Best Shadowlands Tank Pets?

[Talihawk]

I'm having a lot of pet squisiness problems this expansion. I've tried testing several of our 'tankier' pets but so far none seem to be better than any other.

So far I've tried a Quillen (Tenacity) , Clefthoof (Ferocity) , Scalehide (Ferocity), and a Corehound (Ferocity) and am about to test out a spirit beast (Tenacity)

Has anyone found a combo that seems to be the tankiest and hardiest with the least amount of tending to? Some times it's hard to be constantly pushing heal pet when so many spells are being hurled around.

[WerebearGuy]

I specifically try out different pets in Shadowlands content purely because my pets don't get their faces pushed in as badly as BfA did. Here's my findings;

A) If you want your pet to survive, use a Clefthoof (Ferocity). Nothing survives like a Clefthoof. NOTHING. Mend Pet heals for way more on a Clefthoof, thus making enemies struggle to kill it. I have not once needed to use Revive Pet on my fat alien yak.
B) If you want your pet to survive, but you're not beast mastery, I would suggest a Wind Serpent. I slept on them in BfA because I don't care for them much, but now that I've tamed The Golden Serpent, I now see just how nice their dodge ability is. While it's not as convenient as the Clefthoof's pure superiority in literally every way, a Ferocity pet that can dodge is a Ferocity pet that lives just that much longer if you're neglecting your Mend Pet. Or if it's on cooldown because Blizzard clearly hates us healing our pets.
C) If Ferocity isn't your thing, then pick whatever. It'll die the same.
D) Exception to C: Cunning pets suck. They just die way too fast for no reason. Use a Cunning pet if you don't care about efficiency and just want a fancy looking animal with the wrong pet specialization.

I sound incredibly biased, but I've tried so many different pets in solo content. I've "tanked" a dungeon with my pet because the braindead tank bailed on us because he didn't get his loot off of a heroic boss (petty moron), and I used my pet to tank stuff because I didn't want to sit there twiddling my thumbs while waiting for another tank. I used my Clefthoof because of their bonus healing received, and the healer commented how easy it was to keep my Clefthoof alive. This was in Heroic Mists of Tirna Scithe, in the maze; the trash in there has a few AoE effects, but regardless of that, my Clefthoof stood tall like an emperor above his worthless citizens. Because I like to swap things up from time to time, I also had my Wind Serpent out in a Spires of Ascension. While it didn't last super long like the Clefthoof, I managed to keep aggro on the third boss with my serpent because our tank DC'd when he pulled (genuinely not his fault there, but he had a login queue and didn't need the loot). These are the only two pets I've found success with in terms of mild challenges. Out in world questing and in the worst zone eve-I mean the Maw, not a single thing has killed my Clefthoof. That big lug does not die. He does not allow enemies to kill him in PvE content, period. Without a doubt, the Clefthoof is the king of putting NPCs in their place and keeping you safe (except from those obnoxious assassins in the Maw, good lord I hate them so much).

Uncharacteristically of me, I would actually recommend a single Cunning pet if you want a change of pace both figuratively and literally. I don't know why, but any time I use a Serpent, that pet manages to live longer than any other Cunning pet. There is absolutely zero reason why they work better, but for whatever reason that is, it just does. 30% dodge isn't unique to Serpents, as Foxes and Monkeys do the exact same thing, but it just feels like RNG favors Serpents. The few times I used a Fox or Monkey, they died. They were total trash that only serve to be trophies in the stable or set aside to Animal Companion where they are at least moderately useful. Serpents on the other hand have not failed the RNG check for me so far. Granted, I don't do any challenging stuff with my Serpents, but their pathetic counterparts would die in world quests. Zhao-Ren would've been collecting dust like every other Cunning pet, but I've used him from time to time with favorable results.

