GUIDE

Companion Tier List 2026:
Best Pets for PvE, PvP & Farming

All 8 companions ranked across four content modes — with unlock methods, upgrade priority, and which companions pair best with each subclass.

April 9, 2026 ⏱ 9 min read Builds Team Pet Guide

Companions in VvW are passive combat partners that trigger every 3rd round in PvE combat, providing bonus effects ranging from damage amplification to resource regeneration. In PvP, companion effects trigger at the end of round 2 only. The right companion can shift a difficult encounter into a clean clear — and the wrong one is a wasted slot.

With 8 companions available and each requiring substantial XP investment to upgrade, choosing where to invest matters. This guide covers all 8, ranked for each content type.

How Companions Work

Companions are passive — you don't activate them. In PvE, they trigger automatically every 3rd combat round. In PvP Arena, they trigger once at round 2 end. Companion effects scale with Companion Level, not your character's stats. Upgrading a companion requires Companion XP (earned from fighting with it equipped or spending Companion Crystals).

All 8 Companions — Effects and Stats

Bat — Nightwing
Effect: Every trigger, reduces target's defense by 8% for 2 rounds. Stat bonus: +5% DEX. Best use: PvP and Shadow Rogue builds — defense shred stacks with high-DEX crit builds for devastating openers.
Wolf — Pack Shadow
Effect: Deals 25% of your last attack as bonus physical damage on trigger. Stat bonus: +6% STR. Best use: Pack Warrior and Moon Warrior — raw damage amplification on high-STR builds.
Crow — Omen
Effect: On trigger, reveals enemy's current HP to you and increases your crit chance by 5% for 1 round. Stat bonus: +4% LCK. Best use: Arena PvP — the HP reveal enables strategic play; crit bonus pairs with Shadow Rogue opener.
Fox — Crimson Shade
Effect: On trigger, steals 3% of enemy's remaining gold reward and adds it to your post-combat loot. Stat bonus: +5% LCK. Best use: Farming — this is the #1 farming companion; the gold bonus compounds dramatically across hundreds of kills.
Serpent — Venom Coil
Effect: Applies Poison on trigger, dealing 5% of target's max HP over 3 rounds. Stat bonus: +4% INT. Best use: Blood Mage PvE — DoT effect stacks with caster damage and excels in boss fights with long HP pools.
Bear — Ironhide
Effect: On trigger, grants you a shield absorbing 10% of your max HP for 2 rounds. Stat bonus: +6% VIT. Best use: Infinity Tower and dungeon tanking — shield absorption is exceptional in sustained content where survival matters more than burst.
Spirit — Echowraith
Effect: On trigger, restores 6% of your max HP. Stat bonus: +5% WIS. Best use: Pack Shaman and long dungeon chains — consistent healing reduces consumable dependency significantly across multi-floor content.
Shadow — Void Wisp
Effect: On trigger, copies 15% of your last ability's damage as a shadow strike. Stat bonus: +5% INT, +3% DEX. Best use: Blood Mage endgame — copying ability damage with a 15% multiplier is the highest raw damage addition among all companions for casters.

Tier Rankings by Content

CompanionPvE DungeonPvP ArenaFarmingInfinity Tower
WolfSAAA
ShadowSBBS
FoxBCSB
BearABBS
SpiritACAS
BatBSBA
CrowBSCB
SerpentABBA

Best Companion Per Subclass

Unlock Methods

Upgrade Priority

You have limited Companion XP. Invest in this order based on your primary content focus:

  1. Primary companion to Level 5 — the Level 5 breakpoint doubles the companion's trigger effect
  2. Secondary companion to Level 3 — useful for swapping based on content type
  3. Do not spread across 3+ companions early — a Level 8 main companion vastly outperforms three Level 3 companions
Companion XP Farming

Companion XP earns passively during combat when the companion is equipped. The Shadowfen Caverns farming route (see Speed Farming Guide) doubles as the most efficient Companion XP source — high kill volume means more trigger events per hour.

Start with whatever companion you can unlock earliest and invest XP into it consistently. If you're not sure, Wolf is the safest general-purpose pick — its damage echo benefit is universal, and the Wolf unlock (Werewolf faction quest chain) is accessible relatively early in the game.