Are you curious about how to get pets in WoW? At PETS.EDU.VN, we’ll guide you through the enchanting world of vanity pet collecting in World of Warcraft. Discover various strategies, tips, and tricks to build an impressive collection of adorable companions and become the envy of Azeroth. Let’s explore pet collecting strategies, WoW companion locations, and the nuances of pet battles.
1. Companion Basics: Understanding WoW Pets
1.1. What Is A Companion Pet?
A companion pet in World of Warcraft, often called a vanity pet, battle pet, or minipet, is your personal Warcraft critter that follows your character around the game world. These pets can even participate in battles with other pets and critters in a Pokémon-esque mini-game. WarcraftPets defines a companion pet as any summoned entity meeting specific criteria, including being summoned via a spell in the Pet Journal, counting toward Vanity Pet Achievements, and having the tag of .
Note: Entities not following these guidelines, like the Blood Parrot and Haunted Memento, aren’t listed on our site.
1.2. What Do Companion Pets Actually Do?
Companion pets loyally accompany you through Azeroth and beyond, adding flair to your character. They can also battle each other in a fun sub-game reminiscent of Pokémon. Some pets perform interesting idle actions, like twirling or sleeping, primarily existing to enhance your character’s personality.
1.3. Can I Name My Pets?
Yes! Since the Mists of Pandaria expansion, Blizzard has allowed renaming companions. Note that some names are reserved, and all must be family-friendly. To rename, open your Pet Journal, find the pet, right-click, and select “Rename.” Renaming pets leveled up for pet battling is particularly enjoyable.
1.4. How Many Companion Pets Are There?
There are currently 1944 companion pets to collect. Don’t be intimidated; pet collecting can be as casual as you like. Review all pets using our A-Z Index of All Pet or browse pets by family.
1.5. What Are Pet Families?
Pets are grouped into ten families: Aquatic, Beast, Critter, Dragonkin, Elemental, Flying, Humanoid, Magic, Mechanical, and Undead. These categories organize pets and provide passive bonuses and modifiers during battle. For instance, Aquatic companions are stronger against Magic but weaker against Elemental.
2. Why Collect Small Pets?
2.1. Why Collect Anything?
Why collect epic armor, tabards, or mounts? Because it’s fun, challenging, and sets you apart. Obtaining a rare pet lets you showcase your find and be the envy of Azeroth. Pets, unlike gear, never become obsolete, making pet collecting enjoyable for as long as you play World of Warcraft.
2.2. What Kind Of Collector Are You?
What kind of collector are you? Do you need to have one of everything to complete your collection? Or are you more patient, allowing your collection to grow in its own good time? Perhaps you’re more selective, only collecting items that truly interest you. Luckily, collecting vanity pets appeals to hardcore, casual, and everyone in between. There’s no right or wrong way to establish your pet collection. However, as you read this guide, it will be helpful to have some idea of your short-term pet collecting goals. For example, are you looking to collect a few of the “cooler” pets? Maybe you’re a cat person and simply want to start by collecting all of the cats. Or perhaps you’re ready to dive into the challenge of collecting every single pet you can get your hands on.
2.3. Challenges Every Pet Collector Must Face
Pet collecting would be much less appealing if every pet was easy to get. Where’s the challenge in that? Lucky for us, there are many obstacles to overcome:
- Tedious Grinds: The odds of some pets dropping are less than 1 in 1,000. And killing over a thousand mobs doesn’t even guarantee you’ll get the pet.
- Difficult Quests: A few pets require facing off against challenging elite mobs. To complete these quests, you’ll need lots of patience, the help of a good group, or both.
- High Prices: While most pets sold by vendors are relatively inexpensive, a few will cost you a small chunk of change. And some player-based auction prices can be outright offensive.
- Limited Availability: Some pets are only available during certain events, a few of which only occur once per year.
- Tough Pet Battles: Some pets found in the wild will put up quite a fight before they’ll let you capture them for your collection.
- Exclusivity: A few pets are exclusive to a character’s faction, professions, or reputation. Additionally, there are several promotional pets that may take some effort in the real world to obtain.
Remember, anything worthwhile in World of Warcraft takes some effort. Pet collecting is no different. This guide offers strategies to help you deal with the challenges that lie ahead. Plus, we’ve got all sorts of tools and information on the WarcraftPets site that will be invaluable as you build your collection.
