April 2016   « Archives | Current News »

After reviewing player feedback and testing, Blizzard has determined that epic pets will not be included at launch of upcoming expansion, Legion.

However, epic pets seem to still be on the table. An Alpha patch was just recently released and we've discovered additional data tied to epic quality pets — brand new stats!

If you were starting to tire of pets governed solely by Health, Power and Speed, this change is exactly what you've been waiting for.

Is Blizzard setting up for an epic update for the first patch after Legion? Here's the information we've gathered so far...

10 New Epic Stats

Testing on Alpha revealed that upgrading a pet to epic not only increased Health, Power, and Speed, but it also added an entirely new fourth stat (pictured above) to the pet.

We discovered a total of 10 new epic stats. Each one gives the pet a unique effect and animation.

During testing we found that the new stat granted to an upgraded pet is entirely random, creating some... interesting outcomes.

Defense

Defense - Increases pet's ability to partially block an attack.

Resistance

Resistance - Reduces effectiveness of negative status effects (includes increased damage debuffs such as Howl and Black Claw).

Energy

Energy - Pet is enveloped in a ball of energy, causing it to move extraordinarily fast and occasionally hover mid-air.

Happiness

Happiness - Pet is constantly in a good mood, which results in a higher chance to perform well in battle.

Rage

Rage - Increases irritability and causes outbursts of anger. Raging pets have a chance to deal bonus damage and may attack nearby players.

Sadness

Sadness - Causes persistent melancholy, which results in a lower chance to perform well in battle.

Laziness

Laziness - Causes pet to become lethargic. Pets with a high Laziness stat may refuse to battle entirely.

Shine

Shine - Pets emit varying degrees of luminosity. Can inflict temporary blindness in players.

Stench

Stench - Pets emit a pungent smell. A high Stench stat can cause nearby players to get sick or become stunned.

Gluttony

Gluttony - Increases pet's desire to overeat; cannot battle when full.

Once upgraded to epic, a pet cannot be upgraded again. Better hope that RNG is in your favor when your pet receives its fourth stat, or you might wind up with a gluttonous or lazy pet that's unwilling to battle!

Yesterday we posted news about new epic pet stats coming post-Legion — and some of the stat effects were rather... interesting.


Though we're sure many of you are growing tired of our annual April Fool's joke, we hope you enjoyed this year's fun gag!


Omitted stats
We enjoyed brainstorming ideas for new bogus stats, but there were a few that didn't make the cut.

• Lusty
• Greedy
• Envy
• Pride

Do these seem familiar? Originally, the stats were based on the Seven Deadly Sins, but the four listed above didn't quite work out well with pets.

It might have been fun to include 'Greedy' though — a stat that turns afflicted pets into Treasure Goblins!

Are epic pet upgrades real?
Short answer: Yes, but they are not currently available to us and won't be for the foreseeable future.

Our new randomized stats were a fun twist on epic quality pets, an actual mechanic proposed by Blizzard. The feature debuted during Legion Alpha, and upgrading pets to epic involved new battlestones, which could be purchased from a vendor in Dalaran for 200 Pet Charms each.

However, players expressed concern over upgrading an entire collection, as well as the impact increased pet stats would have on PVE and PVP Pet Battles.

Ultimately developers decided not to release epic pets for the time being.

But who knows? Epic pet upgrades may still be a possibility in the future. Preferably without the additional randomized stats though!

Our thanks to Ooghra and Drrum
We'd like to extend a big thank you to Ooghra, who created many of the April Fool's images, including the Pet Journal entry, stat icons and hilarious screenshots. Many thanks to Drrum (known in-game as Michelle De Rum) as well, who also provided expertly created images.

Our April Fool's wouldn't be possible without these two very talented artists!

You can enjoy more of Drrum's creativity at her Gallery of Pets and Mounts.

This week marks the 9^th birthday of WarcraftPets. To celebrate, we thought we’d introduce a fun new monthly series. So welcome to the first in a series of head-to-head, winner-take-all contests: Pet Battle Royale!

Here, we examine a few different battle pets and then you, the WarcraftPets community, vote to determine the winner.

Cats vs. Dogs
We’re starting off with a bang. We’re going to finally answer the eternal question: Which is better, cats or dogs?

Here’s the tale of the tape...

