Deathy Needs Rehab

an amusing blue post in response to the obviously bugged deathy animations and vocalizations:

For those of you who attended or watched BlizzCon 2010 and claimed a Deathy pet, you may have noticed that he’s acting strange. In fact, he seems to think he’s Grunty the Murloc Marine. This is an unintended consequence of the groupthink from which all murlocs suffer. Deathy will be undergoing an extensive rehabilitation program and should be acting appropriately destructive once his idol, Deathwing, shatters the world in an upcoming patch that will debut prior to the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. - Nethaera

this is not new news for most pet collectors, but it's good to have some official confirmation that deathy will be updated in upcoming patches (4.0.3 and 4.0.3a)!

i wonder what murloc rehabilitation consists of? group therapy, recreational swimming and... fish? :P

Beta Enchanting Pet Recipes Found

as of the most recent beta build, the magic lamp recipe can be purchased from an enchanting vendor in the twilight highlands for 20 hypnotic dust (new enchanting mat).

the vendor, a female draenei named senthii, is located in the starting alliance quest hub (highbank) area, but the zone is phased until you've completed the first set of quests for that area. once the alliance have "won" the small island, the vendors will become visible.

because the twilight highlands is a level 84-85 zone, this means that you will not be able to access these vendors until you've reached a minimum level of 84 to complete the quests for highbank.

the recipe is bind on pick up, however the companion pet created is NOT and therefore can be sold/given away. this is good news for all collectors since the recipes are faction specific, so the only way of obtaining a horde version of this pet if you're alliance would be through the neutral AH and likewise for the alliance one if you're horde.

and last but not least, i'm assuming that the horde equivalent of the alliance starting area in twilight highlands is where the enchanted lantern recipe will be sold, but i haven't confirmed this for myself yet.

well now i know what i'll be doing for the next few days! time to work on getting my enchanter up to level 84 as well as level her enchanting to 525 just so i can get a nifty screenshot of the magic lamp pet. :)

**UPDATE: as suspected, the horde equivalent of the magic lamp, the enchanted lantern recipe, can be purchased from a male blood elf NPC named fallanos within dragonmaw port in twilight highlands. much like the alliance version of this starting quest hub in the zone, you need to complete the first set of quests in order to be phased in properly and gain access to the vendor.

New TCG Pet Confirmed

wowtcgloot.com has found confirmation that landro's lil' xt will indeed be a new companion pet loot card found within the upcoming TCG expansion pack, worldbreaker. a screenshot of what the NPC, landro, has to offer was shown at blizzcon with the pet as well as a couple other items listed.

the only thing left to confirm is the appearance of this new pet. since the tooltip states: "A near-perfect, goblin-manufactured knockoff of the Wonderworks original" it's very likely that it will just be a model copy of the already existing lil' xt, but we'll see.

love him or hate him, it looks like copies of XT-002 Deconstructor will be doubling in numbers amongst the collecting community. that sneaky raid boss!

Pebble

i finally completed the achievement rock lover on the beta, however i think it's bugged at the moment. despite reloading and logging, i did not receive pebble as a reward for completing the achievement. i already submitted feedback on this issue, so it should be fixed prior to cataclysm being released, but here i was hoping that i would have a cute screenshot of my very own pebble for this write up. :( oh well.

how to obtain pebble is pretty straight forward, so here are just some updated tips:

Day of the Dead 2010

the in-game halloween festivities are coming to a close soon, and then the short two day in-game celebration of day of the dead will begin! it will be interesting to see if an actual companion pet will be released with this year's day of the dead.

last year's event was heavily bugged which was frustrating. many collectors were upset that they were unable to enjoy the company of the on use companion, the macabre marionette, because of the bug and therefore had no other opportunity to play with the pet due to the short duration of the event. what came as the biggest shock and disappointment for pet collectors was when it was discovered that the marionette wasn't a true vanity pet and would disappear once the in-game holiday was over.

hopefully the day of the dead glitches have been resolved in time for this year's version. that, and i'm hoping for an actual companion pet version of the macabre marionette! but i won't hold my breath :P

