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The Queue: Necessary measures
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Well, this morning was exciting. In my quest to dispose of a citronella candle that had been turned into an ant colony without my prior approval, I discovered a mountain of maggots absorbing my outdoor garbage bin. I had to take extreme measures to resolve the situation. It won't be a problem anymore. grpcaro asked: if the pandaren will leave the wandering island at level 10, and then they will start going trough the Cataclysm zones, what does that mean?? according to lore they were already with us soon after the cataclysm?? or is another Outland/Northrend thing??
Mists of Pandaria: Pet battles confer PvP vulnerability
Cory Stockton (Mumper on the Mists of Pandaria beta forums) has posted a clarification to a forum thread about pet battles and PvP that explains exactly what you pet battle collectors on PvP servers can expect. Mumper - Clarification Requested: PvP Vulnerability The fact that players are vulnerable to PvP attacks while in a pet battle is intentional. However, a couple features that go along with this are not implemented yet. First off, the exact pet you were fighting when you were broke out of pet battle will be respawned. Same quality, stats and skin color. Second, you will get a 3s damage shield that absorbs 50% of incoming damage to help negate the fact that you need time to recover after exiting the pet battle interface. Both of these will be in for the next build. We feel its very important to keep the PvP aspect of the game intact and if you choose to play on a PvP server, you will certainly be fighting for those rare spawns. (This rule effects PVE servers as well but only in contested areas.) source So yes, if you're on a PvP server (like I currently am) and you intend to take part in pet battles and collecting wild pets (unlike me), then you'll have to contend with PvP in the world. The fact that you'll at least get to try again after you kill that rogue has to be of some comfort, but I personally didn't even expect that much. The damage shield to give you a fighting chance goes way beyond what I was expecting, quite frankly. On PvP realms, let the battlers beware! It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
No Spirit of Competition reward this year
Zarhym broke the news to us via his usual gentle tweeting: There's no Spirit of Competition for this year's Olympics. It's understandable that pretty much all companion pet development time has gone into things like Mists of Pandaria's pet battles, a whole host of new tameable pets for said system, and so on. It's understandable that people would be bummed, as the Gold Medallion is no longer available within the game -- and thus, if you don't have the Spirit of Competition, you won't be getting one. Perhaps the Spirit of Competition can be brought back as a prize for being the very best, which up to this point no one ever was. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Many pet battle changes in next build
The pet battle quests in the current MoP build are largely incomplete and due for extensive updates in the next build, according to Cory "Mumper" Stockton. One significant change is making the tamer battles account-wide and therefore only completable on one character. This does not apply to the dailies, so individual characters can still complete those quests once per day. [Edited because I originally misinterpreted Mumper's statement, though it is not entirely clear.] The same character who completes the initial battle that opens up the dailies does not have to be the one to complete them. So any other character on your account can still do those quests once per day. (You know, because they're dailies. Captain Obvious needs to stop whispering in my ear.) While Stockton says that "significant updates" will be coming in the next build, he lists highlights of what they "have been working on." This distinction may indicate that some of the updates will not necessarily make it into the next beta patch. Mumper's full post is after the break.
