Low-Level Taming Aids & Techniques
For many hunters, taming a pet is a routine activity. Sure, there are some especially challenging tames out there, but for most run-of-the-mill creatures you plop down your Freezing Trap and you hit Tame Beast, and that’s that.
Of course, things are a little more interesting when you can’t just plop down a Freezing Trap — for instance, when you are under level 20 and don’t know Freezing Trap yet.
To help out in that situation, here’s a short list of some useful items that can help with taming.
| Item | Effect | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Magic Dust | Puts the enemy target to sleep for up to 30 sec. Any damage caused will awaken the target. Only one target can be asleep at a time. (1 Min Cooldown) | Magic Dust is dropped by Dust Devils in Westfall. Although Dust Devils aren’t especially common, they can be farmed by anyone — no quest required — and the Magic Dust is not Bind on Pickup. |
| Slumber Sand | Puts the enemy target to sleep for up to 20 sec. Any damage caused will awaken the target. Only one target can be asleep at a time. Unreliable on targets above level 30. (1 Min Cooldown) | Slumber Sand is a reward from the quest A New Plague in Tirisfal Glades. Unfortunately, it is Bind on Pickup and can therefore only be used by Horde hunters. |
| Really Sticky Glue | Renders a target unable to move for 10 sec. (1 Min Cooldown) | Really Sticky Glue is a reward from the quest A Solvent Spirit in Durotar. Unfortunately, it is Bind on Pickup and can therefore only be used by Horde hunters. |
In addition to these very useful items, there are also two more available to Alliance hunters that can help keep you alive during the taming process: Severed Voodoo Claw and Bag of Marbles.
However, just because we’ve been talking about items, don’t forget to use your own special abilities! Here’s a couple in particular that can help:
- Aspect of the Monkey
- Concussive Shot
- Wing Clip
- Scare Beast
Plus, it’s often possible to use the landscape to slow down your target as well. Try standing behind a tree or on the other side of a hill and note how your target paths to you. Sometimes they don’t take the quickest path by any means, and you can use that to your advantage.
It may take a little experimentation to learn the best way to combine your natural abilities with the lay of the land for an easier tame, but in the end you’ll know more about your class (and have a cool new pet to boot).
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Make sure your pet is alone wherever possible. This is an obvious suggestion for some, but others might not consider it. Remember that the moment you start your taming, you are catching aggro from your pet-to-be, *and* anyone else who is near to him might react to that aggro as well. Especially if they are linked ’servant’ mobs, like Timber’s two Starving Wolves, Princess’ Suitor, or Dishu’s cubs. Either kill those ones, or prepare to take a beating from them.
You cannot tame if you do not gain aggro. So no getting your friend to tank the pet while you tame them. You *have* to have them paying attention to you or the tame will break. However, a friend *can* throw healing on you while you tame without breaking it.
*Always* use Aspect Of The Monkey while taming. Even if it only lets you dodge one extra attack, that one attack might just be the one that would kill you. Or the special attack that would otherwise break your focus.
Another skill that’s good for low level taming is race specific. Draenai have their race healing ability…something of the Naru. It’s a short heal over time spell and if you cast it right before you start taming it will help quite a bit.
The only trouble is that it has a long cooldown so if you cast it only to find your target has moved out of taming range and you need to spend a few seconds following it, the spell is nearly done and now you’d have to wait a few minutes before it’s back up.
Just a note, it really can’t be underestimated how useful a friend can be when taming a pet. The only rules for taming are you CAN’T lose aggro. Anything past that is fair game. Buffs are a great aid when taming, if you’re off to tame a particularly difficult catch at the soonest level possible, don’t be afraid to go ask a Druid, Paladin, and Priest for any helpful buffs they can offer. Shaman’s Stoneskin and Grace of Air can both be really handy. Healing Stream too, as it’s a very low aggro Heal.
