Very gradually.
At least now they have some hitpoints. But it’s painful to watch an Island lynx struggle against a 25-hitpoint bird.
I don’t think pets should ever be as powerful as human thralls with legendary weapons. Pets don’t need equipment, so they’re a good low-budget follower for people who maybe don’t want to build big permanent bases. Pets can also carry more stuff than humans (excepting bearers, who are unimpressive combatants).
But pets (at least the fighting variants such as great cats, apes and scorpions, as opposed to “bearer” animals such as deer, elephants and rocknoses) should be capable combatants. Admittedly, I haven’t bothered checking their performance in recent months because of how sub-par they became after the nerf, so I can’t say how they perform now.
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