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Patch 5.1 introduces a bounty of new hunter pets
Pet-obsessed hunters are in for a real treat in patch 5.1. The Petopia forums have discovered over 100 new named beasts on the patch 5.1 PTR that have been added to the various Azerothian continents. Outland has yet to receive any new beast love. Most of these new beasts share skins and models with other previously available pets, but among them are a few new (or previously unavailable) skins. Perhaps most exciting is the addition of a few arcane wyrms to the hunter pet lineup, a pet type hunters have been completely unable to tame previously due to their status as dragonkin, but are now beasts that fall under the Serpent designation. Having what amounts to a minigame exclusive to your class is a rather nice perk of being a hunter. Would it even be possible to implement similar for other classes? What could you give a warrior to do that is unique to their class? 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.
Mists of Pandaria Hunter Pet Guide
Anne posted yesterday about the new hunter pet challenges, including exciting information on how hunters can track down their target tames using tracks on the ground that are visible only to hunters. The hunter then casts down a flare at the end of the line of tracks to hopefully reveal the rare pet. This is a really cool-sounding new feature that should hopefully also dramatically reduce the number of hunter tames lost to other marauding players. So why are we telling you about it again? Well, Kalliope over at Petopia has done a truly fantastic forum post that serves as a guide to hunting down these beasts of mystery. Kalliope has done a pet-by-pet guide showing you what tracks you're looking for, where the tames are likely to be roaming in Pandaria, and the family and names for each tame. Not only that, but Kalliope has a host of great tips for would-be owners of these beasts. The full tip list, after the jump.
Cataclysm hunter pet highlights
The highest highlight of all the new pets that came in with the shattering of Azeroth and the Cataclysm is, of course, tameable Chromaggus. Well, at least he's the highlight in my eyes, since he dropped the sexiest shield ever and I've always loved him. Especially when he dropped it for me. But Chromaggus is far from the only new pet you could tame in Cataclysm, if you were of a mind to. There are new skins, a new spirit beast, and whole new pet families to consider. As that maven of hunter pets Mania pointed out, this may be the best expansion ever for hunter pet collectors. New pet families Beetles Tenacity pets that like fruit and fungus, these are bugs. Just imagine Neil Patrick Harris reading your pet's mind, and you're in the ballpark. Dogs Ferocity pets with a fairly broad appetite, these will eat meat, cheese, fish, bread, fruit, and fungus, so they're easy to feed. They're dogs. I'm positive you know what a dog is. Foxes WoW Insider shadow priest columnists, they like to eat public adulation. Ferocity pets like the dog, with a hankering to snack on meat, fish and fruit. They do a little dance which is painfully adoable, like what I imagine gnome shaman's ghost wolf forms would do. Monkey Cunning pets that enjoy fungus and fruit and being fairly closely related to humans for a pet. What's next, Vrykul pets? Actually, that would be pretty cool. I'd tame King Ymiron myself. Shale Spider These seem to be an exotic Tenacity pet (which means only beast mastery hunters could tame one) that are made of stone and that eat meat, fish, raw meat, and raw fish. Why they don't eat rocks is beyond me. There's more than just new pet families, however.
Tamed Worgen have become Winterskorn Worgs
And here lies the final chapter in the Taming of the Worgen saga: Mania reports that, just a little while after the troublesome Worgen Garwal was hotfixed to be untameable, Blizzard has magically changed all of the already-tamed Worgen to level 68 (or Hunter's level minus five) wolves. Why level 68? Because, Mania says, they've all been turned into Winterskorn Worgs, a level 63-69 NPC that wanders around the Howling Fah-jord.So that's the end of that. Obviously, no one really expected to keep those pets as their own, and especially with all of the Worgen-as-playable-race speculation flying around, it wouldn't do for Hunters to have one of those humanoids at their beck and call. Some Hunters who went to the trouble of taming probably won't be too happy. But the good news is that the new white wolf in your stable is completely fixed -- it has all of the normal talent trees and abilities that wolves are supposed to have. Guess you and your pet Garwal were just never meant to be.
Scattered Shots: Where to find Hunter information
WoW.com decided it was time to bring back some Hunter luvin'. It was that or they just needed a new Dwarf to pick on. So now you got me Eddie "Brigwyn" Carrington from The Hunting Lodge. Make sure to drop by here every Thursday as we explore what it takes to play a Hunter. Have you ever caught yourself wondering, "Hmm... where I should go for my next upgrade?" Or how about "I wonder what pet I should get for raiding?" Another favorite of mine is "What spec should I use for raiding?" (This is always a trap. Even if you give a solid spec, someone will always find a something wrong with it.) For these types of questions, I feel it's always better to follow the maxim "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." What's my point? Well, it seems that many Hunters don't know that there is a wealth of information out there. I would bet that there is probably a resource that can help answer all of your questions. You just need to know where to look. For solid information, we all know about Elitist Jerks. But sometimes finding you can't help but say to yourself, "There has to be an easier way." Believe it or not, there is. There are many other resources and sites out there.