Snares are really helpful as long as they don’t cause you to lose aggro. Entangling Roots, Frost Nova, rank 1 Frostbolt, Peircing Howl, Earthbind Totem, Hamstring, etc… Are all great for keeping the aggro on you, but the pet’s movement speed low since you can’t replace Conc Shot while taming. Druid’s Sleep spell is especcially good for this! Careful with asking that Shaman for Frostshock though, it’s a high aggro spell, so the risks are there.
Lastly, since this was already mentioned, Heals are excellent, of course.
Two more tricks…
1) Temp Pets: I see this a lot, when heading out to get that new pet, many people put their old pet in the stables and solo out. Well, go grab a temp pet just in case. Even if you traversing someplace low level, a temp pet could give you the time you need to head out. When you spot the one you want, the temp pet can help clear out the area and set you up. Then, just abandon the temp pet before starting to tame the one you want.
2) Re-gear: grab out the PvP armour you have in the bank; the pieces with high stamina and high armour. Put them on before taming. That extra armour and stamina might just give you those extra seconds you need (especially on a pet who is immune to traps, etc…)
The trick I always found most helpful and not mentioned here was to just get another hunter to tag along.
Drop freezing trap about 5 yards out. Back up a yard or two. Hit with concussive. Start taming. When pet you’re taming is frozen have your hunter friend drop another freezing trap on top to keep it frozen.
It will work 99.9% of that time but there’s always that .1% where the pet will resist your trap or the friend’s so the concussive slows it down getting to the trap and hopefully you’ll have it tamed before it manages to hit you.
Especially useful for difficult mobs like Sian-Rotam that like to fear and mess up your taming.
Yes, technically you can be healed while taming, but healing can also pull aggro and that will break the taming cycle. The best would be to have a priest put “Prayer of Mending” on you, because the healing from that counts towards your aggro and not the healer’s.
I just pop on AotM and take it like a man. I reserve the use of Scare Beast for those that have an interrupt and can be difficult to tame, such as the Iceclaw Bears and at higher-levels, Gorillas.
Also, even at the lowest of levels, there is well-fed food available to give you a boost in Stamina. Some quests give potions that will help, aside from the few excellent things Mania listed. Slumber Sand rocks!
I know it makes it much easier to have friends to help with adds and such, but I am a bit more fickle about the idea. To me, being a hunter is all about man vs. beast, not party vs. mob. When I tame a beast, I must be alone. Silly, but far more challenging.
The problem is, this is for the leveled hunters who *don’t have Freezing Trap*. :) So the above hint doesn’t help. I think the point of this was for the low-level tames. Your level 10 and above, before your first good Freeze Trap.
Concussive Shot is always a good one, though. Shoot it, then start taming immediately. The slowing down means there’s more time for you to tick through your tame while they’re trying to get to you.
Someone above mentioned the special ability of the Naaru. If you’re a Dwarf, there’s also Stoneform, to give yourself a boost to armor. It’s only a handful of seconds, but extra armor for that handful might be the difference. Plus, if you’re trying to tame a poisonous creature (Scorpid as first pet, maybe?) it’ll not only prevent it, but cleanse what’s on you.
The chances are unless you are level 19 for example trying to tame a level 19 with level 1 armour you will have no problems with health unless you get attacked by other mobs when taming, yes you will lose a lot of health but in around 70 + tames i have never been killed by the beast i was taming , been killed by other mobs once or twice and had my life saved when the tame finished though.
The real problem for many new hunters is being in the wrong place to tame , always if possible scout the area and unless it is a special mob like the strider clutch mother with her young which need killing before taming , so thats a kill and run away a few times job and she has a bad habit of breaking the tame when she hits , or the mist howler wolf which is the same when taming except he fears you , i tried him at 10 levels above him stood well away used a freeze trap and after running away three times gave up .
for those without freeze trap always stand at maximum distance and if possible with trees or rocks or something in the way before trying to tame as the longer the beast takes to get to you the easier it is to tame , unless you are after something special most pets are close to a road , for example in the Ne area the strigid hunter is near a road that has claw 2 well worth taming even if you want a cat , the other pet to get there is the webwood silkspinner or the giant webwood both have bite 2 , if you want a cat tame both the owl and the spider first .
