Primer on Ranger Pets
As a Ranger choosing the right pet is incredibly important to you doing well in Guild Wars 2. A good portion of your damage and play-style will depend on what pet you choose.
No matter what spec you choose to run with there will be pets that will compliment your play-style. When choosing a pet you should already have a spec in mind so that you can bring one to the table that works with your spec not against it. Or vise versa, find a pet you just love playing with and build your spec around its strengths. Either way, the way you spec your traits and the pet you choose should go hand in hand to make a cohesive whole.
In this primer on Ranger pets I will try to give you the broad-stroke tools to make an informed decision on which pet(s) fit best with you. I will also give my opinion on why a certain pet would be strong or weak for a certain role.
General pet knowledge
First thing you need to know is that you can have 2 active land pets and 2 active water pets at any time. Pets in the water slots can not be used on land and pets in the land spot can not be used in water. There are 3 categories of pets: land, amphibious, and water. Land only works on land, water only works on water and amphibious works on both. During combat you can swap between your two active pets as often as you like, with a cool-down in between swaps. You can swap out a downed pet for a live one but it makes the cooldown to get the first pet back take longer to finish. The advantage is that your downed pet will come back as a live pet when the cool-down finishes.
Any pets that you have tamed and in your non active pet bank will be able to be swapped out to those active spots as long as you are not in combat and the pet type can go in that slot.
You will want to pick 2 pets that will either fill two specific roles in your spec, or 2 pets that will both fill a single role well. An example of the former is a close combat pet and a ranged pet. An example of the latter is two tanky pets that can be switched out often to preserve their lives. You will make these decisions for both your land slots and your water slots.
Now on to the pets
As stated above there are 3 types of pets: Land, Amphibious, and Water. In each type are pet families and each family has between 1 and 4 specific pets in it.
Land pets are: Birds, Boars, Canines, Moas, and Spiders
Amphibious pets are: Bears, Devourers, Drakes, and Felines
Water pets are: Armorfish, Jellyfish, and Sharks
Pets have a few stats just like the player does that is part of the equation of determining what pet is good for what spec.
Those stats are:
Power = raw damage output
Precision = amount of critical hit chance
Toughness = damage mitigation or armor
Vitality = health pool
Each of these categories varies in numbers from animal to animal, but they all fit in a high, medium, and low category for each. As an example Brown Bears have high vitality compared to other pets, but low precision power and toughness.
The other part of the equation of why a certain pet would fit well with your spec is its attacks. Each pet family has 3 auto attacks that it will use that you have no control over. Each specific pet type will also have one attack that you are in control of activating when you see fit. All 4 attacks can be anything from activating boons, to doing more damage, to healing to just about anything a player can do.
When I list the pets family I will detail what the 3 auto attacks are and do and on each individual pet in the family I will detail their activate-able (here out called the F2) attack.
Land Only Pets
Birds
Slash: basic attack. No cooldown.
Swoop: high damage attack that counts as a leap combo finisher, that also inflicts the vulnerable condition for 12 seconds. 8 second cooldown
Quickening Screech: A boon application that gives swiftness to allies in the area. 20 second cooldown
Birds are good for a support spec that will be constantly on the move. The quickening screech will help you or your group to chase down runners, and swoop's cooldown is less than the vulnerable condition so expect the armor reduction to be up most of the time. Each bird's F2 attack puts some sort of condition on the enemy.
Birds have high precision but low power, toughness, and vitality. Expect to get more than the usual amount of crits. Also expect to have to manage your pet more closely than others to keep it alive in aoe or splash damage situations and if it gets focused you will want to swap it out on a regular basis or bring it back to your side.
Eagle or Hawk
F2: Lacerating Slash - a medium-high damage attack that will inflict 1 bleed on the foe. 6 second cooldown.
There are better bleeds on other pet families, but if you want a long range condition damage build these are your birds. The 6 second cooldown on the F2 is extremely short for a pet which should help make up for the fact it is only a single bleed.
Owl
F2: Chilling Slash – a medium-high damage attack that will inflict chilled on the foe. 20 second cooldown. This is the best movement slow in the game at 66% and it also makes their skills recharge slower.
The owl is great for chasing down running foes (especially solo) so that you can get yourself in range and they have less of a chance to do anything about it.
Black Raven or White Raven
F2: Blinding Slash – a high damage attack that will blind the enemy making his next attack miss. 18 second cooldown.
I am not a big fan of blind since it is a condition that doesn't stack in intensity or duration. It can be very powerful if you have high situational awareness and can predict a large damage spell coming. then you can completely negate it, but I prefer the other F2's in the bird family.
Boars
Jab: basic attack. No cooldown
Maul: medium damage attack causing 1 bleed. 12 second cooldown
Brutal Charge: medium-high damage attack that causes a 3 second knockdown and counts as a leap finisher. Long cooldown of 40 seconds
Boars are pets with low power, precision, and toughness but high vitality. Unfortunately a high health pool without other stats to back it up, does not a good pet make. All boars have a unique F2 that will have your pet go out and forage for a replacement weapon. Sure it's fun to have him find random weapons that you can then play with, but it is a novelty skill that, because of its randomness and long cooldown is really not useful in a fight. Add to the fact that his best attack: Brutal Charge is on a 40 second cooldown and his other two are equal to or worse than other pets.
