Animal Companions (Pets)
The unique profession mechanic for the ranger is its ability to summon a persistent Animal Companion (also simply called pets) to fight alongside them during combat. During character creation you will be able to select from a few different pets that you will begin the game with, with the available options dependent on your character's race. There are no wrong decisions to be made here, as you will have the opportunity to charm or tame all available pet species through normal gameplay.
To see a complete list of the ranger pets currently available, be sure to check out The Complete Ranger Pet Guide Portal. From there you can view a mini-guide for each pet species with full skill descriptions, locations for where to charm them in-game, and any additional notes for each specific pet.
The skill bar for your active pet will be displayed directly above your weapon skills (shown below), with the F1-F3 keys used to command your pet to attack your current target [F1], activate its unique skill [F2], or toggle between passive and aggressive mode [F3]. Each pet species has 1 unique skill (activated by pressing the [F2] key) with the remaining three shared between other pets from the same family. This unique skill should be considered an active part of your normal skill rotation during combat, and as such you will want to use a pet that compliments your overall build in some way.
Once you've tamed at least one additional pet, you will be able to switch between them during combat by clicking on the small arrow icon to the right of the pet skills. You can have a total of 4 pets slotted; 2 for combat on land, and 2 for underwater combat. Your slotted pets can be changed at any time by opening the Pet Management [K] window.
To tame new pets, you will need to locate a
"juvenile" version of that animal type in PvE and WvW zones. They will be easily distinguished from other creatures both by having "juvenile" in their name, and their nameplate will also be green.
Once you've found a juvenile animal you would like to tame, simply walk up to it and interact with it by pressing the [F] key. This will bring up a window that tells you a little bit about that particular pet, and also gives you the option to equip your new pet at that point as shown above. Once equipped, you can also give your pet a new name by opening the Pet Management [K] window, and clicking on the small quill icon located at the top of the window.
List of known pet locations:
www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/34112-list-of-known-pet-locations/
Pets: wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Terrestrial#Families_and_species