Low end mage pet question

[Xaks]

Heya gang!

I played a mage sparingly back in the day....I think I got into the 40s with that one. I have a terrible case of ALT-itis and I hop around a lot.

Anyhow, back then, the water pet was generally accepted as your best soloing pet if you didn't need the root of the earth pet.

Now, in the limited time I've been back, I'm seeing a lot of fire pets out instead of waters. I understand the built-in DS is nice...but is it really THAT big a deal, especially at lower levels? (I just hit 16, btw)

I remember back then, the relative fragility of the fire pet relegated it to specific trash cleanup duty or (due to the inherent rests) MTing only very specific targets.

Is that somehow different now?

Thanks for the wisdom up front, guys!

[Qtip]

Cast fire pet, send on mob, sit down. Once pet hits 15-20% start casting a new pet. Right before the cast goes off, hit go away pet. Send pet. Rinse and repeat.

Boring ass class. But once you start to raid you will actually get to coth people!

[Tann]

Fire pets DS is a pretty big deal even at low levels, at least twice as good as one you can cast yourself. Its fragile for sure but you will chew through mobs incredibly quickly compared to using a water/earth/air pet.

You won't need to chain cast till the 40's or so, before that just reclaim when mob is 5% ish hp and finish off with a low lvl nuke. Or be social and duo/group with water pet.

[Xaks]

Cast fire pet, send on mob, sit down. Once pet hits 15-20% start casting a new pet. Right before the cast goes off, hit go away pet. Send pet. Rinse and repeat.

Boring ass class. But once you start to raid you will actually get to coth people!

Hmmm.

Does the damage the first pet did get counted towards the '% of damage needed for XP' calculation?

[RDawg816]

Hmmm.

Does the damage the first pet did get counted towards the '% of damage needed for XP' calculation?

I wouldn't think so, since there is no pet...? Similar to how you get "solo exp" for killing things when your group dies and you finish it off... That's my understanding, anyways.

[Tipsyer]

You're correct, RDawg. Once a pet is gone (dead or reclaimed), you'll receive full exp when you finish off the mob.

When I played, it was mainly as a solo mage. Didn't start using earth pet consistently until 46 or 49, I believe. Fire when I had the spell, water otherwise.

[Beldon]

My Mage is 25 now...
I use the Fire pet for solo and it works out fine. The DS is great and does not count towards the damage the pet does. This is null for me as I let the pet do the work and take the 50% xp hit.
I suggest getting the focus item Torch of Alna (http://wiki.project1999.com/Torch_Of_Alna_Quest).
After I got this, the fire pet eats through Blues!!! More than it already did.

I usually jump between Water and Air for groups. Water is great DPS but the stun the Air pet has is nice too.

[Xaks]

How do you guys afford pet chaining? I mean, even at 16, pet summons cost regents. I can't afford to be dropping a plat every couple kills for fresh pets, I'd be broke before my next level

I mean, if you have a higher level main I guess it isn't an issue. How the hell is someone supposed to do this if the mage is the main and you're a new non-twink?

[Beldon]

How do you guys afford pet chaining?

At 25 I still don't chain cast....I can understand at 40+. Which is when most people start doing....

[Tann]

How do you guys afford pet chaining? I mean, even at 16, pet summons cost regents. I can't afford to be dropping a plat every couple kills for fresh pets, I'd be broke before my next level

I mean, if you have a higher level main I guess it isn't an issue. How the hell is someone supposed to do this if the mage is the main and you're a new non-twink?

Reagents are cheap and killing a handful of mobs will easily afford you a whole bag of malachite.

As an example when I leveled my mage from 18-24 in OT I was vendoring about 30-50pp worth of junk an hour. IIRC a full 8 slot bag of malachite is like 10pp, which would last a couple days.

[dafier]

I used Water pet almost the whole time, from level 1 to 49. The 49 fire pet with focus (Torch) is VERY awesome. I had all the < 49 focus items and used the Stein with Water all the time.

I found that using earth isn't worth it much at all. Water's DPS is awesome, just like Fire's but it has a lot more HP, therefore it can be a life saver.

Yes there are going to be times when you will not get full xp, but my suggestion is to find another mage/necro/Enchanter to duo with. From level 39 to 51ish you can sit on the wall of KC in Dreaded Lands.

[Tipsyer]

How do you guys afford pet chaining? I mean, even at 16, pet summons cost regents. I can't afford to be dropping a plat every couple kills for fresh pets, I'd be broke before my next level

I mean, if you have a higher level main I guess it isn't an issue. How the hell is someone supposed to do this if the mage is the main and you're a new non-twink?

It's doable but not until later on. Once the pets start costing a flat 200 mana it's more manageable. That starts at 29 and goes until 51. I don't recall really chaining until 39+, but your mileage may vary.

Gargoyles in Ocean of Tears are around level 19 or 20 and have a chance at dropping eyes that vendor for near 10p. It was a decently busy spot when I was in that range and you'll occasionally have a high level necro doing specs on the same island. But that's where I really remember money starting to accumulate. Avoid the middle of the island and try to pull singles to the edge until you're 20 (new pets) then you could probably handle doubles as long as your mana is up.

