Grand Master Pet Tamer: Obalis

NOTE: This was written pre-Patch 5.2. Some elements of this write-up may no longer apply, and my team choice(s) have changed.

Today I'll be covering one of the "easier" Grand Masters, Obalis. Even cat people can appreciate the awesomeness of pets! :)


Obalis is Kalimdor's Grand Master and can be found in Uldum, on top of the dam just south of the main city.

Pet Team: Pyth (beast), Spring (flying), Clatter (critter)

Team quality and level: Epic (purple), level 25

Notable pets and attacks: Spring's Moth Dust and Cocoon Strike, and Clatter's Apocalypse

I find Obalis' team to be pretty tame compared to some other master pet teams, and if you have companions that are strong against his, you should be able to make quick work of his pets. His encounter isn't much of a burst or longevity battle, but like with any battle, don't underestimate your opponent!

For this particular team I go with mechanical to combat beast, dragonkin to combat flying, and humanoid to combat critter. There are other families that would work well against Obalis' crew; this is just what worked best for me.

Pyth


Out of all the pets, I think the snake is one of the "easiest". It doesn't have a large burst ability (like Burrow), so you don't have to worry about avoiding massive amounts of damage.

That isn't to say you can just eat all its attacks, though. If your pet has an ability that blocks or allows you to avoid any of Pyth's attacks, I would still use it.

I use my trusty Darkmoon Zeppelin to battle Pyth, and unless it gets a string of unlucky misses or my opponent dodges too many attacks, the zeppelin is very effective.

Unlike other snakes that have Burrow, I start out with the Decoy ability first. This will block a lot of the initial damage, so I can "ramp up" in relative safety. To maximize damage though, Bombing Run should be used first, as it has a 3 round timer before it resolves.

After that I do the usual, which is Bombing Run and then barrage after barrage of Missile. In most situations, Pyth will be dead before I have to set up another Decoy, leaving my companion with health to spare for the next pet.

If my zeppelin isn't too low, I usually can toss out another Bombing Run or Decoy at the next opponent in line before switching it out.

Spring


I don't know about everyone else, but Moths are one of the pets that annoy me to no end. Especially if they have the abilities Cocoon Strike and Moth Dust.

Since I haven't found a pet that I like that's strong against flying, I go with the Wild Crimson Hatchling on this fight. Flying is weak to Dragonkin, my hatchling can heal itself, and it has an ability that allows it to avoid (ground) damage for one round.

Spring will usually start off with Moth Dust. It hits pretty hard and has a chance to put your pet to sleep. Since it (normally) uses Moth Dust as its first attack, I just eat the damage. If I'm lucky, though, the Decoy set up by my zeppelin in the previous round might still be there and will take the damage for me. This is situational and depends on which opponent I'm up against first, though, so I don't count this scenario always being the case. If/when Moth Dust does it, I can always heal up after.

Moth Dust has a pretty short cooldown, so whenever I see that it's about to be up after the initial use (I use an addon that shows me), I use my Wild Crimson Hatchling's Lift-Off to avoid the sleepy-time attack.

The next ability that you should be aware of is Cocoon Strike. It's not necessarily a dangerous one, but if you don't pay attention, you could lose ground in this one turn. It will block the first incoming attack for one round, so be sure not to waste any hard-hitting ability (with a cooldown) while Spring is hiding in its cocoon.

If you're using a pet that has an attack that allows it to strike more than once (Triple Snap and Slicing Wind are two examples), use that ability after Spring performs its Cocoon Strike. The first hit will be blocked, but any additional hits will land (provided Spring doesn't dodge and you don't miss). In my Wild Crimson Hatchling's case, Tail Sweep will miss the first hit, but since my pet has less speed than Spring, the ability will hit a second time and that one will land.

Clatter


Much like Pyth, I don't consider this beautiful beetle much of a threat. That is, however, only if it goes last. If it goes first, then there might be some danger. I have to say, though, that I have yet to see this pet be the first opponent during Obalis' encounter.

Clatter's abilities are basic, and nothing too hard-hitting. The only ability that you need to keep an eye on is Apocalypse. It's very situational, and will only really matter if this pet is first in line to battle your team. The longer the encounter draws out, the higher the chance Apocalypse will hit. If Clatter is last to be battled, though, the fight against it usually doesn't take 15+ rounds, so it's negligible.

I use the Flayer Youngling for this one. It has strong attacks while my opponent has weak attacks against it. It's the ideal situation.

Since Clatter isn't all that dangerous, there's no special order of attacks that I use. Normally I just go with the hardest hitting abilities first to burst down the beetle. If ever I feel my youngling's in danger, I always have Reflect to fall back on.

As always, the pets and tactics mentioned above aren't mandatory. This is just what I've found to be most effective for me. You can definitely beat Obalis' team with an assortment of other pets and methods; find what works best for you!