Mailcall:Wolf vs Cat pet

We got mail! Yep honest to goodness mail!!   Granted, this in regards to a recent Scattered Shots article on WoW.com, but it was addressed to Brigwyn and sent to the Lodge’s email. YAY!!

Anyways, I got a nice note from Dru  wanting a bit more clarification on the whole pet thing.  Anyways, instead of me trying to ask the question let’s see what Dru had to say.

Hi there,

I read your recent Scattered Shots column (which I love and have learned much from).

It was timely because I was discussing Wolves with 2 good hunter friends I raid with who said I should really get one. I have used a Cat ( Cursed Offspring of Har’koa) for months and he has been a great tank and solo pet.

I decided to tame and try out a Wolf and got an 80 Frostfang Wolf.
When I compared their stats the cat and wolf are identical except in the following:
the cat has alot more stamina, power and damage than the wolf. I realize the wolf adds addition melee and ranged attack due to the Furious Howl.

so I am still a bit confused about the preference of the wolf over the cat. Is it the difference between raid vs quest/solo needs? wouldn’t additional stamina/power/damage be important in raids too?

sorry if this is a bit of a noob question. I have only been playing wow for about a year, and everyday I learn something new.

Dru

Heya Dru!

I’m glad to hear that your like Scattered Shots and hope you find The Hunting Lodge just as interesting.

Let me say gratz on taming Cursed Offspring of Har’koa.  I’ve always thought they were pretty sweet looking mysef.

Now back to your question. Why all the praise for people getting a wolf over a tank?  It really all stems from the Best Possible DPS thread over in the Elitist Jerk’s Hunter Forum.  Unlike here at the Lodge were we take the DPS Spreadsheet and use it to “model” possibilities.  There it’s a what is the best.  Then that best is distributed through blogs like WoW.com, the Lodge, Stabilized Effort Scope, even Aspect of the Hare and The Hunter’s Mark as being the next best thing.

Now, are you ready for the ugly truth?  Everything in the game is situational.  I can give recommended pets, pet specs, gear lists, shot priorities, etc… but unless you have the exact same raid group that I use for the recommendation, with the exact same buffs as listed in any of the spreadsheets you may actually have totally different results.

This is why you’ll find people that will troll forums and blogs saying that their spec is better and does x amount more DPS.  Honestly? They’re probably correct just don’t realize it.

I will admit that all of us bloggers could be better at putting some sort of “Your mileage may vary” disclaimer in our posts.  The information is correct, but only for that situation.  You have my apologies in advance for the confusion.

So here’s my rule of thumb for any advice given or taken, especially in regards to this game.  It’s only a guideline.  Make sure you read up and get a better understanding of the specs posted.  If the blogger only posts up the recommended specs without giving the entire situation, then know it should be taken more as a guideline and not a hard  and fast rule.

On the other hand, if any min/max raider out there want’s to say here’s the hard and fast rule and if you don’t like it walk away! My suggestion is to not walk but run away.  Trust me, you won’t really be happy in the long run.

Also, play around with The Hunter DPS Spreadsheet.  You’ll see how this works and how you can make the stats show anything from a Moth being on top of the DPS charts to a Cat or a Wolf.

In the end what is important is for you to be enjoy the game, be happy with your pet, and secure that a few hundered DPS really isn’t going to make or break a raid.  Sure, min/maxers don’t want to hear that.  But it won’t.

I’m guessing this wasn’t the exact answer you were looking for, but hopefully it answered your question.  If not, feel free to drop me a line and we’ll go deeper into the details.

Happy Hunting!
Brig