(Posted Before?) How do you choose pets?

[Tratzul]

[Kind of a branch post from my Pet Diet one.... >.>' Sorry.]

What do you all do when deciding on which pets to get, mostly in the beginning?

I think I have a weird quirk as to how I pick mine.

* I pick 1 diet and list 3 (at most) pets that will eat that food.

* I'll then go through them, and look at their special skills, and compare the CD times. [I tend to go for the faster CD's, but some pets that I love have longer CD's.] Also consider the earliest level that I can tame the pet.

* Possibly my most picky part: Cannot stand to have species (or their names) starting or ending with the same letter as other pets...
EX: If I get a Cat, I'm not getting a Crab or a Turtle, nor naming it anything that starts or ends with C or T...

@.@ I think I'm nuts.

[Vephriel]

If I'm starting a new hunter, I always start off with 1 from every talent tree (so a Ferocity, Cunning, and Tenacity). Then I just pick whichever pet I like. I generally don't calculate things like food or abilities....I'll just grab what pet I want the most and accommodate myself around that. ^^

[Rhyela]

Since I have this severe desire to stand apart from other hunters (except for when it comes to devilsaurs, I loves me mah King Krush, but even then, he isn't common at all on my server [only one other hunter I know of - Tilo - has him]), I tend to go for a pet that is out of the way. For instance, I don't know many level 10 new hunters that are willing to run from Elwynn to Durotar for a red raptor! Or, when I'm on the horde side, I usually make a trip to Dun'Morogh or Elwynn for a different pet.

Secondly, I like to go for pets that are in some way unique, if possible. I like to feel like there was one particular animal in my sights, rather than just walking out into the middle of the woods and picking bear # 37 out of the other 100 in the area. Example: I have gone so far as to tame Princess the boar specifically (when I wanted the yellowish boar skin), since she is a special or named creature. I could have gone out to Westfall and tamed the exact same skin. And even though no one knows after the tame, I do, and that's all that matters. They don't even have to be "rare" (with the silver dragon), just named is good enough for me.

Like you, however, I also do my best to find pets that have short cooldowns, although I have owned a pet or two with a "long" cooldown and it didn't bother me. In fact, what sounds like a long cooldown really isn't for the most part. You'd be surprised how quickly a minute passes when you're in or out of combat!

I don't really take diet into account too much, mainly because I travel so much that I can generally find a vendor wherever I go.

[FuzzyDolly]

I go strictly by looks. I figure I'm spending so much time with a pet, I might as well get one that I like the look and sound of. It's 100% a feeling for me. I really like unique pets. The more unique the skin and the fewer hunters that have it, the more I like and want it.

[Wassa]

I like to match my pets with my hunters. Say if my hunter alt is a black furred tauren, he/she will have all black colored pets. Wassa has pets that are either teal or orange in color.

[Rhyela]

I like to match my pets with my hunters. Say if my hunter alt is a black furred tauren, he/she will have all black colored pets. Wassa has pets that are either teal or orange in color.

I didn't do this originally, when I first started my hunter, but I do now. That's why Tetsusaiga (my pet for five years that I can't get rid of) is white with blue eyes. Nowadays if I were to tame a lion I'd have gotten either Humar or Pitch - with green eyes. That's one reason I fell in love with King Krush, his skin matches my hair (hehe).

[Rottingham]

When I get a new hunter, I just try a different pet on each of them... except spider. I think I have a spider on all but one of my hunters

But my main has spider, wolf, ooze, hydra (I don;t count ooze and hydra crocolisks... I count them as an ooze and a hydra...) and corehound.

[Chrizesu]

I actually tame at whim in the beginning. Normally sticking with the pets I like the best. Eventually I go for personal attachment, utility, or it's a type of pet every hunter is stereotypically supposed to have.

[Zuilu]

I go purely on looks, and narrow it down to a few, and then I go by how useful the pet will be to me. IE, cooldowns, diet, skills, talent tree, etc.

[Dracora]

I don't take into account the diet or cooldown periods at all. Afterall, I found diet pretty much goes away when the fights make them happy, and I just never really worried about my pet's cooldowns.

What I do is I'll usually give my character a type of personality, and then try and shoot for pets that fit my hunter's looks and the personality I gave them. I have two hunters, and although neither are fully leveled, I pretty much have their pets picked out because of what kind of identity I gave my hunters.

