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Companions (a.k.a. small pets, non-combat pets, mini-pets, or vanity pets) are small creatures (or mechanical replicas thereof) that follow your player character around. They are mainly for show. Several of these companions have their own characteristic behaviors (see individual descriptions).
Companions cannot attack or be attacked in the normal sense, however, [Sleepy Willy] will kill critters, [Clockwork Rocket Bots] will battle each other, and [Crashin' Thrashin' Robots] "will fight other fighting robot companions", a PvP game within the game. Companions have a small hidden amount of health and can be killed by the pet swimming in lava, standing on fires, or other environmental means of damage.
You can own as many companions as you like. Each one you acquire is added to the pets section of your character sheet.
The Blood Parrot, spawned from the [Bloodsail Admiral's Hat], and the Coyote Spirit, spawned from [Don Carlos' Famous Hat], are exceptions and are summoned from the corresponding item. These are both items of apparel of some value in their own right, and having the item of apparel disappear when the pet is spawned would not be a welcome change. Because these two pets spawn differently than the other companions, they are not currently counted toward the pet achievements.
Peddlefeet, when spawned by being shot with a [Silver Shafted Arrow], is also an exception and does not count toward the pet achievements.
You can only have one companion out at a time, and summoning another one replaces the one that's already out.
Once summoned, companions will attempt to accompany your player character as you move about the game world. Some appear to be better at this than others. Jumping down from an elevated location will often send a companion off on a circuitous route to reach your new location. If your companion gets left behind, it may catch up and reappear, but may have to be re-summoned. There is no penalty for re-summoning. (The Tiny Snowman is stationary, and will not follow you.)
If you are teleported or use any form of transportation that reloads the environment your companion disappears and has to be re-summoned. The only ship or zeppelin that doesn't is the ship between Teldrassil and Darkshore, and the zeppelin between Orgrimmar and Thunder Bluff. If you log out your companion disappears and has to be re-summoned during your next session.
While some companions can only be purchased by certain factions, most vended companions and many dropped companions can be traded at Auction Houses. Companions obtained through quests are bind on pickup and cannot be sold. Pets you learn how to summon cannot be learned again, so you are prevented from owning duplicate pets.
Though intended to be a cosmetic accessory, companions have some impact on the game.
A [Disgusting Oozeling] projects a "Disgusting Aura" when it accompanies its owner. The aura reduces the owner's defense and all resistances by 20, and colors its owner green as if the owner were poisoned.
Companions do not stealth. If your character uses stealth, your companion will reveal your presence.
In PvP, companions will reveal your location to opponents.
A [Wolpertinger] can reveal your location to your party, and will be invisible to your opponent (unless they are inebriated).
In PvE, mobs do not notice companions, so having one can be useful to indicate your location to party members.
Flying pets of any sort can sometimes interfere with clicking to target. This affects the pet owner, PvP opponents, and even party members desiring to buff or heal the pet owner. This is not normally a significant problem, but in the midst of frantic PvP combat, the interference can be noticeable.
Lil' Game Hunter grants 50 achievement points (and replaces 'Shop Smart, Shop Pet...Smart'), and a [Little Fawn's Salt Lick] is mailed to you when you collect 75 unique vanity pets (Added in Patch 3.0.8)
Looking For Multitudes grants 10 achievement points and a [Perky Pug] is mailed to you when you have grouped with 100 random people for WOTLK Heroic Dungeons. You must finish dungeons.
As noted above, the Blood Parrot (see [Bloodsail Admiral's Hat]) and the Coyote Spirit (see [Don Carlos' Famous Hat]) are spawned from items rather than learned, and are not currently counted toward the pet achievements. Similarly, the [Crashin' Thrashin' Robot] created by engineers remains an item due to its cooldown characteristics.
Temporary companions
There are companions that can be acquired for a time that aren't normally regarded as companions, but pretty much do the same thing as permanent companions. Many of these are in the context of a quest. Some examples are the orphans for Children's Week, Peddlefeet from the [Silver Shafted Arrow], Nass from [75] Kickin' Nass and Takin' Manes. None of these count toward the pet count achievements. When a temporary companion is spawned your current companion is despawned.
