I thought to share my team setups for the tamer dailies.
1.1 A few introductory notes:
-Pre 5.2, Fluxfire Feline was a quick and easy way to defeat trainers. With the nerf in 5.2, Fluxfire Feline isn’t going to be a short way to victory, and substitutes needs to be found.
-I wanted to find my new team setups before 5.2 goes live, because the new hp penalty from forfeiting (-10% hp on all three pets) would make this very tedious work.
-The penalty from forfeiting also made me want to ensure that my teams could take down the trainer no matter which of the trainer pets you face first.
-My teams sometimes have the same pet needed for consecutive battles (typically the Emerald Proto Whelp). This means that you have to heal up after some of the battles. You could of course use other team setups to avoid having to heal up, but since we get so many bandages while doing dailies I have no problem with this. I’d rather focus on the best team setup I can find.
-I try to avoid using pets that are hard to come by such as TCG/pet store/collector edition pets. I think I only use pets that are obtainable ingame, except for the Vampiric Batling.
-If you have better setups than mine, please share! Whenever I use a setup with low dmg or survival abilities hampering my damage, I am especially interested in tips about what I can do or other pets I can use to finish the battle faster (but still very reliably).
I wish to thank Warcraftpets and the forumposters as well as bloggers hard-at-work for all of the valuable information and tips they have provided!
1.2 Goals:
1) The team defeats the trainer no matter which of his two first pets are fielded first. Usually, the trainer has a preferred pet to start the battle with, but sometimes he fields the other one first. I wanted to eliminate the need to forfeit if you face the “wrong” pet first.
2) The team has only 2 lvl 25 pets, leaving room for a lowlvl “carry pet” for leveling.
3) Winning as quickly and reliably as possible. This means max dmg, unless the reliability is low / RNG is high, in which case I choose a lower dmg pet with abilities suited for surviving.
1.3 Description
In the guide I use these parameters: [Pet name] [Breed] [(Skillset)]
The number 1 – 3 in front of the pet names signify which pet you start with and which pet gets switched in next.
Skillset: 1,1,1 means the first ability slot for all three abilities. 2,2,2 means the second ability slot for all three abilities. 1,2,2 means the first ability slot for the first ability, and the second ability slot for the second and third ability.
Concerning carry pets and xp: Usually, I switch in the carry pet when my first pet dies, then immediately switch the carry pet out for the last lvl 25 pet. This way, you will get xp without having to make an action or take a hit. In some battles, I let the carry pet switch in at a different time for tactical purposes.
My tactics are quite extensive. The reason is that some things may seem random, or my choices might seem to be less than optimal. Therefore I explain the reasoning behind my choices. Also, people not too familiar with pet battling might appreciate some elaboration to the tactics instead of just knowing what pet, breed and abilities to use.
You could of course skip ahead to the next trainer after reading which pets I use, their breed and skill setup.
2. PANDARIA
2.1 Aki the Chosen
-Very reliable.
-Chirrup, Stormlash, Whiskers (usually starts with Chirrup).
1: Spirit Crab [6] (1,2,1)
2: Carry pet (won’t take any damage. Can use a lvl 1 pet)
3: Yellow Moth [4] (1,1,2)
-Spirit Crab will avoid all damage from Chirrup by using Shell Shield.
-Stormlash doesn’t hit very hard vs Spirit Crab, and you whittle him down pretty quickly.
-You may damage Whiskers a bit before Spirit Crab dies, at which point you switch the carry pet in and straight out for Yellow Moth.
-Yellow Moth eats Whiskers for breakfast with Moth Dust and Slicing Wind (would have used Alpha Strike, but with Whiskers mostly going first with Surge no matter if the Moth has superior speed, Slicing Wind is the way to go).
-Use Coccoon Strike vs Dive.
2.2 Thundering Pandaren Spirit
-Very reliable.
-Pandaren Earth Spirit, Sludgy, Darnak the Tunneler (usually starts with Pandaren Earth Spirit)
1: Tolai Hare Pup [12] (2,2,1)
2: Carry pet (won’t take any damage. Can use a lvl 1 pet)
3: Anodized Robo Cub [7] (1,2,2)
There are many, many substitutes to Tolai Hare Pup. Why this one? Because it has just enough speed to go first vs both Pandaren Earth Spirit and Darnak the Tunneler, which is essential for the tactics, and at the same time maximize attack. Choosing a higher speed hare would mean wasted speedpoints and less attack.
Vs Sludgy first:
-Round 1: Switch to Anodized Robo Cub.
-Round 2: Supercharge
-Round 3: Bite
-Continue with Bite until Sludgy is dead.
Vs Pandaren Earth Spirit first:
-Round 1: attack
-Round 2: Dodge
-Attack until Rupture is off CD. That round you use Burrow.
-Use dodge again so that you avoid a Stone Shot as well as Rupture (don’t use it when it means you will “waste” a dodge to Crystal Prison, as Crystal Prison won’t affect you at all due to the critter racial + speed.
