Feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the information that was recently released about MoP? Curious about just the minipets and Pet Battles?
Well we've sifted through the walls of text and have all the pet-related news, just for you!
MoP Mini-Pet Updates
There will be about 100 wild pets from all over Azeroth to collect!
Account wide pets have been confirmed. All your characters will have access to all of your pets. This will cut down on switching between characters to level up a certain pet.
The pet UI will be updated to show you a list of all the pets you currently have and the pets that you don't have. In the case of the companions that you're missing, it will show you where to find those pets.
The pets that you own will have a corresponding "pet card" that will show all the information about said pet. Such information includes mini-pet health, level, attack, defense and movement speed values.
You will be able to rename all of your companions.
Developers are considering allowing players to grow their own mini-pets on personal farms within the Valley of the Four Winds. [source]
Pet Battles
Each mini-pet will have 6 abilities that players can choose pre-battle. Much like player leveling, as your companion levels up it will unlock more abilities. Also like a player talent tree, you can only choose one ability per row of talents for your pet.
Entering into a Pet Battle, you will see your opponent and the three pets you will be fighting against, but you will NOT see your opponent's name or be able to communicate with them.
While in a Pet Battle, you will be able to switch between the three pets you've chosen to fight, and they will dutifully run up to your opponent's pet to attack it.
Pets have four stats: health, attack, defense, and movement, which acts like an initiative roll, deciding who attacks first.
Challenging another player in the open world will switch you into a unique zoomed in view. Once combat is over it will return you to a normal gameplay camera view.
In addition to being able to queue into a queuing system and duel other players in the open world, there will be NPCs and critters that you can enter combat with to help level your mini-pets.
Unlike PVP, your Pet Battles stats will only show you how many games you've won. Information on losses will not be available.
Pet Battles using smartphone apps (World of Warcraft Remote) is something that Blizzard would like to implement someday.
There are still many questions left unanswered, such as will account wide pets allow access to cross faction companions? Is trading/selling leveled up BoP mini-pets still on the table for MoP? Information on how collecting a wild pet will work is still unknown as well.
We hope to bring you additional details about these topics, as well as further previews of Pet Battles in the near future, so stay tuned!
Raising Your Own Companion
There aren't many details about this possible feature, however developers are considering allowing players to "grow" their own companions on the personal farms a la FarmVille style.
"Among the possible things you can work your green thumbs on are herbalism nodes, cooking ingredients, gifts for different NPCs that’ll raise your reputation with their faction, and non-combat pets." [source]
Selling and Buying Minipets
While it wasn't mentioned or confirmed during the Mists of Pandaria Press Tour, according to Bashiok's recent blog post, trading and selling leveled up companions may still be a planned feature for the upcoming expansion.
"I wasn’t a very avid pet collector before, but after battling some of my friends (and seeing how much some of the trained pets sell for on the auction house) my interest has definitely skyrocketed." [source]
Bashiok also hints at a new faction currency, Craftsman tokens, that can be used to buy faction items such as toys and vanity pets.
So put your farm hats on and be ready to haggle out prices with the locals and fellow pet collectors alike!
UPDATE: Two new BoP pets were datamined from the latest beta patch, a Sapphire Cub and Jade Owl. How they will be obtained is still unknown. [source]
Additionally, the Pet Journal is now available in the beta! We'll have additional news on this feature very soon. For now, read about the highlights in our forum:
Nearly a week has passed since the start of the Mists of Pandaria Beta. Pet Battles, collecting wild pets, account wide pets, pet renaming, and the ability to trade/sell BoP pets have not been fully implemented for testing yet.
However, we've found some awesome goodies during our initial run on the testing servers!
New Pets
The Darkmoon Rabbit is a new BoU pet of epic quality that was datamined the very first day of MoP beta. It's unknown how players will be able to obtain this companion, but there is an achievement (That Rabbit's Dynamite!) that requires players to "Slay the ferocious Darkmoon Rabbit". This achievement does not have any rewards attached to it at the moment, but we're not ruling it out as being tied to the pet in some way.
Other than the Darkmoon Rabbit, Wowhead found 5 more new potential companions hiding in the beta! So far these pets only have spell IDs. [source]
Beaver Yearling
Porcupette
Raccoon Kit
Tiny Water Strider
Otter Pup
Wild Battle Pets
Another new feature is the ability to track wild pets on the minimap! All critters flagged as "Wild Battle Pets" will show up as orange bunnies on the minimap (pictured above).
We've started a long list of known Wild Battle Pets on our forums:
Many of the critters share similar models to existing companions, but there are a few new zone-specific ones such as the Tiny Bog Beast found in the Wetlands and the Tiny Harvester found in Westfall.
So far only the Eastern Kingdoms seem to have been populated with these critters, and we'll have to wait to see what types of pets Kalimdor will have to offer.
Along with being able to track them, a new cursor icon is displayed when hovering your mouse over the actual critter (video below). Rather than a sword icon, players will see a new crosshair. Players can still attack and kill these critters, however right and left clicking (with and without a companion pet out) while using the crosshair icon only yields an error message at the moment.
We assume that all of these Wild Battle Pets will be collectible after using companions to fight them. But we're not 100% sure since pet battling hasn't been implemented on the beta yet. We'll just have to wait and see!
Pet Classes and Battle Abilities
Pets will fall into one of 10 possible pet classes. Each pet class has its own strengths and weaknesses when up against certain other companion classes.
Beasts (Beast attacks deal bonus damage to Critter companions and less damage to Humanoid and Flying companions.)
Critters (Critter attacks deal bonus damage to Humanoid companions and less damage to Beast and Flying companions.)
Dragons (Dragon attacks deal bonus damage to Flying companions and less damage to Water and Dragon companions.)
Flying (Flying attacks deal bonus damage to Mythical companions and less damage to Dragon and Flying companions.)
Mechanical (Mechanical attacks deal bonus damage to Humanoid companions and less damage to Mechanical and Water companions.)
