Year of the Rat

Happy Year of the Rat! Wishing everyone good health, wealth, and happiness.

Patch 8.3 - Invasion Rares For Pets

Update: Added info on the Amalgamation of Flesh and Wicked Lurker drop. Thanks to @WayneGWoods for the heads up!

--------------------------

Notes for myself to keep track of which rares are important in Patch 8.3. See below for approximate locations of rare mobs that spawn during specific invasions and have a chance to drop a battle pet.

There are 3 separate invasions for each zone (only one up for each zone at a time). I'm not 100% sure that the listed invasion *must* be active for these rares to spawn, but it would only make sense.


Vale of Eternal Blossoms, during a Black Empire invasion

1 = The Forgotten (drops K'uddly)
2 = Will of N'Zoth (drops Corrupted Tentacle)
Amalgamation of Flesh - unknown location, spawns during Black Empire invasion (drops Wicked Lurker)

Uldum, during an Aqir invasion

1 = Lord Aj'qirai (drops Rotbreath)
2 = Skikx'traz (drops Aqir Tunneler)

Not pictured: Uldum, during a Black Empire invasion

Amalgamation of Flesh - spawns during Black Empire Uldum invasion, requires the Pyre of the Amalgamated One bonus objective to be active for the rare to spawn (drops Wicked Lurker)

Quint's 2019 Giveaway

Giveaway time! It's my first Twitter Giveaway, so forgive me if I goof on anything.


Choice of a prize:

• One(1) Dottie battle pet

OR

• Two(2) Blizzard Store digital battle pets (winner's choice of any 2, excluding Dottie)

How to enter:

- Retweet my giveaway Tweet; liking is optional but appreciated

Eligibility:

- Must be following my Twitter account prior to December 19, 2019 (those that enter but follow me after this date will not be eligible)

- US-region (because, as I understand it, Blizzard made digital goods region-locked)

Ends December 28, 2019, at which point one winner will be randomly chosen, and then announced and notified. They will have until December 30, 2019 to get in contact with me to claim the prize, or they'll forfeit it and a new winner will be selected.

GL! :)

WINNER: @thewayitis35

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

After how many years of playing WoW and now I'm doing my first Twitter giveaway? Geeze. Right?

This is more of a test run than anything. I *might* be hitting a 10 year milestone for volunteering at WarcraftPets some time next year...and I *might* want to giveaway something (bigger? better? we'll see) to celebrate. If this giveaway goes smoothly then it's more likely I'll do something next year. ;)

Why only Twitter followers before X date? I wanted to prioritize those that have followed and supported me throughout the years. Making it "follower-only" gives them priority over randoms that just want free stuff but never really gave a damn about the content and random stuff I like/create/share. Think of it as a personal 'thank you' from me.

(Disclaimer: This giveaway and any potential giveaway next year is hosted/run by me; WarcraftPets has no involvement/is not affiliated. Although...if it weren't for WCP picking me up as a volunteer all those years ago, I probably wouldn't be doing any giveaways, so there's that haha.)

Anyway, I'll be double checking entrants to make sure they qualify. As of December 19, 2019 I have 1088 followers, with the most recent ones on top.

IF I have a 10 year giveaway next year I'll likely have the same requirements, and only those following prior to a specified date will be eligible. Haven't decided on a date yet. We'll see.

Dottie, My New Best Friend

Dottie, this year's charity pet, is now available! Blizzard announced her release earlier this week, along with an adorable video.

Between December 3 and December 31, 2019, 100% of the battle pet adoption proceeds will be donated evenly to two charities - the Make-A-Wish Foundation and WE.org.

But on top of an in-game battle pet, Blizzard released a Dottie toy too. Plushie sales will also be donated to the two charities. Note that this is a completely separate purchase from the battle pet; the toy does not come with the battle pet and vice versa.


I'm so taken with Dottie and her cute little bounces, I can't get over how adorable she is. Using Magic Pet Mirror on her and then emoting sit results in the sitting animation pictured above. Combine this with Pepe... and I'll admit I squeed hehe. Dottie being a charity pet, with sales going toward worthy causes, makes adopting her even sweeter.

What's not as sweet to some, however, is the fine print for this pet and plushie.

Through Dec 31, 2019, Blizzard® Entertainment will donate 100% of the purchase price to be shared equally with Make-A-Wish and WE.org, less any chargebacks, refunds and Value Added Taxes (VAT) or other similar taxes paid with a maximum donation amount of USD $3 million from all sales of the Dottie in-game pet and plushie for charity.

This disclaimer can be found on both Dottie's digital goods page, as well as the toy page. I honestly can't remember if this note was added onto previous charity pet sales, but it kind of caught me off guard. At first it left me feeling a little put off. A cap? On donations to charity? Really?