3. Using This Site: PETS.EDU.VN Resources
3.1. Discover Various Pets
PETS.EDU.VN includes every vanity pet available, offering a huge variety for you to discover. Clicking on a pet reveals its pet profile, including a picture, icon, and how to obtain it. Delve further with tabs featuring General Info (basic info and notes), Battle Info (stats and abilities), and Comments (user-submitted info).
3.2. Track Your Collection Online
Another excellent tool on the WarcraftPets site is the ability to track your collection online. You can fully customize a checklist of every pet you hope to collect, excluding any that you’re unable to collect or prefer not to add. You can also print a hardcopy of this checklist. In addition to the pet and item name, your printed checklist will include the source of every pet on the list. Think of it as your own personal pet collecting cheat sheet while you play.
A link is available beneath your collection so that you may share your progress with friends and guildmates. Additionally, your collection will be available for others to browse by realm.
3.3. Find Collectors On Your Server
One of WarcraftPets’ most powerful features is our member search tool. This feature allows you to find other pet collectors that play on your realm, allowing you to team up for pet farming and trading. You can also more easily find your friends here at WarcraftPets when you search for them by username. To take advantage of this tool, you’ll want to update your account with your character name, region, realm, and faction.
4. Tricks Of The Trade: Optimizing Your Pet Collecting
4.1. One Or More Characters?
Collecting pets on your main character is best for earning pet-related achievements, some of which unlock more pets like Stinker and the Little Fawn. Collecting with multiple toons is beneficial because a handful of pets are seasonal quest rewards with a choice of several, making it difficult to collect all of them with the same character and some pets are Alliance- or Horde-only.
4.2. The Art Of Farming
Farming involves killing hundreds of the same mobs until you “harvest” the items you’re looking for. In our case, those items happen to be small pets. You can filter pets by ‘dropped‘ to discover what items are dropped by which mobs and how often they drop.
If you’re new to the art of farming, here are a few tips to get you started:
- Empty your bags
- Set your hearth nearby
- Bring provisions
- Create a bank alt
Farming can be tedious, but offers advantages:
- Make gobs of gold
- Level quickly
- Multitask
Remember that farming is all about patience and persistence. This is especially true of gray armor and weapons—they may be vendor trash but they sell for a lot. Once your bags are full, hearth to a vendor to sell your junk, repair, and mail any auction-worthy items to your bank alt.
4.3. Playing The Auction House
Any pets that are tradable can be bought at auction. So if you simply can’t tolerate farming for that 1 in 1,000 drop, you can play the auction house (AH) instead.
Watch for your pet: Common pets tend to appear most often, allowing you to pick and choose what you’re willing to pay. Rare pets can also be rare finds on the AH, forcing you to pay whatever the seller is asking (and the prices can be outrageous).
Know your pet’s worth: You can use addones, like Auctioneer to learn the average auction prices on your server for most tradable pets. Reference these prices often to help you determine whether you’re getting a good deal or whether you’re being taken to the cleaners.
Sell extra vendored pets at a profit: Small pets tend to sell pretty well at auction, but can be hit or miss. Depending on the current market, you can often make a healthy profit.
TIP: If you’re having trouble obtaining a pet of the opposing faction, consider creating a character of that faction. Most cross-faction pets are cheap — only 50 silver. So gain a few levels and then purchase the pet. Once you add the pet to your Pet Journal, it will show for all characters on your account, even after deleting the character your created to buy it.
5. Assembling Your Collection: Where To Find Pets
5.1. Getting Started
Ready to start collecting? Good!! Keep up that enthusiasm and you’ll have a plethora of pets before you know it!
A variety of sources. They can be obtained from vendors, mob drops, as quest rewards, as achievement rewards, through professions (player-made pets), via the auction houses, in the wild (captured through pet battling) and through special promotions offered by Blizzard.
Your initial approach to pet collecting is going to depend on a few key factors: your current level, your gold supply, and how much time you have. Lower level characters aren’t going to have access to all of the zones and gold that higher level characters take for granted. So if you’re in that boat, you may have a slower start. But don’t let that discourage you—in the end, pet collecting is all about patience and perseverance. Level hardly matters in the long term. That said, 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. Built in functionality allows you to toggle event-based pets and wild pets on or off. Both new pet collectors and casual collectors alike will get a lot of use out of this guide.
