1.) My thoughts: I assume that your fire knight is a melee that's why you will be rbing it at 180/199. If you're concerned on the cape speed then you should go for 199, this maybe because you're using the char for pk, but if not, then I dont see the 17 speed loss will matter. Knight job already gives you enough speed boost aside from stat bonus is the 1/6 ride bonus.
Another reason for getting to 199 is eq and pet training. If your knight is too fast for normal pet training then it'll be a good idea to stick to 180s (safe use of hammers and pestle) until you get to 199 or get your pet to 100. If you choose burst pet then it should have little problem and you can rb your fire at 180. Otherwise, if youre not to eager to rb then you can try get to 199.
2.) Here's my opinion on pets:
- Victoria - good damage dealer, no aoe, hard to train after rb if you have huge spd gap
- Qlaya - good pk choice, not a damage dealer, support, easy to burst and train after because of spd build and being a wind.
- Hayate - good damage dealer, targets 2, hard to get to 100 if youre too fast but will be relatively easy after rb
3.) I dont see eva as support, her mess is not much helpful than coma or freeze in quests. She can be a good damage dealer with an aoe skill she has although her build is not enough to match an rb pet. Also,I dont think it will help if you get 2 pets in 1 char but if you have time and resources then you should go for it.