Happy New Year and Recap of 2015

The New Year is just around the corner and I'd like to wish everyone a safe and joyous celebration/day!


This past year has been a wild ride for pets and pet battles, at least for me. Through the awesome and not so great, I can definitely say that I created some memorable moments in WoD.

Here's just a teeny-tiny recap of some fun/interesting memories of my pet experiences this past year. There were A LOT of things that happened/changed; these are just a few events that stand out for me.

Season's Greetings - Sled Rides Are Best With Friends (And Pets!)

Wishing everyone a safe and wonderful holiday season!


Don't forget to loot the Gently Shaken Gift underneath the Winter Veil tree in Ironforge or Orgrimmar for your very own Red Wooden Sled. There's also new Perky Pug hats, "Merry Munchkin" Costume from Carefully Wrapped Present.

You can summon out a battle pet, target it and then use the sled to place your pet on top. Then click on the sled and pull it around for a fun little sled ride!

Or if you want to get fancy...


Combine a few toys together for even more shenanigans! Pepe + Pet Mirror + Fruit Hat + Skymirror + Sled = Are we doing it right yet? ;) Needless to say, I'm having a lot of fun with this new toy. At the expense of my OH, of course hehe.


Have a good one, everyone. Enjoy the new toys, hug your pets, and have an epic day!

BMAH Thundering Serpent Hatchling Found! ...Maybe

Throughout all of Warlords of Draenor I've been wondering about the whereabouts of the Thundering Serpent Hatchling.

Originally, guilds could unlock it on the guild vendor after completing the MoP achievement, Challenge Conquerors: Gold - Guild Edition. However, the achievement was removed once WoD was released, and the pet was relocated to the Black Market Auction House. Or so the Pet Journal claimed.

Not once have I seen the Thundering Serpent Hatchling on the BMAH. Nor has anyone else that I've spoken with. So what gives?

It doesn't appear to be an error on Blizzard's part, as the topic of this pet has been brought to their attention a few times now. Is this pet just really, really rare. Is it even on the BMAH?

The answer is yes to both of these questions. Probably.

Recently I came across a comment on the WoW Pet Battle Forums that holds the best explanation as to why we haven't seen the Thundering Serpent Hatchling on the BMAH. It's because it's not actually physically listed. Instead, it's a possible drop from Unclaimed Black Market Container.

Talk about an "ah-ha!" moment, and "why didn't I consider that sooner?" lol. This makes the most sense to me, even though the logic behind it boggles my mind.

After researching a bit more into this, it turns out there are different versions of the Unclaimed BMAH Container, yet all named the same thing.

• Unclaimed Black Market Container - Added in Patch 5.3 (original iteration)
• Unclaimed Black Market Container - Added in Patch 5.4 (still MoP)
• Unclaimed Black Market Container - Added in Patch 6.0.1 (start of WoD)
• Unclaimed Black Market Container - Added in Patch 6.2 (later in WoD)

The one that will likely drop the Thundering Serpent Hatchling is the version that was released right after the achievement and pet was removed, in other words at the start of WoD.

How this pet was re-made available in-game is illogical to me, and I think it's fairly obvious why.

RNG #1: There are FOUR different boxes that you could end up buying. So there's no guarantee that you'll even end up with the "right" container that has an actual chance to drop the Thundering Serpent Hatchling. Note: The WoD version of the container is labeled "unique", but so are 2 other boxes. At least it cuts down your chances by one.

RNG #2: Winning the bid on the "right" container"? Good luck with that. Unless you have the time, energy, and gold to stalk the BMAH and win every single one, you'd best do a dance and tribute to the RNG gods.

RNG #3: The loot table is fairly large for any of the containers. It's unclear what the drop rate is on the items, nevermind the pet.

There is just SO MUCH RNG to contend with -- it's ridiculous considering the pet was not difficult to acquire originally. It was just a matter of joining a guild that had the pet unlocked, grinding reputation with them, and then buying the pet off of the guild vendor. Sure, some had to pay a hefty fee to the guild, but after that it was pretty easy to collect.

I suppose Blizzard is attempting to make the pet ultra-rare so those that collected it when it was relevant have a sense of superiority over others that came after. I guess? This just feels wrong, though. It's punishing newer players/collectors, more than it's rewarding veteran players. Something, something catching flies with honey rather than vinegar something, something.

Considering how large the BMAH loot table is, I don't understand why the Thundering Serpent Hatchling isn't just physically listed. It would still remain rare due to the enormous loot rotation, plus the gold tag on it could be made quite large to ensure only those serious about collecting it have a chance at it. There would still be RNG to contend with, but it cuts down a bit AND gives collectors peace of mind.

It would make collectors feel better if the pet was physically placed up on the BMAH, even if most seeking it might not be able to buy it right off the bat. Just seeing it available, and knowing it's guaranteed to the winner of the bid, is a psychological comfort. Look, it's there, it's not completely out of reach! We wouldn't have to speculate or wonder anymore.

I doubt Blizzard will do anything about the Thundering Serpent Hatchling, although we can hope for a change.

We can point out how silly the relocation of this pet is, since it wasn't all that difficult to get (for most) in the first place. How punishing newer players/collectors doesn't make anyone feel good or superior. And how it would be a comforting change to just see the pet up for sale, instead of fighting RNG (PLUS other players) for a chance at it. After providing constructive feedback, all we can do it hope that it'll be taken into consideration and something will happen.