Because a Moose Wasn't Enough

breanni, site creator and owner of WarcraftPets.com, had the privilege of touring blizzard headquarters this past blizzcon weekend and even got to briefly speak with the infamous ghostcrawler about vanity pets!

some exciting things mentioned:

- baby seahorse pet (NYI - may or may not be released after cataclysm)
- renaming vanity pets in the same fashion that hunters can rename their pets (something for the faaaaar future, but not completely out of the question)

there you have it. ghostcrawler promised a moose. now add to that a baby seahorse pet and the ability to rename vanity pets. JUST KIDDING! :P

while there's no actual confirmation on when or even if the above will actually happen/be released, at least blizzard is considering it.

i absolutely can't wait to see if these ideas will pan out or if they will remain on the back burner indefinitely. i'm hoping for the former, but i understand that there are probably more pressing issues to address before something as whimsical as a feature to rename your companion pet is added into the game. plus this gives me plenty of time to come up with over 100 names to give to all my companions. :P

Pet Pathing

ever since patch 4.0.1, i've noticed pets having some trouble following their owners. not just vanity pets, but hunter pets, warlock pets, and any guardian or summoned creature. they seem to get stuck at certain points such as doorways, ramps, and other transitional areas where they had no problem walking through before. it's almost as if a "no pet" sign was placed and they dare not disobey lol.

since i haven't really been outside of dalaran lately, i can't say if this happens everywhere, but i do notice it occurring repeatedly within dalaran. specifically in the alliance inn, around the dalaran fountain, and within dalaran sewers. my companions just can't get past an invisible line and in the end i'm either forced to move out of range which despawns them or i have to dismiss and resummon them on the "safe" side.

other times they will do their best to make their way to me by doing a giant loop or lap around the area, as if there's something blocking them from taking the most direct route to me. my toxic wasteling felt the need to take an extra long run around the outer area to follow me around the dalaran fountain today.

it's pretty strange. or perhaps i just never noticed it before? my gut feeling says it's more of the former than the latter though. i never had any trouble coaxing a pet into the inn before, but ever since the patch... whether i'm going into the inn or heading out, they just seem to want to hang out in the doorway.

hopefully this will be resolved in the next patch or in the expansion. azeroth has always been such a pet friendly place, it would be a shame if companions were suddenly shunned and discriminated! :P

Awaiting Deathy

since i wasn't able to make it to blizzcon this year, i had to make do with the internet live stream. actually, it was actually quite pleasant to be able to watch nearly all the panels from the comfort of my own home. haha. but i do regret being unable to meet up with some guildies as well as the warcraftpets crew. :( hopefully next year.

another downside is that i'll have to wait a while longer before i can finally claim a deathy of my own. at the moment i hear his vocalizations are bugged and he's a bit grunty-ish. that should be updated and fixed with the next patch, though.

there's also an interesting youtube video of deathy's (possible) soon to come animations. i'm not too sure how accurate the video is, though. i missed the blizzcon art panel, but apparently there was a preview during that segment? rumor has it that it's pretty awesome. but i'll just have to be patient and wait. 6 - 8 weeks isn't that long... is it? haha. we'll see how long i can hold out before i start anxiously ripping out hair. :P

NEW Charity Pet!

moonkin hatchling coming in november!

alright, now that i've had some time to settle down and gather my thoughts, yes! michael morhaime announced at the opening ceremony of blizzcon that the moonkin hatchling will be available for purchase at the official PetStore in november. also, either part or all of the proceeds from this new companion will go to a (yet to be named) nonprofit charity in the same fashion as the pandaren monk.

speaking of which...

over 1.1 million dollars was donated to the make a wish foundation through pandaren monk purchases! so not only did many of us receive a new awesome addition to our collection, we were part of that 1.1 million dollar cause for a greater good. it's really heartwarming to think of it that way. :)

i'm so happy to see blizzard continuing this trend of donations to nonprofit charities through outlets such as vanity items and sales. collectors, while a small portion of the total in-game wow community, will really go that extra mile for something desired to complete a collection. this can be utilized for good or for evil. *queue the sinister villain theme music* however, blizzard's recognition of our overly zealous nature for all things vanity, and channeling some of that energy towards a beneficial entity such as the make a wish foundation is considered "good" in my book *queue the heroic 'saves the day' theme music* kudos to blizzard on this one!

