Spirit Beasts

Loque'nahak, the original Spirit Beast

Spirit Beasts are exotic pets – available only to Beast Mastery hunters with the Beast Mastery talent. Rare and unique… Spirit Beasts are among the most coveted hunter pets in Azeroth.

While there are a few Spirit Beasts that do pose a real taming challenge, the hardest part about obtaining a Spirit Beast is being fortunate enough to find one. Spirit Beasts are rare spawn pets, meaning they may not appear for several hours once tamed or killed – some taking nearly a day before they decide to respawn. Taming a Spirit Beast requires patience and a little luck. Information and advice on how to find and tame them are also very important, both of which I hope to present to you with this guide.

Spirit Beasts are part of the Ferocity family of hunter pets, which means they are geared towards damage dealing. In addition to having acces to all of the standard Ferocity pet talents, Spirit Beasts also possess 3 special abilities. These are: Roar of Courage, Spirit Mend and Spirit Walk. With their three pet abilities, Spirit Beasts have more bonus abilities than any other pet.

Because of their high DPS, combined with their special healing spell, Spirit Beasts make outstanding PvP pets for Beast Mastery hunters. They’re also a fine choice for PvE as well, for many of the same reasons. With their strength/agility buff and bonus ‘prowl’ ability, they’re more or less the Beast Master’s ramped up version of a cat, but with the added bonus of some amazing skins plus an incredible healing skill.

The following guide lists all of the Spirit Beasts that can currently be found in Azeroth, maps on where to find them, what strategies to use for taming them, along with a few other bits of information to aid in your taming adventures. I hope that you find this guide useful, and may it increase your success while out hunting the various Spirit Beasts of Azeroth.

-Gar

Getting Prepared: Rare Finder Addons and Targeting Macros

Before you begin any taming adventure, I recommend employing the use of either a a rare finder addon or a targeting macro. Even though the locations of all the Spirit Beasts are listed below, the World of Warcraft is quite vast and these beasts can sometimes be difficult to track down if you’re merely relying upon your eyeballs. One such addon that can really aid you in your search is NPCScan – another is Silver Dragon. Both of these addons can really help give you a jump on targeting these Spirit Beasts if they happen to be out and ready for taming. This post offers an overview of NPCScan, and this post will show you how to get both NPCScan and Silver Dragon up and running.

If you don’t care to mess with addons, or maybe just want to go with a simpler approach, a manual targeting macro can be just as effective. In fact, this is typically what I use. To try this method, just open up your Macro config and create something like this:

/tar Arcturis
/tar Loque'nahak
/tar Gondria
/tar Skoll
/tar Ghostcrawler
/tar Karoma
/tar Ban'thalos
/tar Ankha
/tar Magria

This of course has all nine Spirit Beasts listed, but feel free to edit it to suit your needs. Spam this macro when you’re near a known spawn area, and if a Spirit Beast is out, you’ll see their portrait pop up.

Alright… well let’s go on a Spirit Beast Safari, shall we…

Let’s go tamin’ now…Garwulf here will show ya how, come on tame some SB’s with me…

Yea, I’m a dork, I know…

The Nine Spirit Beasts in the World of Warcraft

Arcturis

Arcturis walking about at his spawn location below the Amberpine Lodge.

Level: 74

Found in: Grizzly Hills, Northrend

Arcturis has one spawn location in the Grizzly Hills, which is just north of the Amberpine Lodge. He can be found meandering around on the east bank of the river.

Arcturis Taming Strategy

Arcturis can be tamed easily with the use of a Freezing Trap. He’s a neutral mob and will not attack you unless you either hit him first or begin taming. Just place a Freezing Trap between you and Arcturis then begin taming. The hardest part about taming Arcturis is the competition and griefing that you’re liable to experience. Arcturis’ sole spawn location is in a very visible, high traffic area. Unfortunately, this can sometimes cause problems unless you happen upon him when no one else is around.

Arcturis has one spawn location in Grizzly Hills, just north of Amberpine Lodge.

Respawn Time for Arcturis

Arcturis is believed to be on a 10-12 hour respawn timer.

Loque’nahak <Mate of Har’koa>

Loque'nahak lurking at his spawn location west of the Nesingwary Base Camp.

