What classes do you think suit having a pet, whether it be summoned, conjured, permanent, temporary, hand raised, raised from the dead or tamed out in the wild world of Terminus?
Disclaimer: This is CM content that was created months prior to the recent pets thread, so please keep that in mind and reply accordingly.
Kilsin said:What classes do you think suit having a pet, whether it be summoned, conjured, permanent, temporary, hand raised, raised from the dead or tamed out in the wild world of Terminus?
Disclaimer: This is CM content that was created months prior to the recent pets thread, so please keep that in mind and reply accordingly.
Good Morning Kilsin,
Dire Lord - Skelly Pet, summoned
Summoner - Obviously, could have many different forms summoned
Ranger - Tamed pet/ability to charm animals, maybe a zone lasting perma charm similar to EQ at AA level or some sort
Enchanter - Give them a sword and shield!! Summoned.
Druid - Summon and Charm potential
Wizard - Mana familiar or maybe different type of boosting familiars, summoned (maybe symbiotic, reducing some of your own stats to increase others)
P1999EQLandmark said:Kilsin said:What classes do you think suit having a pet, whether it be summoned, conjured, permanent, temporary, hand raised, raised from the dead or tamed out in the wild world of Terminus?
Disclaimer: This is CM content that was created months prior to the recent pets thread, so please keep that in mind and reply accordingly.
Good Morning Kilsin,
Dire Lord - Skelly Pet, summoned
Summoner - Obviously, could have many different forms summoned
Ranger - Tamed pet/ability to charm animals, maybe a zone lasting perma charm similar to EQ at AA level or some sort
Enchanter - Give them a sword and shield!! Summoned.
Druid - Summon and Charm potential
Wizard - Mana familiar or maybe different type of boosting familiars, summoned (maybe symbiotic, reducing some of your own stats to increase others)
Good morning :)
That is a pretty good list and well within the lore and boundaries a lot of gamers set mentally I think.
I'm going to assume that "pets" here means combat pets, and that vanity pets or vehicles are available to all.
Cleric - Temporary Summoned only: things like an angelic figure that stands sentry over a severely injured party member and keeps them from dying for a short period.
Crusader - None. To me the typical knight is a solitary figure, lonely in there devotion to their god. I dont even like the idea of a horse that will fight with them.
Warrior - None. Warriors are pets for the group. "Go stand there and take a beating."
Direlord - Summoned, Raised Dead. Its logical for these to be able to control a minor summoned or raised minion. Although I think it should be a pretty weak pet personally, providing only minimal benefit in DPS or perhaps short term offtank duties.
Ranger - Hand raised or tamed. Makes perfect sense to me that those most skilled in tracking and wilderness survival would also be those most able to train a companion animal.
Rogue - None. Sneaky sneaky doesnt couple with adding more variables to create noise or be seen.
Monk - None. 'nough said.
Summoner - By definition yes. Summoned, long-term, short-term, permanent, conjured. Hand raised doesnt seem to make sense, and reserve raised dead for my, er... the necromancers.
Enchanter - Generally just temporary charmed pets. Although I'm open to the idea of semi-permanent charmed pets if there is a balancing mechanic that requires the Enchanter to sacrifice in some way. Like a reduce mana pool while retaining the pet, or a concentration system like EQ2.
Wizard - Conjured yes. Small and unable to sway the results of combat with DPS or tanking. But with a variety of potential utility purposes.
Druid - Like Ranger, hand raised or tamed makes sense to me.
Shaman - Summoned spirits. Unlike many I dont think this should be restricted to a wolf. Shaman need not be associated with just spirits of nature. They are very often associated with spirits of gods or fallen ancestors. I would like to see a seperation here somehow that differentiates what they summon from ghosts or shades, but I dont think it need be limited to beast spirits. I could also see shaman having a tamed pet.
Feyshtey said:I'm going to assume that "pets" here means combat pets, and that vanity pets or vehicles are available to all.
Cleric - Temporary Summoned only: things like an angelic figure that stands sentry over a severely injured party member and keeps them from dying for a short period.
Crusader - None. To me the typical knight is a solitary figure, lonely in there devotion to their god. I dont even like the idea of a horse that will fight with them.
Warrior - None. Warriors are pets for the group. "Go stand there and take a beating."
Direlord - Summoned, Raised Dead. Its logical for these to be able to control a minor summoned or raised minion. Although I think it should be a pretty weak pet personally, providing only minimal benefit in DPS or perhaps short term offtank duties.
