pet-battles
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What optional means in World of Warcraft
There are a few things I do in World of Warcraft. I raid. I do dungeons and scenarios for valor points and also to test out specs and gear optimization for use later in raids. I run LFR for gear to use as a stopgap in later raids, or to supplement my bad luck (for instance, I really really need a trinket). And I do a lot of older content, because I am a transmogrification junkie and I always have a hankering for a new look. Every few months, I get the urge to PvP because I remember the six months I spent PvPing at the end of Vanilla and the on and off arena days of The Burning Crusade with equal parts fondness and loathing, and when fondness overwhelms loathing I go give it another shot. These are the things I do in World of Warcraft. Everything else, I either don't do, or I do haphazardly. I don't do cooking anymore at all -- I used to, but one look at the current state of cooking and how intertwined it seems to be with the Tillers completely soured me on it. I don't do the Tillers. I only do dailies until I no longer need the rep to buy something and then I never do them again. I have two professions that I like to keep maxed, but I rarely do anything with them for profit, I just have them for the raiding benefits. In short, I play World of Warcraft to kill things and to look good while I do it. And that's enough for me. But I know it's not enough for everyone. Mists of Pandaria will be six months old this April 21st, and for a lot of people, it's the expansion that increased choices -- the expansion that expanded their options. And in fact, it did so for me, as well. Because one of the great things about options is that they are optional, and you can choose not to do them. So for me some of the greatest aspects of Mists of Pandaria have been all the things I haven't bothered to do.
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.
Patch 5.3: Even more battle pets from the PTR
If you're a fan of pet battles, then patch 5.3 is for you, bringing new pets, new pets, and new pets. And while we were already excited about the creepy/cute Unborn Val'kyr, now Wowhead has turned up more information -- along photos and drop locations -- on what to expect from the pets in the upcoming patch. Many of these are being added to Burning Crusade era raids for the Raiding with Leashes II: Attunement Edition achievement which requires you to collect 10 pets from Karazhan, Serpentshrine Cavern, and The Eye. The reward for collecting all of these pets? It's another pet, the still mysterious Tito. But while most of the pets discovered so far require revisiting old raids, there are also some new wild pets and drops, including the previously mentioned Unborn Val'kyr as well as mini-Gahz'rilla Gahz'rooki, the ooze Filthling, and a couple of adorably miniature Direhorns, the Stunted Direhorn and Direhorn Runt. So what's our favorite? Well, you already know how we feel about dinosaurs.
Revolutionary new minigame datamined in patch 5.3
We've asked for other minigames in WoW, but so far there's been no official word of anything on the horizon. The Plants vs. Zombies minigame is loads of fun, and the battle pet system is by far the most expansive minigame that's ever come to the game. Not everyone has the interest or time to invest in pet battling, so it was very exciting to stumble across the newest WoW minigame, just datamined in patch 5.3. It's a game any player can have fun with. A game many of us have enjoyed ... Say hello to Rock, Paper, Scissors! That's right! Forget about the Singing Sunflower. Whether you're bored or want a new and improved way to decide who get's that Thunderforged weapon, this is it. OK, so this may not really be a new minigame -- datamining is a fickle thing -- but the spells are there for one purpose or another. We can dream, right?
New raid pets, wild pets, and hit chance system coming to pet battles in patch 5.3
Earlier this afternoon, Cory "Mumper" Stockton revealed a new wild battle pet coming in patch 5.3: the Unborn Val'kyr. If we can all ignore the creepy implications of its name, this will likely turn out to be an awesome addition to everyone's pet collections. Even if it turns out its battle abilities aren't very impressive (and we don't know yet either way), who doesn't want a tiny little val'kyr following them everywhere? In addition to the Unborn Val'kyr, patch 5.3 datamining has revealed the achievement Raiding with Leashes II: Attunement Edition which will add pets to Burning Crusade-era raids, much like those added to classic WoW raids.
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!
