A friend for life, or pet of the week?
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 15th 2007 at 11:00AM
00hshiny is asking a question about what Hunter pet to get for raiding on WoW Ladies, but something even more interesting struck me about her situation: she's made it all the way to 67 with a pet she's had since the beginning.I know it happens (my friend went all the way with his first pet), but I've leveled one Hunter and am now working on a second, and I can't imagine leveling all the way up with just one pet-- it would get too boring after a while! Hunters, have you done it?
Of course you'd need to train other pets at some point, just to get more skills. And it's very common for Hunters to reach 70, and then get different pets for different activities-- a PvP pet vs. a soloing or raiding pet. But I wonder exactly how many pets Hunters actually play with (as in, fight with enough to reach the highest loyalty levels). BRK apparently changes pets all the time, but what about the rest of you Hunters? How many pets have you had, in terms of actually using, not just taming for learning skills, from 1-70?
| Just one, we're BFF | |
|---|---|
| Two, one for each stable slot | |
| Three-- PvP, Raiding, and Solo | |
| Definitely more than three | |
| From three to ten | |
| More than ten but less than sixty | |
| One for every level! |
Filed under: Hunter, Polls, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Theldais Sep 15th 2007 11:11AM
It's all about having just one pet. I've had my pet for at least 2 years by now and he is by far the most well known pet on my server, I've actually had him get healed over the main tank a few times
imtraum Sep 15th 2007 11:54AM
I can't see how anyone can stand to level more than one pet with them at the same time! It's a big enough pain to level 1 pet along with you, let alone swap them out regularly and try to keep more than one leveled.
At any rate, I leveled up with the same black worg and swapped him out at level 20 for a Slavering Worg (before the normalized pet attack speeds, these guys had a 1.2 speed), but effectively it's been the same pet since I rolled my Hunter a few months after launch. Personally, I love the fact that it's always been me and my black worg. I actually care whether or not he dies, whereas my PvP pet I picked up at level 70 (one of the lynxes) I don't so much care about, since I don't have that "bond" with her.
PeeWee Sep 15th 2007 12:08PM
Getting a pet to the highest loyalty level is a piece of cake anyway.
sonvar Sep 15th 2007 12:47PM
I've had Ravnos a nightstalker http://petopia.brashendeavors.net/html/mobs/mob_nightstalker.shtml since I was able to tame a beast and we have been working together since. I've tamed other pets , mostly bears cause they typically had the claw ability, for skills but once I learn those skills it is back to Ravnos.
Matias Varnum Sep 15th 2007 1:03PM
I got a brown Bear from elwin forest, i have had him for the last 2 years and i have now plans of giving him upp now.
Steven Sep 15th 2007 1:05PM
I suddenly feel like an idiot. I've had only one pet the whole way. Are you guys saying that I can tame other animals and get their abilities and use them on my current pet?
Steve Hall Sep 15th 2007 1:07PM
Steven: Yes. Check out Petopia. And then perhaps, BigRedKitty (he blogs here too).
One of my guildmates and best friends has had her cat, Midnight, since Level 10; they're both 68 now.
tripp Sep 15th 2007 1:18PM
What's with all the Hunter articles? Useless in Arenas, useless in 5-mans, and most guilds bring, what, one? The only thing they can do for a group is misdirect a healer when they are upset.
It's such a broken class. Fix them already Blizz.
Cicadymn Sep 15th 2007 10:39PM
Ozias: "IDK my BFF Hogzias?"
My first and only pet is an armored boar from RFK. I luffles him
Zghuk Sep 15th 2007 1:43PM
I had about 10-20 pets... some pets just for style... some for testing and learning (owls,crocs,bats, snakes,...).
My first pet was the white bat in Tirisfal and this as an Orc! Great pet! I had this pet about till lvl 45.