Mythical (Mystical attacks deal bonus damage to Dragons and less damage to Animal and Mechanical companions.)
Water (Water attacks deal bonus damage to Mechanical and Dragon companions and less damage to Water and Humanoid companions.)
Elemental (no info yet)
Humanoid (no info yet)
Undead (no info yet)
Although Pet Battles aren't ready for testing yet, Wowhead has organized a list of possible spells and abilities for each class of battle-ready companions.
Pet Battles Achievements Tab
Lastly, there is a new Pet Battles tab in the achievement window, but it currently does not have any specific achievements listed. We expect this tab will be populated with interesting and fun Pet Battle goals in a future beta build.
More to Come...
It's still very early in the testing phase and much of the new Pet Battle content is unavailable, so many things could change. We'll be keeping a close eye on the wild pets as well as the other anticipated features. Be sure to check back for more beta updates!
In the latest beta patch, Blizzard released an incomplete (yet mostly functional) Pet Journal and implemented account-wide pet collections. Along with these new features, many wild pets were added to Kalimdor and even a few new ones appeared in the Eastern Kingdoms.
Pet Journal Preview
The Pet Journal lists all available companions with the ones you currently do not own greyed out. Each pet has its very own viewable stats and abilities window, as well as a preview of what the companion model looks like.
You can utilize the Pet Journal for creating and previewing your team of three battle pets by dragging and dropping your desired companions into the three slots as seen in the video below.
In addition to being an integral part of Pet Battles, the Pet Journal is also used as a "stable" for all of your companions, and you can access your pets on all characters through the new journal.
Account-Wide Pet Collections
This feature is now available for testing. Here's what we've discovered about Account-Wide Collections so far:
You can access all pets in your collection on any character, even those of the opposite faction. (This may or may not be intended.)
At the moment, you can access all pets cross server too.
Faction-specific pets do not automatically turn into the companion of the faction you're accessing it from. For example: An alliance balloon will not become a horde balloon. Instead you must collect and learn both to have both pets in your collection.
Duplicate pets across multiple toons are merged into a single instance of the pet which is accessible through the Pet Journal. For example: If you have a Perky Pug on two characters, you will not have two Perky Pugs in your collection. Only one will be available in the journal.
Wild Pets List Updated
The list of all the Eastern Kingdoms Wild Pets and their locations have been updated on our forums. A Kalimdor Wild Pets thread is also growing in size as more pets are being discovered!
There are still some zones that haven't been populated with wild companions yet, but we expect those areas to be overflowing with critters in a future beta build.
Also, don't miss out on the gigantic list of all the possible pets listed in the Pet Journal on our forums! Keep in mind that many of these listed companions will probably not make it into the release of MoP as true vanity pets. We'll have to wait and see which ones make the cut and which ones will continue to be unavailable to players.
We'll keep these threads updated as changes are made to the Pet Journal and as more wild pets are added with each beta patch. Be sure to follow WarcraftPets on Twitter and Facebook for more frequent updates, screenshots and video as we continue combing the MoP beta for new pet goodies!
The Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor list of wild pets on our forums is growing ever bigger as each beta patch is deployed. So be sure to check out the WarcraftPets Forums for even more beta discussions and discoveries!
Here are some of the major updates from the beta that we've found.
Darkmoon Rabbit
The highly anticipated Darkmoon Rabbit finally made its first appearance now that the Darkmoon Faire is in full swing on the test servers. As many have already guessed, it is indeed a pet that drops from a creature of the same name that spawns in the Darkmoon Island Cave. Be warned, though! While the bunny may seem docile and cute, this is not your ordinary critter...
Currently, the Darkmoon Rabbit creature has 72 million health points, and although it only has one attack, it's quite a nasty one! Its ability is aptly named "HUGE, SHARPE TEETH!", a clear reference to the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This ability puts a debuff on your character which will cause you to run in fear, lose control of your character for the duration of the debuff, and reduce healing effects done to you by 100%.
Oddly enough, this rabbit won't go after hunter or warlock pets at the moment. Needless to say, you may want to bring some friends to help you bring down this "foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent"!
It's unclear how players are going to eventually overcome this encounter, but once defeated, the Darkmoon Rabbit will drop one Bind on Use pet of the same name and award the achievement, That Rabbit's Dynamite!
Pet Achievements
Speaking of achievements, pet collecting achievements such as Littlest Pet Shop are currently not listed in the achievement window on the beta. However, it's highly likely that they are simply being relocated into the new Pet Battles achievement tab and will not be removed. We'll continue to closely monitor the achievements and report any updates on their status.
Account Wide and Individual Collections
There are currently two ways to view your companions in the beta, through your Pet Journal and in your spellbook companion tab. These seem to be two separate entities, though.
While the Pet Journal will grant access to your collection of companions on all characters, a toon's individual collection will still remain intact. For example, if you learn the Darkmoon Rabbit on one character, only that particular toon will have the pet in their spellbook. All other characters can still access and summon the pet through the Pet Journal, but it will not be added to their spellbook. This makes situations such as deleting a character with a unique pet learned only on that toon somewhat complicated, and we're unsure of the result in such a case.
It's unclear if the spellbook companion tab will remain in the game once the Pet Journal is fully implemented. It's also unknown what type of effects the removal of the companion tab will have on pet collecting achievements, since the achievements are currently tied with how many companions are found in your spellbook.
We're hoping to have more updates on this topic as well as more pet-related finds in the near future. Stay tuned!
MoP beta testing is coming along and things are constantly being added, removed, and changed. Here are the most notable features discovered in the recent beta patches.
What's in a Name?
After much anticipation, the ability to rename pets is available for testing on the beta! Renaming a pet is straightforward, but it can only be accomplished using the Pet Journal.
To rename a companion, right click on the pet's name in the Pet Journal and select the "rename" option in the drop-down menu. After confirming a new alias for the pet, the companion will show up under the new name in the Pet Journal (viewable by all characters). It will even sport its unique handle when summoned from the journal too!
