Pet Strategy

[UPDATE January 2017: the information here is still basically pretty good, but there have been enough changes to pets that I wrote a new article to discuss them.]

With the advent of pets in Castle Clash, there's a new aspect of strategy to think about.  That is how to manage pets -- where to put them, what to give them resource-wise, etc.

Resource Allocation

There are two aspects of resource allocation that are related to pets.  One is, spending to get them.  Then once you have them, spending resources on them.

I assume that anyone reading this is going to do at least two quests per day, and log in every day to get the two free eggs.  If you aren't, then you're not playing CC that seriously.  But what about spending gems?  I'd say for sure if you manage to spend nearly 300/600/900 gems you should find a way to spend the last few to get it over.  If you are around 150/450/750, obviously a gem roll is the best way to get the other 150.  If you are very close (I was at 285 the first day of pets), you might buy something from a merchant that you wouldn't otherwise, like red crystal.  Or perhaps you have a building that is almost done.

What about allocation of resources to pets?  It is clear that leveling pets is going to be slow enough that this won't become a problem, at least for a while and probably not ever.  Also it seems that all pet skills will be worth leveling as fast as you can (which isn't that fast).  Leveling the pets themselves should be done ASAP, since this increases their "Compendium" boosts.


Pet Assignment Strategy

The main aspect of pet strategy is where to place pets.  Which pets are best placed with which heroes?  Of course, this depends almost entirely on which heroes you have, and how you use them.  If you have a SK but never use him for some strange reason, don't give him a pet.

At least at their current low levels and low skills, I don't think the damage that pets do is significant enough to make much difference.  This is because pet damage, unlike hero damage, is not affected by any existing hero.  That is, your PD stack doesn't help them.  So, I am ignoring pet damage pretty much, and when describing their skills I say they do "some damage".  Their healing is similarly low, but especially for snipers (who should be self-healing with Lifedrain), sometimes even a small amount matters.  So I feel the healing is a bigger deal.

But the most important aspect of pets is their "other", non-damage and non-healing abilities.  Pets with these are going to be the important ones.  I have bolded the "other" stuff below, to keep the focus on it.

Anyway, I'll list each pet and which sort of hero I would want to give him to.  Also, I'll also say which hero I gave my pet to.  Bear in mind that I mostly do raids/expeditions/GW using sniper strategy (see my guide), because I do not have either of the super tanky heroes (SK and DD) needed to charge in for hand to hand.  (Update: just rolled DD!  He's not evolved yet, though, so not really a player in most modes.)

Aviar -- skill has a 65% chance to deal some damage to a random nearby enemy hero and silence it for a few seconds when its hero is attacked.

Silence!  Wow!  Any "when its hero is attacked" pet is only good if its hero is attacked (duh).  So you want to put Aviar with a brawler.  SK and DD are the main guys for this.  Aviar will be most useful in game modes which include hand-to-hand fighting: Boss fights, LBF, Arena, and HTH raiding.  If you snipe for raids, as I do, then he is not that important.

I put my Aviar with my new DD.

[UPDATE: In fact Aviar procs when its hero attacks.  Not when hero is attacked.  I've posted about this separately.]

Bubblow -- skill restores some HP of 3 allied heroes with the lowest HP and increases their MOV SPD somewhat.  So far as I know, Bubblow auto-procs every N seconds; it does not key off its hero attacking or being attacked.

On the attack, restoring HP is nice, especially for snipers.  Perhaps it will be a lot at high levels, but right now my bubblow is level 2 with a level 2 skill, which means he restores 1827 HP (times 3) every 5.5 s.  That is underwhelming in pretty much any situation.  As I suggested earlier, I do think that even a small amount of healing can make a difference occasionally when sniping.  This is because snipers tend to be in combat for long periods of time.

Defensively, it doesn't matter who you put him with, but this is a pet you'll want standing around for GW defense.  Once it levels up, it's going to make sniping a tougher proposition.

I put my Bubblow with my Warlock.


Celestin -- skill has a chance to deal damage to a nearby enemy hero when its hero attacks. Also removes the target's buffs.

Holy cow!  Removes the targets buffs?  This guy is a tank killer, if you can put him on a hero that will go up against a tank.  Its hero needs to attack, and it has to be "nearby", whatever that means.  You want this guy on a brawler -- SK or DD.

I put mine on my Pumpkin Duke, to make sure he'll be in every boss battle, etc.  If I had a SK, that's where I'd put it.  I may end up putting it on my new DD, but not yet, because I am not using him that much.


Doom Balloon -- skill deals damage to 5 nearby enemy Buildings. Also increases the DMG they take for 3s.  Autoprocs.  The skill description says "nearby", but I have not found that to be true.  It appears to be buildings anywhere on the map.

Generally, a weak hero, since he affects buildings and they are relatively unimportant.  Obviously you don't want to give this guy to any sniper, since he'll consume building HPs for nothing.  He's good, though, for cleanup or for times when you want to kill buildings without concern for heroes.   Dungeons is the main example.  You'll want to give to a hero that you use in dungeons and/or for cleanup.  Santa is the most obvious place, or Mino.

I gave Santa my Doom Balloon.


Drako -- skill has a chance to deal damage to a random nearby enemy hero and targets around it when its Hero attacks.  Reduces energy of targeted heroes.

This guy screams "scatter team".  Any time you're trying to scatter -- one of your teams in LBF, bosses -- you want this guy in the lineup somewhere.

I gave mine to my Cupid, since he's a member of every scatter team.


Finix -- skill has a chance to set an enemy hero's location on fire when its hero attacks. Damages targets within the area over 3s.  Also reduces their MOV SPD.

This is your guy for a slowdown team.  Appears that the damage might help a sniper (need to test this).  I don't have a functioning slowdown team right now.  So Finix is just a bit of extra damage to dish while sniping.

I gave it to my Grizzly Reaper, who's my third sniper.  I might give him to Harpy Queen if I start using slowdown on a boss.


Little Havoc -- skill has a chance to deal damage to a nearby enemy hero with the lowest HP when its Hero attacks. Also reduces target's ATK and ATK SPD.

This guy is a debuffer.  Put him with any hero that you want to use on tough bosses where you'll need debuffing.

I gave mine to my Druid, who is always present in boss fights.  (I don't have Ghoulem.)


Mini Angi -- skill reduces DMG taken by allied Hero with the lowest HP by a substantial amount.

This is like a mini Treantar, except Angi autoprocs.  Great for HtH fights, great for snipers if they are dealing with arrow towers.  Also could be very useful in boss fights if you are not easily tanking a boss.  (This is still the case for me with the Rage Goblin.)

I gave mine to my Aries, since he does both HtH and sniping.