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Massively exclusive: Pirate101 announces new advanced pet system
Pirate101's pet system is getting an update, and KingsIsle tells us that a new test realm will soon open its doors to showcase the changes. Pet owners will be able to send their minions on various world-based training missions which will raise their level, unlock talents and powers, and more. The devs are also adding the ability to PvP in a pet battle arena as well as a new quest that details the new advanced pet system. KingsIsle has penned a lengthy dev diary explaining how everything works. You can read it after the cut.
Patch 5.4.1: Asia-only pets added to Recruit-A-Friend
Perculia over at Wowhead has been digging around on the patch 5.4.1 PTR and unearthed some great reward-based news for the upcoming new Recruit-a-Friend system. If you're into pet collection, there's a faint possibility you might already be aware of the couple of Asia-only exclusive pets that we could never get our pixel hands on in NA and EU regions. Well, they're on the PTR, both the pigs you see in the header image, and a couple of miniaturized versions of the jewelcrafting tigers. You can check them out in Wowhead's article too. All the pets are battle pets, both pigs are critters and both tigers are magic. There's also screenshots of the Recruit-A-Friend in-game UI, bearing a striking resemblance to the look of the in-game store overall. It shows windows for your friend's email address and for your note, as well as what seems likely to be a follow-up screen where you choose your reward from the tokens issued. It seems to be quite the improvement on the previous system where you had to do most of the work from the battle.net site. Hopefully this rework also makes the overall process easier for the friend being recruited as well as the recruiter -- the old system was not exactly intuitive.
How I'm Becoming the Very Best: Winning at WoW pet battles, Part 1
I've been spending an inordinate amount of time lately in the game playing pet battles. As in, hours upon hours of having my monsters fight other monsters, all while chain watching Dexter via On Demand. It's a vicious cycle, something where I can be supremely entertained, multitask, yet still have the freedom to press pause (literally and figuratively) to get up and walk away to do other things. Although if I was being honest with myself that whole "walking away" thing really doesn't happen too much, especially at 2am when you only have a few more kills to get yet another pet up to level 25. And that's what we're going to talk about for a few weeks -- strategies to get your pets up to level 25 and beating all the pet trainers. Getting started The base of your journey to becoming the very best starts with your first pet. Go with something forgiving, and don't try to get an exotic pet with strange abilities right off the bat. In fact, don't try to get those until your very last step. Instead pick a pet that has easy to understand attacks, maybe a little flow to them, and something that you'll learn inside and out to help you all along your trials. For me that pet is the Darkmoon Zeppelin. It's a mechanical pet that does increased damage to beasts, and has the delightful ability to revive itself after its first death in a pet battle. That essentially means you get a big screwup button that lets you recover from the majority of misktakes you'll make. The Zeppelin also had the added bonus of having a gigantic bomb of death you can toss on an enemy to causes a lot of hurt after a couple rounds.
Engineering pet changes mean Pierre can be caged
Everyone's favorite pug, Blizzard Community Manager Crithto, posted this morning about some long-awaited changes to several pets. This included our beloved Pierre, the engineering cooking stove of legend. While, in the past, he was not cageable or tradeable, and was also BoP and unique, you can now have as many Pierres as your heart desires. As long as your heart desires no more than three. He's also tradeable, which is great news, and as Crithto adds, this also applies to Rascal-Bot. He fades into insignificance next to Pierre, though. Crithto We have a few hotfixes to share with you and these changes should be in game now, or will take effect once the realms have been restarted: Pierre and Rascal-Bot are no longer Bind on Pickup; they can now be caged and you can collect up to 3 of each. Rascal-Bot's Phaser spell is now a one-round ability. The tooltip still erroneously states that it is a two-round ability which we plan to correct at a later date. Jadefire Spirit's Fade ability now has an eight-round cooldown. source There are already reports on Wowhead of the hotfix having come into action, so get on and get crafting! The world needs more Pierre.
Patch 5.4 PTR: Crazy Cat Lady/Man title added
When the Crazy for Cats achievement was discovered on the PTR, the first thing players asked for was a title to go along with it. Namely, something to do with being a Crazy Cat Person. Good news! We got what we asked for: The Crazy Cat Lady and the Crazy Cat Man were both added as titles in the latest patch 5.4 PTR build. Keep in mind that you need 20 out of the 24 cats listed under the achievement. Overall, the achievement doesn't seem too difficult for a battle pet collector to earn, especially since one-third of the cats on the list are purchasable via NPCs. A few felines on the list are harder to come by, including the Nightsaber Cub and Spectral Tiger Cub from the TCG, and the Spectral Cub awarded to players participating in the Shanghai 2012 Battle.net World Championship. I'm crossing my fingers for the title off the bat when the patch drops!
