In World of Warcraft (WoW) Classic, taking on the role of a Hunter requires one essential task: feeding your pet. This action is crucial for maintaining your pet’s loyalty and happiness, which directly impacts their obedience and performance in battles. Regardless of the specific version you are playing—be it the WoW Classic progression servers, Cataclysm, or the Season of Discovery—feeding your pet correctly is vital to prevent the risk of them abandoning you. Although this aspect of gameplay is significant, it’s also fairly straightforward to manage.
Understanding Pet Nutrition in WoW Classic
The first step in ensuring your pet’s well-being is to provide the appropriate type of food. You can easily ascertain what type your pet requires by accessing your character menu and selecting the Pet tab. When you view your pet’s portrait, observe the icon in the top right corner: in modern Classic editions, it resembles a dog biscuit, while older versions will show a small face icon. Hover over this icon, and you’ll see the food type your pet can consume.
It’s also crucial to match the food’s level with that of your pet. For instance, you can’t provide level 30 food to a level 85 pet. In versions prior to 4.1 (such as Classic 3.0.2 and earlier), Loyalty is a vital metric for your pet. Consistently feeding them, along with keeping them engaged in battles, will help improve their loyalty levels.
| Rank: | XP Gain Required: | Time Required: |
| Unruly (2) | 5% of Hunter’s XP at current level | 0 Minutes |
| Submissive (3) | 5% of Hunter’s XP at current level | 30 Minutes |
| Dependable (4) | 5% of Hunter’s XP at current level | 45 Minutes |
| Faithful (5) | 5% of Hunter’s XP at current level | 60 Minutes |
| Best Friend (6) | 5% of Hunter’s XP at current level | 90 Minutes |
It is advisable to place the Feed Pet spell—located within the Beast Mastery skill set—on one of your action bars for easy access. Always keep the suitable food within reach for quick feeding. To feed your pet, simply select the Feed Pet spell and choose the right food type from your inventory.
In more recent versions of WoW Classic, such as Cataclysm, feeding a pet provides a healing effect instead of loyalty benefits. While this remains important, it doesn’t hold the same weight as it does in the Season of Discovery or progression servers.
For example, in Cataclysm Classic, my Ravager primarily consumes Meat. Below is a brief list of potential diets for various pets from the original WoW Classic, but remember to verify in-game to ensure you’re feeding them correctly:
- Bats – Fruit, Fungus
- Bears – Fruit, Fungus, Cheese, Bread, Meat, Fish
- Boars – Fruit, Fungus, Cheese, Bread, Meat, Fish
- Carrion Birds (aka Vultures) – Meat, Fish
- Cats (including lions and sabers) – Meat, Fish
- Crabs – Bread, Fruit, Fish, Fungus
- Crocolisks – Meat, Fish
- Gorillas – Fungus, Fruit
- Hyenas – Fruit, Meat
- Owls – Meat
- Raptors – Meat
- Scorpids – Meat
- Spiders – Meat
- Tallstriders (aka Striders) – Fruit, Fungus
- Turtles – Fruit, Fungus, Fish
- Wind Serpents – Bread, Fish, Cheese
- Wolves (including Worgs) – Meat
For versions of WoW Classic older than 4.1, it’s also essential to monitor your pet’s Happiness. Happy pets, indicated by an icon next to their portrait in the user interface, deal an additional +25% damage. Conversely, unhappy pets suffer a -25% damage decrease. By keeping your pets well-fed and content, you are one step closer to mastering your role as a Hunter.