Patch 8.2 PTR - Battle Pet Content in Mechagon and Nazjatar

In an effort to keep track of the upcoming Pet Battle content, here's an overview of each new zone. It's not complete or super detailed; I'm still trying to figure out how some of the mechanics work. Will continue to update this list as I discover more.

Nearly all wild pets come in multiple colors. I'll have a separate post on the Mechagon and Nazjatar wild pet skins.

For 8.2 wild pet collecting, I highly recommend creating and using /tar macros for the difficult-to-find pets. Or wait for flying. But that's awkward, as you'll likely be done with nearly all of the Mechagon and Nazjatar achievements (most are part of the meta-achievement, Team Aquashock, which rewards a new pet) long before flying is unlocked.

★ MECHAGON ★

Mighty Minions of Mechagon

Straight forward achievement. Defeat 8 Legendary lvl 25 NPC pets. They should be available to battle at any time, and I don't think there are any that are gated behind phasing or other content (correct me if I'm wrong).

Another reason you'll want to defeat these Legendary battles - after defeating each one the for the first time, you get a one-time quest that rewards a nice chunk of reputation.

Mecha-Safari

Fairly straight forward collecting achievement (12 wild pets), however there are a few pets that will be troublesome to collect (listed below).

• Experimental Roach - Pretty difficult to find relative to all of the other wild pets found on the island. Guessing it's either a 'only 1 up at a time' type of spawn, or it shares spawn points with its much, much more common cousin, Junkheap Roach.
• Duskytooth Snooter - Same as above. Normally only found in the "green" areas on the island.
  
• Rustbolt Clucker - This pet not spawning was confirmed a bug. It is now spawning, hopefully as intended.
• Specimen 97 - Only spawns in a small location that's often a daily quest area, so player attack spells and AOE have a high chance of clipping and killing this wild pet. There's also only one of these pets up at any given time, but thankfully its respawn timer is quick.
• Yellow Junkhopper - Very difficult to find as spawn locations are limited (only near habitable water). This leaves the pond in the northwest, smaller ponds in the trogg area, and some parts of the coastline (that aren't cliffs/hills). Guessing it's either a 'only 1 up at a time' type of spawn, or it shares spawn points with its much, much more common cousin, Fleeting Frog.

Notes: Some of these might be found inside the instance as well. Most appear to simply be very rare spawns, similar to the Stormstruck Beaver in Stormheim - shares a spawn with other wild pets, and isn't a common spawn.

Misc Mechagon pet collecting

Most non-wild pets will drop from rares, not a 100% guaranteed. Certain pets will be gated either behind time, daily quests, reputation, items, etc. Here's a list of the pet-related rare spawns that have a unique or special spawn mechanic.

• Armored Vaultbot - Requires you craft an Armored Vaultbot Key to open the Armored Vaultbot rare. Item requires a blueprint which can be looted from the rare after kiting it to Bolten Springpsark (in Bondo's Scrap Yard) when his Robot Cruncher Zapper is active (yellow circle next to him).
• Lost Robogrip - Requires you craft a Beastbot Powerpack to engage Malfunctioning Beastbot rare. Item requires a blueprint which can be looted near the rare or from its defeated body.
• OOX-35/MG - Requires the daily quest "My Chickens are not for eating!" to be up from Oglethorpe at the main quest hub.
• Snowsoft Nibbler - Requires the daily quest "Aid from Nordrassil" to be up from Mylune at the main quest hub. Head to the quest area (The Fleeting Forest) and click on the small mushrooms at the bottom of the trees 4 times to spawn the rare.
• Spraybot 0D - Rare only spawns when Drill Rig construction projects are available, found underground inside the Crumbling Cavern.
• Irradiated Elementaling - Unknown and unconfirmed drop. Speculated rares that could drop this pet (some rares might have unique/specific engage mechanics):
  

  - Rumblerocks
  - Gemicide
  - Uncle T'Rogg, Earthbreaker Gulroc, Boggac Skullbash, Crazed Trogg (all troggs)
  - Boilburn, Oxidized Leachbeast, Caustic Mechaslime, Foul Manifestation (all slimes)

For a full list of Mechagon pet-related rares, see the map image above. #4 & 5 are dependent on what daily/event is up, and is to mark the general area where the rare can pop up.

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★ NAZJATAR ★

Nautical Nuisances of Nazjatar

Similar to the Mechagon achievement. Defeat 12 Legendary lvl 25 NPC pets, should be available to battle at any time. Some are in difficult to reach areas. I don't think there are any that are gated behind phasing or other content (correct me if I'm wrong).

Another reason you'll want to defeat these Legendary battles - after defeating each one the for the first time, you get a one-time quest that rewards a nice chunk of reputation.

Nazjatari Safari

Collecting achievement that requires capturing 11 wild pets. Most can be found as secondaries, but a few are harder to find (listed below). Not aware of any prerequisites or phasing with any of these wild pets.

• Bloodseeker - I only found these as primaries in/near rivers around the middle of Nazjatar (Dragon's Teeth Basin & The Royal Approach). Only spawns 1 at a time? Or very few/limited spawns?
• Hissing Chitterspine - Only found inside the Chitterspine Grotto (cave entrance is near Gate of the Queen area, right next to Shadowspike Lurker). Tunnels are full of patting crabs, stealthed mobs, and elites. Very difficult to navigate safely, and there's only one Hissing Chitterspine spawn inside (but it has a very fast respawn time). If you get a lot of "Pet Battle area obstructed" errors, just kill the battle pet and hopefully a new one will quickly spawn in a better area.
• Sandclaw Sunshell - Found on the far eastern side of the zone, Kal'methir, The Drowned Market, and Zin-Azshari. Only saw one up, so might only be one spawn at a time, or very limited.

From The Belly Of The Jelly

Thanks to the efforts of @patf0rd on Twitter, we now know how we'll be collecting "slimy" pets in Patch 8.2.

1. Collect Prismatic Crystals (lootable objects lying on the ground on Nazjatar, usually near water/waterfalls, possible prerequisites prior to seeing these objects)
2. Use a crystal to charm a Nazjatar critter
3. "Feed" a Ravenous Slime (total of 4 different slimes) with the charmed critter
4. Repeat for a few days with each slime and eventually the slimes will spawn as cocoons with a lootable "slimy" pet inside

See this post for additional details on the slimy pets process.

Nazjatar vendor pets

• Prismatic Manapearls are the main currency of the zone. Earned doing dailies, looting treasures, etc. Need 190 for both pets.
• Nazjatar Battle Commendations are earned from PVP activities in Nazjatar. Battle for Nazjatar event, PVP War Supply Chests, etc. Need 30 for the one pet.

Misc Nazjatar pet collecting

Many battle pets drop from rares which are likely gated behind certain content/phasing. Not 100% guaranteed? Check out this achievement to see all Nazjatar rares or this map of all rare locations. Unsure if some have unique spawn mechanics or not.

Battle Pet Families - Least to Most Represented

After reading a post on the Bnet forums about which Pet Battle Dungeon could be next, I started thinking about what types of pets I'd like to see in the future. This piqued my curiosity about which pet families are underrepresented in our collections, so I looked it up. Here are the base results (from least to most, includes non-combat pets).

