Legion Prepatch (7.0.3) Pet Battling Primer

By Elektrophorus Updated: 2019/04/09

Introduction

This guide is an update to many past guides involving Battle Pets for Warlords of Draenor.

We'll discuss techniques that every new / intermediate Pet Battle Tamer should learn

If you’re looking to track your collections, Wowhead now has the Battle Pet Collection Tracker and Mount Collection Tracker! To use the tracker, simply import your character to view your collections. You can read more about how to use this feature here!

Getting Started

A Quick Note on Notation

This guide will use the standard H/P/S/B notation for breeds.
For movesets, it will use the (#/#/#) notation, where 1 or 2 represents the first or second ability of the slot.
That means you pick the top ability for 1 and the bottom ability for 2.
X means the slot does not matter.

Step 1: Learn How to Battle

Before we begin taming battle pets, you will need to learn the Battle Pet Training ability and acquaint yourself with some of the mechanics of the battle pet page. This will cost you a modest one-time fee of at any Battle Pet trainer found in a major city.

Play around with the UI and figure out

How to engage in battles with wild pets.
How to use moves.
How to capture wild pets.
How to access your Pet Journal.

Important! Do note that this guide does not cover how to pet battle, but only details the steps you need to take to get started in Warlords of Draenor. If you have never played with battle pets before, I highly suggest you skim through this guide before you begin.
Pet Battle and You -- A Trainer's Manual

Step 2: Acquaint Yourself with Mechanics

As you get the feel for some early pet battles, you may also want to get acquainted with

Pet Family / Type: She's Just Not Your Type
Breed IDs: BreedIDs for the Serious Pet Battler

Learning pet families is essential to pet battling. Each pet comes with a set of weaknesses and resistances that determine its effectiveness in battle. Each move also has a type affinity that determines how powerful it is versus a certain pet family. (Eventually, this will come naturally.)
Also note that different pet families come with their own traits, which you can view here.

Learning breeds is a daunting task at first, but it really all boils down to personal preference. The breeds themselves are fairly straightforward, as each pet has a certain set of breeds they are available in, dictating what that individual pet is good at. You can view the available breeds for individual battle pets on their respective Wowhead pages. More on breeds later!

Step 3: Learn to Use External Resources

Here are some external resources you may consider getting acquainted with.

For addons, I have found in personal experience that the addon PetTracker is particularly useful as an all-inclusive addon for Pet Battling. It shows your opponent's moves, what moves are super-effective / not-very-effective, breedIDs (and available breeds), as well as the locations of the pets you are looking for. It also tells you which pets you are missing, by breed, rarity, or zone. All in all, it's very useful and worth a look at.

WarcraftPets is very similar to Wowhead, but is generally better at laying out information for viewing information about specific pets. It also features community ratings and comments about each pet, in case the questions you are looking for aren't addressed anywhere else.

Petsear.ch is a searchable database of all battle pets by their moves. The website may run a little slower due to the sheer amount of data available. However, with it, you will be able to look up pets that have a certain combination of moves, or pets that are good at specifically countering others.

PvP Pet Battles is a very self-explanatory website that features several tested teams and strategies for those trying to get into PvP. It is a great place to look up the current metagame and learn tips that will help you win against other players.

Step 4: Start Your Collection

Once you feel comfortable enough with the UI, you can jump right into taming pets.

Please read me! With Warlords of Draenor, you no longer need to have any pets to start battling. That means that older guides that require you to level up a pet from 1 to 25 by hand are now obsolete. The only thing you need is to be level 100 and have a Level 3 Garrison. You do not need a Pet Menagerie to start.

Look for the quest Unearthed Magic/Unearthed Magic in your Garrison to get started.
You can complete this quest once per character.
This quest will provide you with a free Ultimate Battle-Training Stone, which boosts any pet to level 25 instantly.
Using this stone on the right pet is key. Refer below in the Starter Pets section to get an idea of what to do.

Starter PetsYour First Pets

Pet Name

Where to obtain

Anubisath Idol

Chance to drop from Emperor Vek'lor in the Twin Emperors fight in Ahn'Qiraj.
Can also be obtained on the Auction House, or via in-game trade.

Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling

Crafted by Engineers. Can also be obtained on the Auction House, or via in-game trade.

Nether Faerie Dragon (H/P, S/S)

Level 11-12 wild pet battle in Feralas.
An alternate version in S/S only as a rare drop in Feralas, Sprite Darter Egg/Sprite Darter Hatchling.

