4) Pet evolution

Pets undergo evolution up to twice in their existence, to our knowledge. These evolutions occur at level 11 and at level 15, and it has yet to be shown to occur after this level, though isolated reports of level 20 pet evolution has been reported. The evolutions happen immediately upon leveling to 11 and 15. Evolutions are a way for the pet to vary slightly from others of its ilk – it alters the pet statistics slightly. It would seem that the evolutions also are associated with the size changes observed – that pets change sizes at 11 and 15, and perhaps again at level 20 – there is no doubt that pets do grow throughout their experience – a level 20 Strider is MUCH larger than its level 1 counterpart, but as pets don’t tend to stand still very well it is very hard to come up with exact figures and observations. In this section we will address the process of evolution, facts and fallacies about evolution and finally statistics on evolved pets.

Training Your Pet for a Specific Evolution

Summary
The current, common understanding of pet evolution is that your pet’s state exists on a slider. One side of the slider has the Hearty pet with high defense and low offense. The other side has the Dire pet with high offense and low defense. In the middle lies the balanced pet, the Elder. It is commonly believed that the pet taking damage and being used under a low Beast Mastery stat shifts it towards Hearty, while dishing out damage and being used under a high Beast Mastery stat shifts it towards Dire. These ideas are common knowledge for good reason: they have a lot of truth to them. Since there are numerous posts and articles already written with precise methods that can be used to train up a specific pet evolution, I will only touch on training methods briefly at the end of this section. Instead, I would like to devote this space to shedding some light on why certain training methods work and others do not. Thus, I will focus on individual factors that influence how the pet evolves.

• have the pet deal more damage than you to move it towards Dire
• allow the pet to take a lot of damage to move it towards Hearty
• healing has no direct impact on the pet’s evolution
• damage received is a key factor in determining the pet’s evolution
• use Call of Protection combined with Symbiotic Bond or Otyugh’s Cry to minimize damage taken
• how a build is used can be nearly as important as the build itself, pay attention to how you play!
• a pet that won’t evolve simply means it already has the Elder’s stats, even though it will never have a prefix
• level your pet on enemies that deal direct damage which can be easily prevented
• avoid leveling your pet on enemies that use degen or armor ignoring damage

Damage Taken, Deaths, or Healing?
It is difficult to test whether it is damage taken, damage healed, or deaths sustained that pushes the pet towards Hearty. However, it appears to be damage taken, rather than the other two, which is the key factor. To test this, a pet was raised to level 10 as an Aggressive pet with all variables remaining constant from my previous successful Aggressive pets. This included the pet being forced to deal 100% of the damage dealt to enemies. Then, it was taken outside of the Temple of the Ages and made to stand in poison until it died. Once dead it would be revived, allowed to naturally regen its health, and then killed again the same way. Rinse, repeat. Upon turning level 11, the pet was Playful rather than Aggressive. The same test was repeated with a second pet, only this time the pet was not allowed to regen to its full health before being poisoned again. Although it sustained the same number of deaths, it took considerably less damage. Surprisingly it still came out Aggressive.

With respect to the healing of the pet, a different test needed to be done. This time, the pet was leveled to 11 by the same method as the previous two pets, but was the subject of much healing through Comfort Animal, Predator’s Pounce, and Heal Area. Although the pet was not allowed to take damage it was still healed. The pet came out Aggressive, thus proving that healing alone has no direct impact on the pet’s evolution. Most likely, previous connections between healing and pet evolution where a side effect of a pet taking too much damage.

Damage Dealt by the Pet?
A factor which has been attributed to a pet moving towards Dire has been a high pet damage output in relation to the damage output of its master. Note the key phrase here: in relation to its master. Using points in Beast Mastery is all well and good when attempting to move a pet towards Dire, but it may not be enough by itself. Theory suggests that the pet must put the player’s damage to shame. Dumping out any points in other weapon attributes is a common way of achieving this. Also, one might simply not attack. The pet will defend its master and itself so long as the attacking foe is not at range, and thus the player does not actually have to attack for the pet to start killing enemies.

While the damage output ratio between the pet and its master is undoubtedly an important factor, it must be noted that it is not the only factor. High damage sustained by the pet can override a high damage output ratio, as was illustrated in my first test where the pet was made to deal 100% of the damage but still came out Playful. In fact we do not know with certainty that it is the ratio of damages; the interaction is difficult to untangle as pet kills, damage and experience rate are all tied together, and damage dealt by the master by definition reduces the damage the pet deals, as the enemies die sooner.

Controlling the Damage Done to the Pet
If damage sustained by the pet is so important in determining its evolution, what are the best ways to mitigate damage? When seeking a Dire pet, as much attention should be paid to this question as to how you will make your pet dish out damage. Since it is damage taken, and not healing or even number of deaths, that seems to push the pet towards Hearty, minimizing the damage that the pet endures is vital. Symbiotic Bond and Call of Protection are therefore immeasurably helpful. Via these two skills you can nearly eliminate all damage dealt to the pet. At extremely low levels, Otyugh’s Cry can be added to the mix to make up for a low natural Armor Level. Since Call of Protection’s effect is linked to Beast Mastery, a high Beast Mastery stat will not only allow your pet to deal better damage, but also minimize the damage it takes. Therefore a high Beast Mastery stat has a dual sided benefit when trying to train a Dire pet.

