So since Morrowind came up to live servers, I've been struggling with fresh-nerfed pets. And this is what I came up with.
1. Pets do not regenerate health. They have well-hidden healthbar, that is not usually visible, and this health bar cheats the master. Pet might have 1 hp and appear as usually, and die right after an engage.
2. Pets do not respect collisions. I have submitted few bug reports about this misterious behaviour. In most delves pets got stuck inside walls and skip battle, whilst their master struggles lonely in a fight. They do not cross rivers and disappear for infinite time after short jump over water. They don't jump from heights, and disappear amazingly after any unusual falls. They barely can follow their master, matriarch freezes at the first spot it was entered a battle at, and stays there forever. Together with inability to heal through walls, the master and entire team are easily left unhealed by a dumb frozen pet. Finally, in some delves they just fall through walls and walk in Oblivion.
3. Pets do not respect commands. Heavyattack command should be prioritizable. Now it is impossible to send pet to a left flank whilst master is clearing a right one. Each heavy attack makes pet roaming among mobs uselessly.
4. Pets do accept aggro but cannot deal with that. Absolutely normal situation is when at the end of a battle there is one mob left very behind the group fighting solely with matriarch. There is no option to bring matriarch into fight, or point her a place to stay on.
From all aforementioned I dream about:
1. Show pets' healthbars and make them to regen health after fight fast.Healing pets is not a funniest thing in a game, but at least I need no bad surprises. Regaining max health after fight is a solution.
2. If you remove feature of healing through walls, then give a reliably controllable pet. Templar can reach teammate to heal, matriarch cannot. There are multiple options: allow to heal through walls back until you improve pathfinding, or give us a ground command to move pet to desirable spot, or let matriarchs move together with their masters..
Please, make pets to stay closer to a master and let them move during fights. Matriarch frozen at entrance should move with me on a safe distance.
Please, teach pets to jump and swim. Those dumb creatures disappears for life even in a plain sands of Alikr.
3. Give us a normal unsummoning technique during combat. I would rather wast time to resummon pet, than be forced to fight without them. For example, 3 seconds long pet cast should unsummon pet, and resummon instantly if casted again within a second. 4 seconds of cast should be enough to avoid recasting-for-heal misuse.
Make such priority, that: if heavyattack is made, then pet follows it. If commandpet+lmb command made, pet respects that until commandpet+rmb clicked, then again pet follows heavyattack. Those who don't use keycombos will not see a difference, those who do - will find use of it. Ingneral - commandpet key should override heavyataatck focus, recalling pet back shold reset state to initial one.
Commandpet+rmb must bring matriarch to master, otherwise a twilight is lost in a long battles.
Give us ground point ability. I want to command them separately if they are gone, stuck, or lost. I understand, that second command to move pet away may be is overkill, I would love if matriarch can just avoid ground aoes itself, not just die brainlessly in a red circle. However, if matriarch will follow me abit aside (not to cover my sight of view), it would be a huge step towards petosorcs.
At current stage you've just destroyed 2,5 spells from sorcerers line (2 pets and 1 morph of curse) without giving an alternative. Healing ability of sorcs is in danger. My nasty creatures need help, and so do I.