Tiny Terrors of Tanaan strategy guide

Last column, I described a specific way to get clever to defeat five of the fifteen new legendary battle pets scattered throughout Tanaan Jungle. This time, I’m finishing out the list with the remaining ten Tiny Terrors, so grab a snack and buckle up, because there’s a lot of explaining to do and I have Apexis to farm.

Other than a lovely acid green palette, the main thing unifying these little bosses is the Fel Corruption ability, and the fact that they fill out the rest of the team with wild pets pulled from the surrounding jungle. Those pets are buffed with Fel Corruption, making them formidable foes as well. However, even with that buff, we know how to tangle with the backline pets pretty well. The bosses, however, take a bit more skill.

Bleakclaw

Flying — Fel Corruption —Lift-Off — Savage Talon

For this bird, I just used my usual contingent of Dragonkin pets with Magic abilities to counteract Flying pets. I went with the Emerald Whelpling, Emerald Proto-Whelp and my Nether Faerie Dragon. As long as you have something in the last slot with a bit of healing to counteract the AOE you’ll be fine. Similarly, if you have a heavy hitter without a heal like the Nexus Whelpling, make sure you put them in the battle first, because otherwise they’re going to be useless when they come to the front.

Chaos Pup

Beast — Fel Corruption — Howl — Bite

This adorable little Pup has the Howl ability, so you need to swap your pets out immediately after it does or they’re going down. I had the best time with a combo involving Call Lightning and my Clockwork Gnome‘s Turret ability, but due to the hard-hitting elemental AOE and the Pup’s Beast offense otherwise, that Call Lightning was best served up by my Skywisp Moth or another non-Mechanical option. The Emerald Proto-Whelp was a favorite as an anchor for most of these battles because there aren’t really any wild pets that fill the teams to counter it and it has very strong healing to counteract the AOE all the pets serve up.

Cursed Spirit

Undead — Fel Corruption — Ghostly Bite — Death Coil

This strat is a bit unorthodox, and I believe it’s the only one where I’ve ever suggested straight up duplicate pets, but the Frostfur Rat is tailor made to counter the Cursed Spirit. Darkness cuts the heal from Death Coil, Sneak Attack does leet critter DPS, and Refuge keeps the other Rat safe from too much Fel Corruption. Try to time Refuge to avoid Ghostly Bite on the front pet though, because that’s the most significant incoming damage source, and absorbing that will buy you an extra couple turns of DPS. The Spirit will always use Ghostly Bite immediately after Fel Corruption, so after you cast it the first time the back row rat is safe, anyway. A third rat is right out, however, because of the prevalence of Beasts in the extra pets you’ll face.

Dark Gazer

Magic — Fel Corruption — Interrupting Gaze — Focused Beams

This one is a bit odd too, and I’m not talking about the disembodied floating eyeball monster. You have to get creative when there are so many interrupts flying around. I used my Spawn of Onyxia to apply Scorched Earth, then swapped to my Lil Tarecgosa to use Wild Magic to buff it. Tarecgosa’s additional Dragonkin DPS made quick work of the Gazer, though to be clear there are definitely a few valid swaps you could make from the dragon family, like the Nexus Whelpling. This is a blitz-style offense, so make sure to use a pet with healing for the anchor leg just in case the Gazer pulls something out of its hat. The hat it’s wearing, because it’s an eyeball.

Direflame

Elemental — Fel Corruption — Scorched Earth — Deep Burn

For Direflame I led with Chuck‘s Rip and the Blood in the Water ability combo, one of the biggest damage dealing combos in the Aquatic family, to make as big a dent as possible before that first pet met a violent end. After Chuck died, I swapped to a frog with Cleansing Rain and Frog Kiss. A non-burning weather effect cuts down on Direflame’s overall DPS and helps heal up from that AOE, and Frog Kiss’s occasional stun is a real boon here. Without that weather, Direflame’s Deep Burn only hits for around 200 a pop, really taking the teeth out of his offense.

Felfly

Flying — Fel Corruption — Confusing Sting — Barbed Stinger

I used my Nexus Whelpling with the Arcane Storm and Mana Surge combo to pretty much solo the Felfly. Speaking subjectively, this was the one I had the most fun defeating. I tried to make sure I had an extra Dragonkin with Emerald Presence just in case the Whelpling got crit or something because there are a lot of DOTs in Felfly’s moveset. That said, the extra dragon was never really necessary to finish off the boss.

Tainted Maulclaw

Aquatic — Fel Corruption — Shell Shield — Infected Claw

The Tainted Maulclaw has Shell Shield, so avoid the multi-hitting attacks which tend to be quite common among Flying pets. My Gilnean Raven and Axebeak Hatchling, both with big Nocturnal Strike combos and Peck as a filler move, make this crab into cakes.

Mirecroak

Aquatic — Fel Corruption — Acid Rain — Frog Kiss

Mirecroak has an additional offensive AOE with Acid Rain, which also changes the weather to make him hit harder. My Gilnean Raven with the Nocturnal Strike combo pretty much soloed this battle, though to get all the stars to align you have to make sure you don’t change that weather for your combo until after Mirecroak uses his Acid Rain. I kept my Skywisp Moth with Call Lightning on the team just in case the Raven died before it could close the deal. That Frog Kiss polymorph can really ruin your day sometimes.

Skrillix

Humanoid — Fel Corruption — Dodge — Punch

That Dodge is a real annoyance, because Skrillix casts it pretty much every time he can. But it gives us a chance to set up a combo with debuffs on him, so I set up a combo using weather. I lead off this fight with my Scourged Whelpling with Call Darkness, then swap to my Ghostly Skull, which does most of its heavy lifting with its Spectral Strike and strong Shadow Slash DPS. I also selected Unholy Ascension in the last slot just to make my life easier going forward. In this case, whether or not the Darkness ability actually hit Skrillix was entirely beside the point. Make sure to pack a non-Undead in the last slot, because those critter wild pets are not kind to them.

Vile Blood of Draenor

Magic — Fel Corruption — Creeping Ooze — Ooze Touch

I led off the Vile Blood of Draenor battle with the quite popular counter to Magic pets: the Dragonkin damage dealing Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling. That Decoy is not to be trifled with. However, it leads because otherwise it’ll just die in the back row, so you definitely need a backup dragon. I back this up with a dragon that has the Emerald Presence shield ability, because there are lots of DOTs flying around this battle. I usually go with the Emerald Whelpling this time, because its heals are easier to manage than the Proto’s when you start throwing that shield into the mix.

And, like we discussed at length last time, if the stars aren’t quite aligning for you, you can always break out that Chrominius and a Pandaren Water Spirit and Howl Bomb your way to victory. A few of the Tiny Terrors can make things tricky timing-wise, like the Dark Gazer with its interrupts, but they can all be slain pretty easily that way. It’s not exactly an elegant solution, but hey, you do what you’ve gotta do. I’m not here to judge.