Conan Exiles Pet vs Thrall Guide: Choose Your Fighter - Conan Fanatics (2024)

Conan Exiles Pet vs Thrall is a longstanding debate. Conan Exiles has only two types of followers, as all followers fall under either the pet or thrall category. Since you can only have one follower at a time, of course you want to know your best option.

Pets in Conan Exiles are animals you can pick up in the wild and raise in an Animal Pen. Thralls are people in Conan Exiles that you have to knock out with a club, tie a rope to, and then put in a Wheel of Pain.

I’ve had both and enjoyed them all. Some pets I loved, and some thralls I loved. So I can say with certainty that neither of them is obsolete. Either can prove useful in battle and out. Explore more about it in this Conan Exiles Pet vs Thrall Guide.

Main Differences in Pets and Thralls

• Pets can carry more
• Thralls scale better
• Pets can be mass produced
• Thralls can be geared up
• Pets are cuter
• Thralls can be your waifu
• Pets are easier to capture

Pets in Conan Exiles

I love pets in Conan Exiles due to the warm and fuzzy feeling they give me. As someone who chooses survival games based on whether or not you can tame creatures, I quickly started my search for pets when I started playing Conan Exiles.

There are a ton of pets to choose from in Conan Exiles, which makes the roleplaying aspect of them so much better. While most pets are found in the wild, you can also get pets from vendors, usually in egg form.

To raise an egg, either hatch it in your inventory or place it in a Compost Heap. From there, you can raise it as you normally would. In case you’re not familiar with the process, let me lay out the simple steps.

How To Get a Pet in Conan Exiles

1. Get One – either from an egg or in the wild, where you can just pick it up
2. Put it in an Animal Pen – any type of animal pen works; they just have different health, crafting speeds, and such
3. Feed It – for a better chance of getting a Greater Vairant, feed it specific foods based on the specific pet
4. Wait – once it is an adult, you can safely remove it from the Animal Pen and place it on the ground

Pros

• Great for roleplaying
• A lot of options
• They’re cute
• Easy to get a lot of them
• Great for PvP base protecting

Cons

• Can’t customize
• Not as good stats on average

Thralls in Conan Exiles

Thralls in Conan Exiles can be overpowered. They can be armored up and given legendary weapons. This, paired with the great T4 stats, make thralls stronger than players when vamped.

Of course, the thought of “taming” another human can turn many players away. So if you don’t want thralls for this reason, that’s completely understandable. Then again, just pretending like you’re making friends is also a good option.

How to Get a Thrall in Conan Exiles

1. Knock Them Out– use a truncheon; the better the thrall, the harder it is to knock out.
2. Rope Them – use a rope to tie them up; the rope will break after a while, so hurry.
3. Put Them in Wheel of Pain – any Wheel of Pain will do;
4. Feed Them – the food you put in doesn’t matter and will not affect the outcome, but they do need some food
5. Wait – after you make sure they have enough food, just wait and take them out when they are done

Pros

• Amazing stats
• Can put armor on them
• Good T4s are insane
• Scale good

Cons

• Difficult to knock out sometimes
• You’re indenturing them
• Not a lot of variety
• Weak early game

Category Winners

An easy way to decide a winner is to break them down into categories. Of course, some categories are more important than others and some are based on preference alone.

Stats: Thralls

Thralls are stronger in general than pets. They have higher base HP and damage. Pets sometimes win on armor, but because you can put armor on a thrall, this takes away this benefit.

Customization: Thralls

Thralls are much easier to customize than pets because you can put armor on them and even change their appearance with popular mods. The only thing pets have going on customization is that there are more options.

Pack Mule: Pets

Thralls only have five inventory slots, whereas pets have 10. The only exceptions are the Elephants/Mammoths which have 30 slots and the Bearer thralls which have up to 25 slots.

Roleplaying: Pets

Pets are way better for roleplaying. Though you can dress up the thralls, pets allow you to choose one of them to inspire your character or to add another aspect to your character that thralls don’t do justice.

Early to Mid Game: Pets

Pets are better early to mid-game because it’s hard to get a good thrall at this point. T1 thralls are hardly worth it whereas pets don’t get better as you get better. So you can get the same pet early game and late game.

Guards: Pets

Guarding your base is super important in PvP. Because thralls take a lot of time and effort to get, they aren’t ideal for this. Pets on the other hand are easy to get and mass produce.

Late Game: Thralls

Thralls are much better late game, able to take on the biggest bosses without a problem if geared up and leveled. But pets fall off mid-game and become much less useful as the game goes on.

Best Pets in Conan Exiles

Some pets in Conan Exiles are fairly useless, while others will be stronger than most players. Now, for comparison purposes, I’m going to use the Greater variants’ stats as I will use the best T4s for thralls.

Greater Bear

• Starting HP: 1824
• Starting Damage: 22
• Starting Armor: 84
• Strength: 2 (8% bonus)
• Agility: 0 (8% bonus)
• Vitality: 10 (91 bonus)
• Grit: 0 (34 bonus)
• XP to Max Level: 1,078,125

Bears are often considered the best pet, whether greater or not. They have amazing HP and good damage. If you only get one pet and don’t care which one, then a bear is one of the best options.

If you feed them either Unappetizing Fish for extra damage as they level or Savory Fish for extra HP, they will be a force to be reckoned with when max level. Trust me, no one wants to face a bear you raised right.

Greater Rocknose

• Starting HP: 1641
• Starting Damage: 0
• Starting Armor: 124
• Strength: 0 (5% bonus)
• Agility: 8 (5% bonus)
• Vitality: 1 (91 bonus)
• Grit: 1 (40 bonus)
• XP to Max Level: 719,000

The Greater Rocknose is even tankier than the bear because it has almost as much health but even more armor. It is not a fighter by any means, but it’s one of the best tanks in the game.

