Five of the cutest pets you’ll want to consider for pet battles in World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Classic

Happy Monday, Watchers! Yes, there’s so much cuteness out in the world that I’m pretty sure we’ll never get to admire all of it, but it’s also fun to return to our roots. In honor of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Classic launch this week, we’re talking about the single best system to come out of this expansion — Battle Pets. And while tier lists are all well and good for making “informed choices,” have you considered the cuteness of your pets? If not, here are some of the cutest battle pets of Azeroth to consider for your arsenal collection in Mists Classic.

Starting us off — you can’t go wrong with any of The Burning Crusade’s Children’s Week pets in my humble opinion, but I set forth Egbert (Wowhead, WarcraftPets) from the “Back to the Orphanage” reward options as one of the cutest pets in the game. Egbert gives big Hei-Hei from Moana vibes — would you be shocked if this little one ate a rock? Probably not.

Park an alt in Terokkar Forest with a fishing rod and log in daily to check the fishing quest from Old Man Barlo. The reward bag from completing his “Crocolisks in the City” quest may look the same as the rewards from his other dailies, but has a roughly 60% chance to reward one of four happy little crocolisk pets for you: Chuck, Muckbreath, Snarly, and Toothy. And yes, they have similar models, but my favorite is Chuck (Wowhead, WarcraftPets). On top of the cute factor, the name just kills me.

Wrath Classic genuinely delivered on cuteness for (then-vanity) pet options. The absolute pinnacle of candidates is Arfus, you may be out of luck if you haven’t already completed the Defense Protocol Gamma: Terminated meta-achievement from Wrath Classic Phase 4. Instead, I redirect your attention to the slightly less-distinguished but still adorable Perky Pug (Wowhead, WarcraftPets) from the Looking for Mutitudes achievement. That face has no thoughts behind the eyes, just love. And chaos.

The Nexus Whelpling (Wowhead, WarcraftPets) is our choice for “worth the pet battle to earn.” Just kidding — every wild capture pet is worth earning! But the Nexus Whelpling is definitely up there in cute factor. Just head to the Coldarra island in Borean Tundra and admire their cute little faces and bodies while avoiding their cute little Tail Sweep, Mana Surge, and Arcane Storm. Then, this precious baby can be your own.

Last but not least, the Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (Wowhead, WarcraftPets) is such a good battle pet that it has held a spot in WarcraftPet’s “Top 5 Rated Pets” list for at least the last four retail expansions (and perhaps longer), but that ranking doesn’t account for how darn adorable they are! However, you have a few other options if its steampunk aesthetic is not your jam — check out the Wild Gold, Crimson, or Jade Hatchlings from The Arboretum after reaching Exalted with the Order of the Cloud Serpent faction.

Ready to build your collection? Awesome! Here are some helpful resources on Wowhead to get you started with the Mists Classic battle pets setup:

• Catching every wild battle pet guide
• Battle pet tier list
• Defeating Battle Pet Tamers guide

And yes, Xu-Fu’s Pet Guides has announced that there will be support for Mists Classic on the site, but it will not be available Day 1 of the expansion. Keep your eyes peeled!

Now, some of our personal favorites are definitely missing from our list because they were added in later expansions — for example, the Elekk Plushie added in Warlords of Draenor and Jiggles the Jellycat from Shadowlands are just so freaking cute. And that doesn’t even touch on all the babies you earn for your battle pet roster from the Valdrakken daycare in Dragonflight. So, sound off in the comments if you’d like to see a part 2. While you’re at it, share your favorite cute battle pets. Cuteness for all!