My first character was a Deceiver. My initial vision for this character was a dual-pistol-wielding blaster with a raven pet. This was before I understood that such a build wasn’t viable.
I’ve tried to make a ranged elemental character who just uses the raven for the damage aura, now that I know more about the game systems. It just doesn’t work, mainly because the pet will die constantly without investing in pet gear, which you can’t afford to do.
I had a brainstorm for a possible way to make it viable: imagine an item — a trinket or relic maybe, or better yet an elemental pistol! — that makes your raven invulnerable in exchange for also making it unable to attack or cast spells. This would essentially turn it into an aura with a cool cosmetic (that probably is also annoying because it doesn’t always keep up with you).
I could imagine even letting Mend Flesh still work.
Anyway that’s it, that’s my suggestion. I think it would open up space for a whole new type of build that let’s players have the fun of having a mastery pet without making a whole build around pet damage.