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Comment by ToviValdora

I only tamed one Whelk... turned out to be a rare.

1434 hps 278/200

Comment by asherkobin

Five of its abilities are strong against a different Pet Family. The sixth is a defensive ability. I haven't come across a pet like this before.

Comment by NoobIRL

This is the Metapod of battle pets. Wild ones keeps using Shell Shield like Metapod uses Harden! Annoying.

Comment by jamesrod32

Snails are extremely effective against elementals.

Having trouble against that extremely tough Elemental?

Elementals deal less damage to critters, and Snails are critters.

They can reduce the damage even further with: Shell Shield.
Then they can leech life while dealing damage every turn with: Absorb
They also have a nuke useful against Elementals: Dive

There are a total of 5 snails in the game:
Scooter the Snail - Obtained during Children's week, also tradeable on the AH
Shimmershell Snail - Located in Darkshore all along the cost line, level 3-5
Rusty Snail - Located in the NorthWest of Ashenvale, along the coast level 4-5
Silkbead Snail - Located in the Jade Forest, around the Temple of the Jade Serpent, level 23-24
Rapana Whelk - Located in the shallow waters on the Southern part of the Dread Wastes, level 24

I recommend having atleast 1 of these types of pets in your arsenal when you need to deal with a pesky elemental, or another player that loves his Phoenix Hatchling.

Comment by Eillesthis

Useful against Bloodknight Antari's Jadefire.

Comment by Moeker

Yet again one of these pets that, according to the pet journal, are found in a way different zone from where you really find it.
Pet journal still says that this whelk is found in the Jade Forest whereas you really only find this in the southern part of the Dread Wastes.

Comment by Shaitan051

If you're the type that pays attention to breeds a #7 Shimmershell Snail is better than a Rapana Whelk. The latter is just more convenient since it's 25.

Comment by adashiel

The Rapana Whelk is the only snail species with a high-speed breed (i.e., S/S or Breed #5). However, because snails have such a low base speed, it has only an average speed score relative to other pets.

Comment by TamerThomas

There are 5 snail pets in the game. Here is a quick reference list.

Rapana Whelk
Rusty Snail
Scooter the Snail
Shimmershell Snail
Silkbead Snail

Good luck out there fellow tamers!

Comment by LTygress

LONGEST FIGHT EVER: Rapana Whelk and Molten Hatchling!

The two of them barely damage each other, and just keep healing themselves almost every time they hit. The fight is a matter of them whittling away health in very low numbers - just like someone using a hunting knife to carve a tree trunk into a swam sculpture! It takes forever!

Otherwise, the Rapana Whelk can stand up to some heavy fire power with the shell shield and absorb!

Comment by littlegreenwoman

can appear as a secondary pet

Comment by Awesomknight

Doesn't stand a chance in a supernova.

Comment by schtinky

The Rapana Whelk has a very, very slow baseline. Even the S/S breed is only 260 speed, meaning it will still be slower than 90% of the pets you fight, including probably ALL of the epics and legendaries in the Pandaria dailies. (The S/S breed will be faster than some P/P, H/P and H/H pets (like Anubisath idol), but they are few and far between.)

So if it's almost always slower than the competition, you're better off with the breed that has the least itemization points into Speed. That is, the H/B breed.

Comment by Scoobydeux

It has been pointed out that there are currently five snail battle pets,

Scooter the Snail
Shimmershell Snail
Rusty Snail
Rapana Whelk
Silkbead Snail

Four of these have a B/B breed, and these have identical stats. Scooter is only an H/H, but the Shimmershell Snail also has an H/H breed, and these two have identical stats. So the baseline snails on which the breeds are built are all the same. All five have identical attacks. So only the breeds distinguish the battle value of the fully trained snails.

It has also been pointed out that the snails are slow, and that even the S/S lags other battle pets, so speed is a throw-away stat.

Since you have no choice with Scooter, you get an H/H, avoiding the throw-away stat. The downside of Scooter is he starts as a level 1 uncommon. All of the rest can be caught as a rare.

The Shimmershell Snail is available as an H/H, an H/P, and a B/B. Avoiding B/B because of low numbers, some wasted on speed, the H/H is attractive, but you already have that covered with Scooter. The H/P is unique among the snails, so is probably the better choice. These also start at a low level; 5 or 6 is typical.

By the criteria of avoiding speed, getting breeds that spend points elsewhere, those are the two best snails. None of the rest have a breed that avoids speed.

Consider next the Rusty Snail, available as an H/S, an H/B, and a B/B. The H/B has all the health of the H/S, and nearly as much attack power as the B/B; so the H/B is probably the best choice for this snail. It also starts out fairly low, but a bit higher than the Shimmershell Snail.

The last two snails have the advantage of being higher level when you catch them, close to max. There is a good chance these will be the first snails you get to level 25.

The Rapana Whelk is available as an S/S, an H/B, and a B/B. Per the choice for Rusty Snail breed, among these last two snails, the H/B is the strongest.

The Silkbead Snail is only available as an H/S and a B/B. Ignoring the speed, the health & health vs health & attack power is close. I'd favor the B/B, but not greatly so.

One final thought, if you level your breed of choice of each of these to max level,

Level 25 Rare Scooter the Snail H/H
Level 25 Rare Shimmershell Snail H/P
Level 25 Rare Rusty Snail H/B
Level 25 Rare Rapana Whelk H/B
Level 25 Rare Silkbead Snail B/B

the H/B Rapana Welk no longer stands out; you have two better and one equivalent snail. At that point, it is fairly useless, so I'd consider replacing the Rapana Whelk with the S/S breed, as the fastest snail.

Level 25 Rare Scooter the Snail H/H
Level 25 Rare Shimmershell Snail H/P
Level 25 Rare Rusty Snail H/B
Level 25 Rare Rapana Whelk S/S
Level 25 Rare Silkbead Snail B/B

Yes, the fastest snail is still slow, but it does stand out from the herd, and there might be a situation where it proves useful.

Comment by AzerateAeriePeak

Why is the map showing Azsuna and Stormheim if it's a Pandaria pet? Is it some kind of vandalism?

Comment by Polared

Great for catching other pets, especially since it deals low damage, heals itself (while attacking), and has a shield that blocks attacks with multiple hits (If you don't have the other pets like Terrible Turnip )

Comment by mindaz3

You can find these at The Briny Muck (37.73, 62.10) in Dread Wastes. Also, these snails can appear as secondary pets while fighting other battle pets in the same zone.

Comment by TheGamingGeneral

Found one as an extra when trying to capture another pet in Val'Sharah

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Rapana Whelk

This NPC can be found in Dread Wastes (5), Azsuna (3) and Stormheim (2).

Pet Battle: Dread Wastes

Has been spotted fighting other whelks for prime food sources.

Guides

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

Battle Pets and Where to Find Them [Archive]

Pet Battle Challenge Dungeon: Deadmines

Pet Battle Challenge: Gnomeregan

Rapana Whelk

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