Breakfast Topic: Your personal guardian

Noobcakes knew he was a goner. A dozen nerubians, pouring in from every side. All cooldowns blown. Pet deceased. Only one hope left: Feign Death. He collapsed to the ground, praying his assailants would be fooled ... but alas! Still they came, fangs dripping, mandibles clacking. He fired shots wildly into the pack, randomly, wounding some but missing most. Still they skittered, drawing nearer and nearer. Noobcakes shut his eyes, and prepared for the end.

Suddenly, a heal! A whirlwind! Frost shock; blades; holy light! Noobcakes opened his eyes to find the bugs dead at his feet, and his three loyal friends standing by, their faces solemn. Breathing a sigh of relief, Noobcakes thanked each in turn, and continued onward, secure in the knowledge that his faithful guardians had his back.

There are a number of quests scattered throughout the land that require you to free or otherwise recruit a small, temporary party of casters, warriors, and healers to your cause. If you've done any questing in early Borean Tundra, Howling Fjord, or Twilight Highlands, you're already familiar with this concept of NPC guardians: they are mini-versions of certain classes who follow you tirelessly and fight at your side. During the quests, they only last a short few minutes. But what if they persisted longer?

If you could have a permanent NPC guardian, what class would they be? What race? Which abilities would you want them to have? Would they be summoned or always with you? If you could custom-build an NPC friend/hireling, who would you create?

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