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31 January 2015

Beat Ashlei Warlords of Draenor Grand Master Pet Tamer

Ashlei is as vicious as a teddy bear.

Grand Master Pet Tamer Ashlei is the Farmer Nishi of this expansion, and she's exactly who you want to fight if you want to level up level one pets. She uses a team that features a goat named Tally, a dragon named Pixiebell, and a stuffed elephant named Doodle. None of these pets hits hard, and each has a weakness that can be exploited by your favorite pwning pet, the Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling.

You'll find Ashlei in Shadowmoon Valley in the north-central part of the zone:

Find Ashlei in Shadowmoon Valley.

Essentially, this is a 1-pet battle. Your Dragonling will seriously kill the entire opposing team, and all you have to do is slot in your level 1 for a single turn when you're facing Doodle (who doesn't actually attack you) to boost your pet up to around level 11. You can also use a higher level pet and you should get anywhere between 3 and 5 levels, depending on the level of your lowbie pet.

Essentially, you'll just span Breath on whatever you're facing while throwing out a Decoy or two just for fun. Switch in your lowbie pet when Doodle (the elephant) comes out and then switch right back to your Dragonling for more pwnge.

Your team is the Dragonling + anything else you want.

I've done this pretty reliably with my Dragonling making it to the end alive after having been killed once and resurrecting. Hands down, the easiest fight, and it's awesome for leveling up your lowbies. I take a level 1 each day and get it to level 11.

25 January 2015

Exciting Battle Pet Changes for Patch 6.1


As is not surprising, we should see a variety of new pets coming out with patch 6.1, and the PTR notes also suggest a variety of updates and changes might also be on the way for Draenor pet battles.

Garrisons, Followers, and Outposts
New Garrison Visitors: For the Pet Battlers out there, there's a separate chance for an additional visitor offering unique Pet Battles with a chance to award a bag containing Pet Battle items and new Battle Pets.
The pets you might face in this new pet battle are random, and from what's been seen thus far in the PTR, each pet has 6 abilities and will use 3 of those abilities - at random - in each fight. It should keep things pretty interesting!

Pets you might face with this new random daily include: Mal, Bones, Enbi'see, Carl, Dusty, Mouthy, Nicodemus, Prince Charming, Runts, Salad, Spores, Sprouts. Pets you can get as a reward include Young Talbuk, Slithershock Elver, & a Bone Serpent.

Personally, I'm coming up on 4 level 100 characters... I suppose an extra few pet battles each day will just need to be added to my daily quota!

Garrison Buildings
Menagerie: Reduced the difficulty of quests to unlock the Menagerie, elite pet challenges, and pet battle daily quests.
Seriously? I'm surprised. The gateway quests to open the menagerie were really easy, and none of the daily pet quests have proven impossible or too frustrating. You'd think they'd leave a little challenge in the game...

Pet Battles
  • New battle pets have been added to Black Temple, Caverns of Time: Hyjal Summit, and Sunwell Plateau along with a new achievement, Raiding with Leashes III: Drinkin' From the Sunwell to collect them all. Completing the achievement to collect all the new Battle Pets will award a Naaru pet.
  • Level 100 characters with a Tier-3 Garrison will now receive an item in the mail that increases a single Battle Pet's level to 25.

New Boss Drops

New drops (and their associated pets in parentheses) include:

  • Grotesque Statue (Grotesque) drops from Azgalor in Hyjal Summit
  • Fragment of Anger drops from Reliquary of Souls in Black Temple
  • Fragment of Suffering drops from Reliquary
  • Fragment of Desire drops  from Reliquary
  • Hyjal Wisp drops from Archimonde in Hyjal Summit
  • Leviathan Egg drops from Naj'entus in Black Temple
  • Servant's Bell (Wretched Servant) drops from the twins in Sunwell Plateau
  • Shard of Supremus (Abyssius) drops from Supremus in Black Temple
  • Smelly Gravestone (Stinkrot) drops from Anetheron in Hyjal Summit
  • Sultry Grimoire (Sister of Temptation) drops from Mother in Black Temple
  • Sunblade Rune of Activation (Sunblade Micro-Defender) drops from Butallus in SP
  • Void Collar (Chaos Pup) drops from M'uru in Sunwell Plateau

Now, I'll have even more reason to farm Black Temple with my rogue for her glaives! Supremus better give up his pet immediately. I CANNOT wait to have a miniature Supremus!

