So i am leveling a hunter and I am wondering what pet is best?
I know all dmg done by the pets are the same and it depends on the buffs, but what pet buff is the most valuable for a hunter leveling survival?
I don't think it really matters, but it depends on what you want the pet for. With a ferocity pet you'll kill mobs quicker, but with a tenacity pet you'll be able to do the more difficult elite quests easier.
Personally I used a cat while levelling my Hunter, but that was a long time ago so I can't say anything for Cataclysm levelling
IF you want to try and solo elite stuff, you'll need a tenacity pet. Otherwise any pet will do. Remember to glyph Misdirect once you have it.
if you go for the "typical" hunter pets "wolf,cat" etc.
Then a cat is the most valuable and best pet you can choose, since it will provide you with agility which is your main stat.
get a sporebat
Start off with a cat because it provides the best possible buff for you, and at that point you should be able to kill things quick enough that you don't need your pet to tank it. Spec this pet into doing as much damage as possible. When your able to grab a second pet grab a tenacity pet, turtles and gorillas work well. Spec this one into holding aggro and taking less damage/more healing. You can either go for less healing/more damage taken at the cost of more threat/damage done and glyph mend pet. Or you can spec in into taking less damage/more healing at the cost of threat/damage done and glyph misdirect. If you chose this option you can macro misdirect to a few of your shots to reduce down time (you can do this anyway if you choose). Once you get your 3rd/4th pet etc. grab pets that have the next best buffs should you run into another class providing your cat's buff in a dungeon. Wolves, ravagers, dragonhawks, and raptors are all good choices. All the pet information you could ever need is at http://www.wow-petopia.com/ and there is some other useful hunter info at www.warcrafthuntersunion.com
Last edited by lurialus; 2011-07-16 at 07:19 AM. Reason: Fixed petopia link thanks to Terranullis
When levelling, if you want to optimise then you're always going to want a pet with a buff rather than a debuff.
The buffs stay on you in between fights, whereas the debuffs need to be reapplied for every engagement and often have longer cooldowns than the time between mobs.
For personal DPS, get a cat (agi buff) or a wolf (5% crit)
For taking on elites, get any tenacity pet - they usually have specials related to either control or debuffs. Gorillas have an interrupt, turtles have a Shield Wall, bears have -10% AP, crabs have a 4-sec immobilise.
Really though, for the most part while you level, you'll be killing mobs by opening up hard on them and mowing them down before they reach you, and thus you should level with whatever you find most interesting to look at for a long time.
---------- Post added 2011-07-16 at 02:55 AM ----------
I would actually vote against this, because MD invokes a 1.5sec GCD. Even glyphed, you don't want to be constantly using it midfight.
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Pretty much what everyone else said with one exception:
When you get to the 83-84 levels, you'll definitely want a tenacity pet. When cata first came out, I leveled my hunter first and once I hit twilight highlands my spirit beasts were getting wrecked on just two mobs; brought out the Rhino and breezed through it. Highly suggest a tenacity pet for any spec once you get out there
The bigger they are, the harder I hit'em
@lurialus, http://www.wow-petopia.com/ is the correct link for pets, was kinda confused when it wasn't showing up.
Get one Wolf and one Cat and you got the two most important self-buffs covered - Agi/Str and 5% Crit. And use them as you wish.
I personally use a Wolf most of the time, as an MM hunter. The Crit is sweet.
You'll only have time to cast it once per mob, and that extra 0.5sec seems like a better option than having to use concussive shot to prevent it meleeing you because you pulled aggro off your pet.
My apologies, i usually just type petopia into google and hit the first link, works fine. comment still applies though.
if you cant find a good pet, just take a spore bat, they never fail
A tenacity pet. Thunderstomp stops your mend pet pulling agro. I used a gorilla personally for the looks, but a bear or turtle would probably be the best.
Depends on how you plan to level. Questing a lot? Get a tenacity pet so your don't get your face eaten off by mobs. Dungeons? Ferocity for good dps. PvP? Cunning or ferocity works. Ferocity will do fast damage but cunning pets have slowing abilities.
Last edited by Quotidian; 2011-07-16 at 09:00 AM.
Get a ferocity pet aka a cat/tiger, grants u the agi buff wich is the best buff for u as a hunter, until u reach lvl 81-82 a ferocity pet shud be fine to tank most questmobs after that u'd want a tenacity pet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhvvNGeHHME This Video will explain what the best pet is for every situation
Levelling as Marksman currently I found the best pet for me to be a Dog for the ability Lock Jaw which makes an unbreakable root (unless you order your pet to something), I always pull aggro from the start so I found this ability helping me ALOT, I don't have any Heirlooms on the character though, so I can't 1 shot everything with Aimed.
It is currently 69, and I will switch to a tenacity pet at 76 when I also get Misdirect, and get the glyph (Why does Misdirect have to be at 76...) and then breeze through mobs without ever pulling aggro
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Just start off with a ferocity pet and once you can have multiple pets at hand, pick up a tenacity pet for later. It's not like you have to level them anymore.