How to Start Collecting Companion Pets in WoW Forever

The best way to start collecting companions in WoW Forever is to grab the easy pets first.

There are enough inexpensive vendor pets, simple discoveries, and other straightforward companions around Azeroth that you can build the beginning of your collection without committing to a rare-drop farm or a long grind. Pick up the pets near where you are already leveling, make a few short detours for the good ones, and have some fun watching the collection fill out.

Once the easy pets are handled, then it is time to start hunting.

Start with your faction's vendor pets

The old faction vendor pets are still the easiest place to add several companions quickly.

Alliance collectors can make an excellent start with Donni Anthania outside Northshire. She sells the Bombay, Cornish Rex, Orange Tabby, and Silver Tabby all in one place. The Snowshoe Rabbit is another easy pickup in Dun Morogh, while Shylenai in Darnassus sells both the Hawk Owl and Great Horned Owl.

That is seven companions with little more required than some travel and silver.

Horde collectors have a similarly good start. Xan'tish in Orgrimmar sells the Black Kingsnake, Brown Snake, and Crimson Snake, and Forever adds the new Jungle Boa to his selection. Mayhoa Skyhoof is also in Orgrimmar with the new Prairie Wolf Pup, although its carrier has been reported as limited stock.

From there, Jeremiah Payson sells the Cockroach in Undercity and Halpa sells the Brown Prairie Dog in Thunder Bluff.

Do those local vendor sweeps early. They are inexpensive, easy to remember, and it is much more satisfying to start with a collection full of pets than immediately spend hours farming one stubborn drop.

Pick up the easy neutral pets

A few good starter companions are available to both factions without dealing with cross-faction trading.

Narkk in Booty Bay sells both the Cockatiel and Senegal. If you are already heading through Stranglethorn, there is very little reason for a collector not to stop.

The Ancona Chicken is another easy one at Mirage Raceway in Thousand Needles. Magus Tirth sells it to both factions, although you may need to /chicken and then /beckon at him before he offers the pet.

When the Darkmoon Faire is active, Flik also sells the Tree Frog and Wood Frog. The Tree Frog is straightforward. The Wood Frog has limited stock, so it may take a little more patience.

Opposing-faction vendor pets can also be traded before they are learned, so collectors working toward completion can use other players and the Neutral Auction House to fill in pets they cannot simply purchase themselves.

Go get the easy new Forever pets

After the basic vendors, I would start chasing the new companions Blizzard has added specifically for Forever.

The Musical Gustjumper is hidden above a waterfall on Zephras Isle. Find the group of singing frogs and use /sing to reveal the companion.

The Excitable Slime is another simple secret. Buy a Nutritious Slime Sludge from Boyle in Undercity, find an Excitable Slime in the canals, and /dance with it until it responds and offers WRIGGLE.

These are exactly the kinds of pets worth grabbing early. They take a few minutes, show off what Forever is doing differently with companion collecting, and give you an excuse to poke around the world looking for other strange interactions.

Then pick what sounds fun

Once the vendor pets and easier discoveries are out of the way, there is no single correct order. This is where the collection becomes a project.

You can work toward the Spectral Bear Cub through the Legacy Reward Track. Earn Merchant's Favor for Minimule. Hunt the Sewer Beast for the Baby Crocolisk. Level Engineering or buy crafted companions such as the Mechanical Squirrel. Watch for event pets when the Darkmoon Faire, Children's Week, Winter Veil, and other holidays arrive.

Or start farming the genuinely rare stuff. Classic still has companions such as the whelplings and Disgusting Oozeling that can turn into real farms. Those are much more enjoyable when they are one target in an already-growing collection rather than the first thing you decide companion collecting is supposed to be.

There is also no shame in buying a tradable pet from another player. Sometimes farming the gold is more fun than farming the mob.

Keep an eye out for secrets

Forever has already established a pattern worth paying attention to.

Musical Gustjumper uses /sing. Excitable Slime uses /dance. The old Prairie Chicken is still obtained through one of Vanilla's classic hidden emote interactions.

That is enough for me to start treating suspicious creatures as suspicious. If an NPC has unusual dialogue, a group of critters is arranged a little too deliberately, or something in a new zone looks like it should respond to an emote, try things. Companion collecting is a lot more fun when the community is still figuring out what is hidden in the game.

We also know additional companion records exist in the Forever beta data without confirmed acquisition methods. Until somebody actually discovers how to obtain them, they are leads rather than collectible pets, but there is clearly more left to find.

Your collection no longer has to live in your bank

Forever's collection system also means there is little reason to ration which companions you keep. Learn the pet and add it to the collection instead of building the wall of pet items serious collectors dealt with in Classic.

So grab the cheap pets. Take the detours. Buy the weird frog. Dance with the slime. Camp a rare when you feel like camping a rare. Then figure out what you are missing and go find it.

That is the fun part.