Tenacity pets...I can't be favorable or spiteful. They work, but they're better suited to being used in dungeons. That defense buff has given my healer friend one hell of a reprieve when we do Mythic Spires of Ascension (that last boss is NOT healer friendly), and it's saved my ass so many times when by all accounts and purposes I should've died. While it's helpful, it has no benefits for PvE content outside of the buff. The pet doesn't heal itself due to not having leech, and the bonus health is absolutely negligible. All Tenacity pets exist for is their single useful cooldown, which I totally like and all, but they really don't have much use otherwise. Ferocity does what Tenacity does but better, except when it comes to giving yourself a much-needed defensive cooldown in harder content with friends (or strangers you feign to be friends with!).

Big TL:DR, but in summary; Clefthoof > Wind Serpent > Tenacity pet of your choice because none of them are special > Pretty much any Ferocity pet > Serpent > No pets > Cunning. My item level as of this post is 182, and my stats are garbage because I just wanted to boost my ilvl and equip whatever was higher ilvl. 13% haste SUCKS, but you know what doesn't suck? Clefthooves, the king of pets.


EDIT: As the resident madman who's WAY too familiar with Stone Hounds, I can say that they suck. I leave my Guardian of the Elders in the Animal Companion slot almost all the time. I like having him, but not enough that he'd be my main pet. Stone Hounds are pretty useless, and the self-res just means you don't need to Revive Pet as much.

[Talihawk]

Thank you!! I haven't had a wind serp in a while, and I usually run BM, but I'll try one out for a giggle. When they changed the models I got rid of most of mine because it was one of the few 'upgrades' that ended up being a downgrade. It really is sad how many of our wonderful new pets are so..squishy and can really only be used as the companion animal. But at least we can use them that way.

[worgpower]

Clefthoofs were good when I took it in a raid, but I don’t use mine that much because I get bored with those compared with other pets, the removal of pet spec switching ruined it all for us, many of the pets feel the same in many places, but cunning becomes really weak in some areas, but it’s strong in PVP and eyes of the beast scouting due to the increased speed, stone hounds are good when you try killing a hard boss while aspect of the turtle is on cooldown, and unlike oxen’s and bear’s triggered defense, stone hounds have a heal on it’s defense so It can be good, I don’t have a core hound due to the family lacking models, which is also why I don’t use my clefthoof, but I now run my undead devilsaur all the time
Edit-I found out the stone hound’s triggered defense only reduces damage taken by 40%, but the 20% is exchanged by a heal which is beneficial in some ways

[Talihawk]

Yeah I like the quillen's look better than a lot of the other tanks, but it died fairly easily. Hopefully as we get higher level our pets will get less squishy.

[Jeniveeve]

I found Krolusks, now expanded to Carapids, made great tanking pets with their extra defense capabilities. But I will definitely dust off a Clefthoof to take for a test drive thanks to your recommendation! Thank you so much for taking the time to share the info!

Jeniveeve/Eavie/and many more... Cenarion Circle <3

I specifically try out different pets in Shadowlands content purely because my pets don't get their faces pushed in as badly as BfA did. Here's my findings;

A) If you want your pet to survive, use a Clefthoof (Ferocity). Nothing survives like a Clefthoof. NOTHING. Mend Pet heals for way more on a Clefthoof, thus making enemies struggle to kill it. I have not once needed to use Revive Pet on my fat alien yak.
B) If you want your pet to survive, but you're not beast mastery, I would suggest a Wind Serpent. I slept on them in BfA because I don't care for them much, but now that I've tamed The Golden Serpent, I now see just how nice their dodge ability is. While it's not as convenient as the Clefthoof's pure superiority in literally every way, a Ferocity pet that can dodge is a Ferocity pet that lives just that much longer if you're neglecting your Mend Pet. Or if it's on cooldown because Blizzard clearly hates us healing our pets.
C) If Ferocity isn't your thing, then pick whatever. It'll die the same.
D) Exception to C: Cunning pets suck. They just die way too fast for no reason. Use a Cunning pet if you don't care about efficiency and just want a fancy looking animal with the wrong pet specialization.

