Am I the only one who hates this?

[LordArcsinh]

But I was thinking, there might be some way that Blizzard can make it so you won't see wolves everywhere.

Simple, make Furious Howl a Ferocity talent. Done.

Wolves only give a extra 20 DPS compared to other pets so don't bother

Please stop spreading misinformation. I don't care what you do, but quit advising people incorrectly.

Protip: The reason everyone has a Wolf is not the DPS that the wolf itself does.

[ASO]

Simple, make Furious Howl a Ferocity talent. Done.

They said somewhere they want there to be unique things that each pet type can do, but that it'd be impossible to make them all exactly equal. Which makes sense. Thus, there is always going to be a "best pet" hunters have to take, as long as there are unique abilities on some pets.

[LordArcsinh]

They said somewhere they want there to be unique things that each pet type can do, but that it'd be impossible to make them all exactly equal. Which makes sense. Thus, there is always going to be a "best pet" hunters have to take, as long as there are unique abilities on some pets.

Except the variances between individual pet offensive abilities is so small that it is a non-issue to all but the absolute min-maxers. The difference between a Raptor's pet DPS, a Wasp's and a Cat's is roughly 40-50 in ICC levels of gear.

The problem here is that Wolves buff the Hunter - the overwhelming source of damage in the relationship (BM Hunters not included). That 320 AP is enhanced by things like encounter buffs (pets don't enjoy these), zone buffs (pets don't enjoy these), syncing with procs and cooldowns (noticing a trend here?), and so on and so forth. The reason the Wolf is so universally chosen is because it buffs the Hunter.

Remove Furious Howl as the decision why Wolves are chosen by making it available to all Ferocity pets (hey, remember 3.0 when everyone had a Gorilla?) and you suddenly find a much more diverse pet landscape.

(Well, no, it wouldn't be diverse at all, every god damned NE/BE Hunter would be running around with some stupid frostsaber, but still, I could at least raid with my wasp.)

[Deleted]

They could solve it by removing unique pet class abilities and just add extra points and talents to their talent tree, yes that would be very boring but atleast you could bring any pet you want.

[Ekoor]

Isn't it obvious? Blizzard doesn't like people expressing their individuality. That is why everyone's gear looks exactly the same. That is why everyone's pigeonholed into using the same pets, etc. Heck, if it wasn't for the mounts and the haircuts, it'd be like clone wars.

Imo, this game really does need (a lot) more character customization options.

[Selanix]

i agree. When I got Brokentooth back in vanilla, I had to camp there for like 2-3 hours. He had the fastest attack speed at the time and was badass. i felt more attached to him cuz it was an accomplishment just to get him. I have camped out spirit beasts but their damage isn't that great compared to other pets. They are vanity pets so hunters can say look how cool my pet is.

[Krothar]

I'm waiting for the day that the Tallstrider becomes the ideal pet for raiders! I just want Pinkie to come out of the stables :3

Tallstriders were the best DPS pets for a while back in Vanilla. This was before the Normalization of Pet Stats/Attack speeds.

At that point in the game Horde Hunters were considered lucky because they had access to Humar Wrong cat name, the white one! a lot more easily than Alliance, because he had far superior stats to that of a normal cat pet.

On topic though, I do agree, I only recently leveled my Hunter to 80 after dropping him for a long time. I got to 80 and my Guild helped me gear him up, but one of the better Hunters in the guild kept getting on at me to use a Wolf instead of my Frostsaber, which I refused to do. This is mainly because the Hunter is not my Raiding main, so I'm not so bothered about squeezing as much DPS as possible out of it.

[weshallarise]

i use a carrion bird and tallstrider. havent seen much of a dps drop (i know its there) but sometimes we dont have a ret pally or specced warrior for demo shout and the tallstrider can prevent alot of damage on fights like festergut and blood power on saurfang

[Elenion]

I'm not just talking about Wolf > Cat. I know it's highly unlikely that Blizzard can make all pets equal, but why couldn't they add a system where as a result we'll start seeing some serpents, core hounds and turtles just because it adds a touch of variety in this world where we try to be top of the charts.

You will get more freedom in next expansion, I believe you GET to choose which spec your pet will have, so you could have your bear speced to do DPS instead of using exclusive for tanking.

[Gearion]

I played back in the days of Vanilla WoW and I loved my Frostsaber to death!

Then I guess you didn't know that back in Vanilla, Broken Tooth was the highest dps pet around because it had the fastest attack speed, there might have been that one near Thunder Bluff that was equal or .1 attack speed difference. Broken Tooth was the most plain, boring, run of the mill texture of any cat, and looked like half the cat npcs running around WoW. I don't see how things have gotten worse than Vanilla.

