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.

Make the Mountain Cottontail Great Again

Now that the Patch 7.0.3 dust has settled a little (so many changes - love the Wardrobe system, can't praise it enough), I'd like to take a moment and mourn the loss of the beloved 'glossy-skin' Mountain Cottontail (pre-7.0.3 version pictured above).

In this pre-expansion patch a few pet models received updates to make them look fluffier and less jagged.

The bunny/rabbit model was included in the model updates, but an unfortunate side-effect is that although the Mountain Cottontail appears with a BRAND NEW SHINY-GOLD SKIN (omg!) in the Pet Journal (see image below), it does not retain that appearance when summoned out or in a battle.


If you collected a 'shiny' Mountain Cottontail before 7.0.3, you'll find that your bunny friend has turned into a color-changer. When summoned it will take on the appearance of any of its possible skins...EXCEPT the shiny-gold (glossy) skin.

This is disheartening and very disappointing but it's something that I knew was coming since it was a bug (or intended?) on the PTR prior to 7.0.3's release. I was hoping that this error would get fixed by the time the patch dropped, but there were probably more pressing issues for developers to address.

Many, myself included, went out of their way to collect a glossy Mountain Cottontail. It took time and effort, but felt highly rewarding upon capturing your own special bunny. It was unique but not out of reach like promotional pets or limited time companions. It was proof of dedication as a collector.

As it is right now, this rabbit looks like any other...but if you own a shiny version, you know the truth! Dare I say that owners of a glossy cottontail are lucky?

This is because, unfortunately, it will be impossible for those who have yet to capture their own glossy Mountain Cottontail to find and capture one post-7.0.3.

Since this particular pet is now a color-changer that does NOT use the shiny-gold skin when summoned or in battle, it will not appear as such in the wild. This makes it completely indistinguishable from other generic-colored Mountain Cottontails. Collectors have no way of determining whether or not the wild cottontail they're facing is actually the shiny version (without capturing every single one they come across and checking their Pet Journal, that is).

I really do hope that developers find some spare time to fix the Mountain Cottontail and return it to its previous glossy-glory. While I enjoy color-changers and find them charming, I also adored my shiny Mountain Cottontail in its own uniqueness. It's just not the same now.

If they can somehow use the new bunny model but preserve the unique, shiny skin, that would be ideal. I don't think many collectors would object to having an ACTUAL shiny-gold rabbit following them around!

Please, please fix the glossy Mountain Cottontail!. :(

"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!

Updated Pet Models Coming In Pre-Expac Patch!

Update: After more testing on the PTR, it looks like the Mountain Cottontail has turned into a color-changer when summoned out. In the Pet Journal it keeps the shiny gold skin. Entering a battle will randomly generate one of its skins too, but I've yet to see it pick the shiny gold version.

I'm not sure if this color-changing mechanic is intended or not. Or if it's a side-effect of the transition from the glossy skin to this upgraded model/gold skin.

One thing that has me concerned is that if it stays a color-changer (both as a summoned battle pet and during an encounter), how will collectors know if the wild Mountain Cottontail they're facing is the shiny version? They simply can't tell until they've captured it and checked the Pet Journal for the gold skin.

Hopefully this will get fixed prior to the pre-expansion patch, and the shiny gold skin will stick to the cottontail both in battles and outside of them.

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I don't know why I didn't think to check on the updated pet models when the pre-expansion patch launched on the PTR. But they're in!

New models for quite a few battle pets; sorry if I miss any:

• rabbits
• rats/mice
• squirrels
• sheep
• raven/crow

Keep in mind that these are simply updated models for already existing pets. Most of the Legion pets have their own new looks.

With these model updates, there was one pet in particular I was concerned about. When the new rabbit model was first discovered we all knew that it could greatly impact the infamous "shiny" Mountain Cottontail. I was anxiously waiting for the character/data copy function to become available so that I could import and check my own cottontail (I have the glossy-skin version on live).


Well I'm happy to report that after importing my collection and checking the PTR tonight, the Pet Journal has been updated with an actual SHINY Mountain Cottontail! (pictured above)

LOOK AT HOW GOLD AND SHINY IT IS OMG. (Anyone else feel like it's about to eat their soul.... *stares very intently at its red eyes*)


However, not all is well and good with this pet. Unfortunately when you summon it out, it doesn't retain its new skin. Instead it uses a generic white bunny look. Needless to say, I was so disappointed and heartbroken.