Pets in each family (as of Patch 8.1.0)

• Dragonkin - 50
• Mechanical - 69
• Undead - 70
• Humanoid - 72
• Magic - 95
• Elemental - 100
• Aquatic - 125
• Critter - 142
• Flying - 180
• Beast - 223

It's quite shocking how few Dragonkin there are compared to Beast. Pet families don't *need* to be balanced across the board, but it would be nice to see these numbers brought up to a more even level.

It was then noted that many pets have copy-pasted movesets. What would be the final count if those were not included? Would the numbers be a bit closer to each other?

Here are the results (from least to most), not including pets that have the EXACT same movesets as one other pet.

Pets in each family (excluding pets with same movesets)

• Dragonkin - 36
• Critter - 54
• Mechanical - 62
• Humanoid - 63
• Undead - 66
• Aquatic - 72
• Magic - 85
• Elemental - 88
• Flying - 109
• Beast - 117

Additional notes:
- Includes only EXACT moveset matches
- Doesn't take into consideration reskins/different colors
- Doesn't take into consideration (unique) breeds
- Includes non-combat companions

Unfortunately for Dragonkin, this makes the pool of possible pets in that family even smaller. Flying and Beast are still the biggest pet families.

Last but not least, here are how the pet families rank if the non-combat pets are removed as well. There aren't huge changes, but Humanoid takes the biggest hit.

Pets in each family (excluding same movesets & non-combat pets)

• Dragonkin - 36
• Critter - 54
• Humanoid - 54
• Mechanical - 62
• Undead - 66
• Aquatic - 71
• Magic - 82
• Elemental - 88
• Flying - 102
• Beast - 117

So what's the conclusion? It's clear that some families are lacking in size, making the list of possible pets usable in a Pet Battle match smaller (and maybe making it more challenging as a result). Even when pets with the exact same moveset as one other pet are removed, the disparity between the least represented to most represented is more than 50%.

It's likely the "right" situation or environment simply hasn't popped up yet to allow for more of certain pet types to be made available. Maybe, with some patience, we'll see the families with sub-100 pets increased in size.

Again, I don't expect families to have an equal number of pets. There's nothing that demands that. However, it would simply be nice to be able to collect more from the underrepresented families (from both a collector's point of view and a battler's). :)

Gnomeregan Pet Dungeon - Pets Used For Each Encounter

I'm pretty much done collecting the Gnomeregan Pet Dungeon pets, but I wanted to leave this here for future reference in case I decide to go back.


Pets I use for Gnomeregan Pet Dungeon:

1. First encounter - Felclaw Marsuul, Fire Beetle, Crispin
2. Ice elemental encounter - Lead with Shimmershell Snail
3. Poison elemental encounter - Lead with Abyssal Eel
4. Fire elemental encounter - Lead with Rusty Snail
5. Console encounter - Scooter the Snail (Shell Shield), Silkbead Snail (Acidic Goo), Lost Platysaur
6. Rat encounter - Lead with Barrier Hermit (P/S)
7. Cockroach encounter - Lead with Saurolisk Hatchling
8. Undead Rat “boss” - Elusive Skimmer, Infected Squirrel, Whiskers the Rat
9. Mechanical wolf encounter - Lead with Enchanted Cauldron
10. Mechanostrider encounter - Lead with Gooey Sha-ling
11. Mehcanical tiger encounter - Lead with Orphaned Felbat
12. Last boss - Servant of Demidos, Tinytron, Spawn of G’nathus (or any pet with Lightning Shield, Fire Shield, or Heat Up)

For enemy backline pets, follow a general rule of thumb:

• Mechanical with the “turret” attack - use a pet with a ‘thorns-type’ ability (Lightning Shield, Heat Up, etc.), preferably not an Elemental pet
• All other mechanical pets - use any pet with elemental attacks
• Undead - use Aquatics with critter attacks (or Dust Bunny (P/S))
• Critter - use any hard hitting Beast attacks do the trick (Fel Piglet and Thaumaturgical Piglet)

Pre-Expansion 8.0 Pet Charm Changes

The pre-expansion 8.0 patch is on the PTR, another reminder that BFA is fast approaching!

Normally, nothing would be that notable for pet collectors and battlers, but this time around there is a significant change that's happening that we'll want to keep in mind.

In 8.0 the Pet Battle currency, Pet Charms, will be receiving an update. They will be renamed to Shiny Pet Charms.

On top of that most of the Pet Battle vendors will NO LONGER ACCEPT this existing currency in exchange for their wares in the pre-expansion patch. Instead, items from these vendors will require the upcoming, new currency, Polished Pet Charms. However, these can only be earned in BFA from a couple of quests but mainly from Pet Battle World Quests in the new zones.

What does this mean for us? Spend your existing Pet Charms *BEFORE* Patch 8.0. According to Wowhead, the earliest we might see the pre-expansion patch is July 3, but in general, the pre-patch is speculated to come early July. If you want to make the most of your existing Pet Charms or need battlestones to upgrade quality or pet levels, spend those charms before next month!

It should be noted, though, that we will not be losing any of our Charms at any point. The Pet Battle vendors are simply switching over to use new currency. We will still be able to use existing Pet Charms at vendors that sell existing pets and toys. Any new pets/toys from BFA vendors will require the new currency, Polished Pet Charms.

To summarize the important changes:

- Spend Pet Charms before July 3rd! *update* July 17 is the newest estimated date for 8.0
- Pet Charms renamed to Shiny Pet Charms in 8.0
- No Charms lost during pre-expansion patch or in expansion
- New currency coming in BFA, Polished Pet Charms
- Vendors selling battlestones, pet bandages, pet consumables, etc. will require new currency in 8.0
- Ultimate Battle-Training Stone increased in price as well as requiring new currency
- Existing Charms can still be used to purchase existing vendor pets and toys
- Polished Pet Charms earned from BFA quests and Pet Battle WQs
- Polished Pet Charms required to buy pet consumables as well as BFA vendor pets

Post-BlizzCon 2017

Another year and another wonderful BlizzCon! I was unable to attend this year, but was there in spirit and through the Virtual Ticket. All of the reveals had me excited yet overwhelemed. Blizzard always does such a good job with presentations, panels and cinematics that get you super pumped about their games. *_*

During the opening ceremony it was revealed that a plushie version of Shadow will be available in the near future, and proceeds up until the end of the year will be donated to disaster relief efforts. We also learned that over the years, fans have helped generate over $15 million for charitable causes. :O

In terms of Pet Battle announcements, Wowpedia had an interview with developer Jeremy Feasel and very briefly discussed the topic.

Pet Battle?

Yes, going to keep expanding dungeons. No ideas yet, but it's definitely coming
Pet battle WQs are cool, that may keep going on too
Plenty of uprez'd pet models, including a new big fat fluffy cat gorging itself on fish

The fluffy cat?

Both big fluffy cat with a big body and big face, and also a big fluffy face with a regular cat body

That's as much as we know for now. I'm sure once Battle for Azeroth testing/datamining begins we'll find out more.

I saw a couple of neat creatures during some of the WoW panels that I'm hoping will be battle pets in BfA. The little kid turtle... could that be Tottle?

