hunters pet for tanking

[Hots]

atm im having bears for tanking in instances and it works just fine, and probably will do all way up to 80.

Now i would really like to have a boar as tanking pet i was wondering if anyone couldl tell me if they tank just as well as the bears does or is boars a big nono for tanking?

i been looking around and boars do altso belong to the family of tanking pets, but since im a big noob regarding hunters and their pets i would really like some advice.

I dont want to realize that my pet is not good enough for tanking when i get to 80 and start on heroics

thanks in advance

[pinki104]

I prefer the bear skills but maybe boars could work

[TRoN]

Hey Hots

What level are your hunters? Are they BM?

Boars can do the job but they lack stamina and armor compared with bears. So if they face a Big Boss with huge strikes, it might be difficult to keep them alive. Depends on your healing capability and your dextery to deal with such situations. (<-- This is not true anymore. Now all pets in the same family have same stats)

Another thing is the special ability: bear has Swipe (an AOE strike), boar has Gore (a DPS strike). Swipe is way better if your pet is tanking a pack of mobs.

That said, regarding tanking skills and agro 1vs1, they are exactly the same.

Conclusion: Boars are (almost) as good as bears if you choose the needed tank talents.

Usually I use boars (with an hybrid spec) when questing and doing easy intances. I take ONE bear out of stable (+2 boars) to some more challenging runs. (My hunter team: Druid + 3 Hunters)

Note: Atm, coolest tanking pet is Rhino (if you are BM with the proper talent).

/cheer

[lofblad]

Originally Posted by TRoN

Hey Hots

What level are your hunters? Are they BM?

Boars can do the job but they lack stamina and armor compared with bears. So if they face a Big Boss with huge strikes, it might be difficult to keep them alive. Depends on your healing capability and your dextery to deal with such situations.

Another thing is the special ability: bear has Swipe (an AOE strike), boar has Gore (a DPS strike). Swipe is way better if your pet is tanking a pack of mobs.

That said, regarding tanking skills and agro 1vs1, they are exactly the same.

Conclusion: Boars are (almost) as good as bears if you choose the needed tank talents.

Usually I use boars (with an hybrid spec) when questing and doing easy intances. I take ONE bear out of stable (+2 boars) to some more challenging runs. (My hunter team: Druid + 3 Hunters)

Note: Atm, best tanking pet is Rhino (if you are BM with the proper talent).

/cheer

I think nowadays all tenacity pets (boars, bears etc) have the same armor and stamina. It's talent-dependent, not inherent in particular species. The pet family skills differ though. Imo I agree that bears have the best AoE threat management, with both thunderstomp and swipe at their disposal.

A question though: Have you tried doing really difficult instances with your hunters? Like doing level 70 heroic instances with level 70 hunters? I'm asking because I don't know what level your hunters are, and I don't know how viable hunter pets are as tanks in those situations.

[TRoN]

Originally Posted by lofblad

I think nowadays all tenacity pets (boars, bears etc) have the same armor and stamina. It's talent-dependent, not inherent in particular species.

That's not true. Just cast Beast Lore on both - you'll see the difference.

Edit: You're right! Stats are the same for each family. The difference on my pets were my contribution from stats and items. And Beast Lore show stats of the beasts in the wild. When tammed they all get the same stats affected by the family bonuses.

So bear=boar (except the special skill).

[lofblad]

Originally Posted by TRoN

That's not true. Just cast Beast Lore on both - you'll see the difference.

Sorry dude, you're incorrect. Since patch 3.0 all pets from the same family - Tenacity, Ferocity or Cunning, have the same stats, regardless what Beast Lore tells you. I think even a later patch made all pets have the same stats, before talents that is, regardless of family but I'm not sure about that.

Petopia: Patch 3.0 FAQ - Pet Stats

Hunter pet - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft

Edit: Yeah, patch 3.1.0 gave all pets, regardless of family, the same initial stats. However, they all have different talents, eg tenacity pets have tanking talents, which give them more stamina and armor than for example ferocity pets.

[Hots]

im lvl 16 atm so not doing any hard instances but i just dont wanna end up unhappy with the capability of my pets.

Yes im BM, well thats the tree im going for since this chars are only gonna do instances, but i just want to make sure that the pet that i have is the correct one for the purpose.

thanks alot for your replies i guess thats bear into i can get my fingers in a rhino.

[lofblad]

Originally Posted by Hots

im lvl 16 atm so not doing any hard instances but i just dont wanna end up unhappy with the capability of my pets.

Yes im BM, well thats the tree im going for since this chars are only gonna do instances, but i just want to make sure that the pet that i have is the correct one for the purpose.

thanks alot for your replies i guess thats bear into i can get my fingers in a rhino.

Cool, looking forward to read about your adventures! Or even watch them, if you are recording somehow?

[Hots]

i should really learn to record someday

[Fattness]

Originally Posted by lofblad

Sorry dude, you're incorrect. Since patch 3.0 all pets from the same family - Tenacity, Ferocity or Cunning, have the same stats, regardless what Beast Lore tells you. I think even a later patch made all pets have the same stats, before talents that is, regardless of family but I'm not sure about that.

Petopia: Patch 3.0 FAQ - Pet Stats

Hunter pet - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft

Edit: Yeah, patch 3.1.0 gave all pets, regardless of family, the same initial stats. However, they all have different talents, eg tenacity pets have tanking talents, which give them more stamina and armor than for example ferocity pets.

Ok. So here is a question for you guys then. My hunters are mid 50's and I use boars..cant wait till 70 to get me some Rhino's..but if I want those talents farther down the pet tree, is there one stat out of Armor or Stamina that you all value as higher, since taking both limits my ability to get talents lower in that tree. Or are those talents farther down the tree not as important for pets that will be tanks?