Track your Isle of Thunder to-do list with this handy addon
Patch 5.2, much like the Mists of Pandaria expansion overall, is practically dripping with content. There is content simply oozing out of Lor'themar Theron's over-sized pointy ears. Keeping track of it all is not the most fun thing in the world, and who wants to bother with that, anyway? If you're feeling a tad overwhelmed by it all, you're not alone, and post-its are not the only answer to your problem. Over at the WoW subreddit, redditor mfontani did us disorganized messes a favor by plugging a guildmate's addon creations. User Saregon has several addons designed to help keep our pixellated lives just that little bit more tidy. Isle of Thunder Weekly Check will open a window to let you know which weekly events your character has completed, so you don't get confused across level 90s. In a similar vein, Daily Tamer Check tracks pet battle daily quest completions, so you don't have to. If you've been looking for a handy way to keep tabs on all this stuff, this may be the solution you've been seeking.
Bashiok clarifies pet battle XP hotfix
Overnight, Blizzard rolled out a hotfix on all servers nerfing the obscenely high XP people were gaining from winning pet battles. You can no longer level characters to 89 in a matter of hours by hanging around capital cities battling level 1 pets. Bashiok explains how and why they implemented the nerf. Bashiok We're in the process of updating the hotfixes blog with the recent changes to Pet Battle XP, but wanted to provide a bit more insight into why the changes were made and how XP is calculated. All buffs to player XP (heirlooms, enlightenment, guild bonus etc.) were bugged, these where hotfixed to work as expected. General player XP from pet battles was tuned too high, these numbers have been balanced accordingly. Player experience is granted based on a number of factors. These are player level, number of pet opponents, maximum pet opponent level and the level disparity between opponents pets and your pets. Our philosophy is that player XP from pet battles should be, in general, somewhat slower than normal questing. source While almost everyone agrees that it was not in the game's best interest to allow the ridiculously speedy leveling players were taking advantage of, the nerf at first seemed excessive. Whereas one could get 28K for winning a level 1 pet battle at level 60, this morning the same character got 900 to 2000. But as Bashiok describes above, the XP now scales appropriately according to level of the player and the pets in the battles. I've been experimenting and I agree that they have succeeded in making pet battles slower than questing, but not a complete waste of time. If you are questing in a level appropriate area, taking time out to battle the wild pets in the same zone is definitely worth doing to add variety and experience to your endeavors. Also, heirlooms, XP buffs, guild bonuses all still affect pet battle player XP, so do go take a ride on the Darkmoon Faire Carousel before you test the hotfix for yourself. Did you take advantage of the insane leveling XP? I did only for a few levels. A grind's a grind, after all, and there are new islands to explore.
Pet Battle XP hotfixed
We're getting reports of insane experience gains for players via winning pet battles. Because the XP being awarded was affected by heirlooms and XP buffs -- like the Darkmoon Faire Carousel buff -- people were leveling characters from 1 to 89 in a matter of hours. (Experience for pet battles stops at level 89 and you get a chance for Lesser Charms of Good Fortune, instead.) Community Manager Zarhym had this to say on the subject on Thursday afternoon: .@lordreinhart @cm_zarhym Yes, pet battles are rewarding more XP than intended right now. We're testing a hotfix to address this asap. :) - World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) March 7, 2013 The XP scales with your level and how close your pets are to the pets you defeat. XP is earned via battling pets in the wild, pet tamer NPCs, and other players in pet battle PvP. No experience is gained from pet battle duels or if your highest pet is more than 5 levels above the pets you are fighting. The amount received before the nerf was roughly what a character gets from completing the capital city cooking and fishing dailies. Because you can get XP from battling level 1 wild pets, people were camping out in major cities and decimating the battle pet population while leveling their low level pets. As of this morning, it looks like all realms have been hotfixed so that the experience is approximately 10% of what it was. We have no further official word on the nerf as of this writing, but we'll keep you posted. Update: It looks like from the comments and my experimentation that the nerf is scaled. While it is no longer worth it to hang around Stormwind and kill level 1 pets, if you battle in level appropriate zones with level appropriate characters, the XP gain is still worthwhile.
