November 2010   « Archives | Current News »

MMO-Champion has datamined not one but two icons for the soon-to-be released Moonkin Hatchling. One icon depicts an alliance moonkin while the other has an image of a horde moonkin. Could this mean there will be two versions of the pet to purchase from the Blizzard PetStore? Or perhaps a new type of companion pet that morphs factions to match the one you currently play for? We'll just have to wait and see!

So keep your eye on the official Blizzard PetStore; the Moonkin Hatchling(s) (and possibly Lil' Ragnaros) are scheduled to go on sale this month!

Lil' Alexstrasza removed?
It has also been discovered that Lil' Alexstrasza has been removed from the latest beta build. Perhaps Blizzard has concluded that having both a Lil' Deathwing and Lil' Alexstrasza is too dangerous for players to handle at this time. Besides we're already going to have our hands full trying to manage Deathy and his fire-setting ways, nevermind two feuding baby dragon aspects!

Enjoy our monthly web comic created for WoW pet collectors! We feature a new World of Petcraft strip on the first Sunday of each month.




About the Artist
Meaghan McLaughlin is an aspiring artist and the author of "Nerds Illustrated." You can enjoy more of her work here.

Cryptozoic just posted an update about their upcoming WoW TCG series Worldbreaker. The new Landro's Lil' XT pet will be "an alternate skin Lil XT as seen on the Blizzard store." We assume this means Landro's knockoff version will be a different color than the original, though we have yet to see for ourselves. We also expect it to have the same behaviors and emotes as its conniption-prone counterpart, but, again, we have yet to confirm this.

Fortunately for pet collectors, this new pet will be a common loot card. If the "drop rate" remains the same as in previous series, the pet should be found in approximately 1 out of every 11 booster packs. Even better still is the announcement that a common loot pet will be released in each future card series. This means that new TCG pets won't be nearly as hard to find as previous ones and there will be a steady stream of new pets coming with every new TCG series!

Blizzard has official previews of the Moonkin Hatchlings and Lil' Ragnaros. These pets will be available from the Blizzard PetStore this month. Details of the sale date and which charity the Moonkin Hatchling proceeds will be donated to will be announced in the coming weeks, so we can definitely expect to see these three pets soon!

Not One, But Two
And yes! You read that right; hatchlings. There will indeed be an alliance and a horde version of the adorable balls of feather and fluff.

It is still unknown whether or not the alliance and horde versions will come from separate items or a single item that changes depending upon your character's faction. If the former is true, there is also the question of whether or not players will be able to learn both hatchlings on a single character, or will each version be faction specific like the Argent Squire and Argent Gruntling. We'll have more details on the Moonkin Hatchling's pet profile after its release.

Animation Preview Videos
Right after we posted this blurb, MMO Champion posted two adorable preview videos on YouTube. Check 'em out!





Now if those aren't "awww"-inspiring, I don't know what is!

Razzashi Hatchling to Find a New Home
A blue poster recently announced that the Razzashi Hatchling will indeed be available post-shattering of Azeroth (likely to be after patch 4.0.3a.)

In fact, I can confirm that the Razzashi Hatchling, being a clever and resilient little reptile, has already found a new home, and will be migrating there shortly after the shattering. ;)

The relocation of the the Razzashi Hatchling was hinted at early on in a previous discussion about the baby raptor, but it's awesome that there is a follow up confirmation. Kudos to Blizzard for finding the time to relocate it, ensuring that it will continue to be available even after the destruction of our game world. I'm sure all of the other little raptors will join us in celebrating that their small family will remain intact.

Four More Possible Pets
There is already a long list of pets that are likely to be released in the expansion, however MMO-Champion is listing four more possible companions that have been datamined from the most recent beta build:

• Lizzy
• Tiny Flamefly
• Bubbles
• Little Snail (speculative picture at right)

Don't get your hopes up too high yet. The expansion release date is nearing, yet there's currently no information on how these pets will be obtained or if they will even be available to players in Cataclysm. The prospect of even more pets to hunt for in the expansion is exciting, but much like Lil' Alexstrasza, Blizzard could change their mind about the aforementioned companions and make them completely unavailable or put them on hold indefinitely. We will just have to wait and see where these little ones end up.

Crawling Claw - BoA?
In addition to the four possible pets, Wowhead has discovered within the latest beta build files that the Crawling Claw is now Bind on Account. This will not be the first companion of epic quality, but it WILL be the first player created vanity pet that is not Bind on Use or Bind on Pick Up. Now that this pet is BoA, all of your alts can have their very own Rock, Paper, Scissors opponent to play with!

