How To Get Pets In WoW: A Comprehensive Guide

Are you eager to dive into the fascinating world of vanity pet collecting in World of Warcraft? At PETS.EDU.VN, we provide a comprehensive guide filled with strategies and tips to help you build an impressive collection of these delightful companions. Discover the joy of acquiring rare and unique pets, showcasing your dedication and setting yourself apart in Azeroth. Delve into pet families, battling techniques, and where to find these coveted creatures with our expert advice.

1. Understanding Companion Basics

1.1. What Exactly is a Companion Pet?

A companion pet, also known as a vanity pet, battle pet, or minipet, is your own personal Warcraft critter that follows your character throughout the game world. These pets can even participate in battles, adding a fun, Pokémon-esque minigame to your WoW experience. WarcraftPets defines a companion pet based on the following criteria:

Summoned via a summoning spell found in the character’s Pet Journal.
Counts toward various Vanity Pet Achievements.
Has the tag of .

Note that entities not meeting these guidelines (like the Blood Parrot and Haunted Memento) are not typically listed on pet collecting sites.

1.2. The Purpose of Companion Pets

Companions loyally accompany you on your adventures through Azeroth and beyond. As mentioned earlier, they can also battle each other in a captivating sub-game, reminiscent of Pokémon. While some pets perform amusing actions when idle, such as twirling or napping, their primary function is to enhance your character’s flair and personality. These pets offer a unique way to express your individuality within the game.

1.3. Can I Give My Pets a Name?

Absolutely. With the Mists of Pandaria expansion, Blizzard introduced the ability to rename your companions. It’s important to remember that certain names are reserved, and all names must be family-friendly. There are no companions with names alluding to bodily functions allowed. To rename your pet, open your Pet Journal, find the pet in the list, right-click on it, and select “Rename.” This is particularly fun for pets you level up for pet battling, adding a personal touch to your team.

1.4. How Many Companion Pets are Available?

There are currently 1944 companion pets to collect. While this number might seem overwhelming, remember that pet collecting can be as relaxed and enjoyable as you like. You can explore every pet using our A-Z Index of All Pet or browse pets by family. These resources make it easy to discover and track the pets that interest you most.

1.5. What Are Pet Families?

All pets are categorized into ten different families: Aquatic, Beast, Critter, Dragonkin, Elemental, Flying, Humanoid, Magic, Mechanical, and Undead. These categories not only organize the pets but also provide passive bonuses and modifiers during battles. For instance, Aquatic companions are stronger against Magic but weaker against Elemental. Understanding these dynamics can greatly enhance your pet battling strategies.

2. Exploring the Joys of Collecting Small Pets

2.1. The Allure of Collecting

Why collect anything at all? Whether it’s epic armor sets, tabards, or mounts, collecting adds depth and enjoyment to World of Warcraft. Obtaining rare pets allows you to showcase your achievements and become the envy of other players. There’s a unique satisfaction in being asked about your exotic little friend.

Pets are especially appealing because, unlike gear or reputation rewards, they never become outdated. This timeless quality makes pet collecting an enduring and rewarding aspect of the game.

2.2. Identifying Your Collector Type

Think about the kinds of items you’ve collected over the years. Are you meticulous, aiming to complete your collection at any cost? Or are you more relaxed, letting your collection grow organically? Perhaps you are selective, focusing only on items that genuinely interest you.

Collecting vanity pets caters to all types of collectors. Whether you’re a casual player or a dedicated completionist, there’s no wrong way to approach pet collecting. Consider your short-term goals. Are you aiming for “cooler” pets, focusing on a specific type like cats, or diving into the challenge of collecting every pet possible?

2.3. Overcoming the Challenges of Pet Collecting

The excitement of pet collecting lies in the challenges you face along the way. These obstacles make the rewards even more satisfying:

Tedious Grinds: Some pets have drop rates of less than 1 in 1,000, requiring significant patience.
Difficult Quests: Certain pets require facing tough elite mobs, demanding strategic teamwork and persistence.
High Prices: While some vendor pets are affordable, others can be quite expensive, and auction prices can be exorbitant.
Limited Availability: Some pets are only available during specific events, often occurring just once a year.
Tough Pet Battles: Capturing wild pets can be challenging, requiring well-prepared battle teams.
Exclusivity: Some pets are exclusive to specific factions, professions, or reputations. Additionally, promotional pets might require real-world effort to obtain.

Overcoming these challenges is part of the fun. Remember, anything worthwhile in World of Warcraft requires effort, and the feeling of finally acquiring a rare pet is priceless.

This guide provides strategies to navigate these challenges, along with tools and information on the WarcraftPets site to aid your collection efforts.