Level: 76

Found in: Sholazar Basin, Northrend

Loque’nahak has seven spawn locations throughout Sholazar Basin. Based upon my experiences and the comments left by other successful tamers, the locations where he seems to spawn most are: west of the Nesingwary Base Camp, the spot just west of Skyreach Pillar, and the two locations furthest east by the gorillas.

Loque’nahak Taming Strategy

Loque’nahak is an easy tame, requiring no special approach. Just place a Freezing Trap between you and Loque’nahak, then start taming. Loque’nahak will leap towards you, landing right in your Freezing Trap for an easy tame.

Loque'nahak can spawn in one of seven locations across Sholazar Basin.

Loque’nahak Respawn Time

The general consensus is that Loque’nahak respawns about every 8-10 hours.

Gondria

Gondria roaming around at the eastern spawn location.

Level: 77

Found in: Zul’drak, Northrend

Gondria has five different spawn locations in Zul’drak. The places I’ve seen Gondria out the most are the two eastern spawn locations near the entrance to Grizzly Hills.

Gondria Taming Strategy

Gondria requires no special strategy apart from a Freezing Trap. Gondria is not immune to Freezing Traps, which makes this an easy to tame Spirit Beast.

Gondria spawns in five locations throughout Zul'Drak.

Gondria Respawn Time

Gondria is believed to be on an 8-10 hour spawn timer.

Skoll

Skoll out by the Gas Cap above Brunnhildar Village.

Level: 80

Found in: Storm Peaks, Northrend

Skoll spawns in three different places in the Storm Peaks, and doesn’t seem to favor any particular one. The locations are: near the ‘gas cap’ above Brunnhildar Village, near the mouth of the cave at Snowdrift Plains, and on the snowdrift next to the frozen river at Bor’s Breath.

Skoll Taming Strategy

Drop a Freezing Trap, start taming, Skoll pounces and gets frozen, tame completes…you have a shiny new Spirit Beast!

Skoll can spawn in one of three places in the Storm Peaks.

Skoll Respawn Time

Skoll seems to show up every 12 hours.

Ghostcrawler

Ghostcrawler shuffling around the Abandoned Reef. Beware of his Nerfbat!

Level: 85

Found in: Abyssal Depth, Vashj’ir

Ghostcrawler roams all over the Abyssal Depths. He can be somewhat difficult to pinpoint due his diminutive size and the fact that he tends to phase in and out on occasion. Once you are within range to target him, throw a Hunter’s Mark up to make locating him easier.

Ghostcrawler Taming Strategy

Ghostcrawler is immune to all crowd control spells, so you must withstand his attacks while taming. Ghostcrawler hits very hard and can flatten an unprepared level 85 with relative ease, but here are a few things you can do to make the tame go in your favor…

Use Deterrence at the start of the tame. Once you get within Tame Beast range, activate Deterrence and Tame Beast, or you can use this macro:

/cast Deterrence
/cast Tame Beast

This will give you five seconds of damage-free taming.

In addition, try to equip items that have haste on them – especially one-use trinkets. Increasing your haste will reduce the cast time on Tame Beast, lessening the amount of time he has to hit you with his Nerfbat.

If you have a trinket that you can activate to grant you additional haste, then equip it in your bottom trinket slot and add it to the macro like this:

/use 14
/cast Deterrence
/cast Tame Beast

With enough haste, you can tame Ghostcrawler without sustaining much damage, if any.

Ghostcrawler patrols all throughout the Abandoned Reef in the Abyssal Depths.

Ghostcrawler Respawn Time

Ghostcrawler respawns approximately every 10-12 hours.

Karoma <The Wolf Spirit>

Karoma at his spawn location near the Crucible of Carnage.

Level: 85

Found in: Twilight Highlands, Eastern Kingdoms

Karoma can be found in one of a half dozen places in the Twilight Highlands.

Karoma Taming Strategy

Karoma is unique in the sense that he’s the only Spirit Beast that is hostile, as opposed to neutral like all of the other Spirit Beasts. This isn’t really that big of a deal, but it does mean that he will aggro if you get too close to him. As for how to successfully tame him… just drop a Freezing Trap in your Tame Beast path and that should do it.

