only 10 skill points into the Lich itself, and nothing else really till I get to the max tier for the other skills.

Also was wondering if Int might be why its so overpowered and if Int affects its bonuses as well

[அεలεໄ ♬]

a nature pet char is ok late end game. sadly needs nature because of extra life and healing. This was in IT better.... I hope they make it better.

your own int don't effect your pets.

[Lightning]

is there a 3rd spec you can choose later? Also kind of sucky they don't allow you to respec main specs as well.

[Thorp]

Originally posted by Lightning:

is there a 3rd spec you can choose later? Also kind of sucky they don't allow you to respec main specs as well.

only 2 masteries. If you wish to respec your character in any way you can use TQdefiler http://www.tq.soulseekkor.com/downloads.html

I'm currently running a pet build Nature/Earth at mid Orient Epic. My rings, amulet, and staff are 47physical +10%physical. When I summon my 3 wolves they are maxed to 20 points though my nymph is only at 9. In Earth I have Earth Enhancement providing %physical damage so my wolves get a boost from that too.

The pets are good enough to clean up hordes of units without struggle. All I need to do is walk into a group of enemies and stand there. I sometimes have to heal my pets and a wolf only dies when it somehow takes all the aggro and I wasn't watching to heal them. I don't believe pets can kill faster than well geared masteries but if you want to snooze through the game just get your wolves to 20, amulets and rings to 47+10%physical, and just walk. The only times I actually struggle is when bosses nuke pets with fire or some aoe blast. I haven't bothered putting on pet hp rings/amulets yet...

[Lightning]

So that mod won't disable online play with your character? Like if I wanted to play with a friend or something later in a game with that character

[Thorp]

It's not a mod. It's a standalone program that allows players to edit the character file. You'll be able to make changes to your character and still be able to play online normally. Changing your mastery, attributes, character name, ect are easily adjustable and will not destroy your save. The program does suggest that you not "de-level" a character but I've done it both ways, up and down, with no issue.

[Lightning]

ah ok good, i just wanted to reset to a clean slate

[Hellios Rayearth]

@Lightning: if you are going to play the game without difficulty/+monsters mods; then I would say that petmancers are definitely one of the stronger options to finish the game hardcore from Normal > Legendary with very little problem.

the problem is if you are... you need to be twinked, that's not even a question. 2nd is that the HP pool of bosses were buffed by a significant lot. -life resist reduction can no longer be abused; that means the all powerful lich and the wolves of old are not what they used to be any longer. I have yet to do a petmancer on Legendary xmax; but my Epic run with it was definitely not fun.

[Lightning]

Yeah, I kind of respecced a whole ton on my spirit / mind spec char, so i'm making a new char since she's only 16 right now, making a nature / earth like the other poster said was pretty easy to go with buffs / quite a few summons

I also never realised you could have had pets on aggressive to another mistake i made with spirit char lol

[Gloryhawk]

I got "i have minion for that" achievement with nature+spirit, the skills i got were:

sumon wolves and lich at max lvl
the 2 skills that gives damage absorption to 7
all the 3 things on the heal skill at 4-6 (4 on the lower cooldown, 6 on the other 2)
a few points on the nymph

IF YOU WANT TO TRY AND GET THE ACHIEVEMENT, DON'T GET PLAGUE ON NATURE OR THE AURA THING ON SPIRIT! You can end up killing quite a few monster with them. If you don't care for it, get them but not until late act 3, they aren't really needed and you should focus on leveling up your pets first. For the same reason i ended up not getting the elemental damage skill for nymph, i was too scared of the second skill that gives damage retalation.

Don't spend more than one point in the bleeding skill and the howl on wolves, same for death nova for lich, don't spend a single point for arcane blast since the lich won't have enough energy for it and spend a few points on the outsider because it's funny to use him, but no more than 3 or 4 since you won't use him much.

As for equipment, get +armor +health on rings/staff, and as soon as you get to act 4 wait until you unlock at least 2 shops and then keep reloading the game until you get the amulet with the bonus to pets "+20% total damage 20% damage converted to health". ALSO, buy all the items with +1 spirit/nature skills, you can equip them BEFORE summoning your pets, and then switch back to your main equipment, since the pets will keep the lvl of the skill you had when you summoned them. Something with +% running speed is also useful.

In combat: get the enemies to focus on you, run around while your pets kill everything, if they focus on your wolves use heal, but usually they'll attack your lich as soon as he uses the AoE attack. Change the key for select all pets, you'll need to use it to focus the most dangerous enemies and to get them out of AoEs.

[Lightning]

Oh yeah I see now, don't kill over 100 on normal but let your pets do it, so the buffs for pets if the dot kills them it doesn't count as pet kills?