Anubisath Idol is a very highly praised battle pet for a very good reason. He is extremely resilient because of his H/H breed, his Humanoid type, and his moveset. Alone, he can solo or severely weaken most of the battle pet tamers in the world. If you can get one, please prioritize it!

If you cannot get one right away, the others are good alternatives. Regardless, you should aim to have all three at max level as soon as you can.

Your Second / Third Pet

Pet Name

Where to obtain

Emerald Proto-Whelp

Level 21-22 wild pet battle in Savage Thicket, Sholazar Basin.

Chrominius

Chance to drop from Chromaggus in Blackwing Lair.
Can also be obtained on the Auction House, or via in-game trade.

#2 -- After you pick your starter, you should immediately capture a wild Emerald Proto-Whelp. They are encountered in the Savage Thicket in Sholazar Basin between levels 21-22. Grind this guy up to level 25 as soon as you can, as he is indispensable in many situations. If you have time, try for Green quality or higher. However, if you can't find a Blue, don't worry because you can upgrade him later using a Marked Flawless Battle-Stone.

#3 - It is no real rush, but try to get a Chrominius sooner than later. He is integral to leveling pets in Draenor.

Done? After that, if you haven't already, return and get the other two starter pets. To bolster your ranks, you can also fly around Draenor and capture wild pets. Most of the wild pets in Draenor aren't very good, but they can be useful because they start at an already high level. Look for Frostshell Pincher, Mud Jumper, and Junglebeak. You won't use them particularly often, but you may appreciate them in specific situations.

Other Recommended Pets

For more pet suggestions, please click here!

Utility Petsnot essential

Utility

Pets

Can weaken foes to 1HP without killing them

Terrible Turnip, Molten Corgi

Can heal one ally using Wish

Magical Crawdad, Magic Lamp, Hyjal Wisp, Zao, Calfling of Niuzao

Can heal all allies

Pets with Bleat, pets with Inspiring Song.

What breed is the best?

Pets that you learn from items or the Battle Pet trainer will 99% only have one available breed! Generally, you should only worry about breed when capturing wild pets. This means that your Anubisath Idol will never be anything other than H/H! Nice!

Breed

Role

Explanation

H/x

Tanks with no self-healing

Health breeds are generally not very useful, but can serve you well for pets that have tanky abilities, but lack self-healing. Look for pets that have abilities that reduce damage taken, such as Shell Armor, Shell Shield, Sandstorm, or Deflection. H/x breeds also work well for Humanoid pets because the healing scales by %.
Example: Qiraji Guardling.

P/P; H/P

Tanks with healing

If your pet needs to tank and it has self-healing available, invest in Power. Most healing abilities scale off of power (so you will last longer), and the best mitigation is actually killing the target before it kills you! In addition to the tank abilities listed above, look for abilities like Absorb, Healing Wave, or Ancient Blessing.
Example: Shimmershell Snail

P/P

Glass-cannons

Needless to say, glass cannon pets want to maximize their Power. If you notice a litany of high-damage moves, but no way to sustain your health, your goal should be to deal as much damage as possible. Dragonkin and Beast pets can utilize this bonus particularly well. A lot of Undead pets function as really good glass cannons as well, since their racial ensures they get the last two attacks in.
Example: Nexus Whelpling

P/P; P/S

Bruisers

Some pets appear to be glass cannons, but can play as bruisers if they have some form of regeneration, such as the bonuses from Humanoid or Mechanical. Invest in Speed to get the last hit in.
Example: Kun-Lai Runt

S/x

Dodgers, stunners

Speed is very useful to pets that have moves that stun or dodge. Look for Dodge, Evanescence, or Blackout Kick. If you use these moves first in a turn, it will prolong the effect to two rounds instead of just one. Be sure to pick a pet that is already naturally fast, or else the extra speed points will essentially be a waste. Pets with Flying typically need Speed less because their ability gives them a huge bonus. However, if your Flying pet relies heavily on going first, you may want to have at least S/x to make sure you are still useful past 50% health.
Example: Rabbit

What is the best way to level up my Battle Pets?Pet Carry

Three things to note:

Important! In order for a pet to gain experience, it must survive through the end of one turn. It doesn't need to be present at the beginning of the turn. This means that if your carry pet is the first pet on your roster, it won't receive experience if you swap it out immediately. However, if you swap the pet in mid-fight, then swap it back out, you will receive full experience. Be careful when you swap in if your pet is especially low level, as it will easily be one-shot!
The only reason your carry pet needs to attack is if it was the pet you sent out first. Otherwise, swap in and swap out!
Read me! If you carry more than one pet at a time, the experience gained will be split among them. This is okay if you want to level more than one pet at once, but is generally ineffective because then you will be left with two mid-level pets rather than one high level one.

