Fire On a Stick, Fire On a Stick!

The Lunar Festival just started, and although there are no new pets this year, new toys, engineering schematics, and this lovely gem pictured above (Perky Pug not included) were added.

The Perky Blaster adds a buff to your Perky Pug that causes it to run around in a circle with a firework in its mouth. These consumables are cheap, one coin for a stack of five, and they're not soulbound. So you know I just had to stock up on them. XD If I have time during the week, I'll probably head out on alts to pick up easy coins and send more pet fireworks to my banker alt to hold for future use.

Other than that, it's a pretty tame Lunar Festival. No new pets, just the two existing lanterns -- Lunar Lantern (A) and Festival Lantern (H). Collect away! :)

Happy February 14, 2015

It's not a pet, but who doesn't wish the Companion Cube was a real in-game pet? We can always dream! :)

All the Heart Fuzzies

Blizzard announced that more than $1.9 million was raised during the Argi sale this past holiday season. So in other words, in roughly one month nearly 2 million dollars was raised and donated to the Red Cross to assist with the Ebola relief efforts. That's. Amazing.

Granted, many just wanted an adorable baby spacegoat pet. But it's still awesome that Blizzard decided to use the proceeds for charity. Collectors directly and/or indirectly helped, so give yourself a small pat on the back for purchasing Argi during the special sale period. :)

Go plushie, go!
In other adorable pets news, a user on WarcraftPets discovered that even though the Elekk Plushie doesn't have any moves that do direct damage by themselves, with a little help from two friends it can indeed smack its opponents around.

Using one pet to apply Wild Magic on the target and another pet to apply Howl, this allows Plushie Rush to actually deal damage. I tested this myself on a low level wild pet and sure enough, my adorable and normally passive plushie smacked that wild pet around, dealing 214 damage!

I'm sure this is just an oversight and the Elekk Plushie shouldn't be able to inflict harm on enemies, but you have to admit that it's kind of heartwarming. A plushie that just wants to be a real, living being finally gets its day, participates in a fight, AND is useful (sort of). The bittersweet cute factor is through the roof for me and I can't help but smile thinking about it.

You don't need to be "real" Elekk Plushie. You're perfectly fine the way you are. :')

6.1 PTR: A Not So Long Day

(image from Wowhead) His sit animation makes me smile at least
Graves was recently updated with a model on the 6.1 PTR. It's uhhh interesting? I'm not sure what to think of it. It looks like a partial skeleton mixed with vines/roots, coffins and red crystals...? Not quite cute, not quite grotesque. I think this might be the first pet that I feel fairly indifferent about.

I suppose Graves would make more sense to me if I actually played Heroes of the Storm and saw it in its proper environment. I'll eventually have to do something Heroes related to earn the pet so maybe I'll see it soon heh.

Not much else was added/updated on the PTR, but one other notable thing is the Longest Day achievement change. Turns out it's not a very long day after all. In 6.1 you don't have to defeat all the listed trainers in a single day; you can earn it over time.

I'm not sure what prompted this change, but my best guess is that the achievement wasn't behaving properly for everyone. I vaguely remember reading reports about not receiving credit for a trainer or some other related issues. Perhaps Blizzard felt like the bugs associated with the achievement wasn't worth it, and decided to just drop the buggiest part of it. The removal of the "all in one day" requirement would make sense if that's the case.

Otherwise, I have no idea why the change. I don't consider it a difficult achievement. The trainers are static so you don't have to prepare for any changes each time you battle them and there are solid strategies out there for everyone to use or tweak to suit their needs. The "toughest" part of the achievement is the travel time between trainers IMO.

But I don't know. I'm sure the developers have their reasons, which they're under no obligation to share with us. I'll just be sitting here in the corner, speculating and brewing up conspiracy theories in the meantime. :P

6.1 PTR: Two New-ish Pets, Graves and Hogs

UPDATE: Bashiok responded to a forum thread, clarifying what the recent Hogs datamining is.

"It's old data. The "Hogs" mini-Hogger pet is not a reward from that achievement, and we'll correct it in the next PTR build. We haven't determined yet if/when he'll be obtainable, or from what source."

