I was really hoping that at some point down the line they were going to roll out with "oh hey heres some pets!" but as the game gets closer to completion its looking like the ONLY pet classes we're going to have are the squig herder and one for the Order side. This is both surprising as DAoC was huge on pets and pet-related summons so you think this would be something that Mythic would be all over, and highly disappointing. Personally, I tend to stray away from pure casting classes. Necros and various other pet based classes have always been my favorites. Sure you can say "just go play a squig herder then!" but it's not the same. For one it's not a casting class in any way shape or form, and secondly, you're locked into being a goblin /=. The chaos zealot MAY get some pet-like abilities, their ability to summon crows is briefly mentioned in their description, but I have a feeling it's not going to be quite the same.

I know actually discussing the game rather than flying off the handle about "THIS SUCKS, THIS GAME RULES, WORDS IN CAPS HERE!" is taboo here, but anyone else disappointed by this? I'm actually a bit stuck at this point because while the RvR system in WAR and the WAR universe is very appealing, the lack of pets is a seriously offputting issue for me.

Yeah but look at WoW (ok ok I know, terrible example). Hunter and warlock are two of the most powerful classes...and they have pets. I think pets make it a bit harder to balance, because you not only have to work on the actual player but also his pet. Maybe they will add some classes in later...or maybe the warhammer lore has a limited spot for pets, I don't know.

well all i got to say is everything mythic does has to be approved by GW first and seeing as how there really aren't pet type troops in warhammer fantasy its not a stretch of the imagination by any means to only have 2 pet classes and the odds really aren't that bad 1 out of 12 (per side) is a pet class.

and no im not dissapointed by warhammer at all but then again i love mythic and i play the tabletop

Sorry but Pet Classes blow!  I havn't read alot on WAR since I'm keeping alot of it in the dark but I hope there won't be one or several or any! 

Pets are cheap...

Originally posted by Ascension08

Yeah but look at WoW (ok ok I know, terrible example). Hunter and warlock are two of the most powerful classes...and they have pets. I think pets make it a bit harder to balance, because you not only have to work on the actual player but also his pet. Maybe they will add some classes in later...or maybe the warhammer lore has a limited spot for pets, I don't know.

Actually the warlock used to be one of the classes in need of the most love before they overhauled their spell tree.

That still doesn't give much reason to exclude pets though. As I said, Mythic in particular has extensive experience with pets and pets in an RvR environment. I mean look at DAoC. For pet classes we have:

-Bonedancer

-Enchanter

-Thurgest

- Spirit Master

- Animist

-Druid

-Cabalist

-Necromancer

and if you want you could toss in the classes that can charm them. In addition, they're really not that hard to balance. Unless you get exotic with them (which most pets are now though) basic pets are nothing more than a walking DoT that deal physical damage. The hardest part in dealing with them is pathing.

As far as lore, there is plenty of room in the warhammer universe to toss in pet classes aplenty.

Originally posted by Katashi-kun
Words

Yes, and your opinion, likely biased because you don't know how to fight pet classes, is good enough to strike and entire subset of classes from a game because since you hate them, everyone else should hate them too.

Originally posted by Ascension08

Yeah but look at WoW (ok ok I know, terrible example). Hunter and warlock are two of the most powerful classes...and they have pets. I think pets make it a bit harder to balance, because you not only have to work on the actual player but also his pet. Maybe they will add some classes in later...or maybe the warhammer lore has a limited spot for pets, I don't know.

I'm not so sure about that. I think part of the reason many pet classes are hard to balance is because they aren't defined well. For instance, the Hunter is really two classes in one: ranger and beastlord. If they were separate classes, it would be easier to balance.

They are releasing with only two pet classes, the Squig Herder and (most likely) the White Lion, but the lore allows for many more additions if they choose introduce them in the future.

Uhh There are pet classes...aka the Squig Herder is a pet class...awsome lil squigs of death..and then the second one is debated as the long awaited High Elf White Lion class so that there's only 1 pet class Per Side.    

Anymore pet classes than that would be completely out of control. 

Originally posted by elvenangel

Uhh There are pet classes...aka the Squig Herder is a pet class...awsome lil squigs of death..and then the second one is debated as the long awaited High Elf White Lion class so that there's only 1 pet class Per Side.    

Anymore pet classes than that would be completely out of control. 

I disagree that more than that would be out of control by any means, and you didn't read my post, as I mentioned those.