Don't be alarmed if the companion is not listed in the same spot prior to its renaming. Since the Pet Journal sorts alphabetically, it will relocate the pet using the name you gave it.
Naming Limitations
Renaming a pet doesn't seem to impact or alter the spellbook version of the companion at the moment. When summoning the pet using the spellbook, it uses its default name and not the unique alias you've assigned it. It's not clear if this is intended or if this will change prior to the release of MoP.
There are a few restrictions when it comes to naming your pets. Players cannot use inappropriate or flagged names, and special characters, such as the @ and # symbols, are also not allowed. Spaces and the capitalization of letters seems to work fine, though.
Lastly, players are able to rename pets as many times as they wish, without penalty (for the time being).
That being said, with potentially over 400 pets to collect in the expansion, better start brainstorming unique names for your pets sooner rather than later!
Trading Pets
One feature that we may have to wait a while longer for is pet trading and selling. The latest beta patch gave us the first preview of how this feature might work, but it's by no means fully implemented.
Players on the beta can currently put companions located in their Pet Journals into Pet Cages. Doing so removes the pet from the journal (on all characters), and places it inside a Pet Cage which will show up in your inventory. When hovering over the cage, it will show the name and level of the companion inside.
Placing a companion into a cage and trading it to another player seems to have no effect on the pets found in your character's spellbook. We're not sure if this is intended or a bug as a result of the spellbook and Pet Journal acting as two independent collections. For a more detailed description of the pet cage in its current state, check out the Pet Cage Preview at Perks N Peeves.
As a small warning for those participating in the beta: placing a pet into a cage at this time might result in being unable to add it back into your Pet Journal. This feature is obviously still not fully implemented, and there are many bugs and missing components.
A Work In Progress
Pet trading and even renaming, as simple as it may seem, are still works in progress. There will be many updates in future beta patches. We look forward to testing it all out and bringing you the latest news, so stay tuned!
The Pet Battles feature is still a work in progress and it has not been released on the MoP beta yet. However, there's more and more information being datamined about it with each beta patch.
Pets will not only have stats, levels, their very own special abilities (that are weak and strong against other specific pet types), but according to Wowhead News vanity pets will also be receiving racial passive abilities! [source]
Here's a list of each pet family type's passive ability so far.
Critters -- Elusive: Critters break out of crowd control effects more quickly.
MMO-Champion has a translated version of the WoW China Developers Q&A. Two notable questions related to pet trading and Pet Battles were answered. [source]
Will there be any rules about pet trading? Will we be able to trade pets of limited editions (like Panda Cub) or Blizzard Store pets （like Wind Rider Cub）? How about achievement pets?
We plan to allow players to trade Blizzard Store pets excluding Guardian Cub (because it's not BoP and it's unique). Collector's edition and other limited edition pets (like Mini Tyrael or BlizzCon pets) will not be tradable, either.
You said earlier that not all pets can take part in pet battle system. What are the exceptions?
Currently the exceptions are pets with humanoid children models. They will not be included in pet battle system. Nor will the Guardian Cub.
Keep in mind that these answers may differ on outside of China. We're still guessing that balloon pets (and other similar lifeless models) will not not be able to fight.
A new beta patch should be released soon, however, MMO-Champion and Wowhead News are already uncovering some interesting goodies from the upcoming patch!
60 New Pet Achievements
Quite a large list of pet-related achievements have been datamined from the latest beta build. [source]
Many are tiered achievements related to Pet Battles and Pet PVP Battles. There are some collecting achievements mixed in, however they mainly focus on the collection of (wild) battle pets. Other achievements include leveling pets, and capturing companions in specific zones.
Currently there aren't any rewards for the completion of these achievements, but this could change at any time.
Here's just a snippet of the many achievements discovered so far.
Grand Master Pet Battler - Win 1000 pet battles.
Legendary Pet Battler - Win 5000 pet battles.
No Favorites - Raise a pet of every family to level 25.
Family Reunion - Capture a battle pet from each family.
Keep in mind that the list of achievements could be updated or altered in future patches and should not be taken as the final version.
5 New Pets
Pet achievements weren't the only things found in the latest beta patch - new pets were hiding in there as well! [source]
Fishy - Bind on Pick Up
Gilnean Raven
Red Cricket - Bind on Use
Shore Crab
Terrible Turnip - Bind on Use
There's no information on how any of these pets will be obtainable, however WowInsider speculates that the Terrible Turnip might be available through the Tiller Faction. Hopefully this companion won't be as ill-tempered as its name suggests, or else this vegetable might turn out to be an ingredient in someone's lunch!
Recently Pet Battles were enabled on the MoP beta and garnered much attention. Unfortunately, developers weren't quite ready for testing on this new feature, as Zarhym states in an official blue post. [source]
"While we've received a number of questions and some feedback regarding the pet battle system added in the last beta patch, we're in the process of disabling this feature. We know a lot of you are very anxious to test out pet battles, but it wasn't our intention to introduce them to the beta at this stage, as we don't yet feel they're in a solid enough state to allow for meaningful feedback.
One we're further along in development, we look forward to implementing pet battles and gathering your thoughts on the feature."
Pet Battles Will Return
Although battling will be temporarily turned off on the beta, Cory Stockton, a Lead Content Designer for WoW, tweeted the following messages in regards to Pet Battles:
"We are hoping to get it back on the servers soon, it's just way too early for meaningful feedback at this point." [source]
"I am working on a blog with lots of info on the system now. Hoping to have it up soon!" [source]
If you were unable to try out Pet Battles this time around, there will be plenty more opportunities in the near future for testing out this new feature! Also keep an eye out for an official Blizzard blog post about Pet Battles.
For those curious about what was discovered during this short preview of Pet Battles, head on over to the Pet Battles section of the WarcraftPets forums. But please keep in mind that testing for this feature was premature, so information gathered might not reflect the final version of how the system will work.