-When Pandaren Earth Spirit dies: Sludgy is next
-Switch to Anodized Robo Cub (see the tactics above).
-When Sludgy dies, you get to have fun with Darnak the Tunneler
-Round 1: Bite
-Round 2: Supercharge
-Round 3: Bite
-Then you will probably die. If not, you get another Bite in.
-When Anodized Robo Cub dies, switch to the carry pet and then immediately back to Tolai Hare Pup. He will not sustain any damage from Darnak by doing like this:
- Attack every round, except for when Darnaks has burrowed (then you use Dodge), and if Darnak has Stone Rush off CD (then you use Burrow).
2.3 Whispering Pandaren Spirit
-Very reliable, although a little slow and boring with having to use Emerald Presence and Emerald Dream a lot.
-Dusty, Whispertail, Pandaren Air Spirit (usually starts with Dusty).
1: Emerald Proto Whelp [4] (2,2,2)
2: Carry pet (won’t take any damage. Can use a lvl 1 pet)
3: Chrominius (1,1,2)
-Emerald Proto Whelp is unkillable if you keep Emerald Presence up and use Emerald Dream when you are low on hp.
-I try to stop using Emerald Dream vs the second pet when I know I can kill him with my remaining HP.
-When facing the Pandaren Air Spirit, don’t refresh Emerald Presence; let him die so that you can switch the carry pet in and out to let Chrominius finish him off by doing Howl, then Surge of Power (or first do a Bite, to reduce his hp down so that Surge of Power can kill him).
-I tried Emerald Proto Whelp with (2,2,1) instead. Vs Dusty, you get to use Bite, then Shield, then Proto Strike – which avoids wasting an attack vs his Coccoon Strike. It worked out very well in a lot of cases, but this isn’t as reliable as (2,2,2).
-I wish to find a team setup that can finish the trainer off faster, and at the same tame being just as reliable. I have tried a lot of different teams, but I don’t think they are as optimal as this team is.
2.4 Hyuna of the Shrines
-Very reliable.
-Fangor, Skyshaper, Dor the Wall (usually starts with Fangor).
1: Emerald Proto Whelp [4] (2,1,1)
2: Carry pet (won’t take any damage. Can use a lvl 1 pet)
3: Yellow Moth [4] (2,1,2)
Vs Fangor first:
-Round 1: Emerald Bite
-Round 2: Proto-Strike to avoid his Burrow.
-Heal the round you expect to have received 500 damage total (or continue damaging him to down him as fast as possible to avoid his building up damage with Vicious Fang. Bear in mind that because he has Hiss and Burrow, he won’t be using Vicious Fang as often and thus it won’t be that much of a threat like it is vs Obalis’ pet Pyth).
Vs Skyshaper first:
-Skyshaper is a pushover with Emerald Proto Whelp.
-You will get a nice hit vs Fangor on the first round with the dragonkin +50 % dmg racial bonus, before he burrows and you use Proto-Strike.
Vs Dor the Wall
-Emerald Proto Whelp dies vs Dor the Wall, enabling you to switch the carry pet in and immediately out again to field Yellow Moth.
-Yellow Moth has higher speed than Dor the Wall, so use Coccoon Strike the round his Headbutt is off CD. Dor will go down very quickly vs your Yellow Moth.
2.5 Farmer Nishi
-Very reliable.
-Siren, Toothbreaker, Brood of Mothran (usually starts with Siren).
1: Carry pet (will take damage vs Siren, and also vs Toothbreaker if you start against him. Carry pet should have about 500 hp)
2: Eternal Strider [8] (1,2,2)
3: Darkmoon Zeppelin (1,1,1) or Darkmoon Tonk (1,1,2)
You could use any other water strider-pet, but Eternal Strider has just enough speed to attack first vs both Siren and Toothbreaker. Choosing a faster water strider means that the speed points will be wasted, while the attacks will be weaker. In my opinion, Eternal Strider breed 8 is the best pick.
Vs Toothbreaker first:
-Start with the carry pet and attack once. He will be hit by approximately 150 dmg (+ about 200 dmg or so from Siren’s Sunlight later on).
-Switch out for Eternal Strider, use Cleansing Rain, then Pump.
-Use Water Jet until Toothbreaker dies.
-When you face Siren, attack with Water Jet the first round. Siren will use Sunlight, whereupon you use Cleansing Rain to overwrite the weather effect (reducing Siren’s healing, and buffing your damage by 25 %).
Vs Siren first:
-Start with the carry pet and attack once. Switch out for Eternal Strider, use Cleansing Rain, Pump, then Water Jet him to death.
Vs Brood of Mothran:
-Use Pump (you have already used Pump once, enabling you to unleash the dmg on Brood immediately).
-Use Pump again (Brood will use Burrow).
-Use Pump again (usually he won’t kill your Eternal Strider, which means he dies from your Pump).