Ranger - Hand raised or tamed. Makes perfect sense to me that those most skilled in tracking and wilderness survival would also be those most able to train a companion animal.
Rogue - None. Sneaky sneaky doesnt couple with adding more variables to create noise or be seen.
Monk - None. 'nough said.
Summoner - By definition yes. Summoned, long-term, short-term, permanent, conjured. Hand raised doesnt seem to make sense, and reserve raised dead for my, er... the necromancers.
Enchanter - Generally just temporary charmed pets. Although I'm open to the idea of semi-permanent charmed pets if there is a balancing mechanic that requires the Enchanter to sacrifice in some way. Like a reduce mana pool while retaining the pet, or a concentration system like EQ2.
Wizard - Conjured yes. Small and unable to sway the results of combat with DPS or tanking. But with a variety of potential utility purposes.
Druid - Like Ranger, hand raised or tamed makes sense to me.
Shaman - Summoned spirits. Unlike many I dont think this should be restricted to a wolf. Shaman need not be associated with just spirits of nature. They are very often associated with spirits of gods or fallen ancestors. I would like to see a seperation here somehow that differentiates what they summon from ghosts or shades, but I dont think it need be limited to beast spirits. I could also see shaman having a tamed pet.
Yeah, I share similar views and yes I did mean combat/support pets.
Summoner - elementals
Dire lore - undead
enchanter - charmed
druid - animal charm
shaman - spirit animal
No one else. Maybe a familiar for wizard, but not a combat pet. Any form of pet be it combat, companion, familiar, or the support variety should be subject to death in combat.
Crusader - A squire/page of some kind
Dire Lord - Some type of undead equivalent to a squire/page
Ranger - Animal Companion you start with at level 1 or a quest to tame one - not changeable
Summoner - Should be the pillar of pet classes
Enchanter - Persistent Charm of various "simple minded" animals, sentient beings until they die
Druid - Animal/forrest being (sprites, pixies, satyr) companion of some kind, perhaps as a persistent charm until they die to be different from Ranger
Shaman - Snakes, Wolves, Eagles type of companion - or perhaps spirit beasts. quest unlock perhaps?
Wizard - Familars or something similar, not a fighting companion, just something that maybe attunes them to an element, or enhances aspects of their casting capabilities.
Existing classes:
Summoner: summoned elementals
Enchanter: charming sentient beings
Shaman or Druid (but not both): Capture and raise a pets from young and level them and you need to bring it with you from stables or such.
Post Launch:
Necromancer: Summon, raise or build undead
Beastlord: Charm critters
Summoner: Summoned pet, permanent until it dies or is released. Could sometimes have the appearance of more than one pet, like a water essence pet that's a larger glob of white-ish energy with two smaller blue-ish globs of energy. They act in concert, and after any part of the whole takes enough damage, one of the blue-ish blobs fades away (peroxide pet! ;P ), then the second blue-ish blob fades away after even more damage, and then you could perhaps cast a fire spell at your now hydrogen pet to ignite it for extra damage at the expense of killing it off.
Enchanter: Charmed pet, nearly any creature could be a valid target, and the pet retains most of its usual abilities and characteristics. Temporary, remaining until the creature regains its self control. Could have some sort of will-check system that may be easier to predict with practice, like some animals may be kind of dumb and remain charmed for a long time, but if you charm a mama bear and force her to watch (and help!) as your party starts killing off her cubs, she's gonna snap out of it a lot earlier. :P Powerful caster mob might turn on you quickly, but if its a powerful caster who is a crazed cultist peon? Years of brainwashing might leave it malleable enough to remain charmed for ages. No other avenues for pet acquisition.
Wizard: Temporary pets at most, perhaps something closer to a few directable spell effects. Maybe you cast Magic Missile, but hold onto it until the tank has sufficient aggro, or the really squishy add shows up, and then you let it fly. Maybe you know a certain type of mob will flee at low health, so cast a cloud of goop as the mob gets closer to death. When it starts to run, you direct the cloud to rain/spit a puddle of sticky goo in its path. Maybe raining/spitting in the same location makes a bigger puddle, or maybe you hold onto the last few charges in case the mob changes direction near the edge of the puddle.