Two new pets were datamined from the recent beta build, the Tiny Goldfish and the Feral Vermling. Both pets are currently tagged as Bind on Use. [source]
Acquiring the New Pets
Wowhead News is reporting that the Feral Vermling will be the reward upon completing the Master Pet Hunter achievement. [source]
And according to El's Extreme Anglin' the Tiny Goldfish will cost 250 gold and will require a reputation of at least honored with The Anglers faction. [source]
Better dust off that fishing gear and start practicing your cast!
In a recently released official blog, Ghostcrawler expressed Blizzard's goal and intent for account-wide achievements. [source]
Pet-Related Achievements
According to Blizzard's current design model, a few achievements will be "account-only". For these achievements, it's unlikely to earn them on a single character, therefore:
...the cumulative work of all your characters on those criteria will count.
Under this guideline players could add to their progression or complete pet achievements such as Legendary Pet Battles (win 5,000 pet battles) on any of their characters.
This will definitely make it more convenient, but don't let that stop you from attempting to earn an achievement all on one toon should you desire to!
Faction-Specific Pets
Ghostcrawler also touches on the topic of faction-specific pets in his latest blog post. Note that there might be exceptions and this entire system is still a work in progress.
You also won’t be able to use a faction-specific pet, mount, or title on the wrong faction.
Another beta patch was released and a new achievement reward was discovered! [source]
New Achievement Reward
Completing the achievement Pro Pet Mob (raise 75 pets to level 25) will reward players with a Singing Cricket.
Whether or not this pet will actually sing, like its name implies, is unknown. If it does, perhaps it will take song requests!
New Possible Guild Pet
The guild vendor was updated with some new items, including a new possible pet, the Thundering Cloud Serpent Hatchling. There is also a mount of similar name currently priced at 3,000 gold.
For the time being, the Thundering Cloud Serpent Hatchling does not have a sale price, and the item on the vendor appears to only be a placeholder. Much like the Dark Phoenix Hatchling, it's likely that this pet will be a reward for completing a guild achievement. We'll just have to wait and see which achievement will be necessary to unlock this mystical companion!
UPDATE: The title "Tamer" has been replaced with "Zookeeper". [source]
Additionally, the Cooking School Bell is unfortunately not the new Pandaren Children's Week quest item. It's part of the new cooking dailies. [source]
The MoP beta is trucking along, and another build was recently released. There are some interesting changes and additions in the latest patch. [source]
Achievement Title Reward
Many have been requesting for a pet collecting title to proudly sport, and this request might be fulfilled in MoP!
The achievement Time To Open a Pet Store now rewards the title Tamer . It also now only requires 335 Pet Battle achievement points, down from 400. The achievement points necessary will probably encompass all achievements earned in the Pet Battles tab, including the three sub-categories - Collect, Battle, and Level.
New Children's Week Orphan
A Cooking School Bell was added recently, and as the tooltip indicates, this item appears to be an item used to summon a new orphan for next year's Children's Week.
It's likely that the orphan NPC will be a Pandaren child, and the quest chain will start in Pandaria. We will have to wait and see what the rewards will be for completing a new Children's Week quest chain, but maybe it will include a companion pet!
New Pet Battles Item
Another new item was discovered from the most recent patches. Datamining revealed a Battle Pet Bandage. It's currently unknown where this item comes from, and how the use of the pet bandage will be integrated into Pet Battles.
However, it does seem probable that pets will require healing and sometimes reviving between battles. [source]
Pet Battles Still WIP
Pet Battles are still not quite ready for testing, however there have been consistent updates and changes to the UI and the battling system with each beta patch. We will have more in depth coverage and details of Pet Battles once it is fully activated on the beta.
For those curious and would like to read more about Pet Battles in its current state, feel free to check out this blog post or the WarcraftPets forums.
Ready for more delectable datamined previews from the recent beta build? Here they come!
New Pets
Three new BoP pets were discovered in the latest beta patch. It's unknown where these pets will come from at this time. [source]
Aqua Strider
Grinder
Hopling
A New Auction House
MMO-Champion has a small preview of a new Auction House coming in MoP - The Black Market. [source]
This new market will be used by NPCs to sell special items that are not normally sold for gold. An example would be the Ashes of Al'ar mount being sold by Mei Francis, a mount vendor.
Guess who will also be taking part in The Black Market? Breanni!
As seen in MMO-Champion's screenshot (reprinted above), this pet-loving gnome is expanding her business ventures and will be selling pets on this new AH.
It's still unclear which pets will be available through The Black Market. Better start saving up gold while waiting for a list of possible companions, though. Looks like the this market won't be cheap!
Catch and Release
Currently there is a cap of 500 companions in the Pet Journal on the beta. With a possible limit on the max number of pets a player can have in MoP, duplicate or unwanted companions may seem inconvenient.
The good news is that there will be a new ability in MoP to "release" pets - essentially removing a companion from your Pet Journal without having to put it into a cage. Using the release ability will help make juggling and organizing a collection consisting of hundreds of pets less troublesome!
However, it was initially possible to release any and all pets (even the very rare and hard to obtain ones), and this proved to be problematic since there was no way to retrieve said companion if it was released on accident.
According to a recent blue post, thankfully a measure has been taken to help safeguard collections and those extra rare pets from accidental deletion. [source]
We have added restrictions on releasing pets in the latest build. The only pets you can release are ones that you have caught though the pet battle system.
Fun-filled Facts
The Pet Journal is shaping up to be a very useful tool for Pet Battles as well as collecting, and it was updated with pet descriptions! Many reveal interesting and often amusing tid-bits about each pet.
For example: "Shy Bandicoon - A goblin alchemist once claimed that the bite of this raccoon gave him the gift of prophecy. Turns out, it was just rabies."
Despite many companions sharing similar models, each pet has its own unique flavor text under the Info icon in the journal preview window.
You can check out the WarcraftPets forum thread that lists many of the pet descriptions. MMO-Champion also has a transcribed list of the companion flavor text.
There are quite a few to read through, but these pet descriptions are sure to brighten up anyone's day!
Another MoP beta build will be released soon, and there are new pets in this patch!
