Great reports
I've never really considered taming a beetle, but Rotha/Mango looks stunning. Soot is really cute as well. I've tried running with a vanilla hydra on several hunters, but I just cannot get over the awkward run
Well, my classes this morning were called off, so I took the opportunity to level level level! So finally..
This is my report on the Orange Hyena, which I used from level 13-20
I was given the orange hyena for my new draenei hunter, Odarin. The lowest level hyena was level 13, so I spent 3 levels herbing and mining in Elwynn Forest before I begun the long trek from Darkshore. Surprisingly Ashenvale didn't give me any problems, and soon enough I was in the Barrens. Since I'm so used to playing horde, I ran into an orc camp without thinking, and died rather stupidly.
After recovering my body and hiding in the mountains like a coward waiting for PvP to go away, I was finally ready to go get me a hyena! I arrived at the oasis, where several centaurs were running about with their packhounds. I gave the nearest one an arrow to the face, and tamed my hyena with no problems.
After hearthing back to Stormwind, I decided to name her Bella, after Bella Goth from The Sims. She is known in the games for being the most beautiful woman imaginable, so I thought it would be funny to give that name to a pet who has possibly one of the ugliest models in game.
And about that model...
Yeah, it sucks. Hyenas have all the hallmarks of aged vanilla models – sharp polygon angles everywhere, animations deforming the model, stretched pixelated textures, and overall wonkiness. This is a real shame, since hyenas are such awesome animals, and it feels like they have kind of been forgotten by Blizzard.
A face only a mother could love.
Thankfully aged models don't bother me too much, as long as the pet has personality and good animations. And once I got to examine Bella closer, she really started to grow on me.Like Sadeas the tarantula, Bella would never be standing still. She'd always sniff the ground and scratch her ear with her hind leg. Even the regular idle animation is very animated.
The run animation is just adorable. I don't really know how to explain it, but it reminded me of how a boar runs, or how a spring moves, scrunching up before stretching out. I hope the screenshots are clear enough!
The swim is, of course, a cute doggy paddle. I loved how she would keep threading water when idling.
I could not for the life of me get any good attacking animations. Everything just died too fast, even if I just sent her in without attacking myself. But they are basically the same as the smaller wolves, mainly consisting of lunging bites. There is weight to the attacks, and they look sufficiently vicious. Bella was clearly audible, growling and howling whenever I sent her to attack, or used kill command. I personally like noisy pets (for instance, my main has both a teroclaw chick and a number of tallstriders), so I didn't mind at all.
After hitting level 15 we ran a dungeon. It went as expected, a complete faceroll with everyone in heirlooms. Bella tanked a bunch of mobs and took hardly any damage, which really says something about low level balancing, since she was in ferocity spec.
I actually regret doing that dungeon, since I somehow managed to gain 3 levels in there, significantly cutting down the time I got to spend with Bella. Oh well.
Afterwards we went back to Redridge to quest. My leveling was sped up even further when we found two rares who were just begging to be killed, and after just a few more quests I dinged 20.
I'm very sad that it's time to get a new pet already. I didn't even get to the start of the kick-ass Rambo quest chain!
The levels just fly by at this stage, it's ridiculous. I might actually lock Odarin's exp and complete Redridge with Bella, cause I really don't feel like I spent enough time with this pet. If so, I may write a part two to this report, in case I have more to say.
on an unrelated note, the restored Stormwind Park is so cool!
But I am able to give her a verdict now. There's no getting around it, the model has not aged well. If a pretty, polished model is a must for you, then this pet is not for you. However, if you are able look past the wonkiness, you may very well end up falling in love with a hyena. What it lacks in quality, it more than makes up for in animations and personality. Plus, in a sea of sparkly spirit beasts, you will definitely stand out with your ugly mutt. I think the fact that I'm considering halting my level just to keep Bella for longer says enough about how much I enjoyed having her at Odarin's side. She is definitely a keeper!
On to the next one
Name: Odarin
Level: 20
Exotics: Yes
Restrictions: 10-20, No mechanicals, no more hyenas for now.