If you have chosen the right starter pets, you can easily start in Draenor.
Pandaria takes some extra work to unlock, but it is also a viable place to start if you are having trouble.

Training Stones

You can receive 10 x Flawless Battle-Training Stone from the weekly quest Battle Pet Tamers: Warlords from the Pet Menagerie (which you will be doing anyway).

You can receive 3x Flawless Battle-Training Stone from the daily quest Critters of Draenor/Critters of Draenor from the Pet Menagerie.

Fel-Touched Battle-Training Stone has a chance to drop from Fel-Touched Pet Supplies, which you receive from defeating the Tiny Terrors in Tanaan. You can get 15 satchels each day.

Flawless Battle-Training Stone can be bought for

An additional Ultimate Battle-Training Stone can be obtained from the monthly weeklong event, The Very Best.

A big tip! Unless you are in a big rush, save your Flawless Battle-Training Stones until the pet you are training is around level 18-20. Using them at low levels is a waste since the experience required per level increases as your pet gets stronger.

Battle-Stones

Marked Flawless Battle-Stone can be bought for

Bonus Experience Items

Pet Treat raises experience gained by 50% temporarily. It is obtained from the account-wide weekly quest, What We've Been Training For.

Lesser Pet Treat raises experience gained by 25% temporarily. It is obtained from the account-wide Pandaria Beast of Fable dailies, within Fabled Pandaren Pet Supplies. You can obtain three satchels a day.

Safari Hat is a reusable toy that raises experience gained by 10% until canceled. It is obtained by defeating 40 Master Tamers, Taming the World.

The bonus experience items can stack. That's 85% bonus experience. Neato!

Battling CombosBeasts of FableTiny Terrors in Tanaan(Removed) Howl-bombing

(Optional) Unborn Val'kyr (x/2/2)

Pandaren Water Spirit (x/2/2)

Any pet with Howl, such as Chrominius (x/1/2)

Curse of DoomUnholy Ascension(If not, the combo should still work if you skip this step. It is kind of overkill if you start off this way.)GeyserWhirlpoolHowlSurge of Power

Note that, sometimes, this combo can be hard to pull off against enemies with lots of stuns or interrupts. It is very sensitive to timing, so learn and adjust based on the battle!

Storm-flockingCall Lightning

Any pet with Call Lightning. Sunreaver Micro-Sentry (2/x/1) does this combo best.

Any pet with Black Claw AND a flock move. Zandalari Anklerender, Zandalari Kneebiter, Ikky.

Call LightningFel ImmolateBlack ClawallHunting PartyFlockShattered Defenses

For a bit more perspective, Hunting Party does around 70 damage per hit and hits 3 times. Call Lightning adds 34 bonus damage per hit. Black Claw adds 130 bonus damage to both.

Hit #1 70+130) + (34+130)]*2 for Shattered Defenses] = 728 damage
Hit #2 = 728 damage
Hit #3 = 728 damage
End of turn Fel Immolate damage: 130) + (34+130)]*2 = 760 damage
Total = 2944 damage, not including the 25% damage bonus from Beast

Rot + StampedeRot

Any pet with Rot and Wild Magic. Options include: Voodoo Figurine, Sen'jin Fetish, Fetish Shaman.

Any pet with Stampede, Swarm OR Flank.

(However, there isn't much this can achieve that howl-bombing can't.)Sunlight + ExplodeSunlightAncient BlessingExplode

Don't forget that Explode can (catastrophically) miss! It also has a damage bonus against Beast-types, dealing 60% max health instead of 40%. I am not sure if it can crit yet.

Draenor Daily Carry Guide

If you've made it here, it probably means that you're ready to learn how to power-level your pets. In this section, we'll cover some tried and true strategies to defeating the Pet Tamers found around Draenor using only two (or one) level 25 pets. This allows us to bring a "carry pet" with us to soak up the experience.

If you only have one level 25 pet, I recommend you start off by defeating Ashlei every day until your roster is strong enough to take on the rest of the tamers.At the very minimum, you should be defeating her every day, even if you venture into Pandaria.
When you can, you can also get Cymre Brightblade on farm. Though, this fight will require some more finesse.
Once you get Chrominius, you will be able to defeat Taralune and Vesharr as well.
Do these pet battles daily and you will have a full roster of level 25 pets in no time!

