Running two pets - can anyone help with that?

FastBen

I am currently running clannfear, but really want to use the volatile familiar. I tried it several times, but it was a disaster.
I am mostly a solo player and survivability at this point is more important for me than dps. The best thing about the clannfear is the healing he provides. He can self-heal and heal me as well. The volatile familiar is awesome for dps, but can’t heal which is the main reason I don’t use it. The last time I tried it I couldn’t solo even one world boss. No matter the shield it dies every time in less than 30 seconds.
Occasionally I run vet pledges too. Yes, with the clannfear I never die, but the dps is not so great and some boss fights may take a little longer. So I think I would like to try running two pets – the volatile familiar for the dps and the matriarch for healing. The real problem is that I can’t sacrifice any slot for the matriarch.
Currently I use:
Main bar – empowered ward; clannfear, crystal frags, endless fury , inner light, elemental rage
Back bar – deadric prey, clannfear, liquid lightning, ele blockade, power surge, shooting star
When I am dealing with trash I do: liquid->ele blocade and finish with endless fury
For bosses and more difficult fights : liquid -> ele blocade -> deadric prey; swap power surge frags
And casting ward and light/heavy attach when needed.
I know it is not the best rotation, but still it works fine for me.
Basically I need all of the skills above and can’t decide which one to sacrifice.
So if anyone is running two pets, please share the bars and the skills he is using.


PS: Sorry for my English 

Trinity_Is_My_Name

On my Mag Sorc Pet build I use Volatile Familiar. It does extremely well and survives well too.

I would suggest a much simpler setup: Power Surge, Vol Familiar, Daedric Prey, Emp Ward and then perhaps Inner Light with Destro Ult so you get the 8% buff to AOE damage using a LIghtning staff.

2nd Bar has: Vol Familiar, Lightning Flood (for large target area), Blockade of Storms, Destructive Clench, Inner Light with Ice Comet/Meteor for Ult.

It's a simple setup with extremely high survival rate, high shield strength and massive AOE DPS. Use Lightning staff on both bars and if you have the CP unlock the Exploiter passive by putting 75 pts into Thaumaturge. You can swap out Inner light with other abilities of your choice. I simply choose the higher magicka pool with spell crit from Inner Light.

Run Necropotence with all Divines if possible. If not go with Infused. Use the Thief Mundus if you need the crit for self healing and crit damage. Can also go with Apprentice for increased Spell damage or The Mage for higher Magicka pool. Try them and see what you like best. I still use Thief for my Pet build for the extra spell crit.

I'm writing all this from memory so everything may not be exactly as it is on my build but I think it is. You can see this build running solo dungeons at CP300 or so and then again on another build at CP700 and higher. Check out Gordon Van Zandt on youtube. He has several vids of this build in action.

Oh, I rarely use two pets. It just isn't needed for most cases in my opinion.

RABIDxWOLVERINE

Do you have to have clannfear on both bars? That seems like the logical place to put it.

Biro123

I've solo'd a few vet dungeons with volatile familiar only - and no heal other than surge.

Really its down to practice - remembering that hardened ward protects your pet too, and keeping a close eye on your pets health to re-cast hardened as soon as your pet's health bar drops.

There will always be times when the pet dies and you need to re-summon - but it shouldn't be too often - and its easy enough to re-summon (and then re-shield - don't forget) during a fight.

Infernal Guardian works well with this, given the constant shielding. Knowing that casting a shield will mean you cause damage kind of makes you happier to shield and to worry less about dps loss..

Izaki

Trinity_Is_My_Name wrote: »

On my Mag Sorc Pet build I use Volatile Familiar. It does extremely well and survives well too.

I would suggest a much simpler setup: Power Surge, Vol Familiar, Daedric Prey, Emp Ward and then perhaps Inner Light with Destro Ult so you get the 8% buff to AOE damage using a LIghtning staff.

2nd Bar has: Vol Familiar, Lightning Flood (for large target area), Blockade of Storms, Destructive Clench, Inner Light with Ice Comet/Meteor for Ult.

It's a simple setup with extremely high survival rate, high shield strength and massive AOE DPS. Use Lightning staff on both bars and if you have the CP unlock the Exploiter passive by putting 75 pts into Thaumaturge. You can swap out Inner light with other abilities of your choice. I simply choose the higher magicka pool with spell crit from Inner Light.

