Creature Handler Archive
Thread: The secret is revealed.
Freth wrote:
The resist search for pets was engrossing, but I never noticed much difference from one pet to another. I owned pets with resists across the spectrum and even tried to use pets matched with what I was fighting, but I wasn't that impressed with the ones like energy, acid, etc. Kinetic was what I went after. That and armor. When it came down to it most pets did the job fine no matter which you used. Picking resist pets gave small reward, so I didn't bother looking... I just pulled out meat shields and went at it... usually the same ones.
So because YOU didn't bother with the depth and breadth that was possible with CHs none of us should care that our depth and breadth has been taken away.
You think pets are fine because the old way you used them was as one-dimensional as the ONLY way to use them is now.
For those of us who liked to use them in a more "three dimensional" (if you'll pardon the metaphor) way, the way pets work now is less than satisfying.
Clearly, you used pets as a means to an end... a way to "win a fight" period. That's fine, and for you the way it works now would also be fine. But for those of us who were creature handlers for the fun and interest of being a creature handler, who want it as our "main" prof not as a backup to our "real" prof, you have to understand that the way things are now is entirely unsatisfying.
It's just fine for you to say, "Hey I don't mind how the new way works because I used pets the same way the old way anyway." But it is quite another thing to make the assertion that "pets are just as good as always" as if what has changed is the CH's ability and NOT the pets. "Pets are as good as they ever were" is just false on its face, as a general statement. They may be as good as they ever were in how YOU use them, but your use of them is only one way to use them, out of the many ways.
Again rememer our profession in combat is the profession of VERSATILITY, by the devs' definition and description. You're agreeing that we aren't versatile, and that your pets are only one-trick kaadus, so then what is the point of our profession? A one-trick kaadu isn't necessarily a BAD thing, but don't pretend like it's versatile.
C
Quotes from Chessack, answers from me: So because YOU didn't bother with the depth and breadth that was possible with CHs none of us should care that our depth and breadth has been taken away.
Yes, I did bother. That was my whole point. Resists didn't amount to a hill of beans unless it was kinetic. In most situations there was no big noticeable advantage to having pets with high rests. So, to me trying to pull out pets to fit the situation was a waste of my own time. That doesn't mean I didn't seek out the best pets with resists that suited certain situations, because I did up until the time they removed them from the pets. I just didn't actively apply my pets' resists to a situation because I saw no real benefit.
You think pets are fine because the old way you used them was as one-dimensional as the ONLY way to use them is now.
Again, I used them much the same way as you did. As for one-dimensional, no... pets were more than combat to me. They had personality and still do, regardless of stats. I roleplay my character. Do you?
For those of us who liked to use them in a more "three dimensional" (if you'll pardon the metaphor) way, the way pets work now is less than satisfying. Clearly, you used pets as a means to an end... a way to "win a fight" period. That's fine, and for you the way it works now would also be fine. But for those of us who were creature handlers for the fun and interest of being a creature handler, who want it as our "main" prof not as a backup to our "real" prof, you have to understand that the way things are now is entirely unsatisfying.
You assume. I played CH to the fullest when it came to the roleplaying aspect. Just because I didn't pick and choose pets for different situations (which is the only difference here) you label my style of play as one-dimensional. You have no basis for your argument. CH was my main profession until I left. Master Pistoleer was hardly a combat profession back then, so if that were my main "real" profession it would've been a sad way to play the game. Your assumptions are dead wrong. I stood in Coronet and sold pets a lot of the time, interacting with other people. One only has to go back and look at my posts to see the way I played CH... which is completely opposite from what you assume. Check Vertexon's "Know Your Role" thread (found here) and you'll see the full extent of how I feel about CH.
It's just fine for you to say, "Hey I don't mind how the new way works because I used pets the same way the old way anyway." But it is quite another thing to make the assertion that "pets are just as good as always" as if what has changed is the CH's ability and NOT the pets. "Pets are as good as they ever were" is just false on its face, as a general statement. They may be as good as they ever were in how YOU use them, but your use of them is only one way to use them, out of the many ways.