Lesser Voidcaller brings all the spirits to the yard
Since the introduction of the new Raiding with Leashes achievement, I've been farming the old BC raids for new pets. I've only managed to farm up about half, but I'm sure Lady RNG will be kind to me at some point. In my collecting adventures, I've come across a few battle pets that are so irresistibly cute that I could care less about abilities, pet family, or how to obtain them. Lesser Voidcaller definitely falls under that category because of its unique idle animation that summons small spirits. Lesser Voidcaller drops from High Astromancer Solarian in The Eye, so it's not tough to obtain. Before you engage the boss, be sure to at least kill the two packs patrolling the room, as the casters will use a mind control and force a reset. The entire room will pull with the boss if you don't clear it, but I've never had an issue AoEing everything, even on my squishier priest. Lesser Voidcaller is of the Magic family and its abilities are as follows: Slot 1 Shadow Shock or Nether Blast Slot 2 Siphon Life or Prismatic Barrier Slot 3 Curse of Doom or Drain Power
Moonkin hatchling 50% off this week only
This week only, one of WoW's most adorable pets is on sale. The Moonkin Hatchling is on sale for $5, €5 or £4.50, depending on your local currency. This adorable little creature is effectively a buy one moonkin hatchling get one moonkin hatchling free deal, as you get both versions pictured above for your money, one for the Alliance and one for the Horde. As you'd expect, they are account-wide, and also battle pets. The Moonkin Hatchling is a humanoid battle pet, with abilities such as Solar Beam, Cyclone and Moonfire reflecting his druidic status. He also has some utterly adorable animations, growing little flowers on the ground to brighten your day, as well as periodically hovering a few inches from the ground with his tiny wings. And what's more, he can fly, and will accompany you on your flying mounts, defying the laws of physics. The sale ends on July 1 at 11.59pm PDT in the US, CET in the EU.
Lil' Bad Wolf packs a big punch against Critters
Real talk time: I've been feeling a bit agitated at the battle pet situation in patch 5.3. Naturally, I want to collect every new pet, but RNG is a cruel mistress. The new patch introduced an updated Raiding with Leashes achievement, which has players returning to the good old BC raids. BC was my favorite expansion, so I enjoy heading back to stomp all over Lady Vashj, especially. Which is good, because I've yet to see a pet drop from SSC. But I digress. Reader SpaceBard suggested a rundown of Lil' Bad Wolf, one of the ten new raid battle pets in 5.3. We live to serve. Farming Lil' Bad Wolf is plagued with RNG obstacles. First, the Red Riding Hood encounter must spawn during The Opera Event -- one of three possible outcomes -- and then, of course, the pet may or may not drop. This devilishly cute Humanoid's abilities are as follows: Slot 1 Claw or Counterstrike Slot 2 Mangle or Dodge Slot 3 Howl or Pounce
What's the best way to get Lesser Charms of Fortune?
What's the best way to get Lesser Charms of Fortune every week? Although Blizzard recently reduced the amount of Lesser Charms of Fortune players need each week (by lowering the requirement for the weekly quest Mogu Coins of Fate from 90 charms to 50 charms) we've still got to get them somewhere. So what's the best way? Prior to patch 5.3, it seemed like everyone was swearing by pet battles. Players were claiming they'd earned hundreds to thousands of Lesser Charms just killing critters in Stormwind. A hotfix eventually nerfed the drop chance for Lesser Charms in lower level pet battles, but higher level pet battles are still rewarding charms to anyone who wants to put in the time. Is it still worth it? Patch 5.3 has also added a couple of changes to Lesser Charm collection to really mix up the equation. Level 90 creatures that are outdoors in the world now have a chance to drop Lesser Charms of Fortune, while rare spawns in Pandaria and bosses in Battlefield: Barrens are guaranteed to always drop the charms. The result of this? Hordes of players in Northern Barrens farming Lesser Charms off the new Kor'kron mobs there.
Son of Animus will tank all the things
Patch 5.2 introduced a slew of battle pets, with a few as rare drops from bosses in the new Throne of Thunder raid, including Living Sandling, Ji-Kun Hatchling, and Son of Animus. Recently, I was lucky enough to obtain Son of Animus, and it's quite a unique addition to my collection. I couldn't wait to level it! This breed 4 (4/14 or P/P) Mechanical pet uses abilities inspired by the boss that drops it, Dark Animus, and are as follows: Slot 1 Metal Fist or Batter Slot 2 Siphon Anima or Touch of the Animus Slot 3 Extra Plating or Interrupting Jolt
Breakfast Topic: Everything's a battle pet
Thanks to a curious side-effect of battle pets in WoW, I now wander around the neighborhood doing little pet battles in my head. That potted plant over there? Elemental, probably. That angry-looking chair with the nom-nom face? Mechanical pet of doom. I've devolved to the point that I'm pretty sure my daughter would make a killer critter-type pet. I may even have gone so far as to stage a full-out battle and training scenario in my head for my trusty labrador retriever against some local chickens. Purely in my head, though, I promise. It's led me to some bizarre desires for in-game pets, though. I'd like a fighting coffee mug, perfect for chasing away the morning blues. Maybe a fierce table lamp, ready to toe-to-toe with the most dangerous tanks. What about you? What battle pets are you eager to see borrowed from real life and inserted into the game?