New Pets
Wowhead News datamined two new pets from the upcoming beta patch [source]:
Thundering Serpent Hatchling (Bind on Pick Up)
Jade Crane Chick (Bind on Use)
A third companion, the Singing Cricket was also added, however it's not necessarily new. This particular pet was discovered in a previous beta build as the reward for completing the achievement Pro Pet Mob. The cricket companion is currently tagged as Bind on Use.
The Thundering Serpent Hatchling could also possibly be the Thundering Cloud Serpent Hatchling that was discovered on the guild vendor, but was not yet implemented at the time. Only time will tell if these two serpent hatchling pets are indeed one in the same.
A Dark Follower
MMO-Champion did some datamining as well and discovered a neat minor glyph specifically for shadow priests that love their pets! [source]
Glyph of Shadowy Friends - Your Shadowform extends to your non-combat pets.
It will be interesting to see how the purple haze of Shadowform affects certain companions. What will the Dark Phoenix Hatchling look like with an additional dark cloud swirling around it?
Reporting Pet Names
Also uncovered were two new client strings that suggest players will have the ability to report an inappropriate pet name. [source]
REPORT_BATTLEPET_NAME_CONFIRMATION - Are you sure you want to report %s for inappropriate battle pet name?
REPORT_PET_NAME_CONFIRMATION - Are you sure you want to report %s for inappropriate pet name?
While companion names can be changed and customized in the expansion, remember to follow any naming guidelines Blizzard set into place to ensure a healthy and enjoyable game experience for all. Show your pets some love, and be sure to give it a nickname it would be proud to sport.
Pet Battles Music
Pet Battles is turning out to be quite a sophisticated feature. Not only will it have its own unique UI and combat system, Blizzard is even adding pet battles music! [source]
Mathew McCurley from WoW Insider commented on the newly datamined musical pieces and how they seem to touch on the faction songs in the original Warcraft games.
Take a listen and you be the judge!
New Leveling Achievement
MMO-Champion also datamined a new pet leveling achievement, Newbie, which requires players to raise a pet to level 3. [source]
This achievement is not yet tied into the main achievement tier, but it would not be a surprise if it became part of the pet leveling progression.
Collector's Edition Pet
A new beta build will be deployed shortly. Datamined from the latest patch are hints of what the MoP Collector's Edition pet will be — a Lucky Quilen Cub! [source]
The Quilen creature is a lion-like creature, as seen here, that can be found on the island of Pandaria.
In addition to a companion, a mount version of this intriguing creature was discovered as well. The Imperial Quilen is also labeled as a Collector's Edition item.
This is the first instance in which a CE mount was discovered along with a companion pet. It's not clear if players will receive both the pet and the mount after attaching a CE version of the expansion to their account, or if players will have to choose between one or the other.
The Terrible Turnip
Ever wondered what an unusually large turnip minipet would look like?
Well, look up top!
In addition, MMO-Champion has two more screenshots of what appear to be a turnip and a carrot; the former being appropriately named "turnippet"!
A new patch will be deployed on the beta servers in the near future. Here are some of the more notable updates and additions that we've found!
New Achievement
The Feral Vermling was originally discovered as the reward for completing the achievement Mater Pet Hunter, however a new achievement tier was added, Zen Pet Hunter (Capture 150 battle pets). This newest achievement will award the vermling companion instead. [source]
It's a (Better) Trap!
Two new rewards were also datamined for pet battle achievements. A Strong Trap will be the reward for Going to Need More Traps (Capture 50 battle pets), while a Pristine Trap will be the reward for Pro Pet Group (Raise 15 pets to level 25). [source]
Currently these rewards aren't showing up in either Wowhead or MMO-Champion's databases, so this might indicate spell changes rather than actual items. We will have to wait to find out what exactly these upgraded traps are.
Is Three The Magic Number?
According to the updated client strings (PET_BATTLE_TRAP_ERR_5), it appears as though players will only be allowed to have 3 of the same companion at the same time in their pet journal in MoP. [source]
If this is true, players who have 3 deer pets for example, would need to release or cage at least one to be able to capture another wild deer.
Hopefully Blizzard's official blog post (coming "soon") about Pet Battles will have more details on how this will work.
Hungry for more MoP beta pet-news? Here is the latest information from the upcoming beta build.
New Leash
Wowhead News discovered a new type of leash that players can add to their collection - Chain Pet Leash. [source]
So if you're ever tired of using the simple Rope Pet Leash or that Red Ribbon Pet Leash just doesn't seem to match your companion, you can always try out the Chain Pet Leash in MoP! Who says pets can't be fabulously fashionable too?
New Achievements and Rewards
Also datamined were a few new Pet Battles achievements and updated rewards for existing achievements. [source]
Newly Added:
A Rare Catch - Capture a rare quality battle pet.
An Uncommon Find - Capture a uncommon quality battle pet.
High Quality - Capture 10 rare quality battle pets.
The official WoW Facebook page was updated with some interesting screenshots as well as some cryptic commentary on the images.
"Tales of their existence will soon come to fruition in Mists of Pandaria."
It's likely that the mount and companion pet will be the Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition redeemable gifts, but there's no official word yet. We'll just have to wait and see!
Wowhead News has a preview of the Black Market Auction House that includes a list of possible pets that will be for sale. [source]
Unlike other Auction Houses, players won't be able to post auctions on the Black Market. Only NPC vendors will have the luxury of selling on this new AH. Expect to see our favorite pet-loving gnome selling an item every now and then!
What's For Sale?
Most companions will have a starting price of 10,000 to 20,000 gold with no buyout option.
The companions that have popped up on this new AH include, but are not limited to:
Three TCG pets (Dragon Kite, Hippogryph Hatchling, Bananas)
So far no new pets have been spotted on the BMAH.
While the Black Market Auction House will be an optional source for some pets, it's unlikely that it will be a reliable or efficient way to acquire a large number of companions.
That being said, though, Breanni is still sure to accumulate quite a profit through her sales on the Black Market.