I'm hoping extra hard that the developers have a bit of time to grant this one-of-a-kind bunny its special skin before the pre-expansion patch is released. It's a pet that holds a unique spot in my collection (and I'm sure many other collectors' collections), and it took time and dedication to acquire it (I spent hours searching for it). It would be devastating to see it fall to the level of every other rabbit/bunny critter.

Other than this one hiccup though, I'm really looking forward to seeing the new and improved (and FLUFFIER) pets coming prior to Legion's release! :D

Legion Beta: Hidden Pet Battle Weekly Quest

Update: Once you've completed and turned in the quest, you cannot battle the Shipwrecked Captive again until you pick up the weekly again the following week.

However, if you complete the quest but do not turn it in...endless pet experience. For now. This might be something Blizzard addresses and/or nerfs.

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A WarcraftPets user discovered a really neat item on the Legion Beta: Sternfathom's Pet Journal.

This is a treasure that you can find in Azsuna. Loot the treasure chest next to a speared gnoll's corpse (guarded by a naga named Slavehunter Zsanesh) and you'll find a shiny new...toy?


The toy allows you to summon Shipwrecked Captive, a Grand Master Pet Tamer, who offers a Pet Battle account-wide weekly quest. (Only works in Azsuna.) Completing the quest rewards 4 Pet Charms.

After some testing, I've found that other players cannot pick up or complete the quest from the NPC that you summon, only the original summoner can do so. So we'll each need our own Sternfathom's Pet Journals for the new Pet Battle weekly in Legion.


The Shipwrecked Captive has 3 epic (purple) level 25 pets.

• Scuttles - 1570 HP, 315 Power, 294 Speed
• Clamps - 1657 HP, 320 Power, 271 Speed
• Kiazor the Destroyer - 1657 HP, 276 Power, 315 Speed

When I entered battle with him, two of his pets (Scuttles and Kiazor) only had 2 abilities listed in their tooltips. This might simply be a bug.


The NPC will die/despawn (can a ghost die? haha) after a few minutes, but thankfully you can keep resummoning him (the toy has a short cooldown time of 2 minutes). You can only pick up the quest once (per week) though.

If his time runs out while you're mid-battle, he will not despawn until you've left the encounter. No cheating Mister Grand Master Tamer. Can't run away mid-battle just because I'm about to win! :P

What happens once you've completed his quest and turn it in? I'm not entirely sure since I have yet to try out the battle for myself. Will we be able to keep summoning him? Will he be willing to battle us even if we do not have the quest? My guess for the first question is yes. The second question...that's more up in the air.

If the NPC continues to offer to battle even after we've completed and turned his quest for the week, this could mean an endless source of pet experience. Trainer battles are known for their high pet exp yield, especially the ones with 3 epic quality level 25 pets, so...a bit of an exploit there?

With that in mind, my best guess is that no, we will not be able to continue battling him post-quest completion. At least, not until we've picked up the quest again. We might be able to interact with him and he'll have some quirky dialogue for us, but that will probably be it.

Final thoughts: This quest is almost as if the WoD weekly and the 'traveling trainer' (Erris/Kura) were combined. Except there's only one objective to complete for the Legion quest (defeat the Grand Master Pet Tamer once a week), and the appearance of the Tamer is not random. You control when and where (in Azsuna) you decide to battle him. It's like a simplified version of the two aforementioned WoD Pet Battle quest mechanics that's much more convenient for players.

What a fun and interesting find! More unique/different mechanics for Pet Battle content is always welcome. It breaks up the monotony and keeps us on our toes. 'Where will the next unlock/discovery/content come from today?!' :)

A PSA: Redistribution of Perks N Peeves Content

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming to Bring You This Very Important Public Service Announcement.

It was recently brought to my attention that a website took my blog article, 'How Quickly Will We Consume Legion Pet Battle Content?', and reposted it without proper permission or credit. The website in question seems to be taking quite a bit of liberty with reposting articles and artwork without receiving permission or giving the original writers/artists accreditation.

They did contact me prior to reposting about using my blog posts for their website, however I never consented. I had no idea what the website was, what it was about, etc., yet I was open and willing to discuss it further. I provided a contact address and an invitation to talk it over, but no further communication ever came from them.

I've since contacted the website and requested that they provide proper accreditation, which they've done (in the most minimal of ways, but hey, it's something).

Still, in light of this, I think it's a good opportunity to clarify some things about my blog.

*ahem*

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Thank you for taking an interest and reading my personal blog Perks N Peeves! Here I write about pet collecting, battling and my silly adventures/discoveries with World of Warcraft battle pets.