Ranger: Ugh. This can go too many different ways. You could raise an animal and have a permanent pet, perhaps. For some reason, permanently charming one bothers me, but that could be a thing, too. Could also go with something temporary that's not really combat related, like cast-sight sort of eagle/crow/other local bird to scout ahead.
Shaman: Mid-duration temporary pet spirit guide who, being incorporeal, won't fight for you, but will help your party by telling you of the enemy's weaknesses, or warning you when they're about to strike. (Ok, not an actual conversation mid-battle, but your party could do extra damage and take less damage while the guide's around.)
Druid: I described an idea in another thread, but not sure if I should point at it or not. :P
Crusader: Purely out of fear of staring at giant side o' horse in a dungeon, at *most* maybe the loyal steed recognizes a new stridency in his faithful master's cries in battle, and as the crusader nears critical HP, charges in from seemingly nowhere, and in a blur of hooves and teeth, does a harm-touch-like amount of damage to the enemy before galloping out of sight. If his master keeps having these close calls, though, faithful steed isn't nearly as startled or concerned, and won't rush to the crusader's aid nearly as often until enough time passes. (So, very temporary, and uncontrollable.)
Dire Lord: Very temporary, cooldown increases with repeated use. In a fit of pure hate, the Dire Lord rips out a portion of his enemy's life essence, which both damages the enemy on removal and appears as a shadowy copy of its former host, beating on the rest of its former self until it dissipates a short while later.
(Edit: Failed at typing. :P )
Beastlord
Mage
Chanter charm
Necro
Thats about it imo. This whole "Everyone gets a pet!" thing really irritates. It's like the whole "everyone gets a blue participation ribbon kids!" Dilutes the world, kills the lore and makes no one "special". Plus cosmetic vanity pets everywhere is just damned annoying to me (open book, im a grumpy old man)
I don't think every class should have a pet, be it permanent or temporary. However, the classes that I think should have pets, or could, depends on how they build their class - not sure if that's part of the game or not, I haven't read every bit of detail on this game yet (but what I do read always excites me for this and I can't wait to play!). But I will say the one thing that keeps me playing different games are the variety of classes, and the many ways to build classes through talent systems or specs.
Cleric - The only way I could see giving a pet to a Cleric, would be a temporary one. Perhaps summoning a divine being of light to infuse a target with health and defenses for a short period of time.
Bard - Temporary charm songs, sure. Otherwise, no.
Crusader - No.
Dire Lord - Weak pets, and the Dire Lord could sacrifice their pet to infuse themselves with health or defense or attack power depending on the type of pet they had summoned.
Druid - Charm animals. Example, Bears could help tank, wolves and hawks for DPS, otters for healing, etc
Enchanter - Charm spells for temporary pets, but also can enchant weapons, armour, or even create constructs for tanking. Maybe equip said construct with gear to increase damage or defenses, depending on the gear given (gear gets consumed).
Monk - No.
Necromancer - Raise Undead. Examples, skeleton mages for ranged DPS, skeleton warriors for melee DPS, skeleton guardians for tanking, etc. Maybe they'd be able to summon more than 1 pet of these types, but then you fall into the problem of them soloing all the content. Perhaps monsters deal increased damage to summoned pets?
Ranger - Weaker versions of druid pets, or less variety.
Rogue - I'm leaning towards no, but if anything, just rats and ravens to help them be more sneaky, assist in scouting and distracting.
Shaman - The different elements. They'd get empowered depending on the weather, time of day, etc.
Summoner - Obviously, one of THE pet classes. This is a tough one though, because you don't want to be similar to FF type Summoners and summon gods to help you fight (although cool), but you don't want to overlap the other pet classes (See Shaman). Summoning demons, perhaps, but then you might be looking at being similar to WoW's Warlock. This one will need the most work on being a pet class.
Warrior - No.
Wizard - Familiars are good, and different ones can imbue the Wizard with different abilities. Example, increased defense, increased elemental defenses, increased damage, increased mana/health regeneration, etc.
I think with necromancers, one of my favorite more recent classes has been both Age of Conan system and the Rift pet system. Age of conan had you go through a tree where you could have so many pets, I think you were given like 8 "Pet Points" and certain kind of pets took so many points, so you could have a powerful mage out while you had a warrior pet out, while the mage pet took 3 points to have out and the warrior had 2 so you had 3 points available. They also gave the ability to sacrifice pet points for magic damage for the players that wanted the damage over time spells that necromancers had but didn't want to go with the pet route.
