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So you're ready to get serious about small pet collecting? Well, you've come to the right place! This guide covers the joys of minipet collecting and discusses many strategies and tips for attaining an impressive collection of these adorable little companions.
Contents
Why Collect Small Pets?
1. Why collect anything?
Why collect epic armor sets? Why collect tabards? Why collect mounts? Why collect anything in World of Warcraft? Because it's fun, challenging, and it gives you a way to set yourself apart from others.
Minipets especially are one of the most fascinating things to collect. Unlike epic gear or reputation rewards, they never become obsolete. For this reason more than any other, small pet collecting is something you can enjoy for as long as you play World of Warcraft.
2. What kind of collector are you?
Siamese Cat
No doubt, you've collected many things over the years. Sports memorabilia, toys, dolls, comic books, coins, trading cards... the list of potential collectables is endless. So what kind of collector are you? Are you the obsessive type that simply must have one of everything to complete your collection? Or are you more patient and persistent, allowing your collection to grow in its own good time. Or perhaps your approach is far more selective, choosing only to collect those items which interest you.
Luckily, collecting small pets has appeal for hardcore collectors, casual collectors, and everyone in between. Today you may consider yourself a casual collector. But in three months you could decide to go for broke. There is no right or wrong way to establish your collection. However, as you read this guide, it will be helpful to have some idea of your short-term pet collecting goals. Are you looking to collect a few of the "cooler" pets? Maybe you're a cat person and simply want to start by collecting all of the cats. Or perhaps you're ready to dive into the challenge of collecting every single pet you can get your hands on.
3. Challenges every pet collector must face
Pet collecting would be much less appealing if every pet was easy to get. Where's the challenge in that? Lucky for us, there are many obstacles to overcome:
- Tedious grinds - The odds of some pets dropping are less than 1 in 1,000. And killing over a thousand mobs doesn't even guarantee you'll get the pet.
- Difficult quests - A few pets require facing off against challenging elite mobs. To complete these quests, you'll need lots of patience, the help of a good group, or both.
- High prices - While most pets sold by vendors are relatively inexpensive, a few will cost you a small chunk of change. And some player-based auction prices can be outright offensive.
- Limited availability - Some pets are only available during certain events, a few of which only occur once per year.
- Exclusivity - Many pets are exclusive to a character's faction, professions, or reputation. Additionally, there are several promotional pets that may take some effort in the real world to obtain.
Sounds like fun, right? Remember, anything worthwhile in World of Warcraft takes some work. Pet collecting is no different. But the rewards are worth it (trust me!) There's simply no feeling like the one you get when your pet finally drops after killing over a thousand mobs. It's priceless.
This guide offers strategies to help you deal with the challenges that lie ahead. Plus, WarcraftPets.com provides you with all sorts of tools and information that will be invaluable as you build your collection.
Using this Site
4. Discover various pets
Disgusting Oozeling
This site includes every vanity pet available. If you're new to vanity pets, there's a huge variety for you to discover and this site has all the tools you need.
The Bestiary provides a comprehensive visual guide to every World of Warcraft companion, listed in hierarchical categories, such as mammals and birds. Use the vanity pet index for a simple alphabetical listing of every pet. You may also search by keyword to quickly locate a specific pet. All pets are listed with the pet's picture accompanied by the item name, source, and rarity. Clicking on the picture will load the pet's profile which contains a wealth of additional information about the pet.
Pet profiles include basic stats, a larger snapshot of the pet (which can be clicked for an even larger view), and links to Wowhead for maps and other data pertaining to pet-related quests, mobs, and items. Furthermore, all profiles include additional notes compiled by our site's staff as well as comments by members of our site to assist your collecting efforts.
5. Track your collection online
Another excellent tool is the ability to track your collection online. You can fully customize a checklist of every pet you hope to collect, excluding any that you're unable to collect or prefer not to collect. You can also print a hardcopy of this checklist. In addition to the pet and item name, your printed checklist will include the source of every pet on the list. Think of it as your own personal pet collecting cheat sheet while you play.
A link is available beneath your collection so that you may share your progress with friends and family. Additionally, your collection will be available for others to browse by realm.