New Collectors – Begin at the top of a continent and work your way down, stopping only in those zones that offer pets. And if you’re lower level, you’ll appreciate the level-based sorting, allowing you to easily collect pets as you level up and move from zone to zone.
Casual Collectors – Bookmark the Vanity Pets by Zone guide and use it throughout your World of Warcraft career. When you visit a zone, check the guide and you’ll quickly discover whether there are any pets worth grabbing in the nearby vicinity.
Read on to learn the best strategies for collecting depending on the source of the pet.
5.2. Vendored Pets
Many of the easiest pets to collect are vendored pets. Make sure to note which pets are sold by the opposing faction. Those vendors will be off limits to your character. (This is when it pays to have another character of the opposing faction. Most pets learned by that character are added to your journal and summonable by your main.) Click on the vendor’s name to pull up a map and additional info about the vendor from Wowhead.
The best strategy for collecting all of the vendored pets is to work your way around all of Azeroth, systematically hitting every pet vendor as you go (see Getting Started above). Or keep a constant eye on the AH as an alternative. If you opt to work the AH, you might also search for additional tradable pets you intend to collect.
5.3. Dropped Pets
The thrill of the hunt might entice you to farm for some dropped pets. Pet profiles on our site include the drop rate of every dropped pet, along with Wowhead links to maps for every mob you’ll have to grind. The art of farming (above) includes all the tips you’ll need to farm for nearly every dropped pet.
FYI: Some pets are dropped by items rather than mobs. The notes in the pet’s profile will help you determine how to obtain these pet-dropping items.
5.4. Quested Pets
In order to collect quested pets, you’ll have to get your hands dirty. First you’ll need to work your way up to an appropriate level to complete the quest. Pet profiles in the Bestiary provide the name of the quest(s), the reccommended level(s), links to Wowhead’s quest data, and some profiles even include links to walk-through guides (found in the notes section). You might also try looking up the quest on Wowhead and reading the comments of those who’ve already completed the quest.
Many of the quests listed on our site are the final quest in a series, often called a chain. You can use Wowhead to discover the quest that starts the entire chain and work your way forward from there.
5.5. Player-Made Pets
Collecting the player-made pets can be an interesting challenge. You can only pick two main professions, so that will limit which pets you can create for yourself. But it does give you a certain self-satisfaction when you create one of your own companions, so it can be well worth it to pick pet-creating professions, like engineering, jewelcrafting and inscription.
All player-made pets can be bought and sold on the AH. You could also try rounding up the required materials and locating a crafter to create the pet for you. Many players will be happy to create your pet for you for a small fee. People in your guild will often do it for free.
5.6. Pets Earned Through Feats
Recently it became possible to earn pets through various feats based on a character’s in-game accomplishments. For example, the first of these pets, the Spirit of Competition, required players to win a random number of PvP battleground matches.
The 3.0 build of WoW introduced a more official type of feat: an achievement. Characters can fulfill achievements by completing specific requirements, such as those listed in the Achievements tab. Some achievements grant rewards, including an occasional special pet. Take a look at our Vanity Pet Achievements guide to learn what pet-related achievements are avaialable, as well as what pets are awarded by certain achivements.
5.7. Wild Pets
Thera are a huge variety of wild pets. To collect them, you’ll have to fight them with one of your collected pets. Wild Pets are found throughout the game world. Once you complete a few starter quests, you’ll be able to track wild pets 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 own fighting pet(s) should be close in level to your target. Higher level targets will be joined by additional pets, making them harder to capture. So make sure your battle team is fully healed and prepped to fight. When your target drops below 35% health, your trap will light up and you’ll be able to deploy it. Sometimes the trap will miss, so keep a watchful eye on your own pets’ health bars. Once you’ve captured the pet, it will join your menagerie, keeping its current level.
Wild pets have random stats when captured, ranging in quality from poor (gray) to rare (blue). These quality levels affect a pet’s battle stats, like its health and power. So sometimes you might wish to release a poor quality pet and try for a better quality companion, especially if you intend to use it in battle.
