Best Pet/Armor For Warrior?

[Venom]

In my noob days i used to have malison all time on my warrior. Then I switched to Hazel and it was great. Every since I got Slag, I haven't used any other pet on my warrior.

Good pets for warrior: Slag, Ribbit, Shiloh, Snaggletooth, Hazel.

With Ribbit you make sure your Mages n Rogues crit well
With Shiloh you make sure your opponent in PvP is slowed down to the point he wants to cry. (Which means he's good in PvP)
Snaggle helps you Freeze enemies while running elites. Pretty good cooldown on its arcane ability.
Hazel gives you +30 str increasing your dmg more than any other pet, gives +7% movement speed. Arcane ability is okay, not too impressive.
SLAG.. Well slag is total awesomeness -.- You gotta try it to know it!

[Xtremespike]

I've seen what Slag can do. I was amazed and wanted it instantly. But sadly i don't have gold to purchase it on CS or from a player advertising it.

[Taejo]

In my noob days i used to have malison all time on my warrior. Then I switched to Hazel and it was great. Every since I got Slag, I haven't used any other pet on my warrior.

Good pets for warrior: Slag, Ribbit, Shiloh, Snaggletooth, Hazel.

With Ribbit you make sure your Mages n Rogues crit well
With Shiloh you make sure your opponent in PvP is slowed down to the point he wants to cry. (Which means he's good in PvP)
Snaggle helps you Freeze enemies while running elites. Pretty good cooldown on its arcane ability.
Hazel gives you +30 str increasing your dmg more than any other pet, gives +7% movement speed. Arcane ability is okay, not too impressive.
SLAG.. Well slag is total awesomeness -.- You gotta try it to know it!

Shiloh's passive ability works in PvP? I learn something new every day. He's always been one of my favorite pets, now there's even more reason to feel that way!

I've seen what Slag can do. I was amazed and wanted it instantly. But sadly i don't have gold to purchase it on CS or from a player advertising it.

Unfortunately, Slag is a platinum exclusive pet. He's currently unavailable, but should return during Season 5 once or twice.

[Xtremespike]

Can you guys discuss why Orion is better than Malison (viseversa also)

[Alrisaia]

Hi Crowsfoot. I read your comment, and while I do respect your tanking style, I completely disagree with your opinion about Orion. You're also not the first warrior to say this, so I'd like to explain some positive points about Orion if I may.

While the weaker part of my argument is that Orion offers tanks a generous mana boost to save on pots, I won't ignore writing it, because any attribute a pet gives adds to their overall usefulness. Additionally, his other attributes simply can't be overlooked for tanking in party situations. Not only does Orion provide one of the highest +HP buffs out of all your pets (+260), but he also grants us 2% dmg reduction, which is equivalent to approximately 40-45 armor or so for a L31 warrior with 1500+ armor. There are not many pets in the line up that offer these two stats side by side. Looking at my list, I only see Snaggletooth (+250 HP, +2%) and Nexus (+150 HP, +1%) offering this set up as viable substitutions (Abaddon and Ripmaw also fall into this category, but we're not talking about mythic pets here). Snaggletooth, Nexus and Koko all have great passive abilities and should be in any good warrior's line up. However, when rating them in all categories, I feel that Snaggletooth's arcane ability is pointless, Nexus' stats and arcane ability (for PvE reference) are mediocre, and Koko's stats are very lacking. Whereas Orion gives us terrific stats, a powerful passive ability, and an extremely useful arcane ability.

Your argument that the cool down is long is valid, however, you're overlooking two very important details about this pet. First, his L15 passive ability, Cruel Swipe, is simply one of the best available and often gets overlooked by players. EDIT: It is similar to Koko, Vixen and Kettle's (and there's more) Raking Maul, but instead of 1 target, hits 3. The effect goes off quite frequently, reducing incoming damage on you and your party by 15%. For bosses such as Rutger (his bleed effect) and Mardrom (his AE) who's attacks are somewhat unavoidable, this is a significant chunk of damage that you're saving your party from receiving. That in itself is a defensive characteristic of a pet, not an offensive one. Secondly, yes, his arcane ability has a long, 25 second cool down. But this is why his passive ability is so strong and I feel that STS did a splendid job creating this pet. For what it's worth, after the 6 second buff wears off, the cold down is actually only 19 seconds.

