Probably dumb questions from a noob to pet classes but....

[ImoAB]

1) Giving warders weapons :- What sort of weapons should I give them ? - should I be looking for big damage / procs / mixture of both ?
2) Does a recommended level on a weapon apply to the level of the warder ? or can they use them regardless ?  
3) If a weapon procs at a certain level for a PC - does this alos apply to warders ?
4) Can warders duel wield ? If yes - is it all warders or just some ?


Many thanks in advance for your thoughts

[JillieMT]

Random thoughts roughly corresponding to your questions...  :P

1. Yes, I love em! When soloing in dungeons, Serrated Bone Dirk procs Engulfing Darkness to snare... Gnoll Hide Lariats will stun... any cheap 2 hander will add some dps to the lower level pets... the mage summoned stuff is fun too

2. Yes it matters... I have gotten the "warders will is not sufficient" msg... matter of fact, I remember at 15 I gave the warder the mage summoned 1hs (i forget the name... its the second highest pet weapon they have) and it wouldnt proc... but the Ixiblat one (the highest) always works...

3. Yes, the warders have a level... there is a chart here at www.beastlords.org

4. Same as above, check the chart!

[Sanon]

Does the damage stat on the weapon matter?  For example will a 10/35 1hb work good with a lvl 30 warder?

[ImoAB]

Thanks for the help so far.

Maybe I'm being a bit thick - so please humour me....

I've looked at the pet chart - and it doesn't seem to say to me which pets duel wield - please can you eleaborate.

I note the comment that giving a pet a weapons adds to the dps of 'the lower level pets' - which is nice.
At which point do they not help the dps ?  - is there a break point for this ?


Thanks again for help in advance folks !

[ImoAB]

Well, threw caution to the wind, picked up a greatstaff of thunder in bazaar for 25pp and handed to my fresh level 30 warder.
Max hit was 66 and he was hitting that quite often - so guess that the weapon was a good idea - mobs were certainly dropping quicker after giving him the weapon than with.

So, if someone could please still clarify for me when pets duel wield, I would really appreciate it, to save me potentially wasting some of my hard earned pp in experimentation.

Also, at what point am I going to see no real benefit in giving pets weapons in general ? (with the exception of the serrated bone dirks and other nice proccing ones etc).

Thanks again for your input - apologies for the continued questions !!

[Thrashum Gud]

I'm actually very interested in the answers to this too.  I don't tend to give my pet any weapons unless I loot them (shivs atm).

Sounds like maybe I should start.

[Sanon]

Thanks for the feedback ImoAB, if I can get on tonight I'll try and find some cheap weapons to give my pet.  I still don't understand if weapon damage matters, the charts don't tell.

[Lewzephyr]

Thanks for the feedback ImoAB, if I can get on tonight I'll try and find some cheap weapons to give my pet.  I still don't understand if weapon damage matters, the charts don't tell.

Damage does matter to a point.  I dont know the exact formula but here goes a general description.

Pets (ALL PETS) swing at the same delay... weapon delay has NO effect what so ever on the pets swing delay.  
The pet will use the weapon damage as long as the weapons damage is greater than half the pets max damage.  Otherwise the pet will use its own innate damage disregarding the weapons damage.

[Myrkskog]

Can you believe no one has answered the dual wield question yet?

When does the pet dual wield?

[Kerath]

Your pet can dual wield starting with the level 30 pet.

[NoxCruor]

Ok, I'm interested in this posting too.   So I've got a couple of questions.

All pets have the same delay, I get this part.  But the part about the damage is what I'm not fully understanding.  Let's say the pets max damage is 60.  That means, that any weapon with a damage greater than 30, the pet will use?  And if so, why?  Also, what would be the point in using a weapon that does half the pet's max dmg?

Another question, though I'll probably answer this while I type this up...is where do you get weapons for your pet?  Cheap weapons I can understand picking up in the bazaar, or asking a mage to summon them.  But considering how people in EQ are (or else I've had bad experiences), what do you do if you're a poor BST who can barely keep 100pp in his bank and is trying to save up?  Bazaar weapons for your pet is now out as an option.  And so far, all the mages I've spoken to want donations for using up their mana.  So what do we do?