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 5.2: Leveling XP via pet battles
It is no longer a waste of leveling time to battle pets with lower level characters. With the advent of patch 5.2, players can now earn XP from pet battles. (If you're max level, you have a chance of getting Lesser Charms of Good Fortune instead.) All you have to do is participate in any pet battle -- other than dueling -- with your highest pet being no more than five levels above the pets you are fighting. This includes pet battle PvP, where you queue up from your pet journal, just not the pet battle duels you can do with friends ... or strangers, for that matter. The experience is comparable to completing the capital city cooking and fishing quests. For example, my level 77 mage gets 27K XP from the Orgrimmar cooking dailies and gets 26K for fighting a battle with three level 1s vs. a level 2. The XP varies according to how much higher your highest pet that your battling with is above the pets you are fighting. A four level difference nets my mage about 21K XP. Whether you are battling other players, wild pets or tamers, the XP gained is consistent. Is it worth it to try to level via pet battling? I would recommend questing, gathering, archaeology digging and battling pets in the same zone to maximize your leveling potential. But if you're in a gotta-catch-'em-all frenzy, as I sometimes am, you can battle pets with your leveling alts while still progressing more than just your pets. I wouldn't be surprised if players tried to level while just pet battling. Will you be taking advantage of pet battle player XP?
Pet battlers, it isn't too late to get your hands on Peddlefeet
In the world of pet battles, there are two humanoid pets that reign supreme: the Pandaren Monk and the Flayer Youngling. There are competitors to the throne, but the monk and the flayer are your go-to dragonkin slayers in PvE pet battles. One of the two requires a purchase from the Blizzard Store, and while the other is a perfectly valid option, there's beauty in diversity. Why not be different? Why not break social norms and embrace the diversity inherent to the universe? Why not Peddlefeet? Peddlefeet can be added to your pet journal by using a Truesilver Shafted Arrow, purchased for 40 Love Tokens at Lovely Merchants in capital cities across Azeroth. This item is only sold during Love is in the Air celebrations, which end February 23. You still have most of this week to pick up those 40 tokens, and it's just about the easiest thing in the world. You can either do Love is in the Air daily quests or murder hapless mobs (which award experience) for Lovely Charms, which can then be exchanged for Love Tokens. You have plenty of time. Do it! Peddlefeet's dragonslaying abilities are as follows:
Capture a Crow when the Darkmoon Faire's in town
If you're into battle pets, the Darkmoon Faire needs to be on your monthly to-do list. Outside of the variety of pets and mounts available in exchange for Darkmoon Prize Tickets, Darkmoon Island is home to a few wild battle pets, including the Crow. Here's a rundown of its abilities: Slot 1 Peck or Alpha Strike Slot 2 Squawk or Call Darkness Slot 3 Murder or Nocturnal Strike We have some basic Flying-type abilities here, and between Peck and Alpha Strike, the latter is usually recommended. Even with a slower breed of Crow, the Flying family passive grants 50% extra speed above 50% health, so you can expect that extra hit from Alpha Strike. In slots 2 and 3, you have two paths to choose from. If you're going up against an Elemental battle pet with the Crow (not recommended), Squawk and Murder may be better choices, but against any other type, Call Darkness and Nocturnal Strike will be your powerhouse combo.
How to get started building your own battle pet arsenal
No, we aren't talking about hunters today: the battle pet system allows all of us to have and fight with pets through a special battle pet interface. And though you're not likely find mention of pet battles before you hit Pandaria, you can start participating in pet battles as early as level 5. And even if you aren't a fan of the "gotta catch 'em all!" game on which the system is modeled, we think pet battles are a fun break from leveling -- and since you're walking right by battle pets to collect and fight as you wander through each zone, why not have your battle pets advancing at the same time you are? The concept behind battle pets is simple; your battle pets fight other battle pets throughout the game in a turn-based format, gaining levels (up to 25) and skills (each pet has 6). Whenever you see another battle pet -- or battle pet trainer -- you can fight to gain experience and, of course, the glory of victory. If that sounds interesting, let's get started on the road to becoming the fiercest pet tamer in Azeroth!