-If Burrow kills your Eternal Strider, field your Darkmoon Zeppelin or Darkmoon Tonk. They will finish off Brood quickly (Flyby+Missile if Zeppelin, or Ion Cannon if Tonk).
This is the easiest trainer daily battle. I almost feel bad even to write a tactic about this, but since this is such an easy battle you can easily optimize this to finish Nishi off as quickly as possible. I haven’t found any quicker way to do this than going Eternal Strider + Darkmoon Tonk.
2.6 Mo’ruk
-Very reliable, but a little slow and boring with refreshing Emerald Presence and using Emerald Dream. Not too slow though, as Lightstalker takes extra dmg from Emerald Bite.
-Woodcarver, Lightstalker, Needleback (usually start with Woodcarver).
1: Emerald Proto Whelp [4] (2,2,2)
2: Carry pet (won’t take any damage. Can use a lvl 1 pet)
3: Gilnean Raven [8] (1,2,1)
-If you have any teams killing Mo’ruk faster than this, and just as reliably, please let me know!
Vs Woodcarver first:
-Round 1: Use Emerald Bite
-Round 2: Use Emerald Presence (Woodcarver will use Burrow).
-Then just use Emerald Bite, refresh Emerald Presence when the current shield has 1 round left, and use Emerald Dream when you are getting low on hp (it’s nice if you time Emerald Dream so that you get the last rounds heal right after you get hit by his Burrow, then finish him off to face Lightstalker).
-Note that if you have 1 round left with Emerald Presence when Woodcarver has 1 round left with CD on his Burrow, use Emerald Bite instead of refreshing your shield. The following round he will Burrow, and you can use Emerald Shield. If you refresh the shield instead of attacking, you won’t be able to attack him next round because of the Burrow, forcing you to waste a round by using Emerald Presence again (unless you really need to use Emerald Dream).
Vs Lightstalker first:
-Round 1: Use Emerald Presence.
-Then use Emerald Bite, refresh Emerald Presence when the current shield has 1 round left, and use Emerald Dream when you dip low on hp.
-If you are put to sleep by Lightstalker’s Moth Dust, pass the round and use Emerald Presence immediately. You will be low on hp at this point, so use Emerald Dream.
Vs Needleback:
-Only use Emerald Bite vs Needleback, letting your Emerald Proto Whelp die while doing some damage on Needleback.
-When Emerald Proto Whelp dies, field your carry pet to immediately switch him out for Gilnean Raven. Use Call Darkness, then Nocturnal Strike, and finish Needleback off with Peck.
2.7 Flowing Pandaren Spirit
-Very reliable.
-Marley, Tiptoe, Pandaren Water Spirit (usually starts with Marley).
1: Vampiric Batling (1,2,1)
2: Carry pet (will take a lot of damage from Tidal Waves. Probably at least 600, perhaps up to 1000 dmg if you are unlucky. Carry pet should have at least 700 hp, but still might not make it)
3: Spawn of Onyxia [4] (2,1,1)
Vampiric Batling is unobtainable if you didn’t get him from Prince Tenris Mirkblood in Karazhan during the Scourge Invasion (launch event of WotLK). Instead of Vampiric Batling, you could use Pterrordax Hatchling (1,1,1).
I guess you could also try a Bat breed 4 (325 attack). It has the same key abilities as Vampiric Batling. Even though Vampiric batling has 305 attack while Bat breed 4 has 325 attack, I kind of like Vampiric Batling because it's undead which gives you the opportunity to attack the round it dies, as well as attack the following round. In my opinion that is more valuable than 20 more attack. Note that I haven't tried Bat in this fight, but I would be surprised if it didn't work (Spawn of Onyxia should finish off the second pet and still easily kill the Pandaren Water Spirit.
Vs Marley:
-Round 1: Reckless Strike
-Round 2: Hawk Eye (Marley will Dive)
-Then use Reckless strike until Marley dies (should kill him with 2 or 3 Reckles Strike hits).
Vs Tiptoe:
-Bite him to death.
Vs Pandaren Water Spirit:
-Use Reckless Strike until Vampiric Batling dies.
-Switch the carry pet in and immediately out for Spawn of Onyxia. Use Tail Sweep.
-When Whirlpool and Geyser has 1 round left, use Lift-Off to avoid the damage. Then continue Tail Sweep if Pandaren Water Spirit doesn’t die from your Lift-Off.
2.8 Wastewalker Shu
-Very reliable (though if you miss a couple of times vs the first two pets, you might be in some trouble. -10 % to hit from Sandstorm can be annoying)
-Crusher, Pounder, Mutilator (usually starts with Crusher).
1: Spawn of Onyxia [4] (2,1,1)
2: Carry pet (will only take dmg from Pounder’s Earthquake, which is negligible. Should do fine with a lvl 1 pet)
3: Darkmoon Tonk (1,1,2)
Vs Crusher first:
-Round 1: Tail sweep
-Round 2: Tail sweep
-Round 3: Tail sweep
-Round 4: Lift-off (to avoid the Whirlpool damage. You might kill him at this point. If not, continue Tail Sweep).
