Thread: 5.0 Pet Changes

I remember using Titan to solo various FATEs and unsynced AAR Trials when I was going through the game for the first time. It felt so satisfying!

But as soon as Demi-Bahamut came online, and I actually learned something resembling a Summoner rotation, I quickly realised how... out of place Titan really was in the SMN kit. It's too squishy to tank anything that might require tanking, it can't seem to hold aggro even against its own summoner, leading to a lot of ping-ponging, and it basically locks you out of using Bahamut, because amongst the many things no Summoner wants during their burst phase, losing their tank is pretty high up on the list.

So honestly I think this change is for the better. Pets-treated-as-characters are probably some kind holdover from the FFXI days, or something, that the devs tried to fit into AAR at the same time as they were reworking it into a modern MMO, but could never reconcile the two objectives. My guess is that after three expansions (counting AAR where Arcanist was first added) worth of iteration and trying to make pets work in various disjointed ways (egis, demis, proc-batteries, support-bots), SE probably came to the conclusion that it was about time to pick one consistent direction and stick to it. At first glance, it seems that they've chosen to capitalise on the Demi mechanics.

And personally I'm really excited for what it means not only for Summoners but the game as a whole! I find it very interesting that DRK and MCH are suddenly also getting their own pets after such a long time of Yoshi expressing adamant dislike for pet classes. Perhaps if this works out, it might open doors for future pet classes after all?