Guild Wars 2

Hey guys. So I’ve been looking into swapping my pets around again, and I’m met with the same problem of what ones are most effective. I know there are threads on this out there already, but most seem relatively old, and I’d like to get a more up-to-date idea of what’s currently most effective. Right now, I’m using an Eagle as my offensive pet, due to Might stacking with Rampage as One and it’s double-autos, as well as its difficulty to target in PvP environments when compared to the similar cats. I’m also using a Lashtail Devourer for the same ult effects as the Eagle, while at the same time providing a relatively tanky ranged pet that can self-manage reasonably well with it’s 1.5 second evade.

I’d like to use an offensive/defensive style for my pets, and I’m really enjoying the way the Devourer works at the moment (16 stacks of Might? Yes, please!) At the same time however, I’m a little confused as to what pets are most suitable underwater/what ones tank best/what ones have the highest or most reliable DPS. I’m also curious as to whether or not Fern Hounds and other wolves have a place in the PvE environment, what with the tanking ability of bears. Also, how do you feel about Moas?

Finally, what kind of investment is suitable in the Beastmaster line to make full use of the aforementioned pets, but still allow good damage or utility from other trait lines?

Thanks in advance for any replies guys. (Also, keep the ‘ranger is trash’ talk to other threads, please.)

Under water my favorite tanky pets are drakes, hands down. Their aquatic f2 attacks don’t have nearly the same wind up the terrestrial versions do.. Plus they actually do some nice damage.

Bears are mostly a waste of time IMO. The only use I find for them is when you just need a big furry distraction without any points in the BM line. If you actually want a pet that does things, drakes are MUCH better tank options and even pigs have a nice knockdown.

Moas are pretty much pure support pets. Their combat abilities are OK, but the pink/black ones have a neat aoe stun and the red ones can give 100% up time on fury…with a heal to boot. Not great fighters though.

Pve dogs are a nice middle ground between damage and tankiness. If you’re doing a high BM build and want a self reliant melee they’re a good pick.

Can’t talk about how they relate in PvP, but PvE I’ve done a good bit of testing.

DPS:

Cats do the highest DPS on a stationary, bar none. Bite and Rend both do good damage, and the basic attack stacks Vuln as well. Get Skirmishing 10 for 30% crit damage on pets and they tear things up. Jaguar stealth is an aggro drop, and Jungle Stalker has an awesome might buff. The rest are just variations on pounce, which is terrible because of the very long cast time.

Birds do the highest DPS vs moving targets. Their attack animation is very fast so they hit more reliably. Same applies to their F2 skills, so they are easy to land when you want them. Group swiftness is nice as well, although it will get wasted by the AI often. Hawk has the best DPS F2 due to short cooldown, but all are viable depending on build/preference.

Both Cats and Birds have a very high crit chance, and can be surprisingly tanky with a BM spec and 20 skirmishing so they heal on crits. I only have to swap to my tank pet for champions and events- the kitty even tanks veterans without breaking a sweat.

Spiders are high health/low armor ranged pets. They do more damage then devourers, but aren’t exactly DPS pets. Best range DPS though.

TANKS

Bears are meatshields. Low toughness, high health- surprisingly enough they don’t last the longest as tanks, because low armor means low healing efficiency. Their self heal is strong though, so if spec for improved healing they more or less work. Biggest reason to take a bear is the Brown can cleanse conditions. Otherwise a drake/wolf/devourer will be better choice due to better skills or damage.

Drakes are the highest DPS tanks, but are slightly squishier due to a poor self heal/no evade. With BM spec they can be very strong, but without it they tend to wear down quickly and are difficult to heal. The Marsh Drake has the fastest casting (aka, most usable) F2 skill.

Devourers are high armor/moderate health. Without BM spec, they are the best tanks due to evade and the range attack- melee tank pets like to stand in AOE’s and fields. They also have two chances to crit with their basic attack, making them crit heal more then other tanks (all tank pets have low precision). With BM spec, other tank pets become viable, but devourer is still my go-to brick. On the downside, they are pretty much the lowest DPS pet in the game. Lashtail F2 is a passable burst skill though.

UNDERWATER

Underwater, nothing much changes, except you get access to the shark and armor fish. The fish just. won’t. die. Get one. The shark does beastly crit and condition damage with a charge, and hits moving targets well also. If you don’t like shark, cat’s work underwater almost as well, although they aren’t as mobile. Devourers can (surprisingly) swim and are still effective ranged tanks when melee just won’t do.

Haven’t tried drakes underwater, actually, but the above poster may be right if their F2 skills become usable there.

pvp – lynx for dmg and condis, wolf for cripple, knock down and fear . if you know how to time their kittened skill casting and such they work wonders.

pve – ? any pet really it dont matter.

btw having any point in Beast-mastery?…………..faceplam “all is vain” friend.