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

Mini Thor Account Bound

"I got the Mini Thor today. You get it in your mailbox for each char after adding the Starcraft 2 CE to your Battle Net Account. No additonal code necessary. Therefore it is impossible to sell the pet separately, without the CE game code.

If you have more than one WoW-Account, you get the pet on each one. It is bound to your account and does not disappear from your bag after learning it."
- warcraftpets.com user Sieglinde

unless someone else can prove otherwise, it seems as if blizzard has decided to make mini thor bound to whoever uses the CE SC2 game, rather than making it a separate code.

it's both good and bad news, i suppose. good news for those who love starcraft AND world of warcraft and have already purchased the collector's edition. bad news for those interested in starcraft but not world of warcraft. also bad news for those who don't want to shell out $100 for a game that they have little interest in just for a world of warcraft companion. guess we won't be seeing just the pet going up on ebay this time around. exclusive pet is exclusive.

it kind of confuses me as to why blizzard took this route. not all starcraft lovers enjoy world of warcraft, so mini thor isn't really a big plus in terms of collector's edition extras. you'd think they would have made mini thor a redeemable code so that those who don't care for it could sell it, making the collector's edition that much more worthwhile. then again, i guess most buy collector's edition games not only for the side gifts but more for the prestige in general.

did i give in and finally order a collector's edition SC2? no. and in light of the initial news of it being account bound to whomever uses the starcraft game, i don't think i will be (my friend put a down payment on SC2 but the store said if there were any extra copies of the CE version on release day, he could upgrade). i would have only invested in a CE copy if the pet were redeemable on my battle.net account while the game went to his account. my friend would be playing the actual starcraft game more than i.

anyway, i'm still waiting for more information on this vanity pet since it's still very early and the game technically hasn't been officially released yet. still no word on any interactive animations, but i'm hunting!

Mini Thor, The Destroyer

this lucky person received the collectors edition of starcraft 2 early (release date is July 27th), and captured mini thor in action! how cool is that? note how mini thor has a sub-tag of "the destroyer" (much like mini diablo has an extra title, "lord of terror").

i think some guildies of mine ordered the CE, so hopefully i'll get a chance to at least see mini thor in action. what will happen when he comes face to face with the zergling pet?! i hope it's something along the lines of an epic awesome battle. ^^;

also, there is a feat of strength achievement in wow tied with this new companion: collector's edition: mini thor.

i'd be lying if i said i wasn't jealous. i guess collector's edition pets just aren't meant for me. :P

Starcraft 2 and... WoW?

what on earth could starcraft 2 have to do with companion pets in WoW?

mmo-champ reports that the collector's edition of starcraft 2 will also come with a slew of other goodies, INCLUDING *insert drumroll* a new WoW vanity pet!

the new pet will be a miniature version of Thor, a new unit featured in SC2. mmo-champ has a video up of Thor as it is in starcraft 2. there's no preview for the in-game pet version yet. hopefully we'll be seeing it soon!

while i'm not a huge starcraft fan, i have a friend who is. hopefully i'll be able to talk my way into being gifted the Thor in-game pet. although i'm not entirely sure if those who buy the CE edition of starcraft 2 will even be able to give away the pets or if they will be permanently tied to the battle.net account for which SC2 was bought for. if the latter is the case, then i guess no Thor pet for me. :( i love my pets, but i'm not going to shell out $100 for a game that i don't even really enjoy just for the noncombat companion.

being unable to sell, give away, or trade the pet would also make it a pretty useless bonus feature for starcraft junkies who have zero interest in world of warcraft. well, we'll see what happens.

as of right now starcraft 2 does not have an official release date, but i'll be sure to bug my friend to start looking out for the CE pre-order or in-store reservation. :)