Hello folks,

After discovering huge problems with combat pets scaling wildly out of proportion at the high end, we are readjusting their numbers, especially the way various modifiers stack. Guild-specific notes:

Necromancer

* Call from Beyond and Quicken the Earth will no longer benefit from TM buffs.
* Reverse Putrefaction now uses standard buff mechanics, and must choose between offense and defense. The defensive portion has gained shield and parry buffs on top of evasion, while the offensive portion has gained a ranged accuracy buff on top of the melee one. Slot cost increased to 3.
* After the changes above, a buffed and equipped zombie will continue to be the best overall combat pet.
* Squished a bug that was minimizing the zombie's chance to use its special ability.
* Squished a bug that was stopping the dirt construct's level bonus from special colors.

Empath

* Guardian Spirit won't change too much unless you've been using it with a TM buff, which will no longer benefit the pet.
* Stances have received minor adjustments. The versatility provided by innate stances, movement, and the ability to use blessed weapons will continue to be this pet's perks.

Bard

* Beckon the Naga may become somewhat less accurate, but will continue to be heavy-hitting and benefit from TM buffs.
* Duration has been increased by a flat amount, improving the spell especially at the low end.

Ranger

* Awaken Forest has been rewritten to be more useful. It is now cyclic, with no more cooldown.
* New engagement logic. The spawn will attack any creature but only the players who are engaged with its owner. It will also generate high threat, resulting in other creatures targeting it more often than anything else.
* This pet is very defense-oriented and now has a natural shield.
* Plague of Scavengers is reborn as a supplemental spell to Awaken Forest. When cast with AF active, PLS will turn the pet into a strong undead killer with several new abilities.

All that said, we also have a better tool now for tweaking all combat pets at once to ensure their overall strength is where we want them. Everything listed above is available to play with in the Test instance only. The spells have been placed on preview there.

GM Grejuva