We've spotted a few neat creatures we wouldn't mind collecting in WoW's next expansion - what new battle pets would you like to see? pic.twitter.com/riYIqELChV

— WarcraftPets (@WarcraftPets) November 3, 2017

Why yes, I'd like to adopt one of these weird-all-face-no-arms creature as a battle pet *puppy dog eyes* https://t.co/AK5FBDY9HQ pic.twitter.com/XaykfYBB8P

— Quintessence (@perksnpeeves) November 4, 2017

There are still quite a few unknowns about the upcoming expansion, and lots of questions that will need answering. As far as I can tell, most Pet Battle content will be unaffected by the system changes coming with BfA. I have to wonder how old-world farming for rares, mounts, pets, collectibles, etc. will be impacted by scaling though (if at all).

We'll have to wait and see how things play out. As with all things, it's a Work In Progress and things are Not Yet Final. ;)

Thank you to all the hardworking folks at Blizzard for bringing us another fun convention, and for their tireless, unending efforts to bring us the best games/content possible. It was a whirlwind of a weekend - time to unwind and let it all sink in! ^^;

Save the Date: May 19th - Squirt (NA) + Pet Battle Bonus Event

For those in the NA region, mark your calendars! This week is the Pet Battle Bonus event, and Squirt is due to arrive May 19th.

According to this handy chart, it's the only day (so far?) where Squirt's arrival and the Pet Battle Bonus event overlap.

Time to gather up all of those Pet Treats (although these might not even be needed when facing Squirt during this event), don your Safari Hat, and get your pets ready for some power leveling.

Happy pet battling, everyone! :)

7.2.5 PTR - Pet Battle Dungeon (Deadmines) Preview

UPDATE: Most recent PTR build (Build 23958) changed how the three new pets are rewarded.

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Hot on the heals of Wailing Caverns Pet Battle Dungeon, we've got the next part of the story - Deadmines! This scenario is currently up on the 7.2.5 PTR and is ready for testing.

Here's an overview of what this new dungeon is all about. Note that because this is from the PTR, all of this is subject to change.

!!! Prerequisite: Complete the Wailing Caverns Pet Battle Dungeon quest (Normal). It's unclear if the Challenge version is also required in order to access the Deadmines quest.

Breanni (Dalaran, Broken Isles) will have a new quest for you in 7.2.5 - "Deadmines, Part Three?"

This quest sends you to Westfall to speak with Marcus "Bagman" Brown. Despite us clearing out Deadmines not once, but twice, he's hearing strange things coming from inside and would like for us to investigate. Who knew Pet Battlers would be such awesome detectives? :P

There's a total of 7 Stages in this Pet Battle Dungeon, with a total of 9 different pet encounters. Backline pets were variations of generic crabs, rats, and parrots (all common quality).


► Stage 1 - What Is All This Junk?: Defeat Foe Reaper 50 (this might be a typo, pet's name is actually Junk Reaper 500)

Single pet fight against an epic level 25 Mechanical pet with Boss passive.

► Stage 2 - Terrible Tunnel: Defeat Unfortunate Defias and Angry Geode, plus their teams

     

Both are uncommon level 25 pets with the Elite passive. First is Undead and second is Elemental. Backline pets do not have any passive/buff.

We killed all the defias inside Deadmines, but somehow their ghosts have become battle pets that we must defeat. How strange haha!

► Stage 3 - Worst. Guard. Ever.: Defeat Mining Monkey and its team

Rare level 25 Beast pet with the Elite passive, plus two backline pets without any buffs.

► Stage 4 - Outta My Way. You Oaf!: Defeat the Oaf Runt ("Captain" Klutz)

Single pet fight against an epic level 25 Humanoid pet with Boss passive.

Who is this guy? More importantly, HOW is he a battle pet?! (He's taller than my nelf!)

► Stage 5 - Cannon Crazy: Defeat Klutz's Battle Rat, Klutz's Battle Monkey, and Klutz's Battle Bird, plus their teams

          

All three are uncommon level 25 pets with the Elite passive. Critter, Beast, and Flying. Backline pets do not have any passive/buff.

After seeing these pets with little pirate hats on, I really want tiny pirate hats for my battle pets now too!

Also, how are these pets manning the ship's cannons? O_o

► Stage 6 - Shadowy Figure: Confront the Shadowy Figure (not the same one we saw in Wailing Caverns!)

Who could this be? What happened to the mysterious figure that was in Wailing Caverns? What are they doing in these dungeons with these pets? And why? :O

► Stage 7 - The Soup's Gone Bad!: Defeat Cookie's Leftovers

Single pet fight against a legendary level 25 Magic pet with Boss passive.

This pet has high health, high speed, plus actively uses crowd control and heals itself.

Same as the Wailing Caverns Pet Battle Dungeon, completing Deadmines will reward an Ultimate Battle-Training Stone, Manapoof Link: Westfall (allows the NPC next to Breanni to teleport you directly to the Deadmines quest giver), and unlocks the Challenge version.

Pet Battle Challenge: Deadmines (account-wide weekly quest) - rewards Mr. Smite's Supplies (chance to drop 2 new pets) one (1) Old Bottle Cap (new currency)

Players can use this new currency to purchase the three Deadmines-themed pets.

• Pet Reaper 50 - 1 Old Bottle Cap
• Pocket Cannon - 3 Old Bottle Cap
• Tricorne - 2 Old Bottle Cap

These pets are BoP and are no longer cageable. This means if collectors want these pets, they'll have to complete the Challenge version of Deadmines Pet Battle Dungeon at least 6 times.


The main thing I noticed during the Deadmines scenario is that the difficulty seemed to spike at the very end (Stage 7), relative to the other encounters.

I would say the dungeon is more 'intermediate' than beginner due to the more diverse pet families you go up against, but it's still doable by even less experienced battlers. The end, however, contrasts with that and I could see some newer battlers struggling with the legendary boss pet. As usual, veteran battlers and those with a large selection of pets to choose from should have no problem.

Overall, I enjoyed the content and was much happier with the length. 9 encounters vs. 11 in the Wailing Caverns was much more pleasant to run through. The atmosphere and setting was also a lot more enjoyable, and there was less travel time between battles.

Patch 7.2 This Week!

The next major content patch is almost upon us, and there's new Pet Battle content plus new pets to collect!

11 new pets to collect

Here's a list of the new pets coming in 7.2.

Note that the Death Knight and Monk companions will not be available at the start of 7.2. Gaining access to these pets on the vendor will require an 11 week campaign which unlocks the class mount quests.

Crackers will also be unavailable until week 3, when the continuation of class campaigns is unlocked.

More information on the new class pets can be found here.

A new toy

Similar to the DK and Monk pet rewards, Mages will be able to unlock a toy that allows battle pets (that normally wouldn't follow players into the air) to fly alongside players.

3 new WQ trainers

These trainers can be found on the new zone, The Broken Shore. They're unlocked after completing the Broken Shore introduction scenario and quests. More information on their teams here. At this time it doesn't look like they will count toward Family Familiar.

Pet Battle Dungeon

If you're level 110 and have at least ONE max level pet (but it's recommended you bring along 3 or more), head over to Breanni's shop in Dalaran (Broken Isles).

A new quest will send you to investigate a mystery in the Wailing Caverns. Completing and turning in this quest will unlock a weekly quest of the same nature, except it's Pet Battle challenge-mode time. For a detailed rundown of the Pet Battle Dungeon scenario, see this blog post.

Similar to the Celestial Tournament, the challenge version of the Pet Battle Dungeon requires at least 15 max level pets, and you cannot heal or revive your pets while inside the scenario.