other areas are the same, most times the pet you want can be found near a road or at least somewhere you can be sure nothing will come from behind , and if you have been questing in the area you should have already spotted safe places to try and do the tame anyway
i recently went to the ghostlands with 2 of my hunters to tame the ghostclaw ravager ? cat as its got bite and claw 3 and not having been to that area yet i stayed on the road both times and spotted the cats easily and tamed just off the road so no mobs to worry about , i hope this does help new hunters get the pet they want easier as i remember when i first started i had all sorts of fun trying to tame pets
You could also have a cross-faction buddy drop some Really Sticky Glue or Slumber Sand on your potential pet after you’ve started taming it. The pet has aggro on you, you’re taming, the trap item causes no damage so it shouldn’t break aggro and end the taming.
Ah, Magic Dust. I still remember farming that stuff for the Un’Goro demon portion of the Rhok’Delar quest. May we never farm dust devils again!
You can also have a mage polymorph your tame target. Probably the easiest way to get something tamed.
When I was level 16 and grabbing flight paths via ghost-running all over Azeroth, I had with me a level 24 druid friend. He not only led me around to the flight paths, but also helped me immensely in getting new pet skills tamed by hibernating the animals I needed to tame during the taming process. We only had one problem where he pulled with hibernate and so had aggro and I couldn’t tame, but that was only once and was fixed easily by him running out of range of combat and letting us restart the tame.
I actually read (and it does make sense) somewhere that Aspect of the Monkey doesn’t help as you can’t dodge while channeling a spell.
I’ve done no research myself, and I do know that it certainly doesn’t hurt to have it active.
Maybe I am wrong but I’ve always had the impression that when you are taming, you lose all armor from items. If that’s true adding better armor doesn’t really help..
get a druid to Hibernate the thing you’re trying to tame.
Works every time, no mats required, works on both factions. ;)
Usualy my new hunters just where through the damage, but recently I was getting Guttripper on my higher hunter, and being imune to Freezing/Frost trap doesn’t make it a very 70-feeling tame. (correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t it basicaly a high level remake of a low level tame, so to speak?)
I had a preist come along, just let him slap a sheild on me, and fired a distracting shot at the owl before I started taming. Pretty hard tame anyway though, that owl hits hard…
(Disclamer - I did absolutely no *real* research on this, other than from my own experience. If I posted something wrong, totaly my bad. Like, maybe you don’t get distracting shot at such a low level, etc.)
Aspect of the Monkey does work to a degree when taming. As when I was a low level hunter (And on several of my hunter alts) I HAVE dodged during the taming process or I’ve had the animal miss me completely. So it may effect the miss/hit ratio over the Dodge Ratio. Who knows.
All hints have been given. But I can say its not a bad thing just to grit your teeth and take it like any man would. Sure you’ll take damage but thats the fun part of ‘bonding’ with your pet. Heck, if you was some random cat walking out in the wild you’d want to smack this guy around for trying to tame you to!
Bringing a buddy along would be wonderful for those hard to tame pets (Clutch Mother, Dishu, etc.) anything with a group that would attack you would be a nice thing to do. Such as Dishu with her summoning cubs, have a buddy there to kill the cubs but leave the aggro of Dishu on you. Works well with Clutch Mother as well especially if you want to take too much time and waste items to heal yourself from the run away. Instead just have your friend there to kill the chicks, while you pop a shot on her and tame away.
Healing is all right when taming but you have to avoid losing the aggro, the moment a Priest pops a healing spell on you you will lose that aggro and then you will need to reset. The only good healing spells, like state would be the Prayer of Mending since everything else that involves healing would burn your aggro straight into the ground, unless you have Gift of the Naruu and can heal yourself.
