pets are deeply underwhelming

Pets don't level, they scale with your armour. So you'd think that if you're on a tier 3 planet with tier 3 armour, your pet would be effective. Unfortunately this is far, far, far from the case. In order to be worth a place on your hotbar, they'd have to be able to survive more than two, maybe three mob encounters. The fact they can't heal at all is a huge, huge factor in their lack of effectiveness as it takes about two minutes of travelling around before they are ground down to nothing.

Pets have never really been a huge focus and feel like a tacked-on addition after they were taken out in alpha, I don't know why levelling was scrapped in favour of this, but I'd really like to see pets given a whole lot more functionality than they have now.

 

You can find pet collars to actually customizes them with.
This actually do include the ability to find "healing" collars that allow them to heal health slowly while alive.

Or you can use a special "explosion" collar to benefit from their death by causing them to blow up in a damage dealing explosion when they die.

Also, later in the durasteel tier for your inventor table, you develop the ability to craft "Pet healing station" that can resurect dead pets by inserting "dead" pets' capture pods within the healing station.

So a pet user might actually carry not one but multiple pets at once and cycle through them rather than expect to carry a single one forever, then get them progressively healed/resurected when back at base so they can be ready to cycle through them again when needed. Also do be aware(iirc) that pets from stronger planets will still remains stronger than pets from easier planets.

 

I've been doing exactly that. It doesn't justify carrying three/four pets to cycle them out when a gun and two crew mates is just far more effective.
What REALLY doesn't help, is that the vast majority of pet attacks are melee ranged, and result in both pet and target taking damage. So your pet is taking unavoidable damage every time it attacks.

Don't talk to me about collars. Half of them are pointless, and they're all rare. I don't consider any item that makes my pet useful when it /dies/ actually beneficial.

Also, no. Pets only have varieties in abilities, not in stats. Where you got the pet from makes no difference.

 

But the same goes to your crew, huh? Tier 3 armor, and most of them does 5 dmg from swords they're carrying, and 2 per shot. While you're doing 10 with gun, and 50 with a sword. Medics healing doesn't heal shit, Alhemists don't buff you at all, warriors aren't dealing damage. Allies really should scale better. I say let's wait for hotfixes.

 

to be honest, I LIKE the crew. I've noticed their shitty damage, but at least they live long enough to serve as a distraction, and they seem to at least HEAL.
Although accidentally telling them to stay/follow when i'm actually trying to pick flowers is upsetting.

 

It takes finding a good pet, I usually go for the flying ones that go through walls, and attaching it with a high tier healing collar. They come in handy because now I don't have to worry about monsters on the lower tier planets, or go through the bother of battling them. The pets just do it for me. Also, doing this, my pet almost always stays alive, and I only have to carry one.

 

Also very indirectly reminding me why I'm tempted to try building at high altitude.

That's where the "Large" flying monsters spawn, and they still have the old procedurally generated ranged attack of the past. Flying mobility+ranged attack might put them relatively above pretty much any of the other procedural monsters and being "large" monsters they might be able to tank some more damages than smaller flying enemies.

The worst pets seems to be the "damage on touch" melee attackers ones though.
Unless you're actually fighting weapons-wielding NPCs(who cannot deal damage on touch, but need to actually swing their weapons), most pets with "touch damages" will get hurt by other monsters at the same time they try to attack them.

This sadly make procgen monsters(except for "Large Flying" types who have ranged attacks) the poorest pet options since touch damage is the ONLY thing they can do. So them rushing headlong into other touch damages monsters is a good way for them to die VERY quickly.

The fact that weapons-wielding NPCs lack touch damage(like the player) makes me wonder if a touch damage monster might be a good option against them, though.

 

Hey, that gives me an idea. I wonder if it would be better for monsters not to give other monsters touch damage, like how hostile monsters don't give other hostile monsters damage, unless they are using their "attack"? I know it would reword the procedural generation of the monsters into including an "attack" animation for the normal touch monsters, but still. Just a thought.

 

lumoth is a great utility.

 

Huh, I was wondering where large fliers spawn. Should try to build up high and see about getting decent ranged support. Though knowing Chucklefish at this point, they're probably going to nerf them eventually. :/

 

we need to see which ones are good, some of them have mixed attacks and died quick

 

Pets should be able to level too. Why delete that part of the game? Why does CF like to delete so many things? Are they concerned about the space their game takes up on a hard drive?

 

Speaking of which, we were supposed to be able to splice DNAs and stuff too, but so far not a glimpse of that.

 

I've just got myself an adorable, little Fennix.

He's just great, right? Looks like a pokemon, fights like a pokemon. He's red, so figure out, what attack does he have. That's right, FLAMETHROWER!
Everything would be perfect...

If he WASN'T DYING FROM LIKE 3 HITS, and after his innitial fire breath, he totally fucking ignores it and marches on to his doom, by HEADBUTTING an enemy!

WTF, Chucklefish! I really hope, this topic won't get forgotten, and they accually listen to feedback. Since there's a lot wrong with pets atm, and they really need to be tweaked. Not running head first into death would be first thing to fix. Maybe their stats worked on. If not, leveling! SOMETHING. Anything? Pls.


@Edit:
Maybe Pet Tweaking Station? You can put your puppy in said station, and then augment it. Increase health, armor, attack, and change attacks themselves maybe?

 

The thing that frustrates me about pets is that they give you these pokeballs by chance at the Erchius Mining Facility. The problem is that they set up the player for disappointment when they realize they can't heal their pet once it diesb early game. There should at least be a pokecenter at the outpost.

Also, can you rename them?

 

Nope. Can't name em as far as I know. Another disappointment. And another possible function for Pet Tweaking Station.

Also yeah. About those pokeballs. Weird thing, to accually randomise loot from a boss. First time around I got some sweet weapons, I destoryed Dreadwing with. Whats up with that?

 

Just got one of the "Big" flying creatures that spawn up high. 60 atk and 80 def, and a TON of hp. Ranged attack as well, honestly, it is the best!

 

No, they just had to make room for their story. I know it's not directly relevant, but yeah, that's probably why pets haven't been given much love.

 

Yup, i can confirm that my lazer beam shooting flying barney dragon holds its own against monsters from scorched planets and still heals at a good pace with Healing III collars. Now I wonder how it would be with Damage III... if only i could use both xD

 

I wish random monsters had abilities still, that was what I looked forward to the most, finding a unique pet with a cool ability now if you want a decent pet you have to take one that got made by cf or go to extreme altitudes. All what the ground level random mobs do is charge and die