Lore Pets...pluses, minuses, quirks

[Snarky]

I tend to run banished Pantheon Core Superior Ally.  this is a choice.  But it is a "forced" choice.  They do better damage (I am told) and they are practically required by my SG's (Cosmic Council) weekly Really Hard Way Master of Magisterium Incarnate Trial badge runs.

 

As a Vampire my preference is Storm Elementals.  This has nothing to do with powers and is all about dark gloomy clouds. Wish they could be recolored so they are more sickly and less pink/purple however.

 

Another favorite of mine is Polar Lights. Just because they do not clutter the screen. Really thematic for my Ice Blasters too.

 

What are the pluses/minuses/reasons you take the Lores you do?

 

This is honestly an area of the game I pay almost zero attention to. Any insights are appreciated.

[On-Fire Dude]

I usually go with polar lights as well, for the exact same reasons...

[Neiska]

For my Robot MM I like the Longbow pets.

1. They are thematic, so that's a big plus.

2. They have really good ST damage, which is something the Robots lack, so it compliments the playstyle nicely. Great for AVs/GMs etc.

3. They have an additional -regen debuff, that stacks with my robots debuff. Making a good thing, even better.

4. I sometimes use group fly with robots, they are all ranged so it works great. Well, it turns out group fly also works for longbow robots, as they are completely ranged as well.

 

So longbow are just an all around win for my Robot MMs.

 

For my Demon MMs, I plan on going Banished Pantheon. I use experimented with them before, but not to any great extent. I have heard/read they are the highest DPS pets, but on other ATs they always seemed to die quickly before I could do much with them. I am hoping with my Demon setup they will be more effective.

 

I have also experimented with the Knives of Vengeance, the defensive/buffing sorts. They seemed to have pretty good effect overall and tend to stick around. I am uncertain which pets have the best buffs if people wanted to go that route though.

[SuperPlyx]

Been using the Knives of Vengeance on my solo stalker. The 2 buffs ,Rallying Cry and Guardianship ( I think that's the name) are really nice.

 

And yeah use Longbow on my bots MM because big-ass robot! Wish I could get the bot without the longbow guy.

 

[Yomo Kimyata]

I generally don't play my 50s that much, and I find that if I need pets for a given situation, they are almost certainly underpowered for the fight. 

 

That said, either avoid knockback, or pick up knockback!

[Uun]

I haven't tried all of them yet, but I think I've done 15. It's almost always thematic. Depending on the AT, sometimes I want a ranged pet. Some of the melee pets like to get themselves squashed almost immediately. I haven't been impressed with the radial pets. I don't find the buffs to be that useful, and I'd rather have the additional damage from the core pets. (In addition to having 2 dps pets, the core pets do more damage than their radial counterparts.) In addition to BP, I've been impressed with the Carnival, Knives and Talons. Polar Lights and Robotic Drones are unobtrusive and good if you want more AoE.

[The_Warpact]

I use different ones dependant upon theme of the toon, devil based use demon or BP, Longbow for heroes, broots use Cimerorans, etc.

[Lazarillo]

One thing I've noticed is that "large" Lore pets like BP and Longbow boss-types tend to have some notable pathfinding issues that result in them jogging in place rather than attack a lot of the time.  It's led me to generally question whether they're really the best choices for damage outside of certain controlled environments.

[Miss Magical]

I was impressed with the paper DPS of Banished Pantheon pets until I read more carefully the fine print in the spreadsheet: this DPS was measured by testing against Rikti Pylons. Rikti Pylons apparently count as +0 enemies to level 50 characters. Higher-level enemies resist the -res debuffs that Banished Pantheon apply due to the level difference and will take less damage than expected. The BP are probably still good, but I wonder whether they are "nearly 100 DPS more than the next-best option" good.

[Ironblade]

Since the Banished Pantheon supposedly have the highest DPS, I have those on my badger (a scrapper) and my corruptor built specifically for Really Hard Way runs.  Since my scrapper does more damage than any pet, he also has the Seers with the untouchable one that casts Fortitude for when he's soloing.

 

My dual pistols/devices blaster has the Robotic Drones since they look just like his Targeting Drone.

My tanks will often take the Polar Lights for the AoE since they'll typically have enemies grouped around them.

Other characters will generally take whatever looks cool or fits their background.

[Troyusrex]

I strongly dislike Banished Patheon because I find them constantly getting between the camera and my character making things difficult to see. 

[FrauleinMental]

On my main, I run BP Radial for Hami raids (I don't like them, but a lot of raiders swear by them) and Storm Elemental Core for everything else.  I've come to like the 'traditionally psychic' pink/purple, Storm Elementals play a little into her Shard backstory, and I made one costume match (her Final Form).

 

For alts, I run Polar Lights for the same reason everyone else seems to--clearing the screen.  A few (including my recently-rolled farmer) have Carnies Radial for the untouchable buff bot.

[skoryy]

I always go thematic because I play character concept first and meta second, and extra DPS is extra DPS.  I mean, who wouldn't want to instantly summon a giant honkin' mecha to help with smacking around an archvillain?  Or in Wolfhound's case, using his lore slot to run a halfway house for reformed half-human monstrosities.

