Editing Venomancer Tanking (section)

=== Good Pets to Tank with ===

As I said in the introduction: A tank needs good defense, lots of hitpoints, and a way to keep the monster on them.

Several pets partially meet this description.  One almost completely meets it.  None are as good as a real [[Barbarian]] but here we go anyway.

'''''Magmites / Golems'''''

:These walking lumps of rock, first available at level 18 outside the human FB19, have stupidly high physical defense and hitpoints.

:They also do decent damage, and have a couple of decent aggro generating skills.

:They have the disadvantage of not having a terribly high magic defense (which becomes important later on, as you meet more magic-dealing monsters) and, although not actually vital for tanking, they are so very ''very'' slow that it's worth mentioning as being a problem.

:There's really no reason to ''not'' at least try out a Magmite, but if you're dead set on not using one, then the scorpions and beetles fill a similar role; trading a little bit of defense for better damage.

'''''Antelopes'''''

:First available at 30, from the hills east of shining tide, these pets are often said to be good magic tanks.

:That is, they have a high magic defense.  They also hit pretty hard.

:As an added advantage, they have a self-heal which can give you a bit more room to attack.

:The only real disadvantage is that you don't face a great many magical enemies at that level.

'''''Frog'''''

:The frog is a rare pet, with a lot of magical defense, and a decent physical defense.  It doesn't hit very hard, though.  Nice and fast.

'''''Shadou Cub'''''

:The Shadou Cub is another rare pet, and another decent magical tank, although it's more often used as a puller.  It's more of an all-rounder though, having a decent physical defense.

:It has the advantage of having a suite of decent aggro-generating skills; pounce, bash and flesh-ream.

'''''Baby Hercules'''''

:Legendary pet, from the [[Cash Shop]] (or from other players who bought the bits there)

:This pet gets its own full section later on.  For now it's worth saying that this pet has a stupidly high defense, stupidly high magical defense, more hitpoints than a battleship and the offensive capabilities of a pink blancmange.  (Possibly a poisonous pink blancmange.)

'''''Harpy'''''

:Legendary pet, from the [[Cash Shop]].

: This pet is rather weak in melee range but it can fair pretty well in ranged tanking. The fact that it has a high DPS/damage output will also make it easier for it to hold aggro as well as kill things faster since she's essentially a DD pet and not a tank pet per se.

'''''Direct Damage / DPS Pets'''''

:If the monsters don't hit particularly hard, and most non-boss monsters don't, then a direct damage pet is often a better choice as a tank.

:Doing more damage, it holds aggro better, which means that you can unload your spells more quickly; meaning that the monster dies sooner - which is the object.

:Of course, if the monster does hit hard, then you need to heal more, or put up with having a dead pet.  So this isn't always the right choice.

:A good choice of direct damage pet for this purpose is the Eldergoth (Level 41) because it is useful in other situations, and comes with 'Roar'.

:I don't advise this as a primary tank, but as a secondary ready to go, it has big advantages.

:(The Eldergoth, being a ranged pet, also has some special tricks available)