Electrified Razortooth is an electric ball of cuteness and death
Several new battle pets accompanied the release of the Isle of Thunder and patch 5.2. While completing dailies or heading out to the Throne of Thunder, these new creatures may catch your eye. Shiny new models, huzzah! Electrified Razortooth spawns only as a primary pet on the Isle of Thunder, so while roaming around, keep your eyes open. They don't spawn as often as Swamp Croaker and Elder Python; you may have to make a few rounds to find one. The good news is, Electrified Razortooth is only available in one breed, and that means less time spent farming the ideal rare. Electrified Razortooth's abilities are mostly Elemental type, and are as follows: Slot 1 Rip or Jolt Slot 2 Paralyzing Shock or Lightning Shield Slot 3 Devour or Blood in the Water
Adopt a Spring Rabbit now that Noblegarden is here
It's that time of year again! Noblegarden has descended upon Azeroth, granting us bunny ears, chocolates, and even a battle pet. Spring Rabbit is purchased with 100 Noblegarden Chocolate, received when opening a Brightly Colored Egg. You can find the eggs scattered about several starting towns -- think Brill, Goldshire, and Kharanos. There's also a small chance to find the Spring Rabbit's Foot inside an egg, and if you don't want to adventure out into the world at all, there's always the auction house! Spring Rabbit's abilities are mostly Critter type, and are as follows: Slot 1 Scratch or Flurry Slot 2 Adrenaline Rush or Dodge Slot 3 Burrow or Stampede Although the Spring Rabbit is learned as an Uncommon battle pet, it has the potential to be a very strong member of your team. It's worth considering the upgrade with a battle-stone, since the breed and moveset makes it one of the best of the rabbit types around. Take, for example, the generic Rabbit. The moveset is the same, but the Rabbit is available in six different breeds, which could make capturing the ideal rabbit a pain. Spring Rabbit is always breed 5/15, or S/S, which means that its stats are heavily weighted for speed. Flurry and Dodge become super effective.
Mumper clarifies seasonal battle pets
There are a number of achievements available for pet battlers, but one in particular has eluded us all. Not because it's particularly tough to earn, but because we're all waiting for MoP's first Summertime in-game. The Qiraji Guardling is said to only spawn during Summer, but there's been a bit of confusion surrounding when WoW's Summer actually is. See, the Raw Summer Bass begins spawning on the first day of Spring here in the real world. With a name like Summer Bass, you'd think that'd make it Summer in-game, right? As it turns out, no. The Summer Bass is a Spring/Summer fish, just like the Winter Squid is a Fall/Winter fish. Players sought clarification on fish versus pet spawning seasons from Lead Content Designer Cory "Mumper" Stockton, and received it: Seasonal pets will follow the pre-existing seasons starting in patch 5.3. Note that the existing fish are available for spring/summer (1/2) - Cory Stockton (@mumper) March 22, 2013 and fall/winter. The pets are available only in the Summer and Winter seasons so the dates are not the exact same. (2/2) - Cory Stockton (@mumper) March 22, 2013 So, the seasonal fish span multiple seasons, and the two seasonal pets span single seasons. Single seasons that loosely mirror our real-world seasons. Be on the lookout for the Guardling around the time Summer hits the Northern hemisphere -- in-game we're guessing it'll be May or June. Are you ready for your Zookeeper title?
Wowhead releases new battle pet tools
If you're a pet battler, Wowhead is a popular stop for solutions to head-scratching trainers or mysterious wild pets. There are so many collectable battle pets that it can get a bit hairy to memorize every ability or plan out a team before leveling a new battle pet. Wowhead has just released new and updated battle pet tools to make the journey to master tamer a smooth one. Being an avid pet battler, I'm very excited to see these additions. It hasn't been easy to track battle pet breeds and other information outside of addons in-game. So, being able to look everything up at once over at Wowhead will be a time-saver. The Battle Pet Calculator displays health, power, and speed based on the battle pet's breed, quality, and level with an easy-to-use slider. An enhanced Battle Pet Listview now makes it easy to see a breakdown of a level 25 battle pet's stats, abilities, as well as other key pieces of data. The Pet Abilities filter is similar to Wowhead's current Spells filter, and allows users to filter by mechanics -- like Block or Burn -- buffs, debuffs, battle pet family, and more. There's more to see, so head over and take a look at the new tools.
