Spirit Beasts
Tamable only by BM Hunters with the 51 point Beast Mastery talent, Spirit Beasts are the most sought after rare pets in the game. Currently there are four Spirit Beasts that can be found in various parts of Northrend.
General Information
Spirit Beasts are part of the Ferocity family of pets. They have a unique skill called Spirit Strike, which is similar in nature to a Druid’s Moonfire ability.
In addition to Spirit Strike, Spirit Beasts also possess the Prowl ability, along with Claw as their focus dump.
All four Spirit Beasts are basically identical, apart from their unique models. They are neutral mobs and will not attack unless provoked either through a hostile attack or by beginning the taming process.
Spirit Beasts are rare spawn pets, which means they will not reappear again for several hours once they’ve either been killed, or tamed by another hunter. It is believed that Spirit Beasts are on a 6 hour respawn timer.
They are classified as Rare Elites, which means they hit a little harder than other mobs at their level.
The Beasts
Arcturis
Location: Grizzly Hills
Level: 74
Since he has only the one known spawn location just above Amberpine Lodge, competition for this unique pet can be quite stiff. Arcturis has the distinction of being the only bear model Spirit Beast. Arcturis is also unique in the sense that his skin is somewhat of a hybrid model of a traditional bear and a shapeshifted Druid.
Gondria
Location: Zul’Drak
Level: 77
Gondria has five spawn locations in Zul’Drak. The most popular and successful taming location seems to be the location farthest east. This cat is based upon a traditional Frostsaber model, but with a spectral appearance, glowing eyes and a whispy glow. This Spirit Beast is quite impressive looking when viewed first hand.
Loque’nahak
Location: Sholazar Basin
Level: 76
Loque’nahak was the original Spirit Beast, having been first introduced in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Due to his popularity among hunters, multiple spawn points, as well as his inclusion into the Frostbitten achievement, Loque’nahak is perhaps the most difficult of the four Spirit Beasts to acquire.
See all posts about Loque’nahak
Skoll
Location: The Storm Peaks
Level: 80
Skoll has three spawn locations in the Storm Peaks. Skoll is perhaps second only to Loque’nahak in popularity. He’s also the only Spirit Beast that has a wolf (worg) model. Since he’s the only Spirit Beast that is already level 80 once tamed, this makes him a premier choice for many hunters.
As is the protocol with most beast taming, it is recommended to drop a Freezing Trap in front of you just before the tame. Prior to taming, Spirit Beasts have an ability called Pounce. Once the Spirit Beast is engaged via the taming process, it will use this ability to close the gap on a hunter. It’s not really anything to fear if a Freezing Trap is placed just in front of you, as the Spirit Beast will most often land in it and not even break the tame channeling.
For additional information on these four Spirit Beasts, please refer to my post archives for each, as well as the comments below each post. Site visitors have provided a wealth of information and tips which can really aid in trying to nab one of these beasties.
Good luck to all you hunters looking to add one of these beauties to your stable! 
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice post
Found Skoll myself when camping the Time-Lost, awesome looking pet, although its a shame they fall behind the Devilsaur in terms of DPS in raids.
Although my favourite looking pet is Nuramoc, best looking pet in the game imo, I get loads of /w asking where I got him etc etc
I just came across Skoll the other day while poking around The Storm Peaks, farming mammoth meat and doing my TLPD rounds. He really is pretty damn bitchin’.
I love that crackling electrified effect he has.
By the way, I have Nuramoc as well. Hands down my favorite all-around PvP pet.
As a card carrying member of the SB4 Club, with Nuramoc tamed for PvP purposes, I am TOTALLY excited for the changes coming regarding the number of pets we can tame and have available at a time. I can’t bring myself to take my hunter into Sholazar Basin because I am afraid I will come across the King and not have the resolve to release Nuramoc in order to tame him.
Great guide on catching the beasts in question. I used your prior version to tame my beasties and I am happy to see you making it more concise to help the hunters out there deciding to go after these gems. Man I wish they would up the DPS on these bad boys to help make BM more raid-viable in the eyes of the raiding community at large.
“As a card carrying member of the SB4 Club”…
You’re the best Lawman. That’s some funny stuff. I always look forward to your comments.
I can’t agree more. As I’d said in the past… Blizz has got to stop dangling these carrots (e.g. Spirit Beasts), unless they plan on introducing more stable slots. It’s just not fair.
Also, we need quad specs IMO. 2 different specs for raiding, another for farming, and yet another for PvP. Or in my case, 2 for raiding and 2 for PvP.
I really don’t understand why Blizz hasn’t upped the numbers on Spirit Strike. It’s obvious that it’s not scaling as well as Monstrous Bite. If anything, they should increase the DoT by a small amount, or better yet, make it so that it can crit! Spirit Beasts really should be a top DPS pet for BM Hunters, not 4th or 5th as they are now.
I can see the angst of the SB’s damage output on both the player’s and the dev’s point of view. Even though it’s an old post, take a look at Ghostcrawler’s comments on the philosophy of the Spirit Beast implementation (point #4).
I agree with him. If Spirit Beasts were the best BM pet, then every single BM loyalist hunter would be out there farming for those elusive pets. Right now (3.3.2), BM isn’t quite up to snuff as SV or MM, and so heroic-raid-competitive hunters aren’t bringing BM to ICC. Imagine a future, however, when BM’s damage is boosted and the SB is also itemized as the best DPS pet.
Bleh. Suddenly you have a world (of warcraft) filled with top-DPS-chasing hunters as well as pet-enthusiast hunters competing for spawn points to get their hands on one of those beasties.
As it is now, the only folks interested in a SB are those BM hunters that enjoy a rare pet. If those same BM hunters care about min-maxing their DPS… well they probably won’t stay BM for long.
I wish I had a solution for this, but this is why I’m not a developer