OK, so let's assume I want to play the part of the annoying pest in a tower battle. That means running around like a fruitcake and putting debuffs on people like one of them fruitflies that has an affinity for yer ear and nostril hairs.
Q: What happens when you do this? A: They make you dead.
Q: Why do MP's die so fast? A: We got no defense nanos and the worst hitpoints of any profession in the game.
What do I propose to address this situation? Well, I think we're ok, in the solo mission deal, and passible when teams give us pity invites. I'm looking at a way to help us survive on the battlefield so we can run around like pansies and Curse and Dominate and MindQuake while the other guys have fun. Hell, if they don't want me to have fun, at least let me stay alive to watch others do it.
Current attackpets, Demon and Enmity don't cut the mustard. They don't help you stay alive. Balbuto and Belamorte don't help me stay alive either. All Bela does is delay the inevitable by about 5.8 seconds.
What's the problem here? I'll tell you. The other players totally disregard any and all of our pets and head (rightfully so, mind you) for us. Once we're dead (easy task), our pets are out of the equation. Might as well kill the MP and get 4 thingies off the battlefield in one fell swoop.
How about this idea for an attack pet? I make this an attack pet so you have to choose between Caco/TE and this thing. What I want is for the other 3 guys who would be killing you to have to focus on killing this thing first instead of just wiping the floor with your limp dead body.
First part of the equation has been mentioned before, I think: this pet will take 90% of the damage inflicted on you. OK, see why I made it the attack pet? Belamorte can keep up with damage done to you unless a full team decides to unload on ya. It would have to have easily double the hitpoints of Cacodemon to be worth anything in PvP or alternatively quite respectable regeneration (probably more dynamic considering PvP encounters).
Second part of the equation takes away any damage this pet would do. It's damage is 1-1(1). This is the tradeoff for you staying alive: you lose the damage potential of the TE/Caco so that you can stay on the battlefield for more than 8 seconds and fill the Debuff Queen role more efficiently.
Third part: innate Nanoresist of a straight 1k. The entire point of this thing is null and void if it is rooted/scared/charmed/snared/ ummm any of the million ways to turn off our pets. If it can't do damage, then it best be able to follow me.
Fourth part: It's gotta have a time limit on being able to re-manifest. Constantly chain-casting these things as they die would provide invincibility mode. How to do this using current game mechanics? It'll have to go into the Combat nano strain and place a hostile nano in your NCU that lasts as long as the pet would have lived if it didn't get killed. I like this as you got a chance to fumble it being a hostile nano (I'm a sadist). 30 minute pet? You can make one every thirty minutes. (Or sooner if you get sent to reclaim). You'll get the 'better nano running' message like the Agent crit buffs. You can always try to field an old-school attack pet if your hp-sink bites it as they're in another nano-strain.
I suppose it needs some sort of 'attack' to add some character. If not damage, then what? I'd reserve the init debuff for the Mezz pet so we have to look somewhere original. Everybody hates blinds, so that's out. Ah, I got a good traditional RPG element not implemented in AO yet: knockback. This thing lands a hit on you and does it's 1-1(1) damage and throws you 10 meters in the negative vector from which it attacked. Nice to keep them pesky Enforcers off its tail.
So I'm running around with my fairy boots on spreading my debuff dust of joy on the battle field and finally annoy people enough to want to kill me. They start beating on me, but notice that it's probably not the wisest strategic move as I'm fairly resiliant now. Now, they get smart and realize that if they kill my hp-sink manifestation, I'm back to the sitting duck they expect out of the MP. This gives time for my team to come assist me, perhaps for me to Quantum Wings out of there, run away, try to fight them, if there are 1 or less attacking, etc.
I guess I'm just sick to my stomach of getting to enjoy tower battles 15 seconds at a time every 5 minutes because I have no defense tools or escape mechanism. I'd actually sacrifice pet damage just to stay alive.