armors goes to 0 reguardless of what you use during tameing.stamina is good though.haveing a druid hibernate works wonderfully though as long as its AFTER you start tameing.i generally try to avoid scare beast because as a fear spell you dont get any real control over where the pet runs off to.iv had tame break a few times because the beast ran out of range.plus it could aggro other mobs onto you…
Yeah pre-freeze trap tameing can be a challenge sometimes. My usualy is getting the most distance between me and the to-be pet. Usually have him pathing away and using a con shot then start taming. One of the hardest low lvl tames is the green ravagers on Bloodmyst Isle. They have a knockback that they almost always use when you are 90% thru the tame. Even using a con shot and pulling the longest path possile they usually break the tame. With my newest hunter, a Troll, I knew I wanted to get one. So I made my way to Blodmyst. Yes the first tries I had to run becaue of the knockback. but on my 3rd try the AotM dodged it and the tame finished. So I have first hand experience of the dodge working and not breaking tame.
To Myc,s comment about armour yes it does not count but i think the stamina and other stuff on armour still does unless i am wrong ? , you need all the health you can get so any scrolls of stamina or agility you have are very useful when taming , at high level on those pets resistant to the freeze trap i have buffed with scrolls and by priest or others buffs and still managed to tame them , yet without have died fast .
I wouldn’t recommend healing! There was one time I was taming a pet and BAM random Resto shammy heals me right before taming is done! Well I got about 1k hp but I lost the pet and had to do it ll over again lol
Yes, it was mostly the +Sta I was talking about… I also recently picked up Gutripper for fun, and could not solo it with my PvE gear. Putting on my PvP gear gave me over 4K more health (yes, by gear is not great :P), plenty to pick up a nice looking owl…
At lower levels, where one does not have Freezing Trap yet, or a full 20sec Freezing trap (pre 60s), the extra health can make the difference between sucess and failure.
K’
Im a low lvl Dwarf Hunter and Im only lvl 13 right now and I was just wondering what kind of pet would be good for me right now so far I have had the Princess from the Brackwell Pumpkin Patch. Then I ended up getting a diffrent pet from Westfall. But I was thinking when I get to lvl 18 I would be heading towards Redridge Mountains because their is a very sweet pet I want from their. I was wanting to get one of those little Dragon things that are called welps or something like that. But otherwise IDK what a very good pet would be good to have.
Put me down in the Sheep catagory. :) Quick, simple and easy you turn mr. Timber into a sheep, he wanders around on the ice looking lost, the hunter starts to tame him, and ms. mage handles the other two adds :)
So easy it feels like cheating!
Zakarith,
I’ve got a carrion bird (vulture) named Igor. Yes, he’s not the most damaging pet, but he’s turning into a good, solid pet to have. I’ve tried just about every pet out there under lvl 40 at various times. Gorillas are great for Area of Effect tanking, though they lack out right DPS.
For choosing a pet, first find out what you want from a pet. Here is how I settled on Igor. Do I want high damage, but don’t mind fragility? Do I want a solid pet, but don’t mind carrying the bulk of the DPS? Do I want to buy all my food? Do I mind having focus problems until I get to level 30? Do I want a focus dump ability? Are there other buffs/debuffs that I’d like to have? Do I want the hassle of going deep into enemy territory for the pet I really want?
Here’s what I decided. I wanted good health and armor, and didn’t mind loosing some dps for it. I didn’t want to have to buy all my food stuffs. I mind having focus problems, but not majorly. In the long run, I do want a focus dump, and none of the other buffs/debuffs really appeal to me beyond screech. And I didn’t want to go deep into enemy territory for a pet. This kind of limited me to a number of pets. Cats, Wolves and Carrion Birds topped the list. I decided to go with a Carrion Bird since they’re a bit less common than a cat.
My Troll does have a cat, and I do have something to add. If your pet has Cower, pay the fee to get rid of it. Not that it is totally useless, but I noticed that there was a dramatic increase in his speed afterward.
I’m a little puzzled by all of this. I don’t use any of these tricks, and the only time I ever got killed by the beast I was trying to tame was when I got over-eager and tried taming before my health was at full. OK, I’ve never tried taming an elite, because I’m not all that bothered about what my pet looks like (and all pets of a type are the same once tamed). Freezing trap? Never use it. Aspect of the Monkey? I use it when I remember, but mostly I forget. And I rarely have any armour better than green.
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