Everyone's entitled to an opinion. I happen to think that the resists were of little consequence in the game. You think differently. It's only natural for me to not care less about resists when they did nothing for me in the game (again, the exception being kinetic); to me the pets are better now than they were then. That's my opinion. No, it doesn't 'false' on its face if you look at it the way I do. I see it as losing nothing and gaining a balanced system. I'd gladly trade the non-effective resists for balance... and that's exactly what I got with the CU. Again, this is my opinion and yours differs, but condemning me because you assume I am a certain way only serves to, well... you know what they say about ass-u-me.
Again rememer our profession in combat is the profession of VERSATILITY, by the devs' definition and description. You're agreeing that we aren't versatile, and that your pets are only one-trick kaadus, so then what is the point of our profession? A one-trick kaadu isn't necessarily a BAD thing, but don't pretend like it's versatile.
I didn't agree that we aren't versatile. Weare versatile. That's the point. Just because you can't think out of the box and forget about old pet stats that have no meaning anymore and maybe develop some strategies with your pets instead of relying on their stats... maybe you could enjoy the CU too instead of being non-versatile and one-dimensional.
Message Edited by Freth on 05-12-2005 02:58 PM
Message Edited by Freth on 05-12-2005 02:59 PM
The resist search for pets was engrossing, but I never noticed much difference from one pet to another. I owned pets with resists across the spectrum and even tried to use pets matched with what I was fighting, but I wasn't that impressed with the ones like energy, acid, etc. Kinetic was what I went after. That and armor. When it came down to it most pets did the job fine no matter which you used. Picking resist pets gave small reward, so I didn't bother looking... I just pulled out meat shields and went at it... usually the same ones. PVP was unbalanced to begin with, so seeing resists in action was usually very short due to pet death. I dunno. Although I liked having pets with high resists, I just didn't see much difference (kinetic and armor rating being the exceptions, of course). So, while enjoying the drive to get the best pets, I didn't use my pets based on resistance. Maybe others like yourself saw better results, but after my initial tests it just wasn't worth my time to worry about it.
Message Edited by Freth on 05-12-2005 07:35 AM
Chessak, I agree with you one hundred percent. Of all the rants and serious issues listed in the Issues Thread (including the 20k XP cap for Novice Creature Handlers!), they all pale into insignificance compared to this one simple issue:
POST-COMBAT-DOWNGRADE, THE CREATURE HANDLER PROFESSION IS BORING.
That is what will kill Creature Handler.
Chessack wrote:
Freth wrote:
Pets do more consistent damage now than they ever did. Pets used to be meat shields/tanks. I used to hold off a group of rancors with my pets because I couldn't handle them myself with my Master Pistoleer. That was just wrong... that a couple level 35 narglatches could hold off a group of rancors. By better I mean they are finally balanced to the game. The CU is way more balanced. Now pets will do consistent damage against a target, but they won't be able to take out a whole lair or multiple mobs with ease. This is because (like a previous post said) pets are our weapons. They aren't meant to be the total damage dealer or tanker of the CH. They are support.
They were support before. But you've basically admitted here that "better" is in the eye of the beholder. Pets do what YOU want them to do now, so you think they are better. But they don't do what they used to do for me, and what I would like them to continue to do (tank for me) and thus I think they are worse. Actually this is simplistic; it's not just about tanking. I used to be able to use different pets for different purposes.
Pre-CU:
Grumpy the level 46 (wild) rancor did nice damage, and was good vs. humans. Not as good vs. critters as some other pets.
Porky the level 25 (wild) boar wolf had 50% kinetic defense and was thus good vs. critters, depending on their level. He was great for getting CH XP because I didn't need to use a higher level pet.
Herp the level 25 (BE) dune lizard had decent all-around defenses (basically 25% to everything, give or take, except lightsaber and stun), and he also had a nice spit attack and a posture change special that were very useful for NPCs. NPCs would run away from other pets, forcing me (TK as my 2nd prof) to have to incessantly chase them. But Herp could either force them to kneel, which held them in place, or he could spit at them and make them get into a shootout with him, which enabled me to get up and TK them.
