That is mainly because they are set to Aggressive by default since you can’t change their Stance unlike with pets like the Familiar.
When HP less than 60%， Raven will heal character always. 2 - 3s one time.
That I’m aware. I guess what I meant is it seems like almost every pet or summon has different behavior or attributes that make them unique from each other but it’s not consistent at all. IIRC, the blood wagons you’re asked to destroy during a quest in the Necropolis are considered enemies as well then, as they also briefly cause pets to enter combat.
I just started my work rotation so I can’t dedicate much time until next Wednesday but even with 5 minutes of just running around in the Plains of Strife (not fields), I noticed it heal me 3 times within 6 seconds while battling some stuff and deliberately standing in aether fire and another separate time, outside of combat while literally just standing there. 
One easy way to test it would be to stand on the Aether stuff near Homestead or spend some time on Bonebleach Basin 
How do I change the stance of pets if I am using a controller? I guess I would have to use a mouse for it, or did Crate make a change for that so when Grim Dawn comes to Xbox it is already implemented. Do we have that feature yet on PC controller wise?
Doesn’t seem to possible. I was using an AHK script that toggles pets to aggressive (moves the cursor to every pet and toggles them). If you’re using Steam than you can bind controller button to a key on keyboard which in turns can invoke the script switching pets stances. In a similar fashion I did casting Inquisitor Seal in the center of the screen while using a controller. So you can switch all pet stances with just one press of a controller button specially assigned for that. PM me if you’d like something like that.
Thank you for the offer @tqFan. I am using Steam. Is it really easy to do? I noticed I can bind my controller in the game. I have done some binding already will see if I can do that as well. If not, will PM you. 
I haven’t been able to test it in much detail but I have been running some quick tests every day when I return home from work and here’s what I’ve discovered so far:
Environmental damage such as aetherfire or slith slime do not trigger it. I’ve had zero success with those. However, traps most certainly do.
I’m positive it can be cast multiple times in a row. The spell only lasts 1 second, so if there is a cooldown, I can only reasonably imagine it being 1-2 seconds. It’s possible it could be 3 seconds if the cooldown timer starts with the cast of the spell (1 second duration + 2 seconds = 3 second CD). It’s hard (almost impossible) to reliably time it because of the unpredictability of it.
I haven’t tested the stances as much as I’d like but I was able to clear the entire 1st floor of the Temple of Osyr with the Familiar set as aggressive and did not see it cast Mend Flesh at all–not even once. I promptly set it to defensive when I moved to the 2nd floor and almost immediately it started casting it on a semi-regular basis. It’s very anecdotal but my run through that dungeon did seem to lend credibility to that having an effect on the frequency.
I’m still convinced it’s tied to threat somehow. In that same Temple of Osyr run, I stood directly against one of those electrified columns in the boss room and was reduced to 50-75% health multiple times without seeing Mend Flesh being cast. Eventually, I used Judgment (which has a taunt component built into it) and suddenly the Familiar started using Mend Flesh (several times in a row, actually).
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That is awesome information!
If we can prove threat is associated with Mend flesh cast rate, I am going to immediately start building a multi-raven healer build… oh man, multi-raven multi-totem conjurer seems likely!
It seems to prove that traps (like the mines) are indeed considered enemies but it’s still kind of weird behavior because you can’t normally target those columns (like most traps). It’s only by using an AoE taunt skill that doesn’t require a target that I was able to do that.
The only other ability I can think of from the top of my head that works like that is the Soldier’s War Cry skill.
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Curse of Frailty and nightblades tier 1 aura toggled skill can affect the Mines as well. You can also detonate them manually by throwing thermite Mines on top of them.
Like you said I’m pretty sure any AoE skill that can hit enemies can hit the Mines, but they cant be targeted directly or even damaged. The only way they can explode is if a physical object with true density in-game passes over them. I wonder if you place a mortar trap or Wendigo totem on top of the mine if it blows it up, now that I think of it…
By this logic I dont think mines are a definitive element to test this theory against as they’re not technically “true” enemies.
Perhaps it’s a 2 factor checklist that goes into determining Mend flesh cast rate;
- threat level evaluation
- damage taken + # of targets that are “true” enemies, affected by your threat level
It could be less about threat and more about whether you are in combat state or not.
As in, if you are doing nothing but get damaged vs if you actively fighting and get damaged.
Also on the topic of pet stance, could you try it once more, but with all points in lightning strike removed? (assuming you have points in it)
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Yeah I’m real curious about this. I always set it to defensive anyway cuz I always believed it made the Raven prioritize cast rate of Mend flesh, and have always believed that’s how it works without points invested anywhere else in the line.
I know you need to be damaged at least though. I dont think I’ve ever seen the Raven even try to heal me if I’m already at full health, so I think the trick is finding an area where you can clearly test these results on fodder that still presents a big enough threat to damage you and not die in 2 seconds.
I just got an idea!
What If you damage yourself?
Sacrifice relic or drowned god proc? Will raven heal you.
I didn’t have any points in Lightning Strike when I did that run. While set as aggressive, all it seemed to cast was the basic Storm Orb attack. It may have to do with it having a different set of priorities, as you pointed out. This would also explain why it seems to use Mend Flesh more if it doesn’t have access to Lightning Strike (at least it always seemed that way to me). On the other hand, it could just be coincidence. It’s something I plan on testing more when I’m done with my work rotation tomorrow.
