Question - Using a Pet to tank

[arcburn]

Just recently decided to return to EQ on a new higher population server with 3 Heroic toons wiz/mag/enc and using 2 caster / 1 healer j5 mercs.


Could anyone tell me what my chances are of farming TDS T2-T3 Named with a mage pet as the tank once i hit 105 , any ideas on this from the pet tank lovers out there ? I did run a 6 box for years using a 105 warrior as my MT , but since returning would rather just run 3 for now possibly adding more later or should i just go ahead and accept the fact that a War x-fer to this new server is going to have to happen ?

 

[Sum1]

I watched a group of three with mercs spank the named Commander (the dude who sits on the throne) in Dregmar (if I'm recalling the correct zone name). I believe there were two mages and another caster (wiz or enc, I forget). They killed the named with 0 issues. When I pulled the named myself a little later after they left I had to use mitigation discs on my SK, shining, etc. and it STILL got a lucky round in right at the end and smacked my dude dead.

So I'd say that your planned three box + mercs would likely do just fine.

 

[wowfool]

You should be fine. Use the mage with pet pull, or the enchanter to pull. The pet can tank just fine, concentrate on keeping your pet focus items up to date. I think most of the useful pet AA's are autogrant, so that should work out for you as well. In my latest group aggro usually pings between the pet and my warrior, even with two wizards casting. In my 105 group, the magician pet tanks if my SK goes down, and usually does it as well or better, but not quite the same level of aggro. You might want to be careful using Razzles afknuke macro though, I doubt a pet can hold aggro through 100k dps wizards.

 

[Warl0ck45]

Pet aggro has been altered to be very strong.

Pets can now hold aggro with out it auto going to the nearest player in melee range

Pet mechanics mitigate a lot of damage (pets take damage differently then players do)

Mage pets that are focused come with a full set of level appropriate mage pet toys (armor, mask, focus items) except weapons. Pets will now return items they can not use so, if you give your pet something that is not an upgrade to what it is already using, you get it back.

Even your enchanter pet got a heck of a power boost recently. And while not as strong as a mage pet by any means (very few focus items) it can tank in it's own right, especially if you give it a full set of mage pet toys.

You SHOULD be able to handle the named just fine. I have used a mage pet to back up my sk/pal and finish a fight when the initial damage from the named took them down, and pet finished off the fight. Long as you keep a back up suspended for times like this (some of the named have a mean burst of DPS on contact) along with your rumble pets, ought to be peachy... so long as you keep your pet defensive AA and focus items as maxed out as you can.

 

[arcburn]

Thanks much for all the posts - as stated above i have been away from eq for about a year and the pet tank thing really had me guessing as to what they could handle .

Just yesterday i went back to my old server and loaded up my 105 war , clr , mage and did some testing , honestly i was shocked with the outcome , the 101 i believe it was Air pet just ripped through content that my TDS geared war -W- roughly 9500 AA
would just die on . I really know very little about mages due to the fact ive always just had one in tow as a box dps toon .


And so today im back on the new server with a lil more respect for the mage pet .


As stated above i can always add a few more toons later if needed , allready im thinking of adding a Clr and 2 more wizards later to the mix.