Boars are for people who like the boar family skins and are willing to give up some damage and survivability for a unique F2 skill. Plus who doesn't love bacon? Even if it is still running on all four hooves. I expect to see these pets favored more by the rp crowd with names like Pumba on a warthog or maybe Wigglyboop.
Boar, Pig, Siamoth, and Warthog:
F2: Forage – search the area for an improvised weapon. 40 second cooldown
Fun but not very useful, and on an extremely long cooldown.
Canines
Bite: basic attack. No cooldown
Crippling Leap: a high damage attack that causes a 5 second cripple (50% movement speed reduction). 20 second cooldown
Brutal Charge: a high damage attack that knocks down the target for 2 seconds. Counts as a leap combo finisher. 40 second cooldown.
Canines are excelent damage pets with high power, medium precision, medium toughness, but low vitality. High damage on two of their auto attacks paired with their high base power make them hit like a truck. Brutal Charge has a very long range, over twice that of most attacks. Calling the canine to attack from long range will probably trigger this attack first and if timed right the knockdown will interrupt a cast. The Alpine Wolf is a great control pet with the Krytan Drakehound a close second, and the Hyena is one of the best damage pets in the game as explained below.
Alpine Wolf:
F2: Chilling Howl – a very low damage attack that applies a 4 second chilled condition. 30 second cooldown. With this F2 the cripple and the knockdown, the Alpine Wolf is one of the best control pets in the game.
Fern Hound:
F2: Regenerate – grant regeneration to nearby allies for 10 seconds. 25 second cooldown. This is a good pet to help with mele range survivability. Both for the pet and allies in the area.
Hyena:
F2: Howl of the Pack – summon a second hyena. 45 second cooldown. This F2 makes the hyena arguably the highest damage pet in the game. You will effectively double your pet damage output for 15 seconds out of every 45. Expect to see multiple knockdowns and cripples.
Krytan Drakehound:
F2: Intimidating Howl – a low damage attack that will immobilize a foe for 2 seconds. 20 second cooldown. The Drakehound comes in at a close second to the Alpine Wolf for use as a control pet. It is close enough that if you prefer the skin of the Drakehound you won't be losing much in the play-style.
Wolf:
F2: Terrifying Howl – a low damage attack that causes a 2 second fear. 45 second cooldown. I personally think this is the worst choice of the cainines. While the fear does interrupt a cast it moves the enemy (possibly to a bad position) and has a very long cooldown for the benefit. Add to the fact that we have almost no other fears means this skill is not very synergistic with the rest of your skill set.
Moas
Peck: basic attack. No cooldown.
Harmonic Cry: heal yourself and allies in the area. 40 second cooldown
Frenzied Attack: a high damage attack that adds 2 stacks of vulnerable for 10 secoonds. 20 second cooldown.
Moas have low power, medium precision, low toughness, and high vitality. Low toughness and low to middle of the road dps stats mean they arent the best choice for offensive pets, but the heal and vulnerability condition application together with some great support F2 attacks make moas an excellent choice for a support pet.
Black Moa or Flamingo:
F2: Dazing Screech – an average damage attack that dazes foes for 2 seconds making them unable to use spells. 20 second cooldown. Good all around support role moa. Choose between Black Moa and Flamingo for which skin you like better.
Blue Moa:
F2: Protecting Screech – grant protection for 10 seconds to nearby allies. 40 second cooldown. A great choice for a defense based support pet.
Golden Moa:
F2: Call of the Wind – grant swiftness and vigor to allies for 15 seconds. 40 second cooldown. A great choice for support in teams that rely on high movement and evasion.
Red Moa:
F2: Furious Screech – grant fury to nearby allies for 15 seconds. 30 second cooldown. The only damage support moa and with 20% crit 15 seconds out of 30 is a good choice if your team doesn't need the defensive cooldowns of other moa's F2 abilities.
White Moa:
F2: Icy Screech – chill nearby enemies. 30 second cooldown. Chilled is the best slow in the game and this is the best moa if you want to mix some control spec in with your support spec.
Spiders
Spit: basic attack, ranged. Counts as projectile combo finisher. No cooldown.
Entangling Web: a medium damage attack that immobilizes your foe for 3 seconds, ranged. Counts as projectile combo finisher. 20 second cooldown.
Poison Gas: ranged, shoot a poison cloud at your foe. Applies poison condition. Counts as combo field. 20 second cooldown.
Spiders have low power, medium precision, low toughness and high vitality. Spiders are one of two pet types that uses ranged attacks. Devourers are the other. Spiders are more offensive focused while Devourers are more defensive focused. All of the spiders attacks are ranged so he will hapily sit out of mele range and attack. The spider will not however actively move away from enimies to stay at range. Probably a better choice for glass cannon builds that stay at ranged since they have a slight edge in the amount of damage they output over devourers, however they do need more pet management.
One tactic that can be used with both spiders and devourers is to set them to attack so they stay in place then position yourself behind them. You can still shoot above them but they will act as a shield for incoming damage for you. Make sure to keep them healed though. Spiders are slightly better at this tactic since they will not move away if enemies come into mele range.
Black Widdow or Jungle Spider:
F2: Paralizing Venom – immobilize your foe for 2 seconds. 45 second cooldown. One of the only times I like immobilize on such a long cooldown because you can use it to keep a foe in the poison cloud that your pet just put down for a second application of poison.