In the end, hoping might be in vain though, and it's likely this expansion's Challenge Mode Gold pet, Deathwatch Hatchling, will follow suit.

So really, don't miss out on the Deathwatch Hatchling. Don't procrastinate collecting it. Seriously. Collect it while it's a straight-forward collectible. Because Blizzard's track record with Challenge Mode pets hasn't been the best or very favorable to collectors, the ones that the pets mean the most to, so far.

PVP Exclusive Pet Possibly Coming In Legion?

I've always had a difficult time with PVP, both participating and mentally accepting the act of PVP'ing. So you can imagine the amount of dread that I feel when reading through the Legion PVP Preview blog that Blizzard recently posted. Specifically about the prestige rewards and "A unique mount and pet".

"All For The Prestige
However, once you've reached Honor Level 50, you'll have a tough choice to make. You'll be given the option to Prestige, which will reset your Honor Level back to 1, and once again restricting access to higher-level Honor Talents. However, in return, you'll increase your Prestige Level, which grants access to a number of other rewards, including:

• A badge, based on your Prestige Level, which appears on the scoreboard in Battlegrounds and Arenas, as well as on your nameplate and unit frame.
• A title, also based on your Prestige Level.
• A wearable faction pennant
• A new appearance for your Artifact
• A unique mount and pet

The higher your Prestige Level, the better rewards you'll have access to. We see the Prestige system as a great way for players who aren't interested in pursuing higher rating, but still enjoy PvP, to have their own unique rewards to chase after."

They don't discuss in detail how/when the pet will be awarded, so it's still up in the air what the exact requirements to be eligible for the pet will be.

At this time, the only sure thing I can say is...NOOOOO does not want! I detest PVP (even pet PVP).

However, because I'm lacking further information and details on the pet as well as the process necessary to earn the pet, I'll wait to formulate a concrete opinion on the matter.

I mean, maybe it won't be all that bad? Perhaps the only requirement will be to reach Prestige level 1 (Honor level 50). That will just be a matter of grinding Honor until reaching cap, and only just the one time.

Then again, it could just as well be something like "reach Prestige level 20", which would mean reaching Honor level 50 multiple times (20 times)...and that might make me lose more than a few nights' worth of sleep and some hair.

I definitely am NOT hoping for the latter. As a pet collector, I will feel obligated to collect whatever this PVP exclusive pet will be. And I can only speak for myself, but PVP is not an activity that I actively seek out. It's just not my thing; I don't enjoy it and feel extremely stressed out when faced with PVP. So while this is all "optional", in the end I will still feel as though I'm being cornered into participating in an aspect of the game that I would rather not take part in.

I know some will thrive in this type of situation and are probably ecstatic that they will get to play two very different aspects of the game at the same time. And that's great! Everyone should be able to enjoy this game in their own way.

I just hope that Blizzard chooses the path of compromise between those that want PVP and those that don't want PVP. Prestige 1? Maybe even Honor level XX? Ok, I will buckle down, hold my tongue, and do it for the pet. That's not too much to ask of me so someone else can enjoy collecting while PVP'ing, right? We'll see.

I'm crossing my fingers for a quick and fairly painless process for the PVP pet. I mean, not only do I not want to be in a battleground, I'm sure avid PVP'ers will probably cringe at having my inexperienced and poor PVP skills in their highly competitive game space. The less time I have to spend "ruining" their games, the better...right? lol *is reminded of the Children's Week PVP achievement*

Anyway, until more information is given, I'll sit and wait. Anxiously wait. *stressed* Hope for the best, prepare for the worst? =\

Details I'm most eager to learn more about:

• What the pet will be and if it's truly exclusive to this activity (PVP, or will it be available through some other means?)
• Prestige level required to earn the pet
• The rate at which you earn honor and time necessary to earn Prestige
• Any possible limitations on the pet (Will the ability to summon it require you to maintain a certain honor/prestige level? Or is it yours to keep forever once earned?)

Pets Ready To Party With Mesmerizing Fruit Hat!

With the recent discovery of the Mesmerizing Fruit Hat, I just had to try it with the Magic Pet Mirror.

Since it's a hat-like feature, I figured it would probably work with Pet Mirrored pets that can also wear Pepe on their heads. And, ta-da! After testing, it turns out that most Pet Mirrored pets that can wear Pepe will also wear the Fruit Hat. The Cogblade Raptor sort of wears it, but not quite. It sinks too far into the pet model's head for it to be properly worn.

Here are some screenshots of a few Pet Mirrored pets + Pepe + Fruit Hat. To wear all three you need to use Pepe and the hat first, before using the Magic Pet Mirror.

   
   
(click for larger images)
I've tried using the Fruit Hat with other pets, but so far the rest refuse to wear it. I guess only those tolerant enough to put up with a little bird are willing to also put up with a fruit bowl lol.

One silver lining for pets that don't want to cooperate with stuff on their heads -- if the Pet Mirrored pet has a dance animation (Brightpaw and Unborn Val'kyr for example), the Fruit Hat will put you in a constant state of dancing haha.

I've updated my list of Pet Mirrored pet animations to note which pets can wear the Fruit Hat. Just CTRL+F (or whatever the search function is on your browser) to search for "Pepe" and it should highlight the results.

