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WoW WotLK Classic Best Hunter Pets

WotLK Pets

No other class utilizes pets more than Hunters. The iconic partnership between these ranged DPS and their companions has been integral to the job’s toolkit. In this job, players should monitor their minions to ensure they are well-fed and loyal. Training your pet can be quite an ordeal. This guide will help Hunters to make their companions more effective and powerful. 

Wrath of the Lich King Classic Hunter Pet Systems

The Hunter class is one of the only two jobs that can utilize a pet or minion in battle, with the other being Warlocks. By level 10, players can start taming wild beasts in their travels after picking up the pre-requisite quest. Unlike regular companions that heroes can get from the Auction House or Raids, these pets can and will fight for the adventurers and can be managed.

Pets in World of Warcraft give out significant damage and are an essential part of Hunter’s DPS output. These companions scale based on their master’s ranged and melee attack power. Pets only gain strength from these stats and do not benefit from most secondary attributes. This system allows Beast Mastery to deal insane damage through their beasts.

To differentiate pets in the game, Wrath of the Lich King Classic categorizes into several families. Each of these broods presents a different skill set from the others. While heroes can have multiple companions in their stable, they can only summon one at a time for battle.

Due to the number of available beasts for capture, some players might need clarification about how to take care of their pets. Fortunately, Hunters can acquire the Beast Lore skill at level 24. This ability allows heroes to learn more about target capturable animals, from their capabilities to food preferences.

Wrath of the Lich King Classic Changes to the Hunter Pet System

When WotLK came into World of Warcraft Classic, many notable changes were implemented to the Hunter Pet System. Several of these significant changes affect how players will manage their companions. Here are the changes implemented by WotLK Classic:

Major Changes

  • Stable Capacity has been increased by two. Hunters can now capture up to five beasts.
  • Pet Loyalty and ability ranks have been removed. Companions will now automatically learn the highest grade of each ability while it levels up.
  • New Pet Types are introduced. They are Ferocity, Tenacity, and Cunning. Here are all the details for each:
  • Ferocity – They are considered mainly offensive pets. They focus primarily on dealing with the damage and barely have survivability or utility skills.
  • Tenacity – These types are durable creatures that can serve as tanks. They focus mainly on soaking up damage due to their high HP. Their abilities lean more on survivability, buffs, and taunts. They are great companions to have when you are playing solo.
  • Cunning - These pets are balanced in both offense and defense. They offer a lot of utility and mobility skills on top of their damage. They are an excellent choice for solo gameplay, PvP, and raiding.

Minor Changes

  • Pets add 45% of their master’s stamina to their own.
  • Pets’ Talent Tree now contains their HP, armor, and damage modifiers.
  • Pets add 32% of Hunter’s ranged attack power to their melee damage.
  • Pets add 12.5% of Hunter’s ranged attack power to their spell damage.
  • Pets now gain resistance to all elements based on their level.
  • Pets now have the innate characteristic of having 90% avoidance of every AoE damage.
  • Pets can benefit from their owner’s hit rating and critical rating.

How to Tame Pets?

Acquiring pets to add to your roster is quite a dangerous ordeal. To capture a beast, hunters need to use Tame Beast, a channeled skill. While using this move, players are vulnerable to attacks, and they also aggro the creature they are trying to obtain. 

It is ideal to have a friend with you when to tank the animal while you capture them. Alternatively, you can use abilities with slow debuffs, such as Concussive Shot and Freezing Trap, to give you enough time to cast your Tame Beast. Players should remember that they cannot obtain pets from levels 1 to 10, so try to reach ten as soon as possible.

List of All Pets in Wrath of the Lich King Classic

The total number of Pet families in the game is 32, which includes the seven exotic ones. They are further divided into three categories. The level for each animal can also vary, so it is ideal for swapping pets if you find stronger ones. Here are all the tamable creatures in WotLK Classic:

  • Bat (Cunning, Level 1-76)
  • Bear (Tenacity, Level 5-79)
  • Bird of Prey (Cunning, Level 5-78)
  • Boar (Tenacity, Level 1-79)
  • Carrion Bird (Ferocity, Level 5-74)
  • Cat (Ferocity, Level 1-77)
  • Chimaera (Exotic Cunning, Level 23-71)
  • Core Hound (Exotic Ferocity, Level 12-70)
  • Crab (Tenacity, Level 5-72)
  • Crocolisk (Tenacity, Level 9-76)
  • Devilsaur (Exotic Ferocity, Level 54-76)
  • Dragonhawk (Cunning, Level 5-72)
  • Gorilla (Tenacity, Level 32-77)
  • Hyena (Ferocity, Level 13-73)
  • Moth (Ferocity, Level 1-73)
  • Nether Ray (Cunning, Level 60-70)
  • Raptor (Ferocity, Level 6-77)
  • Ravager (Cunning, Level 9-70)
  • Rhino (Exotic Tenacity, Level 67-79)
  • Scorpid (Tenacity, Level 3-69)
  • Serpent (Cunning, Level 18-77)
  • Silithid (Exotic Cunning, Level 36-61)
  • Spider (Cunning, Level 2-81)
  • Spirit Beast (Exotic Ferocity, Level 74-80)
  • Sporebat (Cunning, 60-71)
  • Tallstrider (Ferocity, Level 1-70)
  • Turtle (Tenacity, Level 15-70)
  • Warp Stalker (Tenacity, Level 63-75)
  • Wasp (Ferocity, Level 60-77)
  • Wind Serpent (Cunning, Level 11-77)
  • Wolf (Ferocity, Level 1-80)
  • Worm (Exotic Tenacity, Level 13-80)

Note: Only Beast Mastery Hunters can acquire Exotic types due to their Beast Mastery Talent.