If you are having immense difficulty, try to follow the quest chain Audrey Burnhep/Varzok. This quest will take you around Kalimdor/Eastern Kingdoms to defeat weak Pet Tamers until you end up in Pandaria. Pandaria Tamers do not award as much experience as Draenor ones do, but they are still worthwhile, especially if you are just starting off. This will take some time.

You are able to do all the battles in Draenor using just Sprite Darter Hatchling/Nether Faerie Dragon (same pet) and Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling. However, the strategies aren't the cleanest. More information here.

Ashlei should be the easiest of all the Draenor daily tamers, since one of her team members is an Elekk Plushie that can't actually attack! Many pets can solo her, so she should be where any beginning trainer starts.

Strategy #1
Emerald Proto-Whelp (1/2/2)
Carry pet

Breath until Pixiebell is dead.
She will send out Doodle. Use Emerald Presence
Use Emerald Dream.
She will swap into Tally. Use Breath until it is dead.
Doodle will come back out. You are safe to swap to the carry now.
Clean up.

Strategy #2
Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1/1/2)
Carry pet

Use Decoy.
Breath until Pixiebell is dead.
She will send out Doodle. Swap to your carry now.
Swap back to Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling.
Use Bombing Run. She will swap into Tally.
Breath until it is dead.
Doodle will come back out. Breath until it is dead.

Strategy #3
Sprite Darter Hatchling (2/2/1) OR Nether Faerie Dragon (2/2/1)
Carry pet

Use Moonfire.
Arcane Blast until Pixiebell is dead.
She will send out Doodle. Use Life Exchange to recover some health.
Use Arcane Blast. She will swap into Tally.
Moonfire, then Arcane Blast until it is dead.
Doodle will come back out. You are safe to swap to your carry now.
Clean up.

Taralune is really easy because her team consists of three Moths. Flying-types are already fairly weak. The key is to use Arcane Explosion and Dragonkin-type pets.

Strategy #1
Any Dragonkin-type pet with Arcane Explosion: Chrominius (2/x/x) or Lil' Tarecgosa (x/x/2)
Any pet with reliable Magic-type attacks, such as Fragment of Desire (1/x/1), Emerald Proto-Whelp (2/2/2) or Nether Faerie Dragon (2/1/1)
Carry pet

Arcane Explosion until you are dead. You can use Ancient Blessing to get in one or two more attacks, but it is usually not necessary.
Swap in second pet and clean up until Atonement comes out.
Swap in your carry pet as she buffs up.
Swap back out immediately and clean up.

Strategy #2 (Credit to Ofire)
Chrominius (2/x/x)
Sprite Darter Hatchling (2/1/1) or Nether Faerie Dragon (2/1/1)
Carry pet

Arcane Explosion.
Ancient Blessing.
Arcane Explosion.
Arcane Explosion.
Arcane Explosion.
Ancient Blessing.
Arcane Explosion.
Surge of Power.
Swap to carry pet, then swap to second pet.
Moonfire on cooldown. Arcane Blast as filler until you win.

Vesharr suffers the same weakness that Taralune does in that he is heavy on the Flying-types. You absolutely have to cleave the hell out of Darkwing because its Consume Corpse is a huge pain.

Strategy #1
Carry pet
Chrominius (2/2/2)
Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1/2/2)

Start with your carry pet against The Great Kaliri. Important: Use any move.
Swap in Chrominius.
Use Arcane Explosion until the enemy is dead.
He will send out Apexis Guardian. Swap to Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling.
Use Decoy to block roots.
Use Thunderbolt on cooldown. Breath as filler until you win.

Strategy #2 (Blatantly plagiarized from Madmartigan)
Sprite Darter Hatchling (2/1/1) or Nether Faerie Dragon (2/1/1)
Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1/1/2)
Carry pet (MUST have 500+ HP for this strategy)

Moonfire.
Arcane Blast x3.
Evanescence.
Moonfire.
Swap to Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling.
Bombing Run, then Decoy on cooldown. Breath as filler.
When Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling dies (for good), switch to your carry pet.
Use any attack. You will take a hit here.
Swap back to your Faerie Dragon and clean up.

Gargra hates Mechanical-type pets!

Strategy #1
Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1/1/2)
Carry pet
Sprite Darter Hatchling (2/1/1) or Nether Faerie Dragon (2/1/1)

Bombing Run.
Breath.
Decoy as the enemy dodges.
Breath.
Bombing Run.
Swap to carry pet, use any move to take the Howl, then swap out to faerie dragon pet.
Evanescence.
Arcane Blast to waste enemy dodge.
Moonfire.
Arcane Blast until you die.
Swap Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling back in and use Bombing Run on cooldown and Breath as filler.

