Game Mechanics: Charmed pets dual wielding

[aresprophet]

So far my research is preliminary, but this thread from 2003 indicates that not all charmable mobs should be able to dual wield:

You have to give pets (2) weapons to dual wield, one they'll just use primary (unless weapon is secondary only). They also have to be different weapons. Unlike summoned pets,charmed pets will not wield two of the same item, 2nd will just poof.

Also from 2003, indicates that not all mobs should have the ability to DW when given weapons:

In any case, I prefer duoing with an enchanter, since they can charm pets that can dual wield. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Some pets will not equip weapns, so you're out of luck with getting them to dual wield. If they will though, it will greatly increase their damage. The only extra thing, is having weapons with procs. More damage, effects such as haste/snare/slow/extra damage are pretty useful.

Also, this 2003 post:

Depends on the mob...some mobs are able to dual-wield. By giving a Dire Charmed pet two different types of (1H) weapons it grants the mob the ability to quad hit increasing it's DPS. However, some mobs can't dual-wield. Only way to see if the mob you DC'd can dual-wield is handing it weapons and seeing if it quad hits.

One thread above also states that:

The boars in Nadox(?) can be given two different weapons and actually be seen holding both of them on their hooves. They can also be logged as dual wielding.

and

The pigs in Nadox visibly equip their weapons as an above poster mentioned, but ALL pigs in Tactics..which are higher level but use the same model, don't visibly show weapons, and do not gain additional DPS from dual wielding..

and

I only use these weapons on DC pets (you HAVE to put them on a young bat in PoN it looks so damn cool) and only if I can be sure I will not lose the pet.

...all of which suggests that mobs which display weapons on their model should dual wield, and those that do not display weapons should not. I can't confirm this, but it's also evident that some weapons did display on unusual mobs (bats, for example).

Current EQ mechanics are similar, according to this 2009 wiki page:

In most cases, giving a charmed mob two one-handed weapons of any type will cause them to dual wield once again. All types of charmed mobs will equip weapons.

So the different types requirement was at one point patched out, but not all mobs will DW when given weapons.

The info about having to give the pet different weapons is backed up in this thread from 2004 here as well:

oakdad
11-05-2004, 12:02 AM
Tips for Charming
Ask a mage friend for pet gear making sure the weapons are of 2 different types (note 1 mage weapon and a rusty one is better than 2 mage weapons of the same kind on your pet). ...

Tagrin
11-05-2004, 07:08 AM
(note 1 mage weapon and a rusty one is better than 2 mage weapons of the same kind on your pet).

I never knew that. Sometimes I get the same mage weapons and let pet use them.
Thanks for the info.

oakdad
11-05-2004, 07:45 AM
The pet will not duel wield unless the weapons are different. Well unless they ninjaed a change on me.

I can't find any patch notes referencing the ability of charmed pets to dual-wield one way or the other, so I'm not sure when anything changed. But it seems to be a historical fact that not all charmed NPCs have the ability to dual wield even when given weapons, and they should only dual wield when given different weapons. Also, references to "getting weapons back" implies that it should be possible to loot weapons from mobs that were given them when charmed, while currently those weapons disappear.

Some testing today:

a Raptor - Timorous Deep
-will Dual Wield
-does not display weapons on model
-will Dual Wield different weapons
-will Dual Wield identical weapons
-will not drop weapons given to it

a griffin - East Commonlands
-will Dual Wield
-does not display weapons on model
-will Dual Wield different weapons
-will Dual Wield identical weapons
-will not drop weapons given to it

a sabretooth tiger - The Overthere
-will Dual Wield
-does not display weapons on model
-will Dual Wield different weapons
-will Dual Wield identical weapons
-will not drop weapons given to it

a kunark rhino - The Overthere
-will Dual Wield
-does not display weapons on model
-will Dual Wield different weapons
-will Dual Wield identical weapons
-will not drop weapons given to it

I'll test Permafrost bears and wolves at a later occasion, but so far the behavior of DW on druid-charmed mobs is inconsistent with mechanics dating back to at least 2003. I could use help pinning down earlier mentions of charm and DW behavior, or a patch note directly referencing DW in relation to charm. Whether or not they should drop weapons they're given is something else I can't fully confirm.

[Palemoon]

On Al'kabor (early PoP code) most charmed mobs will not duel wield or even hold the weapon.

For example, the Fiends in Plane of Valor, I tried to give them various different mage weapons and never did they "slash" to let me know they were useing the swords. And no they would not duel wield.

In Bastion of Thunder, the elementals will duel wield if given two different weapons.

Oh, and killing one of those pervious pets will yield up the pet toys they were given.

Does everything dual wield here if given weapons? I seriously doubt that is classic.

Its kind of rare for a charmed NPC to be able to hold weapons/duel wield, and the smart Enchanters on Al'kabor know which mobs in the zone (if any) do so, and use them as their pets.

I "could" try and do tests or ask some of my enchanter guildmates that have been charming for years, if this info is wanted by the devs. (i.e. they think the duel wield/use weapons mechanic remained unchanged from 1999 to 2002)

[Werlop]

Originally Posted by aresprophet [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Whether or not they should drop weapons they're given is something else I can't fully confirm.

They should; this is a known bug.

[Brinkman]

From what I recall, all charmed mobs should duel weild and also drop the weapons it was given up to at the very least luclin, and maybe even PoP.

VI/Sony made a ton of changes to pets between luclin and PoP.

Please find posts prior to 2001. Stuff from 2003 doesnt mean much here. The trick is to find posts and websites from the time period we are trying to emulate.

Just because a post in 2003 says something, does not mean it was that way from 1999-2003. Its just a heck of a lot harder to find stuff from 1999-2001 because the internet was realatively new still, and people simply did not post online as much as from 2002 to present.