What The War Within Alpha Revealed: 100+ Companion Pets

Key Takeaways

When The War Within reached alpha in April 2024, Wowhead datamined over 100 new companion pets in the very first build.
World of Warcraft has ten battle-pet families, and the original write-up left out Dragonkin.
Named early finds included Snuffling in The Ringing Deeps, Cobalt Ramolith and Alabaster Stonecharger on the Isle of Dorn, and Troglofrog across all four zones.
Waxwick, an animated candle, was the reward for the Khaz Algar Safari meta-achievement.
Squally, a baby gryphon, came with the Epic Edition and began the Gryphons of a Feather hunt for its siblings Flash, Gale, and Thundo.
The alpha also revealed the capital Dornogal, the Earthen allied race, Warbands with a shared Warband Bank, and Skyriding across 464 mounts.
Professions swapped the old Inspiration mechanic for Concentration, so early notes calling Inspiration a live feature were already out of date.

Here is what that first wave of datamining actually turned up, starting with the pets and working out to the wider systems.

Over 100 Pets in the First Alpha Build

The headline held up. When Blizzard opened The War Within alpha, Wowhead's first datamining sweep on April 22, 2024 pulled more than 100 new companion pets out of the build. As always with an alpha, that was a snapshot rather than a promise: some pets shifted families, some changed sources, and a few never made it to launch. Still, it was a strong early sign that Khaz Algar would be a good expansion for collectors.

The catch with the original blog was that it named none of them. A list of families with no actual pets tells a collector nothing. The datamined build already had real, nameable creatures attached to real sources, so those are worth putting front and center.

The Ten Battle-Pet Families

Every WoW battle pet belongs to one of ten families, each with its own passive and its own type strengths and weaknesses: Aquatic, Beast, Critter, Dragonkin, Elemental, Flying, Humanoid, Magic, Mechanical, and Undead. The original article listed only nine and dropped Dragonkin, which is an easy mistake to make but a meaningful one, since a pet's family decides how it matches up in the pet-battle rock-paper-scissors.

Real Pets Dataminers Found

These are some of the concrete pets from that early alpha window, with how each one was obtained once the systems settled:

Snuffling, a Beast-family mole, captured in the wild in The Ringing Deeps.
Cobalt Ramolith and Alabaster Stonecharger, two protoram Beasts caught on the Isle of Dorn around Dornogal.
Troglofrog, a cave frog that spawns across Azj-Kahet, Hallowfall, the Isle of Dorn, and The Ringing Deeps.
Waxwick, an Elemental candle awarded for the Khaz Algar Safari meta-achievement, which asks you to catch every wild pet across the four zones.
Squally, a baby gryphon bundled with the Epic Edition, whose Gryphons of a Feather quest sends you after its three siblings, Flash, Gale, and Thundo.

Those are only a slice. The Khaz Algar Safari roster alone stretched to roughly thirty wild pets, from Chitin Burrower and Vibrant Glowfly to Sandstone Mosswool, giving collectors plenty to chase without touching a raid or a dungeon.

What Else the Alpha Revealed

The pets shared the datamining spotlight with the systems that would define the expansion. The alpha build confirmed the capital city of Dornogal, the Earthen allied race of living stone, and the Warband system with its account-wide Warband Bank, shared Renown, and collections. Quality-of-life features showed up too: an Arachnophobia toggle to swap spiders for crabs, a rebuilt Spellbook, and Skyriding set as the default flight style, which the datamined data flagged as usable on 464 mounts.

Story leaks came with it. "The Fate of Dalaran" spoiler showed Xal'atath bringing the floating city crashing down onto the Isle of Dorn, its wreckage scattered along the shore. On the professions side, the biggest change was under the hood: the old Inspiration proc was removed and replaced by Concentration, a stored resource that guarantees higher-quality crafts, while specialization knowledge started over from scratch and Patron work orders joined the crafting loop. Anyone reading the earliest alpha notes should treat "Inspiration crafting" as already retired.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many battle pets were added in The War Within?

Over 100 new companion pets were datamined in the very first War Within alpha build in April 2024, and the collection kept growing across the 11.0 cycle as more sources went live.

How many battle-pet families are there in WoW?

Ten: Aquatic, Beast, Critter, Dragonkin, Elemental, Flying, Humanoid, Magic, Mechanical, and Undead. Each family has a unique passive and its own type strengths and weaknesses in pet battles.

Where do you get the Waxwick battle pet?

Waxwick is the reward for the Khaz Algar Safari meta-achievement, which requires catching every wild battle pet across the Isle of Dorn, The Ringing Deeps, Hallowfall, and Azj-Kahet.

What is the Squally pet and how do you get it?

Squally is a baby-gryphon flying pet from The War Within's Epic Edition. It also starts the Gryphons of a Feather quest to reunite it with its three siblings, Flash, Gale, and Thundo.

Where do you catch Snuffling?

Snuffling is a Beast-family mole captured in the wild in The Ringing Deeps, the second of Khaz Algar's zones and home to the Earthen forges.

Did The War Within change how professions craft gear?

Yes. The War Within removed the old Inspiration mechanic and replaced it with Concentration, restarted specialization knowledge from scratch, and added Patron work orders to the crafting loop.

Last reviewed 2026-07-03 against Patch 11.0.2 "The War Within" — Maintained by WowCarry's WoW team.