SK pet torch

[Treefall]

Ok, I know SK pets aren't great, and I've noticed in some instances it is better to not have 'em up. However, they can also be extra DMG and good oh crap and mana batteries.

That said the Wiki says the first pet to start being able to dual wield is level 19 (lvl 39 spell max pet) with weapons, and ain't no way I am going to take the time to RNG a max pet as an SK.

Out of curiosity, does the torch trick work to force dual wielding on pets before they "can" or should I not give a crap until my per actually can dual wield with weapons?

Thank you

[Snaggles]

Go with like an Argent Defender, Coldain Crossbow, etc. A main hand 60’hitter is something. I personally found that to be best for the early pets.

[Danth]

Out of curiosity, does the torch trick work to force dual wielding on pets before they "can" or should I not give a crap until my per actually can dual wield with weapons?

Yes, giving a pet a torch or weapons will enable dual wield on a pet capable of so doing. The level 39 pet can do it if you get a max pet, but I agree with you, screw re-casting it. It's a lousy pet for its level, dual-wield or no. The level 49 and especially the 52 pets are the pets you'll mostly do this for since they actually contribute decent damage. The 49 pet can dual wield most of the time if given weapons, just the lower summons don't, and the 52 always can. If you happen to get a max summon with the 52 pet you don't need to arm it, it'll dual wield on its own. The final high 50's pet always dual wields on its own, so no more fussing with arming the pet at that point.

[PatChapp]

No,summoned pets below the minimum level threshold will not not duel if you give them a torch.
As noted,you can torch the proper level pet to save giving it 2 weapons.

[Crede]

Ok, I know SK pets aren't great, and I've noticed in some instances it is better to not have 'em up. However, they can also be extra DMG and good oh crap and mana batteries.

That said the Wiki says the first pet to start being able to dual wield is level 19 (lvl 39 spell max pet) with weapons, and ain't no way I am going to take the time to RNG a max pet as an SK.

Out of curiosity, does the torch trick work to force dual wielding on pets before they "can" or should I not give a crap until my per actually can dual wield with weapons?

Thank you

The final 2 pets are borderline great. They can potentially do 1/3 your dps, if not more if you’re actually trying for a max pet with reclaim. Innate dual wield too. And good for eating HTS if needed. That’s no joke in a game of inches.

[Ripqozko]

The final 2 pets are borderline great. They can potentially do 1/3 your dps, if not more if you’re actually trying for a max pet with reclaim. Innate dual wield too. And good for eating HTS if needed. That’s no joke in a game of inches.

1/3rd whos dps? aint doing that with any tov weapon. which almost any guild can snap one with these days.

[Snaggles]

I recall in Neriak mine 58+ doing like mid/high teens with an argent defender. Was doing mid 40’s with a soul defiler and about that with the epic (w/o counting the proc) with 41% worn haste. Some of that time spent casting and chasing so parses weren’t great.

The pet is pretty meh. I just stopped using it since it was cumbersome to babysit. Tho, in those low levels with a 2h it’s probably damn good on account of your own dps and caps being crummy.

[Keebz]

1/3rd whos dps? aint doing that with any tov weapon. which almost any guild can snap one with these days.

I did 52-60 with ToV weapons, 41% haste, capped STR and AoB and the pet was still very good. Maybe not 1/3 of dps, but it was substantial. Max summon is worth it if you're grinding for hours. Torch + some 25+ DMG 2 hander can help if you have the mobs to burn through.

As far as the pet being a PITA to manage, just clear to where you do your kites, then summon and park it there.

[Crede]

I did 52-60 with ToV weapons, 41% haste, capped STR and AoB and the pet was still very good. Maybe not 1/3 of dps, but it was substantial. Max summon is worth it if you're grinding for hours. Torch + some 25+ DMG 2 hander can help if you have the mobs to burn through.

As far as the pet being a PITA to manage, just clear to where you do your kites, then summon and park it there.

This.

Also you can /pet back on your socials bar while casting which helps a lot with it staying out of the way. Imagine the price on an item if it could give you an extra 1000-1400 hp and 20+ dps. The level jump of the pet from 49 to 52 is a whopping 8 levels.

[Sizar]

Go solo HS and tell me a pet is garbage...will soak every single HT you need and keep ticking

[Ripqozko]

i dont think its garbage i certainly used it, but it aint 1/3rd dmg lol

[tycohunden]

Seeing how the finest endevor a Shadowknight can adhere to in this rendition of the game is to be a dps check for dps class shitters, the cackling bones pet absoluely adds a dps or two but since having Avatar procced from the beginning of the fight has a much larger impacton the dps and how eye of zomm doesn’t stack with pet I’d have to confer the notion that the pet is useless and that if you don’t have beads(for the sole reason of proccing primal of) you’re not a Gentlekmight and a scholar and should simply stick to fearkiting ice giants for toes using blood ember pieces.
/nods crown

[Crede]

Seeing how the finest endevor a Shadowknight can adhere to in this rendition of the game is to be a dps check for dps class shitters, the cackling bones pet absoluely adds a dps or two but since having Avatar procced from the beginning of the fight has a much larger impacton the dps and how eye of zomm doesn’t stack with pet I’d have to confer the notion that the pet is useless and that if you don’t have beads(for the sole reason of proccing primal of) you’re not a Gentlekmight and a scholar and should simply stick to fearkiting ice giants for toes using blood ember pieces.
/nods crown

I have a hard time believing an avatar proc can out dps the max pet that can quad for 56 not to mention it also bashes, can eat your HTS for you and has over 1k hp. And lol @ beads like every sk is just running around with one. Still plenty of other ways to proc avatar that isn’t an eye.