The challenge-mode weekly quest rewards a bag that drops quite a few Pet Charms, and has a chance to drop one of three new pets (two of which were discovered to be color changers!).

There's also an achievement tied to completing the challenge version of the Pet Battle Dungeon, Pet Battle Challenge: Wailing Caverns, that rewards a new pet.

If you're having trouble getting to Wailing Caverns, there's a new NPC located in Breanni's shop, Manapoof, that will teleport you directly but only after you've completed the dungeon. Being on the quest to seek out Muyani is not enough to get the option for a (free!) port.

Did I miss anything? Please let me know if there's pet/Pet Battle content that I've overlooked. :)

I'm pretty excited about 7.2, if not somewhat (or very, heh) overwhelmed and anxious. So much to do, so little time.

I would have preferred a longer period between the announcement of the release date and the actual release date itself...but *shrug* what can you do?

Can't wait to collect some new pets!

Patch 7.2: Developer Q&A and Patch Release Date

There was a Dev Q&A today that answered some player questions regarding Patch 7.2. You can find the VoD and transcripts either on Wowhead or MMO-Champion.

Here are details related to the new pets in 7.2. The patch is set to be released March 28.

• Unlocking class mounts (and therefore DK/Monk class pets) in Patch 7.2 will take 11 weeks (of campaign), plus exalted w/Armies of Legionfall.
• Earliest for flying is ~2 weeks into 7.2. (Pathfinder 2 is required for class mount quest)
• Not all classes will have class pets (that match their mount and/or in general...?)
• Future Pet Battle Dungeon(s) depend on player feedback and participation. If both are positive and high, there will likely be more dungeons in the future.

I'm absolutely shocked that 7.2 is less than a week away. I would have preferred a bit more heads up, but ahhh. New pets are on the way!

Things to do to prep for patch next week:

- Level DK/Monk/Rogue. Grind AP on DK/Monk to reach weapon level 35 (all 3 weapons for DK), and complete class campaign on Rogue.

- Have at least 3 max level pets for Pet Battle Dungeon (normal-mode), and 15 max level pets for challenge-mode.

First Thoughts On Class-Specific (Order Hall) Pets

Patch 7.2 is introducing what seems to be new class-specific pets from the Monk, Death Knight, and Rogue Order Halls. Similar to other Order Hall pets, they're BoP and not cageable.


This news has caused some concern and anger within the collecting community. We'll have to level even more characters if we want access to class-specific pets? Will all classes have a collectible battle pet from the Order Hall?

In regards to the last question - I speculate that yes, in time, ALL classes will eventually have an Order Hall pet. Some may have more than just one (Druids and Death Knights, for example), while others will share the same pet with another class (Demon Hunter and Warlocks).

I know some are hoping that these class-specific pets will stop with the new additions in 7.2, but I think that would be unfair to classes that have yet to receive an Order Hall pet (Hunters, Mages, Paladins, Priests, and Warriors are still lacking a class-specific battle pet).

If it truly is Blizzard's intention to release a battle pet(s) for each class, collectors have a daunting task in front of them should they desire to collect them all.

Locking pets behind a certain level on a certain class is a huge concern for some collectors. There are players that don't want to play more than a few classes, while others simply don't have the time to level up additional characters.

Since it's unlikely that Blizzard will back down from adding class-specific pets, I think consideration of these players and some compromise is in order. Here are some suggestions on how Blizzard can implement future class-specific pets. One or two or all ideas could be applied to a class pet.

(To be clear, I am prepared to level as many characters as I need to in order to collect each class-specific pet. However, I can ABSOLUTELY empathize with those that are unhappy with these pets. I also agree that it's a huge undertaking and completely overwhelming for those attempting to collect them all.)


1. Don't lock the pets behind a high player level, Order Hall talent, or additional RNG.

The best example for a compromise between multiple class-specific pets and player progress is the Shaman pet, Snowfang.

Players only need to reach level 100, complete the introductory quests to unlock the Shaman Order Hall, and then battle Snowfang the NPC.

Collectors get to experience a new/different class (and class hall), while not having to overexert themselves in order to collect a pet. They can level up, unlock the Order Hall, collect the pet, and then move on. Or, should they find that they enjoy the class, continue playing/leveling that character.

This method of collecting still requires effort and ensures the player experiences the class, but it does not lock a collector into a character for an undetermined amount of time, unlike the following pets.

The less favorable examples of obtaining class-specific pets are the Druid, Warlock and Demon Hunter companions. Not only does collecting these pets rely on at least player level 105, but it also requires a certain Order Hall level/talent AND RNG. All of these things compounded will only cause frustration for those playing certain classes just to collect the pets.

2. Have certain classes "share" the same pet.

Similar to the Warlock and Demon Hunter pet, there are some classes that could probably share the same class-specific pet. Priests and Paladins come to mind for a shared companion. This would give players the option to seek out the pet through one or the other. It would mean one less character to level, which would be a blessing for those that are not alt-aholics.

3. Make the class-specific pets cageable at the start of the next expansion.

Players will automatically want to participate in the new shiny content of the next expansion. Leaving the class-specific pets locked behind Order Halls is fine, but that will also mean players that want to collect the pets will need to extend their stay in the Broken Isles, rather than heading off into newer content.

If the class-specific pets become cageable at the start of the next expansion, both collectors that may not want to level alternate characters and those that play the classes but have zero interest in collecting the pets will have a chance to benefit. Everyone will be able to jump into new content without feeling as though they're missing out on anything. It would mean more are able to enjoy and appreciate these special companions.

I have to admit that this change would be somewhat controversial. The class-specific pets are indeed special - they are (relatively) unique to each class and the fact that they are BoP and not cageable only adds that uniqueness. It can be argued that by removing these two aspects, it also removes each pets' value/rarity.

But WoW is an ever-changing game and environment. It evolves and so must we. It doesn't happen often, but there have been a few times where aspects of certain pets has changed. And although it's subjective, I don't think the value of those pets has been altered to the point where they're completely unwanted. The majority of collectors will desire all pets, regardless of changes.

Side note, there was an interesting user comment regarding the "uniqueness" of the Order Hall pets. I hadn't even considered that some might feel these pets AREN'T unique and/or do not add anything to the class fantasy. If many collectors feel this way, there's not much reason to keep these pets BoP and not cageable since they'll simply be another item on a collecting-check list.

Blizzard has shown that they are leaning more and more toward implementing pets obtainable only through specific activities (Order Hall and PVP pets, just to name two). However, they're running the risk of alienating the very players that would even have an interest in these companions. This is why compromise is absolutely necessary. It's not the BEST situation for collectors, time and effort may still be required, but it lessens the otherwise overwhelming task.

There are many other ideas on how to make class pets more collector-friendly, not just the ones listed above.

I can only hope Blizzard takes into consideration the varying types of collectors/players, and implements future class-specific pets with compromises.

Pet Battle Dungeon Speculation

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. :)

A Pet Leveling Guide For Newbies (And/Or Players That Hate Pet Battles)

So you've decided to jump into the world of Pet Battles - welcome!

I should preface this guide with the following: Pet Battles is not a quick and short activity. It's a long adventure that requires time, knowledge, and effort. However, it gets progressively easier as you collect and level more pets.

It's all about power gain. Your pets and their quality and level are your power in Pet Battles. The more pets you have, at higher quality and level, the easier things will become.