Sister isle in Ocean of Tears, as well, has the two lady elves in the hut that you can hunt around 24 (once again, new pet level). They can drop Longswords that vendor for about 11p each and you can sell to the dwarf on the same island, barring racial or faction barriers. They are like a 6 minute respawn. Breaking it can be a bit tricky for a mage, but it's doable with patience. Space out the time you kill each and you should be fine. You will take faction hits with kelethin and felwithe, so be cautious if you care about them.

Two decent spots as you level through your 20's to get a decent platinum cushion for pet reagents and spells and maybe some cheap int or mana gear. I haven't really played in almost 7 or 8 months, so Velious may have added some other areas that are good. But the two listed you can't really go wrong with.

[Nagash]

Don't worry about pet chain casting until level 39 for two reasons:
- Before then it is simply not needed: your pets will eat a mob alive with spare HP, from 39 mobs start to have more hp which is when chaining becomes important
- From level 39 to 49, pets only cost 200 mana which is nothing (you will meditate it back by the time you have to get rid of the pet)

Regarding which pet to use, I used earth pet + DS shield with 0 downtime, some prefer fire pet but I find it too fragile (sometime requiring chaining) plus I loved the safety of more hp and root. Whatever you choose, get the focus items as soon as you can.

Don't worry about the cost of components, malachites are cheap (1sp each maybe?) so a single fine steel weapon drop will allow you to fill a bag of them and will leave you some spare.

Most of all, enjoy your mage, if you are smart, mages can do stuff few people think doable. When you will come out alive and victorious of your first fight vs 2 or 3 mobs, you will feel like a living god. Granted mages are not as good as necro or chanty at managing hairy situation but they have more than just the gate button.

[Swish]

Never thought I'd say it but I almost want to play a mage after reading this thread.

[Tipsyer]

Most of all, enjoy your mage, if you are smart, mages can do stuff few people think doable.

QFT. Let's set a scene... Level 50 mage gets bored one day and decides to explore Lower Guk. I leveled a bit here on Live back in the day but never ventured in on p99. Mainly just farting around seeing if any of the easier camps were open when I stumbled upon a broken Frenzied camp with one mob up that had no group or dead bodies there. Figured what the hell, I'll give it a try. Didn't expect much seeing as that place can easily turn into a cluster fuck at the drop of a hat.

Fluffy the Earth Pet in-tow, we fought and kept it cleared for 2 hours when the second frenzied spawned since I got there. Close fight, but gated out afterwards with a brand-spankin' new FBSS and big ass smile on my face.

One of the top memories I have from playing here.

[Xaks]

Never thought I'd say it but I almost want to play a mage after reading this thread.

I really, really enjoy the pet classes. I played a necro and ranger as mains back in live, and had a mage as a farting around toon.

Now I'm going mage as a main to group and farm stuff with, to equip other alts later. I've got a wee necro (I think level 9 or so) that'll I'll work on at some point as a soloer. The necros are hella fun but I'm deeply, deeply liking the tankability of the mage pets...plus mage nukes I'm finding are really, really powerful.

Class-wise, if I didn't know better, I'd say the mage is prolly second strongest flat-out single target blow-shit-uperer, behind a wizzy. And that we have AE nukes is a pretty nice bonus as well. (Feel free to correct me on this if I'm wrong, as I often am...I'm going by my grouping experiences so far and seeing how other classes of similar levels move mob HP bars)

[Morningbreath]

Heya gang!

I played a mage sparingly back in the day....I think I got into the 40s with that one. I have a terrible case of ALT-itis and I hop around a lot.

Anyhow, back then, the water pet was generally accepted as your best soloing pet if you didn't need the root of the earth pet.

Now, in the limited time I've been back, I'm seeing a lot of fire pets out instead of waters. I understand the built-in DS is nice...but is it really THAT big a deal, especially at lower levels? (I just hit 16, btw)

I remember back then, the relative fragility of the fire pet relegated it to specific trash cleanup duty or (due to the inherent rests) MTing only very specific targets.

Is that somehow different now?

Thanks for the wisdom up front, guys!

At 16 and at least until 29(which is where I'm at) I'd say it's the pet DS is a pretty big deal. Other mages might do the whole pet reclaim cycle but I prefer to keep summoning until I get the best pet possible and keep it alive as long as I can.

[cdawgz28]

I love the duo with another pet class and wreck stuff strat.

[Vexenu]

I don't understand how anyone can suggest anything other than the fire pet for soloing up to 50 or so. With proper mob selection (low dark blues), you don't need more than a single focused fire pet to kill a mob. Reclaim pet when mob is low health, finish with a low level nuke. Summoning a water or earth pet and buffing it with a DS, or worse healing/buffing the pet and allowing it to eat 50% of the XP are both much less efficient options.

I recently soloed a Mage to 50 using nothing but fire pets and it was some of the fastest XP I've ever seen, right up there with charming, and much easier/stress free. Very little downtime. Mana-free DPS from the Fire pet's innate damage shield, combined with higher pet HP from the focus is just extremely efficient and can't be beat by any other pet for leveling speed.