Cave Spider:
F2: Weakening Venom – causes weakness and vulnerability for 5 seconds. 30 second cooldown. Weakness isn't as usefull as immobilize, but on a shorter cooldown it comes down to play-style as to weither you want to use this spider or the Black Widdow/ Jungle Spider.
Forrest Spider:
F2: Deadly Venom – your next 3 attacks cause poison. 30 second cooldown. This is the dps spider. With the poison cloud and Deadly Venom you could get an easy 4 or 5 stacks of poison on your foe, which uncleansed, could last the whole fight since it stacks in duration. Great pet for a condition application build.
Water Only Pets
Armorfishes
Bite: high damage basic attack. No cooldown
Protection: grant protection to yourself for 3 seconds. 30 second cooldown
Chomp: high damage attack that heals yourself. 12 second cooldown
The Armorfish has low power, medium precision, high toughness, and medium vitality. This is the underwater tanking pet. With protection self boon and Chomp that heals every 12 seconds on top of high toughness and decent vitality it should be hard to kill the armorfish. Add the stun and the enemy has even more trouble finishing off your pet. Right now there is only the Armorfish in the Armorfish family, but I expect them to add more.
Armorfish:
F2: Stun Rush – high damage attack that stuns the enemy for 2 seconds. Counts as a leap combo finisher. 40 second cooldown
Jellyfishes
Tentacle Slash: high damage basic attack. No cooldown
Healing Cloud: grant regeneration to you and your allies for 10 seconds. 30 second cooldown
Dark Water: low damage attack that causes blind on foes for 3 seconds. Counts as a smoke combo field. 40 second cooldown
Jellyfish have medium power, medium, precision, low toughness and high vitality. This seems like the all around underwater pet. With a combo field that causes blind and whirl finishers on all the F2 attacks Jellyfish are good in underwater aoe situations. High vitality and a self heal they also should need less pet management than many pets on land or water.
Blue Jellyfish or Rainbow Jellyfish:
F2: Chilling Whirl – high damage whirl attack that causes chilled for 1 second. Counts as whirl combo finisher. 30 second cooldown.
Green Jellyfish:
F2: Poisoning Whirl – cause poison for 5 seconds. Counts as whirl combo finisher. 30 second cooldown
Red Jellyfish
F2: Immobilizing Whirl – immobilize your foe for 1 second. Counts as whirl combo finisher. 30 second cooldown.
Sharks
Bite: low damage basic attack that causes bleed. No cooldown
Charging Bite: low damage multiple attack that causes bleeds. Counts as leap combo finisher. 20 second cooldown
Fear: cause a 2 second fear. 40 second cooldown.
Sharks have high power, medium precision, low toughness, and low vitality. Sharks are the underwater high dps pet. With tons and tons of bleeds doing most of the damage Sharks fit really well in a condition application build. The Shark is the only pet in the Shark family, but I expect they will add more
Shark:
F2: Feeding Frenzy – attack faster and bleed on each hit. 45 second cooldown
Amphibious Pets
Bears
Slash: basic attack. No cooldown
Bite: a medium damage attack that grants 10 seconds of regeneration. 20 second cooldown
Defy Pain: take no damage for a few seconds
Bears have low power, medium precision, low toughness, but extremely high vitality. Along with their self heal and attack immunity on cooldown bears are set up to be the best tank pets in the game. Choose one that has an F2 attack that compliments your spec. You can't just “set it and forget it” with any pet, but the bear is a lot more forgiving to neglect than other pets.
Arctodus:
Land/Water F2: Rending Maul – a medium damage attack that causes a 6 second bleed. 15 second cooldown. 12 second cooldown for 6 seconds of bleed is a strong offensive attack on a mostly defensive pet. Not the best bear choice.
Black Bear:
Land F2: Enfeebling Roar – cause weakness. 45 second cooldown
Water F2: Enfeebling Maul – medium damage attack that causes weakness. 20 second cooldown. I am not a fan of weakness condition. Its not bad but not that good either. The black bear is better underwater than on land because the F2 does damage and has a shorter cooldown.
Brown Bear:
Land F2: Shake it Off – remove a condition from yourself and allies near you. 25 second cooldown
Water F2: Purge Conditions – remove all conditions from yourself. 30 second cooldown. The best pure tanking pet with the removal of conditions. Keep in mind that on land the F2 only removes 1 condition, in the water it removes all conditions from the bear only.
Murrello:
Land F2: Poison Cloud – a low damage attack that drops a poison cloud. Counts as a combo field. 35 second cooldown.
Water F2: Poison Maul – a medium damage attack that poisons your foe. 20 second cooldown. A good damage tanking pet if you can afford to leave conditions on the pet. Poison cloud is a strong combo field for killing foes.
Polar Bear:
Land F2: Icy Roar – chill nearby foes. 45 second cooldown
Water F2: Icy Maul – a medium damage attack that chills your foe. 30 second cooldown. A good condition tanking pet if you can afford to leave conditions on the pet. Chilled is the best slow in the game.
Devourers
Twin Darts: high damage basic attack that has a 10% chance to cause poison. Counts as projectile combo finisher. No cooldown
Tail Lash: medium damage attack that knocks back nearby foes. 20 second cooldown
Devourer Retreat: when foes get close the devourer repositions itself further away. 20 second cooldown.
