Improvements to Pet Dynamics

[eldritchAvatar]

Background
So the only classes in the game to have pets are SMN and SCH, this is primarily directed at those classes, but I also understand that Beastmaster is going to be added later, and while I don't specifically know how this limited class will function, I assume it will have a pet dynamic as well.

Suggestions
*More Pet Localized Damage.*
At present, SMN has only one pet centralized damaging effect per mini summon. That is the summoning itself, and it causes the pet to walk all the way up to the enemy to use it. Everything else originates from the player. SMN could have had the potential to deal some amount of damage while subverting line of sight. If the summoning location was instead pinpointed to where the carbuncle/faerie *currently* is, that would reintegrate with the pet location commands.

"Follow Enemy" or "Escort Ally" Pet Command.
This could be aimed at a player, to escort a dps going to single out an especially dangerous enemy. Or it could be aimed at an enemy, such as something that will chase after the player once it has been attacked. Even if this dynamic were to have a set duration, or a number of charges, that would greatly increase strategic diversity.

Pet "Off Leash" Status & Conditional
If the pet is set to anything that makes their movements not follow the original player, certain abilities should be set to originate on the pet. Looking DIRECTLY at SCH's Summon Seraph. Why would anyone take the time to manually put the faerie all the way into the center of the room, only to have it disappear and pop up wherever *the player* is, presumably at the fringe of combat?

Furthermore adding a conditional to certain abilities that cause certain pet effects, such as Fey Union, to automatically target the escorted player or followed enemy would integrate with the existing kit without disrupting balance.

Pet Gambit System
This doesn't have to be complicated at all, and could even consolidate button congestion around pet commands into a prioritization list that only applies to "Off Leash" pets. One could even let the players themselves determine what the pet's order of importance logic is, provided they do so out of combat.

[NegativeS]

I'd be ecstatic if we even just got a "Follow Ally" command so I could glue Selene to the tank.

[Carighan]

Uh, we don't currently have any pet jobs?

We have two jobs that have an externalized DoT respectively HoT with a model that floats around, and we have two more jobs that temporarily have an externalized DoT. None of these are "pet classes" as their pets don't exist as actual entities that can interact with fight mechanics etc.

[Valence]

In before beastmaster works like SMN and just "summons" their pets like a spellcaster would cast spells. Since formulaic has always been the word there, I lowkey expect beastmaster to be built around BLU's system where you learn "beasts" instead of "spells", and do the exact same things in older content.

[Carighan]

In before beastmaster works like SMN and just "summons" their pets like a spellcaster would cast spells. Since formulaic has always been the word there, I lowkey expect beastmaster to be built around BLU's system where you learn "beasts" instead of "spells", and do the exact same things in older content.

I mean I can see that happening since it'd be a limited job. They would probably use that as a justification for why it's okay to have an actual pet that you need to actually babysit and move around AoE damage. I miss my old Demo Warlock back when the pet was the centerpiece of that duo. Or even more, my DAoC Necromancer.