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

A new patch was released onto the 6.1 PTR today, and a new pet was added. Grave Golem, previously named My Special Pet, is going to be a reward for an achievement related to Heroes of the Storm. No details on what we'll have to do to earn Hero of the Storm, but as a non-moba player I hope it doesn't require something too complicated.

If it's something similar to the Hearthsteed achievement, Hearthstoned/Mount Up!, I think I could live with that. I'll just need someone (probably the OH) to carry me through a few Heroes matches haha. I apologize ahead of time to any serious Heroes players that have to suffer through a game with me. :P

Another change from the PTR was reported by MMO-Champion. The source specifically is notable because MMO-Champion seems to be the only one reporting this -- Hogs now a reward from the anniversary achievement Victory In Hillsbrad. Wowhead doesn't list this change and Hogs is not in the Pet Journal on the PTR.

IF this is not a mistake in datamining and Hogs WILL be a reward for an achievement that's no longer obtainable, I foresee a large portion of the community being ticked off. Yes, it was briefly listed as the reward for the PVP Feat of Strength early on, but that was removed before the anniversary event rolled around. There was no notice that this would be reverted yet again, and Hogs would eventually be retroactively rewarded.

So it's only natural that those that skipped out on the anniversary BG would be upset if the pet is ultimately the reward. Had there been some sort of early warning, I think more would have participated in the BG just to earn the achievement for this future change.

But, as I mentioned before, only MMO-Champion is reporting this. It could be a simple datamining error. Or Hogs might be a reward for something else and the anniversary BG achievement is just a placeholder until the actual achievement is implemented. All we can do is speculate for the time being and wait and see where (if anywhere) Hogs winds up. I wouldn't panic yet; the PTR is known for changing.

I have to admit that news of these two pets does put me a little on edge, though. I'm not one for mobas or PVP, so even speculating that pets might come from these two sources makes me anxious. Ahhh :(

Love is in the Air New Pet, Mulgore Hatch-- Oh Wait

Love is in the Air has arrived, and I love that there's a new pet! :P

The new pet from the Valentine's in-game event is the Lovebird Hatchling. If it looks familiar, that's because it's a smaller version of the Swift Lovebird mount. Not only that, but it uses the same model and skin as the Mulgore Hatchling. Can't say I'm thrilled about the latter, but a new pet is a new pet right?


I was hoping that maybe the Lovebird Hatchling would have a unique idle animation/interaction to set it apart from the Mulgore Hatchling, but I haven't noticed it do anything interesting yet.

Since it's related to the Love is in the Air event, I thought maybe it might interact with another Lovebird Hatchling or even its mount counterpart. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find someone else on my server with the pet or mount to test this idea out. I also can't seem to talk the OH into grinding Love Tokens to purchase one either lol. :P

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that this pet is basically the same as a previously released one. Less sprightly, though, since it doesn't seem to run/walk away randomly like the Mulgore Hatchling. It's kind of a bummer so far. Aside from adding a neat idle animation/interaction, Blizzard could have used a different model, as suggested by Wayne on Twitter.

@perksnpeeves They could have at least made it a pink crane (unused look) and it would have cost them no effort. Sigh

— Wayne Woods (@WayneGWoods) February 3, 2015

Sure, if they had used a different model it would no longer match the mount, but as long as it was named differently there wouldn't be any expectations for the two to match. Besides, the Mulgore Hatchling matches the Swift Lovebird mount just fine. :P

Ahh well. I can't complain too much. A new pet from an event is still awesome, and I'm satisfied with the steady release of pet-related content. This is just me nit-picking, don't mind me. Go give your Lovebird Hatchling a hug and a kiss, love is in the air after all! :)

Pet Stuff In the Official 6.1 PTR Patch Notes

The official 6.1 PTR patch notes are out. There are a few notable pet-related bits of goodness, but as with all things PTR stuff is subject to change and not everything will make it to the release of the next content patch.

But anyway, onto the updates and changes! Taken directly from the notes:

• "For the Pet Battlers out there, there's a separate chance for an additional visitor offering unique Pet Battles with a chance to award a bag containing Pet Battle items and new Battle Pets." (Erris the Collector, Kura Thunderhoof)

- Note: If you don't have the Menagerie unlocked, you can still accept and complete the daily quest (Critters of Draenor) that Erris and Kura offer when they show up in your garrison. Unsure if this will change prior to 6.1 being released.

