General Pet Guide

The purpose of this guide is to help you use and plan your pets!

Pet Quests

There are several compulsory and optional pet-related quests described on the Venomancer Pet Quests page.

Pet Control

This section demonstrates the interface for controlling your pet. This is especially critical for luring/pulling, taming or backing your pet off from someone else's kill.

Pet Skill Bar

File:Pet Bar.png

This window provides a visual interface to your pet's actions.

Auto Behavior Buttons :
This grouping of buttons lets you decide how your pet should react in the absence of direct commands.

File:Manual Icon.png	Manual : your pet will do nothing without being given commands.
File:Defend Icon.png	Defend : your pet will attack any enemies who attack it or you, but will not attack a target simply because you are doing so.
File:Auto Icon.png	Auto : your pet will attack anything you do, in addition to targets attacking it or you.

Movement Buttons :
This grouping tells your pet whether or not it should follow you as you move around.

File:Hold Icon.png	Hold : Your pet will stay where it is, regardless of your movements. Getting too far away will cause your pet will stow itself. Pressing this button will cause your pet to stop attacking, however it will resume attacks based on its Auto Behavior.
File:Follow Icon.png	Follow : This tells your pet to follow you around as you move. Getting too far away will cause your pet will warp to catch up. As with Hold, pressing this button will cause your pet to stop attacking, however it will resume attacks based on its Auto Behavior.
File:Attack Icon.png	Attack : Your pet will move to your target and attack. Unlike Hold and Follow, this button is not persistent. Unlike the Skill Buttons, this command will execute if your pet is currently moving, however it will finish its current skill command before executing this one. Alt+F1 will send this command to your pet.

File:Pet Skill Autocast Moved.png

Skill Buttons :

These button use your pets skills and as such, the icons and their order will likely be different for your pet. If your pet is moving when the command is issued, it will finish moving before answering the new command.
Skills can also be activated by pressing Alt+2 through Alt+5 for skills 1 - 4 respectively.

Auto-Skill :
The yellow border around the second skill (image to the right) denotes that it will automatically be used when it is available. To set which skill to use automatically, simply right click the skill (defaults to the first skill when the pet is summoned). This change is NOT persistent and will need to be set every time you summon your pet.

In general, if your pet has a bash-line skill, it's best to use that as your auto-skill (Bash being ideal, elemental versions being an alternative) as they are the fastest reuse and will get the most out of auto-skilling. If you would rather not have your pet use an auto-skill at all, simply right click the current auto-skill to deselect it.

There is currently a bug involving pet buffs as auto-skills which can cause your auto-skill to fail. To remedy the situation, re-assign your auto-skill.

Pet Groupings

Pet Groupings are denoted visually by the pet's icon in the Pet Bag. All pets within the same grouping have the same Growth Chart and therefore get the same increases from level to level (with the possible exception of Physical Attack). Within a grouping, pets with a lower base level will end up with better combat stats as they progress, those with a higher base level will end up with a higher movement speed and start with more skills.

Pet Stats

Stat	Description
HP	Hitpoints Current/Maximum. When your pet reaches 0 HP it dies and loses 10% of its Loyalty.
Loyalty	Provides bonuses and penalties to your pet's Physical Attack and XP gains.
XP	Experience Points Current/Maximum. When your pet's XP reaches its Maximum it will gain a level if your level is greater than its current level; otherwise it will stop earning XP until you advance a level. Your pet will only advance its level when it is active for an XP-giving kill. Pet's base XP gain is 10-(PetLevel-TargetLevel) with a maximum of 10 and minimum of 0.
Physical Attack or Attack	This is the amount of damage (before mitigation) done with the pet's auto attack. The value displayed in the Battle Pet Window reflects modification by Loyalty and therefore does not reflect the Base Physical Attack unless there is no Loyalty bonus.
Physical Defense or Physical Resist	This is the value used to determine the pet's mitigation of Physical attacks. The %age mitigated depends on the levels of both the pet and its attacker.
Magical Defense or Magic(al) Resist	This is the value used to determine the pet's mitigation of Magic attacks (Earth, Fire, Metal, Water, Wood). The %age mitigated depends on the levels of both the pet and its attacker.
Damage or Accuracy	This is the value used to determine whether or not your pet hits with its auto attack.
Evade or Dodge	This is the value used to determine whether or not an opponent misses with its auto attack.
Speed or Movement Speed	The speed at which the pet moves.

