New collector!

[Hareop]

So I came back to the game after a long break and am really getting into pet battles. I've been browsing the forums but was hoping someone could give me a few recommended pets to get to 25 first to make life easier to level pets I truly like.

I have a lvl 20 rare Nexus Whelp, lvl 15 Corefire Imp, and some random other pets. Collected a rare Shimmershell Snail, Blighthawk, and did some archaeology for a Fossilized Raptor(He looks awesome!).

I think I need a beast and a mechanical.

[Headchopperz]

darkmoon tonk is a must have battle pet, as he just does insane damage...
http://www.warcraftpets.com/wow-pets/me ... moon-tonk/

but, other good mechanical ones are:

mechanical pandaren dragonling - http://www.warcraftpets.com/wow-pets/me ... ragonling/

son of animus - http://www.warcraftpets.com/wow-pets/me ... of-animus/

clockwork gnome is annoyingly powerful - http://www.warcraftpets.com/wow-pets/me ... ork-gnome/

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Getting all the pets listed here would not be a bad idea: http://www.warcraftpets.com/wow-pets/top-twenty/

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However, regarding leveling, you can level pets really fast with this method:

I level 1 pet from 1-25 in about 1 hour.

Get 2 flying pets, i advise this guy: http://www.warcraftpets.com/wow-pets/fl ... hatchling/, cos he has a self heal.
This guy is also pretty swell, due to immense damage: http://www.warcraftpets.com/wow-pets/fl ... ean-raven/

Once you have 2 flying pets at level 25, you go to the sha covered area, between the alliance and horde "cities" in the new expansion. Youll see loads of water pets around level 23-25, that you can battle. Chances are about 75% that on their first move they will not use an offensive ability, so you put out the pet you want to level first, make him attack or something, then swap to a flying pet and own them.

You can level faster if you have a sausage (25% boost), or that 50% boost thing.

[Durwin]

My favorite pet to powerlevel my other pets is Chrominius. He has bite for critters and arcane explosion for taking down flying pet. He has a heal and ravage heals him if he kills a pet with it. His dragonkin bonus is also very nice as he can hit for over 600 damage on a critter with it. If you have 150 pets the celestial dragon is also pretty good.

[Hareop]

Thanks I'll look into getting my hands on some of these. Spent a while last night, and a bit this morning before work trying to get a rare emerald proto-whelp. But no rares yet!

[Headchopperz]

trying to get a rape emerald proto-whelp.

wut

[Hareop]

RARE my bad.

[Kpb321]

For your first team of pets getting to 25 I like to go with a mechanical pet (strong against beasts), Beast (strong against Critters) and a Flying (strong against aquatic) as those are the three most common wild pet types so strong pets against them work well. It is also helpful if the pets have a heal of some sort which isn't too hard to find with mechanicals and beasts but there aren't too many flying pets with heals.

After that working towards leveling up other pets that allow you to carry pets with the trainers/spirits is a a great way to level pets.

[Hermy]

Definitely a solid mechanical - Blue Clockwork Rocket Bot (or Clockwork Rocket Bot) is a favourite of mine.

Emerald Proto-Whelp is another favourite. Any kind of Strider is a great choice for aquatic.

[Hareop]

Cogblade Raptor a solid first mechanical? Looks like I can go hunt for a rare easily. Gold is very low after just returning. All the pet battling I am doing has actually leveled me from 86 to almost 88 rather quickly!

[Nytemayre]

I suggest a shore crab, they have a great nuke and can heal themselves. I still use mine as a leveling anchor as well as a Kun-Lai runt.

[Hypah]

If your planning on doing PvP Pet battles, death adder hatchling is debatebly one of the best pets of 5.4

[Kpb321]

The cogblade raptor isn't bad and I think it is the highest level mechanical pet you can capture. A s/s is ideal but shouldn't be too hard as it doesn't have a lot of breeds available. The darkmoon tonk or zep are good too and aren't hard to get from the fare. Just have to wait for it to be in town.

[Moonie1]

Get your Terrible Turnip to 25 asap. He will help with capturing those rares you dont want to accidently kill.

