Best Hunter Pets In WoW

There are many different types of pets that can be tamed in the world of Azeroth, but some stand out as being better than others for hunters. In this article, we will take a look at the best hunter pets in WoW, and why they make such good companions on the battlefield.

The best Hunter pets in WoW is going to depend on your play style and the type of content you’re doing. Ferocity would be best for levelling, Tenacity for raiding or dungeons and Cunning if you do PvP.

I’ll go into more detail below on the different specialisations, pet families, beast master exotic pets and how to find the rarest hunter pets in WoW

Hunter Pets 101 In World Of Warcraft

Before we get into which are the best hunter pets in WoW, it’s important to get the basics down. In this section I’m going to explain how hunter pets work.

This will make your hunter journey easier and more importantly, more fun!

Its awhile back but I’m sure when I started playing, you could only have 1 hunter pet. Each pet had different skills, so it was more important to pick the right specific pet for your play style.

Since Shadowlands launched you can store two hundred pets. You can even have five pets in your active roster to pick from.

It’s important to remember that in reality there is no such thing as the best hunter pets.

Sure some do offer some advantages but at the end of the day, if you prefer to play with a specific pet then you use that pet!

Your Pets Abilities

Every single pet comes with the same 3 abilities, this doesnt matter what type of hunter pet they are.

1. Growl
2. Dash
3. Bite/Claw/Smack

Growl

This ability is used to taunt your opponent and encourage your pet to get aggro from your opponent. Keeping the mob away from you, so you can attack from a distance.

Dash

Speed generally equals more damage and with the hunter class being a pure DPS class, your want your pet to be able to move quickly. Dash is used to help boost movement speed of the pet by 80%, this lasts for 10 seconds.

Bite/Claw/Smack

This attack will do much more damage, in fact it’ll do double the damage. It will however cost double the amount of your pets focus.

Hunter Pet Specialisations

Depending on your play style, you’ll want to pick a pet specialisation that compliments what kind of content your doing.

Each specialisation has a different passive and active ability, however each specialisation does the same damage, health and armor.

Ferocity

Ferocity is a pretty decent spec to go for when soloing content, as the 10% leech can help keep it alive. If you do group and dont have a shaman in the group, you want a Ferocity pet. The Primal Rage will help give you additional haste that you’d get from Heroism/Bloodlust

Abilities

• Primal Rage – For 40 seconds all party members haste increases by 30%
• Predator’s Thirst – Player and their pet leaches 10% on all attacks.

Tenacity

Tenacity is a great spec to go for when doing raids and other PvE content. Since hunters are pure DPS, they dont have any tanking abilities. With Tenacity you get Survival of the Fittest, this reduces damage by 20% for 6 seconds. Helping your pet to tank a bit more against tough mobs. The extra 5% of max health also comes in very handy.

Abilities

• Endurance Training – Increase health by 5% on both player and pet.
• Survival of the Fittest – Reduce damage by 20% for 6 seconds.

Cunning

If you do PvP then cunning makes for a great spec. This is because of the increased movement speed, as well as the ability to remove immozbolilization.

Abilities

• Master’s Call – Remove immozbolilization such as roots from pet and player (or players target)
• Pathfinding – increase movement speed of player and pet by 8%

Hunter Pets Families Abilities

Hunter pet families has caused some confusion with many beginner hunters.

It’s basically a way to put them into a group. Each type of hunter pet, will be granted one of the six abilities below.

This allows you to match a family ability with the specialisation to get the “perfect” pet for your needs.

Beast Master Specialisation Exotic Pets

For me one of the best things about the hunter class is the ability to have pets. (As well as being able to use crossbows!)

This makes Beast Master a great spec for the hunter to go with. As a Beast Master your able to tame additional pets, you do however need to be level 39.

These pets are known as Exotic and have an extra skill for you to use.

