Now that we're all winding down from BlizzCon 2016, let's speculate what a "Pet Battle Dungeon" could mean! (If you missed it, this idea was briefly teased during the WoW Q&A panel in response to what the future of Pet Battles holds.)
The one thing that I'm most curious about is whether or not this "dungeon" will be a solo-instance or something you can run with friends and/or random players.
Solo-instance: I could see it being similar to the Celestial Tournament, with mini-bosses (the three rotating trainers) and then the main bosses (the celestial pets) at the end.
If mimicking an actual dungeon though, would there also be trash you need to clear (with your battle pets) before reaching any of the bosses? That could be interesting if done properly!
The downside to this type of scenario is that...it's kind of been done before. Again, we had the Celestial Tournament, so some may not find content like this fresh and new.
Multi-player instance: If the Pet Battle Dungeon allows for multiple battlers to join and work together to defeat...whatever it is inside...that would definitely be something new!
It's hard for me to imagine how this would work though. Would each player bring their team, have their own assigned mobs and bosses to defeat? Pet Battles being largely solo in nature means that grouping people together for a non-solo objective could be quite challenging.
One way that might work draws from my experience with another game. A mobile game called Clicker Heroes. It's completely solo-play, however there are times when you can join a guild/group and work together to defeat a boss. Everyone is in charge of doing as much damage as they can to the big baddie, and rewards are given depending on how much damage is done and in how much time.
So imagine 3 Pet Battlers with 3 of their "best" pets. One (or a few) big bad boss. Each battler needs to inflict as much damage with their battle pets as possible to the boss. The more damage done, in as few rounds as possible, the better the rewards. Everyone goes at the same time and the encounter itself is a solo-like instance, but the battles are occurring simultaneously and affects the boss in a combined effort.
This could, of course, be iterated in differently themed dungeons. Instead of as much damage done, survive with as many pets up at the end as possible. Or heal through as much damage as possible. Lots of possibilities here!
Or it could be a round-robin style of battle. Person A goes first and makes one attack with their first pet, Person B goes next, then Person C, and then back to Person A. This could make for an interesting (if not really long) encounter, and would require a lot of planning beforehand. It could also mean really awesome and satisfying combos as a result of a group effort.
What type of rewards would be appropriate for a Pet Battle Dungeon? More battlestones? Pet Charms? Pet toys? Pet Bandages may be a bit lackluster. New pets could be enticing, but depending on how bad the RNG...could also be frustrating.
I hope they'll provide more information and details on this new feature soon. As excited as I am about it, I'm also somewhat apprehensive. Are Pet Battle Dungeons just another "pet breeding" or "epic battle pets"? We'll have to wait and see. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. :)