-I usually don’t use Healing Flame vs Crusher. I’d rather finish him off quickly to face off Pounder.
Vs Pounder first:
-Round 1: Lift-off (to avoid Rupture on the next round). If your Lift-off is on CD, use Healing Flame instead.
-Then continue Tail Sweeping, using healing flame if needed, and most importantly: use Lift-off to avoid Rupture. His Earthquake does negligible damage.
-When you go up against Crusher, the Sandstorm will make this battle last longer. The reason is the damage reduction and the -10 % to hit. Lift-off to avoid Whirlpool (will only be able to do this on every other Whirlpool as Whirlpool has a shorter CD than Lift-off).
Vs Mutilator:
-Use Tail Sweep / Lift-off to reduce his hp a bit. Spawn of Onyxia dies, switch the carry pet in and immediately out for Darkmoon Tonk which uses Shock And Awe and Missile to soften Mutilator up so that he can be killed by Ion Cannon.
2.9 Seeker Zusshi
-Very reliable
-Diamond, Mollus, Skimmer (usually starts with Diamond).
1: Jade Oozeling [4] (2,1,2)
2: Carry pet (will take a bit of damage from Diamond’s Howling Blast. It’s not too much, but at the top of my head I’d have about 500 hp or thereabouts at least. Might survive with 300 hp I think, but I can’t remember exactly how much dmg is dealt).
3: Infinite Whelpling [4] (1,1,1)
There are other oozes available, but Jade Oozeling is the strongest one. In my opinion, this is the best ooze.
Vs Diamond first:
-Round 1: Acidic Goo
-Round 2: Corrosion
-Round 3: Absorb
-Round 4: Absorb (Diamond dies, and you have replenished your hp with Absorb).
Vs Mollus first:
-Round 1: Acidic Goo
-Round 2: pass (Mollus will Dive, so you won’t hit him this round. Waste of time to use any ability).
-Round 3: Corrosion
-Then just Absorb him to death (don’t bother to refresh the dot’s, it’s better to get some self-heal with Absorb).
Vs Skimmer:
-Soften him up with Acidic Goo, Corrosion and Absorb. Due to Cleansing Rain, the dot’s will have reduced duration. Even so, be careful so that Jade Oozeling doesn’t kill Skimmer so that your carry pet won’t get any xp. Pass until Jade Oozeling dies if you have to, or switch in the carry pet on a round Skimmer will use Soothe / Cleansing rain before charging up his Pump again, so that your carry pet won’t get killed).
-Infinite Whelpling will Tail Sweep Skimmer to death easily. If you will get hit by a Pump, use Healing Flame on the same round (or the one thereafter) so that you can sustain another huge hit. Note that Skimmer won’t continue to nuke with Pump; he will pause to cast Soothe / Cleansing Rain, enabling you to get some free hits on him.
2.10 Burning Pandaren Spirit
-Very reliable, although a bit slow even though Crimson takes extra dmg from Crush.
-Crimson, Pandaren Fire Spirit, Glowy (usually starts with Crimson).
1: Anubisath Idol (1,1,1)
2: Carry pet (will take quite a bit of damage from Crimson’s Cyclone. Should have 500 hp +)
3: Emerald Proto Whelp [4] (2,2,1)
Note: As these are the teams for 5.2, I will not talk about Reflection, but Deflection (as Reflection will be changed to Deflection in 5.2). Deflection avoids damage that round, but doesn’t deal any back. Also, I am informed it has a CD of 3 rounds, down from 5 rounds.
Vs Crimson:
-Round 1: Crush
-Round 2: Sandstorm
-Round 3: Deflection (avoids the Lift-off hit).
-Then just Crush him to death. Note that Crush is the favoured damage ability as it deals bonus damage vs Dragonkin, and Sandstorm has a damage penalty vs Dragonkin.
Vs Pandaren Fire Spirit:
-Use Sandstorm whenever it is off CD, as it does more dmg to him than Crush.
-It seems a little random what the Pandaren Fire Spirit does first. Some say that he always uses Immolate, then Cauterize to heal himself on the second round. I have however seen him use Immolate then Conflagrate on the next round, or go straight for Conflagrate the first round even without Immolate up. There might exist a pattern I am not aware of, though.
-Depending on your hp, you might want to use Deflection to avoid Conflagration (or to avoid Immolation so that you won’t get the double hit from Conflagration). If you don’t need to avoid it to survive it’s better to focus on damaging him instead.
-Note that if you have chosen to use Stoneskin instead of Reflection, you could use this on the first round because it is very likely he will use Cauterize to heal up on the second round, which will heal up all the damage from your first attack.
