Pet classes are not really my jam. I don’t want my companion to be doing the tanking or damage or healing or whatever, and if I can’t survive without my companion doing that stuff, that kind of makes me feel as if I’m the hanger-on. But part of the problem is just that so many pet options usually involve summoning one dog or one bear or one radioactive squirrel, or whatever. Why should you march into battle with one companion when you could bring a whole crew?
Fortunately, MMO designers apparently agree with me because a bunch of MMOs have decided over the years that you should just get a whole army to roll out with you because why not. Or at least not just one other companion. I’m not limiting the list below to just pet classes or anything, but rather to any times when a game says “heck yeah, bring the whole squad, we will base the game around bringing the squad.”
1. City of Heroes
The spawn size of enemy groups in City of Heroes can be pretty ridiculous, especially if you turn the game to spawn eight times as many enemies. Which, y’know, lots of people (including yours truly) do. So it kind of makes sense that Masterminds roll up to those groups with a half-dozen extra squad members if you like making even solo fights into what looks like the Battle for Earth sequence from Avengers: Endgame. And hey, that’s cool. I am not going to judge you for listening to Alan Silvestri’s score on loop while you grind missions. It’s in the right genre, even.
2. World of Warcraft
I know that there are some people still annoyed that WoW’s Demonology Warlocks lost the ability to turn into demonic forms, but that’s silly. Demonology Warlocks now get to summon everything all the time forever. That’s the basic idea behind the spec in the first place, and it’s kind of cool that now you’re just in a constant swirling vortex of summoning more demons all the time even with your most basic abilities.
But if that’s not your thing? That’s fine. Beast Mastery Hunters can also opt to summon a second pet. On the one hand, I’m cynical about the spec letting you have an extra pet to take care of you. On the other hand, you could have two dogs. That’s more dogs! How could that be bad?
3. Granado Espada
Some games just decide that they’re going to make the whole gameplay experience different, and Granado Espada decides that it’s going to do that by making your character be three characters. This isn’t a choice. You make a small triad as your player character, and that’s just how things work. There are doubtlessly a lot of things to consider with regard to classes and synergy and stuff, but I have not played the game despite finding the art charming, so I’m just going to assume you have three times as many chances to look dashing while you buckle some swashes.
4. Guild Wars
And then Guild Wars went one better with henchmen, heroes, and mercenary heroes, the latter being just… your other characters, but brought in with the character you were playing at any given moment. That’s always struck me as downright worthy. I like the idea that you could decide to make another character and just roll out your old favorite as a sort of self-made powergrinding aid.
5. Final Fantasy XIV
There are actually a lot of options for building your own squad in Final Fantasy XIV, starting with your very own free company squadron that you get to recruit, dress up, and bring along in a small number of dungeons that stop at level 60 so it’s kind of a vestigial feature now. You also have Trusts to level up along with you in dungeons, if you’re so inclined, and we have yet to see how the game’s Beastmaster is going to run. And of course, the game’s story is quick to remind you that you’re traveling with a group of dorks at nearly all times, so that helps.
6. The Elder Scrolls Online
Most of the pet-based options in The Elder Scrolls Online let you have more than one pet out at a time, often with extras on a limited timer. That’s cool! I have not actually played with these options, so I don’t personally know how effective they are. It’s been a while since I played. Should I try the game again? Don’t let me know in the comments. I’ll just decide based on vibes.
7. Star Trek Online
In most Star Trek shows, you don’t really have a main character per se; you have a whole bridge crew, most of whom get focal episodes over time. Star Trek Online can’t really replicate that, but it can let you make your own custom bridge crew with your choice of looks and skills, and they are always fighting alongside you on the bridge of your ship. Like, that’s the whole concept. One of your officers has the ability Attack Pattern Omega and so you’re supposed to imagine your character shouting, “Initiate attack pattern omega!” before someone taps a few buttons and the ship zooms off to blow something up. At least that’s how I play the game.
8. Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI was built to be a very group-centric game, but as the population dwindled due to time and age, the designers decided to add in the new Trust system (yes, it was here first, not FFXIV) to let you summon major characters from the game’s story to act as AI-controlled companions. This means that you can form a party entirely by yourself, or you can fill out missing spots in a party with a friend or two with trusts. Best of all, Trusts are never going to go AFK, or leave after one pull, or suddenly tell you in the middle of a good EXP chain that they have to leave because they’re being arrested.
That’s a real story. The player in question wasn’t even a Thief; he was a Black Mage. I never got closure on that anecdote.
9. WildStar
It would be wrong to say that WildStar’s Engineers were somehow the first to the party for having a multitude of companions with the player, but they were still a fun and unique implementation of same. You could even choose to leave without any pets if you wanted, although that generally seems to be less than ideal. Or it was, back when the game was still around. Oh, I made myself sad.
10. Allods Online
Look, it’s fun enough when you have a game that always makes you roll three characters at once. But Allods Online lets you play as Gibberlings, and they are always played in a group of three. Nothing else works like that. That’s kind of amazing and weird just at concept. Good on you for that one.
Everyone likes a good list, and we are no different! Perfect Ten takes an MMO topic and divvies it up into 10 delicious, entertaining, and often informative segments for your snacking pleasure. Got a good idea for a list? Email us at justin@massivelyop.com or eliot@massivelyop.com with the subject line “Perfect Ten.”
