WoW Forever Hunter Pets Guide - Families, Tier List, Taming & Rare Beasts

Hunter Pets at Launch

At launch, WoW Forever Hunters can tame 18 beast families, including the new Fox. Every family comes with its own damage, armor and health modifiers, a signature ability and a list of favorite foods. Those details decide which beast you should bring: the best pet for questing is rarely the best one for a battleground.

In short, player rankings put Cat, Spider, Wolf and Carrion Bird at the top, while Crab is the only real outsider. Boar and Carrion Bird are the safest picks for leveling, Wolf suits groups with melee players, and Crocolisk is the answer to healers in PvP.

The figures below match player reports from launch and may shift with patches.

Hunter Pet Tier List

This ranking is an editorial opinion. It weighs the damage modifier, the value of the family ability and how many kinds of content the pet stays useful in. The wider the use, the higher the row.

S tier. Cat shares one of the highest damage bonuses with Raptor, and its Prowl lets it open a fight from stealth. Spider brings Web, a 4-second root that makes it a handy kiting tool. Wolf helps the whole group through Furious Howl, which boosts the melee attack power of nearby allies. Carrion Bird lowers the melee attack power of enemies through Demoralizing Screech, so packs of mobs hit it much softer.

A tier. Raptor got the new Savage Rend, a bleed built for long single-target fights. Bat slows enemy casting with Sonic Blast. Scorpid stacks Scorpid Poison to deal more damage the longer a fight runs, while Boar and Bear soak hits: Boar has Charge and Bear got the new Swipe against three targets.

B and C. Tallstrider lowers target armor with Dust Cloud, Gorilla hits an area with Thunderstomp, Hyena slows runners with Tendon Rip and Wind Serpent attacks from range. C tier holds situational picks: Bird of Prey with the Mine! disarm, Fox with Trickster's Dance and Turtle with Shell Shield, which reduces incoming damage.

D tier. Crab pays for its armor bonus with a damage and health penalty, and its Pinch slow is covered by Spider, Bear and Turtle. It is more of a niche armor pick than a real contributor.

Best Pet for Your Content

There is no single best beast, so match the pet to what you are doing. Here are the three common cases.

• Leveling. Carrion Bird cuts the damage from several mobs at once, and Boar is an easy first pet after level 10 thanks to its wide diet. Switch to Bear later, and take Cat if you can manage threat. If you are mapping the whole road to the cap, see our 1-60 leveling page for pacing and routes.

• Dungeons. Wolf shines next to Warriors, Rogues and Paladins. In a caster-heavy party, Cat or Raptor adds more through raw damage, and Tallstrider with Dust Cloud supports physical damage dealers. A good place to test the setup is the Hall of Thanes, and a few levels later the Ruins of Lordaeron take over. The full list of instances sits on the all dungeons page.

• PvP. Crocolisk with Dismember reduces the healing an enemy receives, Bat counters casters, Bird of Prey disarms Warriors and Rogues, Spider keeps targets at range and Hyena chases flag carriers. Abilities like Dismember and Tendon Rip were reported to autocast incorrectly in the early build, so use them manually if needed.

Because the pet borrows part of your stats, PvP gear strengthens it too. Honor for that gear comes fastest through battleground wins and honor.

What Changed Since Classic

The headline newcomer is the Fox. The first ones live on Zephras Isle, the Skyborne starting zone, and their Trickster's Dance grants +50% dodge and +30% attack speed for 12 seconds. A pet learns it at level 20. On top of that, nine families gained new abilities: Sonic Blast, Swipe, Mine!, Pinch, Dismember, Tendon Rip, Savage Rend, Web and Dust Cloud.

The second change is the link to your gear. According to player reports, the pet now inherits part of your attack power, armor and critical strike chance, so it grows noticeably as your equipment improves. Buffs from other players still do not apply to it, so its power rests on your own items and talents.

Attack speed now depends on a hidden passive, so two beasts of the same family can swing at different rates. More on that in the rare beasts section.

If you want a Fox without a long search, remember that Zephras Isle belongs to the Skyborne start, and our Skyborne 1-60 leveling page explains it in detail.

Taming and Caring for Your Pet

Hunters learn Tame Beast at level 10, together with the spells to call, revive and feed a pet. Pick a beast no higher than your level.

1. Find a suitable beast and make sure no other mobs are nearby, since you are vulnerable during the long channel.

2. Start the taming and do not interrupt it, or you will have to start over.

3. Feed the pet right after success to lift its mood and start building loyalty.

Loyalty grows through tiers that include Dependable, Faithful and Best Friend, and it unlocks more training points. A level 60 pet at the top tier has 300 of them. Happiness affects damage directly: a pleased beast hits harder and an unhappy one noticeably weaker, so keep a stack of suitable food in your bags.

Diet depends on the family. Wolves, Raptors, Spiders and Scorpids eat meat, while Boars and Bears accept six food types and are the easiest to feed on the road.

Stables help you store beasts: a Stable Master sells up to two extra slots, so a Hunter can keep three pets in total. For example, one for leveling, one for PvP and a Wolf for groups.

Rare Beasts for Early Hunting

Rare beasts matter for their fast attacks: regular beasts swing at the base interval, while some individuals are quicker. Here is what players reported at launch.

• Ornery Galestrider - a level 8 Tallstrider on Zephras Isle, attacking every 1.3 seconds.

• Coldrasp - a level 12 Wolf in Tirisfal Glades, around 1.5 seconds.

• Mystmane - a level 13 Bear on Zephras Isle, around 1.6 seconds.

Familiar Classic rare cats are around too: the rare cats Ghostfang in Dun Morogh, The Rake in Mulgore and Echeyakee in The Barrens. Compare the attack speed of several beasts in a family before you pick one: the pet keeps its speed after taming, and the hidden Faster Attack passive changes the pace of a fight noticeably.

Campers often hold the best spawn points for hours. If you have no time to wait, you can hand that step to a team through hourly driving.

Choosing a Pet Without Regrets

One simple route is enough to start: Boar or Carrion Bird until level 20, then Cat or Wolf for damage and groups. Beast Mastery Hunters should favor a high-damage pet, while Marksmanship Hunters can skip the pet entirely and take a talent that rewards playing alone.

If you play an Orc, count the Orc Command racial: it raises Hunter pet damage by 5%, as it did in Classic.

The tier list may change, so check your pick against patch notes after updates. Swap pets freely for new content, since the stable lets you keep three at hand.