Pet Battling in Draenor - Hot Tip / Strategy

[Bellaryl]

Hello all you wonderful Draenor Pet Battlers, specifically those of you of the Horde! This is a long post, but hopefully detailed enough to help people who might be looking for ways to maximize their Draenor pet battles. This community has been so awesome to me, and I like giving back when I can.

There are a lot of reasons why you'd want to do wild pet battles in Draenor. You might be earning the 150 battle achievement to learn the Level 3 plans for your Garrison Menagerie. Maybe you're leveling up some of those pets you've put on the back burner since the xpac launched. Maybe want to level your alts via pet battles (see other threads in this forum!). Or maybe you're going for the big Kahuna - the Draenor Pet Brawler - and working on those 2000 battles for the sweet garrison monument!

Whatever your reasons, if you're looking for some tips, allow me to share some of my "lessons learned". Believe me, I started blind and just battled pets as I saw them, but around 2/3 of the way through my Draenor Pet Brawler achievement, I decided to do a little research. (Note: time and effort on your Draenor Safari achievement will also count towards the Draenor Pet Brawler.) I wish I knew all of this beforehand, but hopefully it will help others.

I got much of the following information from WoWhead, so I want to thank user jesuisshiva for this incredible strat. Since I'm primarily Horde, I can't give a good location for Alliance toons...but maybe someone here can provide an equivalent area for you nice folks.

First, let's talk location. You want to be near your garrison because it's quick access to a free stable master in your menagerie, and you can quickly run back to check on missions, do work orders, etc. Everyone tends to exit their Garrison from the north side, the door that empties out near the big lava pool. While there are still tons of wild battle pets there, you're still going to have some competition on populated servers and will need to run around to get to those pets. You're also somewhat susceptible to the packs of boars wandering around, especially if you're closer to 90 than 100. There were several times when I finished a battle only to be in the middle of a fight because some Level 90 pigs stomped on me. Who needs that hassle?

With that being said...Go SOUTH, young hordies! Exit the south door (closest to the Menagerie, and the doorway where you first came into your Garrison) and stay to your left, keeping the mountain close. Go around until you reach approximately 47.5, 54.0. There is a line of Icespine Hatchling battle pets that are hanging out at the base of the mountain, and many of them insta-spawn after you battle it. That is, you don't even have to move one step between battles and you can chain battle. And few people seem to know about this place, so you will have the whole area to yourself!

For this strategy to work, you must have a Feline Familiar, preferably stoned to blue quality. I don't think any other cat / battle pet has the same combination of abilities, but I could be wrong. The Feline Familiar can be purchased with Tricky Treats during the Hallows End event - but sometimes you can still find one on the Auction House. It comes as an Uncommon Pet / Green, so the only way to turn him into a Blue SuperCat is to apply a battle stone to him.

My Feline Familiar was already 25 when I started using this strategy, but I wouldn't go with anything less than Level 20, because your cat will be carrying the whole team. Icespine Hatchlings (Beast) only come with Twilight Wasps (Flying), Rats (Critter), Cockroaches (Critter) and Frostfur Rats (Critter) as secondary and tertiary pets. They will range from Level 23-25. Each fight takes about 11-15 rounds and can be done in less than 2.5 minutes.

What to do:

My team:

-- Leveling Pet (should be at least level 5 or else it can get 1-shotted...I level my pets from 1-5 in Terrokar Forest / Outland. It takes 1 battle to reach Level 5)

-- Feline Familiar 1/1/1 (the rockstar)

-- Anubisath Idol (never had to use him, but I needed something there, and he's a good backup. Feel free to put your favorite friend here)

My strategy:

TL;DR version:
- Leveling pet goes in for 1 turn to soak up the XP.
- Swap in the Feline Familiar
- Stoneskin > Onyx Bite > Devour

Expanded version:
Start the battle with your leveling pet, use whatever 1 round ability you want. Then swap in your Feline Familiar. Use Stoneskin (critters will do zero or minimal damage against you now), and spam Onyx bite (strong against flying pets). When the enemy pet is nearly dead, use Devour (strong against critters) in order to regain your health. Make sure to time your devour to finish the enemy off or else you will not get healed. When in doubt, just spam devour and use stoneskin when Devour is on cooldown.

I can't tell you how many pets I leveled from 5-25 this way. I battled for DAYS without visiting a stable master, using a bandage or even using my "Revive Battle Pets" skill at all. Most of the time, Azrael the Feline Familiar was at full health or close to it by the end of the fight. And usually my leveling pets regained health when they dinged so I didn't have to worry about them. .

I hope these ideas help you as much as they helped me. Please let me know in the comments how this strategy worked for you, and how you used it, especially if you've come up with new ideas! As for leveling alts, note that your alts will get anywhere between 13,000 and 16,000 xp for each wild pet battle, and it doesn't eat up your rest bonus.

And most importantly, if you are leveling your pets - Remember to wear your Safari Hat!! PS - I got my Draenor Pet Brawler achievement and that monument is indeed beautiful. Wishing you all the best luck & success!

Edited to fix my horrible sense of direction.

[Daktar]

Nice post and explanation of your strategy. I will have to try this out on my hordie when bored to get some more wins toward the Draenor pet battler. Good to see other peoples strats when it comes to powerleveling of pets.

