My Pets

 
  A Hunter should like his pets enough to name them, at the very least. Some diehard MM Hunters can hardly be bothered to "Name their dots", but if you want any heals on your pet, it'd better have a name at the very least.

  Some Hunters go a step further and start to hold an emotional attachment to certain pets, and might even imbue them with personality. I'm not a roleplayer or anything, but I do think of my pets as friends.

  Hobs is my first pet out of Dun Morogh, and he's a Durotar tiger, no longer available in game. I trekked all the way there at level 12 to get an orange striped tiger.

  Aroo is my second oldest pet, having gone through TOC and ICC with me. He barks when you click on him.

  Raphael replaced my old turtle, Beacon. I grabbed that first turtle soon after discovering a way to cheese the Dreamwalker fight. I regret abandoning my old turtle, but my new one is pretty cool, too.

  I never really liked having a wind serpent, but can't get into dragonhawks either. Soap is for Snakes on a Plane. It's a flying snake. Yes, it's lame.

  Those four pets form my standard SV PvE line up, covering the Agility and Crit buffs, a tank for questing and soloing convenience as well as emergencies, and a Spell Damage debuff. I am also in the habit of leaving the 5th slot empty while out of Ironforge. Yes, my hearth is in the Commons. Moving on.

  Ed is actually Ed 2. When Cata came out, my reddish hyena from Scarlet Monastery transformed into a dog. I don't need a dog, and though it was a nice pet, I still needed a bleed debuff for raiding, so I went and got a random hyena. He's kinda plain looking, but he grew on me. He went with me through a lot of pugs in Cata and FL. Now he only comes out to play when I do a few randoms or a BH as MM just to keep my skills sharp.

Ripper is just an Armor debuff pet I occasionally used in Cata and FL, and I don't think I'll miss him in Mists.

  I also have tamed and abandoned a few ravagers for the Physical Damage debuff, for the very rare circumstance that there's a Feral Druid hitting Mangle, but no Frost DK or Combat Rogue present. Basically, never. I won't miss this pet in Mists.

Moving on to BM PvP.

  I named my shale spider SASI, the abbreviation of Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intellect. I know it's lame, but it's my brand of lame. I'm slightly disappointed that it's web is only 3 seconds, but having a Kings available when the Druid and Pally both missed the res by a second can really help a group. More importantly, as a Tenacity pet, I have Roar of Sacrifice and Intervene, which is very helpful for playing defensively, either alongside an FC, or defending a flag.

 
  Jitterbug is the least ugly silithid I could find. I'm not entirely a fan of Cunning pets, but having decent DPS, Roar of Sacrifice, the health buff, and a 5 sec web is a very nice PvP package.

  In Arena, I fill the third slot with Kalvenosaur, usually just to be able to start a round with an extra buff, but also for the occasional time where having a healing debuff on the target is appropriate. Yes, Widow Venom does that same thing, but it costs focus, and I like to bring him out on a troublesome healer (usually Priests) and burst right off the bat along with a debuff, instead of using Widow Venom and having to build focus back up with a Cobra Shot while the enemy healer reacts to the debuff. Seconds count in Arena.

 
  Beeblebrox fills the third slot for Battlegrounds. He doesn't often get used, since there's usually a Shammy or Mage in the Offensive team. I most often bring him out to kill General Drek'Thar or Overlord Agmar.

  I considered taming Chromaggus, but that seemed kinda trendy at the time. Besides, way back in the day, when I zoned into Molten Core for the first time, I told my friends "I want one of those as a pet." Now I have one. Thanks for this dream come true, Blizzard

   One day, sitting in SW on my Priest, some one invited me, since they needed a healer for some rare spawn. I accepted the invite and summon just to investigate, only to see them attack Ban'thalos. I tried telling them to stop, but they told me to just heal them. I didn't, of course, but that didn't stop them from killing him. I quit in disgust, and was too upset to play for the rest of the weekend. I now occasionally wipe my ignore list, since it gets full up on spammers, but when I do, I re-list Teo and Nucoma. They're on my permanent shit list. Fuck 'em.

   Warpaint is named for the way his wings leave a glowing trace in the air, and for his purpose. I camped that spot many times with no luck, and finally found him while doing Archeology, of all things. I was elated, of course, and now he's my primary Spirit Beast.

  Of course I had to have a Ghostcrawler for PvP. TOTHEGROUND is my secondary Spirit beast, though I sometimes bring him out first for grudge kills. Having two Spirit Beasts lined up is very useful for PvP in both Arena and Battlegrounds. I often switch for the extra heal while in a Deterrence.

  Those 6 pets (swapping out the devilsaur and core hound) make up my BM PvP line up. I have a stun, a web, two heals, two Roars of Sacrifice, and an Intervene available.

PocketHeal is my first Spirit Beast, and I ran a lot of random heroics in Wrath with him, as well as my first forays into PvP in Wintergrasp. He's retired.

I also have Arcturis, Gondria, Magria, Ankha, Skoll, and Karoma.

  I found Skoll just a couple weeks ago. It's been a long time coming. Magria I was able to tame only because someone was nice enough to announce him as up in Trade. I beat a Horde Hunter to it by less than a minute, and I'm glad I kept an armor setup saved that just equipped my items without armor rating. I'm going to start naming them one at a time as I switch them out to play.

  I hunted for Leto for months, eventually finding him in Silithus. The other place to find one is Dustwallow Marsh. He remains one of two unique rares with this model, but he's mostly for show. I don't often play BM in PvE.

  I've run across Aotona a few times while looking for Northrend rares to kill to increase the chances of Skoll spawning. Yes, I was that determined to get him. I couldn't let the first opportunity pass me by, but I have yet to bring him out to play. I'm considering switching to MM PvP, so maybe then.


  My last two are the Molten Core taming challenges that are uniquely skinned spiders, Deth'tilac and Solix.

  I use them whenever I switch to MM PvP, as having two webs is very useful. They're a pair, so I named them Citrus and Berry. I considered taming one of each color, but I don't have enough room in the stables.

  I have only one slot left. Any suggestions?