I sound incredibly biased, but I've tried so many different pets in solo content. I've "tanked" a dungeon with my pet because the braindead tank bailed on us because he didn't get his loot off of a heroic boss (petty moron), and I used my pet to tank stuff because I didn't want to sit there twiddling my thumbs while waiting for another tank. I used my Clefthoof because of their bonus healing received, and the healer commented how easy it was to keep my Clefthoof alive. This was in Heroic Mists of Tirna Scithe, in the maze; the trash in there has a few AoE effects, but regardless of that, my Clefthoof stood tall like an emperor above his worthless citizens. Because I like to swap things up from time to time, I also had my Wind Serpent out in a Spires of Ascension. While it didn't last super long like the Clefthoof, I managed to keep aggro on the third boss with my serpent because our tank DC'd when he pulled (genuinely not his fault there, but he had a login queue and didn't need the loot). These are the only two pets I've found success with in terms of mild challenges. Out in world questing and in the worst zone eve-I mean the Maw, not a single thing has killed my Clefthoof. That big lug does not die. He does not allow enemies to kill him in PvE content, period. Without a doubt, the Clefthoof is the king of putting NPCs in their place and keeping you safe (except from those obnoxious assassins in the Maw, good lord I hate them so much).

Uncharacteristically of me, I would actually recommend a single Cunning pet if you want a change of pace both figuratively and literally. I don't know why, but any time I use a Serpent, that pet manages to live longer than any other Cunning pet. There is absolutely zero reason why they work better, but for whatever reason that is, it just does. 30% dodge isn't unique to Serpents, as Foxes and Monkeys do the exact same thing, but it just feels like RNG favors Serpents. The few times I used a Fox or Monkey, they died. They were total trash that only serve to be trophies in the stable or set aside to Animal Companion where they are at least moderately useful. Serpents on the other hand have not failed the RNG check for me so far. Granted, I don't do any challenging stuff with my Serpents, but their pathetic counterparts would die in world quests. Zhao-Ren would've been collecting dust like every other Cunning pet, but I've used him from time to time with favorable results.

Tenacity pets...I can't be favorable or spiteful. They work, but they're better suited to being used in dungeons. That defense buff has given my healer friend one hell of a reprieve when we do Mythic Spires of Ascension (that last boss is NOT healer friendly), and it's saved my ass so many times when by all accounts and purposes I should've died. While it's helpful, it has no benefits for PvE content outside of the buff. The pet doesn't heal itself due to not having leech, and the bonus health is absolutely negligible. All Tenacity pets exist for is their single useful cooldown, which I totally like and all, but they really don't have much use otherwise. Ferocity does what Tenacity does but better, except when it comes to giving yourself a much-needed defensive cooldown in harder content with friends (or strangers you feign to be friends with!).

Big TL:DR, but in summary; Clefthoof > Wind Serpent > Tenacity pet of your choice because none of them are special > Pretty much any Ferocity pet > Serpent > No pets > Cunning. My item level as of this post is 182, and my stats are garbage because I just wanted to boost my ilvl and equip whatever was higher ilvl. 13% haste SUCKS, but you know what doesn't suck? Clefthooves, the king of pets.


EDIT: As the resident madman who's WAY too familiar with Stone Hounds, I can say that they suck. I leave my Guardian of the Elders in the Animal Companion slot almost all the time. I like having him, but not enough that he'd be my main pet. Stone Hounds are pretty useless, and the self-res just means you don't need to Revive Pet as much.

[Xota]

I use a Cunning pet for the run speed, especially in the maw. Plus you can get out of snares/roots (if you don't have the pvp trinket yet, or you're saving it for fears). I swap to ferocity if I'm running into more mobs than my goat can handle. I suggest using a family with either of the two shield wall abilities (auto-cast on, if it's toggleable). Not only does it help it stay alive better, the yellow dome is hard to miss and it reminds me to heal the pet or think about retreating and switching pets.

If your pet is dying to magic damage, shale beasts (spiders/gyreworms) were supposed to take reduced magic damage, but in BfA it wasn't very much. I don't know about now. If your pet is dying to a DoT, the families that used to have an offensive dispel now have a defensive dispel. A bat would be a good one to try, especially if you want to use SL models.

