Most Versatile Pet

[Dirkie]

Wondering about peoples comments on the most versatile pet as far as battling wild pets and tamers etc.

I know some will jump on the [pet]Anubisath Idol[/pet] but I have never enjoyed that pet as it seems like a slow battler. A few of my top suggestions would be the [pet]Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling[/pet] or perhaps the [pet]Emerald Proto-Whelp[/pet]. These have a variety of strong attacks and versatility in the families they can be strong against as well as other affects such as heals or blocks. [pet]Terrible Turnip[/pet] is probably up there as well. I used this one for months when capturing low level creatures although I find now she is obsolete because I rarely kill a level 20+ pet I am trying to capture. Another favourite which I used for a long time for wild pet battles was the [pet]Celestial Dragon[/pet] (Strong Mechanical/Flying/Critter/Magic attacks and a big heal plus can change the weather).

I am sure there are many others I forget.

Maybe a fairer description should be most versatile pet by family:
Aquatic -
Beast -
Critter -
Dragonkin -
Elemental -
Flying -
Humanoid -
Magic -
Mechanical -
Undead -

[Aranesh]

Versatility is a difficult feature when it comes to pet battles, where strong counters are often the better choice. If you do look at versatile pets, I believe you will quickly end up with lots of defense+selfheal pets, exactly like the Emerald Proto-Whelp you already mentioned.
On my personal list for this particular feature not every family would be present, because some just don't have exceptional all-rounders in my opinion (for example Magic or Undead). I would definitely include the Teroclaw Hatchling though, would be my #1 pick.
I'd also add an Emperor Crab (or similar crabs), as well as the Zandalari or Falcosaurs pets. While the latter are rather squishy, their damage output is immense and can be used quite universally, meaning high versatility.

[Paladance]

While talking about defensive means, don't forget about blinds, especially on fast pets. [pet]Spectral Spinner[/pet] or [pet]Mechanical Scorpid[/pet] may look squishy, but behind their not-exactly-natural presence there's a lot of room to deal great damage while remaining unreachable. (Unless you meet a pet with an accuracy buff.)

I like pets that despite being vulnerable to a certain source they can defend themselves from it.
[ability]Nature's Ward[/ability] is one way, a critter using it doesn't have to fear beasts as long as they don't have aquatic attacks aswell.
In the case of [pet]Teroclaw Hatchling[/pet] it's interesting in a more vicious way, because it becomes vulnerable to the very pets it seems to be created for: y'know, because you think "flying" and then the "aquatics" follow them.
What leads us to another way of defense…
…attacking back!
See [pet]Widget the Departed[/pet] or [pet]Risen Saber Kitten[/pet]. A critter may annoy you, and you annoy it aswell. And it annoys you back? The speed decides, though undead pets are a bad example.

That isn't to say that these are the pets you will use as often as the celebrities mentioned here and there. But this may be a step to gain a wider perspective.

[Gráinne]

Yes, [pet]Anubisath Idol[/pet] is slow, but surely [pet]Emerald Proto-Whelp[/pet] is slower. That's how it is with tanky pets - and I have the impression that's what you mean by versatile?

I just did the new WC. I went through my whole initial runthrough using only one team of [pet]Anubisath Idol[/pet], [pet]Emerald Proto-Whelp[/pet] and [pet]Emperor Crab[/pet]. I did heal a couple of times, and it was slow, but those are the three that I can slot with confidence that they will roll over anything except boss gimmicks.

[Minet]

When I am out and about capturing pets in the wild I like to take Corgnelius and one of the Zandalari raptors. Corgnelius has superbark, which hits really hard but always leaves the target with 1 health. He can often take a pet down to capturable health with one attack without fear of killing it. And because superbark is a big hit, it does ok with all kinds of pets really. He has a decent heal so he can last quite a while and either Bite of Bark as a spammable attack are decent.

Then the zandalari pet can usually take out anything that Corgnelius does not with Black Claw and Hunting Party--even flying pets. As a team is doesn't really sound versatile, since they are both beast types, but it works well for me in the wild.

For the third pet I usually have a pet I'm leveling or just whatever pet I feel like having around that day. Of if I am in an area with lots of moths, I will throw in a Nether Faerie Dragon or some magic pet that looks interesting.

[Dirkie]

That's how it is with tanky pets - and I have the impression that's what you mean by versatile?

I don`t really mean just tanks. I mean what pets have a variety of attacks for multiple family types. Can by used effectively to do wild Pet Battles and carry a pet plus work for capturing others. Have unique abilities to change weather or block or cause bleeding or heal etc. As well, can they compete on the top levels with some trainers or other specific encounters. I know a lot of people like the [pet]Teroclaw Hatchling[/pet] but I am perhaps a little nostalgic and have trouble giving top marks to a relatively new pet. Probably my own fault as I have not used it much and maybe can't appreciate it enough.