More Than Just the Build
Another matter I would like to mention is the importance of the play style itself rather than just the build used. It may sound absurd to some, but a Dire pet can still be attained with no points in Beast Mastery and no pet attacks equipped. It is extremely difficult, but has been done. Similarly, a Hearty pet can be attained with full points in Beast Mastery. The key is in the way the player plays, such as whether it is the player or the pet at the forefront of battle. If the player charges in and makes a target of himself, it will push the pet towards a Dire evolution. However, if the player hangs back and sends the pet on ahead, it will push the pet towards a Hearty evolution. This is most likely due to the simple fact that the main target sustains more damage than the one that comes in behind; thus, if the pet is always being sent in ahead it will be targeted more often and will inevitably take more damage, pushing it towards Hearty. While this detail will not make or break your pet’s evolution, it is nonetheless important to take note of. In a situation where the pet is on the brink and you are having difficulty getting it across the line and into the category that you want, a detail such as this may make all the difference.

Unevolved Pets?
One evolution predicament that has, to my knowledge, not been previously explored is that of the unevolved pet. It does occasionally happen that upon reaching level 11, the pet’s base name does not change. This means that even after resetting the pet’s name it has neither the Aggressive nor the Playful prefix. These unevolved pets will not evolve at a later time; they are fixed at the base name for the duration of their lives. They are not secretly one of the evolutions, and instead remain without any of the modifiers associated with the different evolutions. This means that it is the equivalent of an Elder pet, for the Elder pet has no modifiers either. Knowing this, the cause of getting an unevolved pet is as one would expect. If upon hitting level 11 the pet still remains in the middle of the slider instead of to one side or the other, it will remain unevolved. The most common method of keeping the pet balanced through these early levels is to use a build which levels up the pet very quickly without allowing it to deal or receive much damage at all, such as a Necromancer minion-master who happens to bring along a pet. Another means to the unevolved pet is to make the pet deal great amounts of damage and take quite a bit of damage as well. This is more difficult, as it is hard to tell how much damage the pet should take and dish out to be balanced, and it is harder still to keep the ratio right. An example of a possible method would be to level the pet up while keeping its damage taken at nothing and forcing it to deal 100% of the damage. Then, upon each level-up of the pet, take it outside of Augury Rock and let the Hydras kill it once. Another successful method of getting an unevolved pet was to train the pet for 1 level as an Aggressive and 5 levels as a Playful. Another easy way to get an unevolved pet is simply to level the pet while it is dead; a dead pet deals no damage and suffers no damage. The range for experience is apparently unlimited – even if the pet doesn’t show the leveling it will level when you get within range of the pet again, or if you cross an instance portal/map travel.

Choosing Which Enemies to Level On
Most masters of pet evolution will recommend one of two areas in the entire game when trying to evolve a pet. These are: the Minotaurs outside Ice Tooth Cave and the Mergoyle Wavebreakers outside of Gates of Kryta. These enemies have no mystical qualities about them that make them better for training pets with. What they do offer is an easily controlled environment. Since pet training can be a delicate process with many different factors influencing how the pet evolves, you will want to control as many variables as possible to maximize your success. The enemies are no exception, and choosing an enemy with an easily predicted and countered damage type is very helpful. Warriors and elementalists offer direct damage that can be easily reduced through Symbiotic Bond and Call of Protection. They do not degen or condition your pet, which can wreak havoc with its training. They conveniently have no means to protect themselves against your own condition spreading, and come without friends of other classes to mess you up. Additionally, they are of a low enough level that your own character shouldn’t be in danger of dying from them, yet a high enough level that your pet can still level all the way to 15 on them if you so choose.

You do not need to level your pet in either of these two spots to train the pet you want, although they will make your life easier. If you choose to go elsewhere, remember to avoid enemies with any of the following: degen hexes, degen conditions, blinding, armor-ignoring damage.

Sample Training Builds

Dire
For training pets towards Dire, Call of Protection is a necessity. Symbiotic Bond and Otyugh’s Cry will be helpful for the same reasons as Call of Protection is; however, all three may not be necessary beyond the early levels of the pet. As for pet attacks, the elite Ferocious Strike is wondrously helpful. The additional energy gained from it will allow you to use pet attacks more frequently. Another pet attack that should be considered is Feral Lunge. This will allow your pet to deal damage against foes whose armor is still too high for it. Also, if you choose to fight foes who are heavy on spell casting, Disrupting Lunge is a good skill to consider. Not only will you deal damage with it, but you can prevent damage as well.

Generally speaking, you should only need one or two slots for self-defense. I suggest that one of these be Troll Unguent. The other may be a stance such as Whirling Defense, or an armor buff such as Armor of Earth or Physical/Elemental Resistance.

