Guide to tamer daily pet battles (5.3) - For veterans

[Stencil]

Payne is still waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too RNG dependent. One miss with a missile or the strider decides to hold off off on its big attack until your rabbit burrows and it's gacked.

Check out my strat of S/S Blue Clockwork Rocket Bot and Rabbit that was described by Kring as "more then awesome. It's a piece of art."

[Sci]

@Nytemarerulez: If you don't mind I'm going to edit in your bit about replacing the sunflower with a lantern to my first post. With credit given of course.

[Tangerine]

A few quick comments:

1) The philosophy employed, to post a team that results in the fewest number of rounds, is awesome. I can now do all Pandaria tamers on one Lesser Pet Treat with 10+ minutes to spare. However, on fights like Major Payne, Burning Pandaren Spirit, and Wastewalker Shu, where the RNG has more impact, the additional rounds required to restart the battle should be considered as part of the round cost of the fight. Restarting multiple times on these fights could impact the timing of the day of battles, messing up the 'fights per Lesser Pet Treat' ratio, ultimately costing XP or treats.

2) The only exception to your wild pet roster is the Vampiric Batling, which many do not have. The Bat you propose as an alternative has stats that are different enough to make the Flowing fight require a different sequence of attacks. This goal to use only obtainable pets is worthy, but has been badly violated with the use of the Vampiric Batling.

3) A word about multiple carry pets. Several tamer matchups (such as Emerald Proto-Whelp vs Whispering, Yon, or Trixxi), can handle 2 carry pets. However, those fights take much longer than the strats posted here and the XP is not shared between carry pets, rather the pets get half of the XP they would get if they were alone. That is, against Yon, for example, a level 1 pet as the only carry pet would get about 4890 XP with hat and lesser treat, and a level 12 pet alone would get about 6380 XP with hat and lesser treat, but a battle with 2 carry pets, a level 1 and a level 12, would result in each getting half, being about 2445 and 3190 respectively. Over 2 days, the XP gain is roughly equivalent, but the fights would have taken many more rounds. So shorter fights with 1 carry pet is the way to go.

Thanks for the wonderful job on this guide. I use it every day!

[Axordil]

Payne is still waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too RNG dependent. One miss with a missile or the strider decides to hold off off on its big attack until your rabbit burrows and it's gacked.

Check out my strat of S/S Blue Clockwork Rocket Bot and Rabbit that was described by Kring as "more then awesome. It's a piece of art."

Hmm. I like it, but I need to see if I can adapt it to a different fast mech--my BCRB is P/S.

[Axordil]

2) The only exception to your wild pet roster is the Vampiric Batling, which many do not have. The Bat you propose as an alternative has stats that are different enough to make the Flowing fight require a different sequence of attacks. This goal to use only obtainable pets is worthy, but has been badly violated with the use of the Vampiric Batling.

Thanks for the wonderful job on this guide. I use it every day!

A rare H/P bat works for me probably 90% of the time in those spots. Maybe 95%. But I might have switched attack order without noticing. Has anyone tried a Tirisfal Batling?

The point about 2 carry pets is well taken. I would say that those pets provide flexibility more than outright advantage for the reasons you cite. Example: if you have two pets at 24 and one bout can do the trick (and that same one bout would waste a few thousand XP on one of them) taking two would be a fine idea.

[Marusia]

Aki the Chosen Fight - 10 rounds
Zandalari Footslasher
- Leap
- Bite
- Leap - may kill the opponent - needs to be Leap so you get first shot at Stormlash
- Leap - if Chirrup is still up - needs to be Leap so you get first shot at Stormlash
- Exposed Wounds - gets first shot at Stormlash, dies to Call Lightning
Clockwork Gnome
- Build Turret - massive damage due to Weather: Lightning Storm and Exposed Wounds
Carry pet
- do nothing - takes one hit. Turrets finish Stormlash.
Clockwork Gnome
- Build Turret
- Metal Fist - turrets finish the fight

[Stencil]

Hmm. I like it, but I need to see if I can adapt it to a different fast mech--my BCRB is P/S.

There aren't lots of fast mechanicals, so you really should consider purchasing some more until you get an S/S version and then stoning it if you can. I'm not aware of any other mechanical pet that can match the S/S BCRB in being 1) faster than Beakmaster and 2) having two useful actions that it can perform during Hibernate.

All other options are going to end up with your rabbit having to do more work on, and risk large damage spikes from, Beakmaster. That said, I've actually soloed the entire Major Payne team with a single Grasslands Cottontail before[1] so it might not be that bad.

As far as using another fast mechanical, the two options I see are S/S Robo-Chick and S/S Cogblade Raptor. Robo-Chick does first bit of Wind-Up during Hibernate and then Batter, Batter, Wind-Up to kill Grizzle. Cogblade applies Expose Wounds during Hibernate and then Batters away. You'll want to make sure you don't allow either to get hit by a Rampage before the Hibernate; you'll want to avoid any extra damage since you'll be dealing with a full health Beakmaster.