Run Necropotence with all Divines if possible. If not go with Infused. Use the Thief Mundus if you need the crit for self healing and crit damage. Can also go with Apprentice for increased Spell damage or The Mage for higher Magicka pool. Try them and see what you like best. I still use Thief for my Pet build for the extra spell crit.

I'm writing all this from memory so everything may not be exactly as it is on my build but I think it is. You can see this build running solo dungeons at CP300 or so and then again on another build at CP700 and higher. Check out Gordon Van Zandt on youtube. He has several vids of this build in action.

Oh, I rarely use two pets. It just isn't needed for most cases in my opinion.

NEVER EVER USE LIGHTNING FLOOD. Liquid Lightning gives you 4 more ticks which is a huge amount of damage. The area is smaller? Aim better.

FastBen

RABIDxWOLVERINE wrote: »

Do you have to have clannfear on both bars? That seems like the logical place to put it.

You have to slot the pet in both bars.

FastBen

Trinity_Is_My_Name wrote: »

On my Mag Sorc Pet build I use Volatile Familiar. It does extremely well and survives well too.

I would suggest a much simpler setup: Power Surge, Vol Familiar, Daedric Prey, Emp Ward and then perhaps Inner Light with Destro Ult so you get the 8% buff to AOE damage using a LIghtning staff.

2nd Bar has: Vol Familiar, Lightning Flood (for large target area), Blockade of Storms, Destructive Clench, Inner Light with Ice Comet/Meteor for Ult.

It's a simple setup with extremely high survival rate, high shield strength and massive AOE DPS. Use Lightning staff on both bars and if you have the CP unlock the Exploiter passive by putting 75 pts into Thaumaturge. You can swap out Inner light with other abilities of your choice. I simply choose the higher magicka pool with spell crit from Inner Light.

Run Necropotence with all Divines if possible. If not go with Infused. Use the Thief Mundus if you need the crit for self healing and crit damage. Can also go with Apprentice for increased Spell damage or The Mage for higher Magicka pool. Try them and see what you like best. I still use Thief for my Pet build for the extra spell crit.

I'm writing all this from memory so everything may not be exactly as it is on my build but I think it is. You can see this build running solo dungeons at CP300 or so and then again on another build at CP700 and higher. Check out Gordon Van Zandt on youtube. He has several vids of this build in action.

Oh, I rarely use two pets. It just isn't needed for most cases in my opinion.

I do run divines gold Necro. And I use The Mage.
I know the Volatile Familiar survives well, otherwise other sorcs will not use it. But somehow it doesn't work for me. I don't know why, it always die.

I never use Lightning Flood.
So if you are running two pets what your bars look like?

AcadianPaladin

My magsorc is actually sort of specialized as a WB solo artist. She runs the common setup of 5 Julianos + 5 Necro and dual lightning staves.

Her skills are:

Bar 1:
Lightning (DoT AoE), Blockade (DoT AoE), Empowered Ward (shields the whole team - primarily for the clannfear), Clannfear (tank), Matriarch (healer). Her uilt is the Destro (DoT AoE).

Bar 2: Surge (boost damage and heals on crits), Elemental Drain (debuff and gains mag), Crystal Blast (flex spot), both pets again. Ult her is the Soul Magic one because it works if others show up and the boss goes rogue/starts running all around.

Basically, she hits surge, tags the boss with EleDrain, then opens the fight with Crystal Blast. Then to bar 1 to lay down her twin DoTs, shield her team, then a couple heavy attacks (damage + restore magicka). She keeps all her timed stuff going, trying to keep her Clannfear shielded via Empowered Ward and healed via her Matriarch (much more efficient than the Clannfear's heal). She also tries to use a tri-stat potion fairly early to keep her mag regen boosted and repeat as she can. Similarly, she uses her ult early so it is usually available for a second pop before the fight ends. Most of her damage comes from her twin AoEs and heavy attacks and we find the boss goes down in a reasonable amount of time.

This routine vs a single WB works so elegantly that her objective is zero deaths for her Clannfear and zero damage to both her and the Matriarch. Her biggest challenge is when other players show up that are not strong enough to kick the boss but simply pull aggro from her Clannfear - resulting in a rogue running boss. Then her shielding becomes more important to actually protect her instead of the Clannfear.