It's a shame that more pets can't have Pepe + hat! :P

Blizzard Store Holiday Sale - Pets 50% Off!

The Blizzard Store is having an awesome sale this holiday season -- 50% off most pets and mounts!


From now until January 4, 2016 nearly all pets are half off. Brightpaw is the exception, but 100% of her proceeds are going to charity. So yenno, it kind of makes sense that her adoption fee is full price. :P

The pets that are on sale are fully giftable, so send some pet love to a friend or family member. What better way to spend the holidays than adventuring with a loyal little companion? :)

Let Brightpaw Brighten Up Your Life

Brightpaw has arrived! And she's all sorts of adorable. Blizzard's even fashioned a special promotional video for this adorable little kitty. Ahhh the cute, it's too much!


You can adopt this kitty from the Blizzard Store for $10. Through December 31, 2015 100% of the proceeds will go to the Make-a-Wish Foundation (charity). You currently can't gift Brightpaw but the option should be available again in the near future.

She'll interact with you in two ways. First is lap kitty, because c'mon. KITTEH.


Second, this energetic mana kitten loves to dance! Target Brightpaw and emote /dance for fun kitty dance time. It's even cuter when you use the Magic Pet Mirror and become her. Best dance partners ever? ;)


For Brightpaw's idle animation (and sometimes when you summon her out), she'll dash around very quickly, leaving behind what I can only call a "mana zoom-streak" and an audible dashing noise.


Breanni even warns you about Brightpaw's hyperactivity in the small message that's sent in the mail along with the pet.

"This energetic little kitten can't stop zipping around in a burst of arcane energy. She seems to have taken a liking to you, so I'm sending her your way.

I'm sure she'll need lots of attention!

--Breanni"

Good thing that I'm more than happy to ravish her with an enormous amount of love and attention. :)

RAF During Black Friday Sale and Brightpaw Coming Soon

Blizzard is having a Black Friday sale, so now is the perfect time to RAF yourself (or someone else) and receive the pet rewards!

The sale started yesterday and will continue until January 4, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Get the WoW Battlechest for $5, and if you're feeling adventurous, WoD for $12.49. I don't believe WoD is necessary to RAF yourself for the rewards, however.

If purchasing during the sale, the total cost for one RAF pet is $35 (minus the value of one free month of game time that your main account will receive). The total for all 4 RAF pets (Zipao Tiger, Silver Pig, Golden Pig, and Jade Tiger) comes out to be $140.

   
   
I wrote up a blog post a while ago that details my experience RAF'ing myself. It's an old post, but I think everything still applies. I've also included some updates about the WoW Token and other things.

In addition to this sale, don't forget that Brightpaw will be coming to the Blizzard Store December 2 of this year. Up until the end of December, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Lots of holiday pets coming up! Tis' the season for sharing the love of pets. :)

Legion Alpha/Beta - ALL The Pets

Legion Alpha is finally here (closed alpha/beta?), and although only the Demon Hunter starter area is available for play, the Pet Journal is visible and boy there are a TON of new pets. Keep in mind, not all pets will make it past the testing phase.

Listed by zone. Pets without a listed source are either still WIP or from "Pet Battle". Many are currently listed as wild but that could change.

Highmountain -

• Black-footed Vulpes
• Coralback Fiddler
• Crispin - Drop: Tenpak Flametotem
• Echo Batling
• Felspider
• Hog-nosed Bat
• Long-eared Owl
• Mist Vulpes
• Mudshell Conk
• Spiketail Beaver

Val'Sharah -

• Ashmaw Cub - Quest: Adopting the Adorable
• Aubrun Ringtail
• Grumpy - Quest: Grumpy
• Nightmare Larva
• Shimmering Aquafly
• Slithering Brownscale
• Spring Strider
• Vale Flitter

Stormheim -

• Black-footed Vulpes
• Long-eared Owl
• Mist Vulpes
• Golden Eaglet
• Rose Taipan
• Son of Goredome - Drop: Son of Goredome
• Stormborn Whelpling - Quest: Stormheim
• Tiny Apparition

Azsuna -

• Felspider
• Albatross Chick
• Eldritch Manafiend
• Emmigosa - Quest: Azsuna
• Erudited Manafiend
• Fledgling Kingfeather
• Fledgling Olivebeak
• Juvenile Scuttleback
• Olivetail Hare

Dalaran -

• Dust Bunny
• Nightwatch Swooper - Vendor: Giada Goldleash & Tiffy Trapspring
• Fel Piglet - Vendor: Giada Goldleash & Tiffy Trapspring
• Plump Cephalopod - Vendor: Giada Goldleash & Tiffy Trapspring
• Nursery Spider - Vendor: Breanni; Cost: 200 gold

Unknown source -

• Thistleleaf Adventurer
• Greatest Foe (?)
• Shadow Whelpling
• Toxic Whelpling
• Nightmarish Owl
• Northern Hawk Owl
• Risen Saber Kitten
• Extinguished Eye
• Eye of Inquisition
• Hateful Eye
• Broot
• Blue Broodling
• Blue Piglet
• Brown Piglet
• Purple Broodling
• Red Broodling
• Ridgeback Piglet
• Yellow Broodling
• Alarm-o-Bot

Misc sources -

• Enchanted Cauldron - Profession: Enchanting; Formula: Enchanted Cauldron
• Enchanted Torch - Profession: Enchanting; Formula: Enchanted Torch
• Enchanted Water Bucket - Profession: Enchanting; Formula: Enchanted Water Bucket
• Bleakwater Cephalopod - Drop: Soulthirster; Zone: Helheim
• Knockoff Blingtron - Drop: Blingtron Gift Package
• Purple Cephalopod - Drop: ??