Strategy #2
Darkmoon Tonk (1/1/2)
Any pet with a reliable Mechanical-type attack like Missile.
Carry pet

Shock and Awe.
If you landed a stun, Missile. If not, Ion Cannon.
Missile until enemy Dodge runs out.
Shock and Awe on cooldown. Missile as filler until you die.
When Wolfgar comes out, swap to your carry pet. You will take a Howl, but that's good.
Swap and clean up.

Strategy #3
Sunreaver Micro-Sentry (2/1/1)
Any pet with a Mechanical-type attack like Missile (Batter works well here).
Carry pet

Use Call Lightning and Extra Plating on cooldown. Fel Immolate as filler.
Play around with your second pet.
When Wolfgar comes out, swap to your carry pet. You will take a Howl, but that's good.
Swap and clean up.

Cymre Brightblade is a long fight to perform a carry on, but is easy once you master it. Her specialty is pets that heal more than 50% of their max life at once. Of note, she has legendary quality pets! (This doesn't actually mean anything, but it's neat.)

Strategy #1
Anubisath Idol (1/1/1)
Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1/2/2)
Carry pet

Open with Deflection and use on cooldown to block Rot.
Maintain Sandstorm.
Crush as filler.
On the turn that Idol of Decay would use Dark Rebirth, swap into your carry pet.
Swap back to Anubisath Idol. You may take a Rot, but resume the same rotation (but be sure Sandstorm will be off cooldown before the next pet).
When Wishbright Lantern comes out, use Deflection to block Illuminate.
Promptly change the weather to Sandstorm
Crush until you are dead.
Swap to Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling and use Breath until enemy is dead.
When Gyrexle, the Eternal Mechanic comes out, use Decoy and Thunderbolt on cooldown until you win.

Tarr the Terrible is honestly a lot more trouble than he's worth. He uses three very powerful Humanoid-type pets, which really restricts the pets you can use to form a carry team with. Undead-types are key, especially pets with BONESTORM.

Strategy #1
Any pet with Haunt, such as Ghastly Kid (2/x/2)
Carry pet
Any pet with BONESTORM, such as Fossilized Hatchling (2/x/2) or Graves (1/1/2)

Start with Haunt. Your pet will temporarily die, so swap to your carry pet.
Swap out immediately to your third pet.
Spam BONESTORM (and Grave Destruction if you have it).
Spam whatever filler you have until you die.
Your first pet should be alive again in time to finish the fight.

Strategy #2
Two pets with BONESTORM. Cleave/Weebomination also works.
Carry pet

Spam your AoE Undead-type moves as hard as you can.
When you first pet dies, swap to your carry pet.
Swap out immediately to your third pet.
Spam your AoE until you win.

Strategy #3 (This strategy takes a really, really long time.)
Either Ruby Droplet (2/2/2) OR Son of Sethe (1/2/1) with Drain Blood and Absorb
Any clean-up pet
Carry pet

Use all moves on cooldown.
When your first pet dies, swap to your carry pet.
Swap out immediately to your third pet and clean up.

Unfortunately, the Pet Menagerie does not award reasonable amounts of experience anymore, so it is not advisable to run with carry teams. This guide will not discuss them. Please refer to this guide for information on the fights available here.

All Tiny Terrors in Tanaan battles can be trivialized using howl-bombing. However, you will need a third pet with strong healing abilities to finish off the fight. I personally use Emerald Proto-Whelp or Son of Sethe as my third.

Note that Fel Corruption makes it impossible to bring carry pets along with you. This is not a problem, as it is hardly worth the trouble anyway.

Pandaria Daily Carry Guide

If you are having trouble in Draenor, you can get a different headstart in Pandaria.

Unlike Draenor, you cannot just start pet battling in Pandaria. You need to finish Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Outland, Northrend, and Cataclysm first! Head to Stormwind / Orgrimmar to find the quest Audrey Burnhep/Varzok. This will guide you around the world on a long adventure culminating in Pandaria. If you are new, this quest will help you get acquainted with pet battling better, but it will take some time to complete. The first 80% of the quest chain is trivial, since you will have a level 25 pet versus very low level enemies.

Pandaria is very easy! The following carry strategies apply to Pandaria Pet Tamers. To note, most of these strategies only require Anubisath Idol or Emerald Proto-Whelp. If you are following this guide, you should already have those two.

Grand Master Hyuna is found in the Jade Forest.

Emerald Proto-Whelp (2/2/1)
Carry pet
Anubisath Idol (1/1/1)

Maintain Emerald Presence.
Emerald Bite until enemy dies.
When he swaps into Fangor, use Emerald Bite.
Proto-Strike.
Emerald Bite until you die.
Swap to carry pet, then immediately swap out.
Maintain Sandstorm.
Deflection only to block Headbutt. Crush otherwise, until you win.