Note to self put the [pet]Teroclaw Hatchling[/pet] in one of my leveling teams.

[Gráinne]

Dirkie, if you configure the Teroclaw the "other" way, with Claw, Dodge, Ravage, it becomes an insanely great critter farmer. That's your usage of the Teroclaw for wild battles.

When considering your point, I keep thinking "what's the pet that's always an asset to its team?"

I came up with two three hypotheticals:

1. Duel

There is a new tamer.
This tamer has one Blue 25 pet.
You are allowed only one pet to fight it. You cannot swap your front pet, and when your front pet dies you have lost.
After battling this tamer, win or lose, you cannot engage again until next week, so no peeking.
This tamer chooses a random pet to battle with each time.

What pet do you choose? What abilities?

2. What's My Line?

There is a new tamer.
This tamer has three Blue 25 pets.
One pet is Elemental, and has Elemental abilities in at least two slots.
One pet is Humanoid, and has Humanoid abilities in at least two slots.
One pet is unknown.
The sequence of the pets is unknown.

You can obviously choose counters for the known pets.
What is your third pet, and what is your team?


3. Gauntlet

Like 2, but now you have to face 5 tamers in a row, using the same team.
You can heal between fights.

Tamer 1 has Elemental, Humanoid, Unknown.
Tamer 2 has Undead, Critter, Unknown.
Tamer 3 has Beast, Flyer, Unknown.
Tamer 4 has Draginkin, Mechanical, Unknown,
Tamer 5 has Magic, Critter, Unknown.

What is your one team?

[JEC]

Wondering about peoples comments on the most versatile pet as far as battling wild pets and tamers etc.

I know some will jump on the [pet]Anubisath Idol[/pet] but I have never enjoyed that pet as it seems like a slow battler.
...

I don't think of it so much as wanting a versatile pet but as wanting a versatile team. I battle wild pets and basic trainers with a relatively simple team - a flyer, a beast, and an elemental. It only breaks down if something is needed to specifically counter a particular skill, like the Draenor trainers or some of the flavor of the moment battlers.

[Dirkie]

I know a lot of people like the [pet]Teroclaw Hatchling[/pet] but I am perhaps a little nostalgic and have trouble giving top marks to a relatively new pet.

Wait...what?

Teroclaw Hatchlings were introduced to the game back in 2014. O_o

LOL. Sorry, I guess you're right. Having played since Vanilla when you couldn't even pet battle it seems like a new pet! ROFL

[Gráinne]

1. Duel
Tough call - had to narrow it down to three:

*** [pet]Iron Starlette[/pet] *** (wind-up, powerball, supercharge) - the limitless speed coupled with the 1-shot combo makes him a killer against any non elemental or magic pet.

My thought was a H/H [pet]Bone Serpent[/pet].

Both the Starlette and the Serpent are kind of the opposite of "versatile" in its normal sense, but both very strong.

The only time I've ever used Wretched Servant was in a flyer-farming team for the buzzards at Wyrmrest. I should look into him more.

[Milotha]

Some of the pets I find I use for versatility are:

s/s rabbit - having a bunch of avoidance works well in some fights
fiendish imp/enchanted broom/crawling claw - for pet swapping
magical crawdad/singing sunflower - heal tanking
moths - for interrupts/avoidance
murkalot - for leveling pets

[Uduwudu]

Hi,

I can not decide, but I know which pets I like to have make use of, because they setup the next step ... so this first one could be slow, but if Curse of Doom, or Dazzling Dance, or whatever sticks, the only thing that matters is really the next step and how big you can make it ... so, for ME, sometimes being the first is not quite indicative of a whole lot, although, like most of us, I do not like to go 2nd, because some Moths can make you lose a round, and stun you or sleep you, and going first kind takes care of that mostly.

This is the main reason why I have 2 Unborn Val'kyr's, for example, since their utility is actually quite valuable, in many situations. Originally I was using one of them to set up the fatty one in Nagrand, and then I stopped that style and started just using Bonestorm, left and right ... fight is over if you can get 3 of them in ... for example, and they were not faster than any of the opponents. A couple of other duplicates take on the same functions.

It became a matter of paying attention to the sequencing, and make sure you keep track of the "blocks" and then pump things at the right time ... and normally, if you do this in most Pet Battles, you will usually come out on top anyway... but I do try many other pets and like their utility in different situations, although I would like to use more of the Magic and Elementals, the two classes I use the least, I think.

For me, seeing the spells on the screen for the opponent (the pet battle addon has that!), is really all you need, and you will learn how to adjust.

[Cluey]

Wondering about peoples comments on the most versatile pet as far as battling wild pets and tamers etc.