In addition to new pets, Wowhead's database was updated with new NPCs. Filter for Grand Master Pet Tamers -- there are 9 new in total!

• Bodhi Sunwayver
• Bredda Tenderhide
• Durian Strongfruit
• Grixis Tinypop
• Master Tamer Wyrmy ("Super Epic Grand Master Pet Tamer")
• Robert Craig
• Shipwrecked Captive
• Sir Galveston
• Tiffany Nelson

Datamined Preview of Legion Alpha (Build 20740)

UPDATE #2: Wowhead's Legion database is now up, yay! 5 new pets discovered, bringing us to a total of 20 new pets so far.

• Ashmaw Cub
• Son of Goredome
• Grumpy's Leash
• Skyhorn Nestling
• Wyrmy Tunkins

I'm slightly amused that the last one requires level 110 (it's still a work in progress!) hehe.

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

UPDATE: Also... BABY MOOSE (from MMO-Champion)


(click for larger version!)
Updated bunny/rabbit models? Or will these be new critters and exclusive to Legion?

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

Legion Beta Alpha is...here? Well, the data is anyway. Beta is still not open (or...closed) and is unavailable for testing/play.

However, Wowhead and MMO-Champion have been diligently mining through all the Legion dataz available in Blizzard's CDN (Content Distribution Network). So even though we don't get to see anything in-game firsthand, we still get a preview of new stuff...PET STUFF!

Wowhead datamined 15 new pets so far. Just the spells to summon them; additional details like stats, family, abilities haven't been included yet.

General disclaimer: This is VERY early datamining. Not everything discovered is guaranteed to make it through to the final release. Some stuff might be placeholders/temporary, so while it's great to get a taste of what's to come, don't get too attached to anything yet. *cough* easier said than done! *cough* :)

• Enchanted Cauldron
• Enchanted Torch
• Enchanted Water Bucket
• Crispin
• Emmigosa
• Bleakwater Cephalopod
• Stormborne Whelpling
• Broot
• Fel Piglet
• Plump Cephalopod
• Nursery Spider
• Nightwatch Swooper
• Fetid Waveling
• Thistleleaf Adventurer
• Risen Saber Kitten

Some of these pets really have me intrigued. What exactly is a Crispin?

Broot has to be a reference to Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy (PLEASE be a baby Groot in a clay pot lol).

I can only hope a Plump Cephalopod looks either like a Cuttlefish or a Nautilus.

And I have to point out the obvious...we need an Enchanted Clock and Teapot/Teacup to go with the rest of the new inanimate object "pets". Because who doesn't want to roleplay as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, right? No, I don't already have a transmog outfit waiting just for that occasion... *ahem* ;P

Anyway, I'm looking forward to more datamining, closed/open beta, and seeing all the new fun pet stuff to come in Legion!

November 2015 Pet Battle Bonus Event: It's Heeere!

Today marks the first day of this month's Pet Battle Bonus Event. Need to level some pets? This entire week your pets will receive a bonus 200% experience increase, so now is an excellent time to level your pet army!

Not only is there bonus experience, Squirt, the infamous trainer, visits on November 15th (US) and November 16th (EU).


Why is this significant? Squirt is the only garrison trainer that awards Cataclysm/WotLK trainer amount of pet experience. You can battle her repeatedly within the comfort of your own garrison. Need to heal up? The Menagerie NPC located right next to the battle has you covered. Squirt's visit during the Bonus Event is just a very efficient and convenient way to level a massive number of pets!

For mathy stuff on the experience gain from the Squirt battle per pet level, see this post on WarcraftPets. Also in that thread, a quick and easy carry pet strategy for that particular battle.

In addition to Squirt's visit to the garrison during the event, the Hallow's End Creepy Crawlers decorations are still active. This means there are plenty of wild battles just waiting inside your garrison (or someone else's!) just waiting to award a decent chunk of pet experience. They respawn instantly, so it's super convenient. These battles also reward progress towards Draenor Pet Brawler (monument achievement).

This month's Pet Battle Bonus Event in a nutshell: Level lots of pets conveniently, make progress on the monument achievement, and you can even use the wild battles to level your toons! So effective, so much efficiency...it almost brings a tear to my eye. :')


Which Pets to Level?
So which pets should you level during this awesome week/weekend? Well, it all depends on what your goal is. Just getting started? PVP? PVE? Both?

For PVP, you'll need to check up on the current meta, that is, which pets are currently the most used and/or effective in pet PVP. The meta can change over time as new pets are released. Discodoggy's website is great for potential teams; he puts a lot of work into creating and testing a wide range of different team compositions.

PVE, WarcraftPets has a list of top 20 pets for battling (as rated by our users). This list is a good starting place for both beginners and those heading into later and tougher pet battle challenges.

Lio's top 10 wild pets is a solid list of pets that will come in handy in different situations. If you haven't taken a look at these pets and/or leveled them up, perhaps you should and what better time than during the bonus event.