Loki the level 64 (BE) gurrcat. Massive kinetic defense, very very good vs. critters, sucky vs. NPCs (bad energy/blast defense), nice specials (poison, stun) that also worked well vs. critters. However, he was so high level that I hardly got CH XP from using him (not that it usually mattered at master, but whatever). I used to pull him for really tough creature fights, e.g. vs. a Kimo.
Maxx the level 64 (BE) gurreck. Massive energy/blast/heat/etc defense but weak on kinetic. Great vs. NPCs, crappy vs. critters. He was especially good vs. NPCs because he had dizzy and KD as his specials... between me, the TK, and him, the stormtroopers were often on their butts in a fight.
Tiny the level 52 (BE) Kimo. Very nice defenses all-around. Not as good as Maxx or Loki in any one area, but good overall defenses, and some nice specials. A good general high-level tank for when I am going to fight various opponents.
There were of course others but these were the ones I mainly used. I also had some weaker cats who were toned down versions of Maxx and Loki (named Slash and Fang), similar in that one was good vs critters and the other vs. NPCs, level 28 and 30 respectively... better for weaker fights.
My point here is... I had a LOT of options as a master CH -- which is as it should be; I'm a master. Each pet was different and had different abilities. Some had ranged attacks, some had other specials, etc. Now let's look at post-CU:
All pets under level 40 are useless. They die in under 20 seconds when I send them in. What good is a "weapon" (as you claim) if you are forced to put it away after 3 hits? Which is basically what happens with them. (Note that I am level 80 so I am usuall facing level 79-82 opponents). So the lower level pets are out. Of course all the BEs are either ones I am afraid to pull due to the conversion bugs, or I have converted only to find them much worse than a wild tame. Let's look at the wild tames though... I have four:
Post-CU
Porky, who has now been converted to level 65. As far as I can tell he has about 38% resistance to everything, along with about 6k ham (used to be 50% to kinetic/9k).
Stomper the level 65 Brackasett. As far as I can tell, he is identical to Porky in every way (same HAM, same resistance, same damage done in battle).
Rex the level 66 Kwi. As far as I can tell, he is identical to Porky in every way with one exception: he still has a ranged spit. However, he refuses to use it when I command him to, so he may as well not have it (I know he has it because sometimes he randomly uses it, but that's worthless as a tactical weapon).
Nag the level 63 Crystal Snake. As far as I can tell he is about the same as Rex (ranged spit, random, about the same HAM and resistance).
(Oh and by the way the rancor is now level 79 and uncallable).
What is the difference here? Well other than levels changing for individual pets (the brack was 30ish and is now 65), what has happened is all my pets are identically the same and totally lack individuality. If my pets are to be my weapons like a pistoleer's guns, then I need to be able to choose the right weapon for the job, just like a good pistoleer or BH would be able to. But I can't anymore, because as far as I can tell (and two other CHs in my guild have confirmed my observations) all my pets are now identical for a given level range. With the exception of the occasional use of a ranged spit in some pets and not others, there is no reason to pull anything but the level 65 brack (who serves additionally as a mount). I gain nothing from changing pets. In short, the strategic decisions are out of the game. When I came up to a lair before I'd say, "Ok what am I facing and what do I need?" Or if a guildie called for help I could ask, "Who are you facing?" and figure out what I need... Is he facing energy-blasting stormtroopers? Or kinetic-using rancors? Or perhaps force-wielding nightsisters? Do I want a pet that KDs, or bleeds/poisons, or dizzies? Who are my team mates and which pets are going to cover our weaknesses and augment our strengths better? THESE are the questions I used to ask. I don't need to ask them anymore because the only one to ask seems to be "What pet is highest level? Pull it." There is no point to pulling anything but the Kwi (for a teeny tiny bit more damage and a random ranged attack) or the brack (as a mount in addition to the damage). Anything else is just going to be either the same, or if it is lower level, a total waste of time to pull.
