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Znodis at the The Mystic Hunter brought up choice versus diversity as it relates to Hunter pets in World of Warcraft (WoW). However, the balancing argument for pets as compared to classes is apples and oranges; class balancing is a necessity as it relates to both PvE synergy as well as PvP combat. Neither of these really apply to pets, since their foremost purpose is to CC a mob so the Hunter can stay at range. That is to say, pets are not designed to fight pets, and so there are significantly less balancing concerns involved, and thus, far less of an excuse for Blizzard not to get their shit together regarding unique pet abilities. For example, why do spiders not have a poison ability like scorpids? Either they should have it, else a new ability should be ready to be pushed out, and yet neither has happened.

Normalizing pets entirely is boring, and takes much of the fun out of finding a beast and taming it. For example, back when normalization wasn’t present within pet families, it was part of the Hunter spirit to go out and tame the exact cat one wanted for maximum DPS, rather than tame any cat. I understand why this change was implemented, but it’s taken away from the deep experience playing a Hunter entailed.

Znodis also mentioned aesthetics, which I don’t see making much of a difference. Even the venerable BRK uses a cat (aesthetic) versus the higher-DPS ravager. This is an issue ingrained deeply within Hunter culture (i.e. Hunters will forego the best stat pet for something unique/pretty).

While I would still like to see a degree of pet customization, normalization for pets in general takes too much away from the class. As sadly Pokemon as it sounds, the Hunter is still supposed to go out and hunt for a particular animal, rather than tame any old beast and spec it however she sees fit. Really, what pets need is more abilities as it relates to both unique abilities per family, and also as it relates to damage. For example, there are a number of ways that Hunters can spec their pets to mitigate types of damage, be it physical or linked to a particular magic category. However, outside of Cobra Reflexes which slightly adjusts the pet’s attack speed, there is no method for a Hunter to adjust her pet’s attack damage. Just as we have Natural Armor and Greater Stamina, let’s see pet abilities, with a number of respective levels, adjust the pet’s attack speed, armor penetration, hit, and crit rates. At present, the only inherent customization we have for pets is to alter their fortitude against attacks, but not to attack back.

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