Eyes of the Beast (feedback needed)

[Kalliope]

As we all know, Eyes of the Beast will no longer exist in Cataclysm. I'm working on a project that spotlights how this fun little ability still has practical (and fun) use in the current game and why we'll miss it in the expansion....and ultimately, why we should keep it.

So please post (or PM me) why you'll miss Eyes of the Beast the most.

[Teigan]

Glad you are going ahead with this, Kalli.
I'll miss the group pet chases and races, being able to be weird and quirky and pretend I'm a kitty or whatever, following people around Dal or other places as my pet and trying to get them to play with me, following lowbies in starter areas with a devilsaur, using my pet to explore and generally enjoying the bond.

[Vephriel]

For functionality I have always used it for those annoying ledge jumps in instances and such. I find it faster than dismissing and recalling a pet, I simply take control of them, jump them over, then follow with my character.

For sentimental reasons I'm really choked about losing it as just a fun feature. Being able to take direct control of your pet is a harmless perk, and I've always loved using it to take a better look at a newly tamed pet. See it's animations, runs, walks, jumps....I'm sure people use it all the time in roleplaying, and who doesn't love randomly making your pet dance around or go explore something without needing to take yourself. I know I've often used a pet to test out precarious or dangerous places, just in case I would get stuck or be unable to return, they can go ahead and scope it out.

I'm really upset over the loss of it. I don't see why they're even bothering to take it away even with the new Move To command. Eyes of the Beast doesn't affect our class in any negative way, so why not just leave it in. Hopefully they may reconsider. *crosses fingers*

[Saturo]

I think you're all forgetting the most important use of it!
Raping druids!

[Raydex-of-the-dawn]

Letting my Old Cliff "Jumper" live up to his name...jumping off those cliffs instead of walking around and aggroing.

[Nick]

For functionality I have always used it for those annoying ledge jumps in instances and such. I find it faster than dismissing and recalling a pet, I simply take control of them, jump them over, then follow with my character.

That's pretty much my main use for it is. Groups tend to hop right into battle off a ledge and I get a lot of flack from them while I'm dismissing my pet (on the occasion that I forget about having Eyes of the Beast >->).

[Kalliope]

Other than the ledges in Nexus, what other specific areas can you all think of where you have your pet avoid terrible pathing issues?

[Shandorei]

For functionality I have always used it for those annoying ledge jumps in instances and such. I find it faster than dismissing and recalling a pet, I simply take control of them, jump them over, then follow with my character.

[MaximumOverdrive]

I actually used my pet a lot for exploring a cave or something...especially when I was doing Netherwing rep, and didn't want to go all the way into the cave for eggs to look for, I'd do Eyes of the Beast, dash and explore the whole cave lookin for eggs in about 2 uses of it...and the pet caused less agro then goin in personally lol

[Quin]

I've used it in PvP to set my mount up to guard the flag, etc.

I like it quite a bit and since it doesn't really give an unfair advantage to Hunters, I hope they keep it.

[Wassa]

Eyes of the Beast is the best spell hunters have for role-playing our pets. I know people on PvP and PvE servers might not get this, but I will miss being able to move my pet around, make her jump for joy, and play out her personality with emotes and movement.

That... and having my wolf jump on the bodies of people who won't run back after a wipe in an instance, hehe.

I also use Eyes of the Beast for exploring, especially in dangerous places such as unfinished areas where there can be high cliffs and holes in the world. One wrong step and you fall to your death.

[Sorcha Ravenlock]

I personally don't use it, but my daughter uses it a lot, mainly for roleplaying reasons. Making it jump for joy, having her pet hiding shyly, sneaking her lion through a city, it's all a lot of fun for her.

She also uses the cat's prowl for scouting out an area sometimes I believe.

But what an odd decision to cut out a skill like that! I can understand not implementing it in the first place, but now it's there it's a harmless and fun skill and I can't see of any reason for removing it. I hope they change their minds on this...

[Teigan]

I know people on PvP and PvE servers might not get this, but I will miss being able to move my pet around, make her jump for joy, and play out her personality with emotes and movement.

I'm not on an RP server, but believe me, I get it!

[VelkynKarma]

Other than the ledges in Nexus, what other specific areas can you all think of where you have your pet avoid terrible pathing issues?