Devourers have low power, medium precision, high toughness and low vitality. Devourers and Spiders are the only two ranged pets available to the ranger. Devourers are the only ranged pet that can fight in the water. Spiders are more of an offensive ranged pet where Devourers are more of a defensive ranged pet. With the knockback, retreat, and high toughness expect the devourer to take care of itself better than the spider.
One tactic that can be used with both spiders and devourers is to set them to attack so they stay in place then position yourself behind them. You can still shoot above them but they will act as a shield for incoming damage for you. Make sure to keep them healed though. Devourers are slightly worse at this tactic since they will move away if enemies come into mele range.
Carrion Devourer:
Land F2: Poison Cloud - a low damage attack that drops a 5 second poison cloud. Counts as a combo field. 30 second cooldown.
Water F2: Regenerate – gain a 15 second regeneration. 30 second cooldown
Lashtail Devourer:
Land F2: Rending Barbs – a high damage attack that rapidly launches projectiles that bleed your target for 5 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
Water F2: Lashtail Venom – your next 2 attacks stun your victim. 60 second cooldown.
Whiptail Devourer:
Land F2: Poison Barbs – a high damage attack that shoots a cone of barbs in front of you that causes poison. Counts as projectile combo finisher. 30 second cooldown
Water F2: Poison Cloud - a low damage attack that drops a 5 second poison cloud. Counts as a combo field. 30 second cooldown.
Drakes
Bite: basic attack. No cooldown
Chomp: high damage attack that heals yourself. 20 second cooldown
Tail Swipe: an extremely high attack that hits multiple foes. Counts as a blast finisher. 30 second cooldown.
Drakes have high power, medium precision, medium toughness and low vitality. With a high damage tail swipe and different breath weapons for each they are good aoe and jack of all trades pets. They don't specialize in any one spec but can be used in many situations. The ice drake is more of a control pet, but the other three are damage pets. Choose the one you like the best.
Ice Drake:
Land F2: Ice Breath – a high damage cone breath weapon that applies chilled for 5 seconds. 25 second cooldown.
Water F2: Frost Nova – a low damage attack that chills your foe for 3 seconds. 25 second cooldown.
Marsh Drake:
Land F2: Insect Swarm – a low damage attack that poisons your foe for 3 seconds. 30 second cooldown
Water F2: Poison Cloud - a low damage attack that drops a 4 second poison cloud. Counts as a combo field. 25 second cooldown.
River Drake:
Land F2: Lightning Breath – a low damage lightning attack that hits multiple foes. 30 second cooldown.
Water F2: Electrocute – a high damage attack. 30 second cooldown
Salamander Drake:
Land F2: Fire Breath – a high damage attack that causes 5 seconds of burning. 30 second cooldown.
Water F2: Boil – a high damage attack over 4 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
Felines
Slash: a basic attack that causes vulnerability. No cooldown
Bite: a high damage attack. 8 second cooldown
Maul: a low damage attack that causes bleed. 20 second cooldown.
Felines have low power, high crit, low toughness, and low vitality. Felines are one of two families that have the highest base crit. Felines also have very low cooldowns that also add conditions. With vulnerability on the basic attack the foe should always have reduced armor. In high crit and high condition application builds felines excel.
Jaguar:
Land/Water F2: Stalk – 6 seconds of stealth. 30 second cooldown. This F2 is only for rangers who want more control over their pet so they can detarget their pet from the enemy.
Jungle Stalker:
Land/Water F2: Mighty Roar – give 3 stacks of might to yourself and allies for 10 seconds. 30 second cooldown. Might is a powerful boon and you get 3 stacks of it. And for allies in the area. My favorite feline and it is the starting choice for some of the races.
Lynx:
Land/Water F2: Rending Leap – a high damage attack that causes 2 stacks of bleed. Counts as leap combo finisher. 15 second cooldown. If the Jungle Stalker didn't give 3 stacks of might this feline would be the top pic for damage and condition builds. As it is, the lynx comes in a close second with the fast cooldown on the F2.
Snow Leopard:
Land F2: Icy Leap – a high damage attack that chills your foe for 2 seconds. Counts as a leap combo finisher. 30 second cooldown.
Water F2: Icy Bite – a medium damage attack that chills your foe for 3 seconds. 25 second cooldown. If you want some control abilities with your feline this is the one. I can't say it enough chill is an amazing control condition as the best slow in the game.
Now that you have read the whole thing here is my reccomendations.
Pure Damage: Land – Hyena and Jungle Stalker / Water – Shark and Salamander Drake
Pure Control: Land – Brown Bear and Alpine Wolf / Water – Brown Bear and Armorfish
Pure Support: Land – Blue Moa and Golden Moa / Water – Blue/Rainbow Jellyfish and Green Jellyfish
Support/Damage: Land – Owl and Blue Moa / Water – Blue/Rainbow Jellyfish and Green Jellyfish
Control/Damage: Land – Fern Hound and Alpine Wolf/ Water – Arctodus and Armorfish
Jack of all Trades: Land – Any Drake / Water – Any Drake
High Precision Build: Land – Jungle Stalker and Hyena / Water – Shark and Jungle Stalker
Condition Application Build: Land = Forrest Spider and Lynx / Water – Shark and Green Jellyfish
note: these choices are my opinion only. I looked at how a pet would fit with a type of spec. If you come up with your own spec you may find that a different pet will fit better with it.
