Patch 5.2 Beasts of Fable and Elite Battle Pet walkthrough

Patch 5.2 brings pet battlers a few excellent quality-of-life changes, as well as a few new battle pets to collect. But what really stands are the new Elite Battle Pets and quest line: Beasts of Fable.

Scattered about Pandaria, the ten Elites are battle pets with an above average health pool -- the lowest I found to be 4,066, highest at 4,378 -- and present a unique challenge to any aspiring master tamer. They're strong enough to take on your team solo, so be prepared. Initially, I was intimidated by the large health pool and strong stats, but liked the idea of putting together a team hand-picked to take on each Elite.

Start off by grabbing the Beasts of Fable quest from Gentle San or Sara Finkleswitch, the Battle Pet Trainer in either Shrine of Two Moons or Shrine of Seven Stars, respectively. The adorable Red Panda awaits as your reward, and there's a chance at multiple Lesser Charms of Fortune for every Elite Battle Pet defeated.

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My overall strategy for the Elites was to take advantage of any pets with strong health percentage-based attacks, so flies like the Effervescent Glowfly and Shrine Fly with Glowing Toxin worked wonders on the Elite's high health pool.

Other flies with Glowing Toxin include Darkmoon Glowfly, Firefly, and Mei Li Sparkler.

Aquatic

Skitterer Xi'a is found in Krasarang Wilds, and shouldn't cause too much trouble. He's sporting Water Jet, Skitter, and Flurry, so be sure to survive his Water Jet blasts once he winds up. I started off with my flies for this guy, keeping up Glowing Toxin to eat away at his large health pool. Switch in a turkey for the Food Coma sleep and Squawk to reduce Xi'a's damage dealt. Every bit of avoided damage helps on these Elites!

No-No is a cute otter hanging out in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, but don't write him off. With Tail Slap, Dive, and Beaver Dam, No-No can be an annoying little bugger. Beaver Dam will block two rounds of attacks, but just spam an ability that has no cooldown in the meanwhile. Save Cocoon Strike for No-No's Dive and you'll be golden.

Ti'un the Wanderer is a turtle in Townlong Steppes that will require a bit of patience with a moveset like Pump, Shell Shield, and Tidal Wave. His Shell Shield will lengthen the battle, but keep at it! Be sure to avoid using Confusing Sting here in your fly's moveset, because the shield will nullify the DoT completely.

Dos-Ryga is a floating fish in Kun-Lai Summit who is quite the pushover with Frost Breath, Whirlpool, and Healing Wave. His self-heal is weak, so go all out and be prepared for Whirlpool's burst damage once it pops.

Critter
There are three Critter type Elite Battle Pets around Pandaria, and like the Aquatics, didn't pose much of a challenge. Luckily, we have access to a few health percentage-based attacks strong against Critters, which makes this part that much easier!

My team against the Critters included a Clefthoof Runt with Trample, Trumpet Strike, and Horn Attack. Trample is perfect here, with an extra 10% of the Elite's health done as damage. I used a Corefire Imp as my second pet against the Critter Elites, with Rush, Flamethrower, and Cauterize. And again, I ended up using a turkey in my final slot! Although the Turkey doesn't have anything directly strong defensively or offensively against Critters, the sleep and damage reduction ability added a nice amount of utility.

The Stunted Shardhorn makes for a great replacement for the Clefthoof Runt, if you don't have one, or you could even battle with both to utilize two Tramples. Other pets that use Trample include Darkmoon Hatchling, Egbert, Lucky Quilen Cub, Mulgore Hatchling, Peanut, Perky Pug, and Pint-Sized Pink Pachyderm.

The first Elite Critter I came across was Nitun, a Tanuki out in The Jade Forest. He destroyed me the first time around, mainly because he uses Beast type abilities, which are strong against my Critter team. I wasn't prepared for his Prowl/Ravage combo. On top of that, he uses Rake, which lowers the next attack's damage by 50%, so I just tried to power through his health pool with my Clefthoof Runt, and handled the rest with my imp and turkey. Between the imp's Rush and strong heal, as well as the turkey's sleep, I put Nitun down after two attempts.

After Nitun, I was a bit nervous about the rest of the Critter Elites, but I found Lucky Yi to be one of the easiest to defeat. This little grasshopper is hanging out in the Valley of the Four Winds, and doesn't do anything special you need to worry about -- Quick Attack, Perk Up, and Uncanny Luck. I zerged him with my Clefthoof Runt's Trample and Rush and called it a day.

Ka'wi the Gorger is a worm tucked away in The Jade Forest, wielding Super Sticky Goo, Chew, and Moth Balls as a moveset. In a previous build of the PTR, Ka'wi was of the Beast family, but was later changed to be a Critter. Makes sense for a worm! Again, nothing out of the ordinary to watch out for, just be mindful that you cannot switch pets out for two rounds during Super Sticky Goo.

Beast
Of all the battle pet families in the quest line, I had the most trouble with the Beasts. Mainly because it wasn't ideal to follow my strategy of using strong health percentage-based attacks against them. I chose to go with three solid Mechanical pets instead: Tranquil Mechanical Yeti (Metal Fist, Call Lightning, Ion Cannon), Mechanical Chicken (Batter, Overtune, Wind-Up), and Lil' Smoky (Missile, Toxic Smoke, Sticky Grenade). Other Mechanicals could be used here instead -- I'd like to give Darkmoon Tonk, Pet Bombling, and a few others a shot!

The first Elite Beast I came across was Gorespine in the Dread Wastes. Like Ka'wi, Gorespine's family was changed during the PTR to more suit the creature. Now a Beast, this porcupine uses Spiked Skin, Scratch, and Rip. I went ahead with my yeti and left Gorespine with about half health by the time the poor yeti perished. After that, the Mechanical Chicken managed to finish Gorespine off.

Kafi is a goat out in Kun-Lai Summit, but be mindful, he may be phased. I hadn't completed all of the quests in Kun-Lai on my alt, and thought I was going crazy. Thinking it could be phased, I jumped on my main -- a wild Kafi appeared! This Beast was very annoying due to his chance to stun with Headbutt, and it seemed to land more than 25% of the time. His Leap and Gnaw meant that he would often go first in a round, but use Toxic Smoke and Sticky Bomb up to keep the damage going while you can't attack.

My final Elite Beast was Greyhoof, a mini dinosaur out in the Valley of the Four Winds. Like Nitun, watch out for Greyhoof's combos -- Roar plus Hoof will hurt. He also utilizes Trample. I sacrificed my dear Mechanical Yeti up front, and by then, Greyhoof was mostly dead. I finished him off with my remaining Mechanicals and did a little dance in my chair.

Fabled Beasts? Initially, I expected the Elite Battle Pets to be quite challenging, but with the right teams I managed just fine -- and you can too! I went with a more offensive strategy, but I'm sure something more defensive could work, too, if you're patient.

In a way, it's good that these Elites aren't too overtuned, because this is meant to turn into a daily quest with the repeatable Beasts of Fable. Every day you're rewarded the Fabled Pandaren Pet Supplies, which could contain the adorable Sunfur Panda, Snowy Panda, or Mountain Panda. With the chance at more pets, as well as lesser charms, this daily will be one I'll enjoy doing.

What pets are you planning on using on your teams for taking on the Elite Battle Pets?