[Quiv]

For the way I play, lot of solo pet tanking stuff, I find the Clefthoof to be the easy winner for BM. The defensive ability, the extra healing, and leech all combo together so well. The leech is especially important for big AOE beast cleave pulls and for challenging solo content for me (mainly relevant as gear increases, more damage = more self healing with leech). Group stuff I typically use Spirit Beast for the heal. In dungeons, the SB heal is practically used on CD, although not real sure how impactful it is. I dont do a lot of group stuff outside randoms.

I honestly feel kinda pegged down to Clefthoof for solo. I frequently swap out my Animal Companion pet so I use a lot of different pets I love frequently, but main pet slot feels spoken for. This discussion is one of the reason I hope they loosen some restrictions and let us "train" pets to spread these capabilities around. Thats a different discussion though.

[Vephriel]

For the way I play, lot of solo pet tanking stuff, I find the Clefthoof to be the easy winner for BM. The defensive ability, the extra healing, and leech all combo together so well. The leech is especially important for big AOE beast cleave pulls and for challenging solo content for me (mainly relevant as gear increases, more damage = more self healing with leech). Group stuff I typically use Spirit Beast for the heal. In dungeons, the SB heal is practically used on CD, although not real sure how impactful it is. I dont do a lot of group stuff outside randoms.

I honestly feel kinda pegged down to Clefthoof for solo. I frequently swap out my Animal Companion pet so I use a lot of different pets I love frequently, but main pet slot feels spoken for. This discussion is one of the reason I hope they loosen some restrictions and let us "train" pets to spread these capabilities around. Thats a different discussion though.

I was just venting about this the other day. Clefthooves are undoubtedly the strongest companion for outdoor content as BM, I love how they perform, but I feel *no attachment* to the family or any of the models. It just sucks because I usually take such care in selecting the appearance of my pets, I like picking ones that stand out to me, or that I like personally.

Don't get me wrong, clefthooves are lovely, they're just not really my type of creature, and they don't fit my character at all. But I'm stuck with one because it's too hard to ignore their utility.

I really just want a pet overhaul so we have more selection again, I hate how useless most of my cunning pets feel and apparently they're the type I like the most.

[WerebearGuy]

I feel that if Rhinos didn't look so outdated, they'd be the best thing. I mean come on, they're basically shaggy cows with really big horns! Who doesn't love a big, shaggy beast that could impale you, an SUV, and another rhino with a single jab? Jokes aside, the clefthoof family definitely needs more options. Ignoring sporebats, gorillas, and every other family that is consistently ignored, the clefthoof family has bland options. You get a woolly rhino, woolly alien rhino, and a woolly alien rhino that's trying to compensate for something.

[worgpower]

I feel that if Rhinos didn't look so outdated, they'd be the best thing. I mean come on, they're basically shaggy cows with really big horns! Who doesn't love a big, shaggy beast that could impale you, an SUV, and another rhino with a single jab? Jokes aside, the clefthoof family definitely needs more options. Ignoring sporebats, gorillas, and every other family that is consistently ignored, the clefthoof family has bland options. You get a woolly rhino, woolly alien rhino, and a woolly alien rhino that's trying to compensate for something.

The same goes for core hounds as well, also lacking models along with other families, I also don’t use my rhino cuz of how bored I get compared to my undead devilsaur and tauralus for example, these pets are fun to run with, but it’s too bad they’re not nearly as good as a clefthoof, hopefully they add an in-between rhino or core hound or something, we need more models Blizz

[Vornesoul]

For the way I play, lot of solo pet tanking stuff, I find the Clefthoof to be the easy winner for BM. The defensive ability, the extra healing, and leech all combo together so well. The leech is especially important for big AOE beast cleave pulls and for challenging solo content for me (mainly relevant as gear increases, more damage = more self healing with leech). Group stuff I typically use Spirit Beast for the heal. In dungeons, the SB heal is practically used on CD, although not real sure how impactful it is. I dont do a lot of group stuff outside randoms.