Note: The Snufflenose Gopher might appear to be a temporary companion, but will draw aggro like a combat pet, even though it does not fight.
Horde exclusive companions
These companions are only available to the Horde, although they can be sold to Alliance players through the use of Neutral Auction Houses.
[Westfall Chicken] – Quest Reward from [1] CLUCK! (Bind on Pickup) (With creativity, and especially with Alliance cooperation, the Horde could loot this quest)
Patch 3.1.0 – Quest became available for the Horde, through their own NPC.
Patch 4.0.3 The quest became available after Azeroth's landscape changed.
Horde may purchase this companion from vendor Apothecary Furrows in Darkshore.
Neutral companions
These companions are available to members of both factions, either via neutral vendors, quest rewards, as a rare drop from mobs, or created through the Engineering profession.
This companion is available as a received item during the Love is in the Air event.
[Peddlefeet] – BoP Event Reward - permanent training to summon, but cannot be traded to other characters.
[Peddlefeet] – BoP Event Reward - creates a Peddlefeet companion for another player, once per consumable arrow.
The companion is the same, by either method.
Receiving Peddlefeet by the second method does not count toward the pet achievements, since the skill to summon Peddlefeet is not learned.
Giving ten Peddlefeet companions to other players by shooting them with the Silver Shafted Arrows has its own event achievement, [Shafted!].
This second method of obtaining Peddlefeet is limited to around two weeks after the Love is in the Air event, depending on when the Silver Shafted Arrow (duration of 10 days) is looted from the container.
Most of the arrows are used up quickly, so a more realistic limit is "while the event is in progress".
These companions are only available to players who bought the Collector's Edition of the game. They are not tradeable in any way. Players may only choose one companion, but each character on the same account can choose a different companion. As the item is bound to your account, it is now possible to have all three on one character.
These companions are only available to players that purchase the Collector's Edition of the Burning Crusade expansion pack. Only European players are able to obtain both companions for each character.
The Murky companion is only available to people who attended the BlizzCon event and worked on both US and European realms. Another baby murloc was made available to European players through conventions and competitions.
The Murkimus the Gladiator pet was given to all players who entered the 2009 Arena Tournament and played at least 200 rated arena matches with a 3v3 arena team.
[Essence of Competition] blue and purple Chinese dragon – Reward available only in China, and only during the 2008 Summer Olympics Spirit of Competition event. There were samples of this companion in the Ironforge and Orgrimmar battle rooms during the 2008 Summer Olympics. On EU and US servers, this appears to have been due to a bug, and the item does not appear to even have a valid item id in the US and EU.
China-Only Giveaway
[Jade Tiger] a housecat made of jade. Given out to players on Chinese realms who logged in between October 19th and November 24th 2009. Grants the Feat of Strength Jade Tiger.
Korea-Only Giveaway
[Enchanted Onyx] a housecat made of onyx. Given out through the mail to players on Korean realms as part of a promotion. Grants the Feat of Strength Onyx Panther.
World of Warcraft Anniversary Pets
Mailed to all players as gifts for WoW's 4th and 5th anniversaries, one to every character. These pets bind to account, do not disappear once learned, and can be kept so that any new character can learn them by mailing one from an older character that has the item.
Available via the Mountain Dew Choose Your Side promotion website by redeeming using a Battle.net account. Available only from June 9, 2009 - August 20, 2009.
Mailed as a thank-you gift, first sent on Oct. 15, 2009, to all early adopters of converting their World of Warcraft accounts to Battle.net accounts, before Nov. 11, 2009 (Nov. 12, 2009 for EU Realms).
First available for purchase on Feb. 22, 2010 for a limited time, are two new plush toys: the Gryphon Hatchling and Wind Rider Cub. These toys come with a matching "BONUS In-game Companion" of the same name, via a loot code card. The companions are Account-bound and are not faction-based.