and just because i can... doesn't it just make you swell with pride to be apart of an in-game community who gets a special announcement during the opening ceremony of blizzcon? :P just kidding, just kidding haha. but seriously, collectors are awesome. :)

Land Shark

i was on the beta trying for the rustberg seagull (again) and while attempting to complete one of the "kill this guy" dailies, guess what i discovered? a level 85 elite shark named tank. but this is no ordinary shark. he's got over 100k hp AND he can swim (uh.. walk? flop?) on land!

i saw him swimming around northern tol barad and thought, 'i should be safe here just on the edge of the water. at worst he may agro onto me and then evade bug.'

how wrong i was.

this badass shark literally swam up onto the beach, and when i proceeded to run he followed me further inland! it was quite a sight to see a gigantic elite shark named tank swimming on land while chomping my tiny druid. needless to say i died but i was too amused to care.

what was the point of this post again? oh yea. rustberg seagull. i'm probably undergeared or these dailies are meant to be done in a group, but wow i feel as though i'm beating my head against the wall for this companion! the dailies are quite tough since the mobs hit pretty hard, have a lot of hp, and have such a quick respawn time. when the expansion goes live, the rustberg seagull may just have to wait the longest before i get around to working for him.

anyway next time i'll have to post some screenshots of mr. tank and his on-land prowess. hmm... if an elite shark can make it up onto land, does that mean pet collectors can finally hope to see the baby shark pet that was datamined pre-wotlk? :P

Only Time Will Tell

i wonder if the headless horseman mount droprate was increased this year. i've seen quite a few since the in-game halloween festival started, and more players seem to be looting it from their pumpkin loot bags.

if its droprate was indeed increased, hopefully next year's midsummer fire festival's frigid frostling gets the same treatment. it would mean that blizzard did hear collector's pleas and cries, and that pet collectors just happened to be this past year's guinea pigs for the new holiday loot system. it would be unfortunate if that were truly the case, but at the same time it's commendable that the pet collecting community handled it so well imo. :) hopefully we got through to blizzard and our concerns, ideas, and suggestions were seriously considered and maybe even implemented for the holidays to come.

am i completely at ease and confident in the next new holiday boss pet? not quite, no. the anxiety that droprates were not or will not be adjusted is still there, as well as the usual stress that comes with the desire for a limited time pet. but seeing so many receive the headless horseman mount this year does give me hope that things will work out for collectors. if we're willing to compromise maybe blizzard will be too. things are always better when both sides are willing and able to cooperate rather than fight each other on every point.

anyway, i wish those going for the sinister squashling good luck! remember, you can obtain it by trick or treating at an innkeeper and by looting it from a pumpkin loot bag (received after your first headless horseman kill each day). two ways to get the pet, double the chances!

Guild Herald and... Moonkin Pet?!

mmo-champion has found a possible upcoming beta build (13202). some changes were made on how the guild herald is obtained:

- Profit Sharing now requires 100,000 gold, up from 50,000 gold. Now rewards the Guild Herald companion pet.

- Saving For A Rainy Day now requires 200,000 gold, up from 100,000 gold. No longer rewards the Guild Herald companion pet.

oh and did i mention...

- Moonkin Hatchling - Right Click to summon or dismiss a Moonkin Hatchling.

*_* yes, you read that right. a moonkin hatchling. if i didn't know better, i'd think 'extremely late april fool's joke? or.. an extremely early one?'

no other information on this pet yet, but you can be sure i'll be stalking all the beta databases and the beta itself in an attempt to find out more!