Glowy:
-Soak the first Glowing Toxin and Confusing Sting with Anubisath Idol, then switch out with your carry pet (make sure Sandstorm is up, that way your carry pet won’t take any damage from Swarm), and switch straight out for Emerald Proto Whelp (your carry pet won’t need to attack, because he will be attacked by Glowy – although without sustaining any damage).
-Emerald Proto Whelp won’t need to use Emerald Presence as long as Sandstorm is up. Just use Emerald Bite (which does bonus damage vs Glowy) until he dies.
2.11 Courageous Yon
-Very reliable, although a little boring with Emerald Presence and Emerald Dream – even though you get bonus dmg vs Piqua with Emerald Bite he debuffs you with -25 % dmg.
-Piqua, Lapin, Bleat (usually starts with Piqua).
1: Emerald Proto Whelp [4] (2,2,2)
2: Carry pet (won’t take any damage. Can use a lvl 1 pet)
3: Darkmoon Tonk (1,2,2)
Some find a strategy where they field their carry pet first in case Piqua starts the battle, letting the carry pet soak the dmg debuff Piqua applies the first round and then switch in the first lvl 25 pet. I haven’t bothered to do this yet, but I just might.
Vs Lapin first:
-Round 1: Emerald Bite
-Round 2: Emerald Presence (Lapin Burrows)
-Round 3: Emerald Bite
-Round 4: Emerald Bite
-Round 5: Emerald Dream (when it finishes, Lapin’s Burrow is off CD and he will Burrow on the next round, which means you will use Emerald Presence).
-Then just Emerald Bite him to death.
Vs Piqua first:
-Round 1: Emerald Bite
-Round 2: Emerald Presence (Lapin uses Lift-off)
-Then just Emerald Bite him to death (because of Emerald Presence, you won’t sustain any damage vs his Flock).
Vs Bleat:
-Whether you start vs Piqua or Lapin first, it is nice if you die with the second pet having so low hp that one (or two) shot with Missile will kill it. This would probably require you to not refresh Emerald Presence at the end.
-When Emerald Proto Whelp dies, switch the carry pet in and immediately out for Darkmoon Tonk, which uses Minefield (hits hard vs Bleat).
-Then Missile the second pet to death.
-When facing Bleat, he will get hit for about 800 damage.
-You then use Ion Cannon to kill him in one shot (because of getting hit by Minefield, he will use Bleat to heal himself for about 250 hp, so make sure he has low enough hp for you to then finish him off with Ion Cannon. Otherwise, you will end up recharging for two rounds, which is a bit sketchy.
-If Emerald Proto Whelp kills the second pet, you soften up Bleat, die from Chew, switch to carry pet and immediately to Darkmoon Tonk which uses Missile until Bleat has low enough hp to kill with Ion Cannon.
Alternative tactic:
-You could also use Anubisath Idol (1,1,1) or (1,2,2), with a carry pet and Darkmoon Tonk.
3. ULDUM
3.1 Obalis
-Reliable
-Pyth, Spring, Clatter (usually starts with Pyth).
1: Infinite Whelpling [4] (1,1,1)
2: Anubisath Idol (1,2,1)
3: Carry pet (won’t take any damage if you face Pyth first. Can use a lvl 1 pet. If you face Spring first, your carry pet should be switched in vs Clatter, which means he will take some damage – but not very much. In this case, you should have about 300 hp.)
-If you face Pyth as the second pet, you don’t want to switch in the carry pet after your first pet dies. This is because Pyth deals very high damage. The better choice would be to switch the carry pet in during the first round vs Clatter. You could of course switch the carry pet in right after the first pet dies, but RNG dmg might pose a threat to your Anubistah Idol.
Note: Blizzard has recently stated that the stats of Obalis’ pets will be reduced, as they were higher than intended. This should be a welcome change for many, and perhaps I choose to change my team setup when I see how this actually plays out. I am not 100 % happy with this team, but it works out just fine.
Vs Spring first:
-Round 1: Tail Sweep (Spring has about 50 % chance to choose Moth Dust first, and 50 % to use Cocoon strike first. Tail sweep takes down the Coccoon and still deal some damage).
-Round 2: Tail Sweep if Spring used Moth Dust the first round (he will use Cocoon Strike this round). If not, use Early Advantage.
-Round 3: Early Advantage if Spring used Cocoon Strike the second round. If he used Coccoon Strike on the first round, use Tail Sweep
-Continue Tail Sweeping until Spring dies.
-When facing Pyth, you use Early Advantage which gets + 50 % damage from the dragonkin racial.
-To get two hits from Early Advantage, you need to have low hp, which means that you shouldn’t use Healing Flame vs Spring. If you do, you might only get one hit from Early Advantage.
-After this initial hit, you might be able to get in a Tail Sweep, but usually you get killed.
-If you only got one hit from Early Advantage, this means that you have quite a bit of hp left. This in turn means that you probably will manage a couple more Tail Sweeps.