It's not that pets are worse because they can't tank a Krayt. They never should've been able to do that in the first place (and weren't). It's that all the variety, nuance, and thought that went into being a CH is out the window. I used to spend hours hunting for the right pet (BEed, wild, either way) -- for instance, I'd say, "My pets just got flattened by energy, I need something with energy resists." Then I would go into the field or hit the BE vendors and look for a pet with that -- perhaps he was weak to other things but he would do me for energy resist when I needed it. I can't do that anymore because even if I could see the resistances (which you can't anymore on wild animals), they'd all be basically level-based anyway... so now it's just "Go look for a level 50+ pet, and ignore everything else." Gone are the days when the RIGHT level 20 pet could do you in the right situation, just as well as a level 50 uber-pet... not because the 20 was totally overpowered, but because you made the right choice about what defenses to put up against your opponent's attacks, and having chosen well, your pet was able to fight above his level -- again, not because he was uber, but because I knew what I was doing and used my brain. There was an art, as well as a science, to CH, and that is totally out the window. It's 100% brute force now, all based on level and nothing more.
And THAT is why I say pets are worse - because they are boring and characterless now, and you don't ever need any more than that one level 65 brack (serves as mount, and is about as powerful as you can tame) as a CH now, because anything else is either weaker or the same, and thus extranneous. They have turned CHs into one-trick banthas... and that is depressing given that we are supposed to be the prof of "versatility" according to the devs.
Freth wrote:
Yes, there were aspects of the old pet system that made it fun, but being able to hide behind pets wasn't all it was cut out to be. They shouldn't be god-like and in a sense they were bigger than life. Better, to me, is balance... and having to make strategies and use my character's combat profession plus my pets and figure out ways to come out on top. Bigger isn't always better.
I did not hide behind my pets. I play a TKA/CH. I am up there in the thick of it with them. They didn't tank while I sat hiding behind a rock doing conceal-shot. They went after ONE rancor, for instance, while I took out the other. They usually couldn't kill it but they could keep it busy while I was working on the other one. And for the record I hardly ever hunted with doc buffs. I used food buffs, if anything, and my armor was UN-sliced, as were my VKs. I did not try to make my critters or my prof into an auto-win button... but I liked the challenge of picking the beastie to the circumstance, and that's gone now. And I liked the fact that if I chose my pet wisely, yes, I was darn near invulnerable to anything my missions could throw at me. To me, that's a justifiable reward for playing smart, and picking my battles. I'm not talking about owning a Krayt solo here... just about fighting a lair of white cons without having to do a single pull even with pets, because my pets die in two shakes of a ronto's tail if I don't do that.
Freth wrote:
As for Dodece's 'secret', Some people think it was a waste of time or stupid to keep it a secret. Others refuse to use BE. Yet others try to make it into something it's not---an exploit, Dodece tugging at CH heart strings, etc.
It is most definitely an exploit. Clearly those DNA samples should have been converted and the Devs messed up and didn't convert them. Clearly it was not their intention to let players retain old-school pets in the post-CU world, or else they would've just let us keep our old BE pets instead of auto-converting them whenever we tried to call them after the CU. Maybe they will let you get away with it for a while, but eventually they're going to shut this down and all the pets made this way are going to be converted. You can count on it.
C
I agree with you 100%. I am a Swordsman CH... I fight aside my pets... I used my pets the way you did, one attacks one creature while i attack another. I would use my pets to the best of their ability and use straegy in battle. I don't need my pets to deal extra damage.. I do the damage I needed them to help consume damage, use thier specials and creature diversions. They were my edge in battle, my companions... I loved traveling around with my pets out, now that is hopeless since they don't move.
The difference is.. my pets weren't BE pets, My pets where a datapad full of rares. So I didn't really use CH to fight.. actually I would only use them to fight if 1. I didn't have buffs (I hated buffs, never liked em) or 2 (Tanking someone like lord nyax.. I would use a high energy res. creature like my thune grassland guardian to tank while i dished out the damage). Otherwise my pets where like I said for show. I loved taming my rares .. I looked long and hard just to jump evertime I saw a Wild GPS I would examine it and be like wow... I loved taking my rares out in citys and such to show them off.
