Would be interesting to hear what pets you, who plan on playing Hunters, plan on using? Myself I played Hunter among other things in Vanilla and tamed The Rake followed by Broken Tooth, however I was NE back then and if I roll hunter again I’ll likely try another race, which means I’d be more open to non-cats due to the no longer existing prowl/shadowmeld combo.
Still not sure if I'm rolling Hunter, but if so I'll be getting a Slavering Worg from SFK. 1.10 Attack Speed, then later on tame a Wolf with Furious Howl 4 just to teach it to the Slavering Worg.
Having a 1.10 Attack Speed wolf with FH4 is god tier. Unless you can get Lupos, then always get Lupos.
Cats are still really good without Prowl/Shadowmeld as they’re (pre ZG) the fastest attacking pets in the game, making good use of Ferocity/Frenzy talents and the added pushback to cast times. They also have (along with Raptors) the best base Damage modifier (10%) but can also learn Dash (which Raptors can’t).
I think I’m leaning towards a Raptor for 10-27 for the slight increase in armor (helpful at earlier levels and you can pick one up at 10 right near Orgrimmar as Orc/Troll while you have to wait until 12 near Crossroads to get a Cat or backtrack to Echo Isles and tame a level 8 pet). Then I’ll switch to a Needles Cougar at 27 which has a 1.2 attack speed (this is also around the time you start having a few points in Ferocity and can level your new pet’s loyalty before Frenzy comes online). From there Lupos is BiS pre 1.9, when his damage is normalized, and Broken Toothe is also a good option at 1.0 attack speed. Both of these pets will be HEAVILY contested so in all likelihood I’ll probably hit 60 with the 1.2 speed Cat.
In short, for Orc/Troll:
Level 10: Bloodtalon Scythemaw
Level 27: Needles Cougar
Option for Lupos at 27, Broken Toothe at 37
You can definitely consider a Wind Serpent for level 60 farming when a lot of ideal content has high armor.
Why not 1.10 Worg? Even ignoring FH, 1.10 at 24 is pretty OP.
EDIT: Misremembering Worgs are 1.2.
0% base damage modifier and no Claw.
As I'm rolling an Orc I may make a quick detour into Mulgore to see if I can nab https://classic.wowhead.com/npc=5807/the-rake early on. I'll probably stick with him until the initial levelling wave is over with, then camp out BT and Lupos.
It’s very unlikely you’ll be able to get it at launch and the time loss isn’t worth it. There’s Durotar Tiger at Echo Isles if you really want an early fast attack speed Cat (1.3 speed compared to The Rake at 1.2) but you’ll have to settle for a level 8 and catch it up.teebling wrote: ↑5 years agoAs I'm rolling an Orc I may make a quick detour into Mulgore to see if I can nab https://classic.wowhead.com/npc=5807/the-rake early on. I'll probably stick with him until the initial levelling wave is over with, then camp out BT and Lupos.
Cats are arguably the premier leveling pet from a damage perspective if you take into account how unrealistic grabbing Lupos early on is. With proper management the less armor/HP factors aren’t much of an issue but everyone has different needs and there are a lot of good options honestly.
No arguement on the damage - they are definitely the highest DPS of all the pets. Just personally don't think they are carried by DPS alone. I've seen a lot of praise on Boars for levelling with the Charge/Bite combo and the tanky af stats. Have also seen people arguing for Crabs and for Turtles. Tankability is definitely very welcome in the levelling scene and cats really fall out on that.Jpy wrote: ↑5 years ago
Cats are arguably the premier leveling pet from a damage perspective if you take into account how unrealistic grabbing Lupos early on is. With proper management the less armor/HP factors aren’t much of an issue but everyone has different needs and there are a lot of good options honestly.
The reason I prefer Wolf is just setting it up for end-game. 1.2 AS Wolf with FH4 in raid with a good melee group is so worth it to me. Really helps stim those DPS numbers.
Lupos will out damage Cats while it still has Shadow damage. Wind Serpents will outdamage Cats if your targets armor is significant. Raptors have the same base damage value as Cats and can learn both Claw and Bite. Tankability is cool, but not practical from an efficiency perspective. As I said, if you’re managing your pet correctly and put a few points into Endurance Training your Cat/Raptor will be fine. Charge actually roots so at least there’s reasoning behind that choice but depending on what you wanted to do you could make a case for just about every pet. There’s not really a wrong answer. It’s worth noting you can still get a 1.2 attack speed Wolf later (53, Death Maw) and not sacrifice leveling efficiency.Solveig wrote: ↑5 years agoNo arguement on the damage - they are definitely the highest DPS of all the pets. Just personally don't think they are carried by DPS alone. I've seen a lot of praise on Boars for levelling with the Charge/Bite combo and the tanky af stats. Have also seen people arguing for Crabs and for Turtles. Tankability is definitely very welcome in the levelling scene and cats really fall out on that.Jpy wrote: ↑5 years ago
Cats are arguably the premier leveling pet from a damage perspective if you take into account how unrealistic grabbing Lupos early on is. With proper management the less armor/HP factors aren’t much of an issue but everyone has different needs and there are a lot of good options honestly.
The reason I prefer Wolf is just setting it up for end-game. 1.2 AS Wolf with FH4 in raid with a good melee group is so worth it to me. Really helps stim those DPS numbers.
Yeah the catch up doesn't seem worth it.Jpy wrote: ↑5 years agoIt’s very unlikely you’ll be able to get it at launch and the time loss isn’t worth it. There’s Durotar Tiger at Echo Isles if you really want an early fast attack speed Cat (1.3 speed compared to The Rake at 1.2) but you’ll have to settle for a level 8 and catch it up.teebling wrote: ↑5 years agoAs I'm rolling an Orc I may make a quick detour into Mulgore to see if I can nab https://classic.wowhead.com/npc=5807/the-rake early on. I'll probably stick with him until the initial levelling wave is over with, then camp out BT and Lupos.