Note that all of these raids are REALLY soloable. You essentially never take any damage even if you pull half the instance and AOE everything at once.

Achievements

When you collect all the pets listed above, you'll get the achievement:

  • Raiding with Leashes III: Drinkin' from the Sunwell

You'll also get a pet named K'ute, which is apparently a mini Naaru like A'dal who floats in the middle of Shattrath.

16 January 2015

Draenor Safari Achievement Guide + Extras

The Draenor Safari achievement will have you traveling around most of the continent to pick up various battle pets, and you'll have the opportunity to get a few extras from boss drops and looting. Fortunately, none of these pets are too terribly difficult to obtain.

It doesn't look like we'll ever have another Scourged Whelpling fiasco on our hands again (do you know how many days of  /played my Death Knight hovered above Ice Crown?!?)

Below, you'll find the pets that should be in each zone (there's some cross-over of common pets, but primarily, these are the locations you'll find them). I have 90+ Alliance and Horde, so I'm able to cross over into all the zones without too much trouble.

However, if you've only got max-level (or 90+) toons, I'd suggest approaching Frostfire Ridge and Shadowmoon Valley from the water.

And, doing so as a Death Knight (with Path of Frost) or a Warlock (with a glyphed Dreadsteed) is usually easiest. I used my Dreadsteed on my Hord elock to get to Shadowmoon Valley with ease. Much easier than going via land and getting by oodles of mobs on your way (level 100 mobs, too!).



You'll find six pets (five through battles and one through a drop) in Frostfire Ridge.

Frostfur Rat - Around Stonefang Outpost north of the Horde garrison, as well as all around Colossal's Fall to the north.

Frostshell Pincher - Southeast of Wor'gol, which is on the western side of the zone. They just spawn in that one spot, as far as I'm aware.

Icespine Hatchling - Around the middle of the zone, tons just north of the Horde Garrison, as well as all around The Crackling Plains in the center of Frostfire.

Ironclaw Scuttler - In the trench north of Stonefang Outpost, as well as just to the east of Bladespire Fortress. Easier to find near Bladespire, in my opinion.

Twilight Wasp - Various spawns around Stongfang Outpost, as well as around Colassal's Fall in the north. Also spawns in Gorgrond.

Extra Pet: Fruit Hunter - Get it from an egg in Grom'Gar that takes 3 days to hatch. Here's a guide on how to get your Fruit Hunter.




Gorgrond features several pets, as well as a few that you'll get as drops instead of pet battles.

Amberdab Wasp - Located to the east of Everbloom Wilds, as well as all around Tangleheart to the southeast. Lots in Everbloom.

Axebeak Hatchling - Clustered south of Beastwatch with a few spawn points to the north south of Everbloom Wilds. Not too common. Just too many Wood Wasps, not enough Axebeaks.

Junglebeak - Many spawn points all along the eastern side of Gorgrond. Also a small cluster to the east of Blackrock Foundry (not worth it to travel there though just for a Junglebeak).

Mudback Calf - Very cute pet! I found mine around Evermorn Springs in the south, but you can also find them northeast of High Pass. Seems to have a terrible spawn rate for green/blue quality.

Wood Wasp - Same pet-infested area as many of the other Gorgrond pets - just southeast of Beastwatch. Doesn't seem to be too terribly common, but not impossible to find.

Extra Pet: Parched Lizard - This pet isn't on the achievement (go figure), but you can still get it, which should help you reach the 600 unique pets achievement. Look for it in desert type areas.