Grand Master Nishi is found in Valley of Four Winds.

Anubisath Idol (1/1/1)
Carry pet

Sandstorm to start, and when you need to overwrite Sunlight.
Crush.
Use Deflection this turn to block Solar Beam on cooldown. Crush. Crush.
Repeat this sequence until Siren is dead.
When Toothbreaker comes out, use Sandstorm.
Swap to carry pet, then immediately swap back.
Maintain Sandstorm. Use Deflection only to block Leech Seed. Crush otherwise.
Clean up.

Grand Master Mo'ruk is found in Krasarang Wilds.

Emerald Proto-Whelp (2/2/2)
Anubisath Idol (1/1/1)
Carry pet

Emerald Bite.
Emerald Presence. Emerald Dream. Emerald Bite. Emerald Bite. Repeat.
When Lightstalker comes out, use Emerald Presence.
Emerald Bite until enemy dies.
When Needleback comes out, use Emerald Bite until you die.
Swap to carry pet, then immediately swap to Anubisath Idol.
Use Deflection only to block Headbutt. Maintain Sandstorm. Crush otherwise, until you win.

Grand Master Yon is found in Kun-Lai Summit.

Anubisath Idol (1/1/1)
Carry pet

Maintain Sandstorm. Use Deflection to block all 2-turn moves. Crush otherwise.
You are safe to swap to your carry pet as long as Sandstorm is active and the enemy is using Flock or Stampede. Swap back immediately and resume the rotation.

Grand Master Zusshi is found in Townlong Steppes.

Anubisath Idol (1/1/1)
Carry pet

Maintain Sandstorm. Use Deflection to block Howling Blast or Dive. Crush otherwise.
When Skimmer comes out, swap to your carry pet.
Immediately swap back and clean up.

Grand Master Shu is found in the Dread Wastes.

Note: He is a very bad tamer to carry low level pets through because Pounder has Quake.

Carry pet
Anubisath Idol (1/1/1)
Emerald Proto-Whelp (2/2/2)

Start with your carry pet. Important: Use any attack.
Swap to Anubisath Idol and maintain Sandstorm. Use Deflection right before Whirlpool triggers. Crush otherwise.
When Pounder comes out, use Crush.
Use Deflection to block Rupture. Otherwise, resume the rotation until you die.
Swap in Emerald Proto-Whelp.
Maintain Emerald Presence. Emerald Dream when you need health. Emerald Bite otherwise.

Aki the Chosen is found in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

Anubisath Idol (1/1/1)
Carry pet

Maintain Sandstorm. Crush otherwise.
You are safe to swap in your carry pet as long as Sandstorm is up and Chirrup is using Swarm. Swap back in immediately.
Against Stormlash, get it down as fast as possible with Crush.
Against Whiskers, maintain Sandstorm, use Deflection to dodge Dive, and Crush as filler.

Whispering Pandaren Spirit is found in the Jade Forest.

Emerald Proto-Whelp can solo this fight, but you may want to use a second pet to ensure you get an easy swap.

Anubisath Idol (1/1/1)
Carry pet
Emerald Proto-Whelp (2/2/2)

Deflection then Sandstorm. Repeat on cooldown. Crush as filler.
When Whispertail comes out, Crush until you die.
Swap to your carry pet, then immediately swap out to Emerald Proto-Whelp.
Maintain Emerald Presence. Emerald Dream when you need health. Emerald Bite otherwise.

Burning Pandaren Spirit is found in Townlong Steppes.

Note! Cyclone may make this fight difficult to carry in. A pet with Sandstorm is preferred to nullify the damage to your carry pet, but you are free to try it without if your carry pet is of sufficient level that it can take 1-4 Cyclone hits. If not, you can always take a chance that it will miss a lot.

Strategy #1
Anubisath Idol (1/1/1)
Carry pet

Crush.
Sandstorm.
Deflection to block Lift-Off.
Crush until Crimson dies.
When Pandaren Fire Spirit comes out, use Deflection to block Conflagrate when it is up.
Only use Sandstorm following a Deflection. Crush otherwise.
You are safe to swap in your carry pet when all of Pandaren Fire Spirit's moves are on cooldown, or when Glowy is in a Sandstorm that will last until you swap back.
Clean up.

