LF F2P MMO with a great pet class

Sithos

As per the title. I am a pet class fanatic.Not a game where everyone has pets but a select few only. I enjoy the micro managment a ton. Add to that the fact that pet classes are very solo capable.

I have tried a variety of mmo's starting way back in EQ when it first launched and likely every major title in the mean time so am now looking to the F2p market to get my "fix". Anything available that has a decent playerbase,mature folks in the community? I don't mind a bit of a grind and would prefer a "newer" game as opposed to one where I'm 3-4 years behind. Any info would be great.

Gundric

I haven't played the game in a while but you could try Aion. The spiritmaster used to be pretty solo friendly.

Here is some info on the class that is a more recent. http://mygamingquests.blogspot.com/2009/09/aion-spiritmaster-class-guide.html

aspekx

Aion is probably the best i can think of to fit all of your requirements. there are a lot of vanity pets in game, but not many that are functional.

Sithos

Appreciatte the replies folks. I did play Aion when it was P2P and I did play the SM class. Got to max level and even had the magma elemental. Sadly SM is a great class for PvE but getting ganked in the abyss every 2 min by a sin or ranger just sucks. I'm not good with PvP at all.But now the game just seems..I dunno..just meh at best. Any other suggestions?

arrgy

Nothing beats the Necromancer from DAoC. When your pet died, so did you most of the time. Great class.

Gundric

What about Guild Wars 2? I know it isn't F2P but it doesn't had a monthly sub. I've been playing Ranger and I'm not a pro with the class but I love having a pet and being able to switch out between 2 dif ones on the fly (with a slight cool down).  Last beta I tried having a Krytan Drakehound and an Eagle and it proved to be a pretty good combo.  A lot of people complain about the pets dying easily but last beta I spent a lot of time trying to actually utilize the pets and I got pretty good at keeping them alive and the Eagle in particular was great at quickly finishing off a target. It just couldn't take too many hits so I'd usually start working on a target and then let the Eagle finish it off and I'd move to the next or do some AoE's with my bow.

 The pets in GW2 though don't require a ton of maintenance though and only have 1 ability that you can control but there are plenty of different pets to collect with different stats and skills.  It seems like the real challenge as far as pets go is knowing which pet is perfect for the situation that you are in at the moment. The hound was great for groups of mobs that were attacking me because I could make him howl and that would immobilize them for a few seconds during a quick paced fight. Plus you can have different pets for underwater. I got a shark last beta.  

Here is a list of the pets so far:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_animal_companion_skills

Terronte

Guild Wars..b2p...necro

General-Zod

Originally posted by arrgy

Nothing beats the Necromancer from DAoC. When your pet died, so did you most of the time. Great class.

1+ They were quite wicked

A well established Nerco that either knew what they were doing or their foe didnt... could take out small group in PvP/RvR

Sithos

Still on the lookout for a game with a great pet class. Please feel free to chime in.