Raiding: The Problem with Pets

An exhaustive list of things to do with your pet in raids would be well... exhausting.

Most fights require some pet management. So if you're paying attention to yourself and neighbors and environment and trying to dps, keeping situational awareness of pet is usually what falls off the table. A part of your brain needs to keep tabs on your pet. Not as big part as BRK has.. but some decent awareness and expectation of problems. Okay, so fine. No biggie.

Being SV, if I lose my pet, I lose some dps. If I were BM, if I lost my pet, I would have lost my dps. Luckilly, for BM they usually can rez quicker and more effectively the old way or the new way. I'm usually happy when I get my pet through the flamewall and void zones of OS-nD, the Safety Dance of Heigan, the voids of KT. Etc. These aren't huge accomplishments, and to be honest I probably am only batting .500 most nights.

Of course the problem with pets is more than Pet Management. There are many fights where your pet dps simply takes a nosedive because of the Fight Mechanics. Thaddius is a good example. Pets thankfully do not get the charge. While this means they don't routinely wipe the raid, it also means their reletive dps is a small fraction of what it is compared to everyone else. Pets in P1 of KT.. not so useful. Malygos is another example. P1 has many pet management issues and some mechanics issues. Trying to get your pet to stand in the sparks is a messy art. Most of P2 is mechanic issues that don't let a pet do much. And of course P3 is just, IMHO, not the best mounted combat finish.

So in summary: 1) Pets are great. 2) Pets have many but certainly not all of situational awareness demands on them as normal players. 3) Pets are second-class in terms of fight mechanics.