What is a good starter set of pets?

[Raogrimm]

I'm hoping to bring a guild mate into Pet Battles, and I was wondering what pets people think I should buy for my friend. I know I should get her anubisath-idol but I don't know what else to get them.

Any ideas. Thank you in advance for any ideas you guys can provide.

[Exel]

Mechanical and Undead pets are excellent starters because of their special abilities which matter that much more on lower levels. Ghostly Skull comes to mind as one easy to get and strong pet.

[Yashima]

My starter set consisted of
* A Dragon, because Dragons are awesome and defend well against Flying
* A Mech, because Mechs are great against Beasts which are common
* A Humanoid with a versatile Skillset because Humanoids defend well against Critters

The actual pets are not a great option for you because 2 are from the pet shop and one is from an achievement Celestial Dragon (150 pets owned), [pet]Lil' XT[/pet] and Moonkin Hatchling. This set did reasonably well (and all the pets are really cute ) and I used those 3 exclusively to level to 25. I needed more pets though to defeat the final two Northrend trainers, Cata and Pandaria.

Since he is starting out and will have to level the pets, get him pets that do well in the leveling process. The most common wild pet types are: Critters, Beasts, Aquatic and Flying. Later it is also important to consider the pets the trainers have of course. By then your friend should long have become addicted to pet battles With the choices I am posting I'd mostly go with the "kill it fast" variety in the beginning. Going the slow defensive way would probably be frustrating for a beginner.

1. Versus Critters: For defensive version - the Humanoid - I must concur with the Anubisath Idol, the other tradeable Humanoids just don't get close to this one. He can be slow though, so I prefer to use Beasts to kill critters when possible. Most tradeable Beasts are only uncommon, however for me the Beast stones appear most common, so maybe it would be feasible for you to obtain a rare Feline Familiar or Cornish Rex Cat for the fast killing of all those pesky critters. If you don't have a stone go for the Sunfur Panda or a Darkmoon Cub

2. Versus Beasts: Just kill them fast with a Mech. For a nice versatile Mechanical Pet I'd go for the Clockwork Gnome, he is fairly easily available from the AHs and is rare already.

3. Versus Aquatic: If you have any Stones you are willing to spend there are a couple of really awesome Magic family pets to be bought: Jade Owl a magic pet with flying abilities against those Aquatic types, however the risk of not getting the optimal breed for the Jade Owl is pretty large, so instead you might consider stoning a Yellow Moth instead. There is also the (uncommon) Enchanted Broom which has a very versatile Skillset. If you don't have a stone ready you might consider Nether Ray Fry he only has one Flying ability ... the rest is a nice mix of different ability types. I have leveled him but haven't used him much at Max Level.

4. Versus Flying: For a Dragon with Magic abilities I found Chrominius to be most easily obtainable.


The next types of pets I would get after that are an Elemental because Mechanical pets do occur in the wild and nothing kills them quite as fast as a nice sweep with some fire. I'd go with a Pandaren Fire Spirit because I really like using Flamethrower and Conflagrate

Next on the list would be some Frog to deal with any Undead I find. If you can find him Mojo would be nice.

Hope this gives you some inspiration ... have fun getting your friend addicted to pet battles

[Breehit]

If you really want to addict your friend, remember to get him/her a Terrible Turnip! They are cheap on the AH now, and almost essential if you plan to capture pets in the wild. I like to have the TT on my second pet slot almost anytime I am hunting in the wild.

[Threnody]

I suggest getting your friend a stable of pets (not just 3) of different types so she can switch teams depending on the enemy pet type.

My 2 cents for starter vendor/AH pets:

* Sprite Darter Hatchling - Life Exchange ftw. Awesome vs flyers, even aquatics.
* Chrominius - Has beast abilities, good vs critters.
* Jade Owl - Double whammy (magic type with flying abilities) vs aquatics.
* Yellow Moth P/P - Eats aquatics for breakfast.
* Zandalari Anklerender P/P - Cute and great vs critters, with Hunting Party and Black Claw.
* Darkmoon Tonk - Hits like a... tonk, especially vs beasts.
* Warbot or Blue Clockwork Rocket Bot (cheaper) - Easy to get, good vs beasts.

[Tahsfenz]

If I was just starting with what I know now, I'd go darkmoon Tonk, yellow moth & a dragon like celestial dragon or sprite darter hatchling.

[Threnody]

There is also the (uncommon) Enchanted Broom which has a very versatile Skillset. If you don't have a stone ready you might consider Nether Ray Fry he only has one Flying ability ... the rest is a nice mix of different ability types. I have leveled him but haven't used him much at Max Level.

I second this. Nether Ray Fry is a great pet for building up your collection because of its versatility. It used to be a mainstay on my hunting team when I was starting out. Now that I have more pets to choose from, I've retired my Nether Ray Fry.