Originally Posted by
Asashoryu
Some added thoughts to what the OP has already said on Animal Handling after leveling it up past 45 as a new player to PG:
Pet managment is terrible, and this is the root of most of the problems with Animal Handling for me. It's difficult to judge whether pets and Animal Handling skill line abilities are too weak, or whether itemization is poor when basic pet managemnt is so bad. To this end, I recommend replacing the current method of toggling through a rotating list of guard, assist, stay and follow with four buttons which appear in the pet GUI window itself:
Button 1: 'Attack' - When pressed, the handler's targeted enemy (if valid) is added to the pet's hate list, causing the pet to aggress. If any additional targets are aggressed in attacking the original target (adds), these are also added to the pets hate list. A pet will attack until it's hate list is empty, or it has died.
If already aggressed, the 'Attack' command has the effect of elevating the handler's currently targeted enemy to the top of the pet's hate list (the success of this may be influenced by loyalty and/or happiness).
Button 2: 'Disengage' - When pressed, the pet's hate list is cleared (the success of this may be influenced by loyalty and/or happiness), effectively causing it to cease aggression.
Button 3: 'Follow' / 'Stay' - In it's default state, this toggle button displays the 'Follow' text. In 'Follow' mode the pet will attempt to follow its handler to the best of its ability. When clicked, the text changes to 'Stay'. In 'Stay' mode the pet will remember its current position and attempt to maintain that position when not aggressed until it returns to the 'Follow' mode. When a pet has aggressed this toggle button is greyed out, maintaining its current state. Once the pet has ceased aggression it will cease being greyed out and can be toggled once again.
Button 4: 'Assist' / 'Guard' / 'Focus' - In its default state, this toggle button displays the 'Assist' text. In 'Assist' mode the pet will add any targets attacked by its handler to its own hate list, choosing its current target from that list based on what it (the pet) currently most hates. When clicked, the text changes to 'Guard'. In 'Guard' mode the pet will behave similarly to how it behaves in 'Assist' mode, but will choose the most hated enemy on its hate list that is currently attacking its handler in preference to others (the success of this may be influenced by loyalty and/or happiness). When clicked again, the text changes to 'Focus'. In 'Focus' mode the pet will not add new targets to its hate list unless directed to by its handler's 'Attack' command (the success of this may be influenced by loyalty and/or happiness).