I suggest leaning into the tankiness rather than increasing the damage. To do that, feed it Ironstone. But if you want to add damage since it is already a tank beast, then feed it regular Stone.

Greater Rhino

• Starting HP: 1623
• Starting Damage: 0
• Starting Armor: 324
• Strength: 2 (8% bonus)
• Agility: 0 (8% bonus)
• Vitality: 6 (118 bonus)
• Grit: 6 (40 bonus)
• XP to Max Level: 1,078,125

The Greater Rhino is the single tankiest pet in Conan Exiles. It has high health, insane armor, and an incredible Vitality bonus. It also causes enemies to bleed, which makes up for its lack of damage.

Plant Fiber is the best food for the rhino because it increases Vitality even more. No one is getting through this guy, so try to get him to run the front lines while you do damage.

Note: the basic version of the Rhino can be used as a mount. I did not add horses, even though I consider them top tier because you can mount them, but it’s something to keep in mind.

Greater Elephant

• Starting HP: 558
• Starting Damage: 26
• Starting Armor: 81
• Strength: 5 (8% bonus)
• Agility: 0 (8% bonus)
• Vitality: 5 (43 bonus)
• Grit: 1 (34 bonus)
• XP to Max Level: 1,078,125

The best thing about the elephants is that they have 30 inventory slots, so you can take them on your trips to gather. The pets are fairly well rounded with good damage but less HP than you might expect from an elephant.

I like to feed some seeds for extra damage and others Plant Fiber for a boost to HP. Because I rarely use them in combat and instead as a utility, which is why I prefer the smaller version as it is easier to take places and it still has 30 slots.

Greater Sabretooth

• Starting HP: 1006
• Starting Damage: 75
• Starting Armor: 104
• Strength: 10 (10% bonus)
• Agility: 0 (10% bonus)
• Vitality: 2 (116 bonus)
• Grit: 2 (16 bonus)
• XP to Max Level: 1,078,125

The Greater Sabretooth is my favorite pet. It has the highest damage of any base greater pet yet still has decent stats otherwise. It’s so fast, has mediocre armor, and hits like a truck. I suggest Abysmal Flesh to increase its damage.

The Sand Reaper Queen is a close second to the Greater Sabretooth. Their stats are so similar (when evened out, as one has more armor and the other more damage) which is why I only added one of them. I choose the Sabretooth primarily because I like the aesthetics better.

Best Thralls in Conan Exiles

Fighter thralls are almost always the best. I have an entire guide on them if you want a deeper look at all the best fighter thralls. But for a quick look at the best thralls, here’s a rundown.

Daicas the Sharp

• HP: 2661
• Strength: 15
• Agility: 2
• Vitality: 10
• Grit: 3
• Melee Multiplier: 1.117
• Ranged Multiplier: 1.032
• XP to Max Level: 1,078,500

Daicas the Sharp is the hardest on the list to get. I’ve seen them in the volcano, and I know the spawn at the Votaries of Skelos purge. But these volcano thralls are rare and difficult to capture.

Lian

• HP: 2087
• Strength: 30
• Vitality: 10
• Grit: 5
• Melee Multiplier: 0.978
• Ranged Multiplier: 0.903
• XP to Max Level: 719,000

Lian is my favorite thrall because he is always at his camp, Lian’s Watch. He has good stats too, with a great base damage to rival the best of them. He is always my first T4 thrall as I run straight there when I feel ready.

Dalinsa Snowhunter

• HP: 3106
• Strength: 15
• Vitality: 30
• Melee Multiplier: 1.117
• Ranged Multiplier: 1.032
• XP to Max Level: 1,078,500

Dalinsa is often considered the best thrall because she has insane base HP, and her multipliers are great. She’s not difficult to find either because she’ll either be stationed at Stargazer’s Coast or nearby at Mounds of the Dead.

RHTS

• HP: 3030
• Agility: 20
• Vitality: 10
• Grit: 15
• Melee Multiplier: 1.117
• Ranged Multiplier: 1.032
• XP to Max Level: 1,078,500

Relic Hunter Treasure Seekers are super common at Sepermeru and the Unnamed City. The reason most people don’t use them is because they are difficult to catch out alone. Otherwise, they’re an amazing thrall.

Which is Better? Pets or Thralls

Thralls take the cake in the Pet Vs. Thrall debate of Conan Exiles. Despite pets winning in more categories, thralls win in the categories that matter. They are always good, they scale well, and their stats are just better.

There are certain things you can’t do with thralls, such as mount them (thank goodness) and have them carry as much as an elephant. But when it comes to combat, the most important aspect, thralls will win out almost every time strictly due to the fact you can gear them up.

FAQs

The Final Decision for You – Thralls or Pets

Because you can get through the game without either, it’s really up to you. I choose Thralls, but not everyone will. In fact, I know a lot of people who don’t choose either since their nerf in 2022.

But I think that thralls are still viable. I’ve maxed out a Lian, given him Godbreaker armor, and let me tell you, it takes an army to get through this dude. So no, I don’t think that thralls are pointless now.

I think that pets and thralls are a decent addition to the game. They both make combat easier. As long as you don’t put too much on their shoulders, they will serve you well, no matter your decision.

Related Read

• Best Pets in Conan Exiles
• Conan Exiles Elephant Pet Guide
• Conan Exiles Sand Reaper Pet Guide: Get Yourself a Poison Queen
• Conan Exiles Rhino Guide