Suggestions for Pet viability... (Shadow)

[L337GTIMKV]

I saw in a recent thread that you (Shadow) are still trying to figure out how to make pets viable.. Honestly, I'm not sure what the issue is as the fix is pretty simple really:

1) Have the pets automatically be the same level as the player.. (Most important..)

2) Change the skills to give the pets bonuses to certain stats per rank (And/or bonus abilities at certain rank thresholds.. Like Titan quest did with their pets.)

3) Remove the current +level system for additional ranks (Meaning the pets level would not change with extra ranks..)

4) Maybe add some item modifiers that affect pets? Pet damage +15% etc etc..

Pretty simple and effective fix really.. And most importantly, it would make pet's fun!

Thanks for listening!

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by L337GTIMKV

I saw in a recent thread that you (Shadow) are still trying to figure out how to make pets viable.. Honestly, I'm not sure what the issue is as the fix is pretty simple really:

1) Have the pets automatically be the same level as the player.. (Most important..)

This is easy to do however I have a design issue with it.

It means if you had a level 100 character you could stick 2 skills points into the skeleton skill to get the first skill level. This would give you a skeleton that would in general work just as well as it did when you were at level 2. Most other skills don't scale up like this and you have to keep investing in them to keep up (not all but most). Try hitting a level 100 monster with a level 1 fireball.

It actually gets worse, not only is it just as effective at level 100 and level 2, at the level 100 level up you get 22 skill points and at level 2 you only get 2. So it's constantly getting cheaper in relative to how many skill points you have available.

[Cadfan]

What if you just scaled accuracy and defense according to level, but left hit points and damage to the regular system?

That way the guy with 1 rank at level 100 would still have a lousy monster, but no matter how many points he chose to put into it, it would still be able to hit its target?

[viper34j]

Maybe something like this would work...

Each skill point in the skeleton skill would grant a skeleton (or skeletons) that are the same level as the casting player up to a specific max level. The skill would also have other bonuses as L337GTIMKV suggested.

Example:
Level 1: Raise skeleton(s) as caster level (Max level 3). Skeleton(s) gain +3% dmg, +3% hp
Level 2: Raise skeleton(s) as caster level (Max level 6). Skeleton(s) gain +6% dmg, +6% hp
Level 3: Raise skeleton(s) as caster level (Max level 9). Skeleton(s) gain +9% dmg, +9% hp
Level 4: Raise skeleton(s) as caster level (Max level 12). Skeleton(s) gain +12% dmg, +12% hp
Level 5: Raise skeleton(s) as caster level (Max level 15). Skeleton(s) gain +15% dmg, +15% hp

[Arlow]

I'm maxing out the summon skree atm, lvl 21 with this conjurer now and it's keeping the skree my level or, like right now, one level above me. I'm having alot of fun feeling like a puppetmaster, downside is I haven't had enough points to boost any other spells and I've become like a frail summoner hiding behind the pets and re-summoning as they fall in hard battles. Feels like a fair trade off, I could have more pew pew and suppliment with the demons or have an army of monsters to hide behind. I haven't necro'd to this level yet because I like how the demons don't require a dead body, afraid if i invested this much in skeletons getting those first few kills would be hard, but that's a guess - don't know from xp

[L337GTIMKV]

Ok, then rather than have the pet 100% of character level, make it like 80%, but have each rank increase att/def etc.

Either way.. Current "growth" rate of pets is preposterously underdone. I mean a 8 skill point pet starting at like level 3 is just silly..

I mean the trickster skill "lure" takes like 6 sp at rank 1 and is only level ONE.. It would die instantly.. Totally useless.

[Shadow]

Right now you do get 50% of the character's level. I'm not sure I have touched the Lure skill so it might not be representative of the summon skills in general.

[getter77]

Another way to look at it, in terms of "Why bother with beyond 1 SP if it scales?" (Assuming one is still in this current skill style) would be to have additional levels unlock extra perks/powers for said Summon beyond simple +Dmg, +Accuracy and the like---at the least you could incorporate the likes of Champ/boss modifiers with higher thresholds. This way somebody that just wants a distraction has it at level 1 whereas somebody who needs it to be high performance or a more major distraction is rewarded with investment.