Pets no matter what your argued point is have LOST THIER INDIVIUDUALITY. There Res. and armor was the biggest deal with pets.. not the damage as damage only helped if you where a noob. Pets of the saem level don't even have advantages over others.. now they are all the same example my Merek Death's Head bad res for a level 56 pet.. but it had 670 damage, so when I would spawn clear looking for a Wild dune baor or such I would use him to help kill the weak spawns around me. Another would be my level 1 blurrg. His purpose was to be able to be called out with anypet and if he couldnt tnk or help He would stand back and ranged attack and guard my back in battle. He was always fast and MANY of times got me out of getting killed.
Now my pets just lag behind.. arnt impressive to look at... serve no special purposes.. have no special moves... and lost thier rareness for example my plains hunter and my frenzied grual.. I spent alot of money and time into looking for my grual and such and now that they are just tamable again is bs. It would be ok cause we did ask for that... but the fact that they arnt extra rare or anything that pisses me off.
I don't have to ramble about this as you already read most people complaining about it but cmon guys... if you seriously look at this CU as a good thing for CHs or you enjoy the new system then Why the hell are you paying 15$ a month on galaxies when the same friggen system is in Guild wars for free. and you don't have to worry about us "complainers" or bugs of any sort.
If only force powers work on the devs.....
"You don't need to see my account number" *waves hand*
"this isnt the profession your looking to nerf" *waves hand*
"move along" *waves hand*
I cannot see how ch was fun pre CU seeing most people complained about 1 hit kill of pets, and the fact that it was just a giant meat tank. Likewise never saw the amusement in playing TKA either.
Pets last longer in pvp. You just have to accept that you will need to have another elite, but right now thats a given for everyone. The pets can tank if you give them half a chance, and the combat is harder and more strategic. Then just laying into a mob.
This secret basically addresses two issues many chs claimed were breakers. Weak low level pets with pathetic ham and attack power, and the inability to use multiple pets to any advantage. This secret shows that chs can. I have no clue what the issue is with people. What is it pets cannot pin down opponents forever letting you spam powerful hits with no risk to you at all. Thats not fun its lazy.
Dodece wrote:I cannot see how ch was fun pre CU seeing most people complained about 1 hit kill of pets, and the fact that it was just a giant meat tank. Likewise never saw the amusement in playing TKA either.
The only place a pet may have been one-shot killed, even a weak one, would've been in PVP. Not even a nightsister ever one-shot killed my mid-level or higher pets. So I can only assume you are talking about PVP. If pets are better in PVP that is great. But I don't do PVP under any circumstances... In PVE they are a lot more boring because you only ever need a single one of any type -- all the others are either the same or weaker than your highest pet. There is no nuance to it.
I don't know about "most people" complaining about 1-hit kills. I know a lot of CHs and former CHs in game. I never heard any of them complain about that. But then I do not game with uber-leets. I am in a guild of roleplayers and we mostly fight vs. the environment, not other players.
Dodece wrote:Pets last longer in pvp. You just have to accept that you will need to have another elite, but right now thats a given for everyone. The pets can tank if you give them half a chance, and the combat is harder and more strategic. Then just laying into a mob.
This I don't understand. How exactly is it more strategic that all my pets are identical balls of health based on level, have the same resistances as each other for a given level, and use zero specials? What strategy am I using? The vaunted, oh-so-hard to achieve "single pull?" If that's people's idea of high strategy or tactics it's a pretty sad statement of what the level of tactical ability in the game is like. Other than single-pulling, against the environment (not PVP which I don't do and don't care anything about) what possible tactic is there to do other than send your pet in and let it tank? It can't use specials. It doesn't reliably (mine don't anyway) use ranged attacks. It's apparently got the same resistance to every type of damage (all mine do anyway). And everything has the same resistance to it as things have to me. So what are the "tactics" you're talking about? To me the only thing you can do is use the pet to single-pull. I could use traps or guns for that. Why do I need to master a whole profession for that? Novice marksman will do me just as well. CHs are supposed to be VERSATILE. How does the fact that every pet is effectively the same as every other pet make us versatile? No one seems able to answer that. They say "we are more dynamic". Prove it. Explain HOW. I gave a long and detailed explanation of how dynamic my character was PRE-the CU -- How ever critter was different, and was useful in different situations, and why I would pull a weaker vs. a stronger pet, and so on. I have not seen anyone actually explain how we are "more versatile" now. They say we are, but not one person has ever been able to explain to me why I would want to use any critter other than my level 65 brack under any circumstances.
