So far I'm liking the Chocobo Companion. The only down side is that I can't use another mount type while it's out so I have to sprint around a lot. I was hoping to see if other players can share their Chocobo Companion experiences and playing tips? I also had a few questions and I was hoping to find some answers for.
1. Can we respec the Chocobo ability points? After achieving rank-2, I allocated 1 point to defense, attack, and healing stances. Now I'm wondering if I gimped my pet out making it difficult to progress through a single stance? Since I'm leveling my CNJ/WHM, I usually go with the attack stance since it makes the fights go so much quicker.
2. Is all the Chocobo barding slots just for decoration? So far I've currently tried the default barding and the one that came with early release. I also saw a saddle being sold the in the Free Company quartermaster. Is this all for just looks or will there be craftable or dropped sets which can enhance your Chocobo?
3. What is the best way to level your Chocobo? Currently my Chocobo is Rank-3.5 and it really puzzles me in how to level my sidekick. The rank XP bar didn't move after our group defeated the Cancer FATE which awarded us 20k XP. I was hoping to see it move up a little. Whenever I have to summon my companion, I try to use it as much as possible before it expires. I'm going with letting the Chocobo get the killing blow and let it do 40% of the damage. I have no clue if this is the right thing to do, but it let's me chain pull non-stop and I can cure both of us or sleep a mob if things get too hairy. Also another theory is that he Chocobo might get more XP if fighting quest or FATE mobs. Anyone else want to share their observations, opinions or theories?
4. Is there an actual Attack command or Guard me? I can't figure this out but it seems that I can only get my companion to attack once it aggros on my target. My usual routine is to drop Stone-II a few times ending with a Aero to DoT it up. My companion will start running to attack after the first spell hit. Then I start pulling the next mob. It's real annoying watching my companion stand around while I'm casting a long induction attack spell. I wish I can just send it off to attack. I guess I can tag the mob with a instant cast DoT but I wish there was another way.
5. Are Gyshal Greens harvestable? If so, where and rank node?
6. Does your Chocobo Companion sometimes stops fighting? I find this highly annoying and I've tried issuing 'follow' then 'attack stance' to try to shake it out of it's rest stance. I found that my companion has a high chance of doing this whenever I use any of my crowd control abilities. The Aqau blast will always cause this. My CNJ sleep spell will sometimes pull my pet out of combat even when I'm casting on a different mob. Also if I engaging a pack of three mobs, if I sleep the first mob, then my companion will not fight until the first mob is dead. Pretty annoying.
Just my goofy suggestion, but I would like to see the Gathering profession be able to use their Chocobo with their tasks. Like while you're mining, it has a chance to detect and gather up some items that only a Chocobo can dig up, fish up, pluck from a tree.