That being said, here are just a few ways you can level your battle pets (relatively) quickly. There are many strategies, ideas, and so on. Pick what feels acceptable for you.

This guide is not a full Pet Battle guide. It requires some basic knowledge of the system/mechanics involved. This guide simply provides suggestions on how to acquire your first level 25 pet, what to do with it, and how to get more max level battle pets.

For a guide to Pet Battles in general, check out WarcraftPets or Wowhead.

I did not come up with these ideas. A big thank you to users on WarcraftPets Forum, Wowhead, Bnet Pet Battle forums, and individual persons for suggesting these.



►►Getting your first level 25 pet (and then some)

Important!: The purpose of your first level 25 battle pet is to help you get more max level pets. Keep this in mind when choosing your first pet to level up.

Strategy 1 - 'Intended progression path'

The original progression path starts in Orgrimmar or Stormwind. Speak with the NPC that teaches you the Pet Battle skill and accept the quest. This will start the long quest chain that will take you through each zone to battle trainers, each with increasing level and difficulty. (List of zones by pet level)

To supplement pet levels between trainer battles, you'll want to challenge wild pets. Capture any rare quality (blue) wild pets that you come across to help bolster your collection. As you climb into higher level pet zones, the pets you capture will help add to the overall level of your collection. Remember: More pets, higher quality, higher level = more power = easier to complete content.

Completing the intended progression path (Pet Battle quest chain) will be extremely beneficial in the end. You will unlock trainer dailies of varying level that, at higher levels, can be used to efficiently power level your battle pets.

Strategy 2 - 'Progression path too long; I have a lot of gold and am willing to spend it'

Want to skip the quest chain? Ok. If you have zero level 25 pets, head to Draenor and get yourself a level 3 garrison and unlock the Menagerie. Complete the quest Unearthed Magic for a free Ultimate Battle-Training Stone.

Use this battlestone on which ever pet you feel you use the most that you currently own. Alternatively, you can purchase a level 1 pet from the Auction House and use the stone on that (most people recommend the Anubisath Idol).

IMPORTANT: You can only add purchased pets of the same level as your highest level pet that you currently have in your Pet Journal. So now that you've boosted one pet to 25, you can head to the AH and purchase and add any other level 25 pets that you want.

It may not be cheap, depending on your server, but it's a fast way to get a decent army of pets ready for Pet Battle content.

Note that there are some pets listed in guides that you cannot trade or buy. You will need to use your newly purchased collection of level 25 pets to go out and capture them in the wild.

Strategy 3 - 'I DON'T have a lot of gold and/or am unwilling to spend it'

This method is better paired with Strategy 1; you'll be grinding on wild pets so why not add in some trainer battles too?

If you have zero level 25 pets, head to Draenor and get yourself a level 3 garrison and unlock the Menagerie. Complete the quest Unearthed Magic for a free Ultimate Battle-Training Stone.

Use this battlestone on which ever pet you feel you use the most that you currently own. Because you will be doing a lot of grinding on wild pets, you should pick a pet that can "carry" lower level ones. This means the pet you choose to boost to 25 should be able to finish fights on its own or with very little help.

You can try and obtain an Anubisath Idol and boost it to 25 with the battlestone, but it will be very RNG dependent as this pet is a drop from a legacy raid boss.

►►How to use your first level 25 pet to level other pets

Method 1 - Capture a higher level wild pet

One way to add to your team of one is to take your level 25 pet and go to Deadwind Pass. Battle and capture an Arcane Eye (wild, is a solo pet so you don't have to fight other pets). Because the pet level of the zone is higher, you'll automatically get a higher level pet.

If you go this route, be sure not to use your level 25 battlestone on a pet that's weak against the Arcane Eyes. Weak against Magic attacks: Flying; weak attacks against Magic: Aquatic. Do not boost these two pet families if you plan on using this method.

Level up your Arcane Eye on other Arcane Eyes (with the help of your first 25 pet), and once it reaches roughly level 20+ (higher level the better) go to Dragonblight in Northrend. Large packs of wild Flying pets spawn in Dragonblight (near the exposed bones) and your Arcane Eye is strong against Flying.

You can use your Arcane Eye on any wild Flying pet, not just the ones in Dragonblight. They are simply the most convenient as they spawn in large groups and have a decent respawn time.

Use the Dragonbone Hatchlings to finish leveling up your Arcane Eye. You can use your first level 25 pet to help, and even add in another lower level pet to leech some levels once your Arcane Eye is 25.

Caution: Dragonbone Hatchlings can spawn with the Cyclone attack, which can potentially ruin this method.

Method 2 - Battle Aquatic wild pets

Boost a turkey (any works), level up a second Flying pet (moths are good), and head to Vale of Eternal Blossoms in Pandaria. Since your turkey is Flying, it's strong against Aquatics, so you want to find Aqautic pets to battle.

Use the turkey's ability Food Coma to crowd control the first enemy pet, swap in your lower level pet, swap it back out for your turkey, and finish the fight with your two Flying pets.

Flying will work well against most Aquatics found anywhere, but like the Dragonbone Hatchlings in Dragonblight, the wild pets in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms are convenient and relatively plentiful. They also usually spawn with 2 additional Aquatic pets, making it easy to level up Flying pets (like the Falcosaur Hatchlings!).

Method 3 - Battle Beast wild pets

Use your Ultimate Battle-Training Stone on a Mechanical Pet with Decoy (Darkmoon Zeppelin, Alarm-o-Bot, Lifelike Mechanical Frostboar, Race MiniZep). This is essentially the same as Method 2, but instead of fighting Aquatic pets, you want to find wild pets that are from the Beast family.

Frostfire Ridge in Draenor is excellent for grinding pet levels against wild Beast pets.

Set up Decoy, swap in your lower level pet and then out again, and finish the fight with your two other high level pets.

►►Efficient use of multiple level 25 pets to help level other pets

Option 1 - Grind wild battles

Just do wild battles using two level 25 pets and one low level.

Option 2 - Trainer dailies.

This calls back to Strategy 1 for getting your first level 25 pet. Complete the Pet Battle quest chain and unlock the trainer dailies in Pandaria (requires full clear of all trainers of Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Outland, Cataclysm zones, Northrend, and Pandaria).

If you've defeated 40 trainers (which is likely if you've completed all of the achievements above), you will receive a Safari Hat. Using it will increase the amount of pet experience your battle pets receive by a bit.

Using the trainer dailies to help power level pets is extremely efficient, as the battles give amazing amounts of pet experience. (Read more about different amounts of pet experience gained from different encounters of varying difficulty.)

On top of granting large chunks of pet experience, the Pandaria dailies also reward pet bags which have a chance to drop battlestones. You can use these to upgrade your pets!

There are many guides on how to use the Pandaria Pet Battle dailies to power level pets. Here is one from WarcraftPets that details which two level 25 pets you need for each battle. Here is one for Draenor trainer dailies (unlike Pandaria dailies, these don't have any prerequisites). They're outdated, but most of the information is still great advice.

I recommend using the Ashlei battle in Draenor first to carry a level 1 pet, and then heading to Pandaria to complete the trainer dailies.

►►Things to note

■ To "carry" a lower level, you want to make sure it doesn't take any damage. It only needs to be your active pet for one round, so swap it in when you feel the enemy team will use a move that does little to no damage, and then swap it out for one of your higher level pets to finish the fight.