As a Ranger choosing the right pet is incredibly important to you doing well in Guild Wars 2. A good portion of your damage and play-style will depend on what pet you choose.
No matter what spec you choose to run with there will be pets that will compliment your play-style. When choosing a pet you should already have a spec in mind so that you can bring one to the table that works with your spec not against it. Or vise versa, find a pet you just love playing with and build your spec around its strengths. Either way, the way you spec your traits and the pet you choose should go hand in hand to make a cohesive whole.
In this primer on Ranger pets I will try to give you the broad-stroke tools to make an informed decision on which pet(s) fit best with you. I will also give my opinion on why a certain pet would be strong or weak for a certain role.
General pet knowledge
First thing you need to know is that you can have 2 active land pets and 2 active water pets at any time. Pets in the water slots can not be used on land and pets in the land spot can not be used in water. There are 3 categories of pets: land, amphibious, and water. Land only works on land, water only works on water and amphibious works on both. During combat you can swap between your two active pets as often as you like, with a cool-down in between swaps. You can swap out a downed pet for a live one but it makes the cooldown to get the first pet back take longer to finish. The advantage is that your downed pet will come back as a live pet when the cool-down finishes.
Any pets that you have tamed and in your non active pet bank will be able to be swapped out to those active spots as long as you are not in combat and the pet type can go in that slot.
You will want to pick 2 pets that will either fill two specific roles in your spec, or 2 pets that will both fill a single role well. An example of the former is a close combat pet and a ranged pet. An example of the latter is two tanky pets that can be switched out often to preserve their lives. You will make these decisions for both your land slots and your water slots.
Now on to the pets
As stated above there are 3 types of pets: Land, Amphibious, and Water. In each type are pet families and each family has between 1 and 4 specific pets in it.
Land pets are: Birds, Boars, Canines, Moas, and Spiders
Amphibious pets are: Bears, Devourers, Drakes, and Felines
Water pets are: Armorfish, Jellyfish, and Sharks
Pets have a few stats just like the player does that is part of the equation of determining what pet is good for what spec.
Those stats are:
Power = raw damage output
Precision = amount of critical hit chance
Toughness = damage mitigation or armor
Vitality = health pool
Each of these categories varies in numbers from animal to animal, but they all fit in a high, medium, and low category for each. As an example Brown Bears have high vitality compared to other pets, but low precision power and toughness.
The other part of the equation of why a certain pet would fit well with your spec is its attacks. Each pet family has 3 auto attacks that it will use that you have no control over. Each specific pet type will also have one attack that you are in control of activating when you see fit. All 4 attacks can be anything from activating boons, to doing more damage, to healing to just about anything a player can do.
When I list the pets family I will detail what the 3 auto attacks are and do and on each individual pet in the family I will detail their activate-able (here out called the F2) attack.
Land Only Pets
Birds
Slash: basic attack. No cooldown.
Swoop: high damage attack that counts as a leap combo finisher, that also inflicts the vulnerable condition for 12 seconds. 8 second cooldown
Quickening Screech: A boon application that gives swiftness to allies in the area. 20 second cooldown
Birds are good for a support spec that will be constantly on the move. The quickening screech will help you or your group to chase down runners, and swoop's cooldown is less than the vulnerable condition so expect the armor reduction to be up most of the time. Each bird's F2 attack puts some sort of condition on the enemy.
Birds have high precision but low power, toughness, and vitality. Expect to get more than the usual amount of crits. Also expect to have to manage your pet more closely than others to keep it alive in aoe or splash damage situations and if it gets focused you will want to swap it out on a regular basis or bring it back to your side.
Eagle or Hawk
F2: Lacerating Slash - a medium-high damage attack that will inflict 1 bleed on the foe. 6 second cooldown.
There are better bleeds on other pet families, but if you want a long range condition damage build these are your birds. The 6 second cooldown on the F2 is extremely short for a pet which should help make up for the fact it is only a single bleed.
Owl
F2: Chilling Slash – a medium-high damage attack that will inflict chilled on the foe. 20 second cooldown. This is the best movement slow in the game at 66% and it also makes their skills recharge slower.
The owl is great for chasing down running foes (especially solo) so that you can get yourself in range and they have less of a chance to do anything about it.
Black Raven or White Raven
F2: Blinding Slash – a high damage attack that will blind the enemy making his next attack miss. 18 second cooldown.
I am not a big fan of blind since it is a condition that doesn't stack in intensity or duration. It can be very powerful if you have high situational awareness and can predict a large damage spell coming. then you can completely negate it, but I prefer the other F2's in the bird family.
Boars
Jab: basic attack. No cooldown
Maul: medium damage attack causing 1 bleed. 12 second cooldown
Brutal Charge: medium-high damage attack that causes a 3 second knockdown and counts as a leap finisher. Long cooldown of 40 seconds
Boars are pets with low power, precision, and toughness but high vitality. Unfortunately a high health pool without other stats to back it up, does not a good pet make. All boars have a unique F2 that will have your pet go out and forage for a replacement weapon. Sure it's fun to have him find random weapons that you can then play with, but it is a novelty skill that, because of its randomness and long cooldown is really not useful in a fight. Add to the fact that his best attack: Brutal Charge is on a 40 second cooldown and his other two are equal to or worse than other pets.
