On the Scholar's Eos: A Detailed Analysis of Current State and Future Potentiation

I've been playing as a scholar in dungeons for quite some time now, and I'm noticing a trend in the manner of which I play. For the majority of the time, I simply allow Eos to operate as it will, without much direction or direct control via the Obey command. There are occasions where I will direct Eos to take a station somewhere near the tank so that I may kite enemies back to the tank/dds (I tend to occasionally pick up adds with my healing potency) or to simply allow myself a bit more maneuverability. There are some trends I am noticing whilst playing as the scholar in regards to the pet, and I'd like to touch on those here as well as provide some potential improvements.

First and foremost, the current state of ability in regards to controlling Eos could use some work--a Scholar's pet is a goodly portion of our healing potency on the battlefield. I would recommend a way of directing Eos's actions, potentially through a variation of the gambit system seen in FFXII or some other form of macro-management. I believe the developers wanted to make it as easy on the player in terms of not having to micromanage two sets of abilities; however, the lack of customizability renders most of my experiences with Eos as a methodology of apathy.

The second change that I would like to see is some variation of the "follow" command implemented for Eos. Simply put, enabling Eos to be set on a choice player in the party--most notably the tank--would enable Scholars to manage their own sets of skills and battle tactics without having to worry exactly where Eos is.

Furthermore, the developers could limit the range of this follow command to a respectable battlefield measurement, thus ensuring that Scholars won't simply succumb to a set-and-forget mindset and must therefore stay with the group throughout the progression of the dungeon.

These are just some thoughts that I had that I feel would greatly improve the Scholar pet healing experience. It would be a sharp turn from many of the MMOs on the market and ultimately set a pace for the developers to further enhance their classes in ways never seen. Not that I'm saying they haven't already done that with a majority of A Realm Reborn's features; it is simply an emphasis on another step in the right direction.

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Devs have stated there are no plans for a pet gambit system in the past.

Hey, thanks for letting me know that; I had no idea. And that's pretty disappointing that they're not even considering it; it could add a lot of value to the combat system.

Having read your arguments, I have to disagree with making the AI inherently better. Since the last patch, I have been using mouse-over macros with the fairy on Obey->Follow to great effect. Proper micromanagement of the pet is what distinguishes a great scholar from his peers. In more challenging fights like Ifrit Exreme, I make the most out of Eos by manually placing her, shielding her, and commanding Rouse/WD, Fey Illumination, and Fey Covenant as completely unique abilities. Left on autopilot, Eos would blow her load immediately and the healing burden would be dramatically higher. I would prefer this to remain so that scholars will have to play well in order to perform well.

i personally disagree and think it is fine how it is now.
With macros you can have total control over your fairy without it being extremely annoying.

And the heel on tank, i personally don't think it is useful.
Go fairy! go next to the tank and say hello to plummet, death sentence, mountain buster, wicked wheel, inferno...
it will be fun for you, i swear! have fun little fairy, stay really close to him.

These are all valid arguments, but the fact remains that built-in macros would generally be more viable for the less perceptive of players. You make note that there are distinguishing factors between different levels of players, but the reality is that you will not always have great healers. I would much rather have a player who is not comfortable micro-managing their pet who is still capable of using their pet's abilities via a better-designed UI or macro system. As for the tank-following argument, setting the follow command on someone doesn't necessarily put you in harm's way, depending on the range. This would obviously have to be taken into account when designing a suitable mechanic.

IMO controlling Eos isnt an issue at the moment.
I have a macro for EOS which gets her to turret heal and in turn follow any target.
I know it is harsh, but if you are player who cant micro manage and arent delivering whether it be heals or DPS, you should go for the pet-less equivalent.
I would hate for pets to have a gambit system, not only does it make it easier for poor scholars to appear good, it would remove the flexibility we have at the moment.

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Originally Posted by TheLostGunslinger

These are all valid arguments, but the fact remains that built-in macros would generally be more viable for the less perceptive of players. You make note that there are distinguishing factors between different levels of players, but the reality is that you will not always have great healers. I would much rather have a player who is not comfortable micro-managing their pet who is still capable of using their pet's abilities via a better-designed UI or macro system.

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Well, if I could not handle my fairy via micromanagement, it would encourage me if I know that I could improve my healing via micromanagement. Therefore I completely agree with my "pre-posters", that they should not change anything else on the pet AI for now.