You don't want to battle wild pets that have a team-wide AOE. Pet families that can spawn with AOE attacks or persisting damage (but not always): Flying, Magic, Elemental and certain Critters. Be wary of using these for leveling sub-level 5 pets.

■ Be sure to capture any rare quality (blue) wild pets that you don't already have.

■ Once you have a handful of pets at max level, you can head to any zone and battle the wild pets there. The higher the level of the zone, the higher the level of the wild pets.

►►Stand out "carry pets" for grinding pet levels

This list is subjective, however there are some pets that are often recommended due to their power and survivability.

I've ranked these pets based on my own preference (1 being top tier). Other pet battlers may rate them differently.

1 Anubisath Idol
1 Feline Familiar
1 Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling
1 Emerald Proto-Whelp (obtainable only from the wild, prefer Power stat)
2 Darkmoon Zeppelin
2 Any cat (must have the Devour ability, prefer Power stat)
3 Any moth (the more Power stat it has the better, usually)
3 Any snail (the more Health and Power stat it has the better, usually)

Have any additional tips and tricks for leveling pets? See any errors or incorrect information? Leave a comment below!

7.1 PTR - Falcosaur Battle Pet Preview

NOTE: As of Patch 7.1 release the falcosaur WQ areas are a bit buggy, resulting in the Orphaned Hatchling not spawning even after defeating the Matriarch. It should appear as soon as you kill the Matriarch, but there are weird phasing issues in these questing areas that might be affecting the hatchling spawn for some and not others.

Here are some things you can try to troubleshoot:

- Re-zone (leave the questing area and come back)
- If in a group, drop group and reform
- If not in a group, find someone from your server that's in the same zone and create a group with them
- Relog
- Kill the Matriarch again (be sure to loot her body) and again and again...and again!

And if this wasn't clear already, the Orphaned Hatchling does not spawn directly on or next to the Matriarch. It has a static spawn in the quest area, sometimes fairly far away from the Matriarch's location. Using /tar orphan helps.

Also, yes, you can collect both falcosaur hatchlings in the same day. There is no cooldown for collecting them.

There is, however, an internal cooldown on the quests that the hatchlings give. It seems to be a day for most players.

It's possible to pick up additional quests if you have other level 110 characters, however this does not always work for everyone, and it's unclear if it's intended, a bug, or could be seen as an exploit. Blizzard has not commented on this. Attempt at your own discretion.

Just be patient - your pet is just a baby still, give it some time! :)

Good luck to everyone seeking these pets (and/or the mounts)!

Edit: If you're looking to collect just the mounts, be aware that 2 out of the 4 mounts will NOT be available until the Nighthold is released. The Direbeak and Bloodgazer questlines require boss kills in this upcoming raid zone.

The only 2 mounts currently available are Snowfeather and Sharptalon.

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Developer Jeremey Feasel reminded me yesterday that in addition to the RWLIV content coming in 7.1, there are baby flacosaurus pets to collect! And after testing on the PTR, I can definitely say that they are pretty unique pets, obtained in a unique way.

Four new falcosaur battle pets are coming in the 7.1 Patch:

• Bloodgazer Hatchling - Azsuna
• Direbeak Hatchling - Stormheim
• Sharptalon Hatchling - Val'sharah
• Snowfeather Hatchling - Highmountain

To obtain them, you must first have the World Quest for their area. Sharptalon Swarm! for the Sharptalon Hatchling, Direbeak Swarm! for the Direbeak Hatchling, and so on.

These WQs seem to be up for 2 days each, and more than one can be active at a time. I'm not sure what the respawn/cooldown time is for these quests.

If the World Quest for a specific type is not up, it doesn't seem possible to collect the pet of that species. This is because the Matriarch of the brood will not spawn, and she's the key to finding the orphaned hatchling.


Defeating a Matriarch of any of the four falcosaur species will spawn an orphaned hatchling nearby. (We're monsters, I know. Killing the mother just to scoop up the babies.)

I found using "/tar orphan" helpful, but they appear to be static spawns so once you know the location of one, you can return to the same spot for that species.

The orphan appears to remain spawned so long as the World Quest for its type is active and/or if you haven't collected it yet. You can leave the area and come back, and if the quest is still up the orphaned hatchling will still be there.

Interacting with the orphaned hatchling will initially yield nothing except flavor dialogue. But a hint was dropped on Twitter that each falcosaur pets' description in the Pet Journal might provide some insight.

Here are the descriptions for each of the falcosaur babies. Pay close attention to the underlined part.

• Bloodgazer Hatchling - "Though they may look fierce, the bloodgazer species of falcosaur has a beak that makes it predisposed to consuming fruits."

• Direbeak Hatchling - "Direbeak falcosaurs are heartier than other falcosaur species, but cannot smell as well. They prefer pungent meals and will often eat carrion that has been sitting in the sun for days."

• Sharptalon Hatchling - "Sharptalon falcosaurs can subsist entirely on a diet of small nuts and berries, and use their talons mostly for defense."

• Snowfeather Hatchling - "Snowfeather falcosaur hatchlings instinctively flee to nearby adults when threatened. The species is particularly fond of large prey."

Each falcosaur has a special type of food that they respond to. Bring it the right food and you'll get a wonderful reward!


So after brainstorming for a while and trying out different items (and failing a lot) for the Direbeak and Sharptalon Hatchlings, I got lucky and purchased the right food for the Bloodgazer Hatchling. As the Pet Journal noted, they enjoy fruit. But not just any fruit, Azsunian Grapes!


Perhaps the food each falcosaur is native to the zone they're found in? With that in mind I searched for different foods purchasable in Val'sharah for the Sharptalon Hatchling. There weren't any nuts to be found, but there were a few different kinds of berries. And what do you know? It took some of my Dried Bilberries!

I'm not sure if each hatchling will only accept a specific food, or if a variety of nommies are ok so long as they fall into their preferred food category.

That's as far as I've gone in terms of collecting these baby dino-birds. The orphaned Direbeak despawned on me since the WQ timed out, and I've yet to see the Snowfeather quest pop up. This leaves me some time to brainstorm what food to bring for each falcosaur though. My current guesses are Pungent Vrykul Gamalost or Pungent and Moldy Gamalost and Charcoaled Elderhorn. Stinky cheeses and large game fits their description right? :P

UPDATE: Orphaned Snowfeather loves some Smoked Elderhorn. And Orphaned Direbeak likes Pungent Vrykul Gamalost.

But wait, there's more! These hatchlings aren't just for collecting, there are quests to complete as well. They remind me a little of the Children's Week orphan quest chains.


After adding these pets to your Pet Journal and then summoning it out, the hatchlings will each have a quest for you. Level them up to 25!

Leveling it to max will complete the quest. The hatchlings require a nap time after each adventure (there seems to be an internal cooldown on the quests), but your hatchling will eventually have a new task for you.


I only have two out of the four falcosaurs, so I can't be certain -- but it seems each one has a slightly different quest chain. You can have different quests active at the same time. After leveling each one to 25, I received the following:

- The Smell of Draenei - Bloodgazer (take your Bloodgazer to Exodar Inn)

- The Smell of Night Elves - Sharptalon (take your Sharptalon to Darnassus Inn)

What happens after completing this quest? I'm not sure. My hatchlings are currently worn out and need a break from all the traveling. I'll be sure to update once a new quest pops up for me though!