Boars are for people who like the boar family skins and are willing to give up some damage and survivability for a unique F2 skill. Plus who doesn't love bacon? Even if it is still running on all four hooves. I expect to see these pets favored more by the rp crowd with names like Pumba on a warthog or maybe Wigglyboop.
Boar, Pig, Siamoth, and Warthog:
F2: Forage – search the area for an improvised weapon. 40 second cooldown
Fun but not very useful, and on an extremely long cooldown.
Canines
Bite: basic attack. No cooldown
Crippling Leap: a high damage attack that causes a 5 second cripple (50% movement speed reduction). 20 second cooldown
Brutal Charge: a high damage attack that knocks down the target for 2 seconds. Counts as a leap combo finisher. 40 second cooldown.
Canines are excelent damage pets with high power, medium precision, medium toughness, but low vitality. High damage on two of their auto attacks paired with their high base power make them hit like a truck. Brutal Charge has a very long range, over twice that of most attacks. Calling the canine to attack from long range will probably trigger this attack first and if timed right the knockdown will interrupt a cast. The Alpine Wolf is a great control pet with the Krytan Drakehound a close second, and the Hyena is one of the best damage pets in the game as explained below.
Alpine Wolf:
F2: Chilling Howl – a very low damage attack that applies a 4 second chilled condition. 30 second cooldown. With this F2 the cripple and the knockdown, the Alpine Wolf is one of the best control pets in the game.
Fern Hound:
F2: Regenerate – grant regeneration to nearby allies for 10 seconds. 25 second cooldown. This is a good pet to help with mele range survivability. Both for the pet and allies in the area.
Hyena:
F2: Howl of the Pack – summon a second hyena. 45 second cooldown. This F2 makes the hyena arguably the highest damage pet in the game. You will effectively double your pet damage output for 15 seconds out of every 45. Expect to see multiple knockdowns and cripples.
Krytan Drakehound:
F2: Intimidating Howl – a low damage attack that will immobilize a foe for 2 seconds. 20 second cooldown. The Drakehound comes in at a close second to the Alpine Wolf for use as a control pet. It is close enough that if you prefer the skin of the Drakehound you won't be losing much in the play-style.
Wolf:
F2: Terrifying Howl – a low damage attack that causes a 2 second fear. 45 second cooldown. I personally think this is the worst choice of the cainines. While the fear does interrupt a cast it moves the enemy (possibly to a bad position) and has a very long cooldown for the benefit. Add to the fact that we have almost no other fears means this skill is not very synergistic with the rest of your skill set.
Moas
Peck: basic attack. No cooldown.
Harmonic Cry: heal yourself and allies in the area. 40 second cooldown
Frenzied Attack: a high damage attack that adds 2 stacks of vulnerable for 10 secoonds. 20 second cooldown.
Moas have low power, medium precision, low toughness, and high vitality. Low toughness and low to middle of the road dps stats mean they arent the best choice for offensive pets, but the heal and vulnerability condition application together with some great support F2 attacks make moas an excellent choice for a support pet.
Black Moa or Flamingo:
F2: Dazing Screech – an average damage attack that dazes foes for 2 seconds making them unable to use spells. 20 second cooldown. Good all around support role moa. Choose between Black Moa and Flamingo for which skin you like better.
Blue Moa:
F2: Protecting Screech – grant protection for 10 seconds to nearby allies. 40 second cooldown. A great choice for a defense based support pet.
Golden Moa:
F2: Call of the Wind – grant swiftness and vigor to allies for 15 seconds. 40 second cooldown. A great choice for support in teams that rely on high movement and evasion.
Red Moa:
F2: Furious Screech – grant fury to nearby allies for 15 seconds. 30 second cooldown. The only damage support moa and with 20% crit 15 seconds out of 30 is a good choice if your team doesn't need the defensive cooldowns of other moa's F2 abilities.
White Moa:
F2: Icy Screech – chill nearby enemies. 30 second cooldown. Chilled is the best slow in the game and this is the best moa if you want to mix some control spec in with your support spec.
Spiders
Spit: basic attack, ranged. Counts as projectile combo finisher. No cooldown.
Entangling Web: a medium damage attack that immobilizes your foe for 3 seconds, ranged. Counts as projectile combo finisher. 20 second cooldown.
Poison Gas: ranged, shoot a poison cloud at your foe. Applies poison condition. Counts as combo field. 20 second cooldown.
Spiders have low power, medium precision, low toughness and high vitality. Spiders are one of two pet types that uses ranged attacks. Devourers are the other. Spiders are more offensive focused while Devourers are more defensive focused. All of the spiders attacks are ranged so he will hapily sit out of mele range and attack. The spider will not however actively move away from enimies to stay at range. Probably a better choice for glass cannon builds that stay at ranged since they have a slight edge in the amount of damage they output over devourers, however they do need more pet management.
One tactic that can be used with both spiders and devourers is to set them to attack so they stay in place then position yourself behind them. You can still shoot above them but they will act as a shield for incoming damage for you. Make sure to keep them healed though. Spiders are slightly better at this tactic since they will not move away if enemies come into mele range.
Black Widdow or Jungle Spider:
F2: Paralizing Venom – immobilize your foe for 2 seconds. 45 second cooldown. One of the only times I like immobilize on such a long cooldown because you can use it to keep a foe in the poison cloud that your pet just put down for a second application of poison.