Others seemed to have a similar reaction. Some in the community have stated they felt it was greedy and distasteful. Not a good look for Blizzard, especially these days with the loss of good faith from a portion of their playerbase.

But after thinking about it for a bit, I realized I didn't have any authority to call Blizzard out on this one.

I don't fully know or understand all of the legal baggage that comes with non-profit/charitable donations and organizations, but a donation cap might be the result of a legal issue not installed by Blizzard but by state or federal law.

Why now then? Why was there no fine print regarding a donation cap before? There are a number of reasons why this might be the first time we've seen this additional note.

One possible reason is that this cap was always in place, but this is the first time Blizzard officially announced it. Donations as a result of charity pet (and plushie) sales have never exceeded $3million (that we know of). The highest was $2.5million in 2016 from Mischief (pet AND plushie) adoptions, and the second highest was the Cinder Kitten with $2.3million in donations. It's possible that Blizzard already estimated a certain number of sales, and they knew they would never go over X amount. If it's an unspoken yet known thing, maybe the announced $3million cap is just their legal team pushing for some official disclaimers to keep their hands clean.

(Side Note: I've kept track of charity pet sales and how much each has raised over the years. Unfortunately, the data stops at 2017, as Blizzard never released information on how much Whomper raised for charity in 2018. Was really hoping they'd announce that prior to or along with Dottie's release, but oh well.)

Or perhaps this specific year has been an especially productive one for the charities, and they've received a large injection of donations. If they can only accept a certain amount annually (due to laws), a "good year" would mean future donations need to be gauged and measured accordingly. Perhaps they had to give Blizzard the bad news that they could only accept up to a specific amount so as to not go over their own cap.

There are probably other (legal) reasons why we're seeing this cap notice now or for the first time. I'm not well versed in law so I couldn't tell you how many or what they are.

Does it look bad on Blizzard? Considering the context and precedence (of no announced-cap previously), yup. But do I think it's malicious? Not really. I mean, it very well *could* be, but for the sake of good will and charity, I want to believe that it's not.

To be clear, I'm not defending Blizzard on this one. I just don't know enough about the situation to have an objective view. Is this cap because of legal reasons? Was a cap always there? Is it Blizzard's choice or are their hands tied? Malicious/greedy intent? No clue. So even if I wanted to defend Blizzard, I couldn't. Not without all of the facts.

Take what you will from Blizzard's disclaimer. Everything is just opinion and speculation unless we gain access to all the information/facts. You're still free to feel however you feel about the situation though. Like it, hate it, unconcerned/unbothered, etc. It's all valid.

I will say that it does kind of put a damper on Dottie's release though. It's not exactly a very 'feel good' moment to learn that charitable donations will be capped at a certain amount. I feel like the community's kind of lost some steam for this charity pet as a result.

Regardless, I adore Dottie. I'm also glad that SOME proceeds will go to good causes, at the very least. I'll give Blizzard the benefit of the doubt for now, because I simply do not know all the reasons behind the disclaimer. IF in the end the cap was put into place by Blizzard out of greed, welp, what can I say. 'I'm not surprised, capitalism's a bitch'?

Revamped Recruit-A-Friend Guide (Patch 8.2.5+)

Blizzard recently relaunched an updated Recruit-A-Friend program. Sadly, previous rewards are no longer available, however there is a new reward that might interest pet collectors: Rikki!

Here is the process on how to recruit yourself to earn this pet.

It costs approximately $15.00 (cost of one month game time) to collect Rikki from the updated RAF system.

1. Log into the game, open your Social window.

2. Select the Recruit A Friend tab, and hit the recruitment button (lower left of the window).

3. A new window will pop up where you can generate a recruitment link.

Note: Link does not expire until a custom date noted underneath the link field. Each link can be used 4 times.

4. Copy and email this link to yourself.

Note: You can use the same email address that's already attached to your main account.

5. Clicking the link will take you to a page to either select one of your existing eligible accounts to "recruit", or Create New Game Account.

Note: Alt-accounts that are eligible for "recruitment" are accounts that are inactive and you haven't used in a long time (at least 2-3 years). You'll get a list of possible accounts to select or the option to make a new one.

6. After selecting either option, go to the Blizzard Shop and purchase one month game time.

Note: Doesn't have to be the subscription option. Much easier to use separate game time.

7. Apply it to your account (WoW1, WoW2, etc.) that you just "recruited".

Note: To make sure the game time is applied, you can check by either going to your Bnet launcher and viewing the recruited account (WoW1, WoW2, etc.). A timer should be displayed next to the Play button if that account has game time on it. Alternatively, you can go to Account Management online, select Game & Subscriptions, and see if the RAF'ed account is listed as "Active Account Status".