6. Find collectors on your server
One of WarcraftPets' most powerful features is our member search tool. This feature allows you to find other pet collectors that play on your realm, allowing you to team up for pet farming and trading. You can also more easily find your friends here at WarcraftPets when you search for them by username. To take advantage of this tool, you'll want to update your account with your character name, region, realm, and faction.
To coordinate in-game trades, cross-faction deals, and pet collecting runs with others on your server, you need to be found! We offer several tips to help you get noticed. Be sure to give them a read.
7. Filter pets in oh-so-many ways!
As a collector, you're going to love this next feature! At WarcraftPets.com, you can filter pets by binding, faction, source, rarity, and exclusivity:
As an added bonus, when you set the filter to show "dropped" pets, the listings include the drop rate of every dropped pet, enabling you to compare all of them side by side. Additionally, if you select "vendored" pets, it will show the faction with each pet, letting you know at a glance which will be purchasable by your character.
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TIP: When you're signed into your account, additional filters for your pet collection are also available. You can also view pets by zone using one of our many guides. |
Pet Rarity
8. Pet rarity explained
Hyacinth Macaw
All vanity pets listed on WarcraftPets have been assigned a statistical rarity value based on the pet collections reported by our members. Rarity is largely determined by the availability of the pet and how easy it is to obtain. Each of the six ratings are described below:
- Common - more than 64% of members have this pet - Common pets tend to have unlimited availability and are easily obtained from vendors and auction houses.
- Uncommon - 38-63.9% of members have this pet - Uncommon pets are fairly common and somewhat easy to obtain, but not quite as readily available as common pets.
- Rare - 20-37.9% of members have this pet - Rare pets are harder to come by, requiring more time, effort, luck, or gold to obtain.
- Very Rare - 8-19.9% of members have this pet - Pets that are very rare require significantly more time, effort, luck, or gold to obtain.
- Extremely Rare - 2-7.9% of members have this pet - Extremely rare pets tend to have very limited availablility, often requiring special promotions to obtain.
- Ultra-Rare - less than 2% of members have this pet - Ultra-rare pets are obtained through exclusive or limited special promotions, some of which are no longer readily available.
9. BoU, BoP, and BoA pets
BoU - Pets that bind on use do not become bound to the character until the pet item is used to learn how to summon the pet (at which point the pet item disappears from the player's inventory). Prior to use, a BoU pet can be freely traded to other characters and put up for auction.
BoP - Pets that bind on pickup become soulbound the moment they are looted. Soulbound pets are forever bound to the character and cannot be traded or sold to other characters.
BoA - Pets that bind on account are bound to the player's account when received. These items DO NOT disappear from the player's inventory when used to learn how to summon the pet. Account-bound pets can be mailed between characters on the same account.
You'll find that most BoU pets are sold by vendors or dropped by mobs. Many of the player-made pets are also BoU, enabling non-engineers to use them. All BoU pets can be sold at auction, providing collectors with a second means of obtaining them. These pets tend toward the "common" to "rare" end of the spectrum. Most BoP pets and BoA pets, however, fall on the "rare" to "ultra-rare" end of the spectrum. These pets tend to be quest rewards or gifts acquired through special Blizzard promotions. A couple of player-made pets are also BoP, requiring your character to be a specialized engineer. Thus, there is only one way to obtain each of these BoP pets, and they'll require significantly more time and effort on your part to collect.
Tricks of the Trade
10. Aim for achievements
Most players have a main character that they play more than any others. It's best to collect as many pets as you can on your main. This provides a few key benefits, such as earning pet-related achievements. A few of these achievements even unlock even more pets, such as Stinker and the Little Fawn. Additionally, single-character collecting provides players with a greater challenge, which in turn offers a greater sense of accomplishment.
There are also a few reasons you may wish to collect pets with more than one toon. A handful of pets are chosen as seasonal quest rewards from a choice of several, making it difficult to collect all of them with the same character (at least until the quest becomes available again the following year). Another reason is to earn some major style-points! A rogue with a snake in tow; a moonkin with an owl close behind; a female warlock accompanied by a black cat. When coupled with certain races, classes, and genders, many pets provide "flavoring" that can't be reproduced by any other means.
