If you’ve spent any amount of time playing Brawl Stars lately, you’ve probably seen the pet power icon pop up in your menu or on teammate loadouts, and wondered what does pet power do in Brawl Stars. It’s not just a fancy cosmetic add-on, even though a lot of players first get drawn to it for the cute little animal companions that follow their Brawlers around. I’ve been grinding Brawl Stars ranked matches for three years now, and I’ve seen pet power turn the tide of more close games than I can count, especially in Solo Showdown and Heist modes – just last week I won a Diamond rank Showdown match by 12 health, and that extra 10% damage resistance from my Nita pet was the only reason I survived the final attack from a Colt. A lot of new players sleep on this feature because they think it’s only for pay-to-win users, but that’s not the case at all – you can unlock and max out most pet power bonuses without spending a cent if you know what you’re doing.
Core Functions: What Does Pet Power Do in Brawl Stars?
First off, let’s break down the core functions so you don’t waste time unlocking pets that don’t fit your playstyle. Each pet is permanently tied to one specific Brawler, so you don’t get to swap pets between characters to mix and match bonuses. Every pet has two key bonuses: a passive buff that’s active 100% of the time you’re using that Brawler, and an active buff that triggers when your Super is fully charged. For example, the fox pet tied to Nita gives a 10% damage resistance buff passively, and when you activate Nita’s Super, the fox will also attack enemies near her bear for 150 damage per hit for the full duration of the Super.
That might not sound like a lot at first, but in late-game Showdown circles where everyone is at 2k health, that extra 150 damage per hit can be the difference between finishing off an enemy before they heal up or getting taken out first. Pet power also has a cosmetic component, of course – each pet has unique idle animations, and they’ll react to in-game events like you getting a kill or taking heavy damage. But the gameplay bonuses are the real reason you want to invest in this feature, not just the cute animations.
How to Unlock and Level Up Pet Power Efficiently
You don’t have to jump through dozens of hoops to unlock your first pet, and most players get their first one within their first 10 hours of play. Pets drop from free Brawl Pass rewards, seasonal event challenge completions, and occasional free shop offers, with paid Brawl Pass holders getting access to 2 extra exclusive pets per season. Leveling up pets uses Pet Power Tokens, which also drop from the same reward pools, plus daily login bonuses for active players. If you’re looking to build up your pet collection without wasting resources, follow these simple rules:
A common mistake I see new players make is unlocking every pet they get access to immediately, even if they never use the Brawler it’s tied to. You don’t get any bonus for unlocking pets you don’t use, so hold onto pet fragments until you get one for a Brawler you play at least a few times a week. At max level (level 5), pet power bonuses are doubled, so getting your main Brawler’s pet to level 5 is one of the highest ROI upgrades you can make right now, outside of leveling the Brawler itself. You don’t need to spend real money to get a max level pet for your main Brawler – I’ve got 4 max level pets on my F2P account, and I only play about 5 hours a week.
Best Pet Power Use Cases for Every Major Game Mode
Pet power bonuses aren’t one-size-fits-all – a buff that works perfectly in Solo Showdown might be almost useless in Brawl Ball, so it pays to know when your pet’s bonuses will give you the biggest edge. For Solo Showdown, pets that give passive health or damage resistance buffs are far and away the best choice. The extra 10-15% damage resistance you get from most tank Brawler pets will let you survive an extra hit from a sniper or heavy damage dealer, which is often all you need to get to the final circle.
For Heist and Siege modes, pets that give extra damage to structures are your best bet. For example, Colt’s pet gives a 15% damage buff to safe and siege machine targets passively, which lets you take down a safe 2 full seconds faster than a Colt without a max level pet. That’s a huge difference in close Heist matches where the winning team often wins by less than a second of damage time. For Brawl Ball and Hot Zone, pets that give movement speed buffs when your Super is charged are ideal. You can activate your Super right as you’re pushing for a goal or capturing a zone, and the extra movement speed will let you dodge enemy attacks far easier than normal. If you mostly play team modes, look for pets that also give small buffs to nearby teammates – El Primo’s pet gives 5% extra damage to all allies within 3 tiles, which adds up fast when you’re pushing a zone as a full team.
Common Pet Power Mistakes to Avoid Wasting Your Resources
Even if you know the basics of how pet power works, it’s easy to make small mistakes that cost you weeks of progress or keep you from getting the full benefit of the feature. The first big mistake is ignoring the active buff entirely. A lot of players forget that their pet’s active bonus only triggers when they use their Super, so they hold onto their Super for the entire match and never get that extra buff. If you have a pet with a strong active buff, don’t be afraid to use your Super a little earlier than you normally would to trigger that bonus, especially in team modes where the extra damage or resistance will help your whole team.
Another mistake is picking a pet (or Brawler) just because their pet has a strong buff, instead of picking one that fits your playstyle. I’ve seen so many players start playing Nita just because her pet has one of the strongest active buffs in the game, even though they hate playing melee support Brawlers. You’ll never win more matches playing a Brawler you’re not comfortable with, even if their pet has a 20% damage buff. The last big mistake is assuming higher rarity pets are always better. Common rarity pets often have just as strong bonuses as legendary pets, especially for casual players. The common pet for Shelly gives a 12% extra reload speed buff at max level, which is far more useful for most players than the legendary pet for Leon that gives a 5% extra invisibility duration, especially if you never play Leon. Don’t sleep on common and rare pets just because they don’t have a fancy rarity border.
At the end of the day, pet power is one of the most accessible, high-impact features added to Brawl Stars in recent years, and it’s well worth investing a little time into if you want to climb ranked faster or just have more fun playing your favorite Brawlers. You don’t need to spend money, grind 10 hours a week, or only play meta Brawlers to get the full benefit of the feature. If you’re just getting started and still wondering what does pet power do in Brawl Stars, start by unlocking the pet for your most played Brawler first, level it up slowly with the tips we covered, and test out the bonuses in quick play matches before you take it to ranked. You’ll probably be surprised at how much of a difference those small passive and active bonuses make in your win rate after a few weeks of use.