If you use a pet that is slower than Grizzle, its even more important to ensure that Grizzle uses Bash on turn 4 and that means forfeiting anytime Grizzle opens with Bash. A Bash cast immediately after Hibernate will cost an extra round if you are slower which makes the kill window even smaller before Grizzle starts healing again. The other problem is that you'd likely eat 4 rampages worth of damage.

One option might be a Warbot configured for Missile, Minefield and Launch Rocket. I think it might be possible for one Missile and the rocket to kill Grizzle, but I'm pretty sure that it isn't guaranteed so that turn 4 Bash is important.

Or, perhaps Darkmoon Tonk with Charge, Minefiled and Lock-On. Two Lock-On hits during the three round rampage should kill Grizzle. The idea here is to use Charge against Beakmaster so that he's never first which will reduce his Batter damage. The goal being to get him to blow abilities like Shock and Awe and Wind-Up on the Tonk because he isn't just wrecking you with Batter.

[1] For a long time my Major Payne team was double rabbits and whenever an opportunity arose to get a solo kill I'd do it for funsies not worry about not getting a carry pet XP that day. Happened for me maybe 3 times total; it was a pretty rare thing to happen.

[Skyquake]

***Grumbles as P/P Bat takes a dirt nap for the umpteenth time. Invents time machine, goes back, tells self to get a Vampiric Batling. Returns; gapes in horror at the shattered post-apocalyptic landscape somehow caused by this innocuous change to the time-space continuum. Goes back again and tells self to under no circumstances get the Vampiric Batling***

So yeah, the bat is definitely the weakest pet for me. Is there any obvious replacement? If the battle takes longer, that's no problem.

[Moritsume]

I'm not sure if this would be the right place for it, but the newest ptr mentioned that they have moved ability slots for the Darkmoon Zep and the Mech Dragonling. Namely, they've placed Decoy/Explode on the 3rd tier, which will make them much less useful for Jeremy Feasel/Mo'ruk. Time to work on some new combo's for those guys, which is a shame because the explode strategy was awesome for leveling pets with ease

[Darrenaf1]

Don't know if I am doing something wrong but the shu strat does not work. Black claw>hunting party does not quite kill crusher and then his whirlpool goes off and roots my zandalari which then gets killed or almost killed by pounder. Tried many times.

[Ril]

Flowing Pandaren Spirit
15 rounds
1: Vampiric Batling [-] (1,2,1)
2: Carry pet (your Carry pet should have around 700 HP to survive the fight)
3: Emerald Proto-Whelp [4] (2,1,1)

vs Marley
- Reckless Strike > Hawk Eye > Reckless Strike > Bite
vs Tiptoe
- Bite until your Vampiric Batling dies > switch to Carry pet > switch to Emerald Proto-Whelp > Emerald Bite until Tiptoe dies
vs Pandaren Water Spirit
- Proto-Strike when there is 1-turn left on Whirlpool and Geyser
- Emerald Bite all the way

- Notes: If you don't have a Vampiric Batling, a Bat [4] (1,2,1) should work just fine, as long as you don't miss any strike.

This is just a detail but i wanted to share regardless. If you go

- Reckless Strike > Hawk Eye > Bite > Reckless Strike

vs. Marley, you don't have the dmg debuff up when the whirlpool detonates, which results in a longer life for the batling.

[Kpb321]

Hyuna of the Shrines
16 rounds
1: Emerald Proto-Whelp [4] (2,2,1)
2: Carry pet
3: Yellow Moth [4] (2,1,2)

vs Skyshaper
- Emerald Bite until Skyshaper dies
vs Fangor
- Emerald Bite > Proto-strike > Emerald Bite until your Emerald Proto Whelp dies
- Switch to Carry pet > switch to Yellow Moth
- Alpha Strike until Fangor dies
vs Dor the Wall
- Cocoon Strike when Headbutt is up
- Moth Dust when up, Alpha Strike otherwise

I do this one with the same time but slightly differently. I do 2,1,1 on the whelp and do bite, bite, heal, bite. The advantage here is that unless you miss the third round you'll have the dragonkin racial buff up but Skyshaper is already low enough to die with out it. Conveniently it is also when he will have done enough dmg to you to need to heal up (it won't look like it until after he actually attacks). Then when you finish him off in the 4th round you carry over the racial buff to use on Fangor on your first bite. Assuming Proto-strike doesn't miss you should only need one more bite to finish Fangor off and your proto drake will eat the first head butt so you can safely swap in your carry pet and then to your moth with out either taking any dmg. You also don't have to worry about your moth potentially taking enough dmg to loose the racial bonus which actually makes him slower than dor. Not fatal but does mean you have to remember to use cocoon strike the round before headbutt and if his heal is off CD you could end up eating dmg. Should end up being similar total rounds.