UPDATE: The quest chains seem to follow this pattern

Complete Family Familiar Achievement Faster Using A Second Character

UPDATE: As of Patch 7.1, this method may no longer work or be reliable. Current testing has shown that some WQ trainers work and some don't, making this strategy inconsistent. It's unclear if this is an intended or unintended change. Attempt at your own discretion.

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The "alt character without World Quests unlocked" strat for the Family Familiar achievement is not a secret but it's not very obvious, so here's a quick summary and explanation of it.


What it is: It's essentially a work-around to the once-a-day per toon World Quests, allowing you to complete Family Familiar at a much faster rate than you would normally.

Characters with World Quests unlocked will find that they are only able to battle the active Broken Isles Pet Battle trainers once a day. Winning the encounter will complete the quest, making it impossible to repeat that same battle on the same day with that toon. You have to wait for the quests to rotate and hope each day that one of the Family Familiar trainers pops up.

Using the alt character-strat bypasses this, and allows you to battle that same trainer repeatedly on the same day (only on that specific character). Since the alt doesn't really complete anything (other than the Pet Battle), it doesn't incur a lockout and you'll be able to start and finish the trainer battle over and over. You won't receive any rewards on that character of course, but progress for Family Familiar can be reward enough. :)

This may seem like an exploit, however it was noticed and brought up during Legion Beta. I asked a developer if this was intended behavior for Pet Battle World Quests, and it seems that it is intended. So unless this has changed since beta, this strategy for completing Family Familiar faster is not an exploit.


How to do it: The only requirement is to have a character at max level (110), and DO NOT unlock World Quests.

This means you want to avoid completing the 'earn friendly reputation with X Broken Isles factions' milestone. Alts that are not level 110 will not work for this.

Once you've reached max level, log onto your main character (one that has World Quests unlocked) and see where the Broken Isles Pet Battle quests are located for the day. You can then take that information and hop onto your second character, travel to that location, find the trainer, speak with them and then engage in a Pet Battle over and over.

Note that the Suramar Pet Battle trainers are not included in this. Because they are unlocked during the Suramar storyline, alts without access to World Quests will not have Suramar progress and therefore will be unable to battle these trainers. They can see them and interact with the NPCs, but they won't be able to challenge them to a Pet Battle.


And that's about it!

Last but not least, if you're wondering what addon allows me to track Family Familiar in such an easy and convenient manner in the screenshot above, it's Family Familiar Helper! Made by Gello, who also created and maintains the awesome addon Rematch. Both are must haves for any pet collector/battler.

Patch 7.1 PTR: Algalon Pet Battle Strategy

After many frustrating attempts, multiple failed strategies, and hours of trial and error... I finally defeated Algalon the Observer in a Pet Battle on the PTR and completed the quest that rewards Stardust!


This battle was possibly the toughest I've ever encountered. Algalon has high health, hard-hitting, Elite legendary pets that had annoying abilities...so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people run into trouble with this battle.

I'm sure some will have no problem defeating him, but if you're like me and find yourself struggling against him, here is the strategy/pets that I used. (I wish I could battle him again so I could test out my strategy to make sure it wasn't just a fluke, but alas you can't fight him once you've defeated him once.)

Keep in mind that this is PTR, so Algalon's pets/battle is subject to change.

Pets:
Macabre Marionette - H/P (1/2/1)
Emerald Proto-Whelp - P/P (1/1/2)
Infested Bear Cub - H/H (1/2/2) (I think H/P could work as well)

Strategy:
1.) Macabre Marionette - Siphon Life, Dead Man's Party, and then Macabre Maraca twice to finish off Comet.

Notes: The second Macabre Maraca should hit while you're on your Undead-round (when the marionette comes back to life).

Comet CAN crit you. If that happens and he kills you before you can get your second Macabre Maraca off, restart the fight.

2.) Comet dies, Macabre Marionette dies. Swap to Emerald Proto-Whelp, Algalon swaps to Cosmos.

3.) Emerald Proto-Whelp - Emerald Dream, Ancient Blessing, and constantly use these two healing abilities whenever they're off cooldown while filling in the gaps with Breath until Cosmos dies.

Notes: You must time Emerald Dream just before Cosmos' force-swap ability. The bunny uses this ability on cooldown, which is annoying. However, when your pet is asleep, Algalon's pet cannot swap it out.

4.) Cosmos dies, Emerald Proto-Whelp should still be alive, Algalon swaps to Constellatius

4b.) (Optional) Emerald Proto-Whelp - Ancient Blessing just for good measure (if available, not entirely necessary)

5.) Swap to Infested Bear Cub

6.) Infested Bear Cub - Use Hibernate on cooldown and just pass your turn until Constellatius kills all active pets with Apocalypse.

Notes: Because the Infested Bear Cub is Undead, it will take less damage from Constellatius' only attack (Tail Sweep), giving you more room for error.

Algalon's pet uses Wish pretty much on cooldown. Instead of trying to beat through the healing, use its Apocalypse ability against him. Outlast Constellatius by healing your pet and letting Apocalypse expire, killing all active pets.

Emerald Proto-Whelp should be last pet standing. Hooray, you've won!

I'm absolutely ecstatic that I finally defeated this encounter. I went through many different strategies and struggled so much; I thought that I would just have to wait until a pet battle-theorycrafter came up with a viable strategy.

But after consulting the OH and having him give it some attempts, we formulated a solid plan that involved knocking down Algalon's first pet (dragon) because it did massive AOE, avoiding getting force-swapped when facing his second pet (bunny), and then simply letting his third pet (hippo) kill itself. A huge thank you to the OH for helping me brainstorm and test different ideas. :)

Although it was initially VERY frustrating, it was ultimately VERY satisfying completing this Pet Battle. I can't wait to do it again on live once Patch 7.1 is released!

Last but not least, Stardust's idle animation - it turns into a shooting star, flies up into the air and circles around for a little bit before falling back down next to you. NEAT! :D

7.1 PTR Preview: Raiding With Leashes IV and Algalon the Cosmic Pet Battler

The 7.1 PTR recently went up and new Pet Battle content is on the way. There's juicy pet news! :D

Much to every collector's delight, it was revealed that Raiding With Leashes IV: Wrath of the Lick King would be featured in the next content patch.

Previous RWL pets had some fun and interesting interactions/idle animations, so I was hoping these new pets would also have quirky attributes.

I'm happy to say that after some testing, it appears that the majority of them do do stuff! Some are only color-changers, but that's still awesome. I hope their color changing ability is intended and they stay that way. :)

Here they are, broken down into each raid (image-heavy warning):

Legion Pet Battle World Quests Resource

Pet Battle World Quests are drawing some attention, not just from collectors and battlers, but also from players looking to earn reputation and artifact power.

For a collector/battler, most of the quests will be straight forward. With a large enough collection, the fights shouldn't be a problem.

However, for someone just getting into Pet Battles or is only doing these new quests for rep/AP reward, the encounters may not be as simple.

Since I'm not one to create guides/strats for fights, here's a website that has some team ideas for Legion Pet Battle World Quests: Xu-Fu's Pet Battle Strategies

Many of the pets used do not need to be a specific breed, and they're relatively "easy" to collect.