Extra Pet: Doom Bloom - Get it from a boss drop in the middle of Gorgrond. Here's a guide on how to find your Doom Bloom.

Extra Pet: Crimson Spore - Loot this pet from a spore within Tangleheart. Here's a guide on how to get your Crimson Spore.

Other pets you'll randomly find in Gorgrond (which you've probably seen all over the Warcraft universe at this point) include Gold Beetles, Silkbead Snails, Brouwn Marmots, and Cockroaches. As if this game needed any more spawn points with Cockroaches...



Leatherhide Runt - This is the only pet in Nagrand (via wild capture) that's only available in this one zone. Anywhere Clefthoof spawn (all over the zone), you'll have a chance to find Leatherhide Runts.

Extra Pet: Meadowstomper Calf - Available through a quest line. You'll need to begin the Nagrand quests as they're presented to you during the leveling process to get the quest. Here's a guide on getting it.

Extra Pet: Netherspawn, Spawn of Netherspawn - Drops from a mob named (obviously) Netherspawn. Easy to get, 100% drop rate. Guide on finding him here.

Since there are two Nagrands (one in the Burning Crusade and the other in Warlords of Draenor), it's easy to get these two zones mixed up and what pets are available on WOD content. While the Clefthoof Runt is what you'll find in BC Nagrand, its counterpart in WOD Nagrand is the Leatherhide Runt.



Shadowmoon Valley is another area where there's a Burning Crusade version (full of pets) and a Warlords of Draenor version. If you've been collecting pets for a while, you probably have everything that the old Shadowmoon has to offer, and a few pets in the new Shadowmoon are a little bit hard to get...

Moonshell Crab - Easiest to find along the eastern shore to the east of Elodor. All in the northeastern quadrant of the zone.

Mossbite Skitterer - These pets have a habit of spawning as a secondary pet around Socrethar's Rise. You might have to fight a few random pets until you get one.

Zangar Crawler - All along the coast. Really easy to find. You can fight them on the same island where you get the Zomstrok drop.

Extra Pet: Strange Spore - Similar to the Crimson Spore in Gorgrond, the Strange Spore also comes out of a spore that you'll need to do some jumping to reach. Guide to reach it here.

Extra Pet:  Zomstrok - Unfortunately, this pet isn't a 100% drop rate and you actually have to do some old fashioned camping/farming. To farm him, go to the island that's southwest of Socrethar's Rise. Just kill everything on the island until you get him...

Extra Pet: Demidos - He drops from an elite mob of the same name on Socrethar's Rise. Have fun farming this one, too, because it's not a 100% drop rate.



Spires of Arak has some beautiful spots, but a lot of it's pretty dark and depressing. You'll find several pets in Arak from pet battles, as well as a few vendor pets, and some others.

Bloodsting Wasp - When you get the quest to go to the Pinchwhistle Gearworks, just travel north from the flight point and you'll see lots of them all up the zone.

Golden Dawnfeather - Pretty common throughout the zone. Mostly in the valley-type areas instead of the mountainous places. A good few groups around Southport, as well as Veil Zekk.

Swamplighter Firefly - Lots along the eastern coast of the zone, as well as around The Writhing Mire. If you go do the quests at Pinchwhistle Gearworks (and you will if you want your Salvage building for your garrison), you'll find tons of these along the coast.

Thicket Skitterer - Lots found all over the middle of Spires of Arak. Wander around the middle of the zone and you can't miss them.

Extra Pet: Hydraling - Drops from a mob named Varasha in a tunnel around The Writhing Mire. Here's a guide on finding your Hydraling.

Extra Pet: Ikky from Kaliri Egg - You need to start a quest chain in Spires to get this pet. You'll come upon the quest naturally if you quest in the zone. It begins at a point just east of Axefall.

Extra Pet: Kaliri Hatchling - Buy from Vesharr, the daily pet quest NPC in Spires of Arak. Costs 10 gold. You can find a guide on him here. Beat him once and then he'll sell to you.