-The goal is to reduce Pyth’s hp down below 50 % so that Anubisath Idol can finish him off. Note that Crush does low dmg to Pyth, so you should focus on finishing him as fast as possible (I use Sandstorm for the dmg, then Crush him to death without using Stoneskin).
Vs Pyth first:
-Early Advantage usually won’t hit twice. If you use it the first round, you probably won’t take enough damage to get two hits in. If you use it later, your Tail Sweep will reduce Pyth’s hp at a little faster rate than he reduces yours, which means you only will get one hit.
-Therefore, I usually just use Tail Sweep and skip Early Advantage.
-Use Healing Flame the second or third round (I think I usually use it on the third round). Healing Flame is best used when he has just hit you with Counterstrike, but as it’s a little hard to know exactly when he will use it this would just be a bonus.
-Either you kill Pyth, or he will only have a couple of hundred hp left. Anubisath Idol will finish him off with Sandstorm.
-When Anubisath faces Spring, he will kill him easily (although not as quickly as I’d like) due to Sandstorm and Stoneskin.
Vs Clatter:
-On the first round, switch to your carry pet. You could switch the carry pet in after your first pet dies, but as I stated earlier this might be risky because of Pyth’s high dmg hits.
-I usually let Stoneskin expire and just rely on Sandstorm, unless Anubisath already has low hp. I focus on dmg as much as possible.
4. NORTHREND
4.1 Major Payne
-I am not happy with the reliability of this team, but it works decently vs Grizzle first.
-Grizzle, Beakmaster X-225, Bloom (usually starts with Grizzle).
1: Infinite Whelpling [4] (1,1,1)
2: Carry pet (won’t take any damage. Still, as you want to switch the carry pet in to soak a hit from Grizzle if your Infinite Whelpling gets stunned on the first move, he should have 400 hp, or more if you want to be safe vs a crit or if the carry pet is vulnerable to critter damage)
3: Emerald Proto Whelp [4] (1,2,1)
Note: that Blizzard has recently stated that the stats of Payne’s pets will be reduced, as they were higher than intended. This should be a welcome change for many, and perhaps I choose to change my team setup when I see how this actually plays out.
This is the most annoying trainer because of heavy RNG. The annoying part is Beakmaster.
I have tried a LOT of teams vs Payne. Some works vs Beakmaster first, but I have found none that work reliably no matter who of Grizzle or Beakmaster is fielded first. I have a temporary team that works ok if Grizzle starts first. The reason I have chosen this is that Grizzle starts more often that Beakmaster.
Grizzle
I always start with using Healing Flame. This is to ensure that Infinite Whelpling only takes 2 damage hits from Grizzle. With 2 damage hits taken, Infinite Whelpling has about 600 hp left. This ensures that Early Advantage works vs Beakmaster.
If Grizzle starts with stun, you won’t be able to heal the first hit. Instead you heal more than that, which ruins your Early Advantage vs Beakmaster. Therefore, switch your stunned Infinite out with your carry pet and soak one hit. Switch right back to Infinite Whelpling (without attacking with your carry pet). Use Early Advantage, then Tail Sweep him to death. You should have the dragonkin bonus 50 % damage on your first round vs Beakmaster.
If Grizzle starts with his damaging move, you will heal the first one up. Then just use Tail Sweep him to death (do NOT use Early Advantage).
Beakmaster
When your Infinite Whelpling starts out vs Beakmaster, you need to have the +50 % damage dragonkin racial bonus. This is guaranteed if you do what I described above.
Use Early Advantage to hit Beakmaster for 2x7-800 damage, which kills Beakmaster which then will resurrect. If you get stunned by Shock And Awe, you will probably die and have to try again. After Beakmaster resurrecting, he usually kills your Infinite. But sometimes RNG is on your side and you manage to kill him with Tail Sweep.
If your Infinite dies, switch in your carry pet (unless you already switched it in vs Grizzle), then immediately switch to Emerald Proto Whelp. Use Breath to kill Beakmaster.
Bloom
-Use Emerald Presence, then Breath until he dies.
-Refresh Emerald Presence when you have 1 round left of the buff.
-When Bloom casts Entangling Roots and this ability has 1 round left before it hits you, you use Proto-Strike to avoid the damage.
Because I got frustrated trying to find a team with 2 lvl 25 pets and 1 carry pet, I ended up setting up my only 3xlvl 25 pet team vs trainers to ensure victory vs Payne, even though I wouldn’t get to level a carry pet. 3xlvl 25 pets takes Payne down easily, and there are many choices here. I happened to put together a team with Darkmoon Tonk (1,2,2), Fel Flame [7] (1,1,1) and Emperor Crab [4] (2,2,2).
5. SHADOWMOON VALLEY
5.1 Bloodknight Antari
-Very reliable
-Arcanus, Jadefire, Netherbite (usually starts with Arcanus).