But let me close by saying that, this is why the warrior class is so wonderful to play. Depending on your play style and who you run with on a daily basis ultimately influences your pet selection - and there's so many to choose from, "the world is your oyster". I thoroughly enjoy Orion for both PvE and PvP. He's at the top of my list.

Great writeup Taejo – I think this should go in the [Orion] thread in the pet section

To help you understand why Crow makes this statement:
I can speak from my perspective in that I run with tanks – Crowsfoot specifically - often and I can tell you that typically a battle for our groups with trash mobs lasts anywhere between 30 seconds and 1:30 depending on how ambitious we are and depending on how well traps pull them together. I’d say 45 seconds is our average. We fight from inside twisted shadow veils and the rogues and mages spec RS and Shield respectively – deflecting / dodging most of the damage coming our (squishies) way. The shadow veil mitigates damage well and our mages / stun pets do a great job of preventing all damage by freezing / stunning the mobs. That being said – it’s important for our groups to have tanks that use a pet that benefits the party the most – thus ribbit (when twisted properly) or snaggletooth (crowd control). For the newer tanks Crow recommends the extra armor boost (Koko) – since most of the time those new to elite tanks will benefit greatly from that extra boost.

I can however see where Orion would fit well with groups that don’t necessarily run with the same or similar strategies. Or who have a difficult time with squishy friends who die and aren’t very familiar with elites. Specifically PUGs come to mind

Can you guys discuss why Orion is better than Malison (viseversa also)

Based on the above information from Taejo – I would venture to say that Malison is a great pet for rogues and that’s about it. The dodge buff stacked with RS really helps in two situations –

1, during tough run thru areas (Skull Cove, Palm Rock, even Oltgar some rogues need this). Second: When twisted properly – you can keep the partie’s dodge above 20% at all times. Additionally – Because Malison’s buff provides a complete avoidance of damage, it means that rogues and mages who dodge a boss’ red attack will live – rather than suffer 15% less of 4k damage

2, PVP – I am not pvp specced – I have no heal packs… but when I go in there from time to time – I use RS and Malison stacked providing myself with a 50/50 chance of getting hit at all.

For mages and Warriors – there are better pets out there…

[Taejo]

I can however see where Orion would fit well with groups that don’t necessarily run with the same or similar strategies. Or who have a difficult time with squishy friends who die and aren’t very familiar with elites. Specifically PUGs come to mind

Yes, I tried offering a broader perspective of the pet, since it's safe to say a good percentage of AL players don't run with experienced parties. I think your guild runs some pretty solid strategies, and I commend you for exploring all the alternatives to the "cookie cutter" skill sets, mythic gear, and arcane pets.

When it comes to discussing pets, my position is simple: all pets are designed differently to appeal to the diversity of play styles within the game; and they all deserve a plausible argument on their behalf. Well... except the Nordr pets (omit Vixen and Grave)... they are very simplistic and belong in the weaker end of the available pets spectrum. Hopefully this next expansion has some more creative ones available (like my taunt/detaunt pet ideas ).

Can you guys discuss why Orion is better than Malison (viseversa also)

I agree with Alrisaia's assessment of Malison. I consider him a "patch" pet, meaning he boosts your stats significantly - especially if you're lacking adequate gear. Based on your initial concern about your armor, if you're able to afford Malison, he'd be the perfect solution to your problem. I wouldn't be overly concerned about having good armor while you're leveling up to the cap. I wore blues and greens with the occasional pink while leveling up my warrior. What's really important is that your skills are set up properly, you have pets that offer STR and/or HPs, and you adapt an effective play style.