Extra Pet: Veilwatcher Hatchling - Another purchase from Vesharr. Costs a hefty 1,000 gold, but if you're a pet collector, it's not too much... and you'll get a discount once you get Revered/Exalted with the Arakkoa Outcasts.

Note: You might notice "Son of Sethe" listed as a Spires of Arak pet, but he's actually a vendor pet you get with Arakkoa reputation. The vendor is in your capital city in Ashran which means Warspear for Horde and Stormshield for Alliance. He costs gold and apexis crystals. As far as I can tell, you don't get a reputation discount with this pet.



Talador has a bunch of pets in it, and it's also got a few extra drops from mobs and looted objects.

Brilliant Bloodfeather - Littered  throughout the zone. You can't go five yards without running into one of these little birds. Lots around the first questing areas in the zone - Fort Wrynn and Voljin's Pride.

Flat-Tooth Calf - Found near the water just to the east of the Tomb of Lights. So puffy! So cute! One of the cuter pets this expansion has had to offer. Unfortunately, IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND.

Kelp Scuttler - As you'd expect, lots along the coast. You can find them all along the southwestern coastline, as well as on the northern coastline.

Mud Jumper - All around the rivers and islands in the eastern half of the zone. Tons of Mud Jumpers... no Flat-Tooth Calf spawns... *kicks pebble*

Royal Moth -  The Royal Moth also hangs out in Shadowmoon, and you'll find tons all around the zone in Talador. Just about as common as the Brilliant Bloodfeather.

Shadow Sporebat - Spawn point is around Zangarra. Seems to be an inconsistent spawn, but probably a nighttime pet spawn.

Waterfly - Inland waterways have lots of Waterflies. Tons of them (they, too, seem to spawn in great numbers instead of the Flat-Tooth Calf). They also spawn in Shadowmoon Valley.

Extra Pet: Eye of Observation - You'll need some friends to get this pet. He drops from Orumo the Observer, and a full party needs to step on the runes. The pet isn't a 100% drop.

Extra Pet: Stonegrinder - Easy to find in northern Talador. He's a pretty neat little mechanical pet. I created a guide here to help you find him.

Extra Pet: Teroclaw Hatchling - Another easy to find pet. You'll see little nests of eggs all around Talador - particularly near the starting quest hubs for each faction. Here's a guide on how to get your Hatchling.

So, after flying all around Warlords of Draenor collecting these pets, you should get your achievement, Darenor Safari. As of this writing, I'm still working on that dumb Flat-Tooth Calf...

Hint: Want to know which pets from a certain zone you have and which you're missing? Just type the name of the zone in the search bar of the Pet Journal. So, for Gorgrond (for example), just type Gorgrond and you'll get a list of all the pets that drop in that zone. That way, you don't need to type in every single pet name individually to see if you've got it!



09 January 2015

Herbalism and Your Crazy Carrot

Sitting with my Crazy Carrot in my Garrison

The Crazy Carrot costs a crazy number of "Draenic Seeds," and I started saving up for this carrot pet as soon as I realized it was on the vendor that appears when you build your herb garden in your garrison.

It costs 1,000 of these seeds, and if you don't herb anywhere but in your garrison, it'll take you a few solid months to save up the seeds for the pet. A vendor named Tarnon sells this pet in your herb garden if you're Horde. Alliance will get their pet from a vendor named Naron Bloomthistle.

You'll need 1,000 Draenic Seeds to buy your Carrot.

With Warlords of Draenor released on 13 November 2014, it's now 9 January 2015 as I write this, and I've farmed herbs from my garden virtually every single day since release (there were about three or four days where I didn't herb because of travel).

So, it takes almost two months, by my estimates, to get this pet if you don't otherwise have an herbalist going out into Draenor to get more herbs and seeds.

The Crazy Carrot looks a lot like the Terrible Turnip.

The Crazy Carrot is an Elemental pet, and he has a variety of damage types including Humanoid, Elemental, and Aquatic damage. He's also got a stun ability called Bash and a cleanse called Aged Yolk which removes all debuffs (and buffs) from the carrot.