8. Log back onto your main account and Rikki should be waiting for you to claim in the Recruit A Friend tab of the Social window!

You should be able to claim Rikki immediately once eligible and he will be added directly to your Pet Journal. He's rare quality and S/B breed.

Side Note: Although Rikki was an instantaneous reward, there are reports that the additional RAF rewards aren't.

It seems that rewards are awarded monthly, so reward #2 is not redeemable until one month is up for the RAF account and the second month kicks in, and so on. The original RAF program had a similar issue, but much like the original RAF system, there's a possible work around. See this Twitter thread to learn more.

Disclaimer: I haven't tried getting the other rewards, so I can't say for sure how it works. Just be aware the other rewards may not be redeemable right away.

You can learn more about how recruiting multiple people/accounts works on the official Recruit-A-Friend page.

That's about it! It's unknown if the older rewards will come back, or if other new pets will be added. We'll have to wait and see.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any additional questions, corrections, or comments. Happy collecting :)

8.2 Non-Wild Pet Colors

In addition to the 8.2 wild pets coming in multiple colors, many of the non-wild pets also have a number of skins.

Here's a quick list. No images. I'm not sure if there will be more pets added to this list, and I won't be able to check until I've collected the pet. So just a list for now.

Amethyst Softshell - 2 skins

• round shell
• spiky shell

Bonebiter - 2 skins

• red-orange and black
• yellow and black

Burnout - 3 skins (appearance-changer upon summon)

• two arms
• two arms and embedded arrows
• one arm

Glittering Diamondshell - 5 skins

• grey w/blue eyes
• pink w/blue eyes
• dark grey w/red eyes
• dark grey w/yellow eyes
• dark grey w/green eyes

Microbot XD - 2 skins

• silver w/copper gears, red head light
• silver w/copper gears, blue eyes

OOX-35/MG - 4 skins

• yellow w/light brown accents, yellow eyes
• grey w/green accents, green eyes
• copper w/grey accents, white eyes
• grey w/copper accents, brown eyes

Prismatic Softshell - 2 skins

• round shell
• spiky shell

Scalebrood Hydra - 3 skins

• purple w/white belly
• dark grey w/white belly
• white w/white belly

Giving Up On A Goal

After much consideration, I think I've finally decided to not actively seek out battle pets that have multiple skins that are not wild.

This decision doesn't come easily; the collector and semi-completionist in me is cringing and not happy. I do enjoy the different appearances, but I don't think I can stomach the difficulties of trying to obtain non-wild pets of different colors anymore.

I've already written a lengthy feedback post on the official Bnet Pet Battle forums, detailing why it feels horrible as a collector faced with collecting non-wild pets with multiple skins. On top of the RNG involved and lack of (good) in-game preview tools of caged battle pets for sale, there's also a notable lack of player agency involved.

Let's compare examples of a pet that has player agency vs. one that has little to none. OOX-35/MG is an 8.2 pet that can only drop on days that a daily is active on Mechagon. Meanwhile, Glittering Diamondshell is an 8.2 pet that drops from a rarespawn on Nazjatar. The former can come in 4 different colors, and the latter has 5 skins.

I already have all versions of OOX-35/MG - why? Player agency. The only RNG I had to contend with was the randomness associated with which skin I received after adding the pet to my Pet Journal. I was largely in control of the whole process of collecting this pet. (It could be argued that there's also RNG regarding when the daily will pop up, but I see that as an 'eventuality' rather than completely random.) I did not mind collecting this pet and its multiple colors. It took time, but it didn't feel bad.

The Glittering Diamondshell, on the other hand, drops off a rarespawn that can appear in multiple locations. That's RNG #1; just finding the mob. It's respawn timer, if it's like any of the other 8.2 rares, is between 1 and 1.5 hours. RNG #2; period of time that's somewhat, but not entirely predictable. The battle pet that drops is not guaranteed. RNG #3; purely chance to receive the pet. And last but not least, the skin that you learn is random. RNG #4; no control over whether or not you receive a duplicate color or one that you need/want. All four factors combined makes for a very, very frustrating and discouraging experience. If you take into consideration breed (many dropped pets come in a variety of breeds as well), it's even more demoralizing.

To spare myself the heartache and disappointment, I've decided not to concern myself with dropped pet colors anymore. I could buy them from the AH, but as I explained in my long Bnet post, it's difficult to preview caged pets since the in-game tool currently only shows the default color.

It's tough for me to let go of something that I've been so consistent with throughout my WoW career - collecting all battle pet skins. But without player agency or the tools necessary to collect efficiently, I just can't swallow all of the layered RNG. I'm throwing in the towel. Giving up. The RNG and lack of player agency killed my drive to continue. So I'm done with that goal/challenge. Collect one of whatever pet it is, and then move on.