Patch 5.2 PTR: Updated abilities and quality of life changes for pet battles
I find myself logged onto a different character every time I'm doing a round of pet battle dailies. It shouldn't be an issue, because pets are account bound, but there's just one little thing: Battle Pet Bandages. I never earn any on my main character -- maybe it's bad luck. It's very frustrating to end up with a defeated team, Revive Battle Pets on cooldown, and no stable master nearby. Oh, and no bandages! Well, it feels like the devs really have been listening to the battle pet community, because they released a few quality of life updates on the PTR that (mostly) will make pet battlers happy campers. Battle Pet Bandages now stack and are Bind to Account. Level-capped players will now have a chance to earn Lesser Charms of Good Fortune after winning a pet battle versus a pet within 5 levels of the highest level pet on their team. Higher-level pets will offer a better chance to earn a charm. Winning a pet battle versus a team within 5 levels of the player's highest-level pet will now award player experience. I'm so happy to see that pet bandages will be Bind to Account. Being able to funnel every precious bandage to one character will make things much easier -- especially for the altoholics out there. And three huge huzzahs to earning stuff while battling pets! It takes quite a bit of time to grind every pet battle achievement, even with power leveling newbie pets. So, earning rewards normally reserved for playing through PvE content turns pet battling into time well spent. I'm tempted to level a character solely through pet battles, now that winning one will grant player experience! You can check out the full list of updated pet battle patch notes at the official site, but to make things easier we've compiled the complete list of notes after the break.
Patch 5.2 PTR: Triple turkey stack gobbled by pet battle crowd control nerf
Now that MoP has been out for a few months, I find myself enjoying pet battles far more than I thought I would. That being said, it was only a matter of time before griefing made its way into this part of the game as well -- even if it is by turkeys. Yes, turkeys. It all started with the rather harmless sounding "Triple Turkey." Unfortunately, it's not a sandwich I can nom on, but is instead something much more sinister in the world of pet battles. The Triple Turkey comp quickly became the flavor of the month for trolls in PvP pet battles, using abusing the irritating Food Coma ability to the max. If you've never encountered it before, Food Coma puts the opponent to sleep for two rounds, on a five round cooldown. But that cooldown only applies to the turkey who casts it. So, we were left with creative individuals who would use Food Coma, swap to a second turkey, use Food Coma, swap, and so on.
Speed through Pet Battle achievements with Disciplinary Action
Blogger and WoW artist Disciplinary Action has taken on the task of writing an idiot's guide to certain aspects of pet battles. Her guide sets out to provide a quick and dirty route to getting your hands on some of the achievements associated with pet battles, and does a great job. She started with three level one pets, and spent some gold at the Auction House to get herself some level 20 ringers, then managed in the space of two days to get four pets from level 1 to level 25 -- not including the two level 20 pets -- as well as getting Continental Tamer, Taming Azeroth, which awards the title Tamer, and to make considerable progress towards the completion of World Safari, which awards the title Zookeeper. She already had two L25 pets, from a previous bout of battling. Of course, with the seasonal elements of World Safari, she wasn't able to complete it within the space of two days. But by making wise choices she was able to progress on it while also dealing with the other taming-related achievements. How did she do it? Do have a look at the blog post for all the details, especially the section on leveling three pets to 15 in an hour. There are several other hints and tips, but some key elements are laid out below. Bear in mind that you can't learn a caged pet of a level higher than your highest pet. Don't get carried away on the Auction House! Pick up two level 20 battle pets from the auction house (as long as you have a L20+ pet already), and use their strength to carry low-level pets through levels up to 15, then commence hunting for taming achievements. Use resources such as PetBattleArena or Wowhead's Battle Pet Map to maximize your pet gathering efficiency. Collect as many zone-specific pets as possible while moving through the world for Continental Tamer to contribute to World Safari. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
Patch 5.2: Engineering gets new battle pet
There's more to patch 5.2 than daily quests, a new raid, new scenarios, two new factions... wow, that's actually a lot of stuff. But also, there are new pets for you pet battle fans. One of them is this lovely fella, Pierre. Pierre is an engineer crafted battle pet who also doubles as a cooking fire. That makes sense because he is a stove, and frankly, puts me in mind of all the people cursed in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. So now, engineers can create a robot to force into battle and cook your food for you. Scientific progress apparently now also yells test your might. Engineers can also craft a new Advanced Refrigeration Unit, but apparently they can't force that into a death match -- it's just a 32 slot bag for cooking ingredients. Considering how much of that stuff ends up in your bags, it's probably good to get a new bag for it. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
