THE pet to have?

[Ikult]

I wish spiders had a special damage ability too (like Silithids)! I recently started my 3rd hunter, and she tamed Naraxis as soon as she could. I haven't had a spider for very long before, and I've greatly enjoyed her so far.

I'm thrilled pets are moving to having abilities that mimic other class'. I am sure the min/max'ers will soon find a pet that fits the most roles, but it seems we'll be having not only more options, but less people telling us what pet to use! I'd also like to add, I've rarely run into folks who insist what pet I have to have to stay in the group/raid; I feel sorry for those who have experienced such harsh criticism.

[Zetharl]

A need-to-have pet? GEZZARAK!!!

And the little cutie in my sig of course.

[Lisaara]

A need-to-have pet? GEZZARAK!!!

And the little cutie in my sig of course.

Yus! XD

[Shinryu Masaki]

To answer Rikaku on page one, I highly doubt that the chimaera will be the top bm dps pet, cause Froststorm Breath is channeled for 10 seconds. During that time the pet doesn't do any damage at all aside the breath, which I'm expecting to be nerfed damage wise. Right now it hits way too hard.

[Lisaara]

To answer Rikaku on page one, I highly doubt that the chimaera will be the top bm dps pet, cause Froststorm Breath is channeled for 10 seconds. During that time the pet doesn't do any damage at all aside the breath, which I'm expecting to be nerfed damage wise. Right now it hits way too hard.

^ This. You said it best.

[Palladiamorsdeus]

To answer Rikaku on page one, I highly doubt that the chimaera will be the top bm dps pet, cause Froststorm Breath is channeled for 10 seconds. During that time the pet doesn't do any damage at all aside the breath, which I'm expecting to be nerfed damage wise. Right now it hits way too hard.

If they nerf this, they'll nerf all pet damage overall. Which I am halfway expecting anyway. So we'll see where this goes. But right now it wouldn't be to far fetched for the chimera to be desired because of this ability. I'll go check it in a bit, but if during that time focus isn't consumed, and continues to regenerate, then it'll be an awesome ability, especially when coupled with the new Wild Hunt. The question is will it keep pace with Rabid? Though they do also have Wolverine bite....which isn't really doing 'Cataclysm' damage yet.

[Slickrock]

To answer Rikaku on page one, I highly doubt that the chimaera will be the top bm dps pet, cause Froststorm Breath is channeled for 10 seconds. During that time the pet doesn't do any damage at all aside the breath, which I'm expecting to be nerfed damage wise. Right now it hits way too hard.

If they nerf this, they'll nerf all pet damage overall. Which I am halfway expecting anyway. So we'll see where this goes. But right now it wouldn't be to far fetched for the chimera to be desired because of this ability. I'll go check it in a bit, but if during that time focus isn't consumed, and continues to regenerate, then it'll be an awesome ability, especially when coupled with the new Wild Hunt. The question is will it keep pace with Rabid? Though they do also have Wolverine bite....which isn't really doing 'Cataclysm' damage yet.

Well, it's also an AOE, so it has it's uses. They may not need to nerf it.

But really, Cata isn't live yet, we can argue about best pet once it launches.

[Lisaara]

To answer Rikaku on page one, I highly doubt that the chimaera will be the top bm dps pet, cause Froststorm Breath is channeled for 10 seconds. During that time the pet doesn't do any damage at all aside the breath, which I'm expecting to be nerfed damage wise. Right now it hits way too hard.

If they nerf this, they'll nerf all pet damage overall.

I don't think this is true at all. If the other pets are doing their intended damage, why would they nerf them? That's a little redundant if only the Chimaera needs to be nerfed. The other pets(most of them) don't have an AoE. I'm pretty sure the Chimaera will be nerfed much like the players AoEs will be heavily nerfed.

But as said, it's not cata yet so no sense in arguing it.

[Palladiamorsdeus]

Because they aren't doing intended damage, they are doing more then the previously stated 30% of hunter damage. IF, and let me stress IF they changed their mind, and that the pet is supposed to do more damage, then it won't be nerfed. But if pet's aren't meant to be doing such a large portion of the hunter damage, then they'll nerf it down. That goes for both chimera frost storm breath and for basic attacks, which are at current doing about five times the damage of a regular pet auto-attack.

[Protego]

There isn't gonna be a "single" pet, in Cataclysm, that's "the best". Epic Exotic pets are gonna be particularly popular in raids though. But there's definitely gonna be a great diversity of pets, in raids, come Cataclysm. I don't raid with a dang wolf. "Wolves" dog-like barking sounds irritate me. I'm not a dog person. I'm a cat person. The damage Chimeras are currently doing is not gonna "stay" with it. There wont be any damage-dealing special ability/abilities, in Cataclysm, from pets (they said so themselves). I'm glad there's 2 choices for area-of-effect Exotic pets. (With only 2 choices) I personally prefer the Jormungar. And it takes alot for things to surprise me. I find typical behaviors/things easily. I think they'll decrease the Chimera's damage it's doing. They did so in Wrath of the Lich King too. To my memory, they decreased Chimera's damage without doing anything/without doing much at all to the other pets.

[Rikaku]

To answer Rikaku on page one, I highly doubt that the chimaera will be the top bm dps pet, cause Froststorm Breath is channeled for 10 seconds. During that time the pet doesn't do any damage at all aside the breath, which I'm expecting to be nerfed damage wise. Right now it hits way too hard.