Excited Yet?

oh blizzard, why do you tease me so? during my usual routine of checking up on the remaining cataclysm pets that there is still very little information on, i came across other unmentioned and unknown companion items and spells on wowhead, mmo-champion, and even the official wowarmory.

some of these items and spells were ones that i've seen before, such as the baby shark. if you remember pre-wotlk, this little one was datamined from test servers but never released with the live version of the expansion. (with good reason. poor guy doesn't have an on-land survival suit yet!)

along with older unreleased pets, there are some new ones that have yet to be confirmed to be even potential future companions. they could be Game Master only pets, things blizzard developers are just toying around with or working on, or teasers for vanity pet obsessed people like me. :P

i'm really eager to find out more, but part of me is also anticipating some surprise releases in cataclysm. maybe one of these miscellaneous pets will end up being a vendor pet added in at the very last minute? or a quest reward? a world drop? every once in a while, even someone as detail oriented, meticulous, and inflexible like me enjoys a neat curve ball.

nothing can truly be confirmed yet, so more waiting and more testing, i suppose. still.. it's quite enthralling to see how many semi-confirmed companions there are, and then add to that list the unconfirmed pets. there are just so many!

it can seem overwhelming, but once you break it down, find out all the details and necessary information needed to collect each one, things start to seem clearer. anxiety, while never really fully removed, turns into excitement, and that's when you know you're ready to take on the task of collecting them all.

cataclysm is sure looking like it's going to be a pet collector's dream expansion!

I Love Lamp

both the enchanting formulas for the enchanted lantern and magic lamp pets now require 525 skill (previously 500 skill). the materials needed to craft the two companions have also been updated on wowhead.

how the recipes are obtained is still unknown, but wowhead and mmo-champion are still showing both of them as faction specific. the magic lamp for alliance, and the enchanted lantern for horde.

and if you're wondering about the title of this post, no i'm not in love with alliance or the alliance version. it's from the movie 'anchorman' with will ferrell. it's late and i'm all silly with so many pet updates! :P

Whelplings in Cataclysm

in response to an inquiry about the future of the whelp companions (azure, crimson, emerald, and dark), a blue states:

"We're in the process of finding new homes for each of these whelps. While we've not settled on where just yet, it looks like we'll be able to keep them as non-combat companions.

This is subject to change, of course, but the house-hunting appears to be going well. (We'll keep you updated should our relocation plans change.)" - Lylirra

just to be on the safe side though, i would still recommend keeping the whelplings closer to the top of your "to-get" priority list (with the razzashi hatchling as #1 of course). but for now, breathe a sigh of relief because this is great news for collectors.

thank you blizzard, for keeping us updated and letting us know sooner rather than later!

Cataclysm Engineering Pets!

after being unable to train engineering for a while due to the stormwind trainer being bugged (or maybe he just doesn't like my haircut), i received a tip from verissi (thank you!) to head to outlands and try the engineering trainer located there.

well what do you know? i finally managed to train engineering!

that's not even the best news. i can't even contain my excitement, and i must keep reminding myself that this IS still beta so things could change but...




do you see what i see? the de-weaponized mechanical companion and the personal world destroyer are NOT bind on pick up as of beta build 13189! *insert nonsensical fits of joy here*

Pebble & Tiny Shale Spider Updates

**update - oh and the colossal gyreworm will "eat" you if you get too close to it now, so be wary when visiting the crumbling depths!

in a previous post about the tiny shale spider i mentioned that 7 therazane dailies are offered each day. 5 are constants while the remaining 2 dailies are from a group of dailies that are on rotation.

i've found a new daily that i previously did not see in rotation (i did see it as a quest though), so there may be more than 4 dailies in rotation.

i mention this because with more dailies that are possibly rotated in and out, the chances of getting both the pebble daily and the tiny shale spider daily are lowered even more than previously thought.

Patch 4.0.3 - Warning!

"As stated in the Under Dev page (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/), patch 4.0.3 brings about The Shattering, a cataclysmic event that will forever change the face of Azeroth. As we prepare to raise the level cap and introduce two new races with the Cataclysm expansion, it's important to keep in mind that the game world is going through tremendous changes that will affect the availability of certain rare mounts and items.

Swift Zulian Tiger
Zul'Gurub is changing from a raid to a leveling zone in 4.0.3, and this mount will no longer be obtainable.

Swift Razzashi Raptor
This mount will also no longer be obtainable after the change to Zul'Gurub.

Razzashi Hatchling
With the change to Zul'Gurub this non-combat pet will no longer be obtainable.

