Random Pet Challenge [v4.0]

[Finduilas]

Meh, my internet is making problems. I tamed the white lion so long ago he became a permanent member of Merowen's stables by now, but my internet keeps crashing when making longer posts (no problems in wow, strangely). I love Winter to pieces but I don't know when I will be able to post the review of him. Hopefully we will get the new hardware and access codes soon...

[Minty]

If real life is giving you a break for a bit and you're less busy, perhaps you could assign me one. Leaving the info here in case you find time ^_^

Name: Minty
Level: 85
Exotics: yes
Restrictions: no spirit beasts as I have too many already, and please no spiders, scorpions, wasps or any of the silithid models. All of those give me the heebie-jeebies, with silithids and tarantula's in particular.

[TygerDarkstorm]

Minty:
Blue Rhino

[Finduilas]

So internet is back to working how it's supposed to and I can finally bring my report about the white lion.
You can get the white lion in two different ways: 1) is to be horde and to tame Echeyakee when doing the quest in the barrens, or as alliance get a horde friend to make him spawn during the quest and tame him 2) is to tame the rare Sian-Rotam in Winterspring.
Merowen had already done the Echeyakee quest, so taming the questmob wasn't an option for me. I had set my mind on Sian-Rotam. I happen to see him quite often during questing or when flying around there. So I was hoping to find Sian soon. I already was questing in Winterspring and went to check his spawn. Of course he wasn't up, but I got lucky a few hours later. I put down a freeezing trap and tamed the white cat.
It was the first cat the random challenge had ever assigned me and I was quite happy it was this pretty guy. I love the white lion to pieces on my Orc and found a quick bond with Merowen, too. I named him Winter, matching his white fur and the zone I tamed him in.
For me Winter's skin is one of the prettiest cat skins. I love his silver mane and tail-ending. The greyish-blue eyes and white whiskers, everything matches nicely with this cat. Sadly you can see that it's an old model. His mane is pixelated and from some angles he looks quite blocky. During his "turn the head to the side"-animation, it somehow seems like the head isn't really belonging to the body anymore and you have to seperate cat-parts (botheres me especially in the pic below - and what has been seen cannot be unseen). I really like the model, but it definetely deserves a makeover.

Merowen experienced lots of adventures with Winter. I had him out during questing, pvp and dungeons. First on the list was questing in Winterspring. Winter proved himself a decent tank. With Growl and Kill Command he had no problems keeping the attention of one mob. He's not made for tanking groups or taking hard damage, but it's was really good to quest with him.
After a few quests I decided to check out all the animations this cat would have. First one, and I think most known to all cat owners it the stretch-and-yawn. It's something rl-cats like to do, and wow cats seem to like even more. When not moving every once in a while the cat will stratch and yawn loudly. I know there are people who are annoyed by the sound, but I like it. It makes my pet feel more alive with personality. Then there is the already mentioned head-turn. The cat will turn the head to look around. It's a cute animation, but after seeing the screenshot I feel kind of scared because it looks like two different cats glued together. Winter's swimming animation was basically a dog-paddle with the head held high. In the water his model also seemd to be less blocky and pixelated. As a passionate Beasmaster Merowen of course had the abilty to make her pet big-red-angry-pet. While being clicked on Winter would turn the most cutest of strawberry-pink and not really intimidating. But when you don't hav him clicked on he makes an awesome impression being bigger than Merowen and bright red.

Merowen and Winter also went to a battleground together. Sadly they were level 57 at this point and got quite stomped on by all the new DKs and people in Outland gear in the bg. It wasn't fun at all so I decided to wait for bgs untill level 64 so the gear difference would be a bit straightened out. Doing a few more quests in Winterspring made Mero and Winter reach level 58 and the headed to the Outlands. Questing around Thrallmar was fun once again. The mobs didn't die with the first shot and several even made a challenge again so it was fun. Then Mero and Winter got called to the Hellfire Ramparts to kill evil orcs and their enslaved dogs. In a group without DK and warrior Winter's strength and agility buff provided a useful help to the group. His damage was really nice and all mobs died pretty fast. Mero and Winter even made top dps despite being the lowest level. Winter's fighting animations are smooth and nice to watch. He mostly hits with his claws leaving bloodtrails behind him. His sounds are menacing growling and hissing, everything you would expect from a big angry cat. For me the cat sounds are the best pet fighting sounds because for me they seem so real.
A few dungeons and quests later they dinged level 60 and Merowen went to Orgrimmar to buy a wyvern. When mounting I noticed how similar the wyvern's and Winter's faces were. Two buddies were born.


I would like to sign up for a new challenge, but it might take some time for me to do it, because RL is kicking some butt lately.
Name: Rhanya (Bloodelf)
Level: 39
Exotics: not yet
Restrictions: nothing diseased please.
I don't mind walking in enemy territory with her (snagged myself duskstalker from teldrassil and a fox from redrige).

[TygerDarkstorm]

Finduilas(Rhanya):
Green and Blue Ravager


Don't worry about needing to take a little time to get this done, Findu. As you can see, the thread moves pretty slow anymore.