Breed: Siamese Cat
Name: Archduke Bobo
Age: 9 years
Height: 20 inches
Weight: 8.2 pounds
Reach: 12.9 inches
Hometown: Stormspire
Signature Move: Prowl
Favorite Food: Yak Milk



Breed: Perky Pug
Name: Platinum
Age: 3.6 (25 in dog years)
Height: 14.1 inches
Weight: 15.2 pounds
Reach: 8 inches
Hometown: Pick Up dungeon groups
Signature Move: Perk Up
Favorite Food: Bones



This matchup could be close.

The Siamese Cat outreaches the Perky Pug considerably, but Platinum is a ball of pure muscle as opposed to Bobo’s grace. The Pug can juke and dodge better for longevity, but the Cat makes up for that with raw power.

Of course, this analyst would be negligent to not mention the affinity the internet has for cats, making a popularity contest an uphill battle for the little Pug.

You Decide Who Wins!
So, WarcraftPets, who should win?

Will it be Platinum the Perky Pug or Archduke Bobo the Siamese Cat? Log into our forums and cast your vote to make your voice heard.

Head to the poll and cast your vote

Voting ends April 23^rd, so don't delay in helping decide which pet takes all!

Two New Pets
Two new pets were included in the latest Legion Alpha build — the Gleamhoof Fawn and Azsuna Sandpiper.

The Gleamhoof Fawn (pictured right) is a wild pet that can be found in Val'sharah.

Multiple colors have been datamined for this new fawn model, but it's unknown if players will ever get the chance to collect the other five.

The second newest pet to be added to the Alpha is the Azsuna Sandpiper (pictured left), a wild pet from Azsuna.

All Legion Alpha datamined pets

There are currently 29 new wild pets in Legion, plus many other pets from different sources. With so many new pets, the Pet Journal limit increase will be a welcome addition!

Pet Battle World Quests
Muffinus, also known as developer Jeremy Feasel, shared an overview of a new feature for max level characters coming in Legion — World Quests. [source]

Players that reach level 110 in the expansion will unlock quests of varying content, including new Pet Battle challenges.

"World Quests represent our new approach to end game questing, with a few key differences from other systems such as daily quests.

First, you don’t have to head to a daily quest hub to gather up quests. Once you’ve unlocked World Quests, simply open up your map and look around. You will see a variety of things to do, including which loot and reputation gains you can earn from each activity. You’ll plan your adventure, then head out into the wilds.

Second, World Quests encompass many types of gameplay. World Quests will show you quests, rare elite spawns, rare spawns, pet battles, outdoor PvP activities, world bosses, special dungeon activities, profession activities, and more. Want to know what there is to do in Azeroth today? Just open your map!

Third, and perhaps most importantly, World Quests aren’t daily. Some World Quests will stick around for a week, such as world bosses, while others will rotate every three hours, such as PvP towers. Our goal is for your map to be an evolving landscape of engagements throughout the day, where interesting things can pop up periodically, rather than on a strictly daily basis."

Completing these World quests can reward different types of loot, such as toys, mounts, gear, and even new pets!

We'll have more detailed information on the Pet Battle World Quests and their rewards in the near future, so stay tuned.

Are you ready to explore new zones and collect new pets? Blizzard has announced the release date of the upcoming expansion Legion: August 30, 2016! [source]

Upcoming Pet Changes
There are two pets that collectors will want to keep in mind between now and the pre-Legion content patch — Dread Hatchling and Deathwatch Hatchling.

The Warlords of Draenor Digital Deluxe Item Bundle will be retiring from the Blizzard Store once the pre-content patch for Legion goes live.

This special bundle includes the Dread Hatchling (pictured right) pet and its larger mount counterpart, as well as other bonus gifts for other Blizzard games.

If you were contemplating adding this pet to your collection, better grab the opportunity soon! Once the Digital Deluxe Item Bundle is no longer available, the only other way to obtain this pet will be by purchasing the psychical Collector's Edition from third party websites.

The second pet that should be noted is the Deathwatch Hatchling (pictured left).

Currently it can be purchased from Guild Vendors once a guild has unlocked it by completing the Challenge Mode achievement Challenge Warlords: Gold - Guild Edition.

It's possible that this pet will receive the same treatment as the Mists of Pandaria's Challenge Mode pet, the Thundering Serpent Hatchling, and will be removed from the Guild Vendor once the Draenor Challenge Modes come to an end.

