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Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:14 am
by Wassa
Former threads:
1) Moths
2) Warp Stalkers
3) Crocolisks
4) Monkeys

Random pet family appreciation thread is where I roll a random pet family every week for everyone to share their pictures, their stories, their love for that pet family. Please no hate or rants. This is an appreciation thread. If you dislike the family, don't post! Hopefully with some love we can get some hunters to try out new pets they never would have thought to tame before.

Our fifth family is the wild wolf family!

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Image from WoW TCG.

Besides the cat family I don't think any other pet family will have as many facts, so here we go. *cracks knuckles*

Wolf facts

~Wolves have been tameable since Vanilla WoW.

~Wolves have four tameable models and 20 skin colors.

~Wolves have nine rare members: Barnabus, Death Howl, Deathmaw (also unique skinned), Gorefang, Lupos, Mist Howler, Old Cliff Jumper (also unique skinned), Snarler, and Timber.

~Wolves have 6 unique skinned named members, besides Deathmaw and Old Cliff Jumper mentioned above the others are: Bjomolf, Ironjaw, Ripp, and The Lone Hunter.

~Ethereal Frostworg is a unique skinned ghostly white saber worg that cannot be tamed.

~Wolves have two retired members which are Garwal and the Grimtotem Spirit Guide.

~Grimtotem Spirit Guide is the first retired wolf and the first unique skinned retired mob in the game. Released in patch 2.3.0 with the Duskwallow Marsh revamp, these ghostly wolves were summoned by Grimtotem Spirit-Shifters and lived for only 7 seconds before dieing. A large amount of haste was needed to tame these wolves before they died. While unintended to be tamed, a blue post stated:

"While this feature of the Grimtotem Spirit Guide wasn't exactly intended, it was agreed by the development team that this is a fun use of in-game mechanics, and we therefore have no plans to address this issue - it will still be possible in future for everyone who wishes to tame this NPC to do so."
However, these wolves were removed in patch 2.3.2 and replaced later with Grimtotem Spirit Wolf, an untameable version of the same skin. Those that tamed this wolf got to keep it. While Cataclysm gave us Karoma, a spirit beast with the same skin, it still isn't in the wolf family making the Grimtotem Spirit Guide distinctive within its own family.

~Garwal was probably the first appearance buff pet tamed before they became common knowledge here on the Petopia forums. Only visible during the quest Alpha Worg, Garwal turned into a worgen during fighting him at 50% health. If you finished your tame on him the second he transformed he kept his worgen look. This was a permanent buff that persisted after death but cleared if brought into arenas. Since worgen were never considered to be tameable, Garwal was quickly made untameable. Tamed Garwals lost all moves and ability to be fed, then later all tamed Garwals were replaced with a new NPCID of the Winterskorn Worg making this worgen a pet that is lost forever.

~Vargul Blighthound is a former member of the wolf family. Since Cataclysm these hounds have been moved into the dog family.

~Wolves have three different color changers, all of them being of the saber worg model.

~Back in Wrath, wolves where tamed by 21.1% of level 80 hunters, making them the number two top tamed family, being trailed by cats. (Source)

~Back in Wrath, magehunterred was the most tamed skin at 18.2%. Wolf_ghost was the least tamed at 0.6% due to being a retired pet. (Source)

~Wolves where so popular back in Wrath due to Furious Howl getting a buff at patch 3.1.0. Before Furious Howl was a party buff that could not stack with other similar buffs such as Battle Shout and Blessing of Might. It was changed to stack with these buffs, it's attack power effect was doubled, but only affected the hunter and pet. This made wolves THE raiding pet in Wrath. Since Cataclysm, wolves are still very useful raiding pets but not the dominate force they once where.

~Wolf mounts come in the dire wolf (aka worg) model and are available to horde only.

~Despite the wolf family being so large, only one mini pet is a wolf. The Worg Pup is a color changer between direwolfskindarkblack and direwolfskindarkbrown.

~Rituals of the New Moon is an inscription made off-hand that can turn the player into either a black, grey, red (coyote skin) or white wolf model depending on which book you have.