Tbh I wish I was Night Elf because then I could get a fucking owl
I literally have this thread open still in my tabs hahaha. Read the comments though, people really take that arguement apart. As mentioned though, there's an arguement for every pet. All just a matter of deciding what works for you and where you want to end up. In reality a good hunter will have a all three stable slots filled with different roles.teebling wrote: ↑5 years agoYeah the catch up doesn't seem worth it.Jpy wrote: ↑5 years agoIt’s very unlikely you’ll be able to get it at launch and the time loss isn’t worth it. There’s Durotar Tiger at Echo Isles if you really want an early fast attack speed Cat (1.3 speed compared to The Rake at 1.2) but you’ll have to settle for a level 8 and catch it up.teebling wrote: ↑5 years agoAs I'm rolling an Orc I may make a quick detour into Mulgore to see if I can nab https://classic.wowhead.com/npc=5807/the-rake early on. I'll probably stick with him until the initial levelling wave is over with, then camp out BT and Lupos.
Tbh I wish I was Night Elf because then I could get a fucking owl
Wolf/Cat/Crab IMO is a good setup. Wolf for PvE, Cat for PvP and Crab for PvE/PvP/Memes.
Owl would work really nicely with a Night Elf Hunter playing survival due to the AoE AP debuff of Screech, combined with NE dodge racials, high base agility, and all the dodge/parry proc attacks like Mongoose/Counterattack. A super dodge-y melee survivalist.
Bit of a pipe dream and I doubt it's very effective as a build but it could be a fun experiment anyway
I sincerely believe Lupos won’t ever do shadow damage in Classic.
Owl and Wind Serpent looks tempting but I dislike the 2.0 AS (for frenzy and caster interrupts), but maybe I shoudn’t care about that?
1.7
Arikara (Wind Serpent, 28, Thousand Needles)
If that makes any difference for you :)
Still not ideal, but hey!
Now, things could always change in Classic due to errors in information, but as of right now there is no indication whatsoever from private servers that a wolf will be the premier raid pet unless Lupos is in his pre-nerf state, which in all likelihood he won't be. Even before the nerf, if you don't have Lupos then wolves aren't worth getting.
After Lupos's nerf, the raid premier pet is either a cat or a raptor due to being able to train both bite, claw, and having the highest innate damage modifiers.
Furious Howl is a non-issue and really not competitive. Lupos gets picked because he does insane damage on attacks. Furious Howl? No, he'd be better if he could train claw.
The wolf pet urban legend has likely persisted so long due to Lupos being a wolf (and onlookers not realizing that "wolf" isn't the special part) and also due to most min-maxers being warriors and rogues. Not only is there less time devoted to theorycrafting hunters, but warriors and rogues screech very loudly for hunters to get Furious Howl so that they can score a smidgen higher on their own dps meter standing while sacrificing overall raid dps.
Back in the day when I had a Hunter alt, I just picked the pets I truly liked and could possibly add value to RP sessions. My main pet was a Crocolisk called Ironjaw, and also included him to play a part in RP sessions. So much fun! Plus, loved the hissing sound the Crocolisks make. :-)
I remember getting a rare elite tiger from Winterspring or the tiger from a quest in Winterspring, which you couldn't get anymore after you completed the quest. Unless you waited for someone else to spawn the mob.
Echeyakee is a good, flashy pet for the fact you can spawn him yourself, time-lost getting the rake is a big deal if you're trying to get ahead of the pack on early levels which leads to my primary focus... Broken tooth! The faster I can get to 37 the less competition there will be. I've always had more problems with casters than high armour players that I can easily kite.
Still a proponent of using what you think is cool. Want a Hyena? Go for it.
I had a black mottle boar from Durotar from start to end of my time playing WoW. I didn't really know anything about the stats, but I thought it was a pretty good all-around pet, plus the fact that it could eat anything I fed it. I'll probably grab the little 4-legged garbage disposal again this time around, though it'd be nice to get a fast attack cat (or owl...) as well.
From the slackened maw of the beast can only come chaos and destruction. Defend your people!
Good stuff! In Vanilla I had a bunch of different pets. From memory I had a cat from Badlands towards the end, but might need to dig out the screenshots and see if my pet is in any of them.Herrington wrote: ↑5 years agoI had a black mottle boar from Durotar from start to end of my time playing WoW. I didn't really know anything about the stats, but I thought it was a pretty good all-around pet, plus the fact that it could eat anything I fed it. I'll probably grab the little 4-legged garbage disposal again this time around, though it'd be nice to get a fast attack cat (or owl...) as well.
I only made it to 47 back in the day as a young kid, I remember knowing the slight differences across the pets, but obviously never knew which was strictly better than the other. Though was often told about Broken Tooth.
Definitely a big advocate of picking what suits you and what you like, over strictly which stat is better than the other. :)
Question: do you guys think I will need a tanky pet for soloing Maraudon? Say a Turtle or a Gorilla?
Depends on spec I guess.Ravenheart wrote: ↑5 years agoQuestion: do you guys think I will need a tanky pet for soloing Maraudon? Say a Turtle or a Gorilla?
I've never played a Hunter but I'm planning on rolling one as an alt at some point in Classic.
Is Brokentooth still the best all round pet in PvP against casters in 1.12?
No, mara is ez pz.Ravenheart wrote: ↑5 years agoQuestion: do you guys think I will need a tanky pet for soloing Maraudon? Say a Turtle or a Gorilla?
Yes, the pushback is crazy but any mage worth their salt will cc your pet anyway.
But most mages suck.
