Beast Mastery Hunter Pets Guide - The War Within Pre-Patch (2024)

Last updated on Jul 23, 2024 at 00:30by Azortharion126 comments

In the following sections, we describe the best Pets for varioussituations. We make some references to their abilities. If you want to know indetail about all the pets, specializations, families, and special abilities,scroll further down to our table covering this information.

For Raiding in The War Within, you should look towardsSpirit Beast (Tenacity)pets primarily. We do not want Ferocity pets because the Leechthey offer will primarily heal your pet since it is doing most of your damage.

Additionally, Spirit Beasts offer Spirit Mend, a self-heal every 30seconds for around 10% of you or a friendly player's maximum health. MostHunters do not use this manually but macro it into defensives like Exhilaration or Survival of the Fittest. Leaving it on"auto-cast" will automatically pick a low-health target in the group toheal.

While a Spirit Beast will serve you well in mostsituations, Healing Reduction pets like Hyenas, Rodents, and Raptors can besituationally useful. These will reduce enemy healing, and this effect workson bosses that heal themselves and can be invaluable in niche scenarios whereno one else is providing this effect.

For Mythic+, the first consideration you need to make is whether you need tobe the Bloodlust for the group. If you do, then you are locked intousing a Ferocity pet. The best Ferocity pet you can use for almost all Mythic+purposes is a Mortal Wounds healing reduction pet, such as a CarrionBird, Devilsaur, Ravager, Scorpid, or Wasp. There are several mobs throughoutMythic+ in The War Within that heal themselves, as well as bosses. Since none ofthe other pet utilities is typically relevant for Mythic+, having a Ferocityhealing reduction pet as your "default" is a safe bet.

If you do not need to Bloodlust for your group, then Irecommend the same as for Raiding, a Spirit Beast. These do not providehealing reduction, however, so in dungeons where this is a concern, swap to aTenacity Healing Reduction pet, like a Direhorn, Hydra, Lizard, orRiverbeast.

Finally, you should also have a Damage Reduction Tenacity pet prepared.These can be used to taunt mobs for heavy tankbuster mechanics to spare yourtank a lot of damage. With their 50% damage reduction on a 1-minute cooldownand 5% extra max health, these pets can take heavy hits regularly.

For open-world content and soloing in The War Within, Ferocity pets areincredible, as all of their Beast Cleave damage will contribute tohealing itself. The best Ferocity pet for tanking things is theClefthoof. Their Blood of the Rhino means that their Leech willheal themselvesfor more, and the increased Armor will reduce Physical damage takensubstantially.

There are 3 different pet specializations. These specializationsare determined by your pet family and they cannot be changed. We recommendhaving a variety of pets of each spec, so that you can cover any situation.

Pet Spec	Passive Effect	Active Ability
Ferocity	Predator's Thirst gives you and your pet 10% Leech.Leech heals you based on how much damage you do.	Primal Rage, which provides the Bloodlust/ Heroism effect, increasing Haste for you and all nearby alliesby 30% for 40 seconds. This shares cooldown with Bloodlust/Heroismand similar effects.
Tenacity	Endurance Training increases the maximum health of you andyour pet by 5%.	Fortitude of the Bear is a defensive ability that increases yourmaximum health by 20% for 10 seconds, on a 2-minute cooldown.
Cunning	Pathfinding increases the movement speed of you and yourpet by 8%.	Master's Call removes all movement-impairing effects fromyour pet and a friendly target, and makes them immune to movement-impairingeffects for 4 seconds. The friendly target can be you. It has a 45-secondcooldown.

Every Pet Family has a special ability. We recommend having at least oneof every special ability and spec combination.

Special Ability	Description	Pet Families
Damage Reduction Cooldown	Reduces the damage taken of your pet by 50% for 12 seconds.This has a 1-minute cooldown.	Krolusk (Exotic), Beetle, Turtle.
Self-Dispel	Removes 1 Disease, 1 Magic, and 1 Poison effect from your pet. 10-secondcooldown.	Spirit Beast (Exotic), Waterfowl, Stag
Healing Reduction	Reduces the healing taken of your pet's target by 25% for 10 seconds.This has a 6-second cooldown, which means that it will be active all thetime.	Direhorn, Hydra, Riverbeast, Lizard.
Damage Reduction On Low Health	Reduces your pet's damage taken by 60% for 15 seconds when your petfalls below 40% health.	Oxen, Bear.
Dodge Chance Cooldown	This ability increases your pet's Dodge chance by 30% for 20 seconds.It has a 1.5-minute cooldown.	*Feathermane, Dragonhawk, Toad.
Slow/Snare	Reduces the movement speed of your pet's target by 50% for 6 seconds.It has a 10-second cooldown.	Worm (Exotic), Crab, Mammoth, Blood Beast
Magical Damage Reduction	Shimmering Scales reduces your pet's magical damage taken by 70% for 8 seconds, on a 1.5-minute cooldown.	Lesser Dragonkin