I honestly feel kinda pegged down to Clefthoof for solo. I frequently swap out my Animal Companion pet so I use a lot of different pets I love frequently, but main pet slot feels spoken for. This discussion is one of the reason I hope they loosen some restrictions and let us "train" pets to spread these capabilities around. Thats a different discussion though.

I was just venting about this the other day. Clefthooves are undoubtedly the strongest companion for outdoor content as BM, I love how they perform, but I feel *no attachment* to the family or any of the models. It just sucks because I usually take such care in selecting the appearance of my pets, I like picking ones that stand out to me, or that I like personally.

Don't get me wrong, clefthooves are lovely, they're just not really my type of creature, and they don't fit my character at all. But I'm stuck with one because it's too hard to ignore their utility.

I really just want a pet overhaul so we have more selection again, I hate how useless most of my cunning pets feel and apparently they're the type I like the most.

So much this! There are a ton of pets that I love that are all Cunning and thus useless for me in the majority of content. Mechanicals are a particular sore spot for me.

It's even worse that vastly prefer MM playstyle but love pets, so I don't even get to play with them in the majority of group content. When I'm running BM for solo content, I'm stuck with a Clefthoof.

At least Muffinus did that survey about pets on Twitter during the Shadowlands beta. I saw most people respond with similar feelings. Hopefully this means we will see some reworks by next expansion launch.

[Siliverin]

For the way I play, lot of solo pet tanking stuff, I find the Clefthoof to be the easy winner for BM. The defensive ability, the extra healing, and leech all combo together so well. The leech is especially important for big AOE beast cleave pulls and for challenging solo content for me (mainly relevant as gear increases, more damage = more self healing with leech). Group stuff I typically use Spirit Beast for the heal. In dungeons, the SB heal is practically used on CD, although not real sure how impactful it is. I dont do a lot of group stuff outside randoms.

I honestly feel kinda pegged down to Clefthoof for solo. I frequently swap out my Animal Companion pet so I use a lot of different pets I love frequently, but main pet slot feels spoken for. This discussion is one of the reason I hope they loosen some restrictions and let us "train" pets to spread these capabilities around. Thats a different discussion though.

I was just venting about this the other day. Clefthooves are undoubtedly the strongest companion for outdoor content as BM, I love how they perform, but I feel *no attachment* to the family or any of the models. It just sucks because I usually take such care in selecting the appearance of my pets, I like picking ones that stand out to me, or that I like personally.

Don't get me wrong, clefthooves are lovely, they're just not really my type of creature, and they don't fit my character at all. But I'm stuck with one because it's too hard to ignore their utility.

I really just want a pet overhaul so we have more selection again, I hate how useless most of my cunning pets feel and apparently they're the type I like the most.

I agree 100% with this. All the pets I enjoy or love die so easily. I do not care for the clefthoof models at all. Even though I do like one model, they just aren't my cup of tea. I also feel like so many of the "tank" pets really aren't tank pets, they just die so fast or have such terrible abilities and it makes me wonder why they are considered that when they should be ferocity. I have been running with mainly "dead" pets and I just wish they would give us back the ability to change our pets spec. It made it so much nicer and it didn't feel like we were shoehorned into certain pets/families if we needed a tank/fero/cunning pet.

[Rawr]

I like Brokentoe, who I named Stubbs (have had him for a long time) he matches most Horde mogs being the only red and black Clefthoof. I agree we need more in the way of tanky solo pets for all Hunter specs or just give all pets the Blood of the Rhino as a hidden passive as pets seem to be really squishy by default.

[worgpower]

I like Brokentoe, who I named Stubbs (have had him for a long time) he matches most Horde mogs being the only red and black Clefthoof. I agree we need more in the way of tanky solo pets for all Hunter specs or just give all pets the Blood of the Rhino as a hidden passive as pets seem to be really squishy by default.

Brokentoe is also my favorite Outland clefthoof, I prefer the red furred brown draenor clefthoof since it looks more badass, but every model is unique on its own