It's finally here! Patch 4.0.3 has arrived and so has the revamping of old Azeroth. Many zones have been changed, and new or updated level 1-60 quests have been released. With these new quests and zones come four highly anticipated companions to add to your collection:

• Brazie's Sunflower
• Mr. Grubbs
• Withers
• Tiny Flamefly

Yes, new pets to collect even before the expansion is released! Unlike the many other pets coming in Cataclysm, these four do not require the expansion to access as they are obtained from lower level areas and quests. Check out their pet profiles to learn more about them!

Be On the Look Out!
The changed landscape also means there will be some "missing" and relocated companions that we will have to re-discover as we explore the new landscape. Some of these pets include the whelpling family, the Sprite Darter (for Alliance), and a few others.

Keep in mind that there's been no confirmation that any of these have been removed permanently. We remain confident that our beloved pets of old will still be around, although possibly found and obtained in new ways. So keep your eyes peeled and be on the look out for those sneaky and resilient little ones that have somehow managed to escape Deathwing's wrath!

Older Pets To Be Updated
Older pets will have their profiles updated as we receive news and information on where they have wound up post-shattering. Many have already been updated, such as the Disgusting Oozeling. Despite the changes to Eastern Plaguelands and the removal of the oozes located there, this pet can still be obtained through Oozing Bags from Un'goro oozes.

Any news of updated locations and the droprates of pets will also be periodically posted in our news section of this site, so be sure to check back in the near future!

Humanoids Find a New Home
In addition to the changes to some pet profiles, WarcraftPets has an updated Bestiary. A new main category has been included, Humanoids, and some companions have been moved to this section. We hope this will make browsing easier and more efficient. Besides, how else could we accurately classify a Moonkin Hatchling?

With the modification to Azeroth's landscape, there are some changes to the locations of where players can find a few older pets. The following three pets have had their profiles updated to reflect these adjustments:

• Strand Crawler
• Dark Whelpling
• Azure Whelpling
• Disgusting Oozeling
• Hyacinth Macaw

We are still in the process of gathering information on the remaining "missing" companions, but we are confident that they will be re-discovered soon. More updates to pet profiles will be made in the coming week, so be sure to check back!

White Kitten Is Unchanged
Ever since Stormwind underwent an overhaul, players have been wondering if Lil Timmy would still be able to find his way through the redesigned city. We are happy to announce that yes, he is still patrolling his usual route every few hours while looking for a good home for the White Kitten.

Our own Sateena has recently made a difficult decision to step down from her post as Senior Content Manager for WarcraftPets. Sateena was the first site admin (aside from myself) and she's been writing for the site for over two years. We know this wasn't an easy decision for her and we wish her the very best.

The good news is that we're only saying goodbye to Sateena the Site Admin. We know she'll continue to remain a valuable member of our community for years to come. And for her 2+ years of service to WarcraftPets, we're proud to consider her an honorary site MVP.

Remember to say Thank You
I'd like to remind everyone that all WarcraftPets administrators are volunteers. They selflessly lend their time and talents to support the site for as long as they're able. Personally, I can't thank them enough. I encourage you to extend your thanks to them as well in your comments. They deserve it.

With only a couple days left in the month of November, many were wondering when or if the announced companions would be going on sale from the official Blizzard Store. True to Blizzard's word, both the Moonkin Hatchling and Lil' Ragnaros are finally available in the PetStore! Ragnaros claims it may be "too soon" but I say it's "just in time!"

Each digital download costs $10 and can be redeemed and applied to "a single North American World of Warcraft license." EU players will likely need to purchase these two pets from the EU Blizzard Store to avoid regional redemption complications.

Much like the Pandaren Monk, between November 29 through December 31, 2010, Blizzard will be donating half of every Moonkin Hatchling purchase to the Make-A-Wish Foundation^®.

IMPORTANT! If you've already added one of the new Moonkin Hatchlings to your WarcraftPets collection prior to this morning (Tuesday, November 30, 2010), your collection is likely to be bugged.

The bug was caused by an error in our validation routine. The error's been fixed, but any single-character collections that included the Moonkin before our patch will require you to tweak your collection.

How To Fix Your Collection:

1. Go to Update My Collection.
2. Scroll down to your excluded pets (at the very bottom).
3. Find the Moonkin Hatchling you collected.
4. Click the {re-include} link at right.
5. FIXED!

An optional last step is to exclude the alternate version of the Moonkin Hatchling you're unable to collect. Some of you may already have done this. You can do this by clicking {exclude} next to the Moonkin you wish to exclude in your Wanted list, toward the top of the "Update My Collection" page.