6.0 Update: This strategy is still fully functional for level 1 carries against Hyuna. It’s also now functional for an Elekk Carry as a step in the achievement An Awfully Big Adventure.

Depending on your journey through Pandaria, this is either one of the most idyllic pet battles around, or one of the most depressing, making it an absolute must to complete before we continue on to unbroken Draenor.

Well, some of the ‘must do’ status is also because you can carry a level 1 pet here, but that’s so much less poetic.

The Feline Familiar is, as addressed on the blog before, a very unique battle pet. I like using mine here because of the magic damage against Hyuna’s first battle pet Skyshaper, a Flyer. As long as you use a pet with Stoneskin or something like it (even Sandstorm) you’re good to go. I really like using my Emerald Whelpling with Emerald Presence here, and that may be a better choice, but it’s a bit less attainable than the Feline so I chose to highlight the latter. I’ve even used my Emperor Crab in this carry strategy successfully, even though he takes extra damage from everything Skyshaper dishes out. I’d recommend staying away from the aquatics in general though.

The Gilnean Raven can be swapped with many different flying pets too, but the anti-healing effect of Darkness combined with the Raven’s strong offense makes her my #1 pick here. Lastly, the placement of the pets is important, as we’ll be sending in that level 1 Marionette late in the match.

The reason for the shield ability is clear fairly quickly. All of Skyshaper’s abilities are small hits, and it’s also packing DoTs. As long as you keep that shield up you’ll make it through no problem.

Fangor is a fairly standard snake, and you should make it through at least half of his life with your first pet. He’ll Burrow early on though. If you’re having trouble and just want the bag, I’d recommend a mechanical here, with a but. You’ll be able to summarily mow down this snake with say, a Clockwork Gnome, but the fight really starts once you get to Dor the Wall so you need to choose your moves carefully.

Dor has a big heal and uses a Shell Shield of his own. The very first time I did this fight, I blasted through the first two pets in under 10 turns, but the entire fight lasted over 150. I was using my usual anchor, the Emperor Crab, with his own heals and Shell Shield.

The heal is why the Gilnean Raven, with its Call Darkness heal counter, shines here. Because of the shield, you’ll want to stay away from multi-hits, like Moth Balls, in favor of large ones, like Moth Dust.

Dor’s 3rd ability, his only offensive one, is Headbutt, which is where that level 1 carry comes in. Headbutt is on a 4-round cooldown, so once he performs it the first time, you have 3 rounds to swap in that level 1 pet with no risk. With a Safari hat, he’ll be level 11 after you win.

Hopefully in far fewer than 150 rounds.