Looking to complete all of the trainer battles (up until WoD and excluding those in the Celestial Tournament)? Check out WarcraftPets' community guide to all of the Grand Master trainers and how to defeat them using a carry pet. It may give you an idea of which pets you need to make a priority in your leveling adventures.

For the Celestial Tournament, I suggest heading over to Wowhead and reading some of their user-written guides on how to defeat the rotating trainers. Much like the Grand Master carry pet guide above, these guides should give you an idea of which pets to prioritize leveling.

If you want to level pets, any pets, then do it! Don't let these recommendations hold you back. Level and use whichever pet brings you the most happiness. :)

BlizzCon 2015 Day One Wrap Up

Lots of fun announcements for all Blizzard titles today, but here is just the pet-related stuff (because, I mean, why else are you here? hehe).

• Murkidan (BlizzCon 2015 pet) is now in-game!
• Brightpaw coming to the Blizzard Store December 2, 2015. All proceeds up until December 31 will be donated to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

• Baby Winston promotional pet coming with Overwatch Origins ($59.99). Think of this as the "digital deluxe" version of the game (compared to standard version which costs $39.99). Overwatch set to release some time Spring 2016.

     

• Nibbles is now in-game! Purchase the Legion Digital Deluxe pre-order ($69.99) and you'll receive the bonus pet (and more) right away. Nibbles interacts with the Illidari Felstalker mount - a heart appears over his head when you mount up.

• Baby moose pet?! Yes please, but still unconfirmed. (click image above for larger version)

That's it for BlizzCon 2015 day one. Exciting stuff! Hopefully more tomorrow; we'll see. :)

Zeradar's Early Arrival

There was a wonderful surprise a couple of days ago: Zeradar was released early!

Despite November 10th being the official release date for Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void, this little guy just couldn't wait to join our collections I guess. Not that I'm complaining though. :D

Zeradar popped up in my inventory and in-game mailbox (a bug that he's sent to both places, I'm guessing -- or they just wanted to make absolutely sure you got him lol), accompanied with the following message from Breanni.

"Power Overwhelming!

I've never seen a pet with such overwhelming power before! I tried to ask it where it came from and what it wants, but all it said was "THE MERGING IS COMPLETE" and then started assaulting nearby squirrels.

A hero of your stature would surely know some tricks to contain this magical monstrosity!"

That got me thinking, maybe this is a hint that Zeradar interacts with critters! So I sought out a squirrel but unfortunately Zeradar paid no attention to it.

Luckily, developer Jeremy Feasel hinted that maybe my new archon friend might go better with a Grunty (or a Zergling). And well...he was right!

     
A Grunty or a Zergling next to Zeradar will result in a fight to the death. It's usually the one that's summoned first that winds up the victor. I didn't have a Zergling on hand, but you can imagine similar results in a Protoss vs. Zerg match, right? :P

For some strange reason Zeradar doesn't seem to mind the Baneling though (much like Grunty doesn't care about it). Baneling too strong so both don't even want to bother with it lol?


In addition to interacting with other pets, you can target Zeradar and emote /cheer at him. This causes his head to detach and spin before returning to his body. Uhh ok Zeradar, you weirdo lol.

All in all, I'm so excited to collect this pet earlier than expected. His vocalizations sound like a mini-lich, but that's not intended and will be hotfixed. But that doesn't bother me all that much; just glad to have him join my army!

I'm curious what would happen in a three-way stand off between Protoss, Terran and Zerg though. Now that would be a REAL (pet) battle. :P

Hallow's End: Three New Seasonal Wild Pets

Hallow's End is here, and it's been a relaxing and enjoyable event so far! There are three new pets: Ghastly Rat, Ghost Maggot, and Spectral Spinner.


What makes these new pets special is that they're seasonal wild pets. You can only capture them during Hallow's End, and they require an item to spawn.

To collect these pets, you'll need to gather up 5 Spooky Supplies by completing the four daily quests available in your garrison. These quests are straight forward and pretty easy. Props to the developers for placing the quest objectives all in a centralized area. Less travel time means less time wasted! :)

After you've collected enough currency, speak with Izzy Hollyfizzle in your garrison. Buy Creepy Crawlers from her, and then use the item.

Similar to the Sumprush Rodent's Rodent Crate, the item will spawn a bunch of wild pets in your garrison.

Unlike the Rodent Crate, the wild pets do not despawn! They persist through logging out and zoning, and I'm fairly confident they will last throughout the entire in-game holiday since they're supposed to be "spooky decorations". We'll see though.


You can invite others to your garrison if they want to collect the wild pets. The pets are targetable by player spells and thankfully, are insta-respawn if you come across a breed or quality that you're not interested in. Makes for quick searching if you just want to find a rare or specific breed.


These pets also count as standard pet battles, so you can farm pet experience from within the comfort of your (or someone else's) garrison. :D

Each pet comes in 4 or 5 breeds, so I had trouble deciding which to keep and which to release. Normally I wouldn't be concerned about wild pet breeds, but since these pets are exclusive to this event, I'd rather not miss out on a breed and then have to wait an entire year to collect it.