Rift had multiple different kinds of pets, Skeletal assassins, reavers, warriors, mages. I think certain pets should be harder to achieve, such as a good sized quest line to prove your dedication to improve your necromancy to be able to obtain enough power to raise a powerful magician from the dead, etc.
A lot of games now just give you certain pets at certain levels, I feel like going away from the norm of that to being stuck with normal pets unless you find the scroll in a extremely arcanic area that will enchant your "normal" pet to change it into a powerful magician.
Even though Necro will not be out right now, this can easily be done with any other pet class too, giving some sort of journey to the player in order to improve their pets, give their pets a new ability, more armor, higher strength, etc.
Feyshtey said:I'm going to assume that "pets" here means combat pets, and that vanity pets or vehicles are available to all.
Cleric - Temporary Summoned only: things like an angelic figure that stands sentry over a severely injured party member and keeps them from dying for a short period.
Crusader - None. To me the typical knight is a solitary figure, lonely in there devotion to their god. I dont even like the idea of a horse that will fight with them.
Warrior - None. Warriors are pets for the group. "Go stand there and take a beating."
Direlord - Summoned, Raised Dead. Its logical for these to be able to control a minor summoned or raised minion. Although I think it should be a pretty weak pet personally, providing only minimal benefit in DPS or perhaps short term offtank duties.
Ranger - Hand raised or tamed. Makes perfect sense to me that those most skilled in tracking and wilderness survival would also be those most able to train a companion animal.
Rogue - None. Sneaky sneaky doesnt couple with adding more variables to create noise or be seen.
Monk - None. 'nough said.
Summoner - By definition yes. Summoned, long-term, short-term, permanent, conjured. Hand raised doesnt seem to make sense, and reserve raised dead for my, er... the necromancers.
Enchanter - Generally just temporary charmed pets. Although I'm open to the idea of semi-permanent charmed pets if there is a balancing mechanic that requires the Enchanter to sacrifice in some way. Like a reduce mana pool while retaining the pet, or a concentration system like EQ2.
Wizard - Conjured yes. Small and unable to sway the results of combat with DPS or tanking. But with a variety of potential utility purposes.
Druid - Like Ranger, hand raised or tamed makes sense to me.
Shaman - Summoned spirits. Unlike many I dont think this should be restricted to a wolf. Shaman need not be associated with just spirits of nature. They are very often associated with spirits of gods or fallen ancestors. I would like to see a seperation here somehow that differentiates what they summon from ghosts or shades, but I dont think it need be limited to beast spirits. I could also see shaman having a tamed pet.
I can get behind this one for sure. I tihnk all of it will add dynamics for everyone and it would be interesting to see what is actually deployed.
Ox
Here is my list, not including mounts, vanity pets, spell effects that looks like a summoned creature or temporary NPC summon for quests or what not.
Cleric: None
Bard: None
Crusader: None
Dire Lord: I'm leaning None, but could see a shade/undead which could share HP with the DL, allowing for split tanking or mitigating single target attacks...
Druid: Temporary charmed animal
Enchanter: Temporary charmed humanoid/sentient beings
Monk: None
Necromancer: Summoned undead + charmed undead (but maybe not both at once)
Ranger: Persistent, tamed animal
Rogue: None
Shaman: Short duration spirit summons
Summoner: Persisent golem/construct + short duration elemental summons
Warrior: None
Wizard: None
My thinking on Pets. we will have Horses and Horse like animals for traveling. We will have a Mini Aradune (EQ) as a vanity pet for pledging. Very few other types of vanity pets, maybe like none would be ok, but very few.
Cleric: Summon- Shield of Gods favor, Temporary
Bard: Summon with flute- Swarm of Rats, Temporary
Crusader: None
Dire Lord: Summoned Specter - caster- takes life from target and gives it to Dire Lord or casts Fear.
Druid: Tamed Bears/Wolves - Fixed level warrior based on Druid's current level
Enchanter: charms almost anything that can attack something else, great responsibilty with consequenses if control is lost. Also can summon the basic sword and shield animation.
Monk: None
Necromancer: Summon/Raise undead Huminoid types- skeletons, and zombies that puke, and gelatinous cube constucts with bones inside.
Ranger: Persistent - Animal like a Fox, Bobcat, Badger, Tracking Dog . Ranger choses as part of Ranger Training.
