Perfect Pirate101 PvP Pets
2018 Edition

The Pirate101 PvP meta is constantly shifting with each new update to the game. Anything, from a new piece of gear, to a new power, to a new pet talent can shift the meta. A few years ago, Duelist published a series on the perfect PvP pet. I recommend giving the series a read, as its information is still quite relevant. You can read it right here

Although the game has seen precious few updates since the release of these guides, the meta has shifted enough to warrant a re-evaluation of these lists. In this guide I will go over the old and new talent recommendations for each class, discussing the differences between the two lists, then provide a general overview of top powers. As a side note, it is extremely difficult, arguably impossible, to get a perfect pet. Don’t worry if you get 1-2 talents/powers that are not present. It’s not a deal-breaker.

What pet to use?

Before we get started, we must discuss the perfect type of pet to use. Unlike in Wizard101, this decision is not often earth-shattering or strategy defining, but there are a set of options that are clearly above the others. Although looking at a pet’s liked/loved snacks and picking a pet that corresponds with the snacks you have the most of can be a good idea, there are two pets that are ideal: Ostrich in a Pear Tree and Santa Claws.

Why, you may ask? It’s not because I’m obsessed with Christmas or that I’m feeling particularly festive today. Rather, these pets have 1 talent already manifested when they hatch: Loyal 2. This means your pet has a 35% chance to spawn each round, rather than the default 20%. It is particularly beneficial if your pet has talents/powers like Scent, Webs, Time Warp, or Rainbow Blessing.

The chances that your pet will spawn within the first 2 rounds (generally speaking, this is the window of time where Warp or Blessing will definitively trigger) with a loyal 2 pet is approximately 58%. Compare this to the 36% chance that a pet without loyal 2 will spawn within 2 rounds, and we can see how beneficial a base loyal 2 is on your pets.

Pet Talents

The “previous talents” tab contains the original list of ideal talents from 2015 ranked in order from most ideal to least ideal. The “current talents” tab contains my list of the top 7-10 talents, in order, for each class. I then provide some insight as to why certain talents changed position and why others were added to the list.

Buccaneer

 

• Relentless takes the new top slot. Since bucc has tide 3 trained naturally, their dodge with only elusive 2 + tide 3 is acceptable. Elusive is still a staple talent however.
• Grants Turn the Tide/Turn the Tide 1 (these are functionally the same talent and CAN be combined together) and grants Bladestorm are now viable choices on buccaneer due to the addition of rank 5 epics. Grants bladestorm should only be prioritized if you plan on using a bladestorm 5 setup.
• Grants Riposte is new to the list and you may be wondering why. Riposte is a high damage epic, and when coupled with bucc’s high weapon power (exacerbated in tide) and reduces can result in massive damage swings. In addition, you can now punish an opponent for hits (vengeance strike) and misses
• Grants First Strike and Riposte are helpful in punishing summons and pets.
• Grants Witch Hunter will be on all of the “current” lists. This grant is generally only valuable if you do not have Witch Hunter trained

 

Privateer

(I assume that you are melee, since it is the most popular choice by far. Staffy privateer can take inspiration from the witchdoctor list)

• I had trouble deciding slots 1-3. All 3 of them are extremely good and valuable, and an argument can be made to pet any of the 3 as the top talent.
• Repel was added since repel 2 is now trained, making repel boarders 3 a powerful option, as it reduces enemy chaining potential.
• Elusive 4-5 were added with the dreadnaught update, making the elusive grant non-redundant on the privateer pirate. Relentless is a staple melee talent, plain and simple.
• With the addition of Contessa, privateer now has an answer to fog that is not scent. Hence, scent is greatly lowered.
• With the Gargoyle Shield or Oni Bulwark and a boon/htl piece, privateer can access htl 3. When coupled with repel 3, this can nullify opponents’ chaining potential, even when they are in elusive
• Like on buckler, bladestorm is lowered not because it is bad, but because there are so many better options.

Swashbuckler

• Elusive keeps the top spot, since unlike buccaneers, chains are less important to a swashbuckler pirate. In addition, maximizing dodge is a must for the squishy swashbuckler. This talent is a staple.
• Turn the Tide jumps up greatly, due to how helpful 25% damage can be on a late-game assassin. It adds nearly 250 base damage to the attack, massively increasing the health range from which swashbuckler can eliminate an opponent
• Bladestorm jumps down due to the plethora of more valuable talents buckler can get. It’s not that bladestorm is bad it’s just that there are more useful things than 1 extra hit when we critical.
• Second chance is great to have, since in the mirror matchup, it can hit somewhat often through elusive.
• Scent 2 and Tough 2 are the epitome of meh talents. They’re far from useless, but I’m not excited to see them manifest.