Strategy #2
Standard Snail; Shimmershell Snail (H/P) is the best (2/2/1)
You may need a backup pet for this
Carry pet

Start with Shell Shield. Refresh this if it would fall off at the end of the turn.
Dive. Repeat this on cooldown to avoid Lift-Off. You should submerge the turn Crimson flies up.
Maintain the above priority and Absorb as filler until enemy is dead.
When Pandaren Fire Spirit comes out, refresh Shell Shield and spam Dive until enemy dies.
You are safe to swap in your carry pet when all of Pandaren Fire Spirit's moves are on cooldown,
If you keep Shell Shield up, Glowy should not be able to damage you.

Flowing Pandaren Spirit is found in the Dread Wastes.

Warning! Tiptoe has Tidal Wave, which will damage your backrow. If you are carrying, your carry pet must have more than 500 health.

Anubisath Idol (1/1/1)
Any pet that can dodge moves
Carry pet

Start with your carry pet. Important: Use any attack.
Swap to Anubisath Idol and use Deflection.
Maintain Sandstorm. Use Deflection only to block damage from Whirlpool or Dive. Crush otherwise.
Continue through Tiptoe. Depending on RNG, you may also defeat Pandaren Water Spirit as well.
If not, use your last pet to clean up, dodging Whirlpool and Geyser.

Thundering Pandaren Spirit is found in Kun-Lai Summit.

Strategy #1 (Credit to Posh)
Carry pet
Shimmershell Snail or any Snail family pet (2/1/1) -- Absorb, Acidic Goo, Dive
Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1/1/2)

Start with your carry pet. Use any attack (do not stun the enemy).
Swap to your Snail pet.
Acidic Goo.
Dive. If this attack does not hit, forfeit the match.
Absorb until the enemy is dead.
Against Sludgy, Acidic Goo, then Absorb until your pet dies. If you have 400+ HP, you can fit in an extra Dive.
Swap in Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling and spam Breath until the enemy dies.
Against Darnak the Tunneler, open with Bombing Run.
Breath.
Decoy.
Breath until the enemy dies.

Strategy #2 (Credit to BroBeforeFoe)
Carry pet
Any Rabbit family pet (2/2/1) -- Flurry, Dodge, Burrow
Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1/1/1)

Start with your carry pet. Use any attack (do not stun the enemy).
Swap to your Rabbit pet.
Burrow.
Flurry.
Flurry.
Dodge.
Flurry.
When Sludgy comes out, swap to Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling.
Breath until enemy is dead.
When Darnak the Tunneler comes out, use Bombing Run, Breath as filler, and Explode when your HP is low.
Swap back to Rabbit.
Flurry.
Dodge.
Flurry.
Flurry.
Burrow.
Repeat.

All Beasts of Fable battles can be trivialized by howl-bombing, and most with storm-flocking. It is generally not very useful to bring carry pets to these fights, but you're free to try.

The Celestial TournamentThe Celestial Tournament

Here are two guides you may find useful:

A Pet Battler's Guide to: Defeating the Celestial Tournament
Celestial Tournament with 18 pets

This list is not exhaustive! Please supplement your list with any other pets you need.

The following pets were personally selected if they fulfilled one of two criteria: (1) they are useful for two or more fights or (2) their performance in at least one fight is great enough (i.e. a pet can solo or nearly solo a fight).

Also note that it does not include pets mentioned earlier in the guide.

Pet Name

Where to obtain

Clock'em

upon reaching Rank 4 with the Brawler's Guild

Darkmoon Zeppelin

Obtained for 0 Darkmoon Prize Ticket during the Darkmoon Faire.

Lil' Bling

Chance to drop from Blingtron 4000 Gift Package or Blingtron 5000 Gift Package.

Iron Starlette

Quest reward from Warning Orgrimmar/Report to the King.

Sunreaver Micro-Sentry

Chance to drop from Haywire Sunreaver Construct on Isle of Thunder.

Teroclaw Hatchling

Treasure in Talador, contained in Teroclaw Nest

Crow (P/S)

Level 1-10 wild pet battle on Darkmoon Island.

Zandalari Kneebiter

Rare drop from Isle of Giants.

Magical Crawdad

Fishing in Terokkar Forest.

Kun-Lai Runt (P/S, P/P)

Level 23-25 wild pet battle in Kun-Lai Summit.

Comments

Comment by Chrosta

Cool guide, but you forgot items and buffs with +% xp for battle-pets. And in the Starter pet chapter, you have "lvl 98 and Garrison rank 3" ... that is wowhead's mistake ... maybe that Q have requirements lvl 98 in the DB, but it need Garrison rank 3 too, and building that rank 3 have requirements lvl 100. So you can do that Q only on lvl 100. The same like building Menangerie (it have lvl 98, but it need Garrison rank 3 too). You have 5* from me.

