Help for a friend

[Arshadi]

A guildmate of mine loves collecting pets, but is truly awful at pet battles (he'll tell you that himself). He'd love to capture some of the higher-level wild pets he sees for his collection, but he doesn't have a level 25 team yet. I can help him push a pet through to 25, but in the meantime...

...I'd like to help put together a basic "Capture Team" for him based on cageable pets that I can level to 25 for him so that he can use them to capture most of the wild pets available. I'm looking for suggestions as to team makeup, though!

He has endless patience for grinding and camping, so has almost all of the pets that you get from dungeon drops, Timeless Isle, seasonal quests, etc. Looking at what he has available, I am thinking that a decent capture team might be something like: Terrible Turnip, Feline Familiar (onyx bite + stoneskin are so nice), and Anubisath Idol. His Spectral Porcupette or Magical Crawdad might also be good. Or I could level up a Yellow Moth, Jade Owl, or Nether Ray Fry for him.

What do you folks think? Could I create a decent basic 'capture team' for him with those pets? I'd stone any uncommons like the Feline/Moth/Owl up to rare, of course. I'd really appreciate the help, as this particular guildmate is generous to a fault and it'd be great to do this for him in return for all he has done for others.

[Arshadi]

Li'l Bling is an excellent idea, thank you! And we'll definitely have him capture an Emerald Protodrake as soon as possible (I love my Emerald Whelpling, but he doesn't have one).

I love the pounce/devour combo on the cats for leveling/capturing. I tend to prefer the Feline Familiar because being able to have Stoneskin up is often very helpful.

Hm. He also has Murkalot, which might even be more useful than Anubisath Idol.

[Kpb321]

The only really required pet for Capture team would be the Terrible Turnip and that is only when trying to capture lower level pets. I'll second or third the Emerald xxxx suggestion. The combination of a shield and a big heal are soo helpful when end up not being able to hit the broad side of a barn when trying to capture.

My team depends on the level of the pet I'm trying to capture. If the Wild pets I'm trying to capture are really low level I'll just throw in something that can do good dmg and heal, so a raptor or cat with devour or bloodfang works well, along with the turnip and emerald whelpling. You'll still kill things quickly and you won't have to stop to heal or use bandages.

If they are mid level (teens or so) I may swap out the turnip and bring in a leveling pet along with a raptor and the emerald whelpling. I figure I should be able to use the leveling pet to do a little bit of damage if need be to get the target pet into the right range. If I'm in a hurry and don't want to try to get exp I'll do the Turnip, raptor and whelpling.

If they are higher level (20+) I'll do a whelpling, a leveling pet and a third pet that has strong attacks against the likely additional pets. So a mech unit with beast and mechanical attacks if I'm expecting beast and critters in the fight too.

[Kendrah]

Terrible Turnip at level 25 is just about the only one he needs. The rest can be whatever he gets (or buys) to level 25. I like Idol but my first team consisted of two weak elementals and one of the weaker water pets and I managed to get them to 25.

[Jaladar]

Don't forget--your friend needs to get at least one pet to level 25 on his own so he can use the ones you plan to level for him. Otherwise when you trade them over he won't be able to learn them.

I agree Turnip is a must for any capture team, I have screwed up and killed my target enough times to appreciate the turnip greatly. I also used Idol on my go-to team and still do. The third spot I use is usually a low level pet for leveling purposes since Idol does a lot of the damage most of the time it doesn't usually require three pets. Good Luck!

[Peanutty]

Turnip for sure.

My other choices would be:
- a mechanical of some sort (since they can die and come back it gives him more wiggle room, plus strong against beasts), easy to get hard hitters would be the Darkmoon Tonk or Zeppelin
- a P/P Yellow Moth (great against aquatics, very easy to use)
- a pet with the ability Devour, which will be strong against critters and also provide some self heals, Feline Familiar would be a good choice

[Arshadi]

Thank you all so much for the feedback and suggestions!