1: Peddlefeet (1,1,1)
2: Carry pet (won’t take any damage. Can use a lvl 1 pet)
3: Pandaren Water Spirit (1,2,1)
Vs Arcanus first:
-Bow Shot until he dies.
-Vs Jadefire, use Lovestruck.
-When Jadefire gets stunned, use Shot Through The Heart (Antari will switch Jadefire out for Netherbite, which will get hit by Shot Through The Heart for about 1000 dmg before he gets to do anything).
-As Peddlefeet is faster than Netherbite, you get to use Bow Shot to kill him before he uses any dodge abilities. If he uses a dodge ability, this shouldn’t pose a threat.
-When Netherbite dies, use Bow Shot / Lovestruck (if off CD) vs Jadefire until Peddlefeet dies.
-When Peddlefeet dies, switch to your carry pet and immediately to Pandaren Water Spirit. He will finish off Jadefire.
Vs Jadefire first:
-Lovestruck to stun.
-When Jadefire is stunned, use Shot Through The Heart (Antari will switch out Jadefire for Arcanus), hitting Arcanus for 40 % of his hp due to the magic racial.
-Continue using Bow Shot until Arcanus dies. You then face Jadefire, and stun him again with Lovestruck and use the tactics described above vs Netherbite.
6. THE DARKMOON FAIRE
6.1 Jeremy Feasel
I have to different teams for him. I didn't finish my fine-tuning last month, but both of these teams seemed quite effective and reliable.
So far I think I favor Team 1. This is because 1) I love the Infinite Whelpling and its Early Advantage combined with + 50 % dmg from the dragonkin family bonus, and 2) Conflagrate is supposed to be nerfed in 5.2 (+20 % dmg to the first hit, but -60 % dmg on the second hit) - which can render this team ineffective. We would have to see how this plays out though. Also, bear in mind that I haven't yet had time to sufficiently test these two teams and their setups, which means that they might work, might need tuning on the abilities used or pets might need to be switched out.
The pets in the two teams can switch out abilities. As I said, I don't feel I have tried all of the combinations out enough times to say which one works best.
Fel Flame: Conflagrate is a no-brainer. But you could choose Immolate + Flame Breath instead of Scorched Earth + Burn - even though I think the latter is the best.
Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling: You could use either Breath or Thunderbolt; none of these have any advantage or disadvantage vs the enemy pets. You could use Bombing Run instead of Explode, but I favor Explode just because it is a quick way to finish the battle. The big choice for me was choosing either Flyby or Decoy. Usually, I prefer using Flyby to really hit hard, and particularly to combine Flyby with Explode for some really massive damage (especially vs Beasts). But I ended up using Decoy because of Judgement's speed debuff (which Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling risk being afflicted by if Honky-Tonk starts first), and to ward off Mr. Fezwick until I could insta-kill him with Explode.
Note that Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling has an advantage because he has high enough speed to go first vs any of the three enemy pets. This works well when you whittle Fezwick down to insta-kill him with Explode, and also because any stuns will only take away one attack instead of two (like would be the case if he had lower speed). That is also why I want to avoid Judgement putting the speed debuff on Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling.
TEAM 1
-Very reliable (I feel quite confident about this, but as I said it's not 100 % fine-tuned yet).
-Judgement, Honky-Tonk, Mr. Fezwick (usually starts with Judgement).
1: Infinite Whelpling (1,1,1)
2: Carry pet (won’t take any damage. Can use a lvl 1 pet)
3: Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1,2,2)
Vs. Judgement first
Starting with the Infinite Whelpling, you get bonus damage vs Judgement with Tail Sweep and finish him off easily (2xTail Sweep, Healing Flame, Tail Sweep).
You will have taken quite a bit of damage from Judgement, but this is actually working to your advantage to burn through this fight fast. The reason is that when facing Honky-Tonk next, you use Early Advantage and have the +50 % dmg dragonkin family bonus active. This almost oneshots Honky-Tonk (you won't actually kill him though, unless you are lucky with crits).
When your Infinite Whelpling dies, switch your carry pet quickly in and out again to field Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (I usually save Decoy - which will have a 7 round CD in 5.2 - to use it vs Fezwick). Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling finishes off Honky-Tonk with Breath (you could also go with Thunderbolt for extra dmg vs Honky-Tonk, but as he will be low on hp this won't be necessary).
Vs. Honky-Tonk first
If you face Honky-Tonk first, you just dig into him with Tail Sweep. It can be fun to use Early Advantage if Honky-Tonk hits you hard early on (if he stuns you with Shock And Awe the first round you could use Early Advantage the next round, in which he first hits you with Missile which might ensure you 2 hits instead of 1). Make sure to use Healing Flame to hopefully heal back up straight after being hit by Lock-On.
In my experience, when Honky-Tonk has used Lock-On the first time, he will use Missile (or Shock And Awe) before using Lock-On the second time. I'm not 100 % sure about this though, and it might be a bit more RNG than that.