• "Reduced the difficulty of quests to unlock the Menagerie, elite pet challenges, and pet battle daily quests."

- Note: The change to the quest Pets vs Pests includes the removal of the boss passive as well as HP changes for the pet NPCs (unsure of the latter as I can't find proper info on the current health of the three pets).

• "New battle pets have been added to Black Temple, Caverns of Time: Hyjal Summit, and Sunwell Plateau along with a new achievement, Raiding with Leashes III to collect them all. Completing the achievement to collect all the new Battle Pets will award a Naaru pet." (Raiding with Leashes III)

- Nothing much to say here except WHEEEEEEE!

• "Level 100 characters with a Tier-3 Garrison will now receive an item in the mail that increases a single Battle Pet's level to 25." (Ultimate Battle-Stone)

- Note: This is currently untrue on the PTR. Instead of being mailed a battle-stone, the Menagerie NPC still offers the Unearthed Magic quest that rewards the Ultimate Battle-Training Stone. The level 3 garrison prerequisite might still apply though.

One thing that wasn't mentioned in the PTR patch notes is that Flawless Battle-Stones have had their level penalty removed.


Using a quality stone on a level 15+ pet no longer causes said pet to lose levels. So upgrade away!

Another quality of life improvement, Pet Charms stack to 1000 on the PTR. YAY! Now I don't have to feel silly for hanging onto extra charms that take up bag space. :)

Edit: Pet Charms have also been changed to BoA, along with Battle-Training Stones. My inventory says thank you 100 times over!

6.1 PTR: Erris the Collector's Pet Teams

Much like the Menagerie battles during WoD Beta, I'm curious about how many different encounters we'll experience each time Erris the Collector/Kura Thunderhoof visits.

Wowhead now has her pets listed in their database with the six possible abilities that each of the pets can have, so that makes it somewhat easier for me. It's just a matter of tracking down the different teams.

Here's a list of teams I've come across while on the PTR. The team she has is the same for everyone that manages to get her to visit on any given day day, but whether she shows up in the garrison is still random and varies per toon.

Enbi'see, Mal, Bones
Nicodemus, Brisby, Jenner
Spores, Dusty, Salad
Moon, Mouthy, Carl
Sprouts, Prince Charming, Runts

Patch 6.1 PTR: A Visit From Erris the Collector

Erris the Collector decided that my garrison on the PTR was worth visiting today, and I found her near my Menagerie. It looks like her appearance is random per character, as my alts didn't see her in their garrison.


She had a daily quest called Critters of Draenor (appeared to be account-wide). Completing the daily rewarded 3 leveling stones and Traveler's Pet Supplies. You cannot challenge her to a Pet Battle again after turning in the quest. Seems to be your standard Pet Battle daily, right? Well there are some things that make this battle a little unique.

Nevermind the fact that Erris the Collector will not be in your garrison every day (I didn't see her until today), but her pets seem to have random (but not so random) abilities. Whether or not she has the same set of pets each time she visits, I don't know. Hopefully she'll come by again soon so I can find out!

Erris' pets this time around were Enbi'see (uncommon - Draenor peacock), Mal (uncommon - Draenor firefly), and Bones (rare - Bone Serpent). All level 25. Their qualities and breeds stayed the same for each match.

I challenged her team a total of 15 times (without completing the quest), and each time her pets had slightly different movesets. Although it seemed random at first, it turns out that they pull from their pool of six possible attacks.

Below is the list of each match and the pet's moveset for each encounter, followed by the list of their six possible abilities. It should also be noted that although they have multiple choices, certain abilities are "locked" into a slot. Hawk Eye never appeared as Enbi'see's third attack slot, for example, and only as her second.

