First fix: Stowing pets.
If you got your pet stowed away, and take damage, the pet jumps right back into the game, attempting to defend you. This may or may not be desired, depending on the circumstances. How to fix it?
We use the aggro button!
If the aggro button is on “aggressive”, a stowed pet will respond to the owner taking damage, if it’s on passive, it will not. A change to one line of code, probably.
It has been said many times that a perma-stow option would not be implemented. I’d be happy with environmental damage not bringing the pet out, though (Gryphonrock run, I’m looking at you). They were able to remove the damage to my armour for falling to my death, why not have the same check when your pet is stowed. That way, if you’re actually attacked, your pet comes out, but if you stub your toe it doesn’t bother.
Second fix: Pet drawing unwanted aggro just by walking beside you.
Currently, the pet is walking pretty far off, when out of combat, which might draw aggro, when trying to squeeze your way in between a mob and a wall unnoticed.
This one is trickier. Basically, what I suggest, is to change the pathing behavior of the pet, depending on the aggression settings.
If the pet is put on aggressive, it will walk slightly up front, to the left or the right, just like it currently does. However, if you put your pet on passive, it will trail behind you, maybe half as far, as it walks now, minimizing the area, the two of you combined cover and thus making it easier to bypass opponents.
I agree with this modification, but also point out that if you stow your pet, you only take up one character space and it’s easier to maneuver between groups of enemies. And it would remain the case even if this change were implemented (especially if any of the groups are moving, they still may see your pet behind you).
Third fix: Pets getting into fights even when on passive
No matter what. If you take damage, the pet goes berserk… No exceptions… And if it has to draw the aggro of 40 mobs in the progress, noone harms its master and gets away with it.
I don’t know, whether this one is still needed with the above changes, but adding a third aggression option, neutral, and setting it as what’s currently labelled as passive, then making passive truly be passive, would probably fix this too. But as I said, with the above changes, this one is probably not needed anymore, as basically, aggressive = aggressive, neutral = passive and passive = stowed+passive.
Only problem is, I don’t think, you should be able to stow pets away while in battle, but I DO think, you should be able to set the pet to full passive during battle. That’s why this option is not completely off the table.
I don’t know if I’m not understanding your explanation of the situation you’re trying to fix, or I have never come across it (probably the former). But if my pet takes agro away from me when set to passive, I don’t think that’s a problem. I don’t recall any situation where my passive pet has agroed more enemies onto me than I would have with my kiting. When my pets are set to passive, I have to actively tell them to defend themselves or me. Otherwise, they just sit there and watch me die, or watch the enemy kill them.
