Shaman Pet Buffs

[ChaSue0669]

Just turned 34 and was wondering which buffs in any should I cast on pet. I am face tanking as of now.

[farp]

When soloing, if your pet does more then 50% of the damage, you will only get 50% of the XP for that kill.
With that in mind, buffing your pet with say haste will likely bring its DPS above yours. It's usually not worth the mana to buff it.

If your in a group, and mana is plentiful, haste is probably the only spell worth casting on it.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Pet buffs depend on the situation and your level.

At your level I wouldnt worry too much about pet buffs, since you don't have Torpor or clickies like JBB and thus need to be more careful about mana useage. The pet by itself is already quite good.

When you get to level 45 pet buffing is easier because you can use the jaundiced clickies to give your pet STR for free. You can also do free STA if you get the jaundiced legs or thurgadin chest. You should also be able to out damage your pet at 45 if you have JBB, so you could start hasting him more often then.

It's been a while since I was under 60, so I will explain when I use pet buffs to hopefully give you some ideas if you do run into specific situations where you may want to try buffing your pet.

In any situation where your pet is at high risk of dying, it typically isn't worth wasting mana buffing them. Save it for the recast of the pet when it dies.

At level 60 I typically haste my pet, since I will always out damage it with my DoTs. If I need the pet to tank for me I will also give them STA + AC + Focus of Spirit. I sometimes give them STR and Primal Avatar for more DPS.

When fighting WW Dragons, however, I do not haste my pet because it causes the pet to push the mob more, which is annoying if mob positioning is important.

[loramin]

When soloing, if your pet does more then 50% of the damage, you will only get 50% of the XP for that kill.
With that in mind, buffing your pet with say haste will likely bring its DPS above yours. It's usually not worth the mana to buff it.

If your in a group, and mana is plentiful, haste is probably the only spell worth casting on it.

Haste on pets is huge, and it was the one buff I always cast.

With DoTs and melee damage there usually wasn't any issue with the pet doing 50%, but if it was a problem all you need to do is use a Magician Focus Item (eg. Shovel of Ponz) before the mob dies to kill your pet and get its mana back.

[busted]

Never found a definitive answer on https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=328103&highlight=spirit+quickening

Does spirit quickening stack with celerity?

- https://wiki.project1999.com/Spirit_Quickening
- https://wiki.project1999.com/Celerity

I usually add Str + FOS to pet for more DPS.

I'm wondering if the + 30 str from spirit quickening will help as well.

Shamwowi what do you think?

[loramin]

It actually says on the page you linked, https://wiki.project1999.com/Spirit_Quickening

Haste is not v2 thus it can stack with other haste spells but the highest percentage is the only effect to apply.

(In other words, no it doesn't stack with celerity; Spirit Quickening is a worthless spell.)

[DeathsSilkyMist]

It actually says on the page you linked, https://wiki.project1999.com/Spirit_Quickening

(In other words, no it doesn't stack with celerity; Spirit Quickening is a worthless spell.)

This. Sadly Spirit Quickening doesn't stack with other haste spells on P99. My hunch is that it should, as that seems to be the intent of the spell. But I don't have any in-era data to back that up, so it will probably be forever relegated to the "spellbook completionist" line of spells:) Your best haste spell is going to way out DPS the +30 STR on Spirit quickening as well, so there isn't any need to try and compare the haste + STR vs the straight haste.

[busted]

Thanks for the replies.

Does the spell get removed from the pet if you cast celerity or does the str component stack with FOS/str buffs?

It seems like you can cast either on the pet in any order and there is no "spell did not take hold" message. This leads me to believe that the buffs do stack but the better haste buff is used (celerity)

Looking to confirm this theory

[greenspectre]

Thanks for the replies.

Does the spell get removed from the pet if you cast celerity or does the str component stack with FOS/str buffs?

It seems like you can cast either on the pet in any order and there is no "spell did not take hold" message. This leads me to believe that the buffs do stack but the better haste buff is used (celerity)

Looking to confirm this theory

This may be the case, but my instinct is that Spirit Quickening doesn't stack with your normal STR buff, making it still useless. If it DOES stack with both haste and STR, then I suppose it would be useful for the STR and AC bonus, but nothing beyond that.

[Toxigen]

Why are we talking about FoS and shit? OP is level 34.

OP, I would probably just put STR on your pet for now. It'll increase the frequency in which it hits for max damage. Buff yourself w/ STR at the same time to know when it fades if you're not a filthy gina user.

Hasting a pet at lower levels will likely be very mana inefficient. It has a short duration, high cost to cast, and it'll only make you have to back off the pet early / more often to ensure you're doing > 50% for full XP.

Of course, mileage may vary. Test on your own to find a good sweet spot. Obviously this all goes out the window as soon as you're in a group as the pet will no longer threaten to eat xp.

MEGA important side note: level 34 begins the only window in a shaman's journey by which you can charm animals for really good xp. You should go get a copy of this spell and head to Cazic Thule. Charm alligators until they turn green no XP. The ZEM is insane. You'll hit 39 in no time in which you get another entire set of spells (Canni 2, Togor's) and can return to your normal XP method(s) with a well-upgraded toolkit. You're welcome.

edit: ChaSue, if you're on blue and want some help learning Alligator Alley, shoot me a PM. I can come shadow you on my druid.

[Jimjam]

Good post above, but as a tangential note: on level 29 there is a decent befriend animal target in Permafrost - the an large dire wolf is always level 24 and can really ruff up the goblins.

I know xp modifiers changed relatively recently, so I don’t know whether Permafrost is still a hotspot, but my shaman with self found gear rocketed through 29 using this pet.

Bring him to the start of the wolf area (behind the temple), root it there and invis back to a safespot. The wolf will come to you solo when root breaks and from there you can begin preparing it for heavy petting.