Growth Tiers

Each stat appears to have 10 tiers of growth rate:

Tier	HP	Def	Evade	Accuracy	Regen	Move	Attack
1	22.50	60.00	10.00(?)	15.00	(?)	(?)	(?)
2	25.00	66.67	11.11(?)	16.67	(?)	(?)	(?)
3	27.50	73.33	12.22	18.33	(?)	(?)	(?)
4	30.00	80.00	13.33	20.00	(?)	(?)	(?)
5	32.50	86.67	14.44(?)	21.67	(?)	(?)	(?)
6	35.00	93.33	15.56(?)	23.33	(?)	(?)	(?)
7	37.50	100.00	16.67(?)	25.00	(?)	(?)	(?)
8	40.00	106.67	17.78(?)	26.66	(?)	(?)	(?)
9	42.50	113.33	18.89(?)	28.33	(?)	(?)	(?)
10	45.00	120.00	20.00(?)	30.00	(?)	(?)	(?)

Some of the values have been interpolated; Evade needs more data to confirm values. Movement increases every x levels, where x is NOT linear, however x gets larger and smaller in some cases (likely caused by rounding). Data on regen are too sparse at the moment to make any conclusions. Attack appears to be linear with an addition of -2, -1, 0, 1 or 2 (2(sin/cos) determination?); more data are needed (particularly for Tame values as opposed to Loyal).

Pet Skills

Below is a listing of all of the skills a pet can learn. Skills can be learned taking the appropriate Skill Scrolls to a Pet Manager. Skills can be upgraded by using a Tame Book, purchased from Mrs. Zoologist in Archesaur, when the pet has reached the appropriate level.

Many Skill Scrolls can be purchased from Mrs. Zoologist while others must be acquired from either the Auction House or other sources such as Temple of the Dragon Treasure.

Each skill has the following information listed:

Levels	The levels at which your pet can learn/upgrade the skill.
Effects	Type of effect: Formula and description. SL is the Skill Level (1 - 5).
Type	The mitigation check used by the pet's target on "Damage:" effects.

As an example, Bash's information shows that the skill can be learned at level 1, upgraded by one skill level when your pet reaches levels 20, 40, 60 and 80. It also shows that at skill level 1 it deals 140% of the pet's base damage, which is then mitigated by the target's Physical Defense. For every skill level, the damage increases by 15% and caps at 200% for skill level 5.

8s Reuse

These are your "bash" type skills. They're very useful as your auto-cast skill because their quick reuse generates a lot of threat or agro (which represent your pet's ability to keep the mob hitting it).

• Bash

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Damage	(125 + 15 * SL)% of pet's base damage.
Type	Physical

• Fireball

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Damage	(125 + 15 * SL)% of pet's base damage.
Type	Fire

• Icicle

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Damage	(125 + 15 * SL)% of pet's base damage.
Type	Water

• Sandblow

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Damage	(125 + 15 * SL)% of pet's base damage.
Type	Earth

• Thunderbolt

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Damage	(125 + 15 * SL)% of pet's base damage.
Type	Metal

• Toxic Mist

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Damage	(125 + 15 * SL)% of pet's base damage.
Type	Wood

10s Reuse

These skills are general purpose and have reasonably quick reuse times.

• Boost

Levels	10, 20, 30
Heal	(6 + 2 * SL)% of pet's base damage.

• Shrill

Levels	10, 20, 30
Interrupt	(50 + 10 * SL)% chance to interrupt target's channeling.

• Slow

Levels	10, 20, 30
Slow	(25 + 5 * SL)% decrease to target's movement speed.

15s Reuse

• Flesh Ream (Currently does full damage in PvP)

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Damage	(100 + 20 * SL)% of pet's base damage over 9 seconds.
Type	Physical

• Roar

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Taunt	Puts pet on top of the target's hate list. Higher level skill puts the pet farther ahead of the next highest on the hate list.

30s Reuse

Bloodhunger requires level 3 Bloodthirst and Devour requires level 3 Consume.

• Bloodthirst

Levels	40, 60, 80.
Lifetap	(10 + 5 * SL)% of Pet's max HP drained from opponent's HP to heal pet.

• Bloodhunger (Requires level 3 of Bloodthirst)

Levels	80.
Lifetap	(Max_HP - Current_HP)*0.50 drained from opponent's HP to heal pet.

• Consume

Levels	40, 60, 80.
Lifetap	(10 + 5 * SL)% of Pet's max HP drained from opponent's Mana to heal pet.

• Devour (Requires level 3 of Consume)

Levels	80.
Lifetap	(Max_HP - Current_HP)*0.50 drained from opponent's Mana to heal pet.