I know most folks take Frags over Blast but the proc stuff just doesn't work into my setup and is just a distraction. Blast is primarily used for an opening stun on non-bosses - from which they normally never recover.

When she knows she will have a real tank (player) holding the boss and has notice, she'll drop the Clannfear for Bound Aegis, primarily to prevent the Clannfear from interfering with the tank's taunts.

jaws343

The trick I've found to running multiple pets is to actually act as the healer of the group. Use a lightning staff to direct your pets. Watch their health bars and hit the heals when needed. Use shields regularly and lay down tons of AOE. You really shouldn't need any single target abilities outside of Deadric Prey on your bar.

For yourself, slot bound aegis and Boundless storm. You shouldn't really need crit surge since you will heal yourself while healing your pets.

One thing I have found to be key to running both pets, especially while having bound aegis up, is running Overload on your main bar. Triple bar your pets and bound aegis, and on the Overload bar slot more damage skills or an extra shield. You'll never use the Overload ult, just activate it to switch back and forth between the skill bar.

I've found with a build like this, you can solo most world bosses on easy mode. Just stand behind the boss as your clannfear takes the aggro

I had a build set up with both sorc pets, Maw of the Infernal, necropotence body pieces, and jewelry and dual wield Defiler, with Storm atro ultimate. There were times in a fight when all 5 pets would be out. It was crazy and fun and had high survivability.

AcadianPaladin

@jaws343 Some nice ideas there and I like hearing the perspective of another Clannfear/Matriarch soloist. My sorc thinks of the Clannfear & Matriarch as her tank & healer, and of herself as dps and 'team leader' to call and coordinate the shots.

AverageJo3Gam3r

clannfear+matriarch are fine for soloing, just please take off the clannfear when running group content. Your tank will appreciate the clannfear not taking aggro or drawing adds out of the pull. Otherwise it's a great pet combo. Add in infernal guardian for even more pet wonkiness

There was someone on the forums a year ago or so that even solo'd vWGT on a dual pet build. With some searching you could probably find the thread.

Saint314Louis1985

FastBen wrote: »

I am currently running clannfear, but really want to use the volatile familiar. I tried it several times, but it was a disaster.
I am mostly a solo player and survivability at this point is more important for me than dps. The best thing about the clannfear is the healing he provides. He can self-heal and heal me as well. The volatile familiar is awesome for dps, but can’t heal which is the main reason I don’t use it. The last time I tried it I couldn’t solo even one world boss. No matter the shield it dies every time in less than 30 seconds.
Occasionally I run vet pledges too. Yes, with the clannfear I never die, but the dps is not so great and some boss fights may take a little longer. So I think I would like to try running two pets – the volatile familiar for the dps and the matriarch for healing. The real problem is that I can’t sacrifice any slot for the matriarch.
Currently I use:
Main bar – empowered ward; clannfear, crystal frags, endless fury , inner light, elemental rage
Back bar – deadric prey, clannfear, liquid lightning, ele blockade, power surge, shooting star
When I am dealing with trash I do: liquid->ele blocade and finish with endless fury
For bosses and more difficult fights : liquid -> ele blocade -> deadric prey; swap power surge frags
And casting ward and light/heavy attach when needed.
I know it is not the best rotation, but still it works fine for me.
Basically I need all of the skills above and can’t decide which one to sacrifice.
So if anyone is running two pets, please share the bars and the skills he is using.


PS: Sorry for my English 

drop fury and crystal frags if you really want to use two pets. use lightning staff and heavy attack while your aoes are burning. if you are constantly dealing damage, you will hardly need to use empowered ward as long as surge is active

Waffennacht

Cool trick that works with Warden bear (when solo) is if you hold block the Bear will draw aggro after what feels like a few seconds. I haven't tried this with my sorc, but I'm thinking it may

dpencil1

I run 2 pets all the time:
1. Endless Fury (or Elemental Drain on some bosses), Inner Light, Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Empowered Ward, Thunderous Rage
2. Liquid Lightning, Blockade of Storms, Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Daedric Prey, Energy Overload
Overload: Power Surge, Dark Conversion (or Boundless Storm, etc. It's a flex spot), Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Empowered Ward

This is my usual solo skill setup. I complete Vet HM dungeons solo with it.