I know some will jump on the [pet]Anubisath Idol[/pet] but I have never enjoyed that pet as it seems like a slow battler. A few of my top suggestions would be the [pet]Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling[/pet] or perhaps the [pet]Emerald Proto-Whelp[/pet]. These have a variety of strong attacks and versatility in the families they can be strong against as well as other affects such as heals or blocks. [pet]Terrible Turnip[/pet] is probably up there as well. I used this one for months when capturing low level creatures although I find now she is obsolete because I rarely kill a level 20+ pet I am trying to capture. Another favourite which I used for a long time for wild pet battles was the [pet]Celestial Dragon[/pet] (Strong Mechanical/Flying/Critter/Magic attacks and a big heal plus can change the weather).

I am sure there are many others I forget.

Maybe a fairer description should be most versatile pet by family:
Aquatic -
Beast -
Critter -
Dragonkin -
Elemental -
Flying -
Humanoid -
Magic -
Mechanical -
Undead -

They're all strong pets but, as you noted, they don't kill things very fast. Well other than dragons with [pet]Anubisath Idol[/pet].

The pet I use the most doing random battles is [pet]Feline Familiar[/pet].
It's increasingly rare for me to do random battles these days but they do happen if it's an AP reward for those capture or kill a XXX world quests.
The witches cat hits pretty hard, the shield means any stampede pet is neutered and then you get a decent heal as you kill each pet. I tend to run with Onyx Bite as the speed isn't that high and you've already got Devour to eat critters.

PS. also it's a cat riding a broom.

[Dirkie]

And who doesn't like a cat riding a broom.

There are a bunch of pets with [ability]devour[/ability] which is great for pet hunting/leveling in the wild. I tend to use the [pet]Zandalari Anklerender[/pet] as my go to option.

[Abbotta]

I'm not going to write out my list of most versatile because I feel like most posters here cover the great ones.

I just want to give a shout-out to my favorite which I find tends to be the anchor in many of my everyday pet battles and so hard working in the Celestials that I have 2 of them of the same breed just for that reason.

That is a shout out to my beloved [pet]Rapana Whelk[/pet], the most underated lil guys out there. He won't razzle dazzle anyone in fights but he's your clean-up hitter than just gets out there and gets the job done when everyone else has failed. I was reading one of my past comments on my beloved Rapana Whelk where he was also my go-to guy for every single Pandaria Spirit Battle.

I can't be bothered to name all my pets but when one gets used regularly they get named. And Rapana Whelk is one of the few pets where I've named 2 of them - Lawrence Whelk and Larry Whelk Jr.

BTW both of my Whelks are H/B but I've been reading about S/S versions of these guys - could there be a Larry Whelk III in my future?

[Vakeetah]

That is a shout out to my beloved [pet]Rapana Whelk[/pet], the most underated lil guys out there. He won't razzle dazzle anyone in fights but he's your clean-up hitter than just gets out there and gets the job done when everyone else has failed. I was reading one of my past comments on my beloved Rapana Whelk where he was also my go-to guy for every single Pandaria Spirit Battle.

I can't be bothered to name all my pets but when one gets used regularly they get named. And Rapana Whelk is one of the few pets where I've named 2 of them - Lawrence Whelk and Larry Whelk Jr.

BTW both of my Whelks are H/B but I've been reading about S/S versions of these guys - could there be a Larry Whelk III in my future?

A "better" version of your H/B [pet]Rapana Whelk[/pet] is [pet]Mudshell Conch[/pet] (H/P). The H/P breed was previously only available on [pet]Shimmershell Snail[/pet], that was often overlooked due to limited spawning zones and needing extensive leveling, compared to the [pet]Rapana Whelk[/pet]s available at 23+. With Legion comes the [pet]Mudshell Conch[/pet], that gives you the best of both worlds - the "best" breed, widely available, and without having to level them much.

Back on topic, I agree that [pet]Feline Familiar[/pet] is great for everyday battling due to its endurance and effectiveness against most wild pets.

I'd like to also add:

• [pet]Nether Ray Fry[/pet] due to having 6 different damage types, being a good wildcard pet in any fight. Gave one to a friend and it saw her through most tamers. [pet]Fledgling Nether Ray[/pet] has the same skillset, but limited in breed choices and hard to get for a starting tamer; and there's also [pet]Sky Fry[/pet], that adds Humanoid damage to the mix.
• [pet]Golden Dragonhawk Hatchling[/pet] is another personal favorite, also packs diverse damage types and massive burst thanks to [ability]Conflagrate[/ability] and the Dragonkin passive. Not super tough, but well able of universally removing just about any threat. Other Dragonhawks also work, but I found S/S Golden to provide the best overall balance between stats and damage.