Rogue: None
Shaman: Summon- Spirits, Wisps, Sprites
Summoner: Master of Pets, Summons all types of Elemental and Magical pets including in the water. The summoners Pets can be given physical weapons that are summoned or not, Like swords and Maces etc.
Warrior: None
Wizard: Familiars, Permanent- Drake, Owl, Weasel, Must be chosen as part of training.
CLERIC: Summoned hammer ala EQ2 - Summons a large animated hammer that the templar has full control of for a short duration. The hammer will sometimes knockdown an enemy on a successful hit. This would have a long cooldown and short duration.
SUMMONER: A variety of elemental summonings that persist until cancelled or killed. 1 summoned pet at a time, obviously. Same as eq1 basically.
Ranger: Tamed pet seems reasonable to me, but I would prefer to see smaller animals such as a hawk or badger etc. Ability to "warg" into thier pet for scouting missions etc ala GoT. I wouldn't want to see ranger pets doing more than a bit of supplemental dps (if that), but could have other uses such as foraging etc. Persistent and needs to be cared for.
Warrior: None
Crusader: Sure, give them a mount, but please try to find another mechanic rather than having them bring it into a dungeon. Also not a fan of the idea that it will fight with the crusader, but am open to see how it plays in game.
Shaman: Spirit Guide - spirit of an animal (or other?) that can take form to fight alongside the shaman. Would love to see this done similar to eq2 where AA's spent would allow the pet to have a chance to heal or cure on attack. Allows the shaman to debuff in groups while still proccing some heals. Summoned, persists until death or cancel.
Wizard: Familiars only. Vulnerable to aoe attacks. Perhaps a later AA line can make them invulneralble to damage.
Direlord: I liked the idea of a previous poster - give them a skelly pet and the ability to sacrifice it for a short term dps/hps/ability boost in an emergency. Or maybe a short duration invuln.
Enchanter: Charm! I also liked the idea of a previous poster - the more intelligent the mob the easier time it has breaking charm.
Rogue: None
Druid: Tamed pet that is persistent and needs to be fed etc. Can and should include larger animals that will fight alongside the druid. Ability to "warg" as with ranger. Can be left to it's own devices in the wilderness for periods of time. Will not follow it's owner into a town, building, or indoor dungeon.
I believe all classes should get a pet in some capacity, be it familiar, companion, summoned, charmed, or raised etc. I always did want a pet companion that was unique to my class and useful in some way other than just a vanity pet that only followed me around.
Cleric - Devine Familiar (lesser Familiar) increase potential heal, dmg, or restore/replenish pools.
Crusader – Majestic Lion (lesser combat companion) limited action set mainly a buff pet. Grows in lvl power and strength with the Crusader. Also gets a fancy steed.
Warrior – War Hound (lesser combat companion) limited action set mainly a buff pet. Grows in lvl power and strength with the Warrior. At higher levels can get two War Hounds.
Dire Lord – Dire Wolf(Worg) (lesser combat companion) limited action set mainly a buff pet. Grows in lvl power and strength with the Dire Lord. Also can summon/raise ‘Temporary’ Manifestations and Undead not a long term pet, they get summoned/raised and do their bidding then go back to oblivion.
Ranger – Any Animal (greater combat companion) tracked, tamed, and trained. A more intricate pet than that of the tanks pet with a few more commands and abilities, pet abilities dependent on species.
Rogue – Snakes, Ravens, Weasels (lesser familiar) can steal, poison, and scout, only combat thing here should be added poisons maybe some flashbang/smoke. Or maybe they are more of an aspect familiar depending on which one is summoned it heightens that line of abilities: thievery, damage, utility.
Monk – Spirit Guides based on form (lesser familiar) Crane, Tiger, Mantis, Dragon, Monkey etc. A fluff pet really more or less an aspect familiar that grants the monk added bonuses depending on which stance the monk is fighting from.
Summoner – Elemental/Planar (Greater Combat Pet) Unlike the tank pets and the ranger pets the Summoner is a controller greater line of pet abilities more control over pet.
Enchanter – Anything controllable (charmed combat pet) Can charm just about anything, an enchanter can work at continually charming a mob over and over until it finally succumbs to his will and becomes a semi-permanent pet. Can only have one pet bend to their will at a time, does not have a kennel like the ranger and can’t summon at will like the Druid or Summoner.
Wizard – Small Animals/Arcane (Greater Familiars) Dependent on which Arcane Familiar is chosen significantly bolsters certain spell lines or can replenish lost pools.
