BM raiding with non-exotic pet

[Wardley]

Howdy,

Just a quick question, as my guild seems to be short of shadow priests, boomkins and ele shammys, I'm raiding with the sporebat most of the time at the moment.

Normally I raid BM, but when I get the sporebat out, I switch to Survival. However, is there actually any loss of DPS from using a non-exotic pet when your BM spec'd? Or could I stay as BM with the sporebat and still do the same?

(and on another note, it would be really *really* nice if Blizzard setup up changing specs to also automatically change the pets you've got on you....)

[Herecius]

An exotic pet does not provide more DPS than a regular pet. What makes them exotic is the fact that every exotic pet has a second special utility ability.

Unless my memory is faulty (very well could be!), then the new Direhorn family coming up will be the very first non-exotic family to have a secondary utility ability.

[Deleted]

All pets have had their damage normalized and they all do the same amount of DPS as long as in the Ferocity spec.

So if your raid needs you to summon a sporebat for Spell Haste, go on, but you can stay in BM. Using non-exotic pets in BM gives the same DPS as exotic pets.
It all comes down to buffs they give and abilities they have nowadays.

P.S. In case all buffs in your raid are covered by others, use the Quilen pet as a BM (Quilens have combat ress ability) - you may use it one day in a hard situation.

[Wardley]

Cheers - I thought I remembered something like that but couldn't find the reference.

[Nemesis003]

An exotic pet does not provide more DPS than a regular pet. What makes them exotic is the fact that every exotic pet has a second special utility ability.

Unless my memory is faulty (very well could be!), then the new Direhorn family coming up will be the very first non-exotic family to have a secondary utility ability.

the direhorn only has the shield ability, it has no buff/defuff last i checked.

[Tehstool]

Don't forget about tallstriders! The AoE armor debuff is very useful and it can be a dps increase over other pets.

[Kavorka]

Don't forget about tallstriders! The AoE armor debuff is very useful and it can be a dps increase over other pets.

I use my Tallstrider a lot...aoe armor debuff is great PLUS, his constant "REEEEHK!!!" drives one of my mates mad in raid lol...win, win imo ^_^

[Myzou]

An exotic pet does not provide more DPS than a regular pet. What makes them exotic is the fact that every exotic pet has a second special utility ability.

Unless my memory is faulty (very well could be!), then the new Direhorn family coming up will be the very first non-exotic family to have a secondary utility ability.

Direhorns only have their shield ability.

And coincidentally, based on the OP, Sporebats have 2 skills. They retained their spellcast speed reduction ability when they received the spell haste buff. As such, Sporebats are just as good as an exotic pet.

[eschatological]

Yeah, all the utility skills on exotic pets are extra utility. Spirit beasts have a heal, Devilsaurs have an MS which can be useful for bosses which heal themselves, water striders have water walking, quilin have brezz, corehounds have lust, etc.

[Yuyn]

Unless my memory is faulty (very well could be!), then the new Direhorn family coming up will be the very first non-exotic family to have a secondary utility ability.

Sporebats do actually have two -- a (poor -- it doesn't apply well) cast speed slow, and 5% spell haste. They really should just drop the cast speed slow for consistency, but that doesn't seem to be on anyone's todo list.

As far as what pet to take, I tend to default to a Spirit Beast for the backup heal, when all buffs are covered. Might also have a look at what debuffs are/aren't getting applied to your primary target (i.e., Tehstool's suggestion on Tallstriders), or whether there are range (Elegon) or phasing (Gara'jal) issues on a fight that cause drops in aura-style buffs which you can provide an extra copy of.

[Lawnmower]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhvvNGeHHME use this guide to help with a decision