11. Pick the right professions
If you're leaning toward collecting as many pets as you can, it's a good idea to pick professions that will support your collecting efforts.
Mechanical Squirrel
Engineering is an obvious first choice, since all of the player-made pets are crafted by engineers. And while you can always rely on other engineers to craft your pets, most collectors will agree that it's far more satisfying to make your own. And as an engineer, you can always make additional pets to sell to non-engineers for a nice profit.
Plus, two of the engineered pets are BoP and require engineering to create: Lil' Smoky and Pet Bombling. Choose whichever specialization has the pet you prefer—goblin or gnomish engineering. As of patch 3.1, either specialization can obtain all engineered pets.
Mining is another safe bet. Many of the items necessary for building up your engineering skill can be attained through mining. And you'll never have a problem selling your excess materials at auction.
Skinning is a solid third choice, especially for hunters who don't want to be bogged down tracking minerals when they could be tracking other things. All of the skins can be sold at auction and you can use the profits to fund your engineering. Skinning is especially profitable if you intend to farm for your whelpling pets. You can amass stacks of leather and dragon scales which sell for quite a bit at auction.
Fishing is a secondary skill, meaning all players can learn it in addition to their two chosen professions. There are a few pets that can only be caught through fishing. Few players have the patience to increase their fishing skill to the level required to catch these pets. Therefore, the fishable pets, such as the elusive Magical Crawdad, are rare and tend to draw a lot of attention!
12. The art of farming
A few of you are probably thinking, "Farming? But I'm a {insert class}, not a farmer!" Farming in an MMORPG simply means killing hundreds of the same mobs until you "harvest" the items you're looking for. In our case, those items happen to be small pets. You can filter pets by 'dropped' (sorted by item) to discover what items are dropped by which mobs and how often they drop.
If you're new to the art of farming, here are a few tips to get you started:
- Empty your bags - Before you get out in the field, sell all your junk and stow any quest items in the bank. The more bag space you have, the more gold you'll make.
- Set your hearth nearby - Don't forget to set your hearthstone so that it's nearby to wherever you're farming.
- Bring provisions - Make sure you bring enough food, water, bandages, and potions so that you don't have to restock before your bags fill up.
- Create a bank alt - If you haven't done so already, create a level 1 bank alt and run him/her up the nearest city. Park this alt near a mailbox and send him/her some gold to do your auctioning. Then whenever you empty your bags, send any auctionable items to your bank alt, saving yourself countless trips to the AH.
Unfortunately, farming can be pretty tedious. But there are some advantages:
Emerald Whelpling
- Make gobs of gold - You can make a small fortune while you're grinding for pets. Almost anything you pick up can be sold, so SAVE EVERYTHING! This is especially true of gray armor and weapons—they may be vendor trash but they sell for a lot. Once your bags are full, hearth to a vendor to sell your junk, repair, and mail any auction-worthy items to your bank alt.
- Level quickly - Assuming you haven't hit the level cap and you're farming mobs close to your level, you can earn loads of experience. Before you know it, you'll have gained a level. Then another. And another, etc.
- Multitask - Because you're killing the same mobs over and over, you'll quickly become accustomed to a routine. After a while, your routine becomes almost robotic, enabling you to multitask with ease. It's not uncommon to farm while watching TV, talking on the phone, or chatting online.
After killing 2,364 mobs without your pet dropping, you'll probably feel drained and frustrated. As upset as you might get, try to remember that farming is all about patience and persistence. While you may want to give up, it's entirely possible that mob #2,365 is the one holding your pet.
13. Playing the auction house
All BoU pets (nearly half of all pets) can be bought at auction. So if you simply can't tolerate farming for that 1 in 1,000 drop, you can play the auction house (AH) instead.
Watch for your pet - So long as your pet is BoU, there's a good chance you can find it on the AH... eventually. If possible, logon with your bank alt at least once a day and run a search for your pet (use the item name). Common pets tend to appear most often, allowing you to pick and choose what you're willing to pay. Rare pets can also be rare finds on the AH, forcing you to pay whatever the seller is asking (and the prices can be outrageous). Therefore, knowing the average auction price for your pet is a big help.
Know your pet's worth - Wowhead's list of Small Pets provides up-to-date average auction prices for most BoU pets. Reference these prices to help you determine whether you're getting a good deal or whether you're being taken to the cleaners.