Petopia back in action
As many of you pointed out through numerous, apprehensive e-mails, our favorite Hunter pet resource was down for a while. As Mania pointed out, however, she was aware of the issue and was working actively to get the site back online. It seems like she's knocked the right heads, too, because Petopia is back on its feet again, supplying us with all the Hunter pet information we could ever want. So as unsettling as Petopia's disappearance was, especially in light of another favorite WoW resource closing its doors, there's no need to panic. Whew.
Petopia down, working on getting back up
You may have noticed in the past day or so, as a few of our tipsters did, that Mania's great Hunter pet site, Petopia, has been down for the count lately. Loading up the main page gives the message above, and going straight to the redirect gives a "this site has been suspended" notice.But don't worry -- Mania says over on her forums that she's aware of the issue and working on it. It's an issue with the site host, and not any sudden plan on her part to dismantle the site (good thing, too, because losing two great WoW community sites this week would be too much for us).So hopefully, the problem will be solved soon and the database will be back up and running. We'll keep you posted if there are any more problems, but don't panic, Petopia is not gone forever.
2009 Petopia Calendar on sale now
Mania has released the 2009 Petopia calendar, featuring 12 beautiful images of some of the best pets in the game -- pretty much the perfect gift for the Hunter in your life. The pictures were put together by Aaron Perez, and each one was commissioned by Mania herself, so the calendar features all pets picked by her, including many of the new pet types: there's my current pet, a Rhino, in there for December and of course the Spirit Beast makes an appearance as well. It's available right now over on her Cafepress page for $19.99.Which may seem a little expensive, but Mania breaks the price down on her site: of the $20, a full $15 goes right back to Cafepress for printing costs and their profit. And of the $5 she gets, Mania sends it back to the artist for his work, so she doesn't even really expect to break even. Which is too bad -- there's certainly interest in these, I think, and it would be nice if we could set it up so the money goes somewhere besides Cafepress (but of course, then Mania would have to find a different printer and a different way to sell it, and who knows how much that all costs).At any rate, it'll definitely turn out to be a nice calendar, so if you know any pet tamers who need help keeping track of the date, there's your holiday gift.
15 Minutes of Fame: Badger Badger Badger
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.... mushroom, mushroom. So why have we just bombed you with this tired yet perversely persistent earworm? Because like the proverbial mushroom, WoW Insider reader Badger has kinda grown on us, unanimously capturing the enthusiastic accolades of the WI staff when we decided to feature a WI reader/commenter on 15 Minutes of Fame. We discovered that fellow WI bloggers keep their eyes peeled for Badger comments on their posts because he's warm, funny, thoughtful ... All the traits that make other readers (and us!) want to pause to engage in a little World of Warchat.So Badger, this is your 15 Minutes of Fame – but not before we carve out a few seconds for the other readers our staff felt deserve a WoW Insider shout-out: Angus Manatank Tchernobyl J Parris Heilig Thanks, guys, and thanks to all our readers who help make WoW Insider a responsive, congenial community rather than a mere gaming information dump. We're glad you're reading -- and we're glad you're joining the conversation, too.
Petopia updated for 3.0.2
Some people are excited about new talents and skills today. Some are excited about barber shops, or inscription. Me, I'm most excited about training a moth on my lowbie hunter. Think about it: moths! Ferocious, flappy beasts of terror and majesty - what could be better? I will be heading straight over to Azuremyst Isle as soon as the servers come back online, though it make take a death or two as a level 18 blood elf. That's a price that must be paid, since the only pre-Outlands trainable moths are the level 1 Vale Moths in the Draenei starting area. And how do I know this? Mania has fully updated her simply amazing Petopia for the patch. You will now find information there on every pet family available now or in Wrath, with all the details on skills and stats. There is also an insanely detailed FAQ, so if there's anything you want to know on the new pet training system, for instance, you can find it out there. I'm continually impressed with the quality of the site; there's nothing I want to know about hunter pets that isn't there (except why the pretty blue moths on Bloodmyst Isle can't be tamed). So thank you, Mania, for an excellent site and a very thorough update.