But now I’m curious I can test this later.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Go solo HS and tell me a pet is garbage...will soak every single HT you need and keep ticking

Indeed! I have two videos of me soloing in HS north with a pet:

https://youtu.be/yZjWT9dj2uI?si=T3gBg3YeGgbv2pnf

https://youtu.be/WmDvk3udrhI?si=aWCXWA7a0OTp-tuA

The level 58 pet is pretty good, and not that difficult to control if you park it.

I do think some of the lower level pets aren't great. If I remember right the level 39 pet in particular was quite underwhelming.

[Crede]

Indeed! I have two videos of me soloing in HS north with a pet:

https://youtu.be/yZjWT9dj2uI?si=T3gBg3YeGgbv2pnf

https://youtu.be/WmDvk3udrhI?si=aWCXWA7a0OTp-tuA

The level 58 pet is pretty good, and not that difficult to control if you park it.

I do think some of the lower level pets aren't great. If I remember right the level 39 pet in particular was quite underwhelming.

The 39 max pet can dual wield with weapons. It’s nice to have but it wasn’t until the 52 pet that I really started to notice the difference. It’s an 8 level jump from the 49 pet and innate dual wield is nice too.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

The 39 max pet can dual wield with weapons. It’s nice to have but it wasn’t until the 52 pet that I really started to notice the difference. It’s an 8 level jump from the 49 pet and innate dual wield is nice too.

Yeah same. Don't get me wrong, if you are fear kiting at lower levels and can keep your pet alive, might as well use it.

I think the main issue with the 39 pet was the low level and the low HP. It would die pretty fast when fighting like level 35+ mobs if it ever got agro.

[Snaggles]

I’m pretty sure the 58 sk pet doubles for a max of 47 and taps. Replace the MH with an argent defender or something and it will hit for 67 MH tops (47 offhand). Add a muzzle and it gets a bit better.

The issue with knights is without Avatar they are about 100 attack behind the other melee classes with their 225 attack weapon skills (SK has 215 piercing too). Avatar doesn’t turn them into a dps class but it closes the gap a lot, especially if that other class doesn’t have Avatar. I expect the baby pet would be closer to equal on lower level targets but those things hardly tickle Vindi.

I admit a Knight with a Tunare sword, avatar, and some AoB’s can parse very well. They just aren’t going to consistently beat dps classes with similar gear. They certainly will make bad monks and rogues look…well, bad.

Note: this assumes you have to pick one, to proc a primal on beads. In most situations if you can manage it, the pet is just extra dps. Not a ton, but it’s something. The less the gear the SK has, the more reason to use it. At least level 52+ when they aren’t horrid.

[IzHaN80]

I've been parsing my pet and max pet through the levels has been consistently dealing from 10% to 20%-25% damage in lots of fights without giving pet any cool weapon, imagine doing so....

[loramin]

ain't no way I am going to take the time to RNG a max pet as an SK

With a mage focus item (https://wiki.project1999.com/Magician_Focus_Items), which any class can use from inventory, you don't lose any mana when you recast pet. That makes things a lot faster.

Still may not be worth the trouble, but .... maybe sometimes?

[DeathsSilkyMist]

With a mage focus item (https://wiki.project1999.com/Magician_Focus_Items), which any class can use from inventory, you don't lose any mana when you recast pet. That makes things a lot faster.

Still may not be worth the trouble, but .... maybe sometimes?

You waste bone chips though. I usually don't try to max pet unless I'm in an area where I am looting bonechips. These days there are less low levels selling bonechips.

[CrazyPro]

the level 58 SK pet is pretty good and definitely worth having up when feasible

end of discussion

[Crede]

I did a few tests against Jacker, a lvl 44 Ogre SK in Neriak. My SK has 41% haste and a Great spear of dawn.

Using the level 58 pet spell Cackling Bones here's one with the 3rd best pet - max hit 43. I also casted strengthen death on him(20% pet haste).