Also, I thought I remembered seeing a posting or a web page here that showed what weapons are best to give pets and at what levels?

Sorry if this posting sounds a little thick-headed...but I'm exhausted.  Either that, or I'm still to new to the class (played only casters up until now) to understand this whole thing.

[Myrkskog]

what do you do if you're a poor BST who can barely keep 100pp in his bank and is trying to save up?

Don't buy a weapon for your pet if you don't have the cash.  I started fresh myself and the pet performs great even without weapons.  Except for level 36-38, it really blows there heh.  The 39 pet made up for it though, what a badass.


And for the dual wield thing, I gave that pet two a scimitar and a club and it never seemed to swing the club.

[Noriko]

Another question, though I'll probably answer this while I type this up...is where do you get weapons for your pet?  Cheap weapons I can understand picking up in the bazaar, or asking a mage to summon them.  But considering how people in EQ are (or else I've had bad experiences), what do you do if you're a poor BST who can barely keep 100pp in his bank and is trying to save up?  Bazaar weapons for your pet is now out as an option.  And so far, all the mages I've spoken to want donations for using up their mana.  So what do we do?

Giving pet weapons is not a must do.  Pets work fine without them.  For all intent and purposes, the difference is measurable but insignificant.  Only DPS freaks will care really.

If you can't get free pet toys from mages, don't worry about it.  It won't break you as a bst.

[TheOriginalGronker]

Let's say the pets max damage is 60.  That means, that any weapon with a damage greater than 30, the pet will use?

The pet will use any weapon it can use that you hand it.  Actually, I don't even know if the dual-wielding pets will wield a 2-handed weapon - I hope not.

And if so, why?

Not sure what this question has to do with anything no matter how it was answered - because its coded that way.

Also, what would be the point in using a weapon that does half the pet's max dmg?

If the weapon has stats, the pet will gain those stats (hps, AC, +str, +dex, proc, etc).  Thus, high-end summoned mage toys are great to hand to pets.  No, their max damage will not change, but they'll get extra procs and alot of extra stats.

Another question, though I'll probably answer this while I type this up...is where do you get weapons for your pet?

For low levels that want to increase their warders max damage, bazaar is a nice place if you have cash to buy stuff (my baby SK frequently bought big 25+ dmg 2-handers for his weenie pet that couldnt hit with them anyways for 10-20pp each - in retrospect, I should have stuck with the mage proccing fist).  Sometimes mages sell summoned pet weapons in bazaar.  Or ask a mage to summon you up some stuff (for a fee of course).

what do you do if you're a poor BST who can barely keep 100pp in his bank and is trying to save up?  Bazaar weapons for your pet is now out as an option.  And so far, all the mages I've spoken to want donations for using up their mana.  So what do we do?

If you don't have the plat, don't bother with pet gear.  Hundreds of BSTs have managed to make it without pet gear before you and will again.

[ImoAB]

Ok, now we seem to be getting somewhere....

1)Presumably if the damage on the weapon you give to the warder is less than half of the pet damage - eg giving an 11 damage  weapon to the level 30 pet who does 32 damage - you are not going to see any benefits - and possible will not show up as slash / crush etc ??? which would explain Myrkskogs observation.

2)For NoxCruor of limited funds - depending on your server there are easy low cost ways of making your 100pp grow with a little bit of bazaar time - making celestial essences,re-selling fuzzlecuter 5000,making fish rolls etc etc - will easily add to that pot - which will pay for your pet weapons - but unless you know you are going to stay in a zone for a long session - you may still think this not worth your while.

3)Presumably therefore you will in theory stop seeing any benefits from giving pets high damage weapons, only at the high end - when you cannot get 40+ damage weapons for buttons in the bazaar ? or is there a break point earlier than this ? or is it when you have more chance (and maybe funds) to acquire mage summoned weapons for your xp session etc etc. ??

Would like some more thoughts from people who have been there, got the T-shirt etc - as there seems to have been a lot of reads / lurking so far - so I'm hoping some more learned peeps will pitch in with their wisdom for the benefit of those of us new to this kind of thing!!!!!