Since I was curious about how epic pets would impact PVE battles, I did some testing on Alpha and compared it to results on live. Note that this is a VERY small sample size, on ONE encounter.
- Test subject: Greyhoof
Beasts of Fable legendary elite
- lvl 24, 1999 hp, 461 power, 293 speed (ALPHA)
- lvl 23, 1919 hp, 442 power, 281 speed (LIVE)
- lvl 25, epic quality (ALPHA)
Mini Thor 1937 hp, 315 power, 227 speed
Warbot 1500 hp, 350 power, 280 speed
- lvl 25, rare quality (LIVE)
Mini Thor 1806 hp, 292 power, 211 speed
Warbot 1400 hp, 325 power, 260 speed
- Process: 7 battles on both Alpha and Live using the same abilities and strat (Sticky Grenade, Toxic Smoke, Missile, Toxic Smoke, and spam Missile until dead).
Results: The average number of rounds to defeat Greyhoof on Alpha (using epic pets) was roughly 7. The average number of rounds to defeat Greyhoof on Live (using rare pets) was roughly 8.
Other observations: Most battles on Alpha ended with Warbot having ~25% hp or more, and Failsafe was never triggered. On Live, battles usually ended with Warbot having ~25% hp or less, and Failsafe triggered nearly ~50% of the time.
During the majority of battles on Alpha, pets were able to last about 1 round longer than pets on Live.
For more detailed results, see after the break.
Conclusions: While it's still too early to say for sure, and this testing sample size is really tiny, it does appear that epic pets do impact PVE battles somewhat.
One round difference between Alpha and Live may not seem like much, and maybe it isn't. But the gameplay definitely feels slightly different. The fact that my epic Warbot NEVER had to trigger Failsafe, while my rare Warbot did about three out of seven battles says quite a bit.
That shadow of doom and very real possibility that you will lose isn't as oppressive while using epic pets. A legendary pet doesn't seem quite as formidable when your pets are epic, have large health pools and hit almost as hard as the legendaries do.
Am I asking for hit-your-face-against-this-wall type of Pet Battles? No. But part of the fun of a trainer/NPC battle is figuring out how to go about defeating them. Sometimes that involves trial and error and failing. The fear of losing yet determination to overcome the encounter is what makes the battle that much more rewarding when you finally win.
On another note, battles take just a little less time on Alpha. Factor this change into all of the Pet Battles we do (trainers, leveling, dailies, PVP, etc.) and it may add up to a lot of time saved if we had epic pets to battle with.
All of that being said, I would still have to vote no to having epic pets in our collections in Legion. It doesn't seem worth it to me (lots of effort to upgrade to epic for only a relatively small increase in performance), and it removes the satisfaction of fighting and defeating someone stronger than you. The big baddies are no longer as big or bad, because suddenly your pets are purple too and just as ferocious, if not more.
I realize that I'm sort of asking for my cake and wanting to eat it too -- you just can't have a big performance increase while still being David against the Goliath. That is, unless encounter difficulty is raised even higher overall. That could alienate and turn off newer/casual battlers though.
This is just my opinion/impression so far. Things could change and I may change my mind depending on those updates. We'll see.
--------------Greyhoof Detailed Testing Results--------------
Testing results from Alpha (using epic pets)
1.)
Mini Thor - died round 6
Warbot - ended @ round 7, finished w/~25% hp
2.)
Mini Thor - died round 6
Warbot - ended @ round 7, finished w/~25% hp
3.)
Mini Thor - died round 6
Warbot - ended @ round 8, finished w/over ~25% hp
4.)
Mini Thor - died round 5
Warbot - ended @ round 7, finished w/over ~25% hp
5.)
Mini Thor - died round 6
Warbot - ended @ round 8, finished w/~25% hp
6.)
Mini Thor - died round 5
Warbot - ended @ round 7, finished w/~25% hp
7.)
Mini Thor - died round 6
Warbot - ended @ round 7, finished w/over ~25% hp
Testing results from Live (using rare pets)
1.)
Mini Thor - died round 6
Warbot - ended @ round 8, finished w/~25% hp
2.)
Mini Thor - died round 5
Warbot - ended @ round 8, triggered Failsafe
3.)
Mini Thor - died round 6
Warbot - ended @ round 8, finished w/~50% hp
4.)
Mini Thor - died round 5
Warbot - ended @ round 8, triggered Failsafe
5.)
Mini Thor - died round 5
Warbot - ended @ round 8, triggered Failsafe
6.)
Mini Thor - died round 6
Warbot - ended @ round 7, finished w/~25% hp
7.)
Mini Thor - died round 6
Warbot - ended @ round 8, finished w/~25% hp
--------------Lucky Yi Detailed Testing Results--------------
- Test subject: Lucky Yi
Beasts of Fable legendary elite
- lvl 24, 1811 hp, 422 power, 316 speed (both Alpha and Live)
- Pets used: Core Hound Pup (2,1,2) and S/S Temple Snake (1,1,1)
- lvl 25, epic quality (ALPHA)
Core Hound Pup 1745 hp, 346 power, 227 speed
Temple Snake 1412 hp, 280 power, 367 speed
- lvl 25, rare quality (LIVE)
Core Hound Pup 1627 hp, 322 power, 211 speed
Temple Snake 1319 hp, 260 power, 341 speed
- Process: 7 battles on both Alpha and Live using the same abilities and strat (Howl, Thrash, Thrash, Burrow, Howl, Thrash, Thrash, Thrash, repeat until Core Hound Pup dies, then Bite with Temple Snake until dead).
Testing results from Alpha (using epic pets)
1.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 7, finished w/over ~25% hp
2.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 7, finished w/less than ~25% hp
3.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 5, finished w/ ~50% hp
4.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 5, finished w/ ~50% hp
5.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 8, finished w/less than ~25% hp
6.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 7, finished w/less than ~25% hp
7.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 5, finished w/ ~50% hp
Testing results from Live (using rare pets)
1.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 7, finished w/less than ~25% hp
2.)
Core Hound Pup - died round 9
Temple Snake - ended @ round 10, finished w/nearly 100% hp
3.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 8, finished w/less than ~25% hp
4.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 8, finished w/less than ~25% hp
5.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 8, finished w/less than ~25% hp
6.)
Core Hound Pup - ended @ round 7, finished w/ ~25% hp
7.)
Core Hound Pup - died round 8
Temple Snake - died round 13
*incomplete battle*
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