WoW Forever: Best Hunter Pets

The best Hunter pets in World of Warcraft: Forever are a Boar or Bear while you level, a Cat or Raptor once you want more damage, a Wolf in groups with melee players, and a Crocolisk, Bat or Bird of Prey for PvP. Pets now draw their stats from your gear, so the family you choose matters for its one unique ability and the job it does, not for a hidden stat edge.

Below we rank the picks for each job, explain what changed for pets in Forever, rate every family, and list the talents and the racial that make any pet hit harder. The pet rules come from Blizzard’s Hunter and Druid class deep dive and its beta development notes, which ran through the November 2 build, two days before launch. We checked both on November 6.

What Changed for Hunter Pets in WoW Forever

Four rules shape every pick:

• Pets scale with your gear. Blizzard’s deep dive says pets “now get increased stats based on their Hunter’s gear,” and they can no longer receive player buffs that raise their stats. Upgrading your own weapon and armor is how you upgrade the pet.
• Every family has one ability of its own. Each family also learns Bite or Claw (some learn both) and Dive or Dash, so the unique ability is the real difference between families.
• Pets copy your better crit. The October 15 notes fixed pets so they inherit whichever is higher, your melee or your ranged critical strike chance, and pets now benefit from Expertise too.
• You can only tame at or below your level. The notes say Tame Beast “no longer works on Beasts that are higher than the Hunter’s level,” so a level 20 Hunter chooses from level 20 beasts and lower.

Some beasts also carry an innate attack speed passive. Blizzard’s final pre-launch notes say pets “should no longer lose their innate Attack Speed passives when untraining them,” so a fast beast stays fast after you reset its training. Our taming guide walks through the taming quest and how pets learn new ranks of their abilities.

Best Pet for Leveling: Boar or Bear

Blizzard’s deep dive says Hunters “can utilize their pet as a tank in solo and small group play,” and that is the whole leveling plan: the pet holds the mob while you shoot from range.

• Boar. Charge closes the gap, immobilizes the target and adds Attack Power to the pet’s next attack, so the boar grabs a fresh pull before it ever reaches you. Boars roam several of the starting areas, which makes them an easy first pet.
• Bear. Swipe hits three targets at once, which keeps a second or third mob on the pet when a pull goes wrong. That makes the bear the steadier tank as pulls get bigger in the mid levels.
• Turtle, for hard pulls. Shell Shield cuts the damage the turtle takes for 12 seconds, at the cost of slower attacks. It is the safest choice if you keep fighting elites or several mobs at once, though kills take longer.

Aggressive mode is back in Forever (Blizzard’s October 1 notes put it under the pet tab in your spellbook), but an aggressive pet will pull mobs you never meant to fight. While leveling, a defensive pet that answers whatever attacks you is the calmer setup.

Best Damage Pet: Cat or Raptor

Once you can hold your own threat, a damage pet speeds up every kill.

• Cat. Prowl puts the cat into stealth and raises the damage of its next attack from stealth, which turns every opener into a burst. It is the traditional damage pet, and Forever keeps it that way.
• Raptor. Savage Rend puts a bleed on the target, steady extra damage on longer fights such as elites and dungeon bosses.
• Hyena or Scorpid as alternatives. Tendon Rip slows a target and makes it bleed, handy against mobs that run at low health, and Scorpid Poison stacks damage over time.

The new Fox sits between the two jobs. Trickster’s Dance raises the fox’s dodge chance and attack speed for 12 seconds, so it gets tougher and hits faster at the same moment, a good all-rounder for leveling if you like the look.

Best Pet for Dungeons and Groups: Wolf

• Wolf. Furious Howl raises party members’ melee Attack Power, a buff for every warrior, rogue and melee hybrid in your group. Blizzard cut the Attack Power bonus by 40% in the September 24 notes, so it is a welcome extra rather than a must-have, but no other family buffs the whole party.
• Carrion Bird. Demoralizing Screech damages nearby enemies and lowers their melee Attack Power, which takes some pressure off whoever is tanking a pack.
• Tallstrider. Dust Cloud reduces the target’s armor, so every physical attacker on that target does more damage.

In a dungeon your tank holds the mobs, not your pet. Turn off your pet’s taunt autocast and send it in on the tank’s target, or it will pull mobs off the tank. Our dungeon finder guide covers how groups come together in Forever.

Best Pets for PvP: Crocolisk, Bat or Bird of Prey

PvP pets are about one control effect at the right moment, and Blizzard trimmed all three of the big ones in its October 15 notes:

• Crocolisk. Dismember damages the target and reduces the healing it receives. The deep dive launched it at 50%, and the notes cut it to 25% for 6 seconds on a 15-second cooldown. It is still the only healing reduction a pet brings.
• Bat. Sonic Blast damages the target and slows its spellcasting, now by 30% for 20 seconds on a 60-second cooldown. Pick it into casters and healers.
• Bird of Prey (the old Owl family). Mine! damages and disarms the target, now for 3 seconds on a 90-second cooldown. Pick it into warriors, rogues and other weapon users.
• Spider. Web immobilizes a target and damages it over time. Blizzard reminds Hunters that ranged attacks stop working within 8 yards, and a rooted enemy cannot close that gap.

For the classes these pets will face, our best PvP class guide lays out the matchups.

Every Pet Family Rated for WoW Forever

Talents and Racials That Make Any Pet Better

Because the pet scales from you, the biggest pet upgrades come from your own build:

• Endurance Training now includes the old Thick Hide talent, so it raises your pet’s health and armor in one place.
• Focused Fire is new and raises the damage you and your pet deal while the pet is out.
• Aspect of the Monkey gives twice as much dodge as before, and your pet gets half the benefit.
• Improved Mend Pet now also lowers Mend Pet’s mana cost.
• Intimidation now gives your pet 100% more critical strike chance on its next attack.
• Command, the Orc racial, is back in the final pre-launch notes and raises Hunter pet damage by 5%. Our best Hunter race guide weighs it against the other races.

Keep the pet fed as well: Forever keeps pet happiness and loyalty, and our pet feeding guide covers both. If you would rather play without a pet, Marksmanship’s Lone Wolf grants 20% more damage while no pet is active. Switching between those builds costs a respec, which our talent reset guide explains. Every Forever guide we have is on our World of Warcraft hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best Hunter pet for leveling in WoW Forever? A Boar early on, then a Bear. Both tank well: Charge locks a fresh target in place and Swipe hits three mobs at once. A Turtle is the safest pick for elites and big pulls.

What is the best damage pet? A Cat, thanks to Prowl’s stealth opener, with the Raptor close behind for its bleed on long fights.

Do pet families have different stats in WoW Forever? Pets now get their stats from your gear, and Blizzard describes each family by its unique ability, so pick the ability you want. Some beasts also have an innate attack speed passive, which now survives untraining.

Was Dismember nerfed? Yes. Blizzard’s October 15 notes cut its healing reduction to 25% (from 50%) and its duration to 6 seconds, and raised its cooldown to 15 seconds.

What is the new Hunter pet family? The Fox. Its unique ability, Trickster’s Dance, raises its dodge chance and attack speed for 12 seconds.

Can you tame a pet above your level? No. Tame Beast only works on beasts at or below your own level.