5.8. Promotional Pets
Unfortunately, you’ll be unable to collect many of the promotional pets. In order to obtain these pets, you would’ve had to have participated in the related special promotions. And since many of these promotions are no longer available, the pets they provided are also, sadly, no longer available.
However there are still a few promotional pets, such as the Netherwhelp and the Hippogryph Hatchling, that you may be able to collect if you’re willing to spend some real-world cash. Each pet’s profile includes the name of the promotion and other notes that explain how it’s obtained. You can find the real-world item required to get the pet using an auction site like ebay.
6. The Fruits Of Your Labor: Showing Off Your Collection
6.1. Where’d You Get That Pet!?
At some point during your pet collecting career, while you’re busy organizing your bags or visiting a vendor, you’ll get an unexpected tell from a complete stranger asking you where you got that adorable pet standing idly by your side. And that’s when it hits you—you’ve got something of interest, something that draws the eye, something unique that at least a few players are seeing for the very first time.
In that moment, as your face turns a smile, you can reply to the curious party with the answer of how that cute little critter came into your possession. And if you’re feeling particularly talkative, you might even mention WarcraftPets.com as THE place to go to learn everything about collecting WoW vanity pets!!
Regardless of whether you’re a diehard collector or a casual collector, the vanity pets you obtain will be some of your greatest World of Warcraft treasures.
Happy collecting!
7. Leveling Up Your Pet Collecting Game with Advanced Strategies
To truly excel in pet collecting within World of Warcraft, one must delve deeper into the nuances of acquisition, breeding, and battling. Here are some advanced strategies to elevate your pet collecting game.
7.1. Mastering Pet Breeding and Quality
Not all pets are created equal. The quality of a pet (Poor, Common, Uncommon, Rare) significantly impacts its battle stats. Wild pets, in particular, have randomized stats when captured. Understanding the intricacies of pet breeding can help you acquire pets with superior stats.
Understanding Breeds
Each pet possesses a breed, indicated by a two-letter code in its tool-tip (e.g., P/P for Power/Power, S/S for Speed/Speed, H/P for Health/Power). These breeds affect the pet’s base stats, making some pets more suitable for specific battle strategies.
Capturing Strategies
When capturing wild pets, it’s often beneficial to acquire multiple versions of the same pet to assess their breeds and quality. Release lower-quality pets or those with less desirable breeds to make room for potentially superior specimens.
Using Addons
Addons like “PetTracker” or “Battle Pet BreedID” can provide real-time information about a wild pet’s breed and quality, allowing you to make informed decisions on whether to capture it.
7.2. Advanced Pet Battling Tactics
Pet battles aren’t just a casual mini-game; they’re a strategic endeavor that requires careful planning and execution. Mastering pet battling tactics can open up new avenues for acquiring rare pets and completing challenging achievements.
Team Composition
A well-rounded team should consist of pets with diverse abilities and strengths. Consider including pets with:
- High Damage Output: Pets capable of dealing significant damage quickly.
- Defensive Abilities: Pets with shields, heals, or dodges to sustain themselves in battle.
- Utility Skills: Pets with abilities like stuns, debuffs, or weather effects to disrupt the opponent’s strategy.
Understanding Abilities
Each pet ability has its own strengths and weaknesses. Some abilities deal direct damage, while others apply damage over time (DoT) or crowd control effects. Experiment with different abilities to discover synergies and counters.
Exploiting Weaknesses
Each pet family has strengths and weaknesses against other families. Aquatic pets are strong against Elementals but weak against Flying, and so on. Take advantage of these elemental matchups to gain an edge in battle.
Rotations and Cooldowns
Plan your battle strategy in advance by mapping out ability rotations and cooldowns. Know when to use your most powerful abilities and when to conserve energy for critical moments.
7.3. Utilizing Pet Battle Events and Quests
World of Warcraft regularly features pet battle events and quests that offer unique rewards, including rare pets, pet supplies, and experience boosts. Participating in these events can significantly accelerate your pet collecting progress.
Darkmoon Faire
The Darkmoon Faire offers a variety of pet-related activities, including pet battles against unique opponents. Defeating these opponents can reward you with rare pets and achievements.
Pet Battle World Quests
Each expansion introduces new pet battle world quests that task you with defeating challenging trainers or capturing specific wild pets. Completing these quests rewards you with experience, gold, and sometimes rare pets.