Vs Judgement you use Early Advantage for an initial big hit. Then you just use Tail Sweep (bonus damage vs magic), and heal with Healing Flame.
If your Infinite Whelpling dies before killing Judgement, you switch your carry pet quickly in and immediately out to field Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling. Judgement will speed-debuff you, which is a big pain. Therefore you should use Decoy to avoid getting hit by it. Finish him off by using Breath (bonus dmg vs Judgement because he is of the magic family).
If you start vs Honky-Tonk, and your Infinite Whelpling dies vs Judgement, you may be better off by switching to Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling instead of first fielding your carry pet. Instead, you kill Judgement with Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling’s breath (use Decoy when there is 1 round left of his speed debuff ability). Then, when facing Mr. Fezwick, you switch to your carry pet to get hit by the stun, then immediately switch back to Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling.
Note that this point might be moot as Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling has higher speed than any of the three enemy pets, and thus won't effectively miss 2 turns if Honky-Tonk or Mr. Fezwick stuns him (if Judgement manages to debuff your speed, you're in trouble though).
Vs. Mr. Fezwick
Use Decoy and then use Breath. Breath Fezwick down until you can insta-kill him with Explode (which deals 60 % of your max hp in damage because Fezwick is of the beast family). Alternatively, you could use Bombing Run + Thunderbolt, but I like to use Explode to finish him off quickly.
Note that if you started vs Honky-Tonk first, you will probably have used Decoy vs Judgement to avoid the speed debuff, you use Decoy whenever it is off CD.
TEAM 2
-Very reliable (I feel quite confident about this, but as I said it's not 100 % fine-tuned yet).
-Judgement, Honky-Tonk, Mr. Fezwick (usually starts with Judgement).
1: Fel Flame (1,2,1)
2: Carry pet (won’t take any damage. Can use a lvl 1 pet)
3: Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1,2,2)
Vs. Judgement first
Starting with Fel Flame and facing Judgement, you open with Scorched Earth (deals bonus dmg to him because of him being of the magic-family). The dot from Scorched Earth each round will also deal bonus dmg vs Judgement. Then use Conflagrate, and finish him off with Burn.
Vs Honky-Tonk, use Burn and Conflagrate when it's off CD (should be the same round you face him). Even though Immolate deals bonus dmg to Honky-Tonk, I don't really feel that it is needed, and I wanted to use Scorched Earth to be better armed vs Judgement.
If your Fel Flame dies, switch your carry pet quickly in and immediately out to field Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling which finishes off Honky-Tonk (I usually save Decoy - which will have a 7 round CD in 5.2 - to use it vs Fezwick).
Vs. Honky-Tonk first
Start by using Scorched Earth, then use Conflagrate and Burn him to death. Scorched Earth doesn't deal bonus dmg vs Honky-Tonk, but damage is damage, and the point is to enable you to use Conflagrate.
Vs Judgement you use Conflagrate whenever it is off CD, as well as Conflagrate, and otherwise use Burn.
If your Fel Flame dies before killing Judgement, you switch your carry pet quickly in and immediately out to field Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling. Judgement will speed-debuff you, which is a big pain. Therefore you should use Decoy to avoid getting hit by it. Finish him off by using Breath (bonus dmg vs Judgement because he is of the magic family).
If you start vs Honky-Tonk, and your Fel Flame dies vs Judgement, you may be better off by switching to Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling instead of first fielding your carry pet. Instead, you kill Judgement with Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling’s breath (use Decoy when there is 1 round left of his speed debuff ability). Then, when facing Mr. Fezwick, you switch to your carry pet to get hit by the stun, then immediately switch back to Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling.
Note that this point might be moot as Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling has higher speed than any of the three enemy pets, and thus won't effectively miss 2 turns if Honky-Tonk or Mr. Fezwick stuns him (if Judgement manages to debuff your speed, you're in trouble though).
Vs. Fezwick
See the tactics under team 1 above.
Note that if you started vs Honky-Tonk first, you will probably have used Decoy vs Judgement to avoid the speed debuff, you use Decoy whenever it is off CD.
7. THE OTHER TRAINERS
Lydia Accoste in Deadwind Pass and Stone Cold Trixxy in Winterspring are pushovers with lvl 25 pets.
As it takes time to let your lvl 25 pet die so that you can switch the carry pet in and out, I instead try to use a carry pet with sufficient health to survive.
A tip: You can use a lvl 25 pet with Sandstorm to reduce the damage a carry pet takes, enabling you to use carry pets with low hp.
I don’t battle the other trainers. The reason is that 1) it takes long enough time to cover all the trainers who award pet supply bags, and 2) obviousely, these trainers don’t award pet supply bags.
Edit: Fixed a typo for Chrominius' skillset. Thanks, Badpathing for reading the fineprint
Edit 2: Flowing Water Spirit: added a comment concerning Bat which has 325 attack as an alternative to Vampiric Batling (305 attack).
Edit 3: Added my two current teams vs Jeremy Feasel.