Tome of Polymorph: Turtle
This tome will continue to be available through other means.

Crusader's White/Black Warhorse and Swift Alliance Steed/Swift Horde Wolf
As the attempt-based tribute system is being removed from Heroic Trial of the Crusader, the Argent Crusade Tribute Chest will no longer spawn, and these mounts will no longer be obtainable

Reins of the Blue Drake
This mount will once again be available from defeating 10-player Malygos without needing to use the Dungeon Finder. The Reins of the Azure Drake will only be available on 25-player Malygos.

Mimiron's Head
This mount will change to be a very low drop chance when defeating 25-player Yogg'Saron with no Keepers assisting you

Invincible
This mount will change to be a very low drop chance when defeating Heroic 25-player Lich King



Although we have no current plans to introduce new ways to obtain the Zul'Gurub mounts, pets, and the tribute mounts, they may return should we find a place where they fit in the future." - Lylirra

this is an official statement from blizzard concerning specific vanity items in the upcoming patch 4.0.3.

as you can see, due to zul'gurub being removed as an instance, the razzashi hatchling will also become unavailable once the next patch goes live. when they plan on releasing patch 4.0.3 is still unknown, so there's still time to get your very own zg raptor pet. just be sure to make the most of the time left while you can!

i just wanted to note at the very bottom, though, that the blue DOES mention that if they can and feel like it, they may add some or all of the removed items back into the game. but this is something that i wouldn't count on as a guarantee, and i would most definitely start farming for the razzashi hatchling asap.

we all knew that there was a high probability of this happening, and that it was just a matter of time. i'm glad blizzard at least had the forethought and decency to announce it officially and beforehand though. it will help lessen the blow once the actual date of removal arrives.

so what are you waiting for? go get 'em! :P

Beta Patch 13183

mmo-champion has some info on the next upcoming beta patch (13183):

Lil' Alexstrasza - Right Click to summon or dismiss Lil' Alexstrasza.

Lil' Ragnaros - Right Click to summon or dismiss Lil' Alexstrasza.

the first thing that comes to mind is the blizzard petstore since i can't really imagine anyone walking around azeroth, killing a mob, and a miniature alexstrasza or ragnaros drops for them. haha. that would be... slightly weird.

in any case, i can't wait to see if and how these two will be obtained! finally, i can put ragnaros on a leash lol. :P

What to Expect in the Upcoming Patches

i've been wondering this a lot lately: just what can pet collectors expect with the upcoming pre-cataclysm patches?

the official under development page has the summaries of patch 4.0.1 and 4.0.3. mmo-champion is reporting that there will be extended maintenance this tuesday (october 12, 2010), which is often an indicator of a patch.

Blizzard PetStore - Update

the wind rider cub and gryphon hatchling are back in the blizzard petstore (limit 3 per customer)! they are currently listed under both the normal store area as well as the special blizzcon sale section.

"To access BlizzCon 2010 merchandise, you must log in with a Battle.net account that has been used to purchase BlizzCon 2010 tickets."

then go to "more products" to find all of the blizzcon 2010 sale goodies. there should be a sub-section in the left hand navigation bar that says "blizzcon."

i should note that although i'm not logged in, i can still view the blizzcon 2010 sale section. logging in with an account that has been used to buy the convention tickets may only be needed to finalize the blizzcon sale purchases.

in any case, these cute little guys are thankfully back! :D whether they will still be available after the special blizzcon 2010 48-hour merchandise sale is not yet known though.

Some Thanks

i just wanted to say thank you (i can't say it enough haha) to breanni, owner and creator of WarcraftPets.com, for allowing me to join the site's administrative team to help spread the joy of pet collecting. :) i'm really looking forward to working with everyone.

i'm also grateful that i'll be able to continue updating and maintaining this blog. i don't know what i'd do without some sort of outlet such as 'perks n peeves' to host all of my pet related thoughts and updates.

just to make things clear though: the views and opinions of this blog may not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of warcraftpets.com or any of its affiliates. here, i'm just quintessence, the vanity pet obsessed collector. :)

Beta To-Do List, Updated

now that i've finally sorted out how i'm going to obtain the tiny shale spider, all that's left to do on the beta is:

- guild achievements for the companions. to be honest, though, i don't see my beta guild getting all the guild vendor pets any time soon. with so few of us online, i can definitely see how smaller guilds will struggle with most of these achievements.