[Muraske]

Then I guess you didn't know that back in Vanilla, Broken Tooth was the highest dps pet around because it had the fastest attack speed, there might have been that one near Thunder Bluff that was equal or .1 attack speed difference. Broken Tooth was the most plain, boring, run of the mill texture of any cat, and looked like half the cat npcs running around WoW. I don't see how things have gotten worse than Vanilla.

Broken Tooth vs The Rake, 1.0 vs 1.2.

The Spell Pushback was intense!

[Sartuk]

60dps is alot. For some comparison, DBW trinket, which is best in slot, will gain you about 100 dps over the ilvl200 DMC: Greatness.

It's a ~100 dps upgrade for Survival hunters, but mind you DMC Greatness is still like 5th BiS for SV hunters too; ilvl doesn't always equate to actual strength. For MM hunters (which most raiders, for good reasons, are) DBW is about ~250 DPS above DMC:G, and is essentially worth even more if it brings you to the point where you can start ArP gemming.

But yeah, 60 DPS is about what I gained from going to the 264 T10 shoulders from the 251's (77 to be exact). So a wolf is essentially a solid tier upgrade over a cat, almost.

[Gearion]

Broken Tooth vs The Rake, 1.0 vs 1.2.

The Spell Pushback was intense!

I remember Broken Tooth being the fastest attack speed pet in Vanilla, so I had to look it up. Turns out it was Broken Tooth that had the 1.0 attack speed and The Rake and Humar were 1.2. I remember people talking about the Bat also having 1.0 but I always thought flying pets were anoying.

I was reminded when I looked up The Rake on wowhead and read the comments:

http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=5807#comments

[phycus]

I am very annoyed with only really having one pet option if I totally want to maximize dps. I actually keep 3 different wolves in my stable just to mix up the skins a little. I'd suggest grabbing the one from northern ice crown that changes to one of five colors each time you bring it out. I guess I'm saying that we're stuck with wolves for a while, so we might as well enjoy them as best we can. At least we don't all have to run around with devilsaurs; those things are a pain in the ass to see around.

[Sonnet]

I don't want to see all pets doing the same exact thing. That would mean everything was..well, the same. Wolves are great in Raids b/c of Furious Howl. I don't blame Blizzard for making a pet that has a great ability, but there is a lot of uneveness when it comes to cooldowns for pet abilities.

Bad Attitude has a 2 minute cooldown. Whereas Hamstring (on Hyenas) is like 40 seconds.

I like pets with different abilities, even if some offer the potential for more DPS. That's a choice the Hunter gets to make and it's part of what makes playing a Hunter great.

What I REALLY dislike is the people who EXPECT me to play with a wolf. I like my devilsaur and my Spirit Beast. And I'm not even spec'd in MM anymore, tyvm.

I'm not paying a monthly fee to have you tell me what I have to play or not play.

Play your class to the best of your ability. Do the right glyphs, gems, shot rotation, food buffs, etc. You'll put out DPS and you'll have the companion you want.

Also... I've never fallen in love with any of the wolf models except Skoll. And he's not really a "wolf".

[Lysah]

The plague hound wasn't bad until everyone under the sun got it.

The wolf from ramparts wasn't bad until everyone under the sun got it.

Now, if you use a wolf, you're guaranteed to look exactly like every other hunter out there. How boring.

[Conran]

blizzard actually made the game, that casuals can play the game and clear content.. without the need to be hardcore and maximize your dps

It's your game and you decide how you play it

[Pachycrocuta]

I use a wolf for my pet because I love dogs, not for the buff or dps they give. I leveled 63-76 with a core hound from molten core. Sometimes I feel like bringing my core hound to a raid.

[ItachiZaku]

Of course if you wipe on Blood Queen or Putricide with, say, 30k health to go a couple of times, then you realise why 100dps is important.

Yes. I'm all in favor of having fun and stuff, but when you wipe on such a low % or health number multiple times, you start analyzing your spec, glyphs, every gem and enchant. Pet is "easiest" to sub.

[pomop]

Yes. I'm all in favor of having fun and stuff, but when you wipe on such a low % or health number multiple times, you start analyzing your spec, glyphs, every gem and enchant. Pet is "easiest" to sub.

well in my opinion things like this are a good thing. I should have added this in my previous response, but meh.

When things like this happen, it causes every person to wonder what they could have done better. And usually, 9/10 people realize what they could have done better.

So basically, wipes like this cause raids to progress.