Have a Happy Holiday and New Year!

I was hanging out with my Blossoming Ancient on scenic snow-peaked hills for the holidays, when I casually mentioned how nice it would be if it actually snowed. My pet was happy to oblige. ;P

Wishing everyone a happy holiday, merry everything, and an amazing New Year! Stay safe and be well. Here's to more awesome pets in the new year (and next expansion)!

Notable 2013 Holiday Stuff

Things of note this holiday season:


- The first day of winter for the Northern Hemisphere starts December 21, 2013. This means the Snowy Owl will begin spawning in Winterspring, so if you have yet to capture one, park an alt or two out there and get ready for the hunt!

- WarcraftPets is having a holiday giveaway!

Two Murkablos (courtesy of Doobjanka) will be randomly awarded to users that post their festive pet idea in the thread. Be sure to read through the guidelines so you don't get disqualified. Entries must be made before Tuesday, December 24, 2013. Good luck to all, and there are some awesome ideas that I would love to see implemented in the future. *hint hint Blizzard* :P

- The release date for D3: Reaper of Souls was finally announced! March 25, 2014 is when the game will officially be out. :D

Unlike the previous D3 release, this one doesn't seem to have a Collector's Edition tied to it. Instead there's the Standard Digital Edition and a Digital Deluxe Edition. The latter is I guess the replacement for a CE, as it comes with all the bonuses and goodies as a CE would. So if you're looking to collect the Treasure Goblin companion, you'll want to order the Digital Deluxe Edition. NOTE: Bonuses to be sent out once Reaper of Souls is officially released, however some items may arrive earlier than anticipated. Just watch your mailboxes.

- Wowhead is giving away 15 Moonkin Hatchlings to celebrate their new website feature.

Simply comment on the giveaway page with a link to your favorite in-game sound effect or music. Contest ends Monday, December 23rd so don't delay in entering.

I'm sure there's more that I'm missing, so I'll add more to the list as I remember/come across them. Have a safe and happy holiday season everyone! Stay warm (or cool) and give your pets some extra biscuits and hugs. :)

Rotten Little Helper Available Now!

Today's the first day of Winter Veil and guess what? Apparently the Rotten Little Helper drops from the holiday world boss daily quest as well as the gift under the tree (the drop from under the tree has yet to be confirmed since it can only be looted starting on the 25th)!

I'm not sure if this is intended or a bug, as the official Blizzard guide to Winter Veil doesn't mention it dropping from the daily quest. At the moment it only lists the Rotten Little Helper as a drop from the Gaily Wrapped Present, but it could simply be an error in the blog post and not the game.

That being said, hopefully this isn't a bug and no changes will be made because this means more chances for this pet during the holiday event. More chances is always better when it comes to pets that are only available for a limited amount of time per year in my opinion. It also means players don't have to wait until the 25th of this month, and can choose to spend time (or not) attempting for the pet.

If this was indeed intended, I think this will be the first holiday boss dropped pet that's not Bind on Pick Up. It's not a good or bad thing, just a note of a change. :P

Anyway, the pet item is blue in quality but the pet, when learned, is uncommon so you'll need a Humanoid stone to upgrade it. It's BoE and cageable, so it's possible to trade, sell or gift to friends/family. What an interesting gift, though. A grumpy little helper. It goes well with the Lump of Coal? XD

Rotten Little Helper Speculation

The Feast of Winter Veil will be starting in 8 days, and you know what that means.. A new pet, the Rotten Little Helper!

It's still unknown where this pet will come from, but there are two likely sources so far:

A drop from the Stolen Present (reward from completing the daily quest to kill a holiday world boss)

OR

A drop from one of the presents under the holiday tree in Ironforge and Orgrimmar.

Now, you may be wondering, why does it matter where it comes from so long as we can just get it eventually? What matters here is time. IF the pet is a drop from the daily quest, we'll be able to make attempts for it the very first day of Winter Veil (December 16). Not only that, but we'll also be able to make efficient use of our limited time to get the pet, and make as many attempts each day as possible. Plus those that may not have as much time to spend each day can also prioritize the Winter Veil daily. But that's only if that's how we'll receive the pet.

IF the pet drops from one of the presents from under the tree, we'll have to wait a bit longer for it. The presents become lootable starting December 25 (generally in the morning, not at daily reset).

So what do we know that could help us determine where the Rotten Little Helper will come from? Well.. not much. It doesn't help that the Pet Journal is very general in describing the pet's source, "World Event: Feast of Winter Veil." The description of the pet does mention these evil Winter Helpers joining up with the Abominable Greench, though, and that's the holiday world boss that we must kill for the daily. Keep in mind that the description doesn't always mean anything or give hints. Most of the time it's just flavor text.

We're kind of still left in the dark, and unsure of where to start with this pet. Do we try for the daily or simply wait until the 25th of this month? Both?

My personal guess is that it will be a drop from under the holiday tree. Why? The pet is Bind on Use which would fall in line with the other present-dropped pets. Generally, the holiday world boss-dropped pets are Bind on Pick Up (to make them extra unique/special?). Examples are Toxic Wasteling, Frigid Frostling and Lumpy - all of which can only be obtained from a daily reward bag. But that isn't to say that Blizzard will NEVER add a BoU holiday boss-dropped pet. It's entirely possible, but for me, unlikely.

It was pointed out to me that the new Winter Veil achievement implies that we'll be receiving a new toy from the presents this year, which may mean that there's no room for a new pet under the tree...

But! Who's to say that the current present that has a chance to drop 1 out of 4 BoU pets can't include another (new) pet? It's entirely possible that the Gaily Wrapped Present had its loot table extended by one, so instead of only 1 out of 4 maybe it will be 1 out of 5 pets this year.

Despite my arguments (and evidence?) that the Rotten Little Helper will come from under the tree this year, we won't know for sure until the holiday starts. Even if in the end the pet doesn't drop from the daily, I would still complete the quest every day just in case. Besides, there's a chance for Lumpy from that goodie bag. :P

What I DO know for sure is that I can't wait for a new pet! :3

Small Stuff (For Now)

Not much has popped up recently in the way of pet-related news. Blizzard is extending its Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale until the start of next year, so if you're looking to RAF yourself for the pets, now is probably the best time to do it.

I'm still eagerly waiting more news/announcements on "pet breeding" and other Warlords of Draenor details, but that may have to wait a while. The holiday season is upon us, and while I have no doubt developers are working their butts off, I'm sure even they need some time to reflect upon this past year's accomplishments and stuff. Here's hoping we'll hear something about WoD soon! Maybe at the start of the New Year? :P

For the time being, a seemingly small PTR patch (5.4.2) was datamined and revealed a "new" Moonkin Hatchling. It appears to be the same as the current hatchlings from the Blizzard Store, however, its item and spell ID are unique and different.

This might be another one of those re-used pets for a unique event. A similar case would be the Spectral Tiger Cub and Spectral Cub. The former is from a TCG loot card while the latter is from a 2012 event in China. Although both have similar names and look identical, they are two completely different pets.

So it could be a situation where the Moonkin Hatchling pet is simply re-used. Or perhaps there's a unique place for this "new" version. We'll have to wait and see.