His highest-level pets were level 20, and since he is an enthusiastic collector, he had an excellent assortment of potential capture/leveling team pets already on hand at level 1. So, I leveled the following to 20 for him today:

Terrible Turnip
Anubisath Idol
Lil Bling
Feline Familiar
Magical Crawdad
P/P Yellow Moth

This should leave him in good shape for whatever he wants to do next, I think. As I write this, he's zooming around Outland capturing new pets and leveling his team. He already captured a rare Scorpid...if I recall correctly, I had a very hard time finding a rare Scorpid. That's beginners' luck for you!

Thanks again, all

[Abashera]

I just wanted to add that you can't give a pet to someone if the gift pet is a higher level than their highest pet. So if they don't have a lvl 25, you can't give one to them to help them along.

I found this out the hard way myself when I tried to give my mother a level 25 Sunreaver Micro-Sentry. It wouldn't let my mother learn the pet, so I opened ticket. The very first thing the GM asked me was "Let me guess. Your Mum doesn't have any level 25 pets." lol So I had to hold onto it until she had leveled one to 25.

[Abashera]

I think that the pets that are encountered most in the wild are Aquatic, Critters, Beasts, and Flying. The following 5 pets will cover most wild battles until someone had acquired their own wild pets. All four pets on this list should be inexpensive and relatively easy to acquire.

Most people here will recommend that you get an add-on that will show you the breeds, so that the pets you get for your friend will do their job most effectively—breed makes a big difference. I personally recommend the add-on "Pet Battle BreedID". http://www.curse.com/addons/wow/battle_pet_breedid



Short Form:

1) Cornish Rex Cat, or Feline Familiar
2) P/P Yellow Moth
3) Sunreaver Micro-Sentry, or Lil’ Bling
4) Proto-Drake Whelp, or Chrominius
5) Terrible Turnip



Long Form:

1) Your Pet: Beast - Strong vs Critters (armed vs Humanoid)
Recommendation: A Cat of some sort. P/P Cornish Rex, or Feline Familiar
Source of Cornish Rex: Vender; Source for Familiar: AH or Hollow’s End
Cost: Cornish = 40 silver; Familiar (?)

2) Your Pet: Flying - Strong vs Aquatic (armed vs Beast)
Recommended: P/P Yellow Moth
Source: Vendor
Cost: 50 silver

3) Your Pet: Mechanicals - Strong vs Beasts (and armed vs Magic)
Recommended: Sunreaver Micro-Sentry, Lil’ Bling
Source: Sentry = AH, or Drop (Thunder Isle);Bling = AH or Blingtron
Cost: AH (?)

4) Your Pet: Dragonkin - Armed vs Flying (Strong vs Magical)
Recommended: Proto-Drake Whelp, or Chrominius
Source: AH or Drop (Proto = Dailies; Chro. = Blackwing Lair)
Cost (?)

5) Your Pet: Elemental - Strong vs Mechanical (armed vs Mechanical)
Recommended: Terrible Turnip - MUST HAVE FOR ANY CAPTURING TEAM!
Source: Farming
Cost: Buy on AH in the “Miscellaneous” tab under “Companion Pets”. The price will be far lower!



If you want to have one of each species in the game (the most expensive pets on this list will likely be the Abubisath Idol, and Magical Crawdad)…

6) Your Pet: Aquatic - Strong vs Elemental (armed vs Undead)
Recommended: Magical Crawdad, or Aqua Strider
Source: Crawdad = AH or Fishing (Outlands); Aqua = AH or Drop
Cost: ?

7) Your Pet: Magical - Strong vs Flying (armed vs Aquatic)
Recommended: Jade Owl (recommended because it can be crafted).
Source: Jewel Crafting or AH
Cost: AH mats (?)

8) Your Pet: Undead - Strong vs Humanoid (armed vs Dragonkin)
Recommended: Giant Bone Spider
Source: AH or Drop (Naxxramas)
Cost: ?

9) Your Pet: Humanoid - Strong va Dragonkin (armed vs Critter)
Recommended: Anubisath Idol
Source: AH or Drop (AQ40)
Cost: ?