Since my Lvl 60 days (2 years?) I have the boar from east plaguelands with the name "Kampfdackel" (battle dachshund). It's a hommage to our family pet in real life who has been put down last month... RIP kampfdackel... now she lives ingame :-(
Charmed Sep 15th 2007 1:47PM
who cares, hunters suck
Scylloga Sep 15th 2007 2:18PM
I have had the Banglash pet since level 40ish and till then had Humar from 20ish. I now have the ghost saber and leveling her up to become my main pet.
I have three pets bang, casper and a scorpid for pvp.
But lately I have been using bang for pvp because of dash.
him Sep 15th 2007 2:30PM
@8 unless in 5mans?
I dont think so. My hunter is an alt, and my main is priest both of whom run heroic 5 mans. Hunter is BM / MM and is always 1 or 2 in the damage charts. Even though I have no points in SV I can usually chain trap a mob long enough to get rid of everything else.
As a priest I see good hunters. I can tell them - I don't need to heal them hardly ever, they can manage their pets and the are usually 1st or 2nd on damage.
Clearly, 8, you have little experience with hunters.
him Sep 15th 2007 2:31PM
I forgot to add, I have had a boar from 10 -70, excellent tanking pet. I also have a 70 cat for when I need that extra dps in a run. But I didn't level the cat - he's a tamed 70.
Heraclea Sep 15th 2007 2:40PM
My first pet on my hunter was an owl from Teldrassil. Since my hunter is Horde, getting the owl was somewhat of an adventure.
At level 17 or 18, forget which, I went to Westfall to pick up a buzzard so that I could teach Screech to the owl. Again, as Horde, getting there was nine tenths of the battle. But the buzzard sort of grew on me. I liked the name I gave the buzzard too - "Lawyer".
The buzzard survives better than the owl, holds aggro better, and does almost as well with respect to damage. I have held on to the owl mostly for curiosity's sake, and still get it out to keep its level even, but I suspect that at some point down the pipe the owl is history.
Lori Sep 15th 2007 2:53PM
My hunter, at level 59, still has her very first pet and plans to keep her. Teri couldn't bear to put her kitty down or leave her in the care of a stranger. Kitty has been very faithful, always attacks without complaint (unlike some warlock pets) and she tries to turn mobs backs to me when she tanks them. And I'm sure she would be very jealous of another pet
It's too bad she can't be trained to loot corpses and bring the booty back with her after a fight. She would love to do that. I think she would also like to snack on a corpse now and then.
Obiter Sep 15th 2007 3:46PM
Different pets make sense for hunters are different times during their development. Prior to surpassing level 30-ish, for example, I greatly benefitted by having a high-armor "tank" pet (such as the scorpid) because of their survivability when juggling multiple mobs. After getting traps and some talents, I transitioned to the high-DPS pets that pump out more damage but do require a little more finesse to handle.
And #8, Tripp: the fact that you ask the question reveals you know absolutely nothing about hunters. There are a lot of hunter articles because they are a great class to play. Even without points in Survivability I can chain-trap a mob almost indefinitely and completely manage my own aggro in any role, from off-tanking, to pet-tanking, to adding to the mains aggro, to clearing aggro at a moments notice with Feign Death. These are incredibly useful skills that contribute to group survivability in a 5-man.
Unfortunately, I would tend to agree that a lot of hunters don't really understand what it is that they bring to the table.
Seraya Sep 15th 2007 4:11PM
I had my first pet, a nightsaber for the longest time until I figured out that a jungle cougar had a faster attack speed. Along came the 2.0 attack speed normalization and I retamed a cat in Outland whose fur I liked the look of better.
Erbodie Sep 15th 2007 3:38PM
I have had a point of leveling my hunter by taming the rare pets that exist throughout the game, as well as collect all the possible talents. Now in a raiding guild that is going through SSC and TK (starting on Leotheras and Alar), we need pets producing scalable damage. My main pet is a windserpent, and I have a cat. I had leveled a scorpion for the poison stacking but dropped it since it is getting nerfed. I will often level pets which are 10 or more levels below me, with daily quests and combat food grinding, it goes very fast.
10pound Sep 15th 2007 3:38PM
Mad snaps at your devz....I like this poll function a lot more than the previous.