Combat profession?

[velm]

Now, going to the forums on sony, i saw a comment from someone saying on CH is a 'combat' profession. I believe, even ThunderHeart made a similiar comment. What is everyones take on us being a 'combat' profession?
I would have to disagree with us being a combat profession. For one, the tree that CH is based on is scout. NO combat skills there, well, I take that back, I believe we get to-hit bonuses against creatures, traps can ONLY be used against creatures. So, in a crazy way there is a LITTLE combat. But, for the most part, I view myself as a support role. Yes, I can hold my own better than a Tailor, or a Chef, but then again, if it is a TKM/Tailor, it could be a different story. I am a Master Pistoleer, that is what does most of the damage in combat, the pets HELP me.
I believe we are more of a 'support' profession than a stand alone 'combat' profession. Think about it, we can ONLY bring out pets BEFORE combat, not during. We have limited pets we can bring out, and in limited numbers.
Now, I am NOT bashing us. I am 3/4/3/4 (24k shy of 4/4/3/4) and have a BLAST, but I just have to disagree with CH being a 'combat' profession.

[hossp]

i hear what you are saying..i am mrifle and the pets are a tank tool, to allow me to destroy the target..rifle by itself is vulerable to melle attacks and ch prevents this from happening, making my combat skills much improved..ch by itself seems useless as a combat profession..a good acid rifle can drop a bull rancor in about 8-10 shots..my best be'ed pet would take 20 min, and a bunch of stims..i love ch, but it's combat effectivenss on it's own is limited at best..as a complimet to rifle it is great

[Juicer]

In my opinion, the CH profession IS a combat profession, but most just use it differently. In PvP tourneys i use my pets to win :) and most people call that cheating, but its not because pets are in the game to help their masters.

[velm]

It is hard for me to see it as a 'combat' profession. If I store my pet, and get attacked, I am out of luck. That is like storing my rifle and having combat start and not being able to bring it out. How many pets are there for us? seriously, how many? Yes, I can go and click on the 'tamables' function, but how many of them are 'useful'? As a MCH, you are really limited as to what is 'useful' in combat. Out of those that are useful, you can really only have one out at a time due to lvl restrictions. They can also be difficult to find. While I have no problem with the rare pets, and do enjoy the search for them, it can be rather frustraiting at times. Do they really need to make them that rare? take the frenzied graul, .01%? The GPS, at 5%, yet I have not seen one, adult or otherwise, and I walk for hours in those areas where people have spotted them.
Don't get me wrong, I like the profession alot, it is one of the best out there, but we are just greatly limited in our abilities. With this latest patch that came out, for instance, I have pets running off attacking Swirl Prongs, that is like my T21 shooting at things I do not want to shoot at. When I call my pet, I expect it will be near me, not feasting on Durni's or whatever else is out there.
I just really do not see it as a 'combat' sense, i really don't. If I am in combat, I SHOULD be able to call them out, but am unable to. I am limited in what I can bring out, as to what is tamable, and how many I can bring out, and have to wait 15 seconds per pet with combat stopping it. Pets have bugs, I had my Gurreck disappear on me about 4 times last night. My T21 has not disappeared on me. The ferocity issue is another one. Why is it that we buff them and store them, the buff goes away? If I fly from Corelia to Endor, my buff stays, why can't my pets? The power up stays on my rifle.
Yes, CH allows me to do things a non-ch cannot, like take down Sharnaffs and pickets without a buff, but that has to do with a MCH/ 1/1/0/2 rifleman combo. Without the rifleman part, it can still be done, but it would be alot harder. I look at it in a much larger picture, and from what I seen now compared to what I heard in the past, we have been reduced to a support role. I believe at one time, when more creatures were available to us, and less limitations as a whole, then yes, perhaps, it might have been more of a combat role then.

Maybe, just maybe when the curb hits the streets, whenever that may come, our pets will get a bit more respect towards other players. But even against other creatures, I would like to bring them out during combat and not have to wait. I can deal with the wait, but it would be nice, at MCH for the wait to not be there.

(I would personally be afraid to bring my pets in PVP, EEK!. If you can make it work, good on you. /bow. I would not call it 'cheating' in any form. It is part of the profession. It would be like telling that TKM not to use his VK's.)