1.2.1.2 Update (via 1.2.1.3 PT)
Did a bunch of option testing tonight, but landed back to pretty similar gear from pre 1.2.1.2 PT (where for a bit Primal Spirit investment made the biggest difference. Then I think he was toned down)
Biggest change is the devo tree. We give up Rattosh because I don’t like the tree with it and Ishtok, so we take Dying God instead while keeping the big tier 2 pet devos. Small kill speed hit to very high Vit resist targets, everything is still fine. Dryad feels nice as a Giant’s Blood replacement.
Brief scary moment in SR30-31 (5:10): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTIJnG0InpQ
Ravager of Flesh (:44): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Br8ATIM2VM
Ultimately this is now more of a novelty, Skeletons are untouchable for pet speeds. If you don’t like resummoning stuff or still prefer conjurers, this is still a safe play.
Original Post
Pssst, pets are dead in 1.2, don’t bother reading this
(aether res in capped in game, somewhere in 1.2 it has more now)
Have you ever wanted a particular creature dead? Not most of the ones around it, just the one that really upsets you? Then you’re in the right thread. Leave the aoe for those caster nerds or filthy pets that blow themselves up, we’re loading up a sniper bot.
Pets had a bunch of changes in 1.2 and I’m not going to rehash them all because casual pet lovers are still gonna say they are ruined due to dubious reasons apparently. The big ones here are temp pets being spawned on hit, rather than the probably never triggered previously on death procs. I can almost guarantee the glove pets were never seriously spawned before because they were busted as shit, not getting the majority of your pet stats applied to them.
Build
So the general theme is we’re gonna take the minimum mastery pets we can (briars for 2x our investment), bring in the Yeti, toss on some temp pets from weapon and gloves and well I kinda like Arbor now but originally relic slot as well, and then goose our flat sources with the extra points instead. All the blood pact, all the support skills, and still keep a good heal. I personally detest the usage of 1 pointer pets, it’s insulting aesthetically, but technically adding in hellhound or primal spirit is probably a minor gain here. And if you do it I hope your pets are permanently sundered.
We convert phys and elemental to vit with the gloves, belt, and one ring, but this is the main flexibility point. You can also go double spiritbinder ring and the yellow belt or nosferattis instead depending on available gear. Green ring is a giant stat slot even after the phys res to health nerf, and the book boosts our twins.
Devo tree takes the big 3 pet damage procs (shepherd, bysmiel, mog) and sacrifices the now extra good Staff of Rattosh to take Rattosh himself. While global Vit res was tuned down slightly in the PT, it’s still overall higher than other res and in my testing Mog + Rattosh beat out Mog + pet stats, Dying God + pet stats, or Dying God + Rattosh. Our aoe comes from fiend on briars. Occasionally it looks like it has decent aoe if mobs are running into them in a straight line, otherwise it’s extremely pitiful. Devo procs on pets with TDM mods work out well though.
Gameplay
Get ready to do some pet targeting and make nemesises regret ever spawning in your map cause they are gonna get wrecked hard. Spam your RR + proc skills, stand in the middle if the pack isn’t too dangerous to leverage the AoE that you have, otherwise skirt the outside and get out of dodge if giant’s blood has already procced and the mob is still there. Pets will occasionally die but usually only to nasty packs, or certain boss rooms fights (Father Abaddoth can not be pulled with other bosses and needs to be primaried immediately, or his health reduction crystals will wipe all your pets in seconds. Magi’s are also absolute pet destroyers and will clear the field with their EoR spin). Timewarped heroes should be primaried, and Moosi can be slow/tricky because we can’t easily cap are slow and freeze res respectively.
Supers can be done. Cally needs resummoning and Briars will usually be on cooldown in second half. Crate can kill pets but they chew him fast enough it’s fine. Ravager is tricky. Flesh is only possible with heavy micromanagement on this build, while Mind can be managed but is still very dangerous with 8 million null totems on the field. But supers are dumb so kill it once however you want and move on.
SR75-76 you go nemesis hunting. Don’t bother with most packs, go looking for the skull on the map and kill it (but mind the healers, your negative aoe means that will sit safely and heal away). You could probably play this lazy but I do heavy pet command mgmt to push timers.
Crucible my tests were upper 4 minutes. This isn’t a crucible monster which are generally more AoE focused and running sub 4 minutes, but considering its limitations there I think sub 5 is still great. SR can dip under 5:00 with ideal maps (early nemesis spawns) thanks to the portal change, average is going to be mid to upper 5s in experienced hands, and potentially much slower with bad luck or if you don’t know where nemesis spawn spots are on each map.
Results
Will add in additional runs later
Of note in this SR run, you’ll see an example of tough pack leading to pet death in 75-1, actually close to a full wipe. Zantarin is rough on the pet he targets
SR 75-76: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3o4vz8X4mw
(4:53) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q-hEpEh3QM
Cally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhHn09fhQTw
Crate Kill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xugx9hWGNHY
Ravager of Minds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb4dBk5aves
Ravager of Flesh (:47, requires an augment change) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHKqejxG_Kc
