Pet/Minion Behavior Control

[Metaljaw.6437]

There really needs to be a behavior control for necro minions. I end up stuck in combat because my minions automatically agro on pretty much anything and everything, so I'm stuck running at half-speed across maps and can't mount simply because I want to be prepared if I do get in an encounter.

 

Please either make pets engaging in combat not transfer to your character, give us the ability to have them avoid combat, or drastically reduce the range which the minions will persist in combat while we are running the opposite direction.

 

Also, it'd be nice if my minion skills didn't get cancelled and put on timer when I transfer maps/get hit by a transmutation/eat a fricken pumpkin cookie buff/etc.

/Rant off.

[Gotejjeken.1267]

Same general problem Ranger's have...even with 'return to me' on Ranger the pet takes 5 seconds to register anyway. 

 

One good thing about minions I guess is they give you mass HP/toughness and throw off targeting because there are so many of them...

[DeanBB.4268]

Good thing you guys don't play minion elementalists... 😞

 

[Metaljaw.6437]

38 minutes ago, DeanBB.4268 said:

Good thing you guys don't play minion elementalists... 😞

 

What's the difference there? Other than that they disappear every time you mount. Also ridiculous, but I don't think it puts the skill on timer, does it? I haven't played an ele enough.

 

[DeanBB.4268]

Yeah, they go away on mount. And you can't just resummon them all, you have to do one, wait for cooldown, then another, etc.

[Rogue.8235]

I guess that's what necromancers get for caring too much about their minions.  Mesmers don't have this problem, because mesmers understand that summons are expendable and DESERVE TO BE BLOWN TO BITS IN AN AGONIAZIN-

 

ahem...

 

But yeah, It would be nice to have a bit more control over minions.  I've gotten used to it and I think of it as a consequence of not putting brains in them.  I still sometimes laugh when I notice my minions going HAM on some random box when there's actual threats running around.

[Anchoku.8142]

Believe it or not, pet AI behavior used to be much worse. Their aggro range was wider, yet they often would not reliably accept your target and stand around staring at flowers for a bit while I was in combat. Other times they would wander off and pull multiple mobs back to me when deciding whether to aggro or not. I used to hate them but, after a couple years of AI improvement, they became tolerable. People even use them to AFK farm, now.

 

Edit

Yes, Mesmer is the reason Necromancers keep asking for a way to force minions to die. Three of them do not have an explode button.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Anchoku.8142

[wolfsblut.9435]

On 7/27/2021 at 10:49 PM, Metaljaw.6437 said:

Also, it'd be nice if my minion skills didn't get cancelled and put on timer when I transfer maps/get hit by a transmutation/eat a fricken pumpkin cookie buff/etc.

Yep, that really needs a fix for a looooong time.

[Asum.4960]

There are reasons that Anet explicitly doesn't want Minions to be viable (especially in competitive gamemodes and high end content) and tries to keep them drastically underperforming - and as much as I miss the proper Minion Master gameplay from GW1 with raising and maintaining a proper undead horde from the dead, and see it as a core thematic pillar of the profession, I think at this stage of GW2 we are more likely to see them reworked into something else (maybe more akin to Phantasms, focusing on their active effects only after which they disappear, with the "summoned" minion just being the brief skill effect) in the future - rather than getting any significant efficacy, AI or QoL improvements to them.

[Asum.4960]

21 minutes ago, Demonhead.7584 said:

This^

 

This post also reminded me of the time in the first Guild Wars where we had necro's running around with literally 8 - 12 minions in Alliance Battles (12 v 12). 😄, and after Factions came out we had large healing AoE's to keep our undead army fit and healthy!

That would have been me as well, yes 😉

 

Alliance Battles were fun as hell and MM was a blast (also praise touch ranger). 

I remember pre-Factions GW (<2006) especially fondly though when minions didn't have a cap and we could literally run around with 30+ minions, with it's own unique frantic gameplay loop to maintain such a horde. 

 

Golden age of games right there.

[Metaljaw.6437]

1 hour ago, Asum.4960 said:

There are reasons that Anet explicitly doesn't want Minions to be viable (especially in competitive gamemodes and high end content) and tries to keep them drastically underperforming - and as much as I miss the proper Minion Master gameplay from GW1 with raising and maintaining a proper undead horde from the dead, and see it as a core thematic pillar of the profession, I think at this stage of GW2 we are more likely to see them reworked into something else (maybe more akin to Phantasms, focusing on their active effects only after which they disappear, with the "summoned" minion just being the brief skill effect) in the future - rather than getting any significant efficacy, AI or QoL improvements to them.

I'm actually not asking for a minion combat AI improvement.  Just that they not be an active hindrance, and some minor QOL improvements regarding your complete elite skillbar being put on cooldown because you ate a buff or transferred maps. That's sort of nuts.

[Asum.4960]

9 minutes ago, Metaljaw.6437 said:

I'm actually not asking for a minion combat AI improvement.  Just that they not be an active hindrance, and some minor QOL improvements regarding your complete elite skillbar being put on cooldown because you ate a buff or transferred maps. That's sort of nuts.

Agreed. I just feel like they had an opportunity to do that along with the Mantra changes, which suffered form similar issues. 

That they didn't do anything to minions, along with explicit dev statements about not wanting to promote AI based gameplay makes me think they won't touch or improve (QoL or otherwise) minions, and either continue to leave them or rework them completely eventually.

[Teratus.2859]

I'd like more control but there are ways to play around it with Minions.

They tend not to attack unless you take damage from an enemy or actively attack a target (including an out of range target) so you can avoid stuff if you get used to playing around that.

Minions will always target the last active target you have selected.
For example if there are two enemies a melee enemy and a ranged enemy and you are fighting/targeting the melee enemy the minions will join you in attacking that same enemy.
If however you target the ranged enemy but remain in melee range of the melee enemy and continue to use melee skills against the melee enemy without actively targeting the melee enemy your minions will discontinue attacking the melee enemy and go and attack the ranged enemy you do have targeted allowing you to coordinate attacking the two enemies at once.

This can be used quite effectively to move your minions around in combat to have them avoid an AoE or interrupt an enemies attack/heal etc while you continue to fight a specific target.
Providing there are enough enemies around to make use of it naturally.

[Anchoku.8142]

My minion wish list is short: Give me a way to force Shadow Fiend, Bone Fiend, and Flesh Golem to die so I can properly use them for Death Nova.

 

Regarding AI mobs in general, improving their responses and capabilities should be an Arenanet priority and I like the live stream announcement that tiers of the same mob type will receive additional skills. Dodging long cast time skills, red circles, and healing themselves are things I'd like to see.

[Stand The Wall.6987]

minions are a liability when it comes to control, absolute garbage design