Mists of Pandaria not required for pet battles
Many readers have been asking in The Queue if an account that is upgraded to Mists of Pandaria will be required for participating in pet battles. Cory Stockton, aka Mumper, answered that question recently: No! Mumper The feature will go live with the box release date of MoP. It will be available to all players, MoP is not required. source It does look like the pet battles system will not be included in pre-expansion patch 5.0, however. We don't know the release date of Mists yet, unfortunately, so it looks like you have plenty of time to stockpile companions before being able to battle them. [via Warcraft Pets] It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Mists of Pandaria: Wild pets will not be tradable
Cory Stockton, aka Mumper, has announced that pets caught in the wild will no longer be tradable and that this will be the case when Mists of Pandaria launches. Mumper We just finished a pass making all pets that are caught via pet battles in the world non-tradeable. This means these pets cannot be put in cages for trading or posting on the AH. We felt that the option to buy these pets on the AH would take away from the exploration/collection gameplay of the system. This could always change in a future patch, but this is how it will go out with MoP. You should see the change in our next build. source In pet battles, tradable pets can be sold on the AH. Training and caging wild pets looked to be a lucrative endeavor, since the catchable pets spawn in various qualities such as poor and rare. Many buyers would have been happy to shell out their gold for a high-quality pet that they didn't have to grind for. As of right now on the beta, pet spawning locations tend to be heavily camped. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in cross-realm zones. [via alt:ternative] It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Guide to Pet Battle info from around the web
So you want to send your companions into battle but need more info as to who and how? We've got your links right here. The official Pet Battle System preview Blizzard posted a preview at the Mists of Pandaria community site. Anne Stickney's quick guide It's the answer to the first question in The Queue. Matt Low's guide Go go, Team Matticus! Warcraft Pets' Overview Here's an extensive guide, including how to capture wild pets. Pet abilities Wowhead has the current list of pet abilities. Pet species Wowhead has the list of pet species, too. Pet family passives Wowjuju has a clear and handy infographic to lay it all out for you. But the strengths and weaknesses are by attacks and not by family, so disregard that part of it. All of WoW Insider's pet battle coverage can be accessed using this handy link and will be updated as needed. Remember, all of this information is subject to change without notice -- beta is beta. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
The Queue: Pet battles, Caverns of Time, and the quest log
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. I have no idea what's being said in this song, but it sure sounds neat. evoxpisces asked: I was fooling around with the pet battles system in beta on a character I copied over. Then I made a new monk and was able to use pet battles right from the start.... does that mean that we only have to pay the fee once? And that pet battles are universal as opposed to specific to each character? All the pets I have are the exact same pets across all characters, and not different versions of the same pets?
Wanna catch 'em all? Themed transmogrification for Pet Battles
Pet Battles was released on the beta servers earlier this week, and it's ridiculously fun. Not only can you train a team from your corral of existing pets, you can also wander out in the world and capture even more pets to level up. Needless to say, I've been having an incredibly good time with the new feature, and I'm looking forward to playing it on live servers when Mists hits. Of course, the obvious statement at BlizzCon when this feature was announced was that it bears a remarkable similarity to Pokemon. The truth is, there are a ton of these critter battle-themed games out there, and this one just happens to have that Warcraft flavor we all know and love. That said, why not use transmogrification to deck your character out in Pokemon style? It's a little tricky to do, but we've got some cloth sets that may fit the bill.
Team Matticus takes on the updated Pet Battle system
With the official green light for Pet Battles on the beta servers for Mists of Pandaria, I dedicated an evening solely to critter cage matches. I want to be the best that no one ever was, so I figured I may as well start training now. How much has Pet Battles changed since the first time it was inadvertently released? The UI has improved tremendously. Mechanics, animations, and the whole works are much smoother. So how does one get started? First things first. Your character needs to gain the ability to engage mini-pets out in the world. In order to that, you'll need to find your local battle pet trainer. In my case, I booked it straight to Stormwind and asked a guard where the nearest trainer was. You'll find Audrey Burnhep just northeast of the Dwarven District next to the Eastern Earthshrine where all the Cataclysm portal zones are. I ended up forking over 80 pieces of my hard-earned gold to earn the right to use my pets. (Note: This was with the faction discount, otherwise it's 100g.)