If you've enjoyed any of my blog posts and would like to share and/or repost certain content, you are most welcome to spread the joy of battle pets! However, please follow my Creative Commons terms:

• Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  
  (Please credit: 'Quintessence, author of Perks N Peeves' ; you're also welcome to share my Twitter, but it's not necessary)

• NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

• NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

Should you have any uncertainties or questions, please feel free to contact me.

• Email: quintessence [at] warcraftpets [dot] com
• Twitter: @perksnpeeves
• WarcraftPets: Send me a private message

If you use material from my blog I'd love to see it! Feel free to contact me with the information on where to find it. This isn't mandatory, but it's a nice gesture. :)

I am not affiliated with Blizzard. World of Warcraft and related assets are property of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and their proprietors. Opinions and views presented on this blog are my own.

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And Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming. :)

Pre-Legion Content Patch - Pet Battles: What's Changing? What's New?

The PTR for the pre-Legion patch is up and ready for testing! There are some issues that Blizzard is working on addressing (server/connection stability and character copies), but otherwise it's time to check out what Pet Battle stuff will be changing/updated in the content patch prior to the expansion.

Pre-Expansion Patch (Demon Invasion World Event)

- What's changing?

• Howl-Bomb nerfed, plus other tuning changes - Howl's been changed to affect only one attack, while the Pandaren Water Spirit has had its moveset changed so Whirlpool and Geyser cannot be combo'ed.
• Draenor Pet Battle dailies have had their Pet Charm rewards reduced - Draenor dailies will yield half the Pet Charms that they currently award.
• Brawler's Guild on hiatus - In the Pre-Legion patch, the Brawler's Guild will go on hiatus making Clock'em temporarily unavailable. It's unknown when it will re-open.
• WoD Digital Deluxe special bundle retired - The special bundle that players can purchase to collect the WoD CE/Digital Deluxe mount and pet will be retiring and unavailable post-patch.

- What's new?

• Felbat Pup - This pet will be available during the pre-expansion content (Demon Invasion World Event). You'll need to complete roughly 7 scenarios to collect enough Nethershards to purchase this pet (costs 1800, each invasion rewards 260).
  
  It's unclear if the pet will remain available after the World Event ends, similar to the Bronze Whelpling during the pre-WoD content patch.

- Unknowns

• Deathwatch Hatchling - Logically, this pet should follow the same pattern as MoP's Guild Gold Challenge Mode unlockable pet (Thundering Serpent Hatchling), and find its way onto the BMAH. However I have yet to confirm that this will be the case.
  
  The PTR Pet Journal still lists the Deathwatch Hatchling as a guild vendor item; the journal might not be updated yet OR Blizzard could have decided against removing the pet from vendors.
  
  We'll have to wait for more information on this one.

I think that's it for now. If I've missed anything, please let me know!

How Quickly Will We Consume Legion Pet Battle Content?

UPDATE: The Family Familiar achievements are now flagged as account-wide.

IF the World Quests remain NOT account-wide, this means the more max level characters you have the sooner you can complete the related achievements. A certain Master Trainer is up? Hop onto your various max level toons and use a different pet-family team on each.

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Dissecting how long it will take to complete upcoming Pet Battle challenges/goals in Legion, with thoughts/opinions on account-wide vs. not towards the end.

Battle on the Broken Isles

• Complete 30 Pet Battle World Quests (37 total possible quests)
• Rewards the Pocket Pet Portal (on use item that increases Pet Journal cap to 1500)

The absolute earliest we can complete this achievement and increase our Pet Journal cap is 10 days after reaching level 110. Realistically it will probably take 10+ days.

Each day there are 3 Pet Battle World Quests available to complete. With VERY GOOD RNG, each of the quests that first pop up during those first 10 days at max level will be different and not repeats.

Testing has shown that repeats are possible and likely. However, the achievement only requires 30 quests out of a total of 37, so initially all of the quests you come across should be unique. But you never know. Sometimes RNG can be kind and sometimes not.

Side note: Account-wide or not doesn't really matter for this achievement. World Quests are set to be static region-wide, so any quest you complete on your main will be the same quest available to any alts that you have.

Family Familiar

• Defeat 12 Tamers (15 total possible) using a team of pets from the same pet family
• 10 different pet families
• Meta-achievement rewards a new pet, Nightmare Treant

The earliest we can complete this quest is more random than the other one. This is because again, RNG can be unkind.