He looks remarkably like the Terrible Turnip from Mists of Pandaria, although he looks a little more orangish while the Turnip is a little pinkish.

05 January 2015

Beat Tarr the Terrible Warlords of Draenor Grand Master Pet Tamer

Tarr the Terrible hangs out in a hut in Nagrand.

Tarr the Terrible lives in a hut in northern Nagrand, and he's right near The Ring of Blood. Just fly to one of the northern flight points in Nagrand and head north into the ogre area. It helps if you use a stealthie to get past hostile level 100 mobs. I used my rogue to find Tarr the first time I fought him. I used the "Joz's Rylaks" flight point.

Find Tarr the Terrible in northern Nagrand.

Tarr has three pets which include:
  • Gladiator Murkimus
  • Gladiator Murkalot
  • Gladiator Deathy
Each of these little dudes is a Humanoid, so not surprisingly, using some Undead pets is the way to go against this pet tamer. Tarr's team has a few hard-hitting abilities, so I decided to use an Anubisath Idol and its deflection ability; however, I think any pet with a reflect would do fine. Perhaps a Flayer Youngling.

My team included the Anubisath Idol, a Restless Shadeling, and a Fossilized Hatchling. However, I think almost any Undead peat would be fine. I like to use my Shadeling as much as possible since he's such a cool looking pet.

I used an Anubisath Idol, Restless Shadeling, and Fossilized Hatchling.

To begin, you'll bring out your Anubisath Idol (or whatever pet you have with a reflection ability) so you can avoid getting hit by "Falling Murloc," which has a crazy big graphic.  Then, you can switch to your Restless Shadeling and cast Plagued Blood and a Bunch of Death Coils. Just keep Plagued Blood up and cast Death Coil until your Shadeling dies. Try to cast Plagued Blood right before you die so it'll last a while for your next pet.

When the Shadeling dies, bring out your Fossilized Hatchling and cast Death and Decay followed by some Bone Bite spam. By the time your Fossilized Hatchling dies, Murkimus should be the only pet left, and you can bring your Anubisath Idol out again with Deflection and Crush spam. I'd recommend using Deflection when Murkimus goes airborne to avoid the swoop of damage.

Not a difficult fight. Undead pets do great!

I'm absolutely certain Tarr is 2-mannable (like most of the world pet tamers in Draenor), and I'll update this post when I find a combo for leveling a third pet.

03 January 2015

Get Your Netherspawn, Spawn of Netherspawn in Nagrand

Hanging out with my Netherspawn.

If you've been treasure hunting around Draenor, you've probably found a few pets in your travels. Netherspawn, Spawn of Netherspawn is one pet you won't want to miss. He's a little Magic creature found in southwestern Nagrand.

Since Nagrand is a zone for toons 98 and up, you'll either need a character close to max level to get to this pet, or you'll want to be a stealthy. I got him when I was already at level 100.

The map below will show you where to go to find Netherspawn. You'll have to kill this giant blob, and then you'll be able to loot your small Netherspawn pet. If you have coordinates, Netherspawn hangs out around 47.6-70.7.

Head to southwestern Nagrand to find Netherspawn.

According to Wowhead, Netherspawn has about 477K hit points. Not a difficult fight. I popped all my cooldowns though just in case. He also drops some garrison resources, which is a nice perk.

You'll get some garrison resources along with your battle pet.

 As a magic pet, Netherspawn will be powerful against Flyers and weak against Mechanical pets. He'll take reduced damage from Aquatic pets and increased damage from Dragonkin abilities. He's got an arcane blast ability, a heal called Absorb, devour magic ability (like a felhunter), and some poison dots.

This dude reminds me of leveling Way Back in The Hinterlands.

Have you found Netherspawn, Spawn of Netherspawn to be useful in any particular comps or against any specific battle pet masters? If nothing else, it's fun to have a pet blob following you around...