Thanks to Lio and Jere, I settled on the following breeds:

Ghastly Rat

• S/B
• H/S
• P/B

Ghost Maggot

• P/B
• P/S
• S/S

Spectral Spinner

• P/S
• P/B
• S/S

I haven't noticed any of these pets doing anything interesting for their idle animations, which is a shame. Maybe I just haven't idled long enough though? *crosses fingers* For pets that re-use existing models, it would be awesome if they had an interaction. Something new to add to something old(er), yenno? ;P

Ah well, I'm really satisfied with how collecting these new wild pets turned out. Since this new mechanic worked out well, does this mean future holiday updates could include seasonal wild pets too? I'm half hoping the answer is yes! ^_^

Terky Now Available In-Game!

HUGE NEWS EVERYONE. Is capslock necessary? So. Much. Yes.

Earlier this evening Perculia dropped a bombshell on Twitter.

@perculia Pepe can be mad but this little guy juste hatched, his name is terky and no longer requires iCoke pic.twitter.com/aRjhndnS9f

— Yunyun (@Imyun78) October 18, 2015

Previously, you could only get this pet from a Taiwanese iCoke Promotion, however as of this patch (6.2.2) the Pet Journal source was updated to a drop from an egg. Additionally, a White Murloc Egg was added to the game, but there was no indication where it would come from and if players could collect this pet. Well now we know!

Some incredibly lucky or in-the-know player (or both!) discovered where we can find Terky.

Off the southern coast of Borean Tundra, Northrend, there's a cave in the water on the coast of Riplash Ruins. For those using a coordinates addon, the entrance is located at 55,88, and here's a Wowhead map for everyone else.


The cave isn't very obvious, but it's also not completely hidden. If you see a giant white pillar and some seaweed, you're in the right spot. See image above.


Following the passage from the cave entrance, you'll enter into a cavern and you'll more than likely be greeted with a TON OF PLAYERS. At least, I was. I'm sure that in a week or two, the traffic in this tiny cave won't be as bad. So if navigating through giant bodies and purposefully placed toys/obstacles isn't your thing, wait a bit until the excitement dies down.

Unfortunately, because Northrend isn't really "the go to" place anymore, it's more than likely that the entire zone will be joined with other realms. This makes realm-hopping in hopes to find a clear cave near impossible. Trust me, I tried lol. Some joint realms are better than others, but you also run the risk of joining a realm with PVP enabled (even if you specify PVE).


In any case, what you're looking for is a small pile of rocks near a red seashell on the ground. Hovering over it should reveal a "Mystery Egg" tooltip, although I'm not 100% sure that's what it was called. With so many other players camping it, it was difficult to tell. White Murloc Egg.

Loot the egg and hooray, you've got yourself a traditional (white) murloc pet! It took me many tries since there were so many others that wanted this pet too. Patience and determination helped me not throw my monitor out the window haha. *nods*

I'm so happy to finally have an original baby murloc of my own. Very grateful to the developers for adding this pet in-game, and relieved I don't have to spend thousands of dollars or gold to collect it. I don't know if this was something they had planned from the start, but regardless, it's an awesome addition that will make so many pet collectors ecstatic.

I love discoveries like this, but I'm really curious as to how someone found such an obscure treasure. It's amazing!


I can't express how excited and elated I am to collect Terky. Or how in awe I am of the developers for listening to our pleas for a re-release of one of the traditional baby murlocs, and then actually taking action by releasing it in-game. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Stout Alemental - New Brewfest Pet

Brewfest started yesterday and there are new goodies to collect, including a new pet!

The Stout Alemental is available for purchase during this in-game holiday for 200 Brewfest Prize Tokens. If it's the only pet/toy that you need or want to collect, it should only take you a couple of days. Depending on how well you do during the ram racing, of course.

Speaking of which, Blizzard changed the ram racing slightly -- instead of using an item given to you by the quest giver, the reins to make your mount go faster is now an Extra Action Button. You still get the item, but it's infinitely easier to keybind the button and/or make a macro to use it.

I recommend setting up your binds prior to even starting the ram quests, as the one you get that allows you to collect as many tokens as you can starts quite abruptly after turning in the prerequisite quest.

Anyway, after two days of doing all the quests/dailies and killing Coren Direbrew, I collected enough tokens to buy my new pet!

While idling about waiting to see if it had any special idle animations, I noticed that its color shifts back and forth between orange and a dark brown.

     
As you can see in the images above, the Stout Alemental starts as a bright orange but then changes until it becomes a dark brown, and then back again. Pretty neat and subtle effect!

It's also significantly bigger than its cousins, the Skunky Alemental and all of the Pandaren spirit pets. Add a Magic Pet Biscuit, and the Stout Alemental is even taller than my nelf! haha


So far I haven't seen it do anything interesting, but I guess we can't ask for too much. It's enough that we get a new pet, yea? :)

Legendary Ring Buffs Battle Pets

During raid yesterday night, I saw something I never noticed before. When activating the on use ability of my legendary healing ring, my battle pet also received the green glow/aura effect. I thought I was seeing things at first, so after raid I decided to test it out in my garrison. And as noted on Twitter, sure enough my pets were buffed by my legendary ring!