Cave Spider:
F2: Weakening Venom – causes weakness and vulnerability for 5 seconds. 30 second cooldown. Weakness isn't as usefull as immobilize, but on a shorter cooldown it comes down to play-style as to weither you want to use this spider or the Black Widdow/ Jungle Spider.
Forrest Spider:
F2: Deadly Venom – your next 3 attacks cause poison. 30 second cooldown. This is the dps spider. With the poison cloud and Deadly Venom you could get an easy 4 or 5 stacks of poison on your foe, which uncleansed, could last the whole fight since it stacks in duration. Great pet for a condition application build.
Water Only Pets
Armorfishes
Bite: high damage basic attack. No cooldown
Protection: grant protection to yourself for 3 seconds. 30 second cooldown
Chomp: high damage attack that heals yourself. 12 second cooldown
The Armorfish has low power, medium precision, high toughness, and medium vitality. This is the underwater tanking pet. With protection self boon and Chomp that heals every 12 seconds on top of high toughness and decent vitality it should be hard to kill the armorfish. Add the stun and the enemy has even more trouble finishing off your pet. Right now there is only the Armorfish in the Armorfish family, but I expect them to add more.
Armorfish:
F2: Stun Rush – high damage attack that stuns the enemy for 2 seconds. Counts as a leap combo finisher. 40 second cooldown
Jellyfishes
Tentacle Slash: high damage basic attack. No cooldown
Healing Cloud: grant regeneration to you and your allies for 10 seconds. 30 second cooldown
Dark Water: low damage attack that causes blind on foes for 3 seconds. Counts as a smoke combo field. 40 second cooldown
Jellyfish have medium power, medium, precision, low toughness and high vitality. This seems like the all around underwater pet. With a combo field that causes blind and whirl finishers on all the F2 attacks Jellyfish are good in underwater aoe situations. High vitality and a self heal they also should need less pet management than many pets on land or water.
Blue Jellyfish or Rainbow Jellyfish:
F2: Chilling Whirl – high damage whirl attack that causes chilled for 1 second. Counts as whirl combo finisher. 30 second cooldown.
Green Jellyfish:
F2: Poisoning Whirl – cause poison for 5 seconds. Counts as whirl combo finisher. 30 second cooldown
Red Jellyfish
F2: Immobilizing Whirl – immobilize your foe for 1 second. Counts as whirl combo finisher. 30 second cooldown.
Sharks
Bite: low damage basic attack that causes bleed. No cooldown
Charging Bite: low damage multiple attack that causes bleeds. Counts as leap combo finisher. 20 second cooldown
Fear: cause a 2 second fear. 40 second cooldown.
Sharks have high power, medium precision, low toughness, and low vitality. Sharks are the underwater high dps pet. With tons and tons of bleeds doing most of the damage Sharks fit really well in a condition application build. The Shark is the only pet in the Shark family, but I expect they will add more
Shark:
F2: Feeding Frenzy – attack faster and bleed on each hit. 45 second cooldown
Amphibious Pets
Bears
Slash: basic attack. No cooldown
Bite: a medium damage attack that grants 10 seconds of regeneration. 20 second cooldown
Defy Pain: take no damage for a few seconds
Bears have low power, medium precision, low toughness, but extremely high vitality. Along with their self heal and attack immunity on cooldown bears are set up to be the best tank pets in the game. Choose one that has an F2 attack that compliments your spec. You can't just “set it and forget it” with any pet, but the bear is a lot more forgiving to neglect than other pets.
Arctodus:
Land/Water F2: Rending Maul – a medium damage attack that causes a 6 second bleed. 15 second cooldown. 12 second cooldown for 6 seconds of bleed is a strong offensive attack on a mostly defensive pet. Not the best bear choice.
Black Bear:
Land F2: Enfeebling Roar – cause weakness. 45 second cooldown
Water F2: Enfeebling Maul – medium damage attack that causes weakness. 20 second cooldown. I am not a fan of weakness condition. Its not bad but not that good either. The black bear is better underwater than on land because the F2 does damage and has a shorter cooldown.
Brown Bear:
Land F2: Shake it Off – remove a condition from yourself and allies near you. 25 second cooldown
Water F2: Purge Conditions – remove all conditions from yourself. 30 second cooldown. The best pure tanking pet with the removal of conditions. Keep in mind that on land the F2 only removes 1 condition, in the water it removes all conditions from the bear only.
Murrello:
Land F2: Poison Cloud – a low damage attack that drops a poison cloud. Counts as a combo field. 35 second cooldown.
Water F2: Poison Maul – a medium damage attack that poisons your foe. 20 second cooldown. A good damage tanking pet if you can afford to leave conditions on the pet. Poison cloud is a strong combo field for killing foes.
Polar Bear:
Land F2: Icy Roar – chill nearby foes. 45 second cooldown
Water F2: Icy Maul – a medium damage attack that chills your foe. 30 second cooldown. A good condition tanking pet if you can afford to leave conditions on the pet. Chilled is the best slow in the game.
Devourers
Twin Darts: high damage basic attack that has a 10% chance to cause poison. Counts as projectile combo finisher. No cooldown
Tail Lash: medium damage attack that knocks back nearby foes. 20 second cooldown
Devourer Retreat: when foes get close the devourer repositions itself further away. 20 second cooldown.