3. Navigating the WarcraftPets Website

3.1. Discovering Various Pets

Our website features every vanity pet available. If you’re new to pet collecting, you’ll find a vast array of options to explore. Clicking on a pet reveals its pet profile, which includes a picture, icon, and information on how to obtain it. You can delve deeper using tabs that feature General Info, Battle Info, and Comments, providing comprehensive details for each pet.

3.2. Tracking Your Collection Online

An excellent tool on the PETS.EDU.VN site is the ability to track your collection online. Customize a checklist of pets you want to collect, excluding those you can’t or prefer not to add. You can also print this checklist for use while playing. In addition to the pet and item name, your printed checklist includes the source of each pet. Think of it as your personal pet collecting cheat sheet.

A link is available beneath your collection to share your progress with friends and guildmates. Your collection is also available for others to browse by realm.

3.3. Finding Collectors on Your Server

One of the most powerful features of WarcraftPets is our member search tool. This feature helps you find other pet collectors on your realm, allowing you to team up for farming and trading. You can also find friends on the site by searching for their username. To use this tool, update your account with your character name, region, realm, and faction.

4. Mastering the Tricks of the Trade

4.1. Deciding Between One or More Characters

Most players have a main character. It’s best to collect as many pets as possible on this character to earn pet-related achievements. Some achievements even unlock more pets, such as Stinker and the Little Fawn.

There are reasons to collect pets with multiple characters. Some pets are seasonal quest rewards with multiple choices, making it difficult to collect them all with one character until the quest is available again. Additionally, some pets are Alliance- or Horde-only. Having characters in both factions allows you to collect all of these pets.

4.2. Honing the Art of Farming

Farming involves killing the same mobs repeatedly to “harvest” the desired items, in this case, small pets. You can filter pets by ‘dropped‘ to find which mobs drop them and their drop rates.

If you’re new to farming, here are some tips:

Empty Your Bags: Sell junk and store quest items to maximize bag space.
Set Your Hearth Nearby: Set your hearthstone to a nearby location.
Bring Provisions: Bring enough food, water, bandages, and potions to avoid frequent restocks.
Create a Bank Alt: Create a level 1 bank alt and park it near a mailbox in a city to manage auctions.

Farming can be tedious, but it offers advantages:

Make Gold: Sell almost everything you pick up. Save even gray armor and weapons, which sell for a lot to vendors.
Level Quickly: Earn experience by farming mobs close to your level.
Multitask: Farming becomes routine, allowing you to watch TV, talk on the phone, or chat online.

Remember, farming requires patience and persistence. Even after killing thousands of mobs, the next one might drop your pet.

4.3. Mastering the Auction House

Any tradable pets can be bought at auction. If you can’t tolerate farming, the auction house (AH) is a viable alternative.

Watch for Your Pet: Check the AH daily for your desired pet. Common pets appear more often, allowing you to choose what you’re willing to pay. Rare pets are less frequent and may require paying higher prices.
Know Your Pet’s Worth: Use addons like Auctioneer to learn average auction prices on your server. This helps determine if you’re getting a good deal.
Sell Extra Vendored Pets: Buying and selling vendored pets on the AH can be profitable. Depending on the market, you can often make a healthy profit.

Tip: To obtain a pet of the opposing faction, create a character of that faction. Most cross-faction pets are cheap (50 silver). Level up slightly and purchase the pet. Once added to your Pet Journal, it will appear for all characters on your account, even after deleting the character.

5. Assembling Your Pet Collection

5.1. Getting Started with Pet Collecting

Ready to start collecting? Great Keep up your enthusiasm, and you’ll have a plethora of pets before you know it.

Where can you find pets?

Pets can be obtained from various sources, including vendors, mob drops, quest rewards, achievement rewards, professions (player-made pets), auction houses, the wild (captured through pet battling), and special promotions offered by Blizzard.

Your approach will depend on your current level, gold supply, and available time. Lower-level characters have limited access to zones and gold, so their start might be slower. However, pet collecting is about patience and perseverance. One of the best starting strategies is to collect zone by zone.

Our Pets by Zone tool displays pets by continent, zone, and zone level. You can toggle event-based pets and wild pets on or off. This guide is useful for both new and casual collectors.

New Collectors: Start at the top of a continent and work down, focusing on zones with pets. Use the level-based sorting to collect pets as you level up.

Casual Collectors: Bookmark the Vanity Pets by Zone guide and check it when visiting a zone to find nearby pets.

5.2. Collecting Vendored Pets

Many of the easiest pets to collect are vendored pets. Note which pets are sold by the opposing faction, as those vendors will be off-limits. (This is where having a character of the opposing faction helps.) Click on the vendor’s name for a map and additional info from Wowhead.

The best strategy is to systematically visit every pet vendor in Azeroth (see Getting Started above) or monitor the AH.