- continue mining for the elementium geode pet. i've dedicated only one day to hardcore hunting for this companion so far; i'll need to revisit this task soon.

- continue leveling archaeology for the clockwork gnome and crawling claw pets.

- check out engineering + enchanting. maybe my engineering is bugged, but i haven't been able to test out engineering at all yet, nor have i seen the de-weaponized mechanical companion or personal world destroyer. i'm working on enchanting but since there's still no information on where the enchanting pet recipes come from, i've been sort of putting this profession last on my priority list.

- last but not least... and my most dreaded item to do.. earn tol barad commendations and reputation for the rustberg seagull. i actually did make an attempt to complete some of the dailies that are available to earn the commendations, but gave up after the PVP started. haha, i'm just not into PVP. :S

and of course, hopefully discover how the remaining companions (fox kit, whirling waveling, etc.) will be obtained.

does this seem like a lot to do, i wonder. well, after all that time spent anxiously waiting and fretting over the tiny shale spider... i may have worn myself out haha. i think a small break is in order. perhaps i'll log onto the live servers and give my current companions some much needed attention. :)

Tiny Shale Spider

The Tiny Shale Spider is a companion pet that drops off of Jadefang, a rare spawn located in the Crumbling Depths area of Deepholm (level 82 - 83 zone). This companion will be somewhat of a challenge to obtain, even for the most experienced pet collector.

Expect a lot of competition for this companion as there will not only be other pet collectors, but also hunters and rare spawn seekers who will be after the creature that drops the pet.

Much like Mr. Grubbs, you will need to complete a prerequisite, the entire Therazane quest chain in the Deepholm zone, before you even think about making your way to Jadefang. The goal is to unlock the Therazane faction dailies. You will need an item from one of the dailies in order to reach the rare spawn and ultimately the tiny shale spider.

PetStore - Wind Rider Cub & Gryphon Hatchling

the wind rider cub and gryphon hatchling are missing from the blizzard petstore again. it could be due to a clean up/prep for the blizzcon 2010 blizzard store sale. i'd be surprised if these two cute little guys AREN'T a hit at blizzcon, so it would make sense to pull what's left in stock to sell at the convention and during the convention pre/post sale.

or... worst case scenario: both companions and plushies have sold out. blizzard is in no way obligated to keep selling any items they don't want to sell anymore. i'm not sure if everyone remembers this, but there was a small disclaimer on both the wind rider cub and gryphon hatchling pages stating that these two may only be around for a limited time.

BUT! don't panic. until we get some official update from blizzard, nothing can be said for sure. as i mentioned before, these two are probably popular sales items, so discontinuing both would not be in blizzard's best interest. especially so close to the holiday season when people will be looking for gifts to give their favorite gamers :)

hopefully there will be a small update soon from a blue explaining the (hopefully temporary) disappearance of the wind rider cub and gryphon hatchling from the petstore.

A Spider Is Caught

color me excited (and super relieved)! tonight i FINALLY got the daily that will allow me access to jadefang's special tunnel. i've tested it out and yes, i can confirm that this is the way up to the rare spawn's area.

at the risk of being eaten alive by those who would rather keep the "secret" a secret (it's not that big of a secret, i promise you), i'll be writing up a preview on how to reach jadefang, and ultimately the tiny shale spider within the next couple days.

