Pet Menagerie: What Pets to Level

Welcome to another edition of Pet Menagerie! In this article we are going to go through a top 10 list of pets that you should level. We will also explain the reasoning behind our suggestion. Enjoy!

10 - Zandalari Kneebiter
Black Claw increases damage done per hit more than any other ability like it. The Kneebiter also has Hunting Party, which deals several hits and increases damage dealt by 100%. On its own that combo is deadly, but pair it with a DoT, even a lackluster one, and your opponent will explode. A Call Lightning partner will make this combo completely devastating, but it is mostly for PvE stuff. The Kneebiter is very fragile, and this combo can be circumvented with a simple swap, making it very easy to counter in PvP.

9 - Darkmoon Tonk
A Darkmoon Tonk is a very effective Mechanical damage dealer. It's easily obtained when the faire is in town. The Menagerie Custodian, a drop from Karazhan, shares its moves if you want to try to farm that for the rest of the month. The Custodian may also be cheaper at your friendly local Auction House due to the demand for the Tonk. The Tonk has 2 high-yield DPS moves for different types of fights. Lock-On is a good choice when your opponent has dodges (because you can use the turns their dodging to charge it up) and Ion Cannon will blast the face off nearly everything else.

8 - Death Adder Hatchling
This pet hits hard with Puncture Wound and the only way to avoid being hit hard, other than playing chicken with avoids, is to swap out your pet that already has poison DoTs loaded on it. Add in Blinding Poison, which (usually!) makes it so your opponent has a couple rounds completely unable to hit you, and you'll figure out quickly why this little snake has been a popular part of the PvP meta since it was introduced to the Timeless Isle in 5.4.

7 - Gilnean Raven
The original Aquatic killer, Nocturnal Strike deals tons of damage on most opponents regardless of family. Add in Darkness and even those annoying turtle teams get destroyed. You can also tame Crow at the Darkmoon Faire for much of the same utility. Crows cap out at level 10 and are a pain in the behind to tame, so either one is a good choice here, but the Raven may be easier to get most of the time. Another similar choice is the Dread Hatchling from the Warlords of Draenor Collector's Edition. If you do happen to have a Hatchling I'd recommend using a stone on it before the other two, because even though it's expensive you always have the option of trading for a higher-level Gilnean Raven.

6 - Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling
This crafted wonder is gradually becoming more expensive as we edge away from Pandaria. Pretty much the only Mechanical pet with solid Dragonkin moves, it functions amazingly well as a Magic pet killer, but its longevity makes it an excellent choice for a number of Draenor world tamers as well. The Darkmoon Zeppelin shares a number of moves, namely the overpowered Decoy ability, but with a better Mechanical moveset than the Dragonling's. It trades out the Dragonkin abilities though, giving the Dragonling a slight edge for its versatility.

5 - Emerald Whelpling
This battle pet is unmatched in fighting the Draenor PvE tamers. It has a strong Magic moveset, which dominates through Draenor, plus some good healing and the Emerald Presence per-hit shield which was a boon through the Pandaria tamers as well. The reason it is not higher ranked on this list is because its excellent moves and relative rarity means it's getting more and more expensive to obtain. The Nether Faerie Dragon is both a good backup and teammate, tamed at level 11. The Nether Faerie is just high enough to kind of borderline on whether you'd want to stone it or grind it to cap, though its pricey dropped cousin, the Sprite Darter Hatchling, definitely fits the bill. Another alternative is the Emerald Proto-Whelp, which is tamed at level 22 or so, but its magic moves aren't nearly as robust as the Emerald Whelpling's.

4 - Anubisath Idol
The Anubisath Idol has been remarkably popular ever since it was introduced. It has a straight-up dodge with Deflection, a per-hit shield with Stoneskin, and Sandstorm, a group shield which usually makes it easier to carry a lowbie pet in a 2-pet fight for beaucoup XP. However, even though this pet cleaned up on nearly every tamer fight in Pandaria, it's not quite as useful in Draenor. Also, the Flayer Youngling has some, but not all, of the Idol's tricks and can be tamed at level 19.

3 & 2 - Pandaren Water Spirit & Chrominius
Each one alone is pretty strong. The Water Spirit has some healing and dodge moves, and a mix of hard-hitting abilities from different families. Same with Chrominius. Heals and strong offense. The reason I listed them together is because if you take a Water Spirit, use Geyser and then Whirlpool, and then immediately swap to Chrominius and Howl, with Surge of Power as a just-in-case clinch move afterward, you can absolutely dominate nearly any single-pet fight. Eleanor? Doomed. Stitches Jr? Stuffed. Quintessence? Roasted. Dos-Ryga? Fishsticks. "Howl Bomb" is a strategy known to a lot of pet battlers.

1 - Molten Corgi/Terrible Turnip
There's really no contest. Weakening Blow or Superbark are vital to building the rest of your stable, especially when you're sort of starting from the top down with the Ultimate Battle-Training Stone. If you do try to grab that level 11 Nether Faerie with just Chrominius, Chrominius is going to absolutely destroy it before you can trap it, no matter what you do. Weakening Blow or Superbark makes it so your opponent never drops below 1 health, so you can tame easily no matter what. The downside is, the Turnip is particular is actually a cruddy battler otherwise and needs backup in order to tame at high levels efficiently.

Honorable Mentions: Clockwork Gnome, Lil' Bling, Macabre Marionette, Feline Familiar, Bonkers, Sen'jin Fetish/Voodoo Figurine, Teroclaw Hatchling