Highlights

• Different pets in Guild Wars 2 have unique abilities and are more or less useful depending on your character build and the situations you encounter.
• Pets like the Rock Gazelle, White Tiger, Electric Wyvern, Brown Bear, Smokescale, Lynx, River Drake, Bristleback, Aether Hunter, Iboga, and Jacaranda all offer specific advantages and can be valuable in different playstyles and scenarios.
• Choosing the right pet can greatly enhance your character's effectiveness, whether you're looking for crowd control, high damage output, mobility, survivability, or utility in both PvE and PvP encounters in the game.

Guild Wars 2 is filled with tons of different pets for you to run around with. While all of them are viable in some way, a few stand out in different areas. One of the biggest things to keep in mind is that different pets will be more or less useful depending on your character build, and the types of situations you want your pet to be advantageous for.

Each pet provides its own unique boosts to your already fantastic character, but some will be key for PvE encounters and others will be key for PvP encounters. While there’s no shame in picking a pet that you simply like the best because it’s your favorite animal, some want to pick the absolute best for the different scenarios they will find themselves in.

11 Rock Gazelle

While some people simply favor a creature like the Rock Gazelle because it’s one of the more adorable companion animals, it also comes with a handful of useful abilities. Its attacks may seem simple on the surface, but the mobility of the Rock Gazelle is great.

Outside of that, its Worldly Impact is an attack that is almost always useful. If you’re looking to control a crowd like the best of them, making good use of the Rock Gazelle to rip through your enemies is a great choice.

10 White Tiger

While the White Tiger is newer and isn’t the absolute best pet in many people's eyes, it can be incredibly useful in the right situations with the right build. Something that differentiates it from the standard Tiger in the game is its different usage.

One of its most useful abilities is its Phase Pounce, something that lets the White Tiger shadowstep to cover a lot of ground in a very short amount of time. Its Unflinching Fortitude is also useful for keeping mobility high and unimpaired.

9 Electric Wyvern

Something great about the Electric Wyvern is the options you have with its different attacks. One of its attacks is capable of crippling your enemies, and another one is capable of launching them. Obviously, those aren’t the only tricks it has.

The Electric Wyvern has a great electric attack, Lightning Assault, something that sees it diving into a crowd of enemies to deliver a lightning field of damage. Depending on your own builds, the Electric Wyvern can be incredibly useful in pretty much any situation.

8 Brown Bear

While most high-level players probably don’t use bears all that often, newer players that are playing on their own will probably see a lot of value in the game's various bears. Specifically, the Brown Bear is a great choice for newer solo players.

Bears are great tanks, but there are other better choices if that’s what you want. The draw is the ease of use of the creature and its usefulness for those that are looking to get into the game with little knowledge beforehand. If you need something reliable to help in a pinch a Brown Bear is always there for new players.

7 Smokescale

The sheer amount of possible applications for Smokescale makes it a great choice for any style of gameplay. It has the usual attacks one might expect, but it also comes with a variety of smoke attacks that have the ability to conceal players.

Figuring out the best way to balance Takedown, Smoke Cloud, and Smoke Assault with your own builds is what will make the difference in Smokescale's effectiveness. If you and other players are ready for the attacks, you'll be able to handle any encounters with ease.

6 Lynx

While some would argue that any of the major felines could replace the Lynx on a list like this, many point to the Lynx as a great example of a pet that can dish out some seriously high damage.

For the most part, the differences among the others in the Lynx’s family are minor enough that only things like the Tiger’s ability to add fury come up against the Lynx’s ability to cause bleeding. Regardless, the Lynx is a prime choice for those looking to dish out as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time possible.

5 River Drake

Pretty much all the Drakes in the game are useful in their own unique ways, but one of the trustiest is the River Drake. It comes with the standard Drake attacks, but it also has a devastating Lightning Breath attack, something to help you gain experience in a hurry.

That attack is one that can absolutely melt through a group of enemies' health in a matter of seconds. The lightning channels through grouped up enemies, helping deal with crowds with incredibly minimal effort. Outside of that, those that care about in-game appearances will likely enjoy the menacing appearance of the Drakes.

4 Bristleback

If you want a good ranged pet, it’s hard to go wrong with the Bristleback. Again, it’s not the most incredible pet of them all, but when it comes to range specifically, it’s one of the best. Despite it looking somewhat... odd, the beast can handle huge crowds.

Both Spike Barrage and Rain Of Spikes are the go-to abilities for the Bristleback. They both dish out massive damage, either at a single target, or a shockingly large amount of enemies. Few people ever complain about having a Bristleback around.

3 Aether Hunter

Since the release of Secrets of the Obscure, players were worried that no more pets would be added to the game. Those fears ended up being unfounded, since while only one was added, its impact can certainly be felt.

The Aether Hunter brings something that Sand Sharks have been doing to players for years, without being limited to the desert: knock up their unsuspecting prey. Now if you only do PvP, you will know the fear of these Sharks knocking you up several feet in the air.

2 Iboga

There are a lot of reasons to love what an Iboga can add to your playable character. While it can absolutely be effective for solo players with the right build, groups with an effective Iboga around probably have no trouble destroying their enemies.

If players can continually afflict various conditions to their foes, and Iboga only continues to get stronger and stronger the more it attacks. Being able to dish out some additional confusion is always useful as well, making Iboga one of the best choices for players who like to play with some friends by their side.

1 Jacaranda

Most players consistently agree that a good Jacaranda is a must for any play style. It is one of the few pets that actually continues to be effective almost regardless of the build you’ve gone for with your character.

If you find yourself struggling to survive, the Jacaranda will always have your back. Choosing a Jacaranda is pretty much always easy because it turns your character from an already deadly force to something with DPS that may just be unstoppable, making it one of the best possible choices in the game.

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