Dungeon Siege II – Pets

An exciting new addition to the Dungeon Siege series, pets are something of a mix between the packmule, a summoned creature, and a party member.

Acquirement

“Looking for an exotic companion for your journey? The Eirulan pet shop offers an interesting assortment of creatures that are available for purchase. (Actual inventory subject to pet availability) Those with an irrational fear of beasts need not worry, as all the pets in the Eirulan pet shop have been tamed by some of the most powerful mages in Aranna.”

A pet is like a party member.

Acquiring a pet is easy – you just buy one in a pet shop! Just like the packmule, a pet counts as a party member. With a maximum party size of six, that would mean you can play with up to five pets, depending on how many party members you have beside your original character. Now, the people over at GasPowered Games have said that you’d probably want to play through the game one time like that, they are that cool. “Pets can be told to attack, they can hold your items, and they’ll nuzzle up to you on a cold winter’s night.” – Kevin Lambert, Lead Designer on Dungeon Siege II

Your pets will grow, and grow, and…

Growth

A cool thing about pets is that they actually grow while in your care. Well, at least they will if you feed them properly! And don’t blame not being able to find any food, ’cause these babies eat anything! Literally!

“You’ll be able to customize your pet by feeding it items. Maybe items you don’t feel like bringing back to town to sell, maybe items you can’t particularly use, or maybe items that you specifically want to feed the pet so it will gain in a particular stat.” – Kevin Lambert, Lead Designer on Dungeon Siege II

So, how does this “feeding” business work? Well, it’s easy! You simply drag items from an inventory onto the picture of the pet, and the pet will grow. Not only that, but he (she?) will also take on attributes depending on what items you feed him! If you raise your pet one level, from Baby to Infant for example, with melee weapons, the pet will gain an addition to his strength. He will also gain some in the other measures as well, just as a character playing melee. He’ll gain a lot of strength, a little dexterity, and even less intelligence. It’s the same structure for pets, although not necessarily the same numbers.

Feed him ranger armour and he’ll gain dexterity and armour, feed him mage weapons and spells and he’ll develop intelligence. Feed him potions and reagents and he’ll develop a bit of all.

Rebirth

Pets are full party members, and as such they can be healed when injured, and revived when killed, just as any party member including the packmule of the original Dungeon Siege.

You can see the different pets in more detail on the next page.