Not only that, but apparently they're also wearing the ring, allowing them to receive the actual Etheralus buff LOL. Unfortunately, it doesn't actually do anything or help my healing. The pet also doesn't grow larger, unlike the user(s) of the ring. I guess it's just their small way of cheering me on? I'd like to think so :P


Today I tested it out with a couple other pets just to make sure it wasn't a fluke or anything. It works with all of my battle pets, both ground and flying and some better than others. Green glows for everyone! XD

     
It was also confirmed on Twitter by ‏@AudrenaWow that the legendary DPS ring also causes a similar effect on pets. It's probably also safe to assume that the legendary tanking ring also gives any pet that you have out an aura.

I hope that this isn't a bug; I find it amusing and fun. It's not really hurting anyone or providing any kind of game breaking buffs/power so what's the harm, right?

Well, I guess it might get annoying for my guildmates since I'm going to pester them to have their pets out during raid even more now. (You thought my getting a Magic Pet Mirror was bad? *cackles* ;3)

But seriously, what a fun find! :D

PTR 6.2.2: New Weekly Quest

Perculia pointed out a new quest coming in the next patch (6.2.2).

Happy to see there's a weekly in 6.2.2 for doing the Draenor pet tamers: http://t.co/iQT3GQRRX4

— Data Hunter Perculia (@perculia) August 24, 2015

I was curious if the quest was part of the Pet Battle Bonus Event or just a standard weekly quest, so I checked the PTR. I wasn't sure if I'd find anything but to my surprise and delight, the Menagerie NPC had a new quest for me!


Battle Pet Tamers: Warlords - a weekly account-wide quest from the Menagerie NPC. It rewards 10 Flawless Battle-Training Stones. Ten stones each week may not seem like a lot, but between now and Legion's release there are A LOT of weeks. So the stones will add up; time to save and prepare for the next expansion!

You don't need to have the Menagerie plot unlocked in order to pick up and complete this quest. The Menagerie NPC will offer it to you regardless of your Menagerie's status. I'm not sure what (if anything) is the prerequisite for this quest.

It would seem this is a catch-up mechanic for those still in need of pet levels and anyone that's only just starting out. There's no reason that veterans can't take advantage of this and stock up on stones though hehe. ;)

New Lap-Cat Interaction: Fitting and Sitting

Doobjanka contacted me over the weekend to let me know that a WarcraftPets user had notified him that the Savage Cub had an interesting (and new) interaction animation.

Emoting /sit at it would cause it to walk over to you, jump into your lap and then settle down for a cuddle.


Excited about a new interaction, I tried it out and sure enough, lap-cat!

Tweeting this on Twitter prompted a response from Coffeesaurus who tried the emote on a different feline pet. It seemed to work on a Silver Tabby, so what about other pets?


This made me want to test it out on other cat pets (including non-beast ones). They all had the same response to /sit. Lap-cats! Except for the Feline Familiar. For some reason she didn't respond to the emote. I guess my lap just isn't good enough for her. T_T Oh well lol.

I did some further testing:

• Emoting /sit doesn't work when in any druid form (including Boomkin)
• Doesn't work if you're wearing a costume (see image above).
• Only works if you use the emote /sit. Using a keybind to sit down doesn't trigger the animation.
• You can use the Magic Pet Mirror to transform into another pet (even a cat), and the emote will work (see image below).

During my early blogging days, I mentioned that the cat models needed some updating, including some sort of interaction. So I'm really pleased with this new addition to the interaction list. It's a nice touch to older/existing pet models.

I already absolutely LOVE pets that respond to you and/or the environment around them, but this just takes the cake! Echoing WayneWoods' Tweet:

@perksnpeeves @Muffinus @TheCrafticus the little details can be some of the best and cleverest parts of the game :)

— Wayne Woods (@WayneGWoods) July 20, 2015

I hope there are more hidden animations coming in the future. Perhaps /dance with baby bears causes them to dance too? /play makes flying/bird pets do a mountspecial animation? There are so many possibilities! :)

My Teams For Tanaan Boss Pets

click for larger image
I've been doing my 6-9 boss pet route (pictured above) on 3 characters for almost a week now, and I think I've got the run down pat.

I'm aware that howl-bomb pretty much finishes all of the NPCs off easily, but it's such an uninspired and boring strat to me. Instead, I've gone with my own teams.

I took ideas from @SerrinneWoW's Wowhead guide, then mixed and matched those with my own ideas. I wish I could say that the Wowhead comments on the boss pet pages also helped, but unfortunately those comments are largely filled with "howl-bomb works for all lawl"-type of remarks.

Anyway, the teams that I use work roughly 90% of the time. With bad RNG, I sometimes have to restart the fight. Secondary pets such as snakes and crabs can be my downfall (but not always), especially if they're P/P breed. Ouchies. Still, I'm satisfied with how it's been working out for me, which is well enough for my liking.

You could probably replace some of the pets that I use with other, similar ones. The Emerald Whelpling did well in place of the Emerald Proto-Whelp, for example.

As for the breeds, those are just the ones that I have. I'm sure other breeds could work (maybe even better than the ones I chose), but I haven't bothered to test them.

And yes, MVP of Tanaan pet battles is the Emerald Proto-Whelp. This little guy does some serious work!


