As a hunter, how do I know which pet to use for which situations?

[JustRob]

So I just started playing a hunter for the first time, just got to Pandaria. And I have to say I'm a bit overwhelmed by the shitload of pets you can tame.

I did my fair share of reading, and as I understand these Spirit Beasts are the "best" pets. Does that mean I should use those most of the time? I chose Beast Mastery, so I also have access to core hounds, but I'm not sure in which situations to use them. Actually, I'm not sure in which situations to use most pets. A turtle tank pet seems best for levelling, I gathered that much. But how do I know which pet to use for dungeons? Which one for soloing old raids?

Whenever I ask anyone what the best hunter pets are, everyone always gives confusing answers like "depends on the situation". Okay, but how do I know which situation requires which pet?

[Darthmatty]

If you are BM you can have any pet so it depends on what you want to do. For leveling you can have any pet and just choose the defensive talent tree for it. Otherwise you are picking a pet based on the buff you get from it. Spirit beasts give two buffs I think and some have a healing ability. I usually roll with a core hound or netherray so I can have bloodlust. It is up to you which buff you want or if you would like bloodlust or a battle rez. Wow-petopia is a great site to see which pets give what and where to find them.

[pkm]

Spirit beasts are best because they have a heal that can be used on cd automatically on the raid. However this is assuming all buffs are covered in the raid. If the raid is missing attack power buff then the best pet would be a pet that casts attack power.

This is why you hear "it depends on the situation"

[Daetur]

All pets do the same amount of damage per second, because you should always have your pet in Ferocity spec, unless you need to use Tenacity spec to make them a stronger tank.

It's largely a misconception that a Turtle is the best tank pet, or that a Spirit Beast is the "best" pet. This isn't really true. Since you can change ANY pet's spec to Ferocity, Cunning, or Tenacity, the only difference between pet families are their buffs or abilities, not any inherent stat values or spec-related skills.

Each pet family (cat, wolf, spirit beast, etc.) has a buff or set of buffs that they provide, as well as sometimes another ability. This is why pet use is situational.

If you need your pet to do less damage, but have higher survivability, put it into Tenacity spec. If you want more damage, use Ferocity.

If you need your pet to be an even sturdier tank, select a pet family that comes with an ability that functions as a damage mitigation cooldown. These include:

Foxes (Agile Reflexes- 2 min cooldown: The fox heightens its senses, increasing dodge chance by 30% for 10 sec.)
Crabs (Harden Shell- 1 min cooldown: The crab's shell hardens, reducing damage taken by 50% for 12 sec.)
Monkeys (Primal Agility- 2 min cooldown: The monkey heightens its senses, increasing dodge chance by 30%.)
Turtles (Shell Shield- 1 min cooldown: The turtle partially withdraws into its shell, reducing damage taken by 50% for 12 sec.)
Shale Spiders (Solid Shell- 1 min cooldown: The shale spider hardens its rocky armor, reducing damage taken by 50% for 12 sec.)
Quilen (Stone Armor- 120 sec cooldown: When falling below 40% health, the Quilen's skin will change to stone, causing it to take 30% less damage and regenerate 3% of its maximum health every 1 sec for 8 sec. This effect can only occur once every 120 sec.)
Basilisks (Stone Scales- 1 min cooldown: The basilisk scales turn into solid stone, reducing damage taken by 50% for 12 sec.)
and Clefthooves (Thick Hide: 120 sec cooldown: When falling below 40% health, the Clefthoof's skin will thicken, granting 50% reduced incoming damage for 12 sec. This effect can only occur once every 120 sec.)

Spirit Beasts do provide excellent general utility due to Spirit Mend, a heal with a 30-second CD that they can cast on any friendly target, but have no other self-mitigation. This does make them good for sustain while soloing or leveling, as they are able to heal the hunter as well as themselves.

However, the determining factor for what pet you will use in dungeons on raids with other players will depend on what buffs the party is missing. The best pet to use will be a Ferocity specced pet that provides one of the buffs your group does not have. For example, if my raid group does not have anyone in the group who can cast a buff like Blessing of Kings or Mark of the Wild that provides a 5% stats increase, I should use a Dog, Gorilla, Worm, or Shale Spider in order to provide my group with the missing buff. I would also bring a Core Hound if my raid had no one else who could cast Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp.

If all buffs are covered by your group, I would recommend bringing a utility pet like a Spirit Beast to provide a minor amount of raid healing, or a Quilen or Moth to provide an additional Combat Resurrection.

Personally, I don't have any issues with pet survivability while leveling with a Ferocity pet, so I do not use a Tenacity specced pet or a pet with a damage mitigation ability for leveling- I simply use a pet with Ferocity spec for more damage.

((Also, I've moved your thread to the Hunter forum.))

[Deleted]

Wow-petopia is a great site to see which pets give what and where to find them.

This!!!

OP, you figured a turtle would be best for levellin and you are sort of right. It is totally awesome for soloing harder rares and elites. But when you're in a group or raid setting, you should be picking the pet that suits the people around you. In a raid you most likely have all buffs and specials covered, so pick what you like. In a group you might need a Mastery or Stats buff, so tame some pets that have them and bring whichever is needed the most. In a PVP you might need some CC pets, like a 50% speed reduction from spiders shooting Web Spray.

As you can see from the comments so far as well as info on Petopia, it really is true when people say the pet choice depends on the situation. There is no single pet that is the best in any given situation, but some are more suited than others. You don't want a CC pet when fighting mobs that doesn't run away or needs to be kited. That would be a waste of Special ability. Might as well take a turtle for the shield or a spirit beast for the heal and so on.

[Phookah]

Use the one that provides a buff you or your raid/group needs.
If that doesn't apply and you are soloing, use a tank pet.

[JustRob]

It seems kinda pointless to pick a pet specifically for a certain type of buff considering I only run LFR. In that case I guess I'll go with whatever I like best.

[Conjurthis]

Really just whatever buff you need now

[Finbezz]

Spirit beasts are best because they have a heal that can be used on cd automatically on the raid. However this is assuming all buffs are covered in the raid. If the raid is missing attack power buff then the best pet would be a pet that casts attack power.

This is why you hear "it depends on the situation"

There are no pets that give attack power because hunters give it passively.

[turboether]

I use an addon called "RaidChecklist". It shows which buffs your group has and what it is missing, and when you mouse-over the buff in question it will show you which hunter pets give the buff you need.

[Gongoi]

My rule spirit beasts for BM because it gives mastery, your best stat and crit, a good stat. If you cant get a spirit beast use a cat or tiger of some kind, they also give mastery.
For MM you should run lone wolf, but always keep a wolf in your inventory incase you need a pet, because wolves give crit.
For SV you should also run lone wolf but if you need to use a pet use a dragon hawk for multistrike.
As a side note all pets do the same dps so you can use what ever you want in a raid, but i pref spirit beasts for the heal and they start combat in stelth so there first hit is increased damage.
Another sidenote is if you play BM i keep a water strider at all times, comes in handy cause it gives you water walking. hope it helps