We can't say for certain yet where the pet will wind up — perhaps it will follow in the serpent hatchling's footsteps and find its way onto the Black Market Auction House, but we'll have to wait and see.

Wherever the Deathwatch Hatchling ends up, it's recommended that collectors adopt one while it's still relatively straight forward and easy to collect.

List of Deathwatch Hatchling Guilds

There are a number of guilds offering invites to collectors free of charge, so don't put off obtaining this pet.

New Murlocs Coming Soon?
We've stumbled across some interesting and mysterious information from Legion Alpha that we just can't help but speculate on!

Two new murloc names have appeared in the file manifest database, simply called "Alliance Murloc" and "Horde Murloc", along with a "Fel Kitten."

With the announcement of Legion's release date and BlizzCon 2016 ticket sales starting very soon, could the unreleased murlocs and kitten be related? Only time will tell...

A number of pet tuning changes are planned for Legion, however a few more are now being considered. [source]

Developer Jeremy Feasel, aka: Muffinus, explains the newest changes.

Hi all, thanks for all of the feedback both here and on the pet battle forum.

We have a few updates to share, feedback is welcome!

• Cleave damage reduced by 25% (no longer has a 1 round cooldown).

Dev note: We heard your concerns about adding a cooldown to cleave and agreed that this felt like a better solution.

• Shell Armor duration reduced from 3 rounds to 2.

Dev note: Shell armor was very powerful compared to other flat damage reduction abilities, this should bring it more in line with them.

• The damage bonus from Howl now only affects one attack.
• Pandaren Water Spirit's Whirlpool and Geyser now share the same ability slot.

Dev note: This is our first iteration at disarming the Howl Bomb strategy in PvE, which has proven to be very powerful in too many situations. The goal is to make PvE battles more interesting and encourage the use of a wide variety of pets.

Further testing is necessary, however these updates are not yet live on Legion Alpha.

In the mean time, feel free to discuss and leave constructive feedback regarding these changes. [US forum thread] [EU forum thread]

A new Legion Alpha build was recently released. Highlights include six new pets and a fun toy. [source]

We also have more information on the new Pet Battle World Quest feature coming in Legion.


New Pets
Six new pets were added in the latest Alpha patch. These include:

• 
  Two PVP pets, the Alliance Enthusiast and Horde Fanatic (pictured above), rewarded for prestiging.
• Lurking Owl Kitten (pictured right) and Untethered Wyrmling are quest rewards from Suramar. The wyrmling uses an updated mana wyrm model.
• The Hungering Claw, which looks more like a tentacle, is a drop from Kosumoth the Hungering.
• A pet created with Alchemy — Transmutant.

Details on the requirements necessary to earn the PVP pets are still unknown, however Blizzard has a preview of Legion PVP with more information on the new Prestige System.

There were also a few changes to some existing Legion pets. Check out our list of all datamined pets from Alpha for more!

All Legion Alpha datamined pets

A (Mini) Mirror Image
There's a new pet toy coming in Legion that opens up a whole new world of costumed-pets.

Narcissa's Mirror is a toy that's similar to the Magic Pet Mirror, but instead of costuming your character to look like your pet, it transforms your pet to look like YOU!

Narcissa's Mirror has a 1 hour cooldown, and gives the targeted pet a buff.

The buff only disappears once the pet is unsummoned, and it stacks with other pet enhancements (Magical Mini-Treat, Magical Pet Biscuit, Spirit Wand, etc.).

Pets do not keep their costume while in a Pet Battle. But as long as the pet was not unsummoned prior to entering the battle, it should regain the costume after exiting.

Most character appearances can be transferred to any of your battle pets.

This includes gear your character wears, temporary character costumes (such as the tuskarr costume from Underbelly Elixir), and druid shapeshift forms. However it does not include spell effects like a shadow priest's Voidform.

Pets that naturally hover and fly alongside players will continue to do so while transformed.

On top of that, pets retain their idle animations and interactions. For example, feline pets continue to sit, sleep, and climb onto player laps...while looking like the player (pictured left)!

So where will this fantastic toy come from? Wowhead currently lists it as an item sold by a vendor in Breanni's shop in Dalaran (Broken Isles) for 1000 of an unnamed currency.

It's speculated that the currency will be Pet Charms, however a cryptic Tweet regarding Pet Charms in Legion from Systems Designer Russ Petersen (@nite_moogle) may prove that wrong. We'll have to wait and see.