My night elf hunter has purple skin and green hair. Kind of a dark but "natural" appearance I guess you could say. And I gave her a very friendly and kind of rambunctious/brave personality. So, her first pet was a brown, feisty wolf from Mulgore. She named him Wolphey and he's the friendliest wolf you'd ever meet--except when his companions are in danger. The second pet was Humphrey--originally the black cat Humar. She went after him because, being that he was an elite, she saw it as a challenge. Of course she tamed him on the first try, and while he's not as playful as Wolphey, he's definitely proud, brave, and loyal to his companions. The last pet she has as of now is a turtle named Zachariah. This one kind of breaks from character because I just got him because my boyfriend wanted me to get a turtle (and so he's named after my boyfriend ).

One of the last two pets I intend on catching is the new spirit bear. I just felt he matched her overall look. But since she has yet to catch him, there's no name or personality for him yet. Then the other pet I want to get is the emerald owl (same story as the bear).

Then there's my blood elf hunter (after which my account is named).

Dracora's first pet was kind of like the "until I get the one I want" pet. However, I'm finding that he very well fits her look and her personality (and she's kind of grown attached to him, having leveled with him so long). Dracora is slightly tanned with red hair. She is kind of a fearless character, and a flirt. She gets along with a number of her horde friends, but if she's in one of her moods--watch out! So, her first pet was a cat named Fable, which she caught at level 10 in the Ghostlands.

Fable always seems to be irritable and doesn't really like strangers. In fact, it took him awhile before he warmed up to his other pet companions (heck, he wasn't very fond of Dracora at first--constantly going into stealth and trying to steal away...the naughty kitty). Because of this, Dracora decided to go ahead and get a more reliable pet for solo questing when she didn't have party members to fall back on. That's when Koda, the red gorilla from Feralas, came in. He wasn't difficult to find or tame at all. In fact, he adjusted quite well to becoming a new pet, and reveled in the chance to show off his power against his enemies. However, he was just a tad over-powered for dungeons (the tanks often complained about him stealing the kills and behaving overly arrogant about it), and Fable was still feeling rather rebellious--so in came Fenris. Fenris was picked for his unusual appearance. Being one of the diseased beasts of Felwood, Dracora found the thought that undoubtedly few hunters were seen to own this particular wolf was appealing. Fenris was tough, and fought tooth and nail to be captured, but once it was all said and done, he was found to be a very loyal pet. In a fight, he's ruthless. He is also very protective of his master and dares anyone--friend or foe--to come attack her and not find bite and claw marks all over their body.