~All wolf models have two parts to them, a normal skin and an alpha skin. The normal skin covers the body while the alpha skin is the "fur extentions" plus the teeth on the model. If you remove the alpha skin it gives wolves a sleek appearance, but also leaves the wolves and dire wolves (mostly) toothless.

~The wolf and dire wolf models can interchange their skins, although their eye sizes are different and wolf skins don't have the data for the dire wolf canine teeth. Fox skins also share the same basic pattern and can be interchanged as well, but they are missing an alpha skin. The saber worg model uses a different skin pattern from the other wolf models and thus cannot be interchanged.

~Before Camouflage was fixed to show alpha parts of models, when camoed Grimtotem Spirit Guide (as well as his distant cousin Karoma) would go completely invisible! This is because the ghost wolf model doesn't have a normal skin, only an alpha skin.

~Two wolves have permanent appearance buffs. Oil-stained Wolf can keep its dark oily coat and The Lone Hunter can keep the knife in its head. Ouch!

~Four wolves make noises when you click on them after being tamed, these are Bloodaxe Worg Pup (growls), Deathmaw (growls), Prairie Wolf (barks), and Spot (barks).

~Both the wolf model and saber worg model have a rarely used howl idle animation, but only the wolf model has an audible howling sound with the animation. The only wolf that doesn't have an audible howl is the ghost wolf.

~Pvpridingdirewolfskindarkblack is one of the few pet skins that has armor and the only wolf with armor. It matches the Black War Wolf mount perfectly.

~Spot is a pet wolf found in the alliance city of Theramore that can be tamed by horde only. Rema and Glopgut Warhounds are tameable only by alliance; the first being friendly to horde and the second spawning from an alliance only quest.

~Ghost Howl is a semi-rare mob. While he doesn't have a rare silver dragon around his portrait, he has a rare-like spawn timer.

~Timber is the lowest level tameable rare in game at level 5. However, you still can't tame him until level 10.

~Many wolves had unique traits in Vanilla WoW. These where:
Lupos did shadow damage on melee attacks instead of physical damage.
Snarler had 100 of each resist.
Longtooth Runner and Frostwolf had fast pursuit speeds and could chase down epic mounts.
Wolves with faster than 2.0 attack speed where Vilebranch Raiding Wolf (1.7), Bloodaxe Worg (1.5), Prowler (1.5), Prairie Stalker (1.5), Prairie Wolf Alpha (1.4), Ghostpaw Alpha (1.3), Mist Howler (1.3), Deathmaw (1.2) and Slavering Worg (1.2).

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:18 am
by Wassa
I love the wolf family. I have a wolf on both of my hunters.

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On Wassa I have Ikinaji. Yus, he is the Grimtotem Spirit Guide. I was lucky enough to get him back when he was tameable. However, I never really bonded with him like with my other pets. While wolves are one of my favorite animals in real life, I am an role-player at heart and trolls just don't tame wolves. No wolf really matches Wassa. I could never let this guy go though. He's beautiful.

He was originally named Kintari after my boyfriend's main character. However when we started raiding together in Wrath I messed up grid and recount so much with a pet named after a player, so I decided to rename him. He went through many different names, but I really couldn't find a name that was him so I just made up a name. He's my only pet whose name has no meaning. I just wanted it to sound trollish and I kept the "kin" part in his name after my boyfriend.

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Now here is a wolf I've bonded with. This is Ptaysanwee's wolf Nixkamich, aka Timber in the wild. His name means "grandfather" in Algonquin. I see him as an old wise worg, even back when I tamed him at level 10. I had to travel all the way to Dun Morogh to tame him. This was back before Ghost Howl was tameable, so Timber was the only low level white worg I could get, and I think the journey cemented my bond with him. He's usually in my active pet slots and one of Ptay's most loyal companions.

