What Pets Should I Level?

[Smoking_gnu]

I am starting the long road of levelling pets to be used as part of the daily trainer quests. So far I have only finished the classic and Burning Crusade trainer quests by using a Level 25 shale hatchling to basically overpower the trainer and 2 pets that I am levelling.

I am now seeing harder battles and am wondering which pets I should be considering as a priority to level to 25 for future trainer fights.

Thanks in advance.

[Quintessence]

My recommendations:

• - Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (counter against magic)
  - Jade Owl (counter against aquatic)
  - Any snail, although I hear the Shimmerhsell Snail is best (counter against elemental)
  - Terrible Turnip (great for capturing pets)
  - Clockwork Gnome or Darkmoon Zeppelin
  - Some sort of ooze; I've heard great things about the Jade Oozeling

Just my thoughts. And I can't really say much about Pet PVP, but there are many here with lots of experience who can fill you in.

[Gendou]

If you only level one, level an Anubisath Idol.
It has a decent combination of skills that work well to keep it alive for extended periods of time.

Other very useful pets are the P/P (4/14) Emperor Crab, the H/P (7/17) or P/B (10/20) Nether Faerie Dragon, and almost any high-power pet that has Pump. Normally the Fluxfire Feline would be on this list, but it's being nerfed so heavily in 5.2 that it may not be worth it at this stage. Snails and Oozes are also very good.

But later tamers (particularly in Pandaria) really require a solid team designed from the outset to take them down.
A good bet is too look at some of the tamer guides out there, like World of WarPets, and see what pets they rely on or recommend. Then level some of those.

Edit: Beaten like a red-headed Argent Squire by Quint.

[Quintessence]

If you only level one, level an Anubisath Idol.
It has a decent combination of skills that work well to keep it alive for extended periods of time.

Completely agree with you there, except for the fact that Reflection is getting changed in 5.2. It might not be a huge nerf, but it might affect your ability choices somewhat post-patch.

Along that same line, Flayer Youngling is also worth capturing and playing around with. Reflection can be considered one of its stronger abilities, and like the Anubisath Idol, the change to Reflection could alter how you use the flayer. In any case, it's strong against most critters.

Oh and I completely forgot about the Sprite Darter Hatchling/Nether Faerie Dragon! Good call, Gendou. Both are great against flying pets.

[Gendou]

Completely agree with you there, except for the fact that Reflection is getting changed in 5.2. It might not be a huge nerf, but it might affect your ability choices somewhat post-patch.

I actually end up using Stoneskin/Sandstorm.
It not only negates DoTs, it negates most multi-hit abilities as well.
And with the high health, the Humanoid passive gives big heals with each hit.

Along that same line, Flayer Youngling is also worth capturing and playing around with. Reflection can be considered one of its stronger abilities, and like the Anubisath Idol, the change to Reflection could alter how you use the flayer. In any case, it's strong against most critters.

Agreed. P/P (4/14) Flayer Youngling is a monster against critters.
Similarly, the P/P (4/14) Kun-Lai Runt (somewhat easier to get) is very good against critters.

Oh and I completely forgot about the Sprite Darter Hatchling/Nether Faerie Dragon! Good call, Gendou. Both are great against flying pets.

As is the Nexus Whelpling, if you can grab or stone a rare.

There's a LOT of good pets out there.

But right out of the gate, I'd suggest Anubisath Idol, Darkmoon Zeppelin and Nether Faerie Dragon as relatively
The Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling is potentially better than the Zeppelin, but requires a Flawless Mechanical Stone to reach that potential.

[Tahsfenz]

Jade owl is nice, and I leveled scooter the snail and he's pretty tough. I just leveled up clockwork gnome for an alternative to fluxfire feline and have been very happy with results. Spirit of competition if you have it or celestial dragon make great anchors.

[Amithyst]

I personally had great results with my first time line up of Phoenix Hatchling, Onyxian Whelpling, and Pterrodax Hatchling.

[Bonhomous]

You have mentioned that you were looking for a team that specifically is good against tamers.

Here is my default tamer team:
Flayer Youngling (i really hope they leave reflection alone)
Celestial Dragon (you have to have acquired 150 pets in order to get this)
Clockwork Gnome use against any beast, very helpful against Major Payne, darkmoon tamer and Ulduum tamer.
These three won't work every time, but some combination of 2 of these I use on most tamer fights.

Here are some great pets to add to your bench to bring in when needed:
Fel Flame The H/H variety has a lot of health and if you save your Conflagrate to finish off a mechanical, you'll usually negate their rez.
Snarly Pet reward for fishing daily just outside Shattrath in BC. Any of the three are good aquatic pets.

the other useful pets have already been mentioned in this thread, but I'll mention them again:
Jade Owl - you'll need an flawless magic stone to convert it to rare, but it's a beast (not literally) against any aquatic pet.
Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling is a nice counter to magic pets. Use it against outlands master tamer.
Shimmershell Snail will be strong against any elemental pet in the game.
Yellow-Bellied Bullfrog Any frog/toad is lethal against undead. Combine lvl 10 Tongue Lash with lvl 20 Swarm of Flies and you wont fear any undead.

I don't think that there is a tamer in the game that is immune to some combination of these pets i've listed here and that's only 9 pets.
For Aki in Pandaria, I use my Celestial Dragon/Flayer Youngling and Jade Owl and it's an easy fight.
For Major Payne in Icecrown I use Clockwork Gnome, Fel Flame and Snarly and it's an easy fight.
For What's His Name in Ulduum I use Clockwork Gnome, Celestial Dragon and Flayer Youngling and it's an easy fight.
For the Tamer in Shadowmoon Valley I use Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling, Snarly and Flayer Youngling and it's an easy fight.

At this point i've gotten so that I try to use 2 pets to defeat the tamers and level a third and you'll get there eventually, in the meantime, try these 9 pets and you'll have no problem defeating the tamers.
Good luck.

[Poutinette]

The pets I use the most against tamers are:

a fast rabbit: try to get one who will have a speed of 338+ at level 25, use then dodge and burrow against hard hitting moves.

Darkmoon Zeppelin: I just love Bombing Run and Decoy.

Gilnean Raven to have heavy hitting combo ( Call Darkness and Nocturnal Strike ).

Anubisath Idol with the combo Stoneskin and Sandstorm can dramatically reduce the multi-hit damage abilities of your foes.

[Lisanette]

Someone else wrote this elsewhere:

vs Aqua use Jade Owl (he is magic, and casts flying spells)
vs critter use Curious Wolvar Pup (he is Human, and casts Beast spells)
vs Dragon use Scourged Whelpling (he is Undead, and casts Human spells)
vs Elemental use Rapana Whelk (he is a critter, and casts Aqua spells)
vs Flying use [pet]Lil' Tarecgosa[/pet] (she is a Dragon, and casts Magic spells)
vs Human use Mr. Grubbs (he is a Beast, and casts Undead spells)
vs Magic use Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (he is a Mechanical, and casts Dragon spells)
vs Mechanical use [pet]Lil' Ragnaros[/pet] (he is a Elemental, and casts Elemental spells..... and completely OP)
vs Undead use Yellow-Bellied Bullfrog (he is a Aqua, and casts Critter spells)

This way you cheese it, getting all benefits. Not sure, they are my favorits all of them though - but 7-8 of them are.

[Gwenolyn]

I use Eternal strider a lot in tamer dailies with Pump and a heal she works well. Just be sure to choose ones to lvl from different families.