Choosing a hunter pet

Levelling alone

1. Your pet tanks while you shoot, so toughness matters most. A Bear (most health, Swipe holds three monsters) or Boar (armour, Charge) is the safest choice.
2. Bears and boars eat everything, so you can feed them whatever you loot.
3. A Turtle is the toughest of all in a bad pull, thanks to Shell Shield, but it's slow to kill things.
4. Want faster kills and happy to watch your pet's health? A Cat or Raptor hits hardest.

Dungeons and groups

1. In a group your pet doesn't tank, so pick damage: Cat, Raptor or one of the +7% families (Bat, Bird of Prey, Spider, Wind Serpent).
2. A Wolf helps the whole party with Furious Howl, and melee players will thank you (it was weakened on September 24, but still helps).
3. Turn off Growl and use Passive or Defensive mode so your pet doesn't pull extra monsters.
4. Teach resistances for dungeons with one kind of magic.

PvP

1. Pets that slow or stop players are strongest: Spider (Web roots), Hyena (Tendon Rip slows) and Bird of Prey (Mine! disarms).
2. Crocolisk cuts healing with Dismember, good against healers and self-healers.
3. In Classic, fast-attacking pets were popular in PvP because quick hits keep interrupting casters.

Attack speed

Beta testers report that every pet in WoW: Forever attacks at a base speed of 2.0, and that beasts which were faster or slower in Classic get a passive to make up the difference. Treat this as a report until Blizzard confirms it.

1. In Classic, a pet kept the attack speed of the beast you tamed, so two cats could swing at different speeds.
2. Attack speed doesn't change how much damage a pet does over time: a faster pet hits more often but for less each time.
3. It matters most in PvP, and for abilities that trigger on hits.
4. Some rare beasts in WoW: Forever are reported to attack faster than normal, like Coldrasp (wolf) and Mystmane (bear). See Rare hunter pets to tame.

Pets and your talents

1. Beast Mastery has the most pet talents: Endurance Training now adds both pet health and armour, Focused Fire adds damage while your pet is out, and Intimidation gives your pet's next attack double crit chance.
2. Summon Hawk is a new Beast Mastery talent that calls up to two hawks for 18 seconds.
3. Marksmanship has Lone Wolf: 20% more damage while you have no pet out. Most hunters still keep a pet while levelling.
4. Plan your talents with the ONN talent calculator.

Tips

• You can keep three pets: one with you and two in the stable. A tough levelling pet and a damage pet for groups is a good pair.
• Pick a look you like. You'll be seeing it for a long time.

Sources

• Blizzard: Druid and Hunter class deep dives
• Blizzard: Beta development notes
• Petopia Classic: pet attack speeds
• WoW Forever Pets: families and rare tames (fan database)