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:24 am
by TygerDarkstorm
I love wolves and get one on just about all of my hunters, however, I'd like to point out that the lowest level tamable wolf is actually this guy: http://www.wowhead.com/npc=49871

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:27 am
by Wassa
Blah. I meant lowest level tameable rare beast, but I missed that. *goes to fix*

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:34 am
by TygerDarkstorm
Ah okay, I was wondering about that. xD

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:36 am
by Chimera
oh god where to start where to start.... pretty much since vanilla ive had wolves XD I have a Longtooth Runner on my very first hunter, Deathmaw on my 77 blood elf hunter, a diseased wolf which is among my very favorite of pets on my 73 undead hunter (tamed him right at lvl 10 and have had him since), Death Howl on my troll-currently-worgen hunter. She was my everything-pet. I did everything with her and loved her to bits <3 While my RP has changed cause im a worgen now, i still have her and use her often when im playing my worgen.

I have the Blackrock Battle Worg (elite wolves in redridge that swarm you if you run past them or attack them) and i think his white worg is Lupos on my 34 hunter. Kinda going with a fire & ice scheme with the white worg. While Skoll isnt in the wolf family i have him on both my 85 worgen and my 82 troll hunters and i have Snarler on my 82 troll.

Unfortunately my 61 blood elf hunter hasnt found a wolf partner yet but she'll probably be taming the pvp black worg, and my draenei hunter who's turning into a bounty hunter for the consortium will also have the pvp worg. My lvl 20 orc has the lvl 1 saber worg from the human start ground but she'll be replacing him with Bjomolf for color scheme purposes.

Yesh, i have many hunters and they all have wolves or will have wolves. I love them soooooooo friggin muuuuuch <3 im a huge wolf fanatic in RL. Not HUUUGE but just, huge. :lol:

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 3:00 am
by Miacoda
I have 5 wolves, all on my worgen hunter, Espen. XD

The first is Odin! Odin is probably Espen's most bonded with companion other than his Mastiff Astrid. :) Odin is strong, brave, and very wise and loyal.
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Then there's Balder, he's extremely kind-hearted and loyal. :)
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Tyr is the more rebellious type. He loves battle and is very good at it, coming up with his own strategies instead of listening to his masters. But either way they're a good team and Tyr is relatively loyal to Espen when he feels like it. :P
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Freyr is more of the relaxed type. He loves nothing more than to sleep outside under the sun and just take in the beauty of the world.
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And last but not least, Fenrir! Fenrir has the best jaw-strength of the bunch. Like Tyr, he can find the thrill of battle easily. But instead of just charging in relying on strength, he uses his cunning and wits to his advantage. He'll attack form the shadows whenever possible.
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Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 5:04 am
by Niabi
Ah wolves! I have several of them spread across my various hunters.

Khau has two wolves in his stable, Kekoa (Ironjaw model/male) and Keahi (Red Worg/female). I adore having both skins for Khau but back when stable space was limited to only 5 slots, it was impractical to keep more than one wolf at the time. Kekoa stayed and I returned Keahi to the wilds until the fateful day it was announced that hunters would be able to tame a total of 25 pets in Cataclysm. The abundance of new stable space allowed me to go in search of Keahi once again without having to sacrifice space for any of my other pets. Plus, I think Kekoa is A LOT happier now that he has his soulmate back at his side :hug:

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Lyra is Niabi's wolf and was one of the original pets of hers back when stable space was only 3 slots. Incidentally, Lyra also shares the prestige of being the very first wolf I ever tamed among any of my hunters, and thus allowing me to fall in love with the pet family in the first place!

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Then there is my devilishly fierce and beautiful Arawn! Arawn belongs to my hunter Lilyth and probably took me the longest time to acquire due to his great talent for elusiveness!

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Drakara's wolf is a black-haired, blue-eyed beauty named Andromeda. She was found wandering the forests of Silverpine before finding a permanent home with my Orc and her other pets.

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Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 6:55 am
by Helsinki
I have had an extreme dislike for the entire wolf family for most of my wow career, and naturally this peaked during wrath when everybody had wolves out all of the time. I probably told every hunter I raided with something along the lines of, "If you're going to play with an ugly wolf, at least get the slightly less ugly brown coyote model!" The coyote models are definitely the most ragged, outdated model in the family but for some reason I kind of like them anyway. On my current hunter I decided to tame one as soon as I got to Westfall, so once I was level 10 I flew in and right in front of the flight path was a brown coyote staring at me, so I tamed him and he has been a loyal companion throughout my adventures. His face looks horrible so I named him Sharkface. I adore him :) Here's a picture of him hiding his creepy mouth from the camera:

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Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 9:35 am
by GormanGhaste
I had a black Worg named Kenli back in Wrath. I would pull out my Worg Pup, use Rituals of the New Moon (black wolf), and run around in my own wolf pack!

