Thundering Pandaren Spirit

When Thundering Pandaren Spirit Tamer was first released, it was considered one of the most difficult tamers in the game. The boards were filled with ample "ZOMG ITS IMPOSIBLE BECUASE I DONT KNOW HOW TO BEAT IT NERF NERF NERF" threads on a daily basis. Sadly but not atypically, Blizzard gave in and nerfed it by making the 3rd pet easier. As it turns out, this had no effect on my strategy at all, because this is a tamer in which you only need to kill the first two pets.

Confused? Let me explain.


There is a wondrous ability found on all beetles and roaches called Apocalypse. This will bypass all avoidance mechanisms and one shot any pet, except for beetles and roaches. It takes 15 rounds for it to land, which means you have 15 rounds to kill the first 2 pets. This is ample time. Since roaches are critters, they take less damage from the elemental.

There are a few valid ways to beat the encounter with two pets but this is my favorite way and uses some of the more classy pets.

My Team:
Death's Head Cockroach (take Flank, Survival, Apocalypse)
Cogblade Raptor (take Batter, Screech, Expose Wounds)
Power-level Pet
There are no restrictions on the power level pet. It can be a level 1 of any time. It will not take any damage.

Note: Any cockroach with more than 300 speed works. There are lots of options, I just chose one with a cool name.

Enemy team:
Thundering Pandaren Spirit (elemental, 300 speed)
Sludgy (critter, 334 speed)
Darnak the Tunneler (beast, 300 speed)


The following battle sequence is an example what you can expect to encounter. Since skills like Flank have a random element, and all skills have a chance to miss, the amount of damage done per round is not predictable.

vs Thundering Pandaren Spirit:
Start with your Cockroach, you will attack first every round so the stuns will have no effect

Round	Your Move	Enemy Move
1	Flank	Crystal Prison
2	Flank	Rupture
3	Apocalypse	Stone Shot
4	Flank	Stone Shot
5	Flank	Stone Shot
6	Flank	Crystal Prison
7	Flank	Rupture (probably kills you)

You will most likely kill it sooner than round 7

vs Sludgy:

Round	Your Move	Enemy Move
1	Switch to Cogblade Raptor	Expunge
2	Expose Wounds	Creeping Ooze
3	Screech	Ooze Touch
4	Batter	Ooze Touch
5	Batter	Expunge
6	Batter	Creeping Ooze
7	Batter	Ooze Touch

There is a good chance Cogblade Raptor will die in round 5 or 6. Switch to cockroach if that happens. Cockroach will be faster thanks to Screech so it should be able to finish him off in one turn even if cockroach is low health.

vs Darnak the Tunneler:
By this point there should be 4 or less turns left on apocalypse.
Darnak does not do any damage until the 3rd round.
This is when you want to get your low level pet in there for experience credit

Round	Your Move	Enemy Move
1	Switch to PLvlPet	Stone Skin
2	Switch to Raptor or Roach	Burrow
3	Survival	Burrow (hit)
If using Raptor, just let it take the hit.  If using Cockroach make sure to get Survival off.  Cockroach must not die before apocalypse lands
4	Survival	Stone Rush

Some examples of this strategy: