The hunter is one of the 2 pet classes in World of Warcraft. While some hunters play their class as a melee character with a pet, this is not the correct way to play the class. The Hunter’s pet is their to assist the hunter and keep the mobs busy while the hunter launches his powerful ranged attacks.

The type of pet a hunter uses to level up does not matter until he reaches higher levels in the game. Hunter pets fall into 3 categories: High damage pets, pets with high armor class, and pets that are balanced between high armor class and damage. All pets of the same creature type will share the same basic stats, but which pet the hunter uses will depend on the strategy the hunter wishes to employ when soloing or grouping.

High Damage Hunter Pets

World of Warcraft Hunters who wish to have their pet doing a lot of damage should consider a pet with a high damage rating. The high damage pets have slightly higher attack bonuses, but lower armor class and hit points. Some pet abilities and the beast mastery talent tree may make the high damage pets more suitable for tanking, but these same tree will also increase the damage of the pet.

If the hunter wishes to take mobs down more quickly in the World of Warcraft a high damage pet may be the way to go.

Examples of High Damage Pets:

Cat

Bat

Owl

Raptor

Spider

Ravager

Wind Serpent

High Health Hunter Pets

High health hunter pets in the World of Warcraft are intended to be used to tank. The damage output of high health pets is the lowest of the three pet types, but high health pets can fight longer than their counterparts. If a hunter has a high damage weapon or if the pet is not capable of holding aggro while the hunter solos, a player should switch to one of the other pet types. Should the player gain the mob’s attention, hunters have several tools for reducing aggro, feign death and disengage.

Examples of High Health Hunter Pets:

Nether Ray

Bear

Well Rounded Hunter Pets

Well Rounded Hunter pets in the World of Warcraft are designed to fill the 2 roles mentioned previously. The stats of the well rounded pets are not designed to give the creature an advantage in any specific area. Which pet a hunter chooses will most likely depend on the abilities of the pet, but all well balanced pets can fill the role of tank and additional dps. The mend pet ability can be used to make up for the lack of additional hit points possessed by the high health pets.

Examples of Well Rounded Hunter Pets:

Carrion Bird

Gorilla

Hyena

Tallstrider

Dragonhawk

Sporebat

Wolf

Using the Hunters’ Pets in the World of Warcraft

For leveling, almost any pet will do and the major difference comes in the end game with the trained abilities of each pet. Knowing the trainable abilities of the well-rounded pets will help a hunter pick out a creature that fits his particular play style. Boars are popular in the high level game, but for leveling purposes, the difference between each pet type is minor.

When this article was originally written, hunters were not able to tame many elite or exotic pets. With the upcoming release of Wrath of the Lich King, the pets available to hunters have changed. World of Warcraft hunter playes should know that generally, the elite pets follow these rules, and the WotLK expansion introduced exotic pets.

Wrath of the Lich King Additions

This guide was written long before Wrath of the Lich King was thought of, and finding and selecting an epic pet for a hunter is an seperate topic in its own right.   The important addition that came with Wrath of the Lich King was the ability of hunters to tame epic pets, which further increased the damage per second a hunter pet can do.  Epic pets require a talent in the beast mastery tree and must be obtained in a special way.

Sources

“World of Warcraft Hunter Pets Guide .”

“Pet Type FAQ. ” Home of the Mystic

World of Warcraft Warlock Pet Guide