Looking to dominate the Battle Pet scene? Here are the top 5 pets to help you get started. The main trick here is to have a variety of pets that compliment each other and can be used to counter any situation. Image credit: pikigeek.com
1. Magical Crawdad
This one is one of my favorites. Any Aquatic pet from the “Crustaceans” (Crab) category will do well because they have the [Renewing Mist] ability which will passively heal for three turns and persist through pet swaps. What makes [Magical Crawdad] so special is his [Wish] which will heal the active pet for 50%, next round. Wish is one of the most powerful healing spells and especially useful for pets with large health pools. Any high-level “crustacean” can also be used to power-level other pets with it’s persistent heal ability. Aqua pets are also great for dealing with Undead.
2. Curious Wolvar Pup
When you are starting out you will be battling A LOT of critter type pets, in fact these seem heavily over-represented, making having a strong humanoid pet a major plus. There are several different options here, one of which comes from the [Children's Week] event. The [Curious Wolvar Pup] is a solid choice with great damage abilities, a neat little stun and 33% less damage from critter-type pets. Getting this pet when you are starting out on you Battle Pet Questline will help you steamroll most of the initial quests.
3. Pandaren Monks
This is a pet that you have to pay for from the Blizzard Pet Store, but it’s a beauty with great damage spell, buff, stuns and abilities that double damage when opponent is stunned. Overall a great and solid pet to have.
4. Ghostly Skull
Every Pet Battle Master should have an Undead pet in their possession. Undead pets have the uncanny ability of restoring themselves to life once per battle making them extremely useful, and difficult to defeat. Which Undead pet you choose is ultimately up to you, I hover, find dark humor in watching a floating skull attack enemies so in my book the [Ghostly Skull] is where its at in Undead pets. Add to the fact that this pet is super easy to get and I would call the Ghostly Skull a home run. To make this pet your own head to Dalaran where you can purchase the Ghostly Skull from an NPC named Darahir in the northeastern-most room of the Dalaran sewers.
5. The Clockwork Gnome
The [Clockwork Gnome]… a great choice for your mechanical pet and unique in his [Build Turret] ability which can build multiple turret that persist through death and pet swapping and continuously attacks the enemy pet! Drop a couple turrets and watch them augment your damage, ripping your opponent a new one. Lovely…
Some observations about turrets: (thanks to Maliander)
-
The damage of each turret is spread across three small attacks at the end of the round, making abilities like Shell Shield, Sandstorm andEmerald Presence hard counters and making damage-per-attack boosting abilities like Call Lightning and Corrosion extra effective.
-
2 Turrets can be up at the same, all shooting the active enemy pet at the end of the turn.
-
Since patch 5.1, no longer 100% hit chance and cannot hit unattackable pets like diving or burrowing pets.
-
Switching the active pet does not despawn the turrets, they stay active and functional. Since patch 5.1, if the Gnome building the turrets dies, the turrets still remain active.
-
If an enemy pet is killed before the end of the turn, causing a new pet to be switched in, the new pet is not attacked on that turn, but only from the next turn onwards.
-
The turret continues shooting pets on the turn they are trapped, but even if this kills it they are still succesfully captured.
Summary:
The major strength of this ability lies in its reliability. Even with the patch 5.1 fixes, it’s almost guaranteed to do its maximum damage.
Wanna Buy any Damn Pet You Want on the Auction House?
If you have 24 hours a day to farm, then this is something that probably isn’t for you. For most students/working professionals, spending a few bucks to save hours a day in grinding just makes sense. If this is something that makes sense for you, check it out here.