For more advanced pet battlers, the same website also has suggestions for Family Familiar strats. It's a great resource if you get stumped on a fight. :)

Thoughts On 7.0.3 Menagerie Daily Stealth-Change

I've largely been quiet about the elephant in the room in 7.0.3, but a point was recently made that really resonated with me.

Let's talk about the stealth nerf to the Menagerie daily, shall we?

The Menagerie daily is now account-wide as of the pre-expansion patch. This includes all dailies handed out by the Menagerie NPC (regardless of building level or faction).

With all that's been going on since 7.0.3 dropped (updating the WarcraftPets database, managing my own characters with the talent and spec changes, transmog stuff, etc.), I haven't commented much on the stealth change to the Menagerie daily.

Initially, everyone speculated that being unable to pick up and complete the daily on more than one character was a bug since there was absolutely NO mention in the released patch notes about changes to the daily other than reduced Pet Charm rewards. (Patch notes have since been edited to include the additional daily change.)

It was later revealed on a secondary patch notes page that the daily becoming account-wide was indeed intended. This underhanded ninja nerf is what upset the Pet Battle community more than anything, nevermind the actual change. It was unexpected, initially unannounced, and seemingly uncalled for.

Many can understand why the double nerf (reduced Pet Charm rewards PLUS account-wide Menagerie daily change) was implemented -- the garrison was just too strong. Those with multiple characters reaped what could be considered an excessive amount of rewards over the span of WoD, and these changes were made primarily to dissuade players from camping their garrisons in Legion. I strongly believe that the target audience for these nerfs are veterans of not just the game, but also veteran Pet Battlers with multiple characters.

One thing Blizzard didn't consider, however, is how this would affect newer players and those just starting to hop into Pet Battles. This double whammy impacts their impression of Pet Battles the most.

Most veterans will have stockpiled enough Pet Charms to last for quite a while in Legion, so it's really no skin off their backs. Veterans largely remember what it was like leveling, grinding, and progressing without the luxury of Pet Charms -- it's nothing new for them, it's not a culture-shock.

But noobies, who may have joined later and rely on Pet Charms to level pets and participate in Pet Battles, will now struggle to earn Pet Charms to purchase bandages, pet food, and battlestones until Legion drops. Even in Legion, prior to level 110 there isn't much content for battlers to collect Pet Charms. Going from 100 to 0 can be a huge shock, especially for those who have never known any other style of gameplay other than 'use charms to progress'.

On top of this, many are upset at the fact that their multiple Menageries across multiple characters are now a wasted investment. An account-wide daily means that any building constructed will be largely unusable once you've completed and turned in the daily on your first character for the day. Yes, you can still purchase items and heal at the Menagerie, but I think a large draw for dumping gold into building the lot for many players was the daily, dropped pets, and the Pet Charms. Not so much the vendor.

All of this has caused a stir in the community. An unpleasant stir.

I definitely agree that this should have been handled better. If they had intended to hand out this double nerf from the get-go, it should have been announced prior to 7.0.3 going live so collectors could have a chance to adjust and prepare accordingly. Suddenly logging in to find an unannounced change is completely jarring and it's only understandable that players would have a negative knee-jerk reaction to the unexpected change.

Despite my silence on this topic, it does bother me that the account-wide status of the Menagerie daily went unannounced, and we had to find out about it through some player sleuthing (the change was finally officially noted in a SECOND patch notes page, not the one initially released) rather than a Blizzard representative addressing our questions and concerns.

I'm also bothered by the fact that throughout all of this, there was ZERO compromise on the matter. Just flat nerfs. Yes, I can understand why the changes had to happen, but I don't agree that there was nothing to be done to offset the negative.

This comment is what really sparked my desire to express my 2 cents. It struck me as the perfect compromise that COULD HAVE been included - it would have been the perfect time for it - but wasn't.

A baked in reduced cooldown on the pet revive/heal as a reward would have been a great way to help balance the changes in 7.0.3. With the removal of garrison perks, many other bonuses were baked into gameplay but for some reason the Pet Battle one (reduced revive/heal cooldown while in Draenor) was left out.

I think adding a cooldown reduction (in general, not just for Draenor) as part of a 'you built the Menagerie and upgraded to level 3!' achievement would be a wonderful positive in what has been perceived as an overwhelmingly negative patch for pet battlers/collectors. Would it erase the whole Menagerie daily debacle? No. But it would be a wonderful peace-making gesture.

Overall, I'm going to give Blizzard the benefit of the doubt about all of this. Do I think there was malicious intent? No. Do I think there were oversights and poor communication? Yes. Do I agree with all of the changes? No, not really BUT I can understand why they were necessary adjustments to the game, and have largely accepted them.

Some may not be able to overlook this matter or take it as lightly, and it could turn them off from Pet Battling completely...or for at least a while. (It's hard to say no to cute and cuddly pets...)

So an additional change to give players some kind of compensation for investing in a max level Menagerie (often on multiple characters) would go a long way. The best one that I've seen suggested is definitely the reduced cooldown of the pet revive/heal, for all zones and not exclusively Draenor.

Just my thoughts on this matter. Better late than never, right?

Patch 7.0.3 Pet Battle Bugs

Update: Enchanted Broom issues have been fixed.

Update #2: Thanks to ‏@Aurinya on Twitter for pointing this out to me -- blue post on the German Bnet forums confirming that the Menagerie daily is intended to be account-wide as of 7.0.3.

Google Translate:

"That seems to be currently on the state of affairs . This daily quest is now far account and can be done only on a character , therefore : Unfortunately Absammeln no pet brands .

I can certainly understand that this response is not necessarily desired . Should there be need for discussion on this change , this carries me in the General Forum as a potential discussion there learns a little more attention and is seen by more players."

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Patch 7.0.3 has been out for about half a week now and while there are perks, there are definitely some pet peeves.

But let's talk bugs. Or possible bugs.

So far I've heard of 2 issues that Pet Battlers have been experiencing.

1.) Enchanted Broom has decided to go on strike?

No, but some players are finding that they cannot use battlestones on it, and the broom's level appears as zero when summoned. It can still earn experience and battle just fine though.

2.) Menagerie daily...or is it?

There's mounting evidence that Battle Pet Roundup/Scrappin' and Mastering the Menagerie were intended to be changed to account-wide in this patch, however something went wrong, terribly wrong. This has left many players wondering what's bugged and what's intended. Some toons can pick up the daily, some alts can't, some can on some days, other days they can't, etc.

It doesn't help that Blizzard recently changed the daily reset time, 07:00:00 UTC (EU), 15:00:00 UTC (NA, LA, Oceanic).

There hasn't been any official comment from Blizzard on either of these topics. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

"Rarer" Legion Wild Pets

List of wild pets that might be harder to find/acquire in Legion. This is mainly to remind myself, but if others also find this list useful, then awesome :)

• Fledgling Kingfeather (Azsuna) - Shares spawn points with Fledgling Oliveback and has lower spawn chance.
• Stormstruck Beaver (Stormheim) - Shares spawn points with Bucktooth Flappers and has lower spawn chance.
• Dust Bunny (Dalaran) - Requires Spring Cleaning buff from interactable rug. Unknown respawn time on rug, and rug has multiple spawn locations.
• Vicious Broodling (Suramar) - Shares spawn points with Thornclaw Broodling and has lower spawn chance.
  

If there are other new Legion wild pets that may require additional effort, please let me know!