Problem with summoner DPS pet issue.

[pandabearcat]

Yes, this is true.

Garuda is definitely not a bad pet, and it is unlikely it will go anywhere.

However it won't take much for ifrit to be competitive, just needs to actually get his bugs fixed.

I think at some point pet swapping is going to become a thing, if not during fights then at least between fights.

Also generally speaking, unless there are a lot of DoTs being placed on the ground, melee pets have little to zero trouble with AoE, as they get healed by healer AoEs too.

And for target swapping, unless you desperately need your pet on one target you can leave your pet on the main target forever.

We should be happy if ifrit gets more use lol, more choices are more fun.

[Kevee]

However it won't take much for ifrit to be competitive, just needs to actually get his bugs fixed.

I really, really, disagree.

There is no way Ifrit can match the power of Bio/Bio II/Miasma + Garuda. Not unless it's so strong that it invalidates Garuda/Contagion completely.

On a pure ST basis? Yeah, but how many fights are like that unless you ignore mechanics? Not to mention you only ignore mechanics(such as Garuda feathers) when you vastly overgear the content, and at that point it wouldn't matter if you used Garuda or Ifrit.

If you're on-item-level for 50 content, Ifrit can do nothing to match Bane+Contagion against: Ifrit, all bosses of AK, 2nd/3rd boss of WP, Garuda, Titan, Turn 4, Twintania. All bosses of CM/Prae(Minus 1st UW fight).

Ifrit would only see use, as a ST damage dealer, for Caduceus(if no target switching), ADS(If you kill off the fire lasers, the DoT murders pets), and first boss of WP. All other fights, Contagion+Bane simply can't be matched unless Ifrit is so strong that it would invalidate using that combination.

I stand by my statement that we will never have a choice as long as Contagion exists, or Ifrit can't overcome 3 DoTs+Garuda(at which point we still won't have a choice, Garuda won't be used). There's really no way to equalize it, without a complete re-working of how pets function/what they do. I mean, sure, situationally we could use one pet or the other, such as a pure ST fight. This would be fine, but based on the encounters we've seen, I doubt we'll have a boss where it's just a strict ST DPS check.

Not to mention pet-switching is not a valid tactic due to MP concerns.

I assumed you meant bane, in which case, yea ifrit is going to lose unless he gets an aoe that is much better than garuda's.

One way to do this would perhaps just make his shield be an aoe pulsing tick instead of an on hit shield.

Let me preface this by saying I'm not attacking you, Panda. You're probably my most respected poster on this forum.

I want to use other pets.

If Garuda/Ifrit were equal, Ifrit would still not be used. Melee vs. Ranged, and FR vs. DK. There is no reason to use melee, DPS being equal, unless a mechanic requires it. It's detrimental to be melee.

If Ifrit was greater, there would be no reason to use Garuda besides on very niche fights with target switching/different spawn locations, like Turn 4, or Ifrit. Other that that? I couldn't really see a use if Ifrit did more AoE and ST. That still has a great disparity of pet usage, although less than what is present now.

Pets need to have a defined role, and then the MP cost needs to be lowered, along with cast time. We should use an AE pet when we need AE, and ST when we need ST. As it is now, we have to find the "best overall" for the entire encounter, and use that. With fight mechanics, and fight design(if it continues), this will always be Garuda.