Cataclysm Companion Images

mmo-champion has some wonderful screenshots of the upcoming possible cataclysm pets! if you're itching to match the name with the model, go check it out!

they all look spectacular, but i'm particularly fond of the elementium geode model for some reason. and it looks as if the guild page has a recycled argent squire model. hopefully this will either be updated or changed in the coming patches. i'd much prefer seeing him (or her if blizzard decides to change it to a little girl!) wearing the guild tabard instead of the argent tournament one.

and as expected, the rumbling rockling, swirling stormling, and whirling waveling are the "other" elemental pets that blizzard was referring to during the midsummer fire festival scorchling situation. there's still no info on how to obtain these yet.

last but not least... we may be getting... a murky?! raise your hand if you're excited. *fails both arms in the air*

Misc Beta Comments

i still haven't been fortunate enough to have that "special" therazane daily open up for me. in fact i've only seen the NPC for that daily spawn once. since i haven't seen her any other time nor have i received a quest or daily from her, i can't confirm or deny if she's in fact the right NPC. more waiting i guess.

luckily, i've been doing the pebble daily quite consistently. i think within the next few days i should have the rock lover achievement complete.

if the achievement is tracking and working properly (some achievements are still buggy on the beta), pebble should be mine soon! i'll probably do a short write up on that specific daily and how to best finish it efficiently and quickly.

despite the whole jadefang/tiny shale spider situation, i'm pretty grateful for being on the beta. it's definitely opened my eyes and given me the chance to plan out how i'm going to go about collecting each new cataclysm companion. that is... if blizzard keeps everything the way it is right now and doesn't change things up last minute (which is entirely possible). all i can do is hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Just Some Thoughts

yay, the pebble daily was offered today. only 7 (or was it 8...) more times before i hopefully complete the achievement. i should really write down when i do the 'lost in the deeps' daily since the achievement window for the pebble companion doesn't actually keep track of how many times you do it. it's strange like that.

still haven't seen that "special" daily quest that may or may not be the key to jadefang.

the location of this rare spawn had me thinking... will hunters and goblins have an advantage?

First Archaeology Pet - Beta

i finally finished my first archaeology rare artifact on the beta, and coincidentally it was my first archaeology companion too. whoo!


the fossilized hatchling became available for me to "solve" at around 200 archaeology skill. i don't know if this pet or any of the other rare artifacts are available at lower skill levels, or if they require 200+. i will have to leave that to the hardcore profession testers. i'm more of a hardcore pet tester. :P

i would have more to say but... the artifacts that are available to solve feel pretty random. there doesn't seem to be any "trick" to it other than to keep searching for fragments at dig sites and solving more and more artifacts until a rare one pops up for you to complete.

the archaeology companions will probably be last on my list of "to get" once the expansion is released (official release date: december 7th!!), due to the grindy nature of this secondary profession. there's so much travel time involved that i'm SO VERY grateful we'll be able to fly all over azeroth come catalcysm.

plus, being level 85 will make it that much easier once i start heading into the higher level zones to hunt at dig sites located there. trust me. i went into twilight highlands at around 82 because i saw a dig site was located there, and what a pain it was to dodge in and out of mobs just to get to the archaeology fragments!

anyway, a quick run down of this companion if you haven't already checked out my cataclysm pet list:

the fossilized hatchling..

- is a rare archaeology created companion
- requires 85 fossil fragments
- is bind on pick up

this companion also has raptor hatchling vocals (on click) very similar to that of the current baby raptors. it's only slightly different, and if you're not paying close enough attention you would probably confuse the fossilized hatchling's vocals for one of the other raptors.

last but not least... LOOK AT THE TEETH ON THIS LITTLE GUY! SO FIERCE!! *insert america's next top model tyra banks impression here*

Magic Lamp & Enchanted Lantern + Fox Kit

Magic Lamp & Enchanted Lantern
wowhead's cataclysm version is now listing the magic lamp as an alliance enchanting formula, and the enchanted lantern as a horde enchanting formula. so it looks like enchanters will probably be learning how to create a companion based on their faction.

you can view 3D models of a draenei lantern and a blood elf lantern here. (scroll down to the companion pets section or click the link near the top of wowhead's blog post.) these item models are good indications that yes, the enchanting pets will be faction based companions. the draenei lamp for alliance and the blood elf lantern for horde.

i have yet to find more information on where/how to obtain these recipes though. perhaps from a vendor within one of the new zones? also still unknown is whether or not these two pets will be bind on pick up or bind on use as well as the recipes themselves.

personally i'm rooting for bind on use. with the engineering non-combat companions possibly being bind on pick up, i don't need yet another profession to power-level! :P

Fox Kit
the item for the fox kit companion is now being shown on wowhead as a rare item and it's bind on pick up! could this mean another quest reward? it's not uncommon for vendor pets to be bind on pick up too, though. either way, hopefully this pet will be available to both alliance and horde.