Druid – Wild Animals (Summoned Greater Combat Pet) Has more direct control over their pets, where the Ranger pet is more a companion loyal but still free thinking, the Druid has a more spiritual link with their pets allowing for greater control of action, as such gets more abilities per pet and better control.
Shaman - Totem Spirits (Familiars) Along with the effects of their totems also brings forth a totem aspect that fights with in range of the totem.
Necromancer – Undead (Greater Combat Pet) Necromancer can piece together their own creations to form a permanent pet and also summon/raise temporary undead aberrations from single skeletons to a small undead army.
After the first pet thread I was concerned about pets being too rampant, posts since then have alleviated those fears. As for my views:
Mounts: I see mounts as mounts not pets. Everyone should have eventual access to them. It would be nice if each race had a mount that was unique to them that came with a little something extra. For example the Dark Myr could get an amphibious mount they could use on land or in/under water.
Pack mules: if this was a low or non fantasy game I could see these. This is a high fantasy game, magical bags work fine.
Vanity pets: have as many as you want, have cute ones, have ugly ones, have common ones, have ultra-rare-only-drop-off-raid-mob ones. Anyone who wants one or many of these pets can acquire them. Just make it so I do not have to see them if I don't want to and make it so they can only be spawned in “safe” areas.
Combat pets: give them meaning and real purpose. If the pet is just providing an effect that can be a buff, spell, or ability just make it a buff, spell, or ability. I do not think every class should get a pet, but I know some people would like to have one. Is there any thought to making pet and pet-less versions of classes? If a player wants to have a combat pet in a class that would not traditionally get one he has to give up something else of significance ( I'll include a couple examples in the classes).
Classes:
cleric: none (pet version cleric: long term summon of an aspect of the cleric's deity. It can heal (20% of an average tanks HP every few seconds) and protect a target (mitigates or blocks 10% of incoming damage). Numbers are hard to quantify here, but I hope the idea gets across. In exchange the pet cleric is unable to rez. Give the player a hard choice, a kick ass pet or rez).
Crusader: none, I don't like the war horse fighting idea. I have no problem with the crusader getting his mount before anyone else can get one and his being the best mount in the game.
Dire Lord: none. This goes against the tradition of the SK and DK, but remembering the SK I messed around with in EQ and talking with DKs in VG these pets seemed borderline useless. I would rather see the benefits put in to the character. If some good ideas come out bringing something cool to the DL pet then he should have one.
Druid: charm animal, temporary short term. Animal does not attack the druid on break and may even continue fighting for the druid until its latest target is dead.
Enchanter: charms, no set duration might last a few seconds or maybe a couple hours. Will attack the chanter on break. I can see a permanent pet for this class. The chanter goes on a long and boring quest to perma-charm an NPC. The pet stays with the chanter until death but the chanter has no idea how good the pet is.
Monk: none.
Ranger: none, see Dire Lord.
Rogue: none.
Warrior: none.
Wizard: none. Pets here seem to fall under the buff clause.
Barb: charms similar to the enchanter but less effective. (pet version bard: taking the idea of a song bird. The barb can train a bird to sing his songs. The bard can place the bird somewhere and any group or raid member can get the benefits of the barb's song through the bird even if the barb is out of range, IE the barb has 2 song points. In exchange the barb is unable to learn half the musical instruments, assuming the barb needs musical instruments to make his songs effective.)
Summoner: summoned pets, I would like to see something that would be connected to the summoner's race as well beyond the “elemental pets”. Also the summoner could get a very powerful permanent golem pet after an epic style quest.
Necromancer: summoned undead, permanent created undead. An epic level pet idea for the necro could be creating a vampire lord or lady with a key component being the permanent retirement of another player character of max level.
Secret Class: since this is an ungodly OP class its pet should also be ungodly OP, at first level the secret class gets to summon a Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen game developer to do the secret class's bidding.
Pixh, I love the Necromancer idea for creating an "epic pet" by sacrificing one of your max level characters. This could be tied into the progency system nicely.
Ranger - Falcon/Hawk/Generic_bird_01 for scouting and tracking purposes would be excellent. Non-combat. Think: Eye of Zomm from EQ, but flys and returns to the ranger after a short period of time. Non-cancellable, and the ranger is immobile during this time, so there is some risk involved.
The rest of your suggestions I feel are spot on, with of course the exception being the Secret Class hahaha.