Warcraft Pets presents a Pet Battles overview
So, if you're dying of curiosity about Pet Battles, then the folks over at Warcraft Pets have something for you. It's an overview of the Pet Battles on the beta, and if you're interested in getting into the nitty-gritty details of how they're working and how you go about getting started, it's definitely for you. It has a list of pet tamers, locations of wild pets you can battle and capture, tips for beginners, and all sorts of useful information for you as you start out battling. Head on over to Warcraft Pets and give it a read-through. If you're interested in Pet Battles, you definitely won't regret it. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Blizzard unveils Pet Battles on the official MoP site -- and beta
Pet Battles are one of Mists of Pandaria's most anticipated features, and Blizzard's been taking their time implementing these furry free-for-alls to get the quality just right. Today the devs have unveiled a new Pet Battle system section on the MoP website highlighting the ins and outs of the system, including how you can get new pets in the wild, what Pet Battle stats mean, and more. The devs have stated in the past that pet battling is meant to be a mostly stress-free affair. You won't see the names of the people whose pets you battle, and the game will only keep track of your wins, not your losses. Don't expect to find bleeding-edge Pet Battle progression groups any time soon. That's the right call, though -- the game needs more fun, casual stuff to do, not less. Check out the Pet Battle guide, and if you have an MoP beta account, patch it today -- Pet Battles are playable! It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Pet Journal marks the return of flavor text
Pet Battles is one of the more eagerly awaited new features to come with the Mists of Pandaria expansion. Non-combat pets have been around since the beginning of World of Warcraft, and players have been quietly collecting them as the years have gone on. But there wasn't really anything to do with the non-combat pets. They didn't have a purpose beyond following your character around. Pet Battles gives us something to do with our pets, finally making them an interactive part of the game itself. I've been collecting pets since the very beginning, in the days when pets weren't listed on a tab, they were physical items that took up space in your bank. While I was incredibly happy when the pet tab was introduced in The Burning Crusade, there was a part of me that felt slightly nostalgic for one particular reason: the flavor text. Some pets had neat bits of flavor text included on the items used to summon them, and once the pet tab was introduced, all that flavor text went away. In Mists of Pandaria, the pet tab has been changed to a full-on Pet Journal, complete with lists of pet abilities and types. I was delighted to see the Info tab, which not only lists where and how you can get the pet but includes some of that flavor text I'd been missing. Take a look at just a scant handful of the hundreds of new pieces of pet flavor text from the Pet Journal, including some new pets available with Mists of Pandaria, in the gallery below. %Gallery-158968% It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Mists of Pandaria Beta: The new endgame
Mists of Pandaria has a whole new story on a brand new continent with inhabitants that we've never really been able to interact with before. We've mentioned the leveling experience, we've mentioned the shift away from the linear nature of quests in Cataclysm, and we've mentioned some of the cool moments you'll see as you level. And let's face it -- there are a lot of cool moments. Leveling in Pandaria feels completely different from leveling in Cataclysm. Jade Forest serves as the starting zone and the literal impetus, in terms of story, for what drives you to the rest of Pandaria. Without the events of Jade Forest, the rest of the zones simply would not happen. In fact, without the events in Jade Forest, I suspect the rest of Pandaria would have been largely uneventful. The key lies in our arrival, which is a shift in the direction of the storytelling. We aren't reacting to traumatic events anymore; we're the cause of them. But it's the endgame that has changed so significantly that it's unlike anything we've ever seen before -- and it's changed for the better.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Pet Battle Music is a blast from the past
In what will be heralded as one of the more austere, kickass features coming with Mists of Pandaria, Blizzard has finally added in the music for Pet Battles, which is a mix of a little new/little old MIDI tunes that sound more at home on a Super Nintendo. But what's that I hear? Is it ... the original Warcraft and Warcraft II renditions of the faction songs? For Pet Battles? For serious? I guess I have to go install Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition again. Great. What do you all think about the old Warcraft music's making an appearance in WoW? It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Expanding Endgame Choices: How Mists of Pandaria changes everything
In the past year, even before Mists of Pandaria went into beta, we've been seeing an expansion of options for players in World of Warcraft that have broadened our idea of endgame content. Endgame content can be described at its most basic as stuff we do when we're at max level, and patch 4.3 added not only the Raid Finder (which is absolutely endgame content) but also transmogrification (which is content for everyone). It revitalizes older content that was once endgame; it gives players from the level 17 twink to the 70 running BC raids to the new level 85 something to do that in no way actually amplifies a character's power in any way. It breaks with the mold of what we think endgame content is supposed to do. Mists is bringing more of this. From the Pet Battle system, to a mass of hundreds of new daily quests and a removal of the limit on daily quests, to specifics such as being able to level up your own farm and improved Raid Finder support for each new tier of raiding, what we're seeing is an emphasis on broad content -- things people who play for six to 10 hours a day can do but which are also accessible in smaller bites for people with far more limited play time. You can hit up the buffet, do some Pet Battles, run some dungeons, or work on a reputation, or you can pick one aspect of the game and work on it. Do you really want to develop your fishing? Are you completely disinterested in anything but PvP? You can go as deep or as wide as you wish. As someone who has no interest in Pet Battles, fishing, or having my own farm, I think this is fantastic.