Ask a Beta Tester: Wyrmrest Temple and the dragon shrines
Elizabeth is off having grand adventures at the airport today, so I'll be filling in for her on Ask a Beta Tester today. You may know me from such WoW Insider features as Know Your Lore, Ask a Lore Nerd, Hybrid Theory, and Bad Pop Culture References. Hm, wait, I think I imagined that last one... Anyway! I'll be fielding your questions today, and I apologize if I didn't get to yours. I had to pick and choose questions I actually knew a thing or two about, so I couldn't really answer class questions about classes I don't play or don't know very well.If I didn't get to your question today, go ahead and ask it again today, and hopefully one of the other WoW Insider staff in the Wrath Beta will be able to answer it for you. Thanks, everyone!juicyjuice asked: As I understand it, the Argent Dawn is making a reappearance in WotLK. Will players who spent a lot of time with the Argent Dawn pre-BC have a significant advantage over people who may not have much or any Argent Dawn rep when WotLK hits? The Argent Dawn and parts of the Silver Hand are now operating as the Argent Crusade. I won't elaborate on that so we can avoid any spoilers on the front page here. So no, high Argent Dawn rep from WoW Classic will not give you any advantage in Wrath of the Lich King. However, it will probably play a role in an achievement or two, though it is a bit too early to say for sure whether that will be the case when Wrath hits retail.
New pets from the Wrath beta
Our favorite Hunter (although BRK comes close), Mania, has had some help from the Wrath beta, and has now updated the great Petopia with all the new pets seen in Northrend so far. No penguins yet, but there are some great new bears in there, and some awesome wolves (is it just me, or are wolves underrated as pets?). Unfortunately, there are no new families up yet, but Mania says updates are coming, and of course Wrath is still in beta anyway.She's also got a Beta pet FAQ up, with everything you'd ever want to know about being a Hunter in the beta, from pet talents to "exotic pets" (the real ones, not the ones BRK dreamed up for us).It's going to be an exciting time to be a Hunter in Northrend. Pet versatility makes Hunters one of the most interesting classes in the game, and it looks like Blizzard is set to open it up wide in the expansion.
Hunter pets to have family skills
No, I'm not talking about parenting and honey-do skills. In Wrath of the Lich King, each hunter family will have its own unique skill, just as Warp Stalkers currently have Warp. While we've known this since the release of the Beta patch notes, we now have some of the details, courtesy of Mania of Mania's Arcania and Petopia. In fact, some of the pet skills are so enticing that I'm beginning to think I'm going to need about 8 more stable slots! Here is a look at some of the juicier talents: Bats will be able to stun an opponent for 2 seconds. Bears will be able to Swipe similarly to druids, hitting three enemies in melee range. Birds of Prey will be able to disarm opponents for 6 seconds. Hyenas will reduce movement speed. Moths will be increasing their own attack power, and healing themselves. Nether Rays will have a spellcasting interrupt, preventing any spells from that school for one second. Are you as excited as I am? Don't forget to head over to Petopia to check out the full, detailed list. What pets will you be taming?Tip: Don't confuse pet skills with pet talents! Read up on the new pet talent trees for more information.
Scattered Shots: Leveling 20-30
Scattered Shots = hunter stuff Two weeks ago we covered some of the new abilities you get from levels 10 to 20 while you progress as a hunter, as well as how to use them to keep your skills sharp. The journey from 20 to 30 is a bit less topsy-turvy. At level 20, of course, you get to start playing with Aspect of the Cheetah and Freezing Trap, which can be a lot of fun, but other than that the new skills you get don't totally change the way you play until you get to level 30 and learn Feign Death. Nonetheless, they deserve a mention.If you're following the Beast Mastery talent path I laid out last week, then reaching level 20 doesn't give you any super-exciting new abilities either. Your pet will be able to run a bit faster, and will start doing more damage. Once you get the hang of using your Freezing Trap for crowd control, it's pretty much just a straight shot till you reach 30. It may feel a little boring sometimes, but it's really better than a lot of classes have it -- often many classes feel that the 20s are the levels at which the going seems roughest and the class seems weakest because it still lacks a major portion of its abilities. For hunters, it's just more of the same stuff we've been doing up till now.