For powerleveling, I would suggest buying a cheap Zandalari raptor (I use a P/P Footslasher 1 1 1) and a Gilnean Raven for easy powerleveling. This team is built to take out critters and aquatics which are PLENTIFUL around the farmlands in the Valley. There is tons of critters around the legendary cricket as well as all over the farm. Dont bother going in to the areas with hostile mobs. I bring my lowbie toons out here to gain experience while leveling up pets (I have a friend teleport me to the Shrine to set my hearth there, and then he flies me to Halfhill where I learn the flight path and can get to the farmlands easily). Most of the fights are 2-3 critters and sometimes an aquatic. The raptors Bloodfang helps alot with not having to use bandages to continue powerleveling. The critters are all level 23-25 so its good pet xps.

You can kill the zandalari on the Isle of the Giants in Kun-lai yourself to get them or simply buy a cheap one off the AH. You can find them for as low as 300-500 sometimes. The raven is off the racial pet vendor in Stormwind, Audrey Burnhelp (not sure if there is a min level to purchase, you can always make a worgen DK, do the quest chain that eventually teleports you to Stormwind) and buy it.

[Hareop]

Thanks for all the advice. Didn't get a rare Cogblade last night but randomly got a flawless mechanical stone which I will save for something else. Will have to look at those raptors to figure out the differences as I see them all over the AH.

[Morlis]

I found Cogblade Raptors tough to find. Hope they improved spawn time but I often went there and found maybe 1 or 2 up. So it took me a while to get a rare. The other factor I suppose is that I did them early on in the expansion when everyone else was hunting them too.

I do tamer dailies as a means of leveling, so don't forget them (once you have the ability to do them). Lots of strats out there to beat each one effectively with two 25's and a pet to be leveled. I find the [pet]Anubisath Idol[/pet] most helpful. I can beat 6 of the Pandarian dailies with him and a fast crow/raven. 6 of the Pandarian tamers with the safari hat (10% bonus pet exp) you can get a pet from level 1 to level 25. You have to be careful in which order you do them though. Some will do damage to back row pets which will kill a level 1. For the leveling pet to get exp it has to be rotated in at some point. There are some fights that this is easier to do than others.

Tamer Dailies are only slightly less monotonous than mass defeating wilds. Though in the early going, the potential for getting rares is pretty sweet bonus for killing lots of wilds.

[Hareop]

So these Zandalari Raptors look like awesome lil raptor glass cannons. Do you maximize the speed or want power?

[Kpb321]

For power leveling I'd go with P/P. Any of the 4 should work altho each one has a slightly different mix of abilities. Some have devour others have bloodfang. Personally, I prefer the devour because while it does less damage and doesn't heal for quite as much it has a much shorter CD allowing you to use it multiple times in a fight.

[JEC]

For PVE leveling, I use 2 level 25 crows or ravens and cycle in different leveling pets. With the crows I can usually go for several battles without having to heal and leveling other pets goes pretty fast. If you go to areas where you are looking for particular pets or rares of particular pets, you can also build up your team while you level.

[Moonie1]

So these Zandalari Raptors look like awesome lil raptor glass cannons. Do you maximize the speed or want power?

Whenever I use the various Zandalari Raptor's, they are always P/P. If I need speed on one, I just use Leap for a 100% speed increase on the next round. They really tear thru any critters in 1-3 hits.

On the subject of devour vs bloodfang, I usually use bloodfang on the first pet, then use it again on the third for a heal before the match ends. I prefer it over devour because devour has a two round effect, which I dont like getting locked into the second round being a waste if you kill on the first round. However, Devour is 100% hit where Bloodfang is 95% and does miss sometimes.

[Hareop]

I found Cogblade Raptors tough to find. Hope they improved spawn time but I often went there and found maybe 1 or 2 up. So it took me a while to get a rare. The other factor I suppose is that I did them early on in the expansion when everyone else was hunting them too.

The server my mage is on seems like there is not much interest in pets, AH is low on them, and when I go to emerald proto whelps and cogblades i can freely fight a TON of them. Just not lucky yet!

Thanks all for the responses. Pet community seems top notch!