Musketeer

• Since overwatch 2 can be trained, obtaining a pet with overwatch is a borderline staple for musketeer. The reduce accuracy is extremely helpful in the late game
• With 1 piece of Kane gear and a grant, true grit 2 is achievable. This makes the musket pirate the ultimate musketeer counter.
• Contessa makes Scent 2 much less of a staple due to her gallant defense.
• Turn the Tide makes trick shots extremely deadly in the late game.
• The fourth rank of elusive is not necessary to obtain, especially if you have overwatch 3+.

Witchdoctor

• Witchdoctor is in a weird position when it comes to talents. They have plenty of attack powers trained, low accuracy, and high range on their movement based epics like readied spell. This makes chaining epics like Grants Readied spell or Mojo Rising unnecessary. In addition, Grants mojo echo is useless since witch already has rank 2.
• Grants Witch Hunter is something that will almost never be pursued, as it only requires 1 practice point, unlike other classes, which need staffy weapons 2 + 1 practice point.
• Grants Elusive jumps down a couple of notches due to the fact that if an opponent is next to you as a witch, you’ve probably already lost. Since witch hunter is so broken, extra dodge won’t help save you too much.
• Scent, sneaky sneaky, and webs jump up since they play best with the witchdoctor gameplan: to prevent your opponent from reaching you

Powers

Like the original article, I will provide an overview of the best powers to get since the overlap between good powers for each class is so great. I will rank them in four tiers: S, A, B, and C.

S-Tier

These are quintessential powers to have. You shouldn’t PvP without them.

• Grants Rally (all classes)- By far the best power grant in the current meta, Rally can easily heal a total of 800-900 health back to your pirate

A-Tier

These are the best powers that are not essentials.

• Grants Brutal Charge (all melee classes)- With the meta’s emphasis on chaining, being able to reduce accuracy is an invaluable asset for melee players. Musket cannot access this without being hybrid, so they generally resort to overwatch 3
• Grants Kraken’s Lament (all classes)- Melee classes are prevalent in the current ranked meta. Getting another 50% shield to all melee damage for 5 rounds is incredibly helpful
• Time Warp (classes with offensive companions or summons)- If your pet spawns early enough, it will cast this immediately. An early-game 3 round highland charge complete with extra chaining potential is pretty overpowered, if you ask me.
• Grants Assassin’s Gloom (non-buckler classes)- This is an incredibly rare, but amazing, power. It does about 1000 damage over 5 rounds to every target. Since it’s so rare, it can come as a surprise to even the most elite of opponents.
• Grants Triton’s Song (all classes)- This can be coupled with a trained Valor’s Shield to give almost 50% protection against melee classes for 10 rounds. It’s also incredibly helpful against summons, which are almost always melee

B-Tier

These are good powers, but they are not universally sought

• Grants Rouse (all classes)- Although it misses the over time healing of rally, it’s nothing to joke about. It will still provide an extra 500 health, which can help to heal off chip damage
• Grants Jobu’s Kiss- This is great vs. bunched up summons, as it can function as another rally (in that it can heal nearly 1k health). In addition, it can break the hides of units with witch hunter.
• Grants Back Stab (melee classes)- The difference between this and assassin is much greater than the difference between vicious and brutal charge. In addition, it’s much more popular to fit an assassin or two into your gear setup if you play melee.
• Grants Soulreaver (all classes)- This can be used early or late game to burst down a key opposing companion or to put pressure on the opposing pirate. It gets around levy and kraken’s lament, making it quite useful for melee classes. Privies and muskets that use scratch can use this to deal outstanding damage to one unit under a 50% or 100% buff.
• Rainbow Blessing (all classes)- This power is too random in what it gives to be particularly reliable. In addition, its overall impact on the game is relatively minimal.
• Grants Agility Buffs (generally buckler or privy)- Anyone who uses agility based, offensive units and does not have trained agility buffs can find use with these. They’re not super useful in my opinion however.
• Grants Strength Buffs (generally buck)- Essentially the same shtick as “Grants Agility Buffs.” Since buck is so chained and critical dependent, an extra late game stat buff can be quite valuable.

C-Tier

These will generally see minimal use or will not be very beneficial in a 1v1 setting. However, they are not “fails.”

• Grants Regroup (non-privy classes)- This is 200-300 health to each unit. The odds that you can use this with 4 units alive (getting the most value from it) and not have a better move are pretty slim

• Grants Will Buffs- Finding offensive, will based units in PvP are rare. If it wasn’t for the fact that privy already has 3 of these for late game critical heals and shrouds, it might be higher up.
• Grants Mutineer’s Grasp (non-witch classes)- Although a critical reduce is nice, but the power is low damage, and generally-speaking, is low range (unless you’re a ranged unit, but then it’s probably better to just use another power or base hit instead)
• Grants Mojo Blast (all classes)- This is functionally a worse jobu’s kiss. It can do a lot to summons and break hides, but it doesn’t give a heal
• Grants Lower Tier of Previously mentioned abilities- This includes ghostwail, mutineer’s grasp, sneak attack, mighty charge, refresh, etc. These abilities are not in many pools, since they are strictly inferior to other higher-up powers.

What would your perfect pet have? Let us know in the comments below!

 

 

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