Hunter pets! Different speccs.

[Dejnar]

Hey guys.

Quick question:
Does all pets do equal amounts of damage now?

I'm going to play survival. Since pets are a big part of making the mog look nice i'd hate to have to choose one I really dont like!

/D

[Deleted]

I believe the idea is that all pets of the same spec will do the same damage. So a ferocity spec turtle will do the same damage as a ferocity spec raptor / cat.

A tenacity spec cat would do less than a ferocity spec boar. So the spec is what influences dps, not the type. That's my understanding anyway. There might be some pets which do very slightly more based in unique family abilities though?

[Zeeket]

All dps pets are equal, there isn't 1 family that's better than the other, pick what you like the look of and deeps away

[MrTharne]

Well, cat and spirit beast have "prowl" that buffs the first attack by 20%, so they are the best for dps but :
-While prowling the pet is slooooooooooooooooow and it's annoying.
-It's just one attack.

Go with whatever you want.

[Deleted]

Cat and Spirit beast have the major issue that they aren't GIANT ARMOURED DINOSAURS WITH LIGHTNING.

Thok -> Other weakling pets. (If you're BM)

[Sar-]

^^ Thok > All other pets.

[Tyze]

But exotic pets > normal for BM?

[boyzma]

Only BM can tame exotics...therefor only BM can tame Thok. Did it once for myself then took a guildie in so they could get him..he is pretty neat.

[Tyze]

Only BM can tame exotics...therefor only BM can tame Thok. Did it once for myself then took a guildie in so they could get him..he is pretty neat.

But is having exotic pet more dps than a non exotic as bm?

[Sar-]

No, the choice, outside of a few abilities like Spirit Beasts' Heal, turtle's shell shield etc, is largely personal, cosmetic preference.

[Kwaai]

I've been using a turtle because Fluffy keeps getting his ass beat by AoE damage, and at least Shelly puts up some defense once every few minutes.

[Tyze]

No, the choice, outside of a few abilities like Spirit Beasts' Heal, turtle's shell shield etc, is largely personal, cosmetic preference.

Oh, okey. Weird but okey change :P Where can I see this being official?

[Sar-]

Well, it's not exactly something there's a patch note for.

If you really want to check, go in game and set your exotic pet to auto-attack a target dummy. Then do the same with a non-exotic pet. Should be the same pretty much, as long as both are in Ferocity spec.

[Daetur]

Pets of the same spec (Ferocity, Cunning, Tenacity) will do the same damage as any pet of that spec, with Ferocity being the best pet spec for DPS. You can change the spec of any pet to be whatever you want, so any pet can be Ferocity.

Exotic pets have never dealt inherently more DPS than non-Exotic pets, so this is not a "change" that will be seen in any patch notes, since there has been no difference since pet normalization in WotLK, but they have had access to more and often better bonus abilities, such as Bloodlust, combat rez, heals, water walking, and slowfall, which is where they gain the benefit of their "Exotic" tag, though you will find some non-Exotics now with some of these skills.

With classes and pets all losing their raid buffs in Legion, the only differences from pet species to species are their bonus abilities. The only bonus abilities that has a positive effect on DPS are the pets that can use a Heroism/Bloodlust equivalent: Corehounds(BM only) and Nether Rays (all hunters), but this only applies if your group does not have Bloodlust from another source.

Other bonus abilities of interest:

Spirit Beasts (BM only) have Spirit Mend, a heal with an initial burst and a HoT that can be set to autocast and used on party members (or you, or your pet) when at low HP, or manually cast if desired. My personal favorite, as it's saved a few players from near-death a few times over the years, and brings a very small amount of smart raid healing.

Cranes and moths (all hunters), and Quilen (BM only) have combat resurrections.

Water Striders (BM only) have Water Walking, which is very handy while leveling.

Rylaks (BM only) have Slowfall, also handy for leveling and open-world play.

Additionally, Basilisks, Beetles, Crabs, Foxes, Turtles, Quilen (BM only), and Shale Spiders (BM only) have various defensive skills that make them slightly better pet tanks than other pets when specced into Tenacity.

Some pets (none of the families listed above) also have slows and the Mortal Wounds debuff, which are useful for PvP.

Note that the pets with AoE abilities (Chimaeras and Worms) do NOT actually deal enough damage with these abilities to warrant the Focus consumed and time to channel them, so they are not DPS increases.

[The Firestar]

Don't forget that Nether Rays (All hunters) and Core Hounds (BM Only) have Bloodlust, which can be useful in all manner of solo and group play.