It’s also possible it’s based on being in a combat state but it seems weird. Those columns start firing off lightning bolts based on proximity. It’s basically like you’re starting combat with an enemy via a body pull, but I never pulled the boss. All I did was place myself next to one to guarantee I’d be hit by it and then I just stood there. It wasn’t until I used Judgment (while still standing in the same spot) that the Familiar did anything at all.
My interactions with the mines in the Plains of Strife were why I believed it could be cast out of combat before. It seemed like I was out of combat because there were no enemies nearby but I actually still was in combat with the mines themselves, which I was able to confirm once Maya pointed it out.
It’s highly probable I was hitting them inadvertently with Judgment on my Sentinel, or any number of things on my Cabalist. It’s another thing I’d like to test more, along with doing that same Temple of Osyr run with my Cabalist–assuming I can survive through standing next to those pillars like I was able to on the Sentinel. I’m not sure if I can without relying heavily on Blood of Dreeg, which might (probably will) affect the results.
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Here’s my update. I’m basically back to where I started in terms of how I believe it works.
- It’s based on threat (more on this at the bottom).
- It can be cast out of combat, albeit rarely or under unique circumstances.
- It has no apparent cooldown.
What I determined is that the stances themselves seem to dictate how the pet behaves as far as the threat component is concerned. It seems that while they’re set to aggressive, their main priority becomes DPS and threat generation; while set as defensive, their DPS (and consequentially, threat generation) seem to be self-limited to ensure higher survival.
As such, on a high threat class like my Sentinel, I saw much higher Mend Flesh uptime while the Familiar was set to defensive. While set as aggressive, it rarely seemed to cast Mend Flesh because it was (hopelessly) attempting to generate more threat than I was. However, on my Cabalist, this was no longer true, and I saw approximately the same uptime regardless if it was set as aggressive or defensive.
I’m not sure what circumstances allow it to cast Mend Flesh outside of combat but it absolutely can do so. Even if I choose to ignore the Temple of Osyr pillar casts, I have a screenshot showing it cast outside of combat while I was in the Forsaken Wastes. It’s possible combat doesn’t officially end for a few seconds when everything dies, and it can still be cast in that time frame (even if you’re not missing health).
I also have several sets of screenshots that prove it has no apparent cooldown. When reviewing the timestamps, I noticed a few of them are only 1-2 seconds apart. Here’s a breakdown of that one while in the Forsaken Wastes:
8:19:50 - Combat Begins
8:19:56 - Mend Flesh
8:20:03 - Mend Flesh
8:20:05 - Mend Flesh
8:20:29 - Mend Flesh
8:20:33 - Mend Flesh
8:20:38 - Combat Ends
8:20:40 - Mend Flesh (I was at full health and had started looting when it was cast)
I have another screenshot, this time on my Cabalist, depicting a Mend Flesh cast a fair amount outside of combat. I was at full health, had almost finished looting and the enemy corpses had almost all entirely dissolved. I have corpse persistence set to the lowest level, which seems to be about 5 seconds, so the Mend Flesh cast was probably around the 3-4 second mark.
Finally, I was able to repeat the Temple of Osyr pillar experiment on my Cabalist. It did not use Mend Flesh at all despite being reduced to half health multiple times. However, once I dropped a Ravenous Earth next to the pillar, the Familiar started to use Mend Flesh, but nowhere near as much as it did with my Sentinel using Judgment.
Also, I don’t have a Pyromancer to test but I do have a Purifier and found out you can set off the mines by dropping a Mortar Trap on them. Everyone probably already knew this but it’s news to me. 
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Hell yes!! I’m glad the stance has something to do with it!
Interesting, but my assessment on Combat state was basically due to the Raven not casting even a Single Mend Flesh when damaged by ground effects (eg:aetherfire) or stuff like BoneBleach Basin (On the way to Crate of Entertainment)
And Pet skills do generally seem to have a CD of like 3 seconds, so your assessment on that seems pretty spot on.
As for Threat being a factor, that could very much be true since my initial assessment of Pet Stance having no difference comes from playing my own builds which tend to minimize the threat generated by the Player.
All-in-all, this is pretty useful info and thank you for taking the times to test them out 
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I’m glad you reminded me! I was going to mention that I did test that stuff too and you’re absolutely correct there. Those ground effects will not trigger Mend Flesh at all. If I had to guess, it’s because they’re health reduction effects built into the map and the Raven doesn’t consider health reduction stuff to be actual damage that can be healed. As far as I can tell, those effects don’t trigger combat, have no associated threat component and only actually damage the player and nothing else.
Those ground effects won’t even trigger on hit abilities like Healing Rain or Inspiration (devotion). It seems only abilities that are tied to health percent markers like Turtle Shell (devotion), Serenity (relic) or Resilience (Oathkeeper) will activate. I tested that stuff quite thoroughly and it all behaves the same, including:
- Aetherfire (Plains of Strife & Homestead)
- Lava (Pit of Atonement)
- Sand (Bonebleach Basin)
- Slith Slime (Hargate’s Laboratory)
- Aetherial Mutagen (Warden’s Cellar)
- Eldritch-Stuff (Temple of the Three & Vanguard of the Three)
On a side note, another interesting thing I realized and never knew is that you can actually just run in and out of the green eldritch stuff in the Vanguard of the Three to obtain Chillheart. You don’t actually have to remain in it by healing through it and using precious Aether Clusters. I kind of wish I had known that before. 
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Thank you, and thank you @Maya for your research on this very specific function on my favorite pet. I’ll be sure to point others here to this thread if I ever encounter people asking about it in the future!
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Thank you for the research guys, greatly appreciate it. Great job done.