Sell extra BoU pets at a profit - Small pets tend to sell pretty well at auction, but can be hit or miss. If you're the risk-taking type, you might consider buying and selling vendored pets on the AH. If you're visiting the vendor anyway, why not buy three or four extra pets and try to turn a profit. Depending on the current market, you can often make a healthy profit.
14. Cross-faction trading
Common pets that are sold by vendors of the opposing faction can be somewhat difficult to collect. You'll have to nab them when they appear on the neutral AH or your own faction's AH. A third and less expensive option is to employ cross-faction trading.
Cross-faction trading occurs when a player puts up an item for auction on the neutral AH at a very low price (usually a silver or two). The player's goal is for a specific character of the opposing faction (typically a real-life friend) to buy the item, thus moving it from the alliance to the horde, or vice-versa. This works fairly well, but there are some limitations.
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CAUTION: Players CANNOT use the neutral auction house to trade items between their own characters on the same World of Warcraft account. A character from a different account is necessary. |
As explained in the cautionary note above, players cannot cross-faction trade items between their own characters (unless they own two different accounts). It will require the help of a friend on the opposing faction and a way to signal that character ("/poke" works well) that the item is up and ready to be purchased. This is usually not difficult to organize on a PvE server. But on a PvP server, where it's impossible to have alts of the opposing faction, it can be a real challenge.
Another major concern is the occasional auction sniper. A sniper is a person who "steals" (snipes) an item that clearly was not intended for him or her. Granted, if an item is put up for auction, it's fair game—anyone who buys it really isn't "stealing" anything. But most people know that an item on the neutral AH that's extremely underpriced is probably the target of a cross-faction trade and it would be ignoble to buy it. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree, the rule of the cross-faction trade is to complete the transaction in as few seconds as possible. The longer it takes, the greater the risk of losing the item to another player.
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CAUTION: Cross-faction trading is becoming a very risky game these days. Unscrupulous players have been using certain mods and illegal third-party programs to snipe low-priced auctions instantaneously. It happens so quickly that the item is bought the moment it's put up. I've personally lost hundreds of gold in items myself, so I reccommend that you trade rare items at a reasonable price. Yes, you'll lose 15% on the transaction, but it's better than losing your item. |
Assembling Your Collection
15. Getting Started
Collecting by zone
Ready to start collecting? Good! Keep up that enthusiasm and you'll have a plethora of pets before you know it!
Your initial approach to pet collecting is going to depend on a few key factors: your current level, your gold supply, and how much time you have. Lower level characters aren't going to have access to all of the zones and gold that higher level characters take for granted. So if you're in that boat, you may have a slower start. But don't let that discourage you—in the end, pet collecting is all about patience and perseverance. Level hardly matters in the long term. That said, one of the best starting strategies is to collect zone by zone.
Our Vanity Pets by Zone guide displays pets by continent, zone, and zone level. Built in functionality allows you to toggle event-based pets on or off. Both new pet collectors and casual collectors alike will get a lot of use out of this guide.
New Collectors - Begin at the top of a continent and work your way down, stopping only in those zones that offer pets. And if you're lower level, you'll appreciate the level-based sorting, allowing you to easily collect pets as you level up and move from zone to zone.
Casual Collectors - Bookmark the Vanity Pets by Zone guide and use it throughout your World of Warcraft career. When you visit a zone, check the guide and you'll quickly discover whether there are any pets worth grabbing in the nearby vicinity.
Read on to learn the best strategies for collecting depending on the source of the pet.
16. Vendored pets
Brown Rabbit
The easiest pets to collect are vendored pets. Make sure to note which pets are sold by the opposing faction. Those vendors will be off limits to your character. But those who belong to your own faction and those who are neutral are fair game. Click on the vendor's name to pull up a map and additional info about the vendor from Wowhead.
Most vendored pets can be bought for less than a gold. Some of the more exotic pets sold in Outland and Northrend will require several gold to purchase. But by the time you reach expansion content, you're expected to have more gold in your coffers, so being able to afford these pets won't be a problem.