Enbi'see
1.) Quills, Hawk Eye, Reckless Strike
2.) Peck, Hawk Eye, Drain Blood
3.) Peck, Accuracy, Reckless Strike
4.) Peck, Hawk Eye, Reckless Strike
5.) Peck, Accuracy, Drain Blood
6.) Quills, Hawk Eye, Reckless Strike
7.) Quills, Accuracy, Reckless Strike
8.) Quills, Hawk Eye, Reckless Strike
9.) Peck, Hawk Eye, Drain Blood
10.) Quills, Hawk Eye, Reckless Strike
11.) Quills, Hawk Eye, Reckless Strike
12.) Quills, Accuracy, Reckless Strike
13.) Peck, Hawk Eye, Reckless Strike
14.) Quills, Accuracy, Drain Blood
15.) Quills, Accuracy, Drain Blood

Possible abilities: Quills or Peck (slot 1), Hawk Eye or Accuracy (slot 2), Reckless Strike or Drain Blood (slot 3)

Mal
1.) Alpha Strike, Puncture Wound, Nimbus
2.) Alpha Strike, Puncture Wound, Flyby
3.) Alpha Strike, Puncture Wound, Flyby
4.) Alpha Strike, Puncture Wound, Nimbus
5.) Barbed Stinger, Lift-Off, Flyby
6.) Barbed Stinger, Puncture Wound, Nimbus
7.) Barbed Stinger, Puncture Wound, Flyby
8.) Barbed Stinger, Puncture Wound, Nimbus
9.) Alpha Strike, Puncture Wound, Nimbus
10.) Alpha Strike, Lift-Off, Flyby
11.) Barbed Stinger, Puncture Wound, Nimbus
12.) Barbed Stinger, Lift-Off, Nimbus
13.) Barbed Stinger, Lift-Off, Nimbus
14.) Alpha Strike, Lift-Off, Nimbus
15.) Alpha Strike, Lift-Off, Nimbus

Possible abilities: Alpha Strike or Barbed Stinger (slot 1), Puncture Wound or Lift-Off (slot 2), Nimbus or Flyby (slot 3)

Bones
1.) Bone Barrage, Call Darkness, Nocturnal Strike
2.) Bone Barrage, Death and Decay, Nocturnal Strike
3.) Consume, Call Darkness, Nocturnal Strike
4.) Consume, Call Darkness, Lift-Off
5.) Consume, Call Darkness, Lift-Off
6.) Bone Barrage, Call Darkness, Nocturnal Strike
7.) Bone Barrage, Death and Decay, Nocturnal Strike
8.) Consume, Death and Decay, Lift-Off
9.) Bone Barrage, Call Darkness, Nocturnal Strike
10.) Consume, Call Darkness, Lift-Off
11.) Consume, Death and Decay, Nocturnal Strike
12.) Consume, Death and Decay, Lift-Off
13.) Consume, Death and Decay, Nocturnal Strike
14.) Bone Barrage, Death and Decay, Nocturnal Strike
15.) Consume, Call Darkness, Lift-Off

Possible abilities: Bone Barrage or Consume (slot 1), Call Darkness or Death and Decay (slot 2), Nocturnal Strike or Lift-Off (slot 3)

I didn't have any problem defeating Erris' team; the battle was straightforward. It could be challenging for someone with only a few max level pets and limited knowledge of the strong and weak mechanics in Pet Battles, but for a veteran Pet Battler, the fight should be a quick win.

The Traveler's Pet Supplies dropped Pocket Lint x4 and Battle Pet Bandage x3. It could be that the bag's (better) rewards are not yet implemented or just bad RNG on my part. For a daily that doesn't appear every day, I wonder if heavy RNG drops is a good idea. I could see it getting frustrating receiving nothing but bandages and vendor items from an NPC that I might need to wait days or weeks for. Especially if there are new pets that drop from this bag.

Well, we'll have to see. It might not be that bad and/or Erris might make frequent visits. Everything is subject to tweaking and change. It's the PTR afterall!

Regardless, it's nice to see some new PVE content coming in 6.1.

Lastly, whichever developer decided to name Erris' (Draenor) firefly Mal, you ROCK! :D

EDIT: Much like her appearance at your garrison, her pet team is random per visit. ‏@Mononic1 had a different set of pets to battle.

@perksnpeeves Quick note - her pets seem to differ each time (much like the garrison building) I had a Podling, Frog, and a Clefthoof.