Exotic Hunter Pets

Name	Ability	Effect
Aqiri	Dune Strider	Pets movement speed increases by 30%
Carapid	Calcified Carapace	Damage taken by pet is reduced based on total health
Chimaera	Froststorm Breath	Damages all targets within 12 yards 4 times
Clefthoof	Blood of the Rhino	Gives 10% additional armour and increases heals by 20%
Core Hound	Molten Hide	Inflicts fire damage to melee attackers when attacked for 10 seconds
Devilsaur	Feast	Consumes nearby humanoid/beast corpse and heals 20% of health & 20 focus
Shale Beast	Shimmering Shale	Reduces magic damage take by pet based on total health
Spirit Beast	Spirit Mend	Heals friendly target with additional healing over 10 seconds
Stone Hound	Eternal Guardian	Every 8 minutes revive pet to full health instantly
Water Strider	Surface Trot	Surface Trot – You and pet can walk on water
Worm	Burrow Attack	Deals nature damage over 8 seconds to all enemies within the area

Hunter Tomes

There are certain pets that can only be tamed once you’ve learned how to. To do this you need to read special books known as Hunter Tomes.

These tomes can be learnt by any hunter specialisation.

Below are the different Hunter Tomes and where to find them.

Ancient Tome of Dinomancy

This tome teaches you how to tame Direhorns. The tome drops on the Isle of Giants, it drops from Zandalari Dinomancer.

Mecha-Bond Imprint Matrix

If you want a Mechanical pet, you need to get this tome. The Matrix is crafted by Engineers, the plan can be purchased from Xur’ios in Dalaran. An Enegineer only needs one skill point in Legion Engineering.

Tome of the Hybrid Beast

Feathermanes are some of my favorite looking Hunter pets, its well worth the effort in getting this tome.

To get this tome you need to purchase it from Pan the Kind Hand, but this can only be done when following the Hunter Class Mount Questline.

Blood-Soaked Tome of Dark Whispers

In order to tame Blood Beasts, you need to get a copy of the Blood-Soaked Tome of Dark Whispers. This is a guaranteed drop from Zul in Uldir. It drops whether you do it in normal or harder versions.

Gargon Training Manual

This manual is fairly easy to get. It drops from Huntmaster Petrus in Revendreth. Getting it allows you to tame the Gargon of Revendreth

How to School Your Serpent

If you enjoyed the atmosphere of Pandaria, no doubt you’d love a Cloud Serpent as a hunter pet. Luckily its very easy to get, this book can be purchased from San Redscale in the Jade Forest. It only costs 12g.

Simple Tome of Bone-Binding

Whether your a forsaken or not, charging in at your enemy with an undead pet will be intimidating. The Simple Tome of Bone-Binding will allow you to tame undead beasts. This tome drops from bosses in the dungeon Plaguefall but also from NPCs in Maldraxxus.

Best Hunter Pets For Levelling & Questing

Whether your new to the hunter class or not, you want a pet that can help not only stay alive but also cause plenty of damage against mobs. As a hunter, the pet you choose is an important decision to make.

I would recommend going for a Ferocity pet. These do tend to make the best hunter pet for levelling or questing. This is even more important if you are levelling on your own. Since the hunter is a DPS only class, the Ferocity specialisation does give a bit of tanking with the leech ability.

Pets I would recommend would be;

Name	Location
Clefhoof	Borean Tundra
Core Hound	Mount Hyjal
Gorilla	Stranglethorn Vale, Un’Goro Crater, Jade Forest & Zandalar
Scalehide	Vally of the four winds, Desolace, Dread Wastes & Korthia

There are other places that they can be found, however these are some of the most common.

Clefhoof is a great choice as its an excellent tank, it has the leech effect but also the passive effect Blood of the Rhino.

The other pets above are also recommended if your not following the beast mastery specialisation. All of these have the defense ability, which helps to reduce the amount of damage they do take.

Best Hunter Pets For Raiding & Dungeons

If your looking for the best hunter pet for PvE, Tenacity would be the specialisation you want to focus on. With Endurance training you and the pet get additional health. Not only that but because of Survival of the fittest, it also has some damaging reduction.

Pets I would recommend would be;

Name	Location
Spirit Beast	The Storm Peaks, Grizzly Hills, Suramar
Stonehound	Revendreth
Bear	Most Zones
Beetle	Uldum, Vol’dun
Oxen	Maldraxxus, Kun-Lai Summit, Stormheim & Timeless Isles
Turtle	Valley of the Four Winds, Timeless Isle, Suramar
Carapid	Vol’dun, Ardenweald

There are other places that they can be found, however these are some of the most common.

Best Hunter Pets For PvP

Now if PvP is your goal then i’d recommend going for Cunning pets. Theres to me are the best hunter pet for PvP.

Theres a couple of very good reasons why.

First of all Master’s Call can help you escape CC, since it removes immobility.