A new beta build was recently released. Datamined from the patch are many pet-related achievement changes and new additions. [source]
Oh, and did we forget to mention that Pet Battles will finally be available for testing?
Get Ready, Fight!
Pet Battles is officially open for testing on the beta servers. [source]
There will be many questions and concerns regarding this new feature, so be sure to check out the WarcraftPets Forums for all the latest news and updates on Pet Battles! Also check out Blizzard's official Pet Battles preview page on their Mists of Pandaria website.
Stay tuned for more information and updates as we thoroughly test and analyze Pet Battles on the beta!
Pet Achievements
Many pet-related achievements were updated, and a handful of new ones were added. Here are just the newest ones:
Take Em' All On!: Win a pet battle aginst a pet of every family.
Going to Need More Leashes: Collect 300 unique pets.
That's a Lot of Pet Food: Collect 400 unique pets.
Taming the Great Outdoors: Defeat 15 wild pet tamers.
Taming the World: Defeat 45 wild pet tamers.
Trainer Extrodanaire: Earn 100 pet battle achievement points.
Check out the full list of achievement changes here!
Four New Pets
Not only were new achievements added, but four new pets! [source]
Porcupette - Bind on Use
Yu'lon Kite - Bind on Pick Up
Chi-ji Kite - Bind on Pick Up
Jade Tentacle - Bind on Use
The Jade Tentacle will be replacing the previously assigned reward, "Zookeeper" title, but don't worry! This title can still be earned through the achievement World Safari.
Both kites are Inscription crafted pets. They were first discovered as on-use items and therefore were not true vanity pets. However, in the latest beta patch they've been upgraded into items that teach actual companions.
UPDATE: The Pet Battles feature will be available on live servers on the release date of the expansion, however it will be available to all players and not require MoP. [source]
The much anticipated testing of Pet Battles has begun on the beta. Although it is ready for testing, it is still a work in progress, so don't be surprised if there are some kinks and bugs to work out.
Knowledge Is Power
Before jumping into this addicting activity, be sure to check out the official Pet Battles page to familiarize yourself with the updated Pet Journal UI and layout.
Don't forget to read through Mumper's FAQ on the beta forums. This thread answers a lot of questions about the mechanics of Pet Battles gameplay.
And check out this video preview of Pet Battles, courtesy of Wowhead News.
Getting Started
Training for Pet Battles is straightforward. Simply visit your local Pet Battles trainer in any major city. This NPC will also teach your character a specific pet just for your toon's race for a small fee. Each race has a "racial" pet, many of which can also be purchased from a vendor.
After training the ability to battle, quests will open up via the NPC trainer. This quest chain will unlock objectives to find and defeat different Pet Tamers in certain zones and ultimately the Grand Master Tamer on the continent. Doing so will unlock daily quests to go up against Pet Tamers!
You will want to complete at least the early quests in the questline and battle wild pets since the PVE aspect of Pet Battles will help unlock each team slot and award a significant amount of experience for your companions.
Once you've unlocked all three pet slots for a complete team, you can choose to either concentrate on finding and fighting wild pets or you can start queuing up for the Pet Battle matchmaking system. The PVP aspect will award less experience than if you opt for challenging and defeating the Pet Tamer NPCs.
After training Pet Battles on one character, all toons on your account will have the Pet Battling ability and access to your Pet Battle team. A level 5 companion will remain a level 5 pet across all of your characters. Note that although the Pet Battles ability will be available for all characters after training once, you can still complete the questline once on each toon. This might change in a future beta patch.
Tips for Beginners:
Pick multiple pets to level up. - It's easy to stick to just three, but as you progress, you may find that you need to rotate companions in and out of your team. This will be easier if you have more than just one team of similar level.
Choose pets of varying Family Type. - The starting areas for Pet Battles will mainly have Critter and Beast opponents, so it might seem convenient to use pets that are strong against these two types, but the Pet Tamers that you come across won't be using just Critters and Beasts. These NPCs aren't pushovers when it comes to Pet Battles either.
There are some pets that will not fight, no matter how hard you try to bribe them with pet treats and toys!
Remember to right click on the pets you wish to concentrate on leveling up and selecting "Favorite". This will help you find pets quickly for swapping in and out of your team.
A Wild Pet Appears!
You'll notice a new tracking ability option for your mini-map. The ability to track wild pets is trained simultaneously with Pet Battles training, and allows you to see the wild critters that you can fight and possibly capture.
Although there are many critters in the world, you can fight and capture only those with the green paw print above their heads.
To challenge a wild pet, simply right click on an eligible critter. Sometimes you will receive an error that there is an obstruction preventing the battle from starting. Try to move to a more open area before engaging the wild pet.
A wild pet must be at 35% of their health or lower before the option to capture them is unlocked.
If you fail on your first attempt to capture a pet, either try again or bring the wild pet's health down a little more before attempting to capture.
As you progress through each zone, you will find yourself up against more than one wild pet on a team.
The second and third wild pet on the opposing team will not be known until you engage in battle with a wild pet. Once in the Pet Battle UI, though, you will see the stats and Family Type of the other pets. It's best to determine which wild companion you want to capture before making your first move since you may only capture one wild pet out of the three.
You must win the Pet Battle with the wild pet(s) in order to keep the one you captured. If you lose the battle, you will not receive the wild pet.
Curious about which wild pet spawns in what zone? Each pet will list its source in the Pet Journal. Just hover over your companion's image icon in the preview window in the journal, and you will see where you can find that pet.
Additionally, the WarcraftPets community has set up threads dedicated to listing all the wild pets and their spawn locations.
Earning Experience and Leveling
Leveling up is the name of the game; the higher the level, the better your companion's stats will be, which can give you a slightly higher chance of success in battle!
Only pets that actively take part in an encounter will earn experience. Those that aren't switched in during the battle will not earn experience.
Pets that die during combat will not earn experience.
Higher level opponents will award more experience.
