Gondria or Aotona?

[Nagathia]

I love to hunt rares, and I have the 4 spirits and Krush in my stables right now. I was debating whether to swap out Gondria for Aotona to have a non-BM pet as well as a cunning. Plus I've seen Gondria more than Ao, but I'd be giving up the unique collection. Any suggestions?

[Vephriel]

I'd vote for Aotona just because Spirit Beasts are rather common but I still don't see many people with Aotona.

[Siliverin]

I'd vote for Aotona just because Spirit Beasts are rather common but I still don't see many people with Aotona.

i agree with Veph. I have aotona and i love " him" to death! great pet and very rare

[Nagathia]

okay, thx I'll probably be debating right up until I find him/her or whatever hehe.

[Saturo]

Well, personally, I'd go for Gondria, and drop Loque or Arcie for Aotona, but for most people? Yeah, as Veph said, Aotona is really rare.

[Nagathia]

Surprisingly not many Loque's on Dalaran server that I've seen. Ton's of Arcturis's though.

[Ungoro]

I've got to say Aotona! Gondria is my least favourite spirit beast skin, and I rarely see a tamed Aotona...I've seen around two or three and one of those is actually mine and I love rare skins. So yeah, Aotona by a long shot in my mind!

[FuzzyDolly]

I'd vote for Aotona just because Spirit Beasts are rather common but I still don't see many people with Aotona.

i agree with Veph. I have aotona and i love " him" to death! great pet and very rare

Ditto. (Except mine's a her) If you get her, make a macro to explain who and what she is. You'll get bombarded with questions from hunters and non hunters alike.

[Royi]

What are the pros and cons for Aotona vs Spirit Beast?

[Vephriel]

What are the pros and cons for Aotona vs Spirit Beast?

Well, a Spirit Beast is Ferocity and Aotona is Cunning.

Spirit Beasts would have more dps, whereas Aotona would have more utility. Aotona can be useful in PvP with her Snatch ability, but she wouldn't put out the same dps as a Spirit Beast.

[kamoodle5]

Won't hurt for the diversity.

[Sochi]

During my hunts in both Sholazar and Zul'drak, I have seen Gondria several times on several hunters and Aotona just once. (She showed up on NPCscan when I was on a taxi flight and couldn't land. That bird moves so slowly she was tough to find again. Had to tame her, love my Deva)

With the upcoming stable changes, in theory you could let Gondria go and take on Aotona if you find the pretty bird and get your fourth spirit beast back when we get the extra space.

Just my two coppers

[Slickrock]

Aotona over Gondria any day. I just don't like the Gondria model, and as many have said, you see Gondria as a pet much more often.

[Victorelle]

I would get Aotona... I love her soooooooo much! also I always find Gondria >.> shes common

[Azunara]

I've found Aotona/Gondria pretty equally with NPCscan. Gondria's been the one pet I'll circle back to, hold on, and get rid of. (Ironically dropped Gondria for Aotona.) I don't like my bird though. So, go with whatever you want....And if you don't like it, get Gondria back. Easy.

Besides, spectral guardian or really big parrot is what it boils down too. xD

[Quin]

Aotona seems a much rarer pet to have. I'm not sure why, but not too many want the huge parrot.

[Nagathia]

Lucky me found the parrot last night. Unlucky me had a poorly time wsg que and found it dead. The hunt continues!

[mnenioc]

Aotona is a lot rarer due it the bird being part of that rotten achievement. As for me, I've had Aotona several times but the flapping started to annoy me so I dropped the birdie for Sewer Beast.

But to answer your question, personally, I'd go with Aotona for several reasons: diversity (BM pet versus something that can be used no matter the spec); with your stable line up, wouldn't hurt to have something that wasn't ferocity; on my server, I've found Gondria about 4-5 times more often than Aotona plus Aotona is a lot rarer to find as a pet versus a corpse in the Basin.

Either way, hard decisions. Best of luck!

[FuzzyDolly]

Took the pets out to the heroic dummy for you. Both pets are lvl 80 and were unbuffed in any way, yet were well fed. I had no apsect on and all their attacks were set to auto...

Aotona - 340-360 dps, with a max of 390... settled at 349 after 2 minutes of attacking
Gondria - 450-470 dps, with a max of 517... settled at 441 after 2 minutes of attacking.

So over a prolonged fight, there's about a 100 dps difference. Now, that being said, Aotona's snatch is a nice addition to a group. I run with Aotona all the time now for the "unique" factor. Oh, and all 4 spirit beasts of mine are specced the same. I used Gondria because that's your other alternative. After all this, I'd still go Aotona any day.