In my post that I linked above, I offer up some suggestions. Non-wild pets as color-changers, better in-game preview tool, or implementing different skins as separate pets altogether. I don't know how reasonable or practical any of my ideas are, but they're better than the current state of things (IMO).

On the bright side, I will continue to hunt for wild pets that have multiple colors. The RNG is still there, yes, but unlike dropped pets, I have more control over what, when, how, where I battle and search for wild pets. Randomness isn't overwhelming and I can actually feel like I'm making progress.

As I've mentioned before, the carrot at the end of the stick can only be enticing if you can actually see it.

Save the Dates - Patch 8.2 Raiding/Dungeon Schedule

Patch 8.2 brings a new raid (The Eternal Palace) and a megadungeon (Operation: Mechagon).

• 7 new pets will be from the raid (3 wild, 4 drops, all difficulties)
• 6 new pets will be from the 5-player dungeon (4 wild, 2 drops, dungeon is Mythic-only)

Both of these zones will not be open at the start of Patch 8.2.
Official schedule announcement here


Here's the release schedule for battle pet collectors:

JULY 9, 2019
The Eternal Palace (Normal and Heroic)
Operation: Mechagon (Mythic-only dungeon)


JULY 16, 2019
The Eternal Palace (LFR Wing 1)

- Mindlost Bloodfrenzy (Blackwater Behemoth)

- Blackchasm Crawler, wild and found on the watery platforms in Halls of the Chosen, before the Lady Ashvane encounter

- Chitterspine Deepstalker, wild and found in the tunnel that leads to Lady Ashvane's area, after the Blackwater Behemoth encounter

- Trench Slug, wild and found as secondaries

JULY 30, 2019
The Eternal Palace (LFR Wing 2)

- Lightless Ambusher (Lady Ashvane)

AUGUST 13, 2019
The Eternal Palace (LFR Wing 3)

- Nameless Octopode (Za'qul)
- Zanj'ir Poker (Queen Azshara)

It's currently unclear where we'll find the wild pets within The Eternal Palace raid, or how we'll gain access to them.

• Will they be similar to the Dream Whelpling from the Emerald Nightmare raid (need to defeat a specific encounter before they spawn)?
• Or will they just be spawned in various locations, similar to Operation: Mechagon?
• Will they only be near certain bosses, meaning those doing LFR will need to do a specific wing for a specific wild pet?
• Will they even appear in LFR as well as other difficulties?

I'll update this page once more is revealed about these pets.

8.2 PTR - Nazjatar Slimy Pets Process

Thanks to the efforts of @patf0rd on Twitter, we now know how we'll be collecting "slimy" pets in Patch 8.2.

Players will likely need to progress in the zone a little bit before being able to see lootable crystals around the area. Possible prerequisites: pick up and complete the one-time quest in front of a Ravenous Slime, and unlock World Quests in the zone.

1. Collect Prismatic Crystals (lootable objects lying on the ground on Nazjatar, usually near water/waterfalls, possible prerequisites prior to seeing these objects)
2. Use a crystal to charm a Nazjatar critter
3. "Feed" a Ravenous Slime (total of 4 different slimes) with the charmed critter (slime will 'fall asleep' and despawn after feeding)
4. Repeat for a few days with each slime and eventually the slimes will spawn as cocoons instead of 'falling asleep', with a lootable "slimy" pet inside

Here's a map of where the Ravenous Slimes are located, plus coordinates (thanks @patf0rd!):



/way 32.8 39.7 Slime 151875
/way 45.7 24.1 Slime 151874
/way 71.8 25.6 Slime 151782
/way 54.9 48.6 Slime 151218
As noted above, the crystals tend to spawn near waterfalls. It takes a while for them to respawn, but they do pop back up in what seems to be set locations. Check back every now and then for additional crystals.

Looting the cocoon drops a random "slimy" pet, and you can get duplicates. So it looks like we'll have to repeat this process many times to collect all 7.

Each slime that turns into a cocoon will not respawn the next day, and will instead reset the following week. So it's essentially a "weekly".

Further testing by @patf0rd revealed that feeding the slimes is character-specific and not account-wide. So I guess you could bring alts to Nazjatar to find/loot crystals for the process. This might give collectors more chances for the "slimy" pets that they need/want.

8.2 PTR - Wild Pet Colors of Mechagon & Nazjatar

Many of the upcoming wild pets on Mechagon and Nazjatar come in multiple skins. Here's a visual guide and some notes on these pets.

Most are unique colors and I haven't found any other pets that have the same model+color to stand-in for these wild pets. Other pets that I haven't yet collected on the PTR could be used as substitutes if they come in multiple skins, but we won't know for sure until 8.2 is released.

Image heavy after the page break!