Sunday, September 22, 2013

Pets: A Brief Update



 So this post I promised I would talk about battle pets.  I should start by saying that collecting extras and selling them has gotten me a nice chunk of gold.  I routinely farm both Kharazhan and Tempest Keep, caging and selling any extra pets I pick up there.  I have also been farming on the Timeless Isle, and have managed to get two extra azure crane chicks and an extra ominous flame.  All have sold, and most I only had to list once.
  
    I have also been busy collecting and leveling, with an eye on the Celestial Tournament.  I came into 5.4 woefully unprepared in the pet department.  I think on release day, I might have had 26 max level pets, most of which were pretty lackluster.

    In the last few days I managed to level ten pets, including the Lesser Voidcaller, Ghostly Skull, Zandalari Kneebiter, and Sunreaver Microsentry.  I spent an hour prowling around Mt. Hyjal before finally finding a rare Nordrasil Wisp.  After acquiring a flawless flying stone, I logged onto a worgen alt and bought a Gilnean Raven, which I immediately upgraded.  At this pace, I am really hoping to be tournament ready by next week, but we shall see.

   The thing is, the tournament, along with Little Tommy Newcomer, need thought out teams that have synergy.  I knew Little Tommy’s pet was Lil’ Oondasta, a beast, so I figured since mechanicals are strong all I would need for the win was a team of three mechanicals.  Things are not that simple.  Due to RNG I was able to win maybe one in four fights with him.  I then checked the forums and found out, yes, I was doing it wrong.  I read some guides, did some thinking, and now generally win every battle vs. Little Tommy on the first go.  Even some of the older pet battle masters are like this.  The other night I was fighting the Pandaren Water Spirit’s team.  I opened with a highland turkey, which is not the pet to open with in this battle.  The turkey has a CC, but no avoidance mechanic, and was destroyed on the third round by the detonation of both the geyser and whirlpool cast by the fish that the spirit opens the battle with.  After losing, I healed and tried again, this time opening with a moth and using cocoon strike to avoid the dangerous geyser/whirlpool combo.  So, even this guy requires a team that has some thought put into it.  I have seen many forum posts where people complain that fights are too hard, or that everything is dependent on RNG.  I disagree with these posts.  My opinion is the great majority of pet battles can be easily won by using very specific teams and using pet abilities in a specific order and way.

   I did try the tournament just to see how it ran and how far I was able to get, fully expecting not to win.  My expectations were met.  I was pitted against Wrathion, Chem Stormstout and Taran Zhu.  I was able to down the first two in battles that were fairly close and got torn apart by Taran Zhu.  I am confident that with the right pets and more forethought before entering again, that the tournament won’t be as hard to win as people are making it out to be.

    The right pet thing can be difficult.  It is a bit of a grind to level pets, especially if you try to level a whole bunch of them in one go.  I tend to focus on one or two or day, on days I have to work my day job, and go into all-out grinding on the days I have all to myself. 

    The whole pet thing renewed my interest in the Brawler’s Guild, since reaching rank 4 allows you to purchase Clock’em, a mechanical pet who could be the Clockwork Gnome’s twin brother.  I stopped doing the brawler’s thing month ago after reaching rank 3.  In two nights, without spending much time, I was able to get through all the third tier bosses and reach rank 4.  Icy Veins has an awesome guide to everything that has to do with the Brawler’s Guild, it is the only source I use.  There is a part of me that wants to call things good now that I have the pet, but the elitist, completionist part of me will probably win out, and see me back brawling in an effort to reach rank 9.

   Perhaps my next post will return to a subject involving guilds, then again perhaps not.  I haven’t exactly made my mind up.  Until then.

   Peace.

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