In very general terms, my advice for playing with your pets is the same as it’s always been: use the pets you like the best. I’ve said before that my first 25 was my Perky Pug Bertha. She’s mediocre at best for fighting, but she’s still my favorite pet, and despite her questionable utility I still use her to fight when I can. If you don’t feel any connection to your pets, you’re not going to enjoy playing nearly as much.
That said, I’ve noticed that there are a few pets I use constantly, both in PVP and PVE, and see others recommend (or complain about as being totally OP) as well. That’s the basis of this list. I’m not telling you to level these first. Some of them are pretty bad until higher levels, so I wouldn’t recommend just grabbing 3 of these pets from level 1 and making a run of it. But if the option presents itself, keep these pets in mind. Completely unironically, I’ve done pet profiles on most of these individually, too.
Anubisath Idol – Between the Humanoid racial heal, his big hits and damage avoidance, the Anubisath Idol makes a lot of fights trivial. I’ve seen a few carry guides which include the Anubisath in nearly every Pandaria tamer fight. I resisted it for a while, but come 5.4 you’re going to be glad you have one of these puppies.
Speed Breed Rabbit – I made a whole post on why Rabbits, and specifically Speed Breed Rabbits, are fantastic. They do well in both PVE and PVP, especially with undead teams being in vogue right now, and they’re one of the original pets you could have so they’re super easy to get too.
Crab – Another one that’s easy to get, crabs are fantastic tanks for PVE, and can swap and be damage dealing juggernauts in PVP. Breed is debatable. I prefer the Power breeds, but some tamers like starting out with high Health. It’s up to you and what you’re after… or, because they’re so plentiful in the wild, you can stock up on all of them.
Gilnean Raven – An excellent damage dealer with a lot of tricks up its little birdy sleeve. The Darkness weather ability makes life easy against healers. I also love the underutilized literary reference Nevermore ability. Big damage is nice, but shutting down your opponent’s offense is just sweet.
Clockwork Gnome – A teeny powerhouse with heals, damage over time, and big mech hits. This was one of the very first pets I leveled up, and he’s still a favorite to use.
Terrible Turnip – This is a little bit off the topic, so it doesn’t count toward the 5. The Terrible Turnip is kind of awful. I’ve seen it a few times in PVP as a “wait bait” pet (meaning, they turtle until you get fed up and forfeit, handing them the win). But its utility in trapping pets makes it absolutely crucial to have. I wouldn’t make this your very first 25, but when you get more than 5 you should consider it.
BattlePetRoundup.com 
Great Choices Lio!
I would only add one that I use that I think is also a “must have” pet, the Dragonbone Hatchling (P/P).
Its easy to obtain and is very useful against Aquatics, Lift -Off on the P/P breed hits like a truck.
Is that the only bird with that moveset available in P/P?
There is only one other that is a P/P breed with that same moveset – Imperial Eagle Chick
Gotcha. Good stuff! Thanks.
Good choices!
(Personal shame: I still don’t have a rare level 25 rabbit. Such a baddie! *laugh*)
The next few, once you have all of those:
– A good Snail, with Dive, Shield, and Absorb. The Snail is a part of every one of my Pandarian Spirit Tamer teams. (Dive > Elemental, and Critter > Stuns).
– The evil, no-good, bad bad Kun-Lai Runt. Very good for multiple Pandarian traniers, and it’s also in a couple of my Spirit Tamer groups.
– A Moth. Moths completely own Aquatics, even better than the Raven does. Good stuff for Aquatic BoFs, etc. Plus, I still see triple-moth PvP teams from time to time.
– I think that the Tiny Twister is going to be an exceptional pet once 5.4 comes out. Probably the best source of Lightning Storm there is, as it’s elemental and has a couple of good supporting attacks.
– Fel Flame/Spirit of Summer. A monster glass cannon.
Yeah, I love Fel Flame and moths. I was trying to stick to 5 though! heh.
I think my snail may be the wrong breed or something, because people rave about it, but I’m not a fan… I use it against Burning, and I can kinda see the appeal, because it generally makes for a reliable fight, but it takes so long to kill things I’m bored before the match is over, lol.
One pet that I didn’t see mentioned but has served me very well, especially in PVE, is any kind of spider. Personally I use a Skittering Cavern Crawler, but there are loads of species to choose from that all have the same move set. Their main workhorse is their “Brittle Webbing” spell, which makes your opponent effectively commit suicide, especially if they use multi-attacks or dots. Add “Leech Life” that helps the spider keep alive by providing a self-heal, doubled in effectiveness if the opponent is webbed.
Yeah, I’m coming around to spiders, even though they make me itch. I only wanted to include 5, so that cuts out a bunch of pets I use on a regular basis (fel flame! water striders! moths!). Though, I’m definitely an ‘everything! ALL OF THEM’ type of pet battler/collector, heh.
Pingback: Pet Battles 101 – The Roundup | Tamer Liopleurodon's Battle Pet Roundup