Narcissa's Mirror will provide endless amounts of creative fun. If you can look like something, there's a chance your pet will be able to too. At least, temporarily.

Pet Battle World Quests
Players that reach level 110 in Legion will unlock new content in the form of World Quests. These quests vary in activity, such as killing elites, completing dungeons and even Pet Battle challenges. [source]

Opening the World Map will reveal at least three Pet Battle quests on The Broken Isles each day. These quests can pop up in any of the six zones (includes Dalaran).

Each quest is tied to a faction, and completing it will satisfy one of the four emissary objectives. Example: Completing Wildlife Conservationist counts towards The Dreamweavers.

The Pet Battle quests range from battling level 25 legendary Elite and Boss pets, to keeping your pet team alive for 10 rounds while taking Area of Effect (AOE) damage from the enemy pet.

There are also standard rare and epic quality trainer battles, and even a quest that involves a pet that can resurrect with full health (and can potentially come back to life repeatedly).

Wowhead list of Legion Pet Battle World Quests

There is a new achievement tied to Pet Battle World Quests, Battle on the Broken Isle. It looks like there are 37 different quests so far!


Here are a few other notable features of Pet Battle World Quests:

• Only max level players can enter battle with the quest NPC pets.
• Once the quest has been completed the pet encounter cannot be repeated on the same character during the same lock out.
• The Pet Battle World Quests are random and will change daily, regardless if you've completed the previous day's quests.
• Pet Battle quests are phased out unless they are the quest(s) of the day.
• Pets can earn experience from these battles.
• Current rewards include rare upgrade stones, leveling stones and Polished Battlestones (rewards may not yet be final).
• Rewards are randomized for each quest, each day.

Keep in mind that much of this content is still undergoing testing, and is subject to change prior to the expansion's release.

We'll have more updates as Pet Battle World Quests are changed and refined during the testing period, so stay tuned.

The claws were bared, the fur has flown, and now the votes have been tallied. The very first winner of the Pet Battle Royale as determined by you, the WarcraftPets community, is...


And the winner is...
As you can see by the poll it wasn't even a close match.

Though our Perky Pug, Platinum, put up a great fight, she just couldn't match our Siamese Cat, Archduke Bobo's, crowd appeal.

But in the world of pet battling, there's always a next match. You never know who might show up in the ring in the next Pet Battle Royale! Check in soon for another chance to vote for a champion.

The recent Alpha patch added six new pets! There's also more information on how to increase the Pet Journal limit. [source]

New Pets

Six new pets were added to Legion Alpha in the latest patch.

• 
  2 previously datamined pets (discovered back in WoD Alpha/Beta) will finally be released in Legion — Autumnal Sproutling and River Calf (pictured above).
• 2 new pets, Corgnelius (pictured right) and Firebat Pup, are rewards from Order Hall Missions.
• Lagan, an eel pet, is a reward from the achievement Poor Unfortunate Souls. How appropriate!
• Last but not least, Ash'ana is a white tiger cub from an unknown source.

In addition to new pets, a handful of existing pets received some updates. Check out our list of all datamined pets from Alpha for more!

All Legion Alpha datamined pets

Increased Pet Journal Cap Update
Running out of room in the Pet Journal and looking to expand its capacity? Then Legion's Pet Battle World Quests will be of some interest to you.

The achievement Battle on the Broken Isles now rewards the Pocket Pet Portal, an item that increases the Pet Journal cap to 1500 (up from 1000).

In order to complete this achievement, you'll need to complete 30 different Pet Battle World Quests. There are currently 37 quests in total. Three (up from 2) randomly selected quests from this long list will be available each day.

So ready your pets for Legion — there are battles to be won on the Broken Isles. (Plus plenty of pets to collect!)

WoW Anniversary Pet
Developer Jeremy Feasel (@muffinus) recently dropped a major hint about where the Corgi Pup will come from in Legion.

The Pet Journal currently lists this adorable pup as a pet sold by Historian Ju'pa (H) and Historian Llore (A). However, these NPCs cannot be found within Orgrimmar and Stormwind...yet.

@perksnpeeves The timewalker historians will be making a visit for WoW's 12th anniversary with some cool loot and world trivia!

— Jeremy Feasel (@Muffinus) April 26, 2016

How much this pet will cost is still a mystery. Regardless, we look forward to celebrating WoW's Anniversary with the Corgi Pup!