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 12:44 pm
by starkittens
YES! I get to show off my pretty doggies! *runs off to get pics*

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 6:53 am
by Snowwalker
Timber used to be Snow's faithful companion. I had my hubby take me the long trek to Dun Moro to get him. He went through so much with Snow.
Unfortunatly, when they changed the model and put that hideous black outlining around him, I just couldn't bear to see this ruined wolf. So I again made the trek back to his home, where he was left to live out his days, and a frostsaber became Snowwalker's new faithful companion, raising him from just a cub, to the mighty cat he is today.
I still love the wolf family, and Snow currently has a white saberworg for her wolf, though there is nowhere near that bond as there was with good ol' Timber.
Curse whoever's idea it was to put that ugly black outlining on the worgs...

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:21 am
by Mozag
Although the wolves are quite silly looking in the game, I still have several of all models on my hunters. I guess there's just something special about running around with your faithful wolf by your side.

Lomelinda's Sweet Pea is my dearest wolf pet, the two are best friends and except for a very brief period of madness, have been together ever since they became a team:
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Lindorindel's Ibun is a quiet, reliable guy who doesn't complain much but is a very steady dungeon buddy.
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Eshakaa's Ash is one of her collection of "common rares". He's surprisingly handsome for such an under-appreciated skin. I was instantly charmed by him, as I caught sight of him while he chased his fleet-footed deer prey. He's a rangy, sly, clever animal.
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Alburga's Wilde has gone through many different incarnations and was even a cat for a short time. But the diseased skin won the day in the end, although I may yet decide to let him loose once more, so that he may find friendship with my baby Undead. Wordsworth is the reborn Nekhebet, my first hunter's WotLK wolf. This is my personal favourite of the models/skins available, and I've always found the slightly insane eyes very charming. Wordsworth himself is a very classy gentle fellow though, who likes nothing more than to lounge in the grass under a hot sun.
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Garshanga is my wolf master, and her four wolves are all equally dear to her, although they work more as a pack and less out of loyalty to her. Rurik, Simeon, Attila and Guiscard can be found below, respectively.
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Dawnsong's Thunder and Moonrise are very different personalities. Thunder is much more like a dog than a wolf, enjoys learning new things and is always ready for more trouble. Moonrise is elegant and distant, more of a noble guardian than a pet.
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Mozag's Septic is wild and untamed, cruel and brutal. But the two are a deadly partnership.
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Zinzil's Balia is a newcomer and still quite unsure of her place in the hierarchy. She is also having a hard time coming to terms with the dry heat of Durotar.
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Salariel's Claudine is as elegant as her mistress and the two are a frequent sight in dungeons, working closely together.
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Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:35 pm
by Lisaara
Definitely love me some wolves!

My three favorites are the Black Coyote(aka Snarler) and the Red Worg(aka Barnabus) and the White Worg(Northrend).

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Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 9:09 pm
by Astratia
Ah, the Wolf Family. I recall a time when a wolf was required to raid. No wolf, no raid. Now, Astra didn't have any wolf of her own, but she was a raider... so guess who went out to find herself a wolf?

Now I've always liked the wolf family, but wasn't planning on taming any impulsively. I wanted to form a bond with the wolf that would be my raiding partner, since he/she would be with me for quite some time. So, before my raid approached, I went out to find the right partner.

Astra went from taming a Black Worg, to a White one, back to black, then to black wolf, an Armored black worg, and even a Vargul Blighthound. None of them seemed to click right though. Whether it was their all to simple acquirement, without a story to go with them, or just the fact I didn't feel anything from them I'm not too sure. Each one I liked (that armored one still is an impressive beast) , and were darn useful in the raids I did run with them, but each one was replaced by the next.