Corefire Imp will melt faces and take names
Corefire Imp may be one of the underdogs out there in the battle pet world. I'm sure some pet battlers use this little troublemaker on teams, but sadly, I haven't seen him in many PvP battles. A diamond in the rough, I tell you! Corefire Imp has a chance to drop off of Magmadar in Molten Core. Collect the imp's 11 battle pet friends hiding in a few old world raids and earn the Raiding with Leashes achievement, which rewards the fabulous Mr. Bigglesworth. So, even if you're not interested in rotating the imp onto your teams, farming him up is worth it. Corefire Imp is of the Humanoid family, but wields mostly Elemental attacks, with a few other types thrown in: Slot 1 Burn or Rush Slot 2 Immolation or Flamethrower Slot 3 Cauterize or Wild Magic The real strength of Corefire Imp is that he makes a great tank. The imp's only weakness is to Undead attacks, which are relatively rare. The Humanoid passive -- recovering 4% maximum health every attack -- is what really wins in combination with his abilities. Let's take a closer look!
No experience multiplier for Elite Battle Pets, working as intended
I started my Beasts of Fable quest line for the first time after 5.2 went live and was curious about how much experience a low level pet would receive when defeating an Elite Battle Pet. I was pretty excited. Would my newbie little Crawling Claw instantly complete most of his leveling journey? Nope. He earned 224 XP. Which, in the scope of battle pet leveling, is peanuts. Not even worth bringing a low level battle pet in to soak experience. But these are Elite Battle Pets! What's the dealio? Could it be a bug? I took to Twitter to find out, and was pleasantly surprised to receive an answer from Lead Content Designer Cory "Mumper" Stockton. @kristin @cm_zarhym @ghostcrawler Yes, this is intended. They have higher drop rates for rare stones and alt panda pets. - Cory Stockton (@mumper) March 7, 2013 So, we should just stick to power leveling battle pets elsewhere. At least we have a great chance to earn rare Battle-Stones and cute pandas while plowing through the Beasts of Fable.
Patch 5.1: Pet battle UI changes
Blizzard has integrated the features of many current add-ons into the pet battle UI for patch 5.1. The journal, wild pet tooltips, and battle UI now display information making it easier to choose which pets to capture and which to kill. During battle, the quality of the pet is shown in the color of the opponent creature's name as well as the border of the icon. This renders Pet Battle Glow unnecessary. Mousing over a pet in the wild now shows how many of that creature you have collected, if any. It does not show what the highest quality of that particular pet you own, however. So the Pet Caught add-on will still give more information than the new UI. Mousing over the opponent creature during the battle will also display how many of the pets you own, but again, not their qualities. More changes are after the break.
How to get started in pet battles
Are you ready to waste a bunch of time enjoy the fulfilling life as a pet collector and battler, like me? We'll get you ready to be pet-obsessed in no time. Get Trained Before you can do anything with pet battles, you have to be at least level 5 and have up to 10g, depending on whatever discount you may have. Now travel to your capital city and chat with the Battle Pet Trainer there. Varzok is located near the flightmaster in Orgrimmar, and Audrey Burnhep hangs out near the Cataclysm portals in Stormwind City. You only need to train on one of your characters, as all of the training, quests, and battle pets are account-wide. This means that if you train with your main character in Stormwind, your level 1 blood elf can start collecting pets for you in Silvermoon. But wait! There's more!
Make your pet battles look like Pokemon with WoWkemon
Let's be honest, we all saw this one coming! It was just a matter of time before someone wrote an addon that really genuinely converted the pet battles into something remarkably similar to Pokémon. And it's already happened, just a few weeks after the launch of Mists. I am, by the way, sorry for constantly bombarding readers with Pet Battle addons! But, for Pokémon lovers, this is a pretty cool one. Download WoWkémon from WoWInterface. WoWkémon is installed simply by downloading the zip file from the link above, extracting and copying the contents into your Addons folder, which resides within your Interface folder in your WoW directory. When you begin your first Pet Battle with it active, WoWKémon will enter its tutorial, with the eminent Professor Birch. He will guide you through the process of using this heavily adapted pet battle system, which has been cleverly squeezed into something as close to the original Pokémon format as possible. You will need to pay attention during the tutorial, as some of the commands are a little counter-intuitive, and intelligently the tutorial doesn't let you progress until you've actually done what it's telling you to do! Do finish the tutorial on the first battle, though, otherwise it starts from the beginning again on your next battle, and it's not the very fastest process in the world!