There are a total of 15 possible "master" Tamers, but that's a little less than half of the total number of possible Pet Battle World Quests. It's more than likely that you'll come across a few days where a master Tamer simply isn't up at all.

On top of that, because you can only battle a Tamer once per lockout you'll need certain quests to pop up multiple times in order to defeat the master Tamers using a team of pets from a different family. For example, defeat Nightwatcher Merayl using only Flying pets one day, and then a team comprised of only Beast pets two days later when her quest reappears.

Thankfully we don't need to defeat all 15 master Tamers 10 times each; we can choose the 12 we want to battle for each of the 10 pet families. Going up against X Tamer is too tough for a Mech team? You can always wait for Y Tamer, but that's leaving it a little up to chance because it's random when a different Tamer will show up.

So we'll need 120 battles total to complete this achievement and collect the new pet, but it's entirely up to the randomness of World Quests that will determine when we're able to accomplish this.

It should be noted that it's still not settled if these quests will be account-wide or not. Developer Jeremy Feasel notes that they currently are not account-wide (so we can complete them on different max level characters), but this is subject to change.

Account-wide quests

Best case scenario: at least 1 master Tamer each day, we'll complete this challenge in ~120 days (4 months).

Absolute best case scenario: 3 master Tamers each day, we'll complete this challenge in ~40 days (a little over 1 month).

Not account-wide quests

Completion time will depend on how many characters you have.

If you have 10 toons, you could check off one Tamer for each of the 10 pet families each day. This would cut down completion time drastically.

But you also have to factor in leveling time for each character, since these quests can only be accessed at max level.

How much time we'll have to invest into Family Familiar is still a bit up in the air. We'll have to wait and see.


Account-wide?
Currently, I'm a bit conflicted when it comes to account-wide vs. not account-wide for Pet Battle World Quests.

Account-wide quests would limit our ability to complete the challenges, so it would extend gameplay to the fullest for both of the achievements.

But any alts we level up would miss out on rewards and Pet Battle content in general. Other than the World Quests, the only other pet-related stuff to do is old(er) content, battle wild pets, and collect the new pets.

That would also mean those with full Pet Journals will have to patiently wait out the full 10 days (or more) for a cap increase. A full journal may result in the inability/desire to collect, cutting down pet content for some even further.

Non-account-wide quests would open things up and give us the ability to complete these achievements quickly or as slowly as we please. It would all depend on how much time you want to take to level multiple characters.

The downside is that it might make it a bit mandatory to level up more than one toon. No one likes to feel behind, so that may add pressure to some collectors to speed up the process by adding more toons to their work force. Some may not have the time to do that even if they wanted to.

But it seems like alts are more common place nowadays, so perhaps it won't be as bad.

Conclusion is, I don't know right now. There are pros and cons to both sides.

I don't mind having to patiently wait, and I kind of like the idea of a long-term investment with these achievements and quests.

But I also see the benefit of having non-account-wide quests. It would give us just more pet STUFF to do (even if it's the exact same stuff repeated for each toon), and earning/collecting pets faster is always a plus.

I guess I'll wait to hear more from the community before forming a firm opinion.

Trainer Fame - A New Currency/Challenge Idea

I briefly mentioned this on Twitter but thought I'd expand on the idea here on my blog. Trainer Fame, a new currency and challenge.

Pet Charms are fine and all, as is any type of similar currency, but it doesn't necessarily add anything to Pet Battles. It's just a grind to collect as many as you can to spend at the vendors. There's also stagnation - the only thing that really changes from expansion to expansion is where the Pet Charms come from.

So what if there was a new form of currency? One that adds gameplay value and transitions well into each expansion?

Trainer Fame. The currency you never knew existed (because it doesn't) but you have to have. Something to consider for a future, future expansion.

What is Trainer Fame?

Think of it as something akin to PVP Honor points. It's not an item that goes into your bags; you simply have it on your character and NPCs recognize this. It's "fame" after all, right?

How would you earn it?

Here's the fun part! Fame would not be a static (or random) amount. How much you earn depends on how well you do in a PVE Trainer battle. The quicker you defeat the opponent, the more Fame you earn.

If you defeat a Trainer in 10 rounds, you'll earn 5 Fame. Defeat him/her in 5 rounds and you'll get a whopping 10 Fame. Just as an example. Values can be tweaked, of course.

The goal is to defeat Trainers in as few rounds as possible. Show off your prowess as a Pet Battler, earn notoriety, and then use it to buy awesome pet stuff!