The second reason is because of the extra movement speed you get. This is perfect for pushing forward against those injured enemies that are trying to escape.

In terms of family abilities, I would be looking for one that has slow to help slow down your enemies. If I wanted to mix it up a bit then id also go for mortal wounds, as this would reduce the healing your opponents could do. Which would help you to take them out easier.

Pets I recommend are;

Name	Location
Aqiri	Dread Wastes, Ruins of ahn’qiraj, Silithus, Tanaris, Thousand Needles, Uldum
Basilisk	Desolace, High Mountain, Suramar, Terokkar Forest, Zangarmarsh
Bird of Prey	Zuldazar, Zereth Mortis, Winterspring, Vally Of The Four Winds, Val’sharah
Hound	The Maw, Talador, Stormsong Valley, Revendreth, Maldraxxus, Eastern Plaguelands
Hyena	Vol’dun, Uldum, Blasted Lands, Descolace, Tanaris
Raptor	Zuldazar, Wetlands, Un’Goro Crater, Tanaan Jungle, Northern Barrens, Nazmir
Rodent	Zereth Mortis, The Maw, Eredath, Vale of Eternal Blossoms, Jade Forest
Warp Stalker	Terokkar Forest, Talador, Shadowmoon Valley, Nagrand, Eredath

There are other places that they can be found, however these are some of the most common.

What Hunter Pets Look The Best?

To be honest getting into the abilities is really more for end game or serious hunters. Let’s face it, most of the time we pick a hunter pet based on what they look like.

Let’s face it, you have your gear the way you want it. It’s understandable that you want your pet to match the look of your character.

Below are a list of some of my favourite looking hunter pets. Many of these can be tough to get as other hunters are also after them.

Hunter Pet Table

Pet	Family Ability	Specialisation
Aqiri	Slow	Cunning
Basilisk	Slow	Cunning
Bat	Pet Cure/Dispel	Ferocity
Bear	Triggered Defense	Tenacity
Beetle	Defense	Tenacity
Bird of Prey	Slow	Cunning
Blood Beast	Slow	Tenacity
Boar	Defense	Cunning
Camel	Triggered Defense	Cunning
Carapid	Defense	Tenacity
Carrion Bird	Mortal Wounds	Ferocity
Cat	Dodge	Ferocity
Chimaera	Slow	Ferocity
Clefhoof	Triggered Defense	Ferocity
Core Hound	Defense	Ferocity
Courser	Dodge	Ferocity
Crab	Slow	Tenacity
Crane	Pet Cure/Dispel	Tenacity
Croclisk	Slow	Ferocity
Direhorn	Mortal Wounds	Tenacity
Dragonhawk	Dodge	Tenacity
Feathermane	Dodge	Tenacity
Fox	Dodge	Cunning
Girukka	Triggered Defense	Ferocity
Gruffhorn	Triggered Defense	Cunning
Hound	Slow	Cunning
Hyena	Mortal Wounds	Cunning
Mammoth	Slow	Tenacity
Mechanical	Defense	Cunning
Monkey	Dodge	Cunning
Moth	Pet Cure/Dispel	Cunning
Oxen	Triggered Defense	Tenacity
Pterrordax	Triggered Defense	Cunning
Ray	Pet Cure/Dispel	Ferocity
Scalehide	Defense	Ferocity
Serpent	Dodge	Cunning
Shale Beast	Defense	Cunning
Sorebat	Pet Cure/Dispel	Cunning
Spider	Slow	Ferocity
Spirit Beast	Pet Cure/Dispel	Tenacity
Stag	Pet Cure/Dispel	Tenacity
Stonehound	Triggered Defense	Tenacity
Tallstrider	Slow	Ferocity
Toad	Dodge	Tenacity
Turtle	Defense	Tenacity
Warp Stalker	Slow	Cunning
Water Strider	Pet Cure/Dispel	Cunning
Wind Serpent	Dodge	Ferocity
Wolf	Slow	Ferocity
Worm	Slow	Tenacity

Final Thoughts

In this article, we’ve explored the different best hunter pets for raiding and dungeons, as well as PvP.

We’ve looked at the benefits of Tenacity pets for PvE and Cunning pets for PvP, and listed some of the best Hunter Pets in each category.

Finally, we’ve discussed what factors you may want to consider when choosing a pet based on looks alone.

We hope you’ve found this guide helpful, and good luck in your future hunts!