The OverAchiever: Are pet achievements disappearing in Mists of Pandaria?
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, it's myth-explodin' time. Last week in the comment thread for OverAchiever: Achievements to do before it's too late, there were a few notes from readers who were worried that noncombat pet achievements were going to disappear in Mists of Pandaria. This shocked me, because I could have sworn I saw pet achievements flash across the screen during the spam I always get when I copy my main to a beta or PTR, and I hadn't been aware that these achievements were actually missing from the General category. I was also sure there would have been some pretty high-profile news about it if developers were planning to axe them. Especially with the introduction of Pet Battles, it seemed like a very strange time for Blizzard to get rid of related achievements. Then again, these are also the people who put the Aldor Rise elevator and Warsong Gulch rep in the game, so we already know they're capable of real cruelty. OverAchiever's pretty much pointless if I don't use it to investigate stuff that I could have warned readers about well in advance, and pets are serious business. So, another character copy onto the beta later, I have an answer for you about what's going on.
The Queue: Friday night invasion
Whoa whoa whoa, why is Alex doing The Queue on Friday? Nobody likes that guy! Get out of here, Alex! Never. vocenoctum asked: I know a lot of folks that don't currently play Warlocks will try it with Mists, hopefully the changes make it fun enough to play for many. Do you think the changes are big enough that some current lock's will leave the class? (I didn't play a paladin pre-cata, but know a couple ret pal's that just ditched the class as "being too different".)
The OverAchiever: What we do and don't know about Pet Battles achievements
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, you might as well come back next week. So here's the deal: This article's kinda stupid. I really wanted to write about pet battling this week, because if the idea of running around the world raining destruction on everything with a small animal of indeterminate origin doesn't appeal to you, then you are probably a communist. But pet battling has been functionally disabled on the Mists of Pandaria beta (you can only access it at level 90, and the current level restriction is 88), so all I can really do is nose around and dream of what's to come. If you want to skip this week's outing and return at a time when we're doing something a little more relevant or useful, I don't blame you. Go with blessings. And yet I still really wanna write about pet battling. My first pet in the game was a prairie dog sold by Halpa in Thunder Bluff. My next was a Black Tabby, which I camped Ambermill for the better part of two days to get off a now-vanished mob known as the Dalaran Spellscribe. While I have amassed in excess of 150 pets since then, the original two have accompanied me across the world into the darkest depths of the ocean and to the top of the highest mountain peaks. They were there when my guild sent Kil'Jaeden packing. They were there when I was alone in the darkness. They were there when the Lich King fell. They were there when I got my ass handed to me by a slightly less cooperative version of the Lich King. And by God, they're going to start pulling their fricking weight around here.
Video: Mists of Pandaria Pet Battles
Pet Battles are now available after the most recent patch update to the Mists of Pandaria beta. We've seen a few pet additions lately. Let's dive in, shall we? The pet pane has been updated. Selecting the different pets shows you aspects like types and different abilities. Many of your pets won't have a full list of abilities yet. Naturally, your pets will start off at level 1, and as you enter engagements, they'll gain levels and gain access to stronger abilities. It's important to use the creature type that will give you an advantage over your opponent. Read on for more!