Name | % Total | Damage | DPS | SDPS | Sec | # Hits | Max Hit | Best Sec | # Bane | Av Hit | Av Crit | Av Lucky | % Acc | % Hit | % Crit | % Lucky | Special | Class
------------+----------+---------+-----+------+-----+--------+---------+-----------+--------+--------+---------+----------+--------+--------+--------+----------+----------+--------------
Ghitt | 73.39 | 3,633 | 49 | 41 | 73 | 27 | 249 | 388 | 0 | 134 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 | - | - | | Shadow Knight
Lobarer | 24.93 | 1,234 | 14 | 14 | 84 | 44 | 43 | 91 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 | - | - | |


I did 49 dps, pet did 14. It also ate the HT for me, and cackling bones lifetaps so its 1300-1400 health comes back quick. So 3rd best pet did ~29% of my dps. Typically when I am killing I go for max or 2nd best pet.

Here I was able to get the 2nd best pet after 2 reclaims:

Name | % Total | Damage | DPS | SDPS | Sec | # Hits | Max Hit | Best Sec | # Bane | Av Hit | Av Crit | Av Lucky | % Acc | % Hit | % Crit | % Lucky | Special | Class
------------+----------+---------+-----+------+-----+--------+---------+-----------+--------+--------+---------+----------+--------+--------+--------+----------+----------+--------------
Ghitt | 77.71 | 4,034 | 49 | 49 | 81 | 29 | 252 | 493 | 0 | 139 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 | - | - | | Shadow Knight
Jobobn | 22.08 | 1,146 | 15 | 14 | 76 | 41 | 45 | 79 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 | - | - | |

Here the pet did 15 dps, and I did 49. So pet is doing ~31% of my dps.

I also was not fear kiting. When you fear kite it gets even more favorable for the pet because it will stay glued to the mob, while you will occasionally miss due to pathing/hitbox issues. As Loramin mentioned it's not hard to get a reclaim item to go for a higher pet, just FD if you don't like your pets hits. Bone chips are not hard to get, by now pretty much all of us has a char that could mow down kurns and get a year supply in an hour or 2..

I did not proc avatar or anything. Nor did I have eyepatch, etc. But I also didn't give pet deadwood staves or anything like that. Max pet would have been somewhere around 1/3 dps as I originally mentioned.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

I did a few tests against Jacker, a lvl 44 Ogre SK in Neriak. My SK has 41% haste and a Great spear of dawn.

Using the level 58 pet spell Cackling Bones here's one with the 3rd best pet - max hit 43. I also casted strengthen death on him(20% pet haste).

Name | % Total | Damage | DPS | SDPS | Sec | # Hits | Max Hit | Best Sec | # Bane | Av Hit | Av Crit | Av Lucky | % Acc | % Hit | % Crit | % Lucky | Special | Class
------------+----------+---------+-----+------+-----+--------+---------+-----------+--------+--------+---------+----------+--------+--------+--------+----------+----------+--------------
Ghitt | 73.39 | 3,633 | 49 | 41 | 73 | 27 | 249 | 388 | 0 | 134 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 | - | - | | Shadow Knight
Lobarer | 24.93 | 1,234 | 14 | 14 | 84 | 44 | 43 | 91 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 | - | - | |


I did 49 dps, pet did 14. It also ate the HT for me, and cackling bones lifetaps so its 1300-1400 health comes back quick. So 3rd best pet did ~29% of my dps. Typically when I am killing I go for max or 2nd best pet.

Here I was able to get the 2nd best pet after 2 reclaims:

Name | % Total | Damage | DPS | SDPS | Sec | # Hits | Max Hit | Best Sec | # Bane | Av Hit | Av Crit | Av Lucky | % Acc | % Hit | % Crit | % Lucky | Special | Class
------------+----------+---------+-----+------+-----+--------+---------+-----------+--------+--------+---------+----------+--------+--------+--------+----------+----------+--------------
Ghitt | 77.71 | 4,034 | 49 | 49 | 81 | 29 | 252 | 493 | 0 | 139 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 | - | - | | Shadow Knight
Jobobn | 22.08 | 1,146 | 15 | 14 | 76 | 41 | 45 | 79 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 | - | - | |

Here the pet did 15 dps, and I did 49. So pet is doing ~31% of my dps.

I also was not fear kiting. When you fear kite it gets even more favorable for the pet because it will stay glued to the mob, while you will occasionally miss due to pathing/hitbox issues. As Loramin mentioned it's not hard to get a reclaim item to go for a higher pet, just FD if you don't like your pets hits. Bone chips are not hard to get, by now pretty much all of us has a char that could mow down kurns and get a year supply in an hour or 2..

I did not proc avatar or anything. Nor did I have eyepatch, etc. But I also didn't give pet deadwood staves or anything like that. Max pet would have been somewhere around 1/3 dps as I originally mentioned.

Nice data! Yeah I want to say I parsed my 58 pet around 15ish DPS as well. My Shaman pet with 50% haste does like 17 DPS, so that seems to track anyway when you take SK pet dual wield into account. Shaman pet can't dual wield.

Personally I am too lazy to farm bone chips, and too full of stuff to have a bag of bones in the bank, but to each their own on that. Max pet is obviously more efficient if you want to go that route.