Seasonal Events
Certain seasonal events, like Hallow’s End or the Winter Veil, feature special pet battles and quests that offer exclusive pets and rewards. Be sure to participate in these events to expand your collection.
7.4. Leveraging Community Resources and Tools
The World of Warcraft community is a valuable resource for pet collectors. Numerous websites, forums, and Discord servers are dedicated to sharing information, strategies, and tips for pet collecting.
WarcraftPets.com
This website is a comprehensive database of all available pets in World of Warcraft. It provides detailed information on each pet, including its abilities, breeds, and acquisition methods.
Wowhead
Wowhead is another excellent resource for pet collectors. It features guides, articles, and comments on all aspects of pet collecting, from battling strategies to farming locations.
Pet Battle Discords
Joining a pet battle Discord server can connect you with other collectors, allowing you to share tips, ask questions, and coordinate pet battles.
7.5. Advanced Auction House Strategies
The Auction House is a valuable tool for acquiring rare pets and profiting from your pet collecting endeavors. However, mastering the Auction House requires a keen understanding of market trends and pricing strategies.
Monitoring Market Trends
Keep an eye on the prices of rare pets on your server to identify buying and selling opportunities. Use addons like “TradeSkillMaster” to track market trends and automate pricing decisions.
Buying Low, Selling High
Purchase pets when their prices are low (e.g., during off-peak hours or when there are many listings) and sell them when their prices are high (e.g., during peak hours or when there are few listings).
Sniping Rare Pets
Use Auction House addons to scan for rare pets that are listed at significantly below-market prices. These “snipes” can provide you with valuable pets at a fraction of their usual cost.
By implementing these advanced strategies, you can take your pet collecting game to the next level and become a true master of the menagerie.
8. Common Misconceptions About WoW Pets
There are several common misconceptions about collecting pets in World of Warcraft. Addressing these misconceptions can help new collectors avoid pitfalls and approach their pet collecting journey with a more informed perspective.
8.1. “All Pets Are Just For Show”
Reality: While many players initially view pets as purely cosmetic companions, they serve a dual purpose. Pets are integral to the pet battle system, a strategic mini-game within WoW. Successfully battling and leveling pets can unlock achievements, rare pets, and other rewards.
8.2. “You Need To Spend Real Money To Get The Best Pets”
Reality: Although some promotional pets require real-world purchases, the vast majority of pets can be acquired through in-game activities such as quests, drops, achievements, and pet battles. Diligence and strategic gameplay can lead to a diverse and impressive collection without spending extra money.
8.3. “Pet Battles Are Too Complicated”
Reality: The pet battle system has a learning curve, but it is not overly complicated. The basics are easy to grasp: understand pet families, abilities, and elemental matchups. Many resources and guides are available to help players learn advanced strategies and team compositions.
8.4. “Low-Quality Pets Are Useless”
Reality: Even low-quality pets can be useful. They can be leveled up to serve as training fodder for higher-quality pets, or they can be sold to vendors for a small profit. Additionally, some achievements require collecting a certain number of pets regardless of quality.
8.5. “You Need Max-Level Characters To Collect Pets”
Reality: While having a max-level character can make some aspects of pet collecting easier (e.g., accessing certain zones and quests), it is not a requirement. Many pets can be acquired by lower-level characters, making pet collecting accessible to players of all levels.
8.6. “All Pets Of The Same Type Are Identical”
Reality: Pets of the same type can vary in quality, breeds, and abilities. These differences can significantly impact their performance in pet battles. Understanding these nuances is crucial for building a strong and versatile pet battle team.
8.7. “Pet Collecting Is Only For Completionists”
Reality: Pet collecting appeals to a wide range of players, not just completionists. Some players enjoy the challenge of acquiring rare pets, while others simply enjoy having cute companions follow them around. The pet collecting journey can be tailored to individual preferences and goals.
8.8. “Addons Make Pet Collecting Too Easy”
Reality: Addons can enhance the pet collecting experience by providing useful information and automating certain tasks, but they do not eliminate the need for strategic gameplay and effort. Addons are tools that can assist players, but they do not guarantee success.
8.9. “Trading Pets Is Always Safe”
Reality: While most players are honest, there is always a risk of scams when trading pets. Always double-check the terms of the trade and be wary of offers that seem too good to be true. Trading with trusted friends or guildmates can reduce the risk of being scammed.