[Xtremespike]

Yes, I tried offering a broader perspective of the pet, since it's safe to say a good percentage of AL players don't run with experienced parties. I think your guild runs some pretty solid strategies, and I commend you for exploring all the alternatives to the "cookie cutter" skill sets, mythic gear, and arcane pets.

When it comes to discussing pets, my position is simple: all pets are designed differently to appeal to the diversity of play styles within the game; and they all deserve a plausible argument on their behalf. Well... except the Nordr pets (omit Vixen and Grave)... they are very simplistic and belong in the weaker end of the available pets spectrum. Hopefully this next expansion has some more creative ones available (like my taunt/detaunt pet ideas ).



I agree with Alrisaia's assessment of Malison. I consider him a "patch" pet, meaning he boosts your stats significantly - especially if you're lacking adequate gear. Based on your initial concern about your armor, if you're able to afford Malison, he'd be the perfect solution to your problem. I wouldn't be overly concerned about having good armor while you're leveling up to the cap. I wore blues and greens with the occasional pink while leveling up my warrior. What's really important is that your skills are set up properly, you have pets that offer STR and/or HPs, and you adapt an effective play style.

I think i got a good setup for a tank
Active skills:
1) Skyward Smash 4/5 no mana
2) Vengefull Blood 5/5
3) Windmill 5/5
4) Horn of Renew 4/5 no taunt

Passive skills:
1) Might 5/5
2) Damage 4/5
3) Knowledge 3/5

[Alrisaia]

no taunt

Is sort of concerning...

[Xtremespike]

Is sort of concerning...

Why do you say that?

[Venom]

Warriors need to maintain the aggro while the mages n rogues in party deal lots of damage. Warriors should focus more on being durable than to deal damage. Lots of HP and Armor is the way to tank!!!

[Kraze]

no taunt

Is sort of concerning...

My aggro machine mage weeps at this and the no mana on skyward. Don't cry for me to fill your mana ill be busy tanking for you

[Xtremespike]

My aggro machine mage weeps at this and the no mana on skyward. Don't cry for me to fill your mana ill be busy tanking for you

It's all about team work. There's no I in team. Everything is about team work. Everyone depends on everyone else on the team to help them keep their health and mana at a costant volume without going below it.

[Alrisaia]

Why do you say that?

Because if you can't pull aggro off of your rogues and mages, then it doesn't matter how much health and armor you have... Taunt is how you do that.

[Xtremespike]

Because if you can't pull aggro off of your rogues and mages, then it doesn't matter how much health and armor you have... Taunt is how you do that.

I see. I'll make sure that i add that once the level cap is raised.

[Alrisaia]

I see. I'll make sure that i add that once the level cap is raised.

You won't be sorry

[Crowsfoot]

Orion hits up three targets and reduces damage by 15%, very nice (in theory). But its a short debuff (anoyingly short) that is my fundamental issue wen I use Orion. He has all these great and wonderful buffs and debuffs, but they rarely pric for myself and last a second or two. Then his abillity lasts 6secs but I go another 19secs waiting for it to recharge. So over time I hav a 2.4% of damage over time (100/25x6=24, 24% of 10% is 2.4%) where as blight (and Wyatt) offer a 5% enemy armor reduction over time (4sec debuff and an 8 sec recharge). So tho Orion blasts heavy damage from prty for a split second it takes awhile to hit again. Wen he aligns all his buffs and debuffs he is amazing. But by the time he does the fight wud hav been faster twisting ribbit.
My hatred of Orion is he is designed for short fights lasting 10seconds or less, otherwise I would want a more consistent pet. Tbh he best suits a mage anyway, where the defense is solid figured over percents and incoming damage is debuffed by percent. For a warrior u want the opposite. Raise my armor by 4% not 260hp.

[CrimsonBloodEmpire]

Basically I wasted my plat on orion...