Popular hunter pet site Petopia gets a facelift, new informational pages
Here's a nice little bit of news for all leveling Hunters, people looking into starting a hunter alt, or people looking to switch out or tweak out their current pet: the popular depository of all things Hunter pet related in WoW, Petopia, has gotten a facelift and a few handy new reference pages. The quick links and references seem to be a lot more streamlined now, and it should be even easier to find information. Some pages are still making the transition, and some of the pet pictures have not been updated to the new color scheme, but Mania assures us she is working on that. In the meantime, she's also added a few new pages to the library, namely the Retired Pet page and the "Fake" Pet Skills page. The former deals with formerly tamable pets that can no longer be tamed, while the latter deals with pet skills that are present during the newbie hunter taming quests, but not on any permanently tamed pet. I rather like both of the new pages. Not only should the information be helpful (if sad) to any newbie wondering where they can get that awesome ghost wolf, but the pages were a nice walk down memory lane for this old hunter. I remember when I made first Tauren Hunter, I was always disappointed that Swoop wasn't an actual bird pet skill, and I was considering a pet crab for my Dwarf Hunter at one point, and would have loved to have a thorny pet to add a bit more damage and threat power for tanking. Crabs could probably use some love anyway, as they seem to be competing with the likes of Sporebats and Bears for most neglected pet family. But anyway, if you're a Hunter, and you haven't checked out Petopia in a while, it's worth a look, there's some pretty cool stuff going on over there.
Scattered Shots: Pets at level 10
Every week, Brian Karasek and David Bowers bring you help, tips and advice for the leveling Hunter in Scattered Shots. For those veterans looking for high end Hunter goodness, BRK is back on active duty. This post is part of the Hunter Leveling Guide. You probably know by now that Big Red Kitty refers to himself as "we" in all his articles. For the longest time I thought this was just him being silly, but with his return to WoW Insider after a long hiatus, he explained that this is actually a kind of philosophical statement as to the oneness of hunter and pet.You needn't worry that we (being Brian and I) will start trying to mimic him, but he really does have a good point. When a hunter reaches level 10 and gains his or her first pet, your pet becomes an extension of yourself, and an incredible source of power. The game suddenly gets very easy, and enemies start dying very fast. In effect, with a pet at your side, you become your own tank-damage-healing group all by yourself, able to finesse the control over your character and pet alike to achieve all sorts of neat stuff.
Mania premieres Warcraft Mounts, a database for mounties
The great Mania (purveyor of Petopia) has created yet another extremely useful database, the practically-named Warcraft Mounts. Not only can you punch in your race, level, and riding skill, and get a list of all the mounts you can ride, but you can also search through the database, and browse the mounts (by category or all at once). And just like on Petopia, Mania has grabbed big photos of all the mounts and set up a nice stats page for each.Very cool. Other plans include resources for "mount hunters," the inclusions of Druid flight forms (do those count as mounts? and if so, should all travel forms be included?), and even a blog for mount news. Looks like another great resource for anyone looking for more ways to get around Azeroth.
Petopia releases a 2008 calendar
Speaking of great WoW-related gifts for the holidays, Petopia's creator has broken out a Cafepress site, complete with official Petopia goods for the Hunter on your gift list. There are the standard items-- t-shirts, cups, and a Mazzaranche tote bag.But the kicker is this: a 2008 Petopia wall calendar. Featuring fun screenshots (and even some original art) of the best and most favorite pets in the game. I love it. Echeyakee, Humar, Takk the Leaper-- all the greats are here to count down 2008 with you. At $25 it's a little pricey, but on the other hand, any Hunter would love to have that as a gift this holiday season. Very cool idea to put that together, and totally fun to see your favorite virtual pets show up in a setting like that.
Petopia ready for 2.3
Everybody's favorite pet database/hunter resource Petopia has been made ready for 2.3 a day early (and it's because Mania is going to take an AFK-- I hope it's for something relaxing, because she deserves it!). The closest thing we have to a changelist is a running tally of 2.3 news over on Mania's blog, but there are definitely new pets (including this hot obsidian raptor above), skill updates, and lots of other new information in the database.I'm especially excited because I've purposely left my BE hunter at about level 29 since all these 2.3 changes were announced, so his eyes are the ones I'm going to be seeing patch 2.3, the new Dustwallow Marsh, and all the updated pre-60 instances through. Petopia is a great guide for all Hunters, but I'm especially excited to use it for myself.
Hunter pets rejoice, for there is a plan - and 2.3 news!
Hunter supreme Mania of Mania's Arcania and Petopia reports that Blizzard does indeed have a plan to help with pet leveling if it turns out that they need one. My wife turned me on to Petopia a long, long time ago and even though I rarely play a hunter (I like to melee too much) I do enjoy browsing the site, so I'm well aware that Mania generally has her thumb on the pulse of pet developments.Also, it seems as though various hunter abilities will be scaling withranged attack power. The abilities mentioned include Serpent Sting and Immolation Trap. Since hunters tend to want to stack RAP anyway, these seem like pretty decent changes to the class in my opinion. Also, Arcane Shot is now dispelling one magic effect when it hits.I don't know if this buff love is enough to balance out the fact that hunters tend to be under-represented in arena teams, but I'll leave that up to you hunters to decide.
