Wednesday, November 25, 2015

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. :)

Monday, November 23, 2015

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

Friday, November 20, 2015

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!

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

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. :)

Friday, November 6, 2015

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. :)

Thursday, November 5, 2015

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
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