With Battle-Stones, Blizzard introduced an easier way to get a rare pet. Simply capture a pet of any rarity, then use the Battle-Stone on them to make them rare. They also allow players to improve pets that have set rarities. There are two kinds of Flawless Battle-Stones, one that is boe and generic, and ones that are bop and limited to a family type. (Yes, there are Polished Battle-Stones, however, this article is focused on the ones that get pets to battling shape.)
The question becomes, once receiving a Battle-Stone, which pet is it best to use on? In the end, it should always be whatever pet you most want to use it on. This is simply a list of potential targets that might make a bit more sense than others.
In general this is how I prioritize stones:
- Hard to farm pets. (Minifernal, Giraffe Calf, Baby Ape, etc.)
- Pets that cannot be farmed as rare. (Like the Children’s Week pets.)
- A pet needed to make a team overpowered. (Minifernal, Mana Wyrmling, etc.)
So here’s my top picks for each family:
Humanoid:
Flayer Youngling – These guys have a long spawn time, and tons of campers, so they are a prime target for an early stone.
Peddlefeet – A very good battle pet, and he only comes in uncommon rarity
Dragonkin:
Emerald Proto-drake – Both a good battle pet, and a rare spawn.
Infinite Whelpling – Rare spawn, rumored to be a good battle pet, and heavily camped.
Flying:
Darkmoon Glowfly – Not only is this pet good, but he can only be farmed one week out of the month. It is likely going to be a huge pain to get him.
Gilnean Raven – A vendor pet with some very interesting abilities.
Tirisfal Batling (or Bat) – The Tirisfal Batling can only be learned as uncommon. The Bat can be farmed rare, but has so few spawns, it will likely take a great deal of time. Both have the Reckless Strike ability which is great for killing aquatic battle pets quickly.
Undead:
Ghostly Skull – Vendor pet, and good at pet battles.
Infested Bear Cub – This pet so rarely spawns as it needs a momma bear to do so, and even then, not all momma bears spawn the cub. It is worth it to kill the infested bears to force respawns of the bears themselves to increase the chance of a cub spawn
Critter:
Egbert – Only obtainable during Children’s Week, he is also uncommon when learned. He has a very powerful move set.
Wolpertinger – Only comes in uncommon and limited to Brewfest.
Magic:
Minifernal – Not only insanely difficult to farm, but also one of the best pets to counter the Fluxfire Feline.
Mana Wrymling – Also good against Fluxfire Feline, and only comes in uncommon.
Elemental:
Fel Flame – Rare spawn
Tiny Twister – Rare spawn requiring special circumstances.
Beast:
Baby Blizzard Bear – Only uncommon and only from the Anniversary achievement.
Baby Ape – Rare spawn requiring special circumstances.
Giraffe Calf – Rare spawn, that like the Infected Bear Cub, requires a momma giraffe to spawn.
Silithid Hatchling – Rare spawn requiring special circumstances.
Aquatic:
Wanderer’s Festival Hatchling – Rare spawn requiring special circumstances.
Emperor Crab – Strong battle pet
Fishy/Tiny Goldfish – Strong battle pet, and they only come in uncommon
Mechanical:
Fluxfire Feline – Currently the most broken overpowered pet out there. He might be nerfed to oblivion in 5.2, but will still be strong. Spawns fairly slowly, and is heavily farmed due to his current strength.
Anodized Robo Cub – Rare spawn, heavily camped.
Any of the engineering pets are also good targets for Battle-Stones as they are all uncommon. (Personal World Destroyer and Mechanical Chicken are the ones I would pick first, as both have Supercharge.)
There is no wrong answer when choosing a pet to boost, just some that might make life collecting easier.