[Kpb321]

Flowing Pandaren Spirit
15 rounds
1: Vampiric Batling [-] (1,2,1)
2: Carry pet (your Carry pet should have around 700 HP to survive the fight)
3: Emerald Proto-Whelp [4] (2,1,1)

vs Marley
- Reckless Strike > Hawk Eye > Reckless Strike > Bite
vs Tiptoe
- Bite until your Vampiric Batling dies > switch to Carry pet > switch to Emerald Proto-Whelp > Emerald Bite until Tiptoe dies
vs Pandaren Water Spirit
- Proto-Strike when there is 1-turn left on Whirlpool and Geyser
- Emerald Bite all the way

- Notes: If you don't have a Vampiric Batling, a Bat [4] (1,2,1) should work just fine, as long as you don't miss any strike.

This is just a detail but i wanted to share regardless. If you go

- Reckless Strike > Hawk Eye > Bite > Reckless Strike

vs. Marley, you don't have the dmg debuff up when the whirlpool detonates, which results in a longer life for the batling.

Along the same lines if you happen to crit on your first Reckless strike you can go Reckless Strike > Hawk Eye > Bite > Bite and finish Marley too.

[Dakender]

Beasts of Fable
6 rounds
1: [pet]Unborn Val'kyr[/pet] [?] (1,2,2)
2: Pandaren Water Spirit [-] (1,2,2)
3: Chrominius [-] (1,1,2)

Round 1: Unholy Ascension
Your Unborn Val'kyr resurrects <------ SHE DOES NOT ANYMORE
Round 2: Curse of Doom
Your Unborn Val'kyr dies
Switch to Pandaren water spirit
Round 3: Geyser
Round 4: Whirlpool
Round 5: Switch to Chrominius
Round 6: Howl

Tried this today on the PTR, don't work anymore, they did something to Unholy Ascension. She dies and won't come back to be able to cast Curse of Doom. Think this might be the reason..... Found on the patch notes for 5.4

"points = 100" and "isperiodic = 0" were removed from Effect 7 of Unholy Ascension. In its place, "targetimmunestate = 0", "casterimmunestate = 100", and "enablereverse = 0" were added. The enablereverse bit just seems like something they missed in the first pass when trying to fix the Val'kyr bug (they had to add enablereverse to all 'death' abilities). The "targetimmunestate" is irrelevant because it is 0. However, the "casterimmunestate = 100" is very interesting. StateID 100 is "STATE_Clone_Active". This is an old mechanic that never made it to Live servers. In Beta, several different pets had the ability to clone themselves, and the clone would mirror the move casted by the original pet. It actually makes sense to add this restriction to Unholy Ascension (so the clone doesn't also commit suicide), but why now? Perhaps we will see a return of Clone and other cloning abilities!

This was an awesome setup, I figured it wouldn't last long I'm looking for alternatives

EDIT: Seems to still work if you reverse the starting spells, cast Curse of Doom first, then Unholy Ascension. Ran out of tamers to test it on trying to lvl my Water Spirit. 650 pets from every rare under the sun, EXCEPT a Pandaren Water Spirit

[Kring]

This was an awesome setup, I figured it wouldn't last long I'm looking for alternatives

CoD was never needed for that to work. The enemy with the most health, Ti'un, is an aquatic who takes reduced damage from undead. The important part is the water spirit and Chrominius. Just take another Chrominius or something that can nuke or stay with the Val'kir and only use UE.

[Kring]

Aki the Chosen Fight - 10 rounds

9 rounds faster I like it, anyone tested this out - also what breed is that Footslasher?

I've tried it twice and it worked perfectly and is a lot of fun. My raptor is a P/P.

[Rosalyne]

I just found this thread today and I wish I'd seen it long ago! I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that's contributed strats and to Phraide for maintaining such a well organized, easy to follow main post. Sadly I have almost none of the pets mentioned at 25 yet, but I did utilize the Beasts of Fable strategy tonight and wow - that made them all painless! Well, I had to use a different setup for No-No and Kafi stunned my Chrominius before Howl got cast, but otherwise, it went flawlessly. I'll be working on getting the other recommended pets to level 25 and I might actually go back to doing all the dailies everyday!

[Steellace]

I wanted to say thanks to Phraide for this and the "beginner's" guide and thanks to everyone else who has contributed to the thread. Using the beginner's guide, I leveled all of the pets required for this guide and then switched over. I don't care so much about how many rounds, although doing the battles as fast as possible is desirable. I do, however, care a lot about being able to level a carry pet while doing the dailies. I've gotten almost 100 to level 25 and have many others well on the way. I also really enjoyed using the guides to learn the mechanics of how the battles work. Thanks again for taking the time to find all of the best teams for us!