If they nerf this, they'll nerf all pet damage overall. Which I am halfway expecting anyway. So we'll see where this goes. But right now it wouldn't be to far fetched for the chimera to be desired because of this ability. I'll go check it in a bit, but if during that time focus isn't consumed, and continues to regenerate, then it'll be an awesome ability, especially when coupled with the new Wild Hunt. The question is will it keep pace with Rabid? Though they do also have Wolverine bite....which isn't really doing 'Cataclysm' damage yet.

Well, it's also an AOE, so it has it's uses. They may not need to nerf it.

But really, Cata isn't live yet, we can argue about best pet once it launches.

I don't think anyone's arguing. If anything its just... food for thought or plain discussion. I'm not arguing that "this is the best pet, be ready", like I stated before, what pet you run with and if its 'worth the cost' is up to the individual.

That said, I honestly don't care which pet ends up on top, I'm gonna do what I did all through Wrath without worry: Raid as BM with my Loque at my side. XD


Shinryu:
This is true, I had forgotten it's channeled. Perhaps that is why? Though it's still curious they gave Chimeras that ability. They should've given them Lightning Heal (aka Pet Chain Heal) so SBs aren't the only healers. That'd have been cool

[Palladiamorsdeus]

IF the Chimera isn't nerfed, it will undoubtedly be the pet of choice when all of the buffs are covered. Period. It does AoE spelldamage every two seconds, for ten seconds. Lots of it. BUT, even if it and basics are nerfed, it'll still be the ability of choice. It's 48 focus for FIVE ticks of what the basic attacks do, and in a time span during which only three basic attacks could go off. Right now? It's to good.

[Raydex-of-the-dawn]

It prevents autoattack, though (as well as all other abilities) as it's channeled, meaning that it still might not be best single-target.

[Palladiamorsdeus]

Nope, especially not now with the changes to basic attacks. Even before this, we are talking about FIVE ticks over ten seconds, that's the equivilant of FIVE basic attacks from a ferocity pet, but over a ten second period instead of a fifteen second period. You do lose auto-attacks, but considering that one tick is worth anywhere from four to five auto-attacks, and it's still an even trade off on a single target. Toss in that it is 48 focus, where five basic attacks, sans wild hunt, would be 125 focus, and it is just way to good. ANd that's BEFORE you factor in thefact that it's magic damage, and so ignores armor, AND still criticals for double.

[Lazuly]

I like this because generally I didn't really like having a wolf pet. *hides*

I've never even had a wolf really. x)

I've raided with my Hyena since day one. In WotLK I brought my Wasp so some raids, too. I'm in a 'casual raiding' guild, so people aren't so anal retentive about every tiny thing. We've cleared all the raids in WotLK, so I guess it shows that min/maxing isn't everything.

[Ellaran]

The nice thing is, even when you're soloing, questing or grinding you'll have a variety of pets to choose from. If you're in caster-heavy areas the pets with interrupts and casting increases would be really helpful. Armor-reducing pets can help with a tough mob. If you like having buffs up you have a good choice of pets and buffs (more critical chance? more health? more stats overall? I just can't decide!), you're gonna be a happy camper.

And even in a 25-man where everything is covered, your pets can still help out. Snares, roots and stuns can help with runners and kiting. If the shaman or mage gets kacked, you can whip out your Core Hound and cast Ancient Hysteria, then put him away again. And the armor-reducing and damage-increasing pets can make life easier for the tank and the other debuffers, letting them concentrate on damage.

Hopefully Blizzard keeps Cunning and Ferocity pets very close DPS-wise, so we can use our Chimaeras and Serpents and Sporebats in raids more often. With the Wild Hunt change and Owl's Focus, Cunning can really do some serious damage with the Basic Attacks, especially if you pull off a lot of crits and keep the pet's Focus up.

[Rhyela]

Hopefully Blizzard keeps Cunning and Ferocity pets very close DPS-wise, so we can use our Chimaeras and Serpents and Sporebats in raids more often. With the Wild Hunt change and Owl's Focus, Cunning can really do some serious damage with the Basic Attacks, especially if you pull off a lot of crits and keep the pet's Focus up.

I'm hoping for this as well. It would really open up the variety even more if Cunning pets were comparable damage-wise to Ferocity. I was noticing that some of the buff/debuff skills aren't in both Ferocity and Cunning (I think for example, the spell damage debuff), so it would kind of limit what I could justify raiding with if Cunning was way behind on damage. I don't mind a small gap of course, but I just hope the difference isn't massive.

[Protego]

It will get decreased/normallized. :--P. I prefer Ferocity pets myself for raiding. http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/threa ... 0&pageNo=1 "Ferocity (damage)-- 50% of master's AP, 40% health, 50% armor
Tenacity (tanking)-- 35% of master's AP, 50% health, 70% armor
Cunning (utility)-- 40% of master's AP, 40% health, 60% armor"

[Rhyela]

I prefer the Ferocity talent tree for raiding, sure, but the pet buff/debuffs I happen to like seem to be in Cunning. I don't want to gimp the raid by bringing a lower-DPS pet because it has a better buff or debuff. It seems kind of like.....defeating the purpose, I suppose.