Pet classes

[AaronRex]

Lo there folks. I have two questions on pet classes:

1. For a WoW hunter type character (Bow, so one class would be Hunter), what good pet class would best help recreate that type of play? I.e. a pet that can tank while I stay at range and blast.

2. In case an above build is not the "best" pet build, what would be the best one if you aren't limiting yourself to bow/hunter? I have seen that some seem to talk earth+spirit for 2+ pets? What would you folks say?

Thanks in advance

[Violos]

Avenger. Mostly hunting, with the Core Dweller and physical boosts / shield / stoneform from Earth.

You can add fire spells in normal, but since you should build him str/dex those will not do much damage on the long run. Orb fragments remain useful for their stun, though.

[AaronRex]

Thanks! I take it I'd take Earth first, to race to the Core Dweller and then go Hunting to get the Marksman tree, or should I go first Hunting to get the dps boost and then build up the Earth tree?

[Violos]

Either way, really.

Hunting alone is fine, you could finish legendary with that. But like I said, in normal you could also blast your way through act 1+2 with volcanic orbs even if you never put a point in intelligence. Even use Brimstone's little burn damage on your bow.

Since you are switching to arrows later, having some fun with Earth at that point might be the thing to do.

Only depends on how much money you are prepared to spend at the Mystic.

[Shalie]

Go hunting first and rush to get Scatter Shot and Volley maxed. Then you will melt any foes in Normal difficulty.
The Core Dweller will start to be useful from Epic difficulty, pets get bonuses to their stats in Epic and Legendary.

[Irma2]

I'd take Hunting first. CD only becomes really useful from Epic onwards when he can withstand being mobbed. In late Normal, particularly, he isn't very durable.

Oddly enough, I'm playing my Int-based archer Avenger at the moment, currently at the start of Act II Epic. It's been a fun and quite powerful build so far although I'm not sure how well the elemental damage will hold up in Legendary.

My Str/Dex bow Avenger is in Act III Legendary atm and wasn't one of my best archers. He has 9 deaths to date which is high for an archer. I probably played it badly as well, but was surprised by how many deaths it picked up, considering that it has the two best tank mechanisms in the game in CD and Monster Lure.

[Violos]

I never said he should max the Core Dweller in normal. And of course Scatter Shots are OP.

The idea was more like:
If you are going to aboilsh int and fire attacks in favour of Marksman/Volley/Scatter for the rest of your carreer anyway, you might as well have some fun with those first, as long as they still blow stuff sky-high.
I would.

[AaronRex]

Hmmm... it sounds like bow hunters are pretty awesome. Is there perhaps another build other than Earth that works even better with bow hunters? Do those builds require a lot of kiting?

[KargaN]

You can try the Ranger (Hunting+Nature). It is a powerfull class, one the greatest damage dealer among archer classes

[Tyr]

Bow hunting works well with any other mastery except defense (you can't use a bow and a shield at the same time). I think any bow build has to kite in normal (nothing extreme though, hunting has great damage potential) but come epic/legendary hunting comes with its own effective diversionary "pet".

The most notable thing about Avengers (WoW hunter-wise) is that hunting/earth are the only masteries which allow you to summon pets with the Taunt skill, though the hunting "pet" can't attack. This type of playstyle (pet-tank/side dps, you-main dps) best mirrors that of the typical WoW hunter's.