Request - Mage pet as Main Tank and Main Assist needs more automation.

[cassandra]

My Bard/Druid/Mage team has progressed into CoTF and a Merc tank is no longer viable in higher zones. I have had to switch to the Mage tank pet. The mage earth pet can tank anything in CoTF including named with ease. I dare say my pet could out tank most players without raid gear.

The only downside is I have to be at the keyboard to press the pet attack button via eqbcs. My mage and druid are still fully automated but I have to play the bard for pulling and time when to press the pet attack button via eqbcs. Also the mage pet will not pickup adds or targets in the extended target window without me pressing pet attack.

Is there a way to make the pet play smarter like a Merc? Something like auto attack anything inside the camp radius?

 

[Maskoi]

Kiss does not currently support pets as in Kiss Tank/puller role. A pet will not attack a mez'd mod so to Keep It simple stupid. (KISS) I chose not code pets as puller or tanks.

 

[dannuic]

No. Not yet anyway. This is my dream too, but I've only gotten so far as to write a plugin to make sure players stay away from any mobs but remain in a defined camp (a non-trivial problem) -- it needs a good comprehensive macro to back it up (and perhaps some more plugins).

 

[PeteSampras]

My Bard/Druid/Mage team has progressed into CoTF and a Merc tank is no longer viable in higher zones. I have had to switch to the Mage tank pet. The mage earth pet can tank anything in CoTF including named with ease. I dare say my pet could out tank most players without raid gear.

The only downside is I have to be at the keyboard to press the pet attack button via eqbcs. My mage and druid are still fully automated but I have to play the bard for pulling and time when to press the pet attack button via eqbcs. Also the mage pet will not pickup adds or targets in the extended target window without me pressing pet attack.

Is there a way to make the pet play smarter like a Merc? Something like auto attack anything inside the camp radius?

Tons of options, what did you have in mind? Holyshit/downshit or macro or plugin? and what are you using now, if anything?

 

[PallyDPS]

This would be useful for me as well. I am leveling up a mage to add to my 4th group slot specifically for the ability for the pet to tank. (my paladin has fallen behind in ability to tank mobs in CotF)

 

[mroutlaw]

it has been said multiple times mage pets are getting nerfed soon to not allow them to be able to tank as well as they have , they aren't going to give more power to tanks as they are taking stuff away from almost every class , if I were you mage pet tanking crew id get rolling a real tank asap because basically unless its trash mobs your mage pets wont be tanking named for much longer..
sony don't care if you noticed all the beam mages screamed they would leave if nerfed and what did sony do nerf every multimob killing class lol

 

[cassandra]

I am new to the Mage class and I had no idea a pet tank nerf was coming. I have come to rely on the pet tank and to hear this worries me. How long would you guess before the nerf?

If they nerf the Mage pet then what does a Mage bring to a group? Other classes can do everything they do but better.

 

[dannuic]

it has been said multiple times mage pets are getting nerfed soon to not allow them to be able to tank as well as they have , they aren't going to give more power to tanks as they are taking stuff away from almost every class , if I were you mage pet tanking crew id get rolling a real tank asap because basically unless its trash mobs your mage pets wont be tanking named for much longer..
sony don't care if you noticed all the beam mages screamed they would leave if nerfed and what did sony do nerf every multimob killing class lol

I've never seen SOE say anything about nerfing mage pets. All I have seen is tanks in the forums crying about how mage pets should be nerfed.

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Also, if they nerf mage pets, the strategy becomes pet chaining to tank named. Swarm pets + pet chain = dead named even if the pet itself can't tank it. They'd have to nerf all the AA's and swarm pets that mages get as well, which means making mages completely useless. That won't happen, and it's still worthwhile to make tools for AFK mages. Once my work dies down I intend to look into this a little more because I HATE playing melee classes and would much prefer to roll with my mage/enc/druid trio.

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Just because I can't shut up about it, here is the latest pet mitigation thread in the official forums: https://forums.station.sony.com/eq/index.php?threads/pet-mitigation-parses-and-discussion.210068/. The only red posts is roshen closing it and warning not to turn it into a nerf mages rant thread.

 

[Maskoi]

I will be revisiting the pet pull and tanking code later this month.

 

[Dutch_SK]

Pullerpettank inc!

 

[Crystane]

I more and more come to envy Mages. Maybe I ll start a mage soon myself. Could replace my Pally or a Mercspot.

 

[Razkle]

I have been madly leveling my mage to 100 just so he can tank for me!

 

[eqgeek]

My 99 Earth pet can tank pretty much any named out there (I don't raid) as long as I keep aggro on the adds with him. I will post my INI which includes more pet heals than I see others have in their line up. I let my merc heal him until things get iffy.

I can use him as a main tank with my ranger as puller. I set the mage to assist the puller at 100. I set the mage melee range to 200 and set the ranger to return a little ways behind the mage. The pet usually pics up the mob before it gets to camp. I can turn melee off and my ranger won't run over and attack if the mob is too close. I use this method in larger areas, with linger pulls. Then we just use a healer and wiz merc, set times boxing a chanter or shaman.

 

[zatxwoopyoax]

There will be changes made to mage/necro pet tanking. There has to be. It may not be as drastic as what is currently happening in PoWar, but there will be something. I'm a player that mage tanked for a long time, including killing most of the nameds in cotf and rof. I recognized the writing on the wall when I started running group missions. Some missions simply can't be done with a mage pet because of mechanics. To counter this I created an SK, leveled him to 100 with near max AA, and now I win those missions/tasks that I couldn't do before. If you're running a box crew, you really owe it to yourself to level up a real tank. Boxing is actually a lot more fun with a real tank. I didn't think I would like it, but my SK is now becoming my new main.

 

[eqgeek]

I agree, most missions and the DH Captain HAs with the adds and stuff are really hard to do with a pet. They just can't keep aggro like a real tank. I'm working on an SK now. :-)

 

[zatxwoopyoax]

The hardest part for me when boxing was dealing with adds. Now that I have an SK I don't worry about adds... I just mash one of the many aoe hate spells he has and instantly all the mobs are beating on only him and my shaman plus cleric merc can keep him alive through almost anything. And since he is the only toon in melee range, if he does die, my mage and necro pets finish the fights without further deaths.

 

[dannuic]

I actually have a 100 SK with ~8k AAs. The only reason I have him is because I wanted to be able to AFK with KA. I hate playing melee classes, and I still do; I do and have had much more fun tanking with the mage pet -- which in general doesn't need to handle adds because my chanter is great at CC but if it does, it simply takes proficient use of the pet attack button and positioning (why we can't automate a mage completely yet). DSes on the pet help too, along with the hate pet weapons.

But I have my SK if I have to use him to get certain things done. I'd just prefer not to.

 

[Dman0129]

Mage nerf isnt on test, it hasnt even been mentioned by Sony. All that is ever mentioned is tanks on forums QQ'n about how they dont know how to play their class. I have a 100 Mage with max pet AA and I have a 100 Warrior with max defensive AA. I use my warrior to tank any day over the mage.