Pet Progression in WotLK Classic

Since pets automatically learn abilities, the training points are no longer a feature in the game. Instead, companions can progress in their talent tree for one moment every four levels. In addition, you no longer need to capture new animals for your pets to learn new abilities. Their progression starts at level 20, so players need to level them up quickly to gain new skills. Here are some of the key talents that make pets reliable:

  • Active: Bite, Claw, Gore, Scorpid Poison
  • Passive: Avoidance, Cobra Reflexes, Great Stamina

Not all pets will have all of these skills, but they will possess at least one. Pets level up the same way Hunters ranks up. They gain experience the more you use them in battle, so it would be ideal for focusing on one at a time. Ideally, players should invest more in the more powerful pets in the game.

Pet Management (Happiness)

Loyalty has been completely removed from the game, which means pets will no longer run away from their masters. However, Happiness is still an active feature in the system. The happier a creature is, the more damage it will do. Alternatively, companions will deal lesser damage if they start to become unhappy.

The Pet Happiness stage has three stages. Each of these phases will determine the amount of damage your companions will deal. Here is all the potential Happiness status of your pets:

  • Happy = 125% Damage
  • Content = 100% damage
  • Unhappy = 75%

To ensure that your pet is content, feeding them the right food is essential. Each family prefers a specific set of consumables. You cannot provide them with things outside of their chosen diet. Here is all the preferred food for each family:

  • Bat: Meat, Fungus, Fruit
  • Bear: Meat, Fish, Cheese, Bread, Fungus, Fruit
  • Bird of Prey: Meat and Fish
  • Boar: Meat, Fish, Cheese, Bread, Fungus, Fruit
  • Carrion Bird: Meat and Fish
  • Cat: Meat and Fish
  • Chimaera: Meat
  • Core Hound: Meat
  • Crab: Fish, Bread, Fungus, Fruit
  • Crocolisk: Meat and Fish
  • Devilsaur: Meat
  • Dragonhawk: Meat, Fish, Fruit
  • Gorilla: Bread, Fungus, Fruit
  • Hyena: Meat
  • Moth: Cheese, Bread, Fungus, Fruit
  • Nether Ray: Meat and Fungus
  • Raptor: Meat
  • Ravager: Meat
  • Rhino: Cheese, Bread, Fungus, Fruit
  • Scorpid: Meat
  • Serpent: Meat
  • Silithid: Meat and Fungus
  • Spider: Meat
  • Spirit Beast: Meat and Fish
  • Sporebat: Cheese, Bread, Fungus, Fruit
  • Tallstrider: Cheese, Bread, Fungus, Fruit
  • Turtle: Fish, Bread, Fungus, Fruit
  • Warp Stalker: Fish and Fruit
  • Wasp: Cheese, Bread, Fungus, Fruit
  • Wind Serpent: Fish, Cheese, Bread
  • Wolf: Meat
  • Worm: Cheese, Bread, Fungus

Before you capture a specific creature, it would be a good idea to acquire their preferred foods first. Making sure you have a large stock of their favorite diet will ensure smoother management. You should consult the Beast Lore to remember what consumables pets want.

Recommended Hunter Pets for This Expansion

There have been some new changes over the weeks following the release of Wrath of the Lich King Classic. Aside from having five stable slots, some creatures have become the top pets in the current meta. Here are the best companions for Hunters to take:

  • Wolf – These canines have replaced the Ravagers as the top pet in Wrath of the Lich King. They provide reliable damage and essential buff such as Furious Howl. They are essentially the required and go-to pet for raiding.
  • Bear – While you barely see them in late-game phases, Bears are essentially one of the best pets to have while leveling up. They are also the ideal companions for undergeared level 70 characters. They have enough survivability with their high base armor and HP, complemented by their decent damage output.
  • Crocolisk – Similar to the Bear, Crocolisks exhibit the same stats as the former. They are the same so that players can interchange them.
  • Devilsaur – They are the only meta pet that only Beast Mastery Hunters can access. Their Monstrous Bite ability puts them at the top of the highest damage-dealing creatures, only slightly below Wolves. The gap is minimal, so players might not even see a performance loss.

Having at least one or two of these creatures in your stable is ideal to ensure an efficient progression. You can have other animals as your pets and level them up, but you will need these core companions when you get into a rough spot. Make sure to consult this guide whenever you are doing the Hunter-Pet System. 

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