A "difficulty bonus" is sometimes awarded, either for especially long fights or encounters with high(er) level opponents.
Leveling up will unlock new abilities for your pets. You will have three ability slots per pet, but you can switch these abilities between battles.
New abilities are unlocked at levels 1, 2, 4, 10, 15, and 20.
Pet Stats, Qualities, and Family Types
All pets have stats that can affect combat, however only wild pets can be of a unique quality. They can come in the form of Poor, Common, Uncommon, and Rare. Perhaps even Epic and Legendary wild pets exist somewhere out there too!
Currently there's no mechanic or ability to see what quality type a wild pet is before you capture it. Each wild pet is randomly assigned a quality, and the main way to guess it's possible type is to check its stats and health after engaging in combat. The higher the numbers (for its level) means a higher chance that it will be of better quality. Only after you capture it will its quality be revealed.
In addition to stats and qualities, pets will be categorized into Family Types. The certain family type abilities and passive bonuses your pets have can help (or hurt) your chances for success in a battle, and having different types on your team is often suggested but it's not mandatory.
Ready, Set, Fight!
Whether you are fighting a wild pet, a Pet Tamer's pet team, or another player, there are some things to keep in mind.
Pet Battles combat is turn based, and the pet that has higher Speed will use their attack first each round. A golden box surrounding the pet's portrait in the Pet Battle UI will indicate which companion will get to strike first each round.
Currently there is no timer between each turn and you may take your time to choose what ability to use next, but this could change in the future.
You may switch to a different pet on your active pet team during the fight, but it will use up a turn.
Some pets have buffs and debuffs that persist even if you switch to another pet. For example: The Tranquility spell that Pet A casts will also affect Pet B if you switch to Pet B during combat. Another example is a debuff on your opponent persisting even though you change to use a companion who does not have that debuffing ability.
Pets can dodge and block and attacks can miss. This is mainly based on RNG, however there are some abilities that specifically state a high chance to miss or reduce the chance to dodge an attack.
Many pet-related achievements were updated in the latest beta patch, and one of the achievements rewards a new pet! [source]
Changes were made to quite a few pet-related achievements. The points that are rewarded for them have been reduced by half for many of these achievements. [source]
The Going to Need More Leashes achievement has been changed, and now only requires the collection of 250 unique pets (down from 300).
Previously, the Feral Vermling was the reward for completing the achievement Zen Pet Hunter (Capture 200 pets in a pet battle). It has been moved and is now the reward for Going to Need More Leashes (Collect 250 unique pets).
That's a Lot of Pet Food (Collect 400 unique pets) rewards a new companion, Venus!
What type of pet could Venus be? We're going to have to wait for a hint, but here's hoping that it's out of this world!
There are some important pet-related topics on the beta forums of which collectors and players in general should be aware. Blizzard is leaving the threads open so that the community can add their feedback and input, but let's remember to keep the discussions on these threads mature and constructive.
Cannot Trade/Sell Wild Pets
Blizzard announced a change to the trading and selling of wild pets in MoP. [source]
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.
Keep in mind that this decision may not be final, and this might only be a temporary fix until a better solution is found and implemented.
Some Pets Upgraded In Quality
There are a number of non-wild pets that many would argue deserve a higher rarity quality. Blizzard has compiled a list of possible pets that will be upgraded to rare status, however this list is not yet final, and developers are welcoming feedback and suggestions on which pets should be added or removed from the list. [source]
Keeping the Discussion Going
For players who are not participating in the beta, and therefore unable to respond to the threads linked above, feel free to voice your thoughts and opinions on our WarcraftPets forums.
The change to the trade and sale of wild pets as well as the adjustment to non-wild pet qualities might not be set in stone yet, so let's continue to provide constructive feedback for developers, while keeping an open mind.
Pet Tamer Battles
According to Mumper, there are more Pet Battle updates and changes coming to the beta in an upcoming patch. [source]
Unique Tamer emotes
Unique Tamer pets
Tamer battles have been tuned up in difficulty
One Grand Master Tamer per continent. Defeating him/her will unlock all the daily's on that continent.
The flow has been consolidated to work though our two main trainers in Stormwind and Orgrimmar.
They have implemented more than 40 Tamer fights across the entire game. This does not include the boss fights!
Daily quests on Grand Master Tamers offer the Sack of Pet Supplies as a reward.
A new achievement reward for defeating all the Tamers. A "Tamer" title.
All of the quests to fight Tamers are now account-wide. This means that the one-shot quests can only be completed by one character on your account. The daily's can be completed by any character, once per day. Account wide quests are denoted in the quest log.
Warbot Fuel
The Warbot was available to players (USA only) in August of 2009, during the Mountain Dew Game Fuel special promotion. Along with this pet, eligible players received red and blue Warbot fuel that they could use on these unique pets so that they would engage in battle with other Warbots of opposing fuel color.
Once the promotion ended, both the companion and the fuel were no longer available.
However, in a recent announcement it was revealed that the Warbot fuel would be returning and players would again be able to obtain fuel and fill their pets with this charged up juice. [source]
There will be a way to get Warbot fuel in MoP. Still figuring out the specifics, but we are going to make it happen.
So not only will players and pets be able to engage in Pet Battles in MoP, Warbots will have the chance to fight each other outside of official encounters again. The big question: What color will you choose?
UPDATE: According to some observations from our WarcraftPets community, there were a few notable changes and updates to the Pet Journal and Pet Battles in the most recent beta patch. You can read all about it here!
There's a new beta build, and there are tons of new and updated pet items and achievements. Not to mention two new pets were datamined as well!
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm CE Pet
Two new pets were datamined, one of them being the Collector's Edition pet for the upcoming Starcraft II expansion, Heart of the Swarm! [source]
Baneling (Bind on Battle.net account)
Pandaren Water Spirit (Bind on Use)
It's unknown where the Pandaren Water Spirit will come from, however it's quite clear that the Zergling will soon have a friend to join forces with in WoW! Better watch out Grunty and Mini Thor.