Comment by D34thsEyEs

Don't forget that the Ultimate Battle Training Stone can also be earned during the Pet Battle Event by completing its quest: 'The Very Best' by winning 5 PvP pet battles with a full team of Lvl 25 pets. It can be done only once per event I believe.

Comment by hagu

TYVM!

Is there a list of the pet battle nerfs? As a noob, everytime I try something I read on the web, it has been nerfed or perhaps I am doing it wrong. The lots of XP for your character, pet xp in your garrison, etc.

Comment by Marloss

On Wastewalker Shu, while I manage to keep the leveling pet alive, I don't manage to take him down with Anubisath Idol and Emerald Proto-Whelp. The latter always dies to his last pet from its humanoid ability.

Edit: Would also be nice if you included Aki the Chosen, as she is part of the Pandarian Grand Masters.

Edit 2: The strategy for the Thundering Pandaren Spirit is impossible. It fails every time with the rabbit dying to Darnak the Tunneler's Stone Rush, assuming one isn't unlucky with crits and die earlier.

Comment by Animosa

Hello!

My question is, that if I capture a poor/common/uncommon pet, and then I uprgrade it to rare qualitiy, it's stats would be as if I have captured it as a rare or not?

Comment by Troelsy

Lovely guide. You mention Beasts as best as power breeds. I sometimes find if you can find a H/H beast that has naturally high HP, it works better. Because the bigger your HP is the more HP you have left when you hit 50% HP and your racial kicks in and you do 25% more damage.

Comment by kitkat2

I'm really lost when it comes to pet breeds. I understand the concept of it all, but I fail to grasp the application of the info. Your guide has come the closest to helping me understand the application part of pet breeds with the section of your guide titled "What Breed is Best?" Can you further clarify how one would go about deciphering whether any particular pet would be a tank, glass cannon, bruiser, etc.? Is there a set way to determine this? Even better, is there a list that either you or anyone else reading this comment is aware of that exists that I may be pointed to?

Otherwise, this is a very comprehensive and useful guide and I have been using it as my Pet Battling Bible! Thank you so very much for what must have been an extreme effort and amount of time to compile so much information for the benefit of the community. Be forewarned though, you may have taught someone too well with this guide and you might, unknowingly, find yourself up against them in a PvP pet battle one day! lol

Comment by mallphas

What represent those number in front of the pets names. (Ex. 1/1/1 or 2/2/2)?

Comment by Kl1monWoWHead

Can you please tell what are the pre-patch changes in your guide? Like some sort of change log would be cool. I really don't want to read the whole thing again. Thanks for the very informative guide.

Comment by Earthsense13

This needs to be updated concerning PWS's change to Whirlpool and Dive. You can no longer use both Whirlpool and Geyser.

Comment by deviouskat89

Wonderful guide! I got a late start on pet battling, and many other popular guides are outdated and not updated past Pandaria. I hadn't realized that I should be working in Draenor at the same time for the easier tamers. Thank you!

Comment by Zuckerguss

Here are some pet battles in Legion that can also be good for leveling. (Note that these aren't up every day.) Various pet leveling strategies are on the linked pages. Some of these battles can be used to carry a level 1 pet, other battles require the carry pet be higher level than that in order to survive. Quests marked with * are part of Family Familiar.

Dalaran
*Fight Night: Tiffany Nelson
*Fight Night: Bodhi Sunwayver
*Fight Night: Sir Galveston
*Fight Night: Amalia

Azsuna
Help a Whelp
Dazed and Confused and Adorable
The Wine's Gone Bad
*Training with the Nightwatchers

Val'sharah
*Training with Durian
Only Pets Can Prevent Forest Fires
*Dealing with Satyrs

Highmountain
*Training with Bredda
*Tiny Poacher, Tiny Animals
*Snail Fight!

Stormheim
Beasts of Burden
Oh, Ominitron
*My Beasts's Bidding

Suramar
*The Master of Pets
*Chopped
Threads of Fate
Mana Tap

Comment by Zuckerguss

There are a few more pets that can weaken foes to 1 hp without killing them: Grumpy, Corgi Pup, Corgnelius.

Comment by Lolstorm

Great guide! Love it big times! Just one small note. This:

"Strategy #2 (Credit to Ofire)
Chrominius (2/x/x)"

Is very slightly off. It should say (2/2/2). Very minor, I know. Thanks for making this guide tho!

Legion Prepatch (7.0.3) Pet Battling Primer

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