So, onto the most useful site for us hunters.. Petopia! I wanted to see if there were any wolves that would draw me in. The armored worg kept calling toward me, but it felt a bit odd to have something that looked so Horde like run next to my night elf. Then I saw him... a grey and black two toned worg, with really charming green eyes. Old Cliff Jumper. What was this? He was an unique rare as well? Oh, this would be interesting. So, I set out to see if Ol' Cliffy and I could hit it off.

What I thought was going to be a quick and easy tame (Cliff being a low level rare), ended up being a 13 hour hunt into the night. This was also when he was still an aggressive patrolling beast, so he would easily blend in with the other worgs out there. I feared for him that day since the area seemed to be very populated with questers and herbers during the day. I talked to a few people that were wondering what a level 80 was doing way out there, so I let them know I was after a tame. Most were pretty nice as well, saying they would help watch for me and not kill him :D So I stayed tabbed in the whole time, watching movies to keep me occupied as I ran around searching for him. It wasn't until 11pm that I had to leave. It was the night of the Halo Reach launch and I promised my boyfriend I would go with him.

Two hours later, after the Reach party I get home and was ready to call it a night. I had work the following morning and it was already 1am... but something called and told me to check one last time. So, I listened to that little voice and as soon as I logged in, one of the people I had spoken to earlier whispered me the second I was in game. He had seen Cliff about an hour ago, but I wasn't on...
An hour! Oh no, he's dead... but look.. just go look... So around and around I ran and suddenly... BOOM there he was! The crafty devil waited until his hunter had departed! Ha! So tame beast and the mischievous worg was mine!

Cliff has been one of my best pets in game. It was an instant bond after taming him. I swear it felt like his personality and whole self was shown in the fact he didn't spawn until I was long gone, and his overall character seemed to form with ease. I love this worg, and he will always have a permanent spot in my stables :D

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My first picture with Cliff right after the tame :D

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:14 am
by Ana
uhh wolves :D

The wolf i like the best, currently is my hordie hunters Kahluas dog Barkcardi.

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He has a lot of personality and i loooooove that he barks when i md to him :hug: cute puppy, i adore him.

Tårnfalk had several wolves over her time in wow; often triggered by her gear look, or where she were in the world.

Image, Haleycon. This lovely bicolored wolf was a faithfull companion during Tårnfalks time in outlands. She has been retired, until i maybe one day will find a use for her again.

Image, Neriak was a good part of Tårnfalks raiding, grping and questiong team while she was in Nortrend, but he longed for the wilderness and returned to Stormpeak.

Image, Kronos was a brif encounter, an entusiastic tame cause he was rare, but we did not click. Lovely wolf though, fits perfectly with the Jazerinth/crusader set

Image, SorteSlyngel was my first wolf on tårnfalk, tamed back when the wolf in Hinterlands ruins were a hard tame. He left her stable for many years, but have returned now, and is currently the only wolf in Tårnfalks stable. He is named after a mickey mouse char. THe phantom blob is (one) of Mickeys arch-enemy and acording to disney - he is a wolf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_Blot
My belowed wolf always seamd to have a bit of " i´m wicked evil" about him, so it seamed to fit him.

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:14 pm
by Aritria
Though I've never been one to tame Wolves myself, or not often, I do enjoy the looks of many of them, especially Ironjaw and the Sabre Worgs. If Karoma was part of the wolf family, I might wait in line to grab him, but one spirit beast is often enough for me on any given Huntress I have.

You all have tamed such beautiful wolves, their bond with your characters are abounding in the screenshots you guys have provided!

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 2:18 am
by Rhyela
I've always liked wolves, ever since Vanilla. The one I've tamed the most is Mist Howler. He, Snarler and Ghost Howl are probably my favorites. :) I don't have Mist Howler currently on any of my hunters, but now I'm thinking I might fix that by taming him on Meenx. :D

Rhyela and Skaza (Snarler):

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Ariela and Alastor (Ghost Howl):

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Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:56 am
by Kyria
I love that teeny tiny warpie under Alastor's hind paw, Rhyela! :lol: Too precious.

Re: Random Pet Family Appreciation Thread 5: Wolves!

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:49 am
by Rhyela
Yeah, I spotted him wandering around and waited until he was looking up at Alastor to take the picture. :) I thought it was cute, too!