Professions Updates
Many professions were updated with plans, recipes, and schematics related to pets! It's still unclear where these recipe will come from.
Cooking: If you're an in-game cook, be on the look out for the recipe that teaches how to create the Red War Fuel and Blue War fuel. Both the recipes and the created items are Bind on Pick Up and require a cooking skill of level 1 to learn.
Engineering: Speaking of the Warbot, there's good news for players who missed out on the promotion for this fuel guzzler. Engineers will have the honor of being able to craft the Warbot companion! A Bind on Pick Up schematic for this pet was discovered. The schematic requires an Engineering skill of level 450, and the created item is BoP as well.
Jewelcrafting: It was already speculated that Jewelcrafting would be the source for the Sapphire Cub and Jade Owl pets, and this has been confirmed in this beta patch. Both designs are Bind on Pick up, as are the crafted items. To learn how to create the cub and owl, you will need a JC skill level of 600.
Achievement Updates
Pet collecting achievements have been slightly adjusted, and the "Tamer" title is back! These achievements are account-wide. [source]
Going to Need More Leashes (Collect 250 unique pets.) - Rewards Feral Vermling
That's a Lot of Pet Food (Collect 400 unique pets.) - Rewards Venus
Time to Open a Pet Store (Earn 400 pet battle achievement points.) - Rewards Jade Tentacle
Taming Azeroth (Complete all of the Taming achievements listed below.) - Rewards the title: Tamer <Player Name>
New Pet Items
Is that wild Stunted Shardhorn of yours constantly stepping on your toes? Do gnomes flee in terror when you have your wild Clefthoof Runt out, for fear of being squished by this large companion? Developers have created a solution for you - Magical Mini-Treats!
In the same way that Papa Hummel's Old-Fashioned Pet Biscuits and Magical Pet Biscuits temporarily enlarge the size of the targeted companion, Magical Mini-Treats are fun snacks that will shrink a pet for as long as it remains by your side.
Is pet size not getting you down, but the lack of class for your prestigious Murky has you shaking your head? Well, don't fret. There's a new pet leash, the Exquisite Murloc Leash!
This leash is guaranteed to add some sophistication to even the most unruly looking of murloc companions. We're looking at you Murkablo!
Note: It's unclear if this leash is specifically just for murloc pets or if it can be used on any companion.
Keep in mind that the following developer responses are from the beta forums. Things are subject to change and there may be updates to the mechanics mentioned below before the official release of MoP.
Limitations On Multiple Pets
A recent blue post seems to indicate that while players will be allowed to have multiple versions of most pets, players will not be able to keep more than one version of some uniquely obtained companions. [source]
Yes, you will be able to have 3 of almost every pet. Certain pets are unique since they are attached to a Wow license, granted from an achievement or earned from TCG codes.
World PVP In Pet Battles
In another blue response, it is revealed how developers currently plan on addressing the possibility of players encountering world PVP while engaged in a battle with a wild pet. [source]
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.)
There were announcements about a few changes and updates to Pet Battles that will be implemented in the near future.
Weakened By Capture
A new mechanic to reduce the level of wild pets in different level ranges upon capture will be ready for testing soon. Also, the experience required to level for pets after level 10 will be reduced. [source]
We have made a few adjustments to the both the weakened by capture pets and the overall XP curve. Details below!
Catching any pet level 15 or under retains its current level.
Catching a level 16-20 pet will lose 1 level.
Catching a level 21-25 pet will lose 2 levels.
We have dramatically reduced the XP required to level for pets after level 10.
Heal/Revive Cooldown
The spell to heal and revive your pets has been reduced to 10 minutes, down from 15. [source]
We have reduced the cool down to 10m in the next build. Don't forget you can get single use heals in the Sack of Pet Supplies from the Tamer dailies as an alternative to using the Stable Master or your Revive spell.
In addition to this, the heal/revive spell and the stable master heal/revive now has a 3 minute cooldown when first logging onto a character. [source]
Finally, the cool-up's that we added to the heal spells (both the player and stable master) are to deal with exploit cases of players using multiple characters/accounts to avoid cooldowns. We used 3 minutes as a baseline since most players can fly to one in that amount of time from pretty much anywhere on a full speed mount.
UPDATE: Blizzard has an official Patch 5.0.4 post concerning account-wide collections that provides details on the new feature. [source]
Fine-tuning Pet Battles
Last week developers released a consolidated list of the changes made to Pet Battles. [source]
Some of the items on the list have already been mentioned, but there are some new updates. These include the following (however, this is not the complete list):
Catching any pet level 15 or under retains its current level.
Catching a level 16-20 pet will lose 1 level.
Catching a level 21-25 pet will lose 2 levels.
We have removed the pet swap on pets dying in everything except PVP.
The matchmaking system has been adjusted to favor battles with opponents of similar levels over queuing speed.
You can have up to x3 of any pet except for uniques. The pets in the following categories are unique: Achievements, Pet Store, Guild and Promotional. Note that TCG pets are not unique and will be tradeable.
Release now works on any pet as long as you have more than one of that pet.
For the full list of updates to Pet Battles, check out this link!
Patch 5.0.4 Reminders
Patch 5.0.4 will be released on August 28, 2012. Many things will change, so here's a small list of what pet collectors should expect on patch day.
New pet and mount UI. The old spellbook companion tab will be replaced with the Pet Journal interface.
Account-wide collections. This means a merging of all collections into one that will be accessible by all characters on a WoW account.
Duplicate pets will not be mailed to players. Instead, they will automatically be added into the Pet Journal. Some duplicates, such as achievement and special promotion companions, will be merged into one single pet.
The transition from the old spellbook interface to the Pet Journal will be the only time players are allowed to have more than 500 total pets and 3 of the same pet. Once under these caps, players will not be allowed to exceed them again.
Pet Battles, the ability to cage companions (and therefore trade them), the ability to capture pets, and the new datamined pets that were discovered on the MoP beta will not be available until the expansion release date (September 25, 2012).
1545 pets