The best strategy for collecting all of the vendored pets is to work your way around all of Azeroth, systematically hitting every pet vendor as you go (see Getting Started above). If possible, try your hand at cross-faction trading (as described above) to obtain pets of the opposing faction. Or keep a constant eye on the AH as an alternative. If you opt to work the AH, you might also search for additional BoU pets you intend to collect.
17. Dropped pets
The thrill of the hunt might entice you to farm for some dropped pets. Pet profiles in the Bestiary include the drop rate of every dropped pet, along with Wowhead links to maps for every mob you'll have to grind. The art of farming (above) includes all the tips you'll need to farm for nearly every dropped pet.
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FYI: Some pets are dropped by items rather than mobs. The notes in the pet's profile will help you determine how to obtain these pet-dropping items. |
18. Quested pets
In order to collect quested pets, you'll have to get your hands dirty. First you'll need to work your way up to an appropriate level to complete the quest. Pet profiles in the Bestiary provide the name of the quest(s), the reccommended level(s), links to Wowhead's quest data, and some profiles even include links to walk-through guides (found in the notes section). You might also try looking up the quest on Wowhead and reading the comments of those who've already completed the quest.
Note that many of the quests listed in the Bestiary are the final quest in a series, often called a chain. You can use Wowhead to discover the quest that starts the entire chain and work your way forward from there.
19. Player-made pets
Collecting the player-made pets can be challenging, whether you're an engineer or not. If you're not an engineer, you'll have to hunt down any crafted BoU pets on the AH. It may be months before the pet you're seeking is put up for auction. You could also try rounding up the required materials and locating an engineer to build it for you. However, as an engineer, you have the additional option of obtaining the schematic and building the pet yourself. It's comforting to know that your player-made pet was made by you.
The profiles of player-made pets include the name of the schematic (or NPC) that teaches you how to craft the pet, along with the required skill level. Clicking the schematic will bring you to Wowhead for additional data, such as what mobs drop the schematic and the materials necessary to create the pet.
20. Pets earned through feats
Recently it became possible to earn pets through various feats based on a character's in-game accomplishments. For example, the first of these pets, the Spirit of Competition, required players to win a random number of PvP battleground matches.
The 3.0 build of WoW introduced a more official type of feat: an achievement. Characters can fulfill achievements by completing specific requirements, such as those listed in the Achievements tab. Some achievements grant rewards, including an occasional special pet. Take a look at our Vanity Pet Achievements guide to learn what pet-related achievements are avaialable, as well as what pets are awarded by certain achivements.
21. Promotional pets
Unfortunately, you'll be unable to collect many of the promotional pets. In order to obtain these pets, you would've had to have participated in the related special promotions. And since many of these promotions are no longer available, the pets they provided are also, sadly, no longer available.
However there are still a few promotional pets, such as the Netherwhelp and the Hippogryph Hatchling, that you may be able to collect if you're willing to spend some real-world cash. Each pet's profile includes the name of the promotion and other notes that explain how it's obtained. You can find the real-world item required to get the pet using an auction site like ebay.
The Fruits of Your Labor
22. Where'd you get that pet!?
Magical Crawdad
At some point during your collecting career, while you're busy organizing your bags or visiting a vendor, you'll get an unexpected tell from a complete stranger asking you where you got the pet standing idly by your side. And that's when it hits you—you've got something of interest, something that draws the eye, something unique that at least a few people are seeing for the very first time.
In that moment, as your face begins to turn a smile, you can reply to the curious party with the answer of how your adorable little pet came into your possession. And if you're feeling particularly talkative, you might even mention WarcraftPets.com as THE place to go to learn everything about collecting WoW vanity pets!
23. Author's note
In real life, I love all kinds of animals. I'm thrilled that the developers of World of Warcraft have provided a way for players to enjoy some fantastic and wonderful pets in-game. No, they don't do anything extraordinary, but they do provide ambiance and amusement, both for yourself and for those around you. Collecting these little critters can be one of the most rewarding aspects of the game.
Regardless of whether you're a diehard collector or a casual collector, the vanity pets you obtain will be some of your greatest World of Warcraft treasures.
Happy collecting!
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Feedback: Please take a moment to contact us with your comments regarding this guide. Be sure to mention which guide your feedback pertains to. |
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