Devourers have low power, medium precision, high toughness and low vitality. Devourers and Spiders are the only two ranged pets available to the ranger. Devourers are the only ranged pet that can fight in the water. Spiders are more of an offensive ranged pet where Devourers are more of a defensive ranged pet. With the knockback, retreat, and high toughness expect the devourer to take care of itself better than the spider.
One tactic that can be used with both spiders and devourers is to set them to attack so they stay in place then position yourself behind them. You can still shoot above them but they will act as a shield for incoming damage for you. Make sure to keep them healed though. Devourers are slightly worse at this tactic since they will move away if enemies come into mele range.
Carrion Devourer:
Land F2: Poison Cloud - a low damage attack that drops a 5 second poison cloud. Counts as a combo field. 30 second cooldown.
Water F2: Regenerate – gain a 15 second regeneration. 30 second cooldown
Lashtail Devourer:
Land F2: Rending Barbs – a high damage attack that rapidly launches projectiles that bleed your target for 5 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
Water F2: Lashtail Venom – your next 2 attacks stun your victim. 60 second cooldown.
Whiptail Devourer:
Land F2: Poison Barbs – a high damage attack that shoots a cone of barbs in front of you that causes poison. Counts as projectile combo finisher. 30 second cooldown
Water F2: Poison Cloud - a low damage attack that drops a 5 second poison cloud. Counts as a combo field. 30 second cooldown.
Drakes
Bite: basic attack. No cooldown
Chomp: high damage attack that heals yourself. 20 second cooldown
Tail Swipe: an extremely high attack that hits multiple foes. Counts as a blast finisher. 30 second cooldown.
Drakes have high power, medium precision, medium toughness and low vitality. With a high damage tail swipe and different breath weapons for each they are good aoe and jack of all trades pets. They don't specialize in any one spec but can be used in many situations. The ice drake is more of a control pet, but the other three are damage pets. Choose the one you like the best.
Ice Drake:
Land F2: Ice Breath – a high damage cone breath weapon that applies chilled for 5 seconds. 25 second cooldown.
Water F2: Frost Nova – a low damage attack that chills your foe for 3 seconds. 25 second cooldown.
Marsh Drake:
Land F2: Insect Swarm – a low damage attack that poisons your foe for 3 seconds. 30 second cooldown
Water F2: Poison Cloud - a low damage attack that drops a 4 second poison cloud. Counts as a combo field. 25 second cooldown.
River Drake:
Land F2: Lightning Breath – a low damage lightning attack that hits multiple foes. 30 second cooldown.
Water F2: Electrocute – a high damage attack. 30 second cooldown
Salamander Drake:
Land F2: Fire Breath – a high damage attack that causes 5 seconds of burning. 30 second cooldown.
Water F2: Boil – a high damage attack over 4 seconds. 30 second cooldown.
Felines
Slash: a basic attack that causes vulnerability. No cooldown
Bite: a high damage attack. 8 second cooldown
Maul: a low damage attack that causes bleed. 20 second cooldown.
Felines have low power, high crit, low toughness, and low vitality. Felines are one of two families that have the highest base crit. Felines also have very low cooldowns that also add conditions. With vulnerability on the basic attack the foe should always have reduced armor. In high crit and high condition application builds felines excel.
Jaguar:
Land/Water F2: Stalk – 6 seconds of stealth. 30 second cooldown. This F2 is only for rangers who want more control over their pet so they can detarget their pet from the enemy.
Jungle Stalker:
Land/Water F2: Mighty Roar – give 3 stacks of might to yourself and allies for 10 seconds. 30 second cooldown. Might is a powerful boon and you get 3 stacks of it. And for allies in the area. My favorite feline and it is the starting choice for some of the races.
Lynx:
Land/Water F2: Rending Leap – a high damage attack that causes 2 stacks of bleed. Counts as leap combo finisher. 15 second cooldown. If the Jungle Stalker didn't give 3 stacks of might this feline would be the top pic for damage and condition builds. As it is, the lynx comes in a close second with the fast cooldown on the F2.
Snow Leopard:
Land F2: Icy Leap – a high damage attack that chills your foe for 2 seconds. Counts as a leap combo finisher. 30 second cooldown.
Water F2: Icy Bite – a medium damage attack that chills your foe for 3 seconds. 25 second cooldown. If you want some control abilities with your feline this is the one. I can't say it enough chill is an amazing control condition as the best slow in the game.
Now that you have read the whole thing here is my reccomendations.
Pure Damage: Land – Hyena and Jungle Stalker / Water – Shark and Salamander Drake
Pure Control: Land – Brown Bear and Alpine Wolf / Water – Brown Bear and Armorfish
Pure Support: Land – Blue Moa and Golden Moa / Water – Blue/Rainbow Jellyfish and Green Jellyfish
Support/Damage: Land – Owl and Blue Moa / Water – Blue/Rainbow Jellyfish and Green Jellyfish
Control/Damage: Land – Fern Hound and Alpine Wolf/ Water – Arctodus and Armorfish
Jack of all Trades: Land – Any Drake / Water – Any Drake
High Precision Build: Land – Jungle Stalker and Hyena / Water – Shark and Jungle Stalker
Condition Application Build: Land = Forrest Spider and Lynx / Water – Shark and Green Jellyfish
note: these choices are my opinion only. I looked at how a pet would fit with a type of spec. If you come up with your own spec you may find that a different pet will fit better with it.