Karoma has six different spawn locations in the Twilight Highlands.

Karoma Respawn Time

Karoma’s respawn rate seems to be around 6-8 hours.

Ban’thalos

Ban'thalos soaring high above the Sanctuary of Malorne.

Level: 85

Found in: Mount Hyjal, Kalimdor

Ban’thalos can be found flying high above the Sanctuary of Malorne. In order to see Ban’thalos you must be in the same phase, which requires the completion of a series of quests that begins here.

Ban’thalos Taming Strategy

Ban’thalos was introduced as one of the ‘Taming Challenge‘ pets in Patch 4.2, which means he most definitely requires a taming strategy. Ban’thalos must be aggro’d while airborne, and considering how high he flies, this means you need to survive the fall once you’ve gotten his attention. Also, he has an ability called Harsh Moonlight which hits very hard. Given these two dangers, the main trick to taming Ban’thalos is surviving.

The first step in the tame is to get his attention. This requires flying up to where he’s flapping about, dismounting and then shooting him. To start this process, it’s important to pick a location where the fall will be very short. I recommend starting at the top of the tallest tree within the circle of his patrol area. Once Ban’thalos starts to get close, place a Freezing Trap at the top of this tree, then mount and fly straight up – being careful not to accidentally move in any other direction apart from ‘straight up’, i.e., just use your spacebar.

When Ban’thalos is within range, dismount, shoot him, then pop Deterrence. This will have you falling to the top of the tree with Ban’thalos in pursuit. You’ll probably take a bit of fall damage, but Deterrence will at least protect you from his Harsh Moonlight. Once back atop the tree, start taming. Ban’thalos will pursue you – entering melee range and landing right in your Freezing Trap – allowing for a successful tame at that point.

For a more detailed look at this strategy – complete with pretty pictures – please refer to my Ban’thalos taming guide.

Ban'thalos can be found flying high above the Sanctuary of Malorne.

Ban’thalos Respawn Time

Ban’thalos is believed to be on a 6-17 hour spawn timer, along with the other Spirit Beasts introduced in Patch 4.2: Ankha and Magria. They are not linked, however.

Ankha

Ankha patrolling through The Regrowth.

Level: 85

Found in: Mount Hyjal, Kalimdor

Ankha can be found patrolling through The Regrowth area in Mount Hyjal. Taming Ankha also requires that you be in the proper phase of Mount Hyjal – same as with Ban’thalos and Magria.

Ankha Taming Strategy

Ankha is another ‘Taming Challenge’ pet, so hunters need to approach this kitty with a plan. However… the trick to taming this Spirit Beast is pretty simple…get naked. That’s right… you need to take off all your armor before you try to tame this cat. Ankha has a Spirit Claw attack which scales off enemy armor, so be sure to remove any and all pieces of gear that provide armor. Even 1 point of armor will result in this cat one-shotting you. Once you’ve stripped off all of your armor, this beast hits like a kitten – allowing for an easy tame.

Also note that Ankha is immune to Freezing Trap, as well as all forms of crowd control, so don’t even try.

Ankha patrols throughout The Regrowth in Mount Hyjal.

Ankha Respawn Time

Ankha has the same 6-17 hour respawn timer as that of Ban’thalos and Magria. Ankha and Magria are linked, however. When one is tamed or killed, one or the other will respawn within 6-17 hours.

Magria

The spectral blue Magria roaming around in The Regrowth.

Level: 85

Found in: Mount Hyjal, Kalimdor

Magria shares an alternating spawn time and location with Ankha. This Spirit Beast is also found patrolling within The Regrowth of Mount Hyjal.

Magria Taming Strategy

The strategy for taming Magria is identical to the one used for Ankha. Take off all of your armor, then begin taming. Ankha and Magria are identical in every way apart from their looks. Ankha is a ghostly white and Magria a spectral blue. Both cats lurk in the same area but are never found out at the same time — it’s always one or the other.

Magria shares the same spawn area as Ankha, and is also found patrolling through The Regrowth.

Magria Respawn Time

Magria is on a 6-17 hour respawn timer that’s shared with Ankha.