Now come the last pets. Although Dracora is properly leveled to obtain her raid pet--the red core hound--she is not yet strong enough to tame this fearsome beast--and it frustrates the heck out of her. However, she let's it go for now, because when the time comes she'll be able to claim this dog as her own. The last spot is completely undetermined. She would like a pet that is better suited for PVP, but she's having a very hard time finding a beast that would fit her style. Dracora is also still considering whether or not to release Fable and find a new pet so that Fenris is not working his tail off in every instance run (not that he cares, of course). That cat, however, does nothing to keep his earn in the stables--and my hunter is finding it kind of annoying.

~~~~

So that's how I pick my pets. I like to give my characters each their own histories and stories.

[Kastarakovski]

@Dracora QFT!

I do the same as Dracora. New hunter has to have a pet that sets her apart from the other level 10's. I appear to be the only Ally/Horde Hunter/Huntress on Saurfang (US) insane enough to do a run to Howling Fjord for a sweet little Daggercap Hawk, or the gorgeous Rake in Mulgore, or be the one to level a Horde Hunter on her husband's account to lvl 16 just to summon Echayakee for her ally hunter. I dare to be different and every hunter I create has to be in some unique little way all their own.

I pick pets wholly on what sort of story they'll have. In the case of Cleyandra, my Belf Huntress, she was totally accidental. Meant to be a bank toon and then quickly spiralled out of control and turned into Kastarakov's future wifey. And then I got way past attached to her pets. She's actually named after my Pokemon Trainer OC, her pets after characters from TV/Radio/Films I adore/d as a kid up til now (Moriarty, after Count Jim Moriarty from The Goons; Quint after the Ahab-like character in JAWS, etc), and their personalities match the characters to some degree. My original hunter is Alliance, Lazona - whose story was a myriad of things until it all boiled down to two aspects: Ambassador & Pet Collector. Kas followed suit as a sort of Student to Laz (now also after the coveted Ambassador title...I'm such a glutton for headache XD), Cleyandra's more of a hunter to focus specifically on a family of pets that get along with her for the majority...though I think she's having second thoughts about Quint...

Every single pet I've had, kept or released has had a story to them.
Probably the greatest pet Laz ever had was Rahikeiya - I was sorry to let him go since he later became untameable, but he was effectively replaced by Nightshade, so it sort of worked out in the end. I like to think of Laz's taming and bonding with Nightshade as Rahikeiya's way of saying goodbye, good luck and thank you.

I'm just a weird artistic sod like that.

[Epicfail]

I need 2 pets.

First pet is my raiding pet. I just pick the skin I like best of the family that does the most good in raids. Right now, that's wolf, but I'm kinda hoping that changes soon.

Second pet is my favorite skinned pet that is useful for soloing or pvping. I pick something that just looks good to me, but doesn't get in the way too much when looting or targetting. Right now that's my Numeroc.

Any other pet I have is a trophy pet. From the beginning I've had more trophy pets than actual "useful" pets, but now that leveling a pet to cap is no where NEAR the burden it once was, my trophy pets are useful too! The best trophy pets to me are the rarest and most striking. In a given day if I cross paths with more than 1 hunter with the same pet, it no longer fits the bill and is usually the next one I replace....

Need... .more.... stable slots... gah!

[Azunara]

Essentially, go with I like. My main got the pets she did because they were cute or pretty or fierce, and (they're all rares or hard to gets.) they were all a challenge. It wasn't an easy go out, get, gone tame. My BE got a dragonhawk, but that's only because I planned her pets; pets that I'd like to try but never have room or time to deal with them. She'll go dragonhawk to 60, corehound for a bit, and a warpstalker at one point. The other two will likely be Skoll and something else unique. My draenei hunter floating on some server I never played was Timer, because I thought white wolf matched very well.

[Dakonic]

I like to try pets i never thought id get, and see if they have the feel to them, if i connect (tis rare lol) i keep them.

[Vicario]

I like to pick pets that fit my character. Since Arclite is supposed to be a tomboy, I give her ferocious-looking pets in warm colors such as red, orange, and yellow (which is why Mel was replaced with the bulkier mount model. I didn't update my sig, but Mel is now a Frostsaber Pride Watcher, and will later become a Dreadsaber.) I also add a desire for uniqueness, which keeps me from getting her a wolf so quickly and makes me explore varying pet types that could work for her.

[Ana]

I usually start by choosing pet names then find a skin or personality that match..

For example on Kahlua my hordie hunter, she is supposed to only have pets who are named after booze
So first one i choose was Malibu, that fittet the white lion i thougth. Then PinchyColada which first was a yellow scorpid but now a blue one from barrens, Then Cointreau which fittet an eagle in my mind.

Tårnfalk my main hunter was orginally named Tivoli, a romantic danish amusement park.. but since the server move she couldt be called that.. Müsli´s name gave her self, as i explained somewhere in another post, plus its also a farely well known brand in Denmark. CutiePie the worm just got the name cause i thougth she was cute , NomNom got her name after watching an insane video i posted here also, Cappucino the Silith got her name cause she´s so hyperactive and SorteSlyngel which is the wolf i love to hate, got his name after an (in)famous charecter in Mickey Mouse who are a villian and supposed to be a wolf

Minuials pets all have sindarin names, cause Minual is a sindarin name meaning Dawn. Eg. her white lion is named Niphredil which means snowdrop and Baran her brown bear.. and Baran just means brown in sindarin.

Chalondi my dwarven hunter, got pets that i think fit a dworf, and names i think fit dwarven theme too... Hyena named Grurundi, Boar named Broaim, Black Bear named Drugrokak, Green Warpstalker named Runarr and an armored wolf named Chali

[Bulletdance]

I'm super picky when it comes to pets. I'll go mostly by looks, but if the sound the pet makes is annoying I'll release it and get another. Also it needs to have a cool swimming animation. I think when I pick a pet for my goblin this will be very important as they start off on an island and there might be water quests assuming I can tame something before I leave the isle. I also go by size. If its not big or exactly the same size as my char it usually doesn't get a second look.