• Howl

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Debuff	(16 + 4 * SL)% Magic Defense reduction for 15s.

• Penetrate

Levels	30, 45, 60, 75, 90.
Damage	(200 * SL) damage immune to mitigation for SL < 4. (200 * SL + (3 - SL) * 100) damage immune to mitigation for SL >=4.

• Pierce

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Debuff	(16 + 4 * SL)% Physical Defense reduction for 15s.

• Sacrifice

Levels	80.
Damage	400% of pet's base damage to target (75% of pet's current HP lost).
Type	Physical

• Threaten

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Debuff	(16 + 4 * SL)% Physical Attack reduction for 15s.

60s Reuse

These skills have exceptionally long reuse timers (for normal mobs, they'll be used at most once per fight). This makes them very situational and of questionable usefulness.

• Pounce (The in-game description incorrectly states that the attack rate increase depends on the success of the stun)

Levels	20, 80.
Stun & Buff	80% chance to stun enemy for 3s; (5 + 10 * SL)% increased attack rate for 15 seconds.

• Tough

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Buff	(25 + 5 * SL)% incoming damage reduction for 15s.

Buffs

These are the only buffs which will affect your pet. They are all quite useful and are therefore very expensive to acquire through the auction house.

• Blessing of the Pack

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Buff	(5 + 5 * SL)% increase to pet's Max HP for 1h.

• Claw

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Buff	(5 + 5 * SL)% increase to pet's base physical damage for 1 hour. Additive with bonus/penalty from Loyalty (confirmation needed).

• Protect

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Buff	(30 * SL)% increase to pet's Magic Defense for 1 hour.

• Reflect

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Buff	(20 + 10 * SL)% of melee damage deflected for 1 hour. As with other defelction buffs, this is applied before mitigation.

• Strong

Levels	1, 20, 40, 60, 80.
Buff	(30 * SL)% increase to pet's Physical Defense for 1 hour.

Which Pet To Chose

It's important to have the right pet for the right job! Below are guidelines to help you chose the right kind of pet for a given situation.

Physical Tanking

Air pets are not, in general, strong physical tanks. None of the categories have good growth for this type of situation. If you plan on doing a lot of air-based combat, look to a Windwalking Piggy or Baby Blazing Phoenix.

On the ground, Magmites have very good Physical Defense and Attack growth, allowing them to keep the mob's attention while mitigation much of the damage; magic defense is, however, quite weak. For pure physical, these really are the only choice without going to a rare or legendary pet.

In the water, Turtles make the best pets for a physical tanking job.

Magic Tanking

For the air, the Flying Insect grouping does the best, though again, look to a Windwalking Piggy or Baby Blazing Phoenix.

Carapests and Antelope have the best Magical Defense on the ground, though carapests have slightly more HP and antelope deal significantly more damage.

Legged Undines have the best Magic Defense in the water, though Finned Undines and Mermaids also have substantial magical defenses.

Damage Dealing

The sawfly grouping provide the best attack increases of the common air pets. They all have Bash and Toxic Mist, which provide frequent dps additions to their auto attack.

Magmites, Scorpions and Antelope have all got good offensive growth and you may already be using one or two of these as tanks. Scorpions have the advantage of starting out at level 2, while Antelope have better speed and survivability for magic-based AEs. Golems have a lot more HP and Regen and their physical defense allows them to absorb physical AEs much better than the other groupings, however they move very slowly and their large size can make seeing around them an issue.

There's no hands down winner in the water, stick with a turtle or Legged Undine. Turtles have better survivability, but move more slowly and tend to block your view.

Ranged Tanking

Eldergoths are really the only choice here as cactopods die too quickly and there are no ranged pets for the air or water.

Luring/Pulling

In the air, everything's about the same as far as movement, so don't take up another pet bag slot with a puller.

On land, Eldergoths make decent pullers as they're likely to have Tough and Boost for their ranged tanking roles. Minkiis have reasonably good movement speed and make a decent alternative to a ranged puller; investing in a Kowlin would be a good idea once you hit level 60 if this is your preferred type of puller.

Mermaids are the fastest swimmers and make decent pullers, but again, not usually worth the pet bag slot just for pulling.

Debuffer

Any of the tanking pets will be your top choice here, but if you're going to invest coin in making a debuffer, invest in a rare pet for this. Situations requiring debuffs will also generally be indoors or on the ground, so don't fill up pet bag slots with air/water utility pets unless you've got the room.

Additional Resources

Some of the information for this guide was gathered and confirmed through the following sources:
PW Database
ecatomb's fansite
PWI Pets Pets