Mirecroak -

• Bush Chicken (1,1,1)
• Ikky (1,1,1)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Tainted Mudclaw -

• Ikky (1,1,1)
• Bush Chicken (1,1,1)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Felfly -

• Sentinel's Companion (2,2,2)
• Dread Hatchling (2,2,2)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Corrupted Thundertail -

• Stormwing (1,1,2) or Lil' Bling (2,2,1)
• Mechanical Axebeak (S/S 2,2,1)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Dreadwalker -

• Soul of the Forge (1,1,1)
• Kun-Lai Runt (P/S 2,2,2)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Vile Blood of Dreanor -

• Infinite Whelpling (P/P 1,1,1)
• Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1,1,2)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Crused Spirit -

• Zandalari Toenibbler (P/S 2,2,2)
• Stinker (1,2,2)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Bleakclaw -

• Nexus Whelpling (1,2,2)
• Sprite Darter Hatchling (2,2,1)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Felsworn Sentry - (Testing this team a few more times before settling)

• Shard of Cyrukh (1,1,2)
• Kun-Lai Runt (2,2,2)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Any suggestions on how to improve these teams is welcome and appreciated! :)



EDIT: Continuation of my route with more teams. (Aviana's Feather from Felsworn Sentry to Throne of Kil'jaeden)

Dark Gazer -

• Fel Flame (H/P 2,2,1)
• Infinite Whelpling (P/P 1,1,1)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Skrillix -

• Fel Pup (2,1,1)
• Lost Netherpup (2,2,1)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Netherfist -

• Fel Pup (2,1,1)
• Lost Netherpup (2,2,1)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Direflame -

• Eternal Strider (P/S 1,2,1)
• Electrified Razortooth (1,2,1)
• Emerald Proto-Whelp (P/P 2,2,2)

Patch 6.2 So Far...

It's been a couple of days since Patch 6.2 was released and I've managed to make good progress collecting the new pets.

All of the wild pets are now in my pet army, including the two elusive "only one spawn at a time" pets (Crimsonwing Moth and Sapphire Firefly). The latter two took me some time to find, and to be honest it was getting pretty frustrating towards the end of my search. I'm glad I managed to find both before I raged quit though. Neither was rare when I captured them, so I had to burn two upgrade stones on them.

With wild pets, the new menagerie vendor pets, and Nethaera's Light and Fel Pup checked off my list, all that's left are the RNG pets. That is, the drops, the rep grinds, and the missions/garrison campaigns that I have to wait to pop up. I'm already making a dent on the dropped pets though.

On day one of the patch I managed to complete Tiny Terrors in Tanaan, although I kind of cut it close to the daily reset. But can you blame me? It took me literally hours to complete all 15 in one sitting. Nevermind how difficult or how long each battle was, the travel time is what made it especially painful.

Some of the pets are hidden away in obscure and hard to reach areas, most of which are surrounded by level 100 mobs (sometimes elites). Being the first time I traveled to each one on live, I didn't quite know the best ways to get to a few of them. It didn't help that the in-game map isn't exactly accurate when it comes to terrain and geographical obstacles. I can't count how many times I ran into an impassible hill or crevice, and then had to make a wide circle to go around. Yikes did it take time.

But with that achievement under my belt, I've basically said screw doing the full route. Each day since, I've only traveled to 6-9 legendary boss pets. Less on my alt because she doesn't have Aviana's Feather, and more on my main because she does. See the image below for the path that I take daily; I start at the Vault of the Earth flight path.


click for larger image
If I have time and I feel up to it, from the last point I Aviana's Feather to the four boss pets in the north, near the Throne of Kil'jaeden. I completely skip the two outlying ones because pft. And I mean, 13 out of 15 isn't bad at all. That's 13 bags and 13 possible chances of getting a pet. :3

Speaking of the bag-dropped pets...


Yesterday the Periwinkle Calf dropped for me! My first one from the Fel-Touched Pet Supplies. I believe it dropped after my 22nd bag.


And today, after completing my route of 9, the Nightmare Bell dropped. :D I'm especially excited about today's pet because it's the only one from the bags that isn't a re-skin of an existing pet. Plus I struggled an unusual and frustrating amount on some of the later fights today. I normally don't have too much trouble on these fights, but an uncommon P/P snake with 8 rounds of Fel Corruption was kicking my ass for a while bleh.

So I'm very grateful and pleased that something awesome came out of my efforts. Made the failing worthwhile. :P

I've heard a few complaints about the legendary boss pets, and how little of a challenge they are for some. But "hard" and "easy" is relative isn't it? Someone with deep knowledge about breeds and counters will have a much better time than someone who doesn't. Same for those with a large pet collection versus someone that only has a few.

One thing that I can somewhat agree with is that there isn't a lot of necessary variation between strategies used for these new legendary battles. You can pretty much use the same teams (or a very similar team) for battles against boss pets of the same type. Up against one of the flying ones? Sentinel's Companion, Emerald Proto-Whelp and maybe one other to round it out, if not the Dread Hatchling. The same can be said about the other pet types, and the Emerald Proto-Whelp is pretty much MVP for all my boss pet teams.

I'd still categorize these encounters as decent as far as end game content goes, though. With rotating backline pets that have rotating abilities, and a tough frontline legendary boss pet (some that come back to life for a few more whacks at you), I'd say your novice and average Pet Battler will probably take a couple of attempts (if not more) to get some of these pets down. Naturally, veteran battlers won't have much trouble, but maybe the long travel time makes up for that? :P

Anyway, that about sums up my 6.2 experiences so far. I'm soooo looking forward to collecting more pets!