*Feathermane pets also have Updraft, which enables Slow Fall for you andyour pet, allowingyou to fall safely from almost any height while the pet is active for30 seconds.

* Water Strider pets also have Surface Trot, a passive abilitythat lets you and your pet walk on water while out of combat. Damage willbreak this effect.

Pet Family	Specialization	Special Ability	Exotic Ability
Core Hound	Ferocity	Obsidian Skin reduces your pet's damage taken by 50% for 12seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown.	Molten Hide causes your pet to gain Molten Hide when it getsh*t by a melee attack, causing it to deal slight Fire damage to all furthermelee attackers for 10 seconds. It can only activate every 60 seconds.
Chimaera	Ferocity	Frost Breath reduces the movement speed of your pet's targetby 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Froststorm Breath is an 8-second channeled ability for yourpet that deals AoE damage to all enemies within 12 yards every 2 seconds.It costs 10 Focus to activate, and then 5 Focus per second tomaintain.
Devilsaur	Ferocity	Monstrous Bite reduces the healing taken of your pet'starget by 25%. It lasts 10 seconds and has a 6-second cooldown, meaning itis up all the time.	Feast lets you order your pet to consume a nearby Humanoidor Beast corpse within 5 yards, healing your pet for 20% of its maximumhealth, and restoring 20 Focus over 6 seconds.
Clefthoof	Ferocity	Thick Hide gives your pet a 60% damage reduction for 15seconds when it falls below 40% health. This can only occur once every 2minutes.	Blood of the Rhino is a passive effect that increases yourpet's armor by 10%, and increases the effectiveness of all healing done toit by 20%.
Carapid	Tenacity	Bulwark reduces the damage taken of your pet by 50% for 12 seconds.It has a 1-minute cooldown.	Calcified Carapace reduces the Physical damage taken of your pet bya very small amount.
Stone Hound	Tenacity	Stone Armor buffs your pet when it falls below 40% health,reducing its damage taken by 40% and healing it for 3% of its maximumhealth every 1 second for 15 seconds. This effect can only occur every 2minutes.	Eternal Guardian is an instant resurrection for your pet.If your pet has died, you can use it to instantly revive it with 100% ofits health. It has an 8-minute cooldown.
Spirit Beast	Tenacity	Spirit Pulse removes 1 Magic, 1 Disease, and 1 Poison effect fromitself. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Spirit Mend heals a friendly target for a small amountinstantly, and applies a small healing DoT for 10 seconds. It costs 5 petFocus. It can be cast on yourself as well. Spirit Beasts also have theProwl stealth ability, like Cats.
Worm	Tenacity	Acid Spit reduces the movement speed of your pet's targetby 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Burrow Attack is an 8-second channeled ability for your petthat deals AoE damage to all enemies within 12 yards every 2 seconds. Itcosts 10 Focus to activate, and then 5 Focus per second to maintain.
Krolusk	Tenacity	Bulwark reduces your pet's damage taken by 50% for 12seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown.	Calcified Carapace passively reduces your pet's Physicaldamage taken by approximately 10%. The proper spell data is not in the gamefor this ability yet.
Shale Beast	Cunning	Solid Shell reduces your pet's damage taken by 50% for 12seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown.	Shimmering Shale passively reduces your pet's magic damagetaken by approximately 10%.
Aqiri	Cunning	Tendon Rip reduces the movement speed of your pet's targetby 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Dune Strider passively increases your pet's movement speedby 30%.
Water Strider	Cunning	Soothing Waters removes 1 Magic, 1 Disease, and 1 Poison effect fromitself. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Surface Trot allows you and your pet to walk on water.Any damage taken will cancel the effect and cause you to fall in thewater.
Pterrordax	Cunning		Ancient Hide Reduces your pet's damage taken by 60% for 15 seconds when your petfalls below 40% health.