[Omega Force]

I think theme is job one for Lore pets.  My martial arts guy took Tsoo, the winged defender has Knives of Vengeance.  The angel had Demons, Crab spider had Arachnos.  Rularuu pets are a good stand in for random aliens, while most hi-tech heroes could use Robotic Drones.  Any primal Earth incarnate could call on the Vanguard, or IDF troopers after the war.

 

I preferred Drones to Lights because less random KB and more -regen, and Vanguard or IDF to Longbow because the giant robot gets in the way.  Size does matter.

[tidge]

My Bots/Traps Mastermind went with Warworks. Part of his backstory is that he pilfers tech from various groups.

[Carnifax]

Polar Lights most of the time. Because they aren't giant, noisy annoyances. If I wanted those I'd play Demons. My DP/Kin and my Plant/Nature both use these. 

 

Carni has Phantoms because she's Illusion and they fit her theme of "summoned spirits". 

 

My Time/Sonic Troll DJ went with buff romans because he likes buff romans. Although after passing through Pocket D and seeing the dancing carnies I think I'll switch him up to Carnies instead (he also likes the buff ladies). 

 

Thugs / Traps and Ice / Traps (I went through a Traps phase) are both planning Drones to fit the theme. 

 

My Bio/Spines DID go with Pantheon because, like him, they look like giant sea invertebrates. 

 

Until we get Chicken lore pets my Fire/Claws tank defaulted to Bromans as well just for the lack of annoyance + decent single target DPS. 

[Crysis]

For a Farmer or any alt that I intend to play long after I’ve T4’d out my Incarnates, it’s BP because their contribution to DPS is unmatched.

 

But for all others, it’s purely based on theme, looks, etc.  Everything melts so fast, even AV’s, that it’s just not that important to have ‘the best.’

[Bill Z Bubba]

Except a few rare cases where concept demands a difference choice, it's always Carnies Radial for me. Partly because of the buffs from the Seneshal but mostly due to to the Dark Ring Mistress' psi damage and her cute butt.

[Aurora_Girl]

57 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

mostly due to to the Dark Ring Mistress' psi damage and her cute butt.

 

1) Theme of character

2) Butts

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394) Utility

[Bill Z Bubba]

I'm also not a fan of the screen filling up with huge lore pets.

[InvaderStych]

1 hour ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

Except a few rare cases where concept demands a difference choice, it's always Carnies Radial for me. Partly because of the buffs from the Seneshal but mostly due to to the Dark Ring Mistress' psi damage and her cute butt.

 

Went with these because they seemed like the sort of folks that would have partied at my toon's warehouse before the Shivans took out Galaxy City.

 

Ring Mistress is great, she wrecks faces.  However, the Seneshal never does anything.  At least not on my scrapper.  To the point where even team-mates have noticed her inactivity among the visual din.  Highly disappointing. She'll drop forge maybe once, then spend the rest of the time either doing her nails or uploading TikTok videos or some other nonsense until her timer expires.

 

Okay, I'm being hyperbolic. 🤣

 

Seriously though, there is something amiss with that pet.  When I say others on teams have commented on her inactivity I'm genuinely serious. No hyperbole there.

Edited September 20, 2021 by InvaderStych

[Bill Z Bubba]

1 minute ago, InvaderStych said:

Seriously though, there is something amiss with that pet.  When I say others on teams have commented on her inactivity I'm genuinely serious. No hyperbole there.

 

I've seen that behavior. She will hit her heal pretty often but if you're not in need of it, yea, she's checking her phone.

[InvaderStych]

20 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

I've seen that behavior. She will hit her heal pretty often but if you're not in need of it, yea, she's checking her phone.

 

That's sort of explanatory.  My Kat/Rad scrapper rarely needs the heal, but her not casting Forge that pushes it over the top though.  I want my +dmg! 😄

 

By comparison, I took Longbow on my Blaster for the usual "I plan to run this toon on teams that have requirements" reasons mentioned in the OP.  The Longbow Warden drops their powers on cool-down, especially the heal aura.  Just spamming it away.

 

Robo Drones would be the other one I've played the most - did these for the +5% def to all bubble to get my other scrapper closer to the iCap, situationally.  Works nicely, though being a bubble sometimes the pet can't keep up.  Definitely more active than the Senshal though.  The Assault drone, when properly placed, goes completely ignored by AVs which is nice for the -regen, minor though it may be.

[FrauleinMental]

7 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

I've seen that behavior. She will hit her heal pretty often but if you're not in need of it, yea, she's checking her phone.

I've also noticed the Seneschal aggroing mobs during farming.  If only she'd aggro them toward me, it might be helpful.  It's like her Tik-Tok draws followers. :)

[Bill Z Bubba]

5 minutes ago, FrauleinMental said:

I've also noticed the Seneschal aggroing mobs during farming.  If only she'd aggro them toward me, it might be helpful.  It's like her Tik-Tok draws followers. 🙂

 

Think I've got seers for my farmer. I end up telling it to follow often so that it pulls their aggro into my melee range.