I run 2 Maw of the Infernal, 5 Necro, 3 IA, Asylum front bar (come CWC), vMA back bar.

FastBen

dpencil1 wrote: »

I run 2 pets all the time:
1. Endless Fury (or Elemental Drain on some bosses), Inner Light, Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Empowered Ward, Thunderous Rage
2. Liquid Lightning, Blockade of Storms, Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Daedric Prey, Energy Overload
Overload: Power Surge, Dark Conversion (or Boundless Storm, etc. It's a flex spot), Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Empowered Ward

This is my usual solo skill setup. I complete Vet HM dungeons solo with it.

I run 2 Maw of the Infernal, 5 Necro, 3 IA, Asylum front bar (come CWC), vMA back bar.

Almost what I am running at the moment on front and back bar. But overload? It is difficult to swap between two bars and what about three..?

Eatmyface

I know you're thinking about dub pets but here's how I make one work for me.

Bars:
1. Liquid Lightnig - Blockade - Bound aegis - Daedric Prey - VF
2. Clench - inner light - bound aegis - hardened ward - VF

What's good...
> Pets are easily controlled/directed via heavy attacks being the spammable.
> Clench puts opponents off balance so all the DoT's hit harder, as well as heavy attack doing 70% more damage due to stun.
> I'm also running the 5 necro + 5 julianos (+ ilambris helm) - so no need to change gear.
> Huge magicka pool with necro + inner light & bound aegis. Spamming heavy attack means sustain is never a problem.
> Really fluid and logical rotation so it's easy to pick up and also maintain in a panic.

Also, I'm not taking credit for this - I think it's an alcast build(??). It works though!!

FastBen

Thank you all for the great ideas

dpencil1

FastBen wrote: »

dpencil1 wrote: »

I run 2 pets all the time:
1. Endless Fury (or Elemental Drain on some bosses), Inner Light, Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Empowered Ward, Thunderous Rage
2. Liquid Lightning, Blockade of Storms, Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Daedric Prey, Energy Overload
Overload: Power Surge, Dark Conversion (or Boundless Storm, etc. It's a flex spot), Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Empowered Ward

This is my usual solo skill setup. I complete Vet HM dungeons solo with it.

I run 2 Maw of the Infernal, 5 Necro, 3 IA, Asylum front bar (come CWC), vMA back bar.

Almost what I am running at the moment on front and back bar. But overload? It is difficult to swap between two bars and what about three..?

Most trash fights are over before 30 sec is up. You go to the back bar, activate Overload, buff up, deactivate Overload, drop back bar dots, swith to front bar and heavy attack into Endless Fury. For boss fights you may need to go back to Overload a couple times to reapply buffs. Just shield up and get it done, then get back in the action. With a little practice it gets pretty easy.

FastBen

dpencil1 wrote: »

FastBen wrote: »

dpencil1 wrote: »

I run 2 pets all the time:
1. Endless Fury (or Elemental Drain on some bosses), Inner Light, Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Empowered Ward, Thunderous Rage
2. Liquid Lightning, Blockade of Storms, Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Daedric Prey, Energy Overload
Overload: Power Surge, Dark Conversion (or Boundless Storm, etc. It's a flex spot), Volatile Familiar, Twilight Matriarch, Empowered Ward

This is my usual solo skill setup. I complete Vet HM dungeons solo with it.

I run 2 Maw of the Infernal, 5 Necro, 3 IA, Asylum front bar (come CWC), vMA back bar.

Almost what I am running at the moment on front and back bar. But overload? It is difficult to swap between two bars and what about three..?

Most trash fights are over before 30 sec is up. You go to the back bar, activate Overload, buff up, deactivate Overload, drop back bar dots, swith to front bar and heavy attack into Endless Fury. For boss fights you may need to go back to Overload a couple times to reapply buffs. Just shield up and get it done, then get back in the action. With a little practice it gets pretty easy.

Endless Fury is great for trash. Blockade of storms -> liquid lightning-> endless fury and the fight is over for 10 sec not 30. Plus endless fury returns magika. So I can't give up that skill as someone suggested

FastBen

I will try today the "two pets thing" and will say how it is going