You may be right that it is harder than just "going to town" on a mob, but as I explained above, I never did that anyway. Being buffed, uber-armored, and using god-pets was optional the old way but not required. Now, all the options are gone. You have to fight one particular way, and any other way gets you and your pets killed. How does this make us versatile or make combat more interesting?
Dodece wrote:This secret basically addresses two issues many chs claimed were breakers. Weak low level pets with pathetic ham and attack power, and the inability to use multiple pets to any advantage. This secret shows that chs can. I have no clue what the issue is with people. What is it pets cannot pin down opponents forever letting you spam powerful hits with no risk to you at all. Thats not fun its lazy.
Your "secret" is a bug and will no doubt be patched relatively soon. It's also completely unavailable to most of us. I think it is more than a little disingenuous of you to go around saying, "CH is just as good as ever" when you don't have to actually use the post-CU pets the way the rest of us, who don't have access to the bugged DNA, do. You're using pets with HAM and resistances way, way above their level, and saying, "See it's not so bad." Go grab a wild tame of level 60 or so, and play with JUST that for a few weeks, and maybe you will see what we mean. Instead you use your unique BE uberpets but then assert that the rest of us are lazy and don't know what we are doing.
C
First off, I'm glad I didn't hang on to CH waiting for this secret to be revealed. It really goes no way to addressing the shortcomings of the profession after the CU.
I started CH before the first big nerf and it was a lot of fun. I stuck with CH and mastered it after the nerf and after it got a lot more difficult to gain xp, and it was a lot of fun. Now after the CU all my pets are the same and don't seem to be able to hold there own against anything of their level out in the field. All I could do with them after the CU was show them off. So, the profession became no longer fun for me.
So I've respec'd to a pure combat template and now I'm having a blast - no more sitting there praying that my pets don't decide to run away for no apparent reason, or decide they need to go and chill out back in the datapad without any warning, or hoping I don't outdamage them and draw aggro on myself or hoping their health lasts long enough for me to take down our target.
I may come back to the prof one day as I do miss my pets, but until it is fun again I'll be off doing other things.
Okay let me get this straight you spend 15 bucks a month merely to collect things. Even though they had no intrinsic value. Is this what ch was reduced to for all of you guys? I am going out to collect an exotic pet in the pursuit of what. Never useing it for anything but decoration?
To my mind collecting something should directly relate to new and fun use. In anyother videogame you collect items to enhance experience. Pets were always generic and here is why. One in pvp the resists did not matter, and in pve only 2 ever mattered. Except for the fact light armor was the best. You might aswell have collected pets based on colors. Those things did not matter and you know it. As for specials the devs have said they will be put back in.
The strategy is this and follow me on this. You actually have options on how to use your pets and how to combat with them. Certain situations are better handled with 1 2 or 3 pets depending on your template. Followed by whether you want to fight in the following way. Straight pet tanking you let the pet tank to a point then jump in once the chances of a self aggro are nil. Tandem with the pet both attacking at the same time to do the most damage as fast as possible. Aggro splitting. Takeing up turns with your pet or pets being a target. You take the aggro for thirty letting your pets regen and then let them take the aggro back. Now therein lies the basis of strategy a combination of atleast 9 different combinations resulting in different pluses and minuses.