I use it in a number of other instances too, besides the Nexus.

You have to use it at least 3 times in Nexus...twice for the ledges near Anomalus and once when you jump out of that tunnel after the giant-whose-name-escapes-me-at-the-moment.

At least once in Gundrak, when you jump into the water.

At least once in Old Kingdom, when you jump down right before engaging all those packs near the elementals. (I was actually praised for this yesterday. The tank warned in party to 'get rid of pets' since there was a lock, and waited for us to do so. As soon as he saw my bear moving on its own though, when I used EotB, he seemed satisfied and jumped down. I set my bear down after him, targeted the mob he was on, started my pet attacking, dropped EotB, and jumped down myself to contribute).

Personally I prefer EotB to Dismissal now. Dismiss Pet takes way longer, makes groups antsy, and I can't contribute with it in the interim. EotB is more versatile, allows me to contribute slightly even while controlling my pet, and is overall safer.

Besides the ledges, I remember one hilarious incident in PvP with my hyena. I was guarding the stable flag in Arathi Basin and thought i saw some stuff going on down the way, so I EotB'd my hyena and sent him running off to see what was going on. There was a huge battle going on at the base of the mountain, and I knew I wouldn't get there in time on Sil if I snapped back, so I threw myself into the fray as Jia and actually saved a clothie XP

~VelkynKarma

[kamoodle5]

Eyes of the Beast is a spell I don't use too often, only for making my pets jump those difficult ledges when I need to jump down there, but I will miss it if Blizz goes on with their plan to remove EotB from the game.

It has always been fun having my controlled pet run around in places and do something like slowly kill Gamon in Org. I've never really tried the strategy of controlling my cat in stealth to check things out at a closer range; when I am not inside, I use Eagle Eye to see things more clearly. Also, since I don't play in any of the pvp realms, I've never tried the strategy of my stealthed cat sneaking up on people, although two years ago, I did do that once to some lowbies attacking the guards at Freewind Post in 1K Needles. However, I did not use EotB at that event.

What I did not like, however, when it comes to using EotB is to make your pets do something that is considered cruel to the pet, like jumping off of cliffs and actually dying or make it get brutally beaten by mobs and not do anything. I say only EotB should be allowed for players that care for their animals.

[MaximumOverdrive]

Forgot to mention too, I also used it to send a pet with dash to attack a Fel Reaver then lure it into Thrallmar (I need the dead reaver for my key) and that worked pretty well for that too.

I admit tho, I also did it to piss people off, tho it was usually after I was tryin to defend HH. But I have lured him into HH before...

[sixthdeammonfox]

I will miss it because, I use it with prowl to scout around if needed and to see like, what the bottem of the water fall in darnassus looks like and things like that.

[Lohuran]

I mainly used Eyes of the Beast as a quick way to get my pet over a ledge.

But by far the most fun I've ever had with it was when two flagged gnome mages were hanging around the road between Razor Hill and Orgrimmar and tricking lowbies into attacking them. I used Eyes of the Beast on my Cat from a distance, prowled up to them, and one-shot them with Claw.

There's something so satisfying about a Dreadsaber owning a level 22 gnome mage.

[Anyia]

But by far the most fun I've ever had with it was when two flagged gnome mages were hanging around the road between Razor Hill and Orgrimmar and tricking lowbies into attacking them. I used Eyes of the Beast on my Cat from a distance, prowled up to them, and one-shot them with Claw.

There's something so satisfying about a Dreadsaber owning a level 22 gnome mage.

Now that's an excellent use of EotB!

@Kalli: /signed for return of the EotB - I'll miss not being able to scout with Vanity (my ghost saber), and the general playfulness it enabled.

[Renle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXYl4kwVdJc

^ This video should show just how useful EoB can be.
In the video the hunter uses the pet to tank Sindra, and uses it to reposition the pet after the air phases.
I'm not saying there are gonna be a ton of raid fights in cata that can be pet tanked, but it does show that even now it has a use.

I've always used it to check on things like whether you can fall from certain ledges inside instances, and scouting ahead with a prowling pet is EXTREMELY useful.

It's also a ton of fun to play around with. Quite frankly I'd rather loose Eagle Eye over Eyes of the Beast ANY day.