which wild hatchling to upgrade - crimson, golden, or jade

[Gogo]

I am eager to use my dragonkin battle-stone on one of my high-level dragon pets. My first inclination was to go for the crimson one since I like pets that can heal, but I've seen a lot of people state in the forums that the golden one is useful (is that correct?) Another option for me is the Emerald Protodrake.

Thanks!

[Sunturion]

if you run clockwork gnome, the golden hatchlings call lightning makes the turret really good

[Opallena]

I've heard people say the Emerald Proto is pretty good against the pandaren Air spirit tamer because of its emerald presence and resistance to flying attacks. I wouldn't use a stone on one of the serpent hatchlings; they're very common around the arbetorium, and are easily upgraded with a little patience. Emerald proto on the other hand, is quite rare right now.

[Gromagrim]

I found the opposite to be true, had an emerald proto-drake after a few hours in un'goro farming them and shardhorns, while only one of my hatchlings (crimson) has appeared as a rare. Hatchlings repop really quickly from clearing the area until the 'bucket' gets empty, then you don't see any for ages, whereas protos seem to be on a standard drip-spawn that didn't seem linked to other battle pets.

I've only had one dragon stone so far anyway, and used it on my thundering hatchling.

[Erian]

Ok, lets compare the Wild Golden and Wild Jade Hatchling first, since they have the same abilities but slightly different stats: Golden has slightly more speed (273 vs. 244), the Jade more HP (1627 vs. 1400). I'd go for the Jade here: Speed is binary. Either you are faster than your enemy or slower (ok, they can be equal...) - but if you are slower it doesn't matter how much. And 273 is rather slow. Furthermore you can chose an Tail Sweep, which deals more damage than Breath if you are slower and double dips on the Lightning Storm's bonus damage since it hits twice.

Comparing Crimson vs. Jade: Really depends on what you want to do. In PvP there can be nice applications for Lightning Storms if you combine it with mechanical and/or often hitting attacks. In PvE (when going against tamers) however the Crimson Hatchling can be increadibly strong in some cases: E.g. the tamer in the Dread Wastes can lose his first two pets against a well played (and not too unlucky) Wild Crimson Hatchling. Right now I'm using it against the tamers in Howling Fjord, Dread Wastes, Kun'lai and the Spirit Tamer in Jade Forest.

As for the Emerald Protodrake: I couldn't try this out yet, but it might actually be even stronger vs. the mentioned tamers (or some of them) since it can't only heal itself but also reduce all damage taken - this might actually make it impossible to kill for even more pets.