Oh by the way I still use my prowling gurrek for ninety five percent of my hunting, but I do like haveing the option to call upon stronger pets when I need them. Also what is this nobody can use this bologna. If you find some old dna buy it and give it to a BE to make something for you. Where in the game does it say a CH also need be a BE to get the pets they want. Nowhere find a BE give them the lowdown, and if they have the dna good if not well there are always other BEs. Heck someone on this thread said they got good results from old pet deeds. Most BEs usually charge 50k per beast. Thats an hours hunting on yavin endor or dath. Your just makeing excuses now not to try it.
Dodece wrote:Okay let me get this straight you spend 15 bucks a month merely to collect things. Even though they had no intrinsic value. Is this what ch was reduced to for all of you guys? I am going out to collect an exotic pet in the pursuit of what. Never useing it for anything but decoration?
I'm not sure where you get "never using" it from the fact that I used to go out looking for creatures to serve a specific function. The examples I have given are things like, getting owned by something that uses energy so going out to look for a high-energy-res pet. Yes I liked the taming/collecting aspects of it (you didn't? Bully for you... not relevant to my point). But I also had pets that each served different purposes... Good against critters, good against NPCs, high level for tough situations, lower level for XP gaining (since pet level determined XP back then), etc. Each had a purpose. I needed more than one. Now, I don't. I get no more XP for using a level 1 pet than a level 69 pet to attack a white con so I may as well just use the 69. There is no thought involved in which pet to pull because they're all identically the same.
Dodece wrote:One in pvp the resists did not matter, and in pve only 2 ever mattered. Except for the fact light armor was the best. You might aswell have collected pets based on colors. Those things did not matter and you know it.
No, I do not know it. PVP, I will take your word for it. PVE, I saw the difference between my energy/blast resistant gurreck and my kinetic resistant gurrcat in too many situations to count. The gurreck took WAY more damage vs. a rancor, for example, than the gurrcat... and it could tank stormtroopers like nobody's business, which the gurrcat couldn't. Maybe you didn't notice these things, or see them, or have the right pet combos, or maybe your client was bugged, or mine was... I dunno. All I can tell you is that Maxx the energy-defense pet was great vs. stormtroopers and Loki the kinetic pet wasn't. Now this doesn't mean I couldn't pull them for the things they were weak against. Loki was a level 64 pet with nice HAM stats so even against Stormtroopers he could do OK. But he could not compete with what Maxx (same level and HAM, but energy-based resistances) could do. So yes, they did matter. I could tell from how often the pets had to be stimmed or stored due to the damage they took, and how often I had to feed them.... and from how often they got incapped when fighting one or another type of enemy.
Dodece wrote:As for specials the devs have said they will be put back in.
Whether they are or not in the future, they are not in right now so you cannot claim that, without them in now, pets are better NOW for not having them. What the future holds, or how long it takes them to "fix" this, or whatever they do, doesn't alter the fact that pets can't do them now, which makes them just bags of meat right now, regardless of what they will be in the future.
Dodece wrote:The strategy is this and follow me on this. You actually have options on how to use your pets and how to combat with them. Certain situations are better handled with 1 2 or 3 pets depending on your template. Followed by whether you want to fight in the following way. Straight pet tanking you let the pet tank to a point then jump in once the chances of a self aggro are nil. Tandem with the pet both attacking at the same time to do the most damage as fast as possible. Aggro splitting. Takeing up turns with your pet or pets being a target. You take the aggro for thirty letting your pets regen and then let them take the aggro back. Now therein lies the basis of strategy a combination of atleast 9 different combinations resulting in different pluses and minuses.
Oh, and you couldn't do this before... why?
I could pull 1, 2, or 3 pets before. I could decide to let them go in first, go in with them, or me go in first, before. And on top of them being bags of meat they had specials and differential resistances that added to the tactics. I am not saying pets "totally suck" now but I find it hard to believe anyone could argue that CH is more versatile now than it was before -- without specials right NOW (regardless of what will be in the future), with ranged attaks not working reliablly, with no variability in pets other than level, we are way less diverse now than we were.
Maybe none of that mattered to the way YOU played the game before, but it mattered to me, and many other CHs, including every single one I know in game.
C