Hunter Pets in WoW Classic: Mechanics, Taming, Happiness
Vanilla WoW Classic 1.12 · x5 realm · wowx5.ruThe pet is half of a hunter's power in WoW Vanilla. The right beast adds real damage in PvE, helps hold targets and is essential for solo farming. This hub covers all pet mechanics: taming, happiness, feeding, teaching abilities and loyalty. The class overview lives on the Hunter page, and raid gear is in Hunter BiS.
How to Tame a Pet
Tame Beast unlocks at level 10 after the "Taming the Beast" quest chain from your hunter trainer. Taming is a 20-second channel during which the beast attacks you, so tame creatures no higher than your level and heal the pet afterwards.
- You can only tame Beasts of your level or lower.
- Only one pet is active; the rest wait at the stable master in a capital city (5 slots).
- The pet's level is always pulled up to yours (never above the hunter's level).
Happiness and Feeding
Every pet has three happiness states: happy (green), content (yellow) and unhappy (red).
| Happiness | Damage | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Green (happy) | +25% damage | none |
| Yellow (content) | normal damage | pet slowly loses loyalty |
| Red (unhappy) | reduced damage | pet may run away |
Raise happiness with Feed Pet: give food that matches your family's diet. Carnivores eat meat and fish; omnivores also eat bread, cheese and fruit. The food level should be close to the pet's level.
Loyalty and Training Points
Loyalty grows from playing together and drops when the pet starves. There are 6 loyalty levels, from "Unruly" to "Best Friend". As loyalty and level rise, the pet earns Training Points spent on learning and upgrading abilities.
- Higher loyalty and level = more points available.
- Points are needed to teach pet abilities of the ranks you want.
- Abandoning a pet loses all invested points, so choose your beast deliberately.
Healing and Reviving
- Mend Pet — heals the pet in combat (channel).
- Revive Pet — resurrects a dead pet out of combat.
- Call Pet / Dismiss Pet — summon or store your active pet.
DPS or Tank: Which to Pick
- DPS pets (cats, wolves, raptors) — top damage, fragile. Built around attack speed and buffs like Furious Howl.
- Tank pets (turtles, bears, boars, scorpids) — hold targets, tanky, lifesavers when solo farming and leveling.
Detailed picks are on the best DPS pets and best tank pets pages. Iconic rare beasts are gathered in rare hunter pets.
Tips for x5
- Levels fly by on an accelerated server, so tame a "grows with you" pet from a rare beast instead of swapping every few levels.
- Keep a couple of food stacks matching your pet's diet: happiness converts directly into damage.
- For level 60 raids keep a cat (Broken Tooth) or wolf; for farming, a turtle. How to connect is in the connection guide.
FAQ
At what level can I tame a pet?
Tame Beast is learned at level 10 after a short "Taming the Beast" quest chain from your hunter trainer. From then on you can keep one active pet at your side.
Why does my pet deal so little damage?
Most likely its happiness is low. A happy (green) pet hits at full power, while an unhappy one loses damage and may run away. Keep happiness maxed with Feed Pet.
Which pet is best for damage?
For pure DPS players take cats (especially Broken Tooth with its 1.0 attack speed) and wolves for Furious Howl. See the best DPS pets page for details.