— M12342 (@Mononic1) January 18, 2015

Patch 6.1 PTR: Three New Pets and Possible PVE Content

A PTR build was released today and more pet goodies are in store for us in 6.1! Three new pets were datamined:


Bone Serpent


Young Talbuk


Slithershock Elver

The Bone Serpent is a familiar face. It was originally datamined during the WoD Beta, and was listed as wild but never released. Now it would seem that is has finally made its return and we'll hopefully get to collect it in 6.1. :)

These three pets are all BoP and according to the Pet Journal, they come from the same source, Pet Battle: Erris the Collector, Kura Thunderhoof. (Of course, this might change.) Just who are Erris the Collector and Kura Thunderhoof? Where can they be found? Are they new Grand Masters for us to defeat?

No details on these NPCs just yet, but if they are new trainers this could mean new PVE content coming in the next content patch.

Speaking of PVE content, a new pet supplies bag was datamined -- Traveler's Pet Supplies. Take special note of the flavor text on the bag, "Usually contains a few pet bandages and some lint. But every once in awhile, it may yield a special pet."

Could this mean new "bag pets" are coming in 6.1? Or perhaps it will drop older pets? Or even pets that can't be obtained anymore (many would love a chance at the Vampiric Battling). We'll have to wait for more information before we can say just what a "special pet" is.

There's still no info on where this new bag will come from or what we'll have to do to get one. If it's anything like the Big Bag of Pet Supplies, it may indicate a new Pet Battle daily is on the way. But we'll see!

UPDATE: Just as I published this post ‏@Mononic1 Tweeted an image of Erris the Collector. The daily she offers rewards the Traveler's Pet Supplies.

@perksnpeeves Found her! Right next to the Menagerie. pic.twitter.com/C08VQSTZHB

— M12342 (@Mononic1) January 17, 2015

If the source of the 3 new pets doesn't change, this means they'll probably drop from the new reward bag.

Ready, set, RACE
As many thought, it's now confirmed that the Race MiniZep will be tied to the new racing mini-game at the Darkmoon Faire. The achievement Big Rocketeer: Gold rewards the pet. I'm curious to find out how difficult/easy the race is, and whether or not completing the race "within 26 tolls" will result in me pulling out my hair or having a good time lol.

Another thing I can't help but wonder is whether or not the next content patch will be in time for February's Darkmoon Faire. If not, we'll have to wait until March for the new pet.

It would make sense if we have to wait since the only way to really test the new mini-game is to wait until the faire rolls around. If the PTR is still up at the start of February, we'll get the chance to preview the race, report bugs, etc. Once that's been sorted out, 6.1 can be released mid-month and then it's just a matter of waiting a few more weeks until the first week of March. I don't know if that's what they're aiming for, but that makes the most sense to me.

Fancy stone quest and new NPC
Thanks to a Tweet from Lio, the source of the Ultimate Battle-Training Stone has been discovered.

welp, I found the 1-25 battle stone. pic.twitter.com/AKQHCNxk9F

— Ms Lio (@liopleurodonic) January 16, 2015

The quest seen above, Unearthed Magic, is from the Menagerie NPC. I'm not sure if there are any pre-requisites or if the quest is repeatable.

For me, I was able to pick up the quest from my level 3 Menagerie on the PTR (the plot was completely unlocked, and the usual bag daily was also available). I have yet to complete the quest, however, so I don't know if there's any follow up or anything after the initial battle-stone quest. Maybe it's just a one-time deal for those just starting out in Pet Battles?

Lio also found a new trainer INSIDE her garrison Town Hall, Alchemist Hanmos. He was just outside of her archaeology room.

But he has a team of random rarity lvl 25s for you to fight. pic.twitter.com/cGquMpW4Sm

— Ms Lio (@liopleurodonic) January 16, 2015

It seems to be random whether or not he shows up, though, because I couldn't find him in my garrison on the PTR. I had a different NPC in his place. Perhaps it's random or on a daily rotation.

So who is Hanmos? Where did he come from? What is his purpose (other than getting crushed in Pet Battles :P)? How do you get him to visit your garrison? So many questions! XD