The two upgrade powers work by giving your pets additional powers. For example consider the Demonlings in Demon Summoning. When you first summon them they have two powers a single target ranged attack (equivalent to the Tier 1 attack in a blast set) and a single target melee attack. Using Enchant Demon will give them a second, more powerful, single target ranged attack in addition to their starting powers. Finally using Abyssal Empowerment on them will give them a short ranged cone attack.
No in terms of actual mechanics each time you use the upgrade power all nearby pets will get given their extra powers which will last until you resummon the pet in question. You can check if a particular pet has their upgrades by checking the buff bar in the pet window, the upgrade power itself remains there as an auto-power to serve as a reminder (the pets also have visual changes to indicate upgrades but those can be harder to spot).
At the end of the day you should definitely take both of the upgrade powers as soon as they become available (at levels 6 and 32), not taking them will seriously weaken your build. Please note that the powerset specific powers at 18 sometimes function as pet buffs but do NOT use the same rules as the pet upgrade powers, each set functions slightly differently so check your particular set.
I hope that covers everything.
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I think that only some pets offer a visual cue (other than the icon in the buff bar) that they've been upgraded. Thugs and Bots definitely change appearance, but I think Demons do not.
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Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
You can check if a particular pet has their upgrades by checking the buff bar in the pet window, the upgrade power itself remains there as an auto-power to serve as a reminder (the pets also have visual changes to indicate upgrades but those can be harder to spot).
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Demons get some extra auras when they're upgraded, fiery eyes and a general body aura I think.
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Originally Posted by Pattern Walker
I think that only some pets offer a visual cue (other than the icon in the buff bar) that they've been upgraded. Thugs and Bots definitely change appearance, but I think Demons do not.
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As MTS noted Demons do get different auras and glowing eyes when you upgrade. The wiki actually lists the visual changes for each upgrade power and according to it there are only two cases where an upgrade does not give a visual change. The Commando does not get a change Equip Mercenary and the Genin do not change from Train Ninjas (I don't play either set so it's entirely possible the wiki is wrong, I'm just going by what it says).
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Originally Posted by Pattern Walker
I think that only some pets offer a visual cue (other than the icon in the buff bar) that they've been upgraded. Thugs and Bots definitely change appearance, but I think Demons do not.
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IIRC, Genin used to get an archery attack and a quiver on their back from Train Ninjas. At some point it was removed and changed to another Shuriken power. Later the visual change was removed since the quiver no longer made sense, and another was never added in its place.|
Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
and the Genin do not change from Train Ninjas (I don't play either set so it's entirely possible the wiki is wrong, I'm just going by what it says).
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This old version of the paragon wiki page has it:
http://paragonwiki.com/w/index.php?t...as&oldid=64553
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OK, I think this was the key part here. The description of the power said something along the lines of "You can only use this once" So I thought it was something you'd just cast once when you get the power and then never think again. But if it's just a buff that you can cast after summoning the pets, that's much different, so thank you very much.
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Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
No in terms of actual mechanics each time you use the upgrade power all nearby pets will get given their extra powers which will last until you resummon the pet in question.
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Yeah, you can cast it as often as the power's available. It's just that you can only ever cast it once on a given pet (though you wouldn't want to cast it more than that, since it's active until they go down or are unsummoned).
I remember when it had to be cast on each pet individually. And the pets would unsummon whenever you entered a new instance. And we had to summon our pets uphill through the snow, both ways...
How exactly do the various abilities that increase my pet's powers work? I've recently started an MM toon but I've been wary about getting the first upgrade power because I'm not sure if it's a general "once I use this, all of my pets will be stronger" or "You use this on one pet/one set of pets and they will be stronger."