[Xaks]

I don't understand how anyone can suggest anything other than the fire pet for soloing up to 50 or so. With proper mob selection (low dark blues), you don't need more than a single focused fire pet to kill a mob. Reclaim pet when mob is low health, finish with a low level nuke. Summoning a water or earth pet and buffing it with a DS, or worse healing/buffing the pet and allowing it to eat 50% of the XP are both much less efficient options.

I recently soloed a Mage to 50 using nothing but fire pets and it was some of the fastest XP I've ever seen, right up there with charming, and much easier/stress free. Very little downtime. Mana-free DPS from the Fire pet's innate damage shield, combined with higher pet HP from the focus is just extremely efficient and can't be beat by any other pet for leveling speed.

oh, ok.

so, untwinked and ungeared, what do I do from 1-30, when I can actually get the drops for the focusing item?

[RDawg816]

At level 6, I was using an unfocused earth pet to solo Bakdor's as well as orc hill. By 9 my earth pet could take on up to 5 blues or even the orc trainer (level 13).

I would offtank and/or chain/heal the pet depending on the situation. Some mobs I get full exp, some I get 50%. It's fun and worked for me. :)

[Tann]

oh, ok.

so, untwinked and ungeared, what do I do from 1-30, when I can actually get the drops for the focusing item?

mages, and necro's, and heck wizards can solo naked with no gear at all for quite a while. twink gear for casters just gives you more hp/mana, its quite different from twinking a melee whereas there could be an insane damage boost depending on how much money your dropping.

1-30 w/out focus items i'd say use earth or water, save up what money you can and IMHO prioritize getting stein/torch focuses first.


sidenote, if you're in need for cash and a lowbie I always suggest leveling in qeynos first. Rabid wolf/grizzly quests followed by bandit sashes till level 20 would yield enough plat for all 4 focus items and all spells. Qeynos 2015, vote now!

[Xaks]

mages, and necro's, and heck wizards can solo naked with no gear at all for quite a while. twink gear for casters just gives you more hp/mana, its quite different from twinking a melee whereas there could be an insane damage boost depending on how much money your dropping.

1-30 w/out focus items i'd say use earth or water, save up what money you can and IMHO prioritize getting stein/torch focuses first.


sidenote, if you're in need for cash and a lowbie I always suggest leveling in qeynos first. Rabid wolf/grizzly quests followed by bandit sashes till level 20 would yield enough plat for all 4 focus items and all spells. Qeynos 2015, vote now!

Hmmm, I'm most of the way through 17 in Lavastorm right now....what's this about bandit sashes? I'll have to look that up. I haven't even been able to buy all my spells up to this point, although I think 20 will be when I go back and get them all up to date. I'm up to like 70 plat right now, as I sold some bone chips.

[Tann]

Hmmm, I'm most of the way through 17 in Lavastorm right now....what's this about bandit sashes? I'll have to look that up. I haven't even been able to buy all my spells up to this point, although I think 20 will be when I go back and get them all up to date. I'm up to like 70 plat right now, as I sold some bone chips.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Bandit_Sashes

requires you not being an evil race or wolf form. camps of bandits scattered throughout WK and a few camps in EK (mob level 9-12). Drop rate is around 30%~. Each turn in yields a bronze weapon and some gold, weapon sells for like 1-4pp each. If you hand out at a camp till you have like 30-40 sashes and turn in all at once you get a nice chunk of xp and plat.

Can still get decent xp off kills till lv18ish. and the turn ins give good xp for quite a while after that.


***Also note you'll wreck Bloodsaber faction (Qeynos Nec/SK guild) doing these quests, so keep that in mind.

[Xaks]

So, as long as I'm asking about pets here...why won't they stay on target?

I'm whackin' bandits. A group of 3 or 4 pops. I send in the DS'd pet onto a specific bandit....in the 20 or 30 seconds it takes to kill him, I've gotta 'pet back off' and 'pet attack' 4 times to keep my pet attacking the same mob...he keeps turning off to another bandit and attacking that one instead.

[Troxx]

oh, ok.

so, untwinked and ungeared, what do I do from 1-30, when I can actually get the drops for the focusing item?

The quest isn't THAT expensive. Farm some bone chips, belts, pads, skins, scalps and buy your components on the market.

I did the aforementioned when brand new on this server with my bard and had a good 1-2k in gear to show for it by level 16.

[ko37qtl]

So, as long as I'm asking about pets here...why won't they stay on target?

I'm whackin' bandits. A group of 3 or 4 pops. I send in the DS'd pet onto a specific bandit....in the 20 or 30 seconds it takes to kill him, I've gotta 'pet back off' and 'pet attack' 4 times to keep my pet attacking the same mob...he keeps turning off to another bandit and attacking that one instead.

They have their own aggro list. This can be overridden by your use of Pet Back Off and setting them on the target you want but if another critter is consistently generating more aggro, the pet will turn. Like anywhere else, it's best to separate the critters if possible with root or mez.

[Cillaz]

The bandits backstab. The one you send your pet on wont be backstabbing (as its facing the pets front) but the ones behind it will be backstabbing and generating massive aggro, so your pet will turn to smoosh the one backstabbing it!