WoW Forever hunter pets
Updated 12 Nov 2026 (AEDT)
Hunter pets in WoW Forever scale with your gear and no longer take player stat buffs (Hunter deep dive). Every family learns Bite or Claw and Dash or Dive, plus one unique family ability. Foxes are a new family. Tame Beast no longer works on Beasts above your level (beta development notes). This guide lists our editorial picks, the family table, and how to tame and feed a pet. See the Hunter class hub for the rest of the class.
What else changed: pets now benefit from Expertise (beta notes). Aggressive mode is back on the pet bar, and gamepad Pet Move / stable support was added (2 Nov notes). Hunter pets should no longer lose their innate Attack Speed passives when untrained (same notes). Orc Command is +5% pet damage for Orc Hunters and Warlocks (2 Nov). The 9 Nov hotfix list stopped Hunters pulling enemies from very far away just by targeting them. Blizzard's 10 Nov official hotfix post fixed a bug where pets erroneously had 150% of their normal health, and corrected that to 115% of their normal health.
Exact Health / Armor / Attack Power copy ratios are not listed in Blizzard's published notes [Unconfirmed].
Best hunter pets
Blizzard has not ranked the families. The picks below are editorial and [Unconfirmed].
- Leveling: a Cat (Prowl into a harder-hitting opener) or a Raptor (Savage Rend) for single-target damage on the way to 60. Switch to a Bear or Gorilla when you have to hold more than one mob.
- PvE (dungeons and raids): a Wolf (Furious Howl, party melee Attack Power) in melee groups; a Wind Serpent if you want a 20-yard ranged pet attack; a Bear or Gorilla for packs. Beast Mastery leans on the pet hardest; Marksmanship's Lone Wolf talent lets you skip the pet entirely (Hunter deep dive).
- PvP: a Crocolisk (Dismember, 50% less healing received) against healers, or a Bird of Prey (Mine!, a disarm). A Cat's Prowl helps you open. Rankings for arena or battlegrounds are not published.
Talent and spec pages: Beast Mastery · Marksmanship · Survival · Hunter leveling.
Pet families table
Unique abilities are from the Hunter deep dive. Diet is not in Blizzard's Forever notes. The Diet column is a Classic Era baseline and is [Unconfirmed] for Forever. The new Fox family's diet is Not published [Unconfirmed].
| Family | Forever ability | Diet |
|---|---|---|
| Bat | Sonic Blast — damage and a spellcasting slow | Fruit, Fungus (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Bear | Swipe — hits 3 targets | Bread, Cheese, Fish, Fruit, Fungus, Meat (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Bird of Prey (was Owl) | Mine! — damage and a disarm | Meat (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Boar | Charge — charges, roots, and boosts the next pet attack's Attack Power | Bread, Cheese, Fruit, Fungus, Meat (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Carrion Bird | Demoralizing Screech — area damage and lower melee Attack Power | Fish, Fruit, Meat (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Cat | Prowl — stealth; next attack from stealth hits harder | Fish, Meat (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Crab | Pinch — damage and a movement slow | Bread, Fish, Fungus (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Crocolisk | Dismember — damage and 50% less healing received | Fish, Meat (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Fox (new) | Trickster's Dance — more dodge and attack speed for 12 sec | Not published [Unconfirmed] |
| Gorilla | Thunderstomp — area damage | Fruit, Fungus (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Hyena | Tendon Rip — slow plus a bleed | Fruit, Meat (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Raptor | Savage Rend — bleed | Meat (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Scorpid | Scorpid Poison — stacking damage over time | Meat (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Spider | Web — root plus damage over time | Meat (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Tallstrider | Dust Cloud — lowers armor | Cheese, Fruit, Fungus (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Turtle | Shell Shield — less damage taken, slower attacks, 12 sec | Fish, Fruit, Fungus (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Wind Serpent | Lightning Breath — 20-yard ranged attack | Bread, Cheese, Fish (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
| Wolf | Furious Howl — party melee Attack Power | Meat (Classic Era baseline) [Unconfirmed] |
How to tame a pet
Tame Beast no longer works on Beasts above your level (beta development notes). You can only tame a Beast at or below your character level.
Blizzard has not published a new step-by-step taming tutorial for Forever. In practice you still need an empty pet slot or an existing pet dismissed, then you start Tame Beast on a valid Beast and avoid interrupting the tame. Treat any extra Classic Era details (channel length, attack rules mid-tame, the number of stable slots) as [Unconfirmed] until you confirm them on a live character. Stables and gamepad Pet Move were mentioned in the 2 Nov notes; exact slot counts were not.
How to feed your pet and keep it happy
Blizzard's Forever notes do not include a feeding, diet or happiness table. The process below is the Classic Era baseline, labelled [Unconfirmed] for Forever:
- Use Feed Pet with food that matches the pet's diet (see the table above).
- Happiness in Classic Era moved between Unhappy, Content and Happy, and Happy pets dealt more damage. Whether Forever kept the same breakpoints or bonuses is [Unconfirmed].
- Food that is too low-level for the pet, or the wrong diet, did not raise happiness in Classic Era [Unconfirmed].
- Loyalty ranks and the old happiness decay rate have not been restated for Forever [Unconfirmed].
FAQ
What is the best hunter pet in WoW Forever?
Blizzard has not ranked the families. Our editorial starting picks are a Cat or Raptor for leveling damage, a Bear or Turtle when you want the pet to tank, and a Wolf in melee groups. Fox is the new family. [Unconfirmed]
How do you feed a pet in WoW Forever?
Blizzard has not published a Forever feeding table. In Classic Era you used Feed Pet with food from the pet's diet to raise happiness. Treat that process as a Classic Era baseline until Forever confirms it. [Unconfirmed]
What changed for Hunter pets in WoW Forever?
Pets scale from your gear and no longer take player stat buffs. Every family learns Bite or Claw and Dash or Dive, plus one unique family ability. Foxes are a new family. Tame Beast no longer works on Beasts above your level. Orc Command is +5% pet damage. The 10 Nov official hotfix list fixed a bug that had given pets 150% of their normal health and corrected that to 115%.
Can Hunters tank with a pet?
Blizzard says Hunters can use the pet as a tank in solo and small-group play. The 10 Nov official hotfix list fixed a bug that had given pets 150% of their normal health and corrected that to 115%. Exact family rankings for tanking are not published. [Unconfirmed]
See also: Hunter talents · Hunter stat priority · Hunter macros · Warlock pets.
Sources
- Blizzard — WoW: Forever Class Deep Dives: Hunter and Druid
- Blizzard — WoW Forever Beta Development Notes (Updated October 26)
- Blizzard: WoW Forever hotfixes, November 10 2026
- Blizzard forums (Kaivax): Class Tuning Incoming, November 10