Not only would it give us currency to strive for, it adds a challenge to each PVE encounter. And it continues to add that challenge to newer and even older content. Pet theorycrafters and battlers would constantly be refining teams to get wins with the fewest possible rounds.

Even once a "perfect" strategy has been created and readily accepted by the community, it wouldn't be the go-to strat forever. New pets are always being added, which can greatly impact strats and teams. 'X new pet cuts down my rounds by 3. I can earn a few more Fame points!'

Other mechanics could be added to this currency system as well. Just off the top of my head... ranks? Um, sure. Earn enough Fame and get promoted to the next Pet Trainer Rank. Perhaps certain items will require certain ranks: 'This item requires 50 Fame and Pet Trainer Rank 2' or something like that.

Fun interactions with pet-related NPCs depending on your Fame and/or Rank could also be interesting.


The Drawbacks
The downsides to the idea of Trainer Fame...

I could see newer/casual battlers feeling left out, as they may not earn a lot of Fame in the beginning due to their smaller pet roster or lack of Pet Battles insight. But more Fame would come as they progress and gradually learn the mechanics. There's room for growth.

There was an argument that once a strategy was created, it would spread around like a virus and nothing would change. Everyone would simply look up teams to use and any type of possible challenge would cease to exist. While that's true, it's also true now. Strats are easy to look up.

The difference is that there's no incentive to change anything or try to put together something better right now. Currently, if the community creates an acceptable team composition for a specific fight, that's it. It's done. Everyone can look it up and use it. We move onto the next one.

But with Fame, there's incentive to KEEP refining strategies. We all want to earn more, and with a dynamic currency like Fame there's a real possibility of being able to. So some will continue testing new ideas and trying out different teams, all to get the best possible outcome for the highest reward yield.

Plus the ever-changing battlefield of pets would give players a reason to continue experimenting with teams and strategies. Fame would give us a reason to keep going, and new pets would give us the means to do so.

Would it make content feel mandatory since some players will want to min/max their earnings? If there's the potential to earn/collect a reward, players will want to do it right? That's always a big concern, and if yes, perhaps Fame could be limited to only current content. Something along the lines of, 'Defeating older Trainers is so yesterday's news. But I hear there are some new Trainers that are looking to prove themselves...'

How would we transition from Pet Charms to Trainer Fame? One way would be to redeem them at a pet vendor. Or if there's an internal tracker that keeps track of how many charms your account has earned, perhaps the appropriate amount of Fame could simply be awarded to you at the start.

Right now I just don't see that many downsides to this idea. The pros seem to outweigh the cons. Am I missing anything? It's possible that I'm just too biased.

Anyway, this is merely one idea out many great ideas for Pet Battles. Something to catalog for consideration in the future. :)

Magic Pet Mirror Updates In Legion

Exciting news from Legion Alpha...at least it's exciting to me hehe. ;)

The Magic Pet Mirror might be getting some updates in the expansion! I say "might" because all of this could change; nothing is set in stone.

Currently on live servers the Magic Pet Mirror costume disappears when you do ANYTHING other than emote. Need to hearth? Say bye-bye to your buff. Summon a different pet? Nope, can't do that. Cast a spell? Sorry, can't do that without losing the costume either.


But good news everybody! In Legion you can do all of that and more! *throws confetti* :D

After doing some testing, it looks like the following will work with the Magic Pet Mirror:

• most player spells can be cast
• logging in and out
• shapeshifting
• summoning another pet
• mounting (will temporarily remove the costume, but you retain the buff and regain the costume after dismounting)

Entering combat will still remove the costume.

Most player abilities can be used, but there seem to be a few that will yank you out of pet-form. Shadow Priest Psychic Scream for example. There are probably others that still don't work with the mirror buff, but I haven't been able to test everything.

A few fun combinations:

- Druids retain the costume while shapeshifting (minus travel form)
- Fishing while a pet
- Paladin bubbles + pet costume
- Hunter Feign Death + pet costume (it's a bit sad-looking though...)
- Priest Levitate + pet costume

Magic Pet Mirror + Mage Mirror Image causes your images to turn into whatever pet you copied. If you enter combat, you lose the costume, but your images don't!


Monk using Zen Pilgrimage while a pet
There are so many more awesome combos, I'm sure, but since I don't have time to try them all out we'll just have to wait and see what creative things players come up with once Legion goes live. ;)


And just for fun, rogue kitty! When claws just don't cut it anymore hehe.