Experienced player duo with total newb. Enc/Clr?

[Aandolaf]

Pets can be 1 of 4 levels when you summon them, and its random as to which one you get each cast. So sometimes they can be quite weak, try using the fire pet, and keep casting new ones until you get a max level one. You can find out if its max level by how hard it hits, or how much its DS does. This can just be learned over time, or the info is available on the wiki, I would say give that a try and see how it goes!