5.3. Obtaining Dropped Pets

The thrill of the hunt might entice you to farm for dropped pets. Pet profiles on our site include the drop rate of every dropped pet, along with Wowhead links to maps for every mob. The art of farming (above) has all the tips you need.

FYI: Some pets are dropped by items rather than mobs. The pet’s profile will explain how to obtain these items.

5.4. Completing Quested Pets

To collect quested pets, you’ll need to complete quests. Pet profiles in the Bestiary provide the quest names, recommended levels, links to Wowhead’s quest data, and walk-through guides in the notes section. You can also check Wowhead for comments from players who’ve completed the quest.

Many quests are the final quest in a series, or chain. Use Wowhead to find the starting quest and work forward.

5.5. Crafting Player-Made Pets

Collecting player-made pets can be interesting. You can only pick two main professions, limiting which pets you can create yourself. However, it’s satisfying to create your own companions, making professions like engineering, jewelcrafting, and inscription worthwhile.

All player-made pets can be bought and sold on the AH. You can also gather the materials and hire a crafter to create the pet for you. Many players will do it for a small fee; guild members often do it for free.

5.6. Earning Pets Through Feats

It’s now possible to earn pets through various feats based on in-game accomplishments. For example, the Spirit of Competition required winning a random number of PvP battleground matches.

The 3.0 build of WoW introduced achievements. Characters can fulfill achievements by completing specific requirements. Some achievements grant rewards, including special pets. See our Vanity Pet Achievements guide to learn about available achievements and their pet rewards.

5.7. Capturing Wild Pets

There’s a vast variety of wild pets. To collect them, you’ll fight them with your collected pets. Wild Pets are found throughout the game world. After completing a few starter quests, you can track them on your minimap (see our Guide to Pet Battles for details).

To capture a wild pet, right-click on it to start the battle. Your fighting pets should be close in level to your target. Higher-level targets will be joined by additional pets, making them harder to capture. Ensure your battle team is fully healed and prepped to fight. When your target drops below 35% health, your trap will light up, and you can deploy it. If the trap misses, watch your pets’ health bars. Once captured, the pet joins your menagerie at its current level.

Wild pets have random stats when captured, ranging in quality from poor (gray) to rare (blue). These quality levels affect battle stats like health and power. You might release a poor-quality pet and try for a better one, especially if you intend to use it in battle.

5.8. Acquiring Promotional Pets

Unfortunately, many of the promotional pets are no longer available. These pets required participation in special promotions, many of which have ended.

However, some promotional pets, such as the Netherwhelp and the Hippogryph Hatchling, can still be collected if you’re willing to spend real-world cash. Each pet’s profile includes the name of the promotion and other notes explaining how to obtain it. You can find the required real-world item on auction sites like eBay.

6. Enjoying the Fruits of Your Labor

6.1. Showing Off Your Collection

During your pet collecting, while organizing your bags or visiting a vendor, you’ll likely receive a tell from a stranger asking about that adorable pet by your side. That’s when you realize you have something interesting, something eye-catching, something unique that others are seeing for the first time.

At that moment, you can proudly share how you acquired that cute little critter. And if you’re feeling chatty, you might even mention PETS.EDU.VN as THE place to learn everything about collecting WoW vanity pets

Whether you’re a diehard or a casual collector, your vanity pets will be among your greatest World of Warcraft treasures.

Happy collecting

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the main purpose of collecting pets in WoW?

Collecting pets in WoW is a fun, challenging way to set yourself apart, showcase rare finds, and enjoy a timeless aspect of the game that never becomes obsolete.
How do I rename my companion pet?

To rename your pet, open your Pet Journal, find the pet in the list, right-click on it, and select “Rename.”
What are the different pet families in WoW?

The ten pet families are Aquatic, Beast, Critter, Dragonkin, Elemental, Flying, Humanoid, Magic, Mechanical, and Undead, each with unique strengths and weaknesses in battles.
What is the best way to track my pet collection progress?

Use the collection tracking tool on pets.edu.vn to customize a checklist, print it for reference, and share your progress with friends.
How can I find other pet collectors on my server?

Use the member search tool on WarcraftPets to find and connect with other pet collectors on your realm.
What are some tips for effective pet farming?

Empty your bags, set your hearth nearby, bring provisions, and create a bank alt to maximize efficiency while farming.
How do I determine the value of a pet on the auction house?

Use addons like Auctioneer to learn average auction prices on your server and compare them to current listings.
What should I do if I can’t tolerate farming for a specific pet?

Consider purchasing the pet from the auction house as an alternative to farming.
What are the key factors to consider when starting a pet collection?

Consider your current level, gold supply, and available time, and focus on collecting zone by zone.
How can I obtain pets that are exclusive to the opposing faction?

Create a character of the opposing faction, purchase the pet, and add it to your Pet Journal for access on all characters.