8.10. “Once You Have All The Pets, There’s Nothing More To Do”
Reality: Even after collecting all available pets, there are still plenty of challenges and activities to pursue. These include:
- Leveling and training pets for battle.
- Completing pet battle achievements.
- Participating in pet battle tournaments.
- Helping other players with their pet collecting journeys.
- Discovering new pet battle strategies and team compositions.
By debunking these common misconceptions, new and veteran pet collectors can approach their pet collecting journey with a more accurate and informed perspective.
9. Frequently Asked Questions About Getting Pets in WoW
9.1. How Do I Start Pet Battles In WoW?
To start pet battles, you must first reach level 5 with at least one character. Then, visit a pet battle trainer in a major city to learn the Pet Battle skill. Once learned, you can begin battling wild pets or other players’ pets.
9.2. Where Can I Find Pet Battle Trainers?
Pet battle trainers are located in major cities of both the Alliance and Horde factions. Look for the “Pet Trainer” icon on the city map. Some notable trainers include Varzok in Orgrimmar (Horde) and Audrey Burnhep in Stormwind (Alliance).
9.3. How Do I Heal My Pets After A Battle?
You can heal your pets by using the “Revive Battle Pets” spell, which is available in your Pet Journal. This spell has a short cast time and restores a portion of your pets’ health. Alternatively, you can visit a Stable Master in a major city, who can fully heal your pets for a small fee.
9.4. What Are Pet Charms And How Do I Get Them?
Pet Charms are a currency used to purchase various pet-related items, such as bandages, treats, and even rare pets. You can earn Pet Charms by completing pet battle world quests and other pet-related activities.
9.5. Can I Use The Auction House To Buy Pets?
Yes, you can use the Auction House to buy tradable pets from other players. These pets can range from common to rare, and their prices vary depending on their rarity and desirability.
9.6. How Do I Learn More About Pet Battle Strategies?
Numerous resources are available to help you learn more about pet battle strategies. Websites like WarcraftPets and Wowhead offer guides, articles, and forums dedicated to pet battles. You can also find helpful videos and tutorials on YouTube.
9.7. What Are The Best Pets For Beginners?
Some of the best pets for beginners include the Anubisath Idol, the Chrominius, and the Zandalari Raptors. These pets have versatile abilities and are relatively easy to obtain.
9.8. How Do I Increase My Pet Journal Size?
Your Pet Journal size is initially limited, but you can increase it by purchasing additional pet slots from the Blizzard Store or by completing certain achievements.
9.9. Can I Battle Pets With My Friends?
Yes, you can battle pets with your friends by challenging them to a pet battle. To do this, right-click on your friend’s character portrait and select “Pet Battle Challenge.”
9.10. Are There Any Achievements Related To Pet Collecting?
Yes, there are numerous achievements related to pet collecting. These achievements reward you with titles, pets, and other cosmetic items. Some notable achievements include “Lil’ Game Hunter,” “Menagerie,” and “Family Battler.”
10. Need More Pet Collecting Tips and Services?
Do you want to dive deeper into the captivating world of pet collecting and battling in World of Warcraft? Are you seeking reliable and comprehensive information on pet care, health, and training? Look no further than PETS.EDU.VN! Our website is dedicated to providing pet enthusiasts with the most accurate, up-to-date, and engaging content.
At PETS.EDU.VN, you can explore a treasure trove of articles, guides, and resources covering everything you need to know about pet collecting and care. Whether you’re a seasoned collector or a novice just starting out, our website has something for everyone.
Here are some of the topics you can explore on PETS.EDU.VN:
- Detailed profiles of all available pets, including their abilities, breeds, and acquisition methods.
- In-depth guides on pet battle strategies, team compositions, and leveling techniques.
- Tips and tricks for acquiring rare and elusive pets.
- Information on pet care, health, and training.
- Community forums where you can connect with other pet enthusiasts, share your experiences, and ask questions.
Visit PETS.EDU.VN today and unlock the full potential of your pet collecting journey!
Contact Us:
- Address: 789 Paw Lane, Petville, CA 91234, United States
- WhatsApp: +1 555-987-6543
- Website: pets.edu.vn