From time to time I still use the area around No-No using 2 moths and a carry pet and I can level there for ages.

[Khorah]

Thanks [profile]Bellaryl[/profile]!
I use [pet]Chuck[/pet] with a similar strategy in the Valley in MoP. It was rare when I had to go heal, so I am excited to see a similar combo!
Time to go level some more pets

[FuxieDK]

Everyone tends to exit their Garrison from the south side, the door that empties out near the big lava pool.

You mean NORTH, right?

South is where you enter, when you first land on Draenor, and is pretty much left unused after that...

With that being said...Go South, young hordies! Exit the north door (closest to the Menagerie) and stay to your left, keeping the mountain close.

Again, your compas seems to be upside down..

South Entrance is the closest to Menagerie.

[Saasan]

First, super handy guide, thank you! Second, one question--you said the only secondaries are wasps and the two rats.

Icespine Hatchlings (Beast) only come with Twilight Wasps (Flying), Rats (Critter) and Frostfur Rats (Critter) as secondary and tertiary pets. They will range from Level 23-25. Each fight takes about 11-15 rounds and can be done in less than 2.5 minutes.

I have encountered Fire-proof Roaches from Icespine Hatchlings. It shouldn't make a difference the roaches are critters anyway, but I am curious if the mobs behind the garrison have different spawn groups from the ones in front of the garrison.

[Happygilmore]

Try p/p anklerender 1/2/1, makes quick work, I use sentinel companion of the backup or chrominius.

[Maizing]

I use a [pet]Jade Crane Chick[/pet] myself. I have so many pet bandages stocked up that I never got to a stable master these days.

I use the abilities [ability]Thrash[/ability], [ability]Jadeskin[/ability] and [ability]Cyclone[/ability].

I normally start with a leveling pet (if I have one), then switch to the chick. Get Jadeskin up to reduce damage taken, toss out a Cyclone to soften up the back line and Thrash away (renewing Jadeskin as needed). My [pet]Jade Crane Chick[/pet] can normally solo the battle.

[Bellaryl]

Everyone tends to exit their Garrison from the south side, the door that empties out near the big lava pool.

You mean NORTH, right?

South is where you enter, when you first land on Draenor, and is pretty much left unused after that...

With that being said...Go South, young hordies! Exit the north door (closest to the Menagerie) and stay to your left, keeping the mountain close.

Again, your compas seems to be upside down..

South Entrance is the closest to Menagerie.

I will be the first to admit that my compass is cattywompus! I believe you're right...you come INTO your garrison from the south - and that's the door you go OUT of for this strategy. Thanks for clarifying. For this strategy, I go out the door that is closest to the menagerie - the one that no one uses.

Sorry for the confusion! I am so embarrassed...this is why no one lets me navigate on road trips!

[Bellaryl]

First, super handy guide, thank you! Second, one question--you said the only secondaries are wasps and the two rats.

Icespine Hatchlings (Beast) only come with Twilight Wasps (Flying), Rats (Critter) and Frostfur Rats (Critter) as secondary and tertiary pets. They will range from Level 23-25. Each fight takes about 11-15 rounds and can be done in less than 2.5 minutes.

I have encountered Fire-proof Roaches from Icespine Hatchlings. It shouldn't make a difference the roaches are critters anyway, but I am curious if the mobs behind the garrison have different spawn groups from the ones in front of the garrison.

Woo...you are right. There are indeed roaches that spawn...I remember now because they lay down apocolypse! They are critters and if you have stoneskin up, they're easy as pie!

[Aurae]

Everyone tends to exit their Garrison from the south side, the door that empties out near the big lava pool.

You mean NORTH, right?

South is where you enter, when you first land on Draenor, and is pretty much left unused after that...

With that being said...Go South, young hordies! Exit the north door (closest to the Menagerie) and stay to your left, keeping the mountain close.

Again, your compas seems to be upside down..

South Entrance is the closest to Menagerie.

I will be the first to admit that my compass is cattywompus! I believe you're right...you come INTO your garrison from the south - and that's the door you go OUT of for this strategy. Thanks for clarifying. For this strategy, I go out the door that is closest to the menagerie - the one that no one uses.

Sorry for the confusion! I am so embarrassed...this is why no one lets me navigate on road trips!

Everyone will become well acquainted with that door in 6.2 because of the shipyard.

[Lunarific]

Thanks for the tip! I did get quite lost trying to find the place you mentioned, but it wasn't helped by me thinking that the menagerie was at my herb garden for some reason. Derp. >.<

[Bellaryl]

Hey Alliance people! I think I have a relatively good place for you to do this.

I took my level 90 Worgen Druid to Draenor. Once I got my Garrison set up, I hopped on my water walking mount (you can swim if you want) and go all the way around the coast to the Moonlit Shore. There is a little cove with friendly folks, and eleventybillion Moonshell Crabs.

I have been trying this out and although it's not as perfect as my Horde solution, it is doable. The Feline familiar doesn't seem to be weak against any of the attacks (that I've seen), but also is not strong against any of these guys either. It takes about the same amount of time using the same strategy. I hope this helps.

Don't be a dork like me...make sure you have your safari hat on, and bandages just in case!