Can someone explain the giving pets a torch thing?
 

I always see people doing it, and I had a few questions. The following questions are based on my current understanding (which may not be accurate) so feel free to correct any misconceptions in that are implied in my questions.

1. If a pet can already dual wield, is there a benefit to using a torch and a weapon over 2x 1h weapons?

2. Is it ideal to use on both charmed pets AND summoned pets, or is it mostly a function of enabling dual wield on a charmed mob type that doesn't naturally dual wield?

3. 2h + torch allows what? dual wielding with harder hits?

4. Does giving weapons/torches have any effect on charmed pets that can't visibly display equipped weapons? (druids charming animal pets for example)

5. Is there any other important aspect im overlooking in my questions?

To wrap up, what are the general best practices regarding weapon/torch equip mechanics? Always use X, or use X until a certain level, depending on pet type do X, etc?


Thanks for any help! <3

1)Torch is secondary only. An npc usually only hits with primary, so putting something in its off hand makes it quad. 1 torch (or lantern) takes up less inventory space.

2) not certain about summoned pets, some stuff on the wiki says some auto dual wield but i dunno if thats accurate. Weapons force it tho.

3) a lot of times what you see as the 2h sword on a charmed pet is a mith 2h sword used for the worn haste. Torch forces off hand weapon and therefore quad.

4) giving items including weapons to non humanoid npcs doesnt work. Spiders or wolves wont use weapons, or other item for that matter (im prettt sure)

1. If a pet can already dual wield, is there a benefit to using a torch and a weapon over 2x 1h weapons?

Convenience, mostly. Torches are everywhere, and cheap, and light weight. Shields, Lanterns, Lutes, Secondary only weapons also force this effect. JUST the torch forces dual wield, so only 1 inventory slot taken up.

2. Is it ideal to use on both charmed pets AND summoned pets, or is it mostly a function of enabling dual wield on a charmed mob type that doesn't naturally dual wield?

It will force charmed pets to dual wield (if they can). Summoned pets have a very specific range where they can dual wield but don't do so innately (Somewhere in this link is a more specific answer. )

3. 2h + torch allows what? dual wielding with harder hits?

Mostly this is to allow the pet to proc specific 2 handed weapons, while also dual-wielding. Runed Blade, for example, can let the pet Rune itself. This plus a torch lets pet Rune and Quad.
Pet hits are determined by weapon damage x 2 + 1. So the Runed Blade having a base damage of 26 x 2 + 1 = 53. So pets that hit below 53 innately will now hit for 53.

4. Does giving weapons/torches have any effect on charmed pets that can't visibly display equipped weapons? (druids charming animal pets for example)

Animals can't dual wield (Shaman pets, charmed rats, gorillas etc.). They can't equip weapons at all, to my knowledge. So "display" I don't think is the correct term. Kobolds and Goos, for example, quad, without having a graphic change. It's a model/creature type specific event.

5. Is there any other important aspect im overlooking in my questions?

Procs. It's almost always about the procs.

To wrap up, what are the general best practices regarding weapon/torch equip mechanics? Always use X, or use X until a certain level, depending on pet type do X, etc?

IF charming AND you want it to quad THEN add torch.
IF charming AND you want special procs THEN possibly something besides/in tandem with torch.

Sorry, forgot - also the dam/del doesnt matter on npcs with weapons. Their damage is based on level, and their delay is 30 so you dont get a benefit from weapons with high dmg or low delay (worn haste does count tho, as well as procs of course). Torches are super cheap and take up relatively little inventory space compared to using multiple weapons, but any secondary only item works the same. Just make sure they are holding something in their off hand, primary can remain empty.

If this is the case then i wasnt aware of it, ive never noticed a damage difference with what a mob was holding, but then i never really experimented with it. Learn something every day i guess

If the weapon damage is higher than their base damage, it will increase the damage of the pet to the weapon damage. This is mostly irrelevant at higher levels but can be particularly important at lower ones.

Weapon damage (unlike the delay) can affect pet's max hit fot very low level pets.

Give a rusty scythe to a level 1 enc animation, and it will increase its max hit a little. Tested on many chars.

Awesome. Thanks for the responses! Appreciate you all sharing your knowledge.

Also you can give a pet a 2h w/ a nice effect like Swarmcaller, Staff of Undead Legion, etc....then give it a torch and it will still quad + proc.

It should be also noted that this functionality is not classic and needs to be fixed.