Black Orc ftw.

Me eat pet!

I personally think that pet classes as implimented in most current MMOs take a low degree of skill to play, especially in most PvP situations. Looking at WoW as the standard example, Hunters and Warlocks can have a significant portion of their DPS done by their pet, depending on their Spec. I personally don't see this as fair to other classes, and I for one am glad that WAR is only going with one pet class for Destruction, and (Probably?) one for Order. Obviously the game is still being tweaked, so it will be interesting to see how these classes are finally balanced.

What I wouldn't be against seeing is pets used for more utility reasons than combat reasons. Maybe for buffs, or the like. Or perhaps having pets DPS, but having their DPS output being SIGNIFICANTLY reduced from how pet DPS was handled in WoW. Granted their DPS wasn't enough to kill another player solo, but when you figure that hunters and warlocks were DPS based to begin with, it just kinda gave them an extra un-needed advantage in PvP. IMO anyways.

Pet classes have just never been all that interesting.  If you're going to make a pet class, go all the way to the point where the pet is essentially the class.  Right now, pets are either perpetual DOTs or temporary meatshields and nothing more.  Classes like the minstrel from DAoC and the bard from EQ were always interesting in that a smart player could do some impressive stuff if he/she knew what she was doing.  I'll also give Mythic props for at least trying different things such as the Necromancer(casting through the pet), Animist('planting' pets to create a combination of effects), and Bonedancer(multiple pets).

If you're going to have a class like DAoC/WoWs hunters where the pet is there, I'd rather see that sort of pet provided through alternative advancement such as with the beastlord/tamer advanced path in SWG where everyone can make the choice to enhance their character through pets or through more class specific paths.  So, you're either a really really good spy or your a spy that can bring a long a wolf on the mission, which helps with differentiation.

However, I'm looking forward to the squig herder, because it seems like a very different implementation of a pet class.

Originally posted by thefreshflow

I personally think that pet classes as implimented in most current MMOs take a low degree of skill to play, especially in most PvP situations. Looking at WoW as the standard example, Hunters and Warlocks can have a significant portion of their DPS done by their pet, depending on their Spec. I personally don't see this as fair to other classes.

Stop right there. If you haven't played one, or only played one in WoW, you really can't talk about "low degree of skill". First of all, lets get down to this. You're talking about "skill" in an MMO which essentially is people smashing buttons and hoping their set of statistics is better than that other persons set of statistics. In addition, if anything it's more work on the side of a pet class because you don't need to just worry about yourself and spam off spells. You need to worry about that mildly retarded zombie shuffling behind you and if it's pathing correctly, if you need it near you to tank or if you can just ship it off, and keeping the thing buffed/alive while at the same time using the rest of your arsenal effectively. There is a big big difference between the guy who throws his pet off randomly into the wilderness and people who actually use their class effectively. It is NOT an easy thing to do.

WoW never really did a good job balancing their pet classes, and its not terribly surprising as they've never done it before and they were trying to flip flop them between being balanced between PvP and PvE. Ultimately you had both pet classes sucking at the beginning and then being completely over the top overpowered on the other end when they went to go "fix" them. This isn't a problem with the pet class itself, this is a problem with implementation.

Originally posted by rwyan

 ...If you're going to make a pet class, go all the way to the point where the pet is essentially the class.  Right now, pets are either perpetual DOTs or temporary meatshields and nothing more...

...I'll also give Mythic props for at least trying different things such as the Necromancer(casting through the pet), Animist('planting' pets to create a combination of effects), and Bonedancer(multiple pets).

If you're going to have a class like DAoC/WoWs hunters where the pet is there, I'd rather see that sort of pet provided through alternative advancement such as with the beastlord/tamer advanced path in SWG where everyone can make the choice to enhance their character through pets or through more class specific paths....

...However, I'm looking forward to the squig herder, because it seems like a very different implementation of a pet class.

I completely agree, and I like the direction they took the squig herder. I'm not saying that if they add pet classes they should be simplistic and play like oldschool pet classes. I'm saying they should continue doing what mythic has done best with them and change them up and make them unique, but at least have them. Being pigeonholed into being a goblin archer to play a pet class is not exactly a great solution to "having pet classes." I could point out an example of the possibilities for pet classes but I REALLY don't want to mention that game as it will immidiately throw this thread off topic into a flame posting oblivion.