Eureka! ...Maybe

tonight i went back to work on the pebble achievement and found that the therazane NPCs will not offer the 'lost in the deeps' (pebble daily) quest every day. instead, there are a few other dailies that may be offered in its place...

which leads me to the next topic: jadefang and the tiny shale spider.

i think i've finally stumbled on the daily quest that may allow me access to where jadefang resides. however, certain therazane dailies are in what seems to be a rotation so it wasn't offered to me today. i did some research on wowhead and mmo-champion though, and i might have a good chance once that specific daily opens up for me.

however, this brings up a certain problem that may have no work around. if you do need a certain quest or quest item to reach the rare spawn that drops the tiny shale spider companion, that means not only will you need to be lucky enough to find jadefang spawned, you'll also need to be lucky with the dailies and have the right one be available to you while jadefang is alive.

but this is all speculation on my part so far. i won't be able to test any of this out until the stars align and both the rare spawn and the right daily are up.

so another day, and more waiting. waiting for the pebble daily to come up again as well as the other therazane dailies that i have yet to try out/test. in the meantime, jadefang sits there as if to taunt me. don't you worry my pretty, i'll get your tiny shale spider pet yet! *rubs hands together evilly*

seriously though, this glimmer of hope is what i needed to help pull my spirits up.

Sunflower!

after reading on warcraftpets about the brazie's sunflower model change, i had to go take a look for myself.


the model has indeed become that of the plants vs. zombies sunflower! they also fixed the bug where the pet was immobile and wouldn't follow you. it will now loyally chase you across all of azeroth :)

The Weary Collector

color me obsessed but i'm quite bothered about the tiny shale spider and jadefang. this is my second day of accessing the therazane daily quests on the beta, yet i'm still unable to figure out how the quests tie in with jadefang's area to allow me access to her (without any bugs, glitches, etc.)

i just can't wrap my head around it. i'd like to be able to create a plan of action before this goes live (and in the event that jadefang + the tiny shale spider really are released with the expansion - they may or may not be), but my chances of piecing this puzzle together seem very bleak right now.

it's actually causing me a bit of gloominess and depression.

this is one of the few instances where a preview of new content is actually more detrimental to me than beneficial. normally i would wait for news from other sources/guides on how to get those especially difficult companions, and not be overly bothered about figuring it out by myself.

but being on the beta i thought that this would be a good chance for a head start. not much progress when it comes to this particular pet though. :( so instead of being excited about it, it's now causing me some distress and disappointment. curse my obsessive compulsive nature!

i think i'll go play with my vanity pets on the live server for a while. maybe that will cheer me up. :\

The Spider Walks Again

why hello, you pretty little jadefang, you!

update on jadefang's respawn timer:

jadefang killed @ 1125 PM (september 30, 2010)
jadefang alive @ 10 AM (october 1, 2010)

so far it looks like the respawn time is between 10 - 12 hours, possibly less since i forgot to check at the 8 hour mark. >_< so possibly 8 - 12 hours.

note that this on the beta and may change once cataclysm is released. however, most respawn times for rarespawn mobs do fit within the 8 - 12 hour range, so i wouldn't be surprised if this is also the case for jadefang.

since the companion is bind on pick up, the respawn time will only really be useful in knowing when to line up next for a shot at this rare spawn. (sorry to all the auction house lovers, jadefang's not into being farmed by the same person over and over again! she likes some diversity :P)

now... to figure out the trick of getting up to her...... *cries*

Progress? Sorta

i finally got around to unlocking the therazane faction in deepholm tonight. to my surprise you actually meet pebble early on in the quest chain, but you don't actually get to keep him yet.

in order to obtain this companion you have to complete the "lost in the deeps" daily 10 times. it becomes available after finishing the full therazane quest chain, and i believe the therazane quest chain won't unlock until you've completed the other two quest chains to acquire the first two pieces of the broken pillar. (there's definitely a lot of chaining in deepholm x_x)