Ranger/Mesmer vs. Minotaurs
Beast Mastery: 12 + 3 + 1
Expertise: 12 + 1
Wilderness Survival: 3 + 1

Ferocious Strike {E}
Feral Lunge
Symbiotic Bond
Call of Protection
Comfort Animal
Charm Animal
Troll Unguent
Physical Resistance

Hearty
For Hearty pets, you have the freedom to bring almost any solo build you want. As long as you keep your Beast Mastery low, send your pet in ahead of you, and let it earn some experience while dead, you should be just fine.

Ranger/Elementalist vs. Minotaurs
Expertise: 9 + 3 + 1
Wilderness Survival: 8 + 1
Marksmanship: 11 + 1
Earth Magic: 8

Poison Arrow {E}
Penetrating Attack
Dual Shot
Ignite Arrows
Armor of Earth
Troll Unguent
Charm Animal
Comfort Animal

Evolutions and Statistics

Evolutions are more complex than initially thought; while the health information was accurate, rather than a flat damage adjustment it is observed that the bonus in damage varies with the level of the pet in question. The health adjustments for pets are indeed:

+30 health for a Playful pet
+60 health for a Hearty pet
-30 health for an Aggressive pet
-60 health for a Dire pet

As such, the table of pet health levels is as follows (6):

As far as damage is concerned, the damage range and average damage shifts with each level, and the damage adjustment doesn’t seem to level off until level 14. As of level 14 it becomes a ~15% bonus/penalty to damage, and this rule is followed right up to level 20. The following table indicates damage ranges and average damages for the various evolutions (7).

As can be seen from the damage ranges and the average damages the effect of evolution isn’t a simple +2 to damage, but is instead approximately a +/-15% at level 20; the table of ratios shows that at low levels of aggressive/playful the damage adjustment is smaller, but grows. While the percentages aren’t exact, given the standard errors the ratios a 5% adjustment for levels 11-13 and 15% for level 14-20 lie within a 95% CI. (8)

5) Combat effectiveness

A basic pet thus attacks every ~2.14 seconds for ~24.4 average damage vs. 60 AL at level 12 beastmastery, for 11.4 DPS with no other skills used. Use of Call of Haste increases this to 15.2 DPS, so a pet can with minimal spending prove to be an effective attacker.

Here's a table showing the damage, DPS and DPS under Call of Haste for beastmastery 0-12 for a level 20 pets.

For a single skill slot this isn't bad - even with no skills in the pet at a 12 BM it would be slightly better than having a permanent Conjure Phantasm running, draining away health constantly. They have decent health, equivalent to a player of their level, with variations due to their "evolution". How much good can we get out of the pet?

Reasons to Consider the Pet

Pets add damage even without using energy - that extra ~11 damage a second for no energy is about the cheapest damage you'll ever find; sure, there are signets that do damage, but they can't compare. Pets also draw some fire (sometimes) and provide additional attacks, triggering hit effects for example. If a ranger is using a bow, some of the usefulness of a pet is lost, but pets can be used to perform many of the tasks that a bow might be used for; pets’ attacks can:

• Cripple
• Bleed
• Skill interrupt + 20 second denial
• Knockdown (vs casters)
• Do additional damage vs enchanted foes
• Do additional damage against foes with conditions
• Do additional damage to foes with health <50%
• Provide energy and adrenaline.

In addition, these attack skills add to the DPS the pet puts out, by varying degrees. Tables follow, detailing the damage caused by each attack. Things do get complicated with Call of Haste (CoH)- since it changes the attack period from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds you can actually lose effectiveness of some skills when doing so - for example; the skill Ferocious Strike could normally be used every 8 seconds, or every 4th pet attack; it would thus add 25 damage/8seconds and generate a strike of adrenaline /8seconds and 9 energy every 8 seconds at level 12 BM. If the pet is under a call of haste however, the attack period becomes 1.5 seconds, so on the 5th attack at 7.5 seconds the skill still isn't recharged; at 9 seconds the ferocious strike gets used again, so it has gone from being every 4th attack to every 6th attack, and it has been reduced from 3.125 DPS(25/8) to 2.778 DPS(25/9); from 1/8th of an adrenaline per second to 1/9th and from 3.375 pips of energy regeneration to 3 pips. Such effects get more complex with the introduction of skill recharge effects like Quickening Zephyr and Serpent's Quickness, so I will leave those situations off the table.

Energy Burdens are listed WITHOUT expertise - if you know the amount of reduction you have simply multiply the energy burden by the portion of cost you pay; thus, if you have a 13 expertise and are running Bestial Pounce (cost 5, energy burden 1pip) you only pay 2 energy to activate it, 40% of the cost. Your energy burden would thus be 1 pip*0.4 = 0.4 pips. Attack burdens represent the frequency of attack that can be dedicated to the skill; 1/4 means that 1 out of 4 attacks can use it, and that is how the DPS was calculated.

The Skills (bonuses listed are for 0/12/16 Beastmastery)

The Attacks:

Summary Tables of Skill Effectiveness

Pet Skills:

There are only 6 skills dealing with pets; pet skills can modify the way that pet attacks work (Call of Haste), the way that pets experience damage (Call of Protection, Symbiotic Bond, Otyugh's Cry) or deal with healing and reviving the pet (Symbiotic Bond, Comfort Animal, Revive Animal).