Stable Assessment

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

Currently in my stable I have 10x 5 slot pets, most of them have a few points left for scrolls.:-
1) A Greater Dragon - Original
2) A Saurosaurus - Poisoning
3) A Dimetrosaurus - Poisoning
4) A Hiryu - Bushido/Goo
5) A Fire Beetle - Rune Corruption
6) A Cu Sidhe - Original given Conductive/Discord
7) A Rune Beetle - Original trained
8) A Najasaurus - AI/Poisoning
9) A Lesser Huryu - Bushido/AI
10) A Shadow Wyrm - Untrained

I wouldn't say any of them are perfect, but most excel in some area or another, I find that I'm constantly assessing them and wondering if a) they're worth having at all and b) if I need to rebuild one differently. On top of this I frequently end up getting more usually with some purpose in mind that I then forget and release them, I've recently got rid of a Frost Dragon, Dragon Wolf, Serpentine Dragon, Crimson Dragon, and a Raptor because I couldn't see them doing very well when fully trained.

My three remaining (lost several due to mishaps) original pets GD/Cu/Rune still do very well in most situations. The Naj and Dimetrosaur both seem very similar. The Fire Beetle I thought would be a good idea to combine with a dexxer/Tamer with Onslaught and with only Rune Corruption to use mana for, but then I wonder if it's any better than the Rune. The Cu I haven't used very much, I again thought it would be good to combine with a dexxer/Tamer that I turn him into from time to time, but then I hear of other Cu builds doing better with AI or Chiv. The Hiryu was intended for spawns though I think the Lesser surpasses it (the Lesser is also the only one I've got any scrolls on - although the GD has skills higher than you can scroll anyway). Going purely by the numbers on the lore sheet the Saurosaurus is actually one of the best defensively but it's specials and offense seem really lacking to me and as such I hardly ever want to use it.

I find it frustrating going to pick a pet, being spoilt for choice, and unable to decide what if any are worth using/keeping/training.

I'm of the opinion that Rune Corruption will result in the most damage in any fight, but I'm curious to know what other people think would be worth keeping/re-getting and training differently/what the highest dps pet is.

At the moment my Tamer is a gargoyle and set up as a basic Mage for easier Taming/training, but I also re-skill the character for T-hunting when I feel the need to, but generally prefer a dexxer/Tamer build. If I could just get my stable to a place I was happy with I would probably go human/dexxer/Tamer again. I'm also open to using them in PvP on occasion. I'd also be interested to hear people's experience with the Slashing/Piercing/Bashing/Wrestling Masteries... I was getting more or less one hit killed by my Naja when I gave it Wrestling Mastery on TC.

Ideally I'd like to eventually whittle my stable down to 5 or so pets.

 

[railshot]

I'm of the opinion that Rune Corruption will result in the most damage in any fight, but I'm curious to know what other people think would be worth keeping/re-getting and training differently/what the highest dps pet is.

Rune Corruption should be enabled on any pet that has the option, IMO, but Chivalry will result in higher DPS. However, Chivalry becomes a liability whenever you have to fight monsters of different types at the same time. So for a pet that needs to deal with spawn and be able to kill the boss quickly RC is a better choice. If it's just a boss, chiv is better.
As far what pets to keep - I think a good stable would consist of a good anti-Boss pet of every damage type (preferably not split damage) and a few general purpose AoE pets. Beyond that, pets get made for specific targets, so when you need one, you know .

 

[Winterfrost]

I love taming and how each of us have such different perspectives regarding what our pets are for and what they will do. You want to trim down to 5 really usable pets...I want to have 25 stables maxed out with every combination. I'll never use them, but I like having them.

With that in mind, I run the standard Chiv / AI Cu. She does a ton of damage and stays alive through almost everything. She's kind of a fire and forget missile. However, I have not tested very many different combo's and would like to see if I could fit something else that would do as much damage. If I do, I'll let you know.

Winter

 

[Pawain]

Every Skill on a Lesser works great. Same on a Cu just less mana regen. Then Reptalons have even less mana regen.

Every pet will kill stuff once you get them trained and skilled.

Its a great time to be a tamer.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

Rune Corruption should be enabled on any pet that has the option, IMO, but Chivalry will result in higher DPS. However, Chivalry becomes a liability whenever you have to fight monsters of different types at the same time. So for a pet that needs to deal with spawn and be able to kill the boss quickly RC is a better choice. If it's just a boss, chiv is better.
As far what pets to keep - I think a good stable would consist of a good anti-Boss pet of every damage type (preferably not split damage) and a few general purpose AoE pets. Beyond that, pets get made for specific targets, so when you need one, you know .

What would you consider an anti boss pet aside from the damage type?

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

Every Skill on a Lesser works great. Same on a Cu just less mana regen. Then Reptalons have even less mana regen.

Every pet will kill stuff once you get them trained and skilled..

True but for example the Saurosaurus just feels really really... meh.

 

[railshot]

What would you consider an anti boss pet aside from the damage type?

I'd use a pet that does NOT have AoE abilities like Explosive Goo, because they use mana, and have good single target abilities like Armor Ignore, Rune corruption, or many spells with Chivalry.

 

[Pawain]

True but for example the Saurosaurus just feels really really... meh.

Even when resists are the same and str is the same. Some pet types just seem more squishy than others. But high parry helps with that.

 

[G.v.P]

I haven't done a lot yet but a Cu with Armor Ignore and Mana Regen definitely feels "right" to me. I prefer Mortal, however, when facing a caster--and my second tamer has a Cu with Mortal for doubling-up--and while I have left Bleed on my Cus I wonder if Armor Ignore/Mortal would be useful.

 

[celticus]

I haven't done a lot yet but a Cu with Armor Ignore and Mana Regen definitely feels "right" to me. I prefer Mortal, however, when facing a caster--and my second tamer has a Cu with Mortal for doubling-up--and while I have left Bleed on my Cus I wonder if Armor Ignore/Mortal would be useful.

Can you specify what you mean by Mana Regen on Cu? Thanx.

 

[Zalan]

If you specifically want an AoE specialist try a Bane with Explosive Goo. However, there could be mana issues. Ive got one without Goo, just has magery and AI. Kept it up through out the town Invasions.

With the Stew reliant posion breath weapon it did okay as an AoE.

 

[G.v.P]

Can you specify what you mean by Mana Regen on Cu? Thanx.

After reading what everyone has done I made my Cu have 30 mana regen and 20 stam regen, but I was not interested in maxing all my skills, either...just wrestling one day for the most part ...I am more for surviving and utility than maxing out damage output, but I have three more doggies I have to work on now lol before I consider buying expansions ;X