Pets and skills.

tryna wrote: »

1: What skills would be recommended for my Varicose Scorpion? It has Bash level 1 (I have a different scorpion with level 2 of that skill) and/or, how could I upgrade the Varicose's Bash skill?

You can upgrade pet skills at the Mrs. Zoologist npc which can be found on the South Westernmost corner of Archo. It's easy to find, you'll find her surrounded by all class versions of most cute rares. To level skills you need to buy a 200k coin book from her. She also sells many skills. Take note you can only upgrade Bash once at your level and that you'll have to wait until both you and your pet are level 40 for level 3 to become available. The usually recommended skill set for Scorp is multi-elemental, which is basically adding any two of the elemental "Bashes" (skills dealing elemental damage such as Icicle and Fireball) and Howl, a useful debuff which should increase your caster dps by decreasing a mob's elemental resistances. Personally i would recommend Threaten instead of one of the Bashes however, as this skill will afford your pet a defensive skill and double as a useful debuff for squad work. The Varicose Scorpion is a high dps pet and the best damage output amongst Scorps so it really should be the one to work on even if at a later point you decide to get a herc.

2: My second pet is a Crystalline Magmite. I heard the Glacial Walker has better magical defense, so should I get one of those instead?

This is what is usually recommended, although the difference is not so overwhelming the mag is entirely obsolete. Given your level it would not be so much trouble to catch a Walker up, and you can likely do so at a profit, so i would advice you to go for it. The mobs near Silverpool are likely a good choice once you've brought the Walker up near your level on mobs around Archo.

3: Are air and water pets really necessary if I don't plan to do any sort of PVP? I've only used a water pet once, and that was only for a strong quest monster.

Not really. Water pets are usually treated as disposable and most venos just tame the nearest one to their level whenever they need one. If you don't plan to PvP you can treat air pets in much the same way (is pretty much what i do) although if you're not planning to get a Nix later on it wouldn't be such a bad idea for you to get started on a Skatefish (should be less than 10 levels of catching up) which will certainly provide you an advantage on air mobs and is an ideal pet if you decide to PvP later on.

4: Catching a lower level pet.. how can I get it up to my level quickly? Loyalty maxed of course.

The usual method is to use Room 3 in the Cube of Fate, although you can only access it once you're lvl 40. My recomendation would be to retrace your steps through questing sites near the pet's original level (most pets can usually handle mobs 5-6 levels higher, much more for tanking pets) and work up your way from there. This is better in a sense than using the Cube as you'll get some valuable drops along the way.

This is my first, and only character so far.. and I'm only level 30 at the moment so I'm not too worried about rare or cash pets. I only have three slots for pets, was considering a lure pet but I don't know where to find a good one.

A luring pet is not really needed until about the 6x level range at the earliest. Until then most pets should be able to perform in such role and you'll probably have gotten one or two extra pet bag slots by then.

tryna wrote: »

1: What skills would be recommended for my Varicose Scorpion? It has Bash level 1 (I have a different scorpion with level 2 of that skill) and/or, how could I upgrade the Varicose's Bash skill?

2: My second pet is a Crystalline Magmite. I heard the Glacial Walker has better magical defense, so should I get one of those instead?

3: Are air and water pets really necessary if I don't plan to do any sort of PVP? I've only used a water pet once, and that was only for a strong quest monster.

4: Catching a lower level pet.. how can I get it up to my level quickly? Loyalty maxed of course.

This is my first, and only character so far.. and I'm only level 30 at the moment so I'm not too worried about rare or cash pets. I only have three slots for pets, was considering a lure pet but I don't know where to find a good one.

The scorpion is a great DD, so you best keep that one lvld, it will stay usefull even if you become lvl 100+

A lure-pet isn't really neccesary, most pets can do the job though around lvl 40 you will find some marksman mobs, they throw with stones and are ranged, they make really good lurers since they don't have to come up close ^^

I find that managing the veno and a pet with multiple bashes to be tiresome. So instead of an elemental bash, I put flesh ream on my scorpion. Since it does damage over time and has a longer cool down, I don't have to hit the button as often. Also, I find the flesh ream animation and bleed icon on the mob status bar to be useful when pulling mobs. My third skill is howl and I'm saving up for threaten.

As for purchasing skills, check the auction house on Tuesday / Wednesday. There is an event on Tuesday that drops pet skill books. You can often get elemental bashes for under 100K(instead of 300K). I've purchased elemental bashes for 50K coin.