[Minty]

I wasn't looking forward to flying all the way to Gun'Drak from Valiance keep, but after I checked the Petopia page again I saw these rhino's also run around in Sholazar. It took me a day or two before I could figure out what to name him, in the end I settled on Hyperion (after one of the Titans, since this is the biggest pet I've tamed since my devilsaurs).

I wasn't too keen on the model - in my head rhino's look like this, while in the game they are far more 'chunky' and the face puts me off - I think it's the teeth. I was assuming at first that I wouldn't keep this pet, but after I'd named him and did my dailies with him for a while, I'm not so sure anymore. He'll likely be the first to go if I need more stable space in MoP, though - my spirit beasts and devilsaur are the only ones I'll keep, since I'm not fond of filling my stables with spec-specific animals.

I tried running some dungeons with him, but people weren't very keen on the rhino so I gave him somewhat of a hybrid spec, if you could call it that.

With the Glyph of Misdirection, he has no trouble keeping aggro. I pulled about 10 spiders at the same time (for the sake of a screenshot) but between killing them and running away from horde that is killing me, I didn't manage to get any decent screen shots in.

Rhino's have a special ability called Horn Toss: the rhino punts the enemy with its mighty horn, knocking them back a great distance. (1,5 min cooldown) I thought this was sort of a nice ability for PVP when you want to create a bit of a gap, so I went back to the spiderplace in TBP, hoping to find horde. After a little while I did, and soon I tried taking a blood dk on (herp). I managed to punt him away, but he was standing in front of a tree so he only flew back a little bit. It seemed like that had made him aware of my pet's existence, because he then began killing it (and succeeded - I felt a little ashamed for just leaving him behind).

I wrapped up the rest of my quests and continued into Tol Barad, where we took on some crocs and I managed to get a semi-decent shot of what a punted target looks like. In reality, the enemy actually flies back quite the distance and depending on the mob it looks quite hilarious. The croc in the picture is about at half the height he will be thrown at, so they actually 'fly up' quite the bit.

To me, he is still mostly a tanking pet, so I don't see much reason to keep him over my turtle, but I'm having some trouble just yet letting him go. Truth be told, I can't say if this is because of the pet or because of the name - I'm still not at ease looking at his face. I have about five more days of dailies to do, I'll see how I feel after that. One last shot here, posing in Stormwind under the effects of Kibbler's Bits.

Edit: I slimmed down the size of the pictures a bit.

[HawkseyesX]

Well since I have no room on my 85, I guess Ill go with my 19 twink

Name:arcturiis
Level:19
Exotics: cant
REstrictions: no bats! Please! They are evil

Edit: please note that he is my 19 twink, and will not be leveling up any time soon
Edit2: i freed a space on my 85, so...
Name: hawkseyes
level: 85
exotics: sure
rares: all SBs and all rares in molten front, also have chrom from BWL
Restrictions: no bats and no diseased

[Sakilah]

Name: Sakilah
Level: 69
Exotics: yes
Restrictions: none

[TygerDarkstorm]

Sorry for the delay on the rolls.

HawkseyesX(Hawkseyes):
Terrorpene


::OR::

Green Cataclysm Crocolisk


Sakilah:
Red Core Hound

[Corpsebryde]

I meant to write awhile ago but work has kept me away. I received Chromag as my roll but I already have him. Should I still do a report on him or ask for another roll?

[TygerDarkstorm]

When you list the rares you have as part of your sign up, that implies that if I roll that rare you're willing to give a report on it.

[Corpsebryde]

Oh ok. Will do then.

[HawkseyesX]

Lol I have terropene already, forgot to put thy one in there, so green cataclysm croc it is! Might take a bit though, finals week sucks

[TygerDarkstorm]

Like I said with Corpsebryde, Hawk: If you list the rares you have, and even if I roll you a pet you have already in general, it is requested that you actually give a report on that pet. However, since you had a choice on your roll anyway, the green Cata croc will be fine.

If you guys need to, please read through the rules on the front page. I feel like people are filling out the form without actually knowing why they're listing things like the rares they have.

[HawkseyesX]

I seemed to have lost all my screenshots -_- yay finals week stress...

[TygerDarkstorm]

Bump to remind people of their rolls.

[Corpsebryde]

Sorry about the delay; work has been dominating my life lately

For my challenge I got Chromaggus. He is already a part of my stables and his name is Havoc.

Chromaggus is a unique-skinned core hound who can only be found as a boss in Blackwing Lair. You will need at least 2 people for this tame in order to get through the first boss. The actual tame of Chromag is not difficult at max level though.

The first thing I notice about this pet is his gorgeous, shiny skin. His detail is extraordinary. I especially love his eyes which just seem so alive and reptilian.


His idle animation includes a savage roar from both of his heads. He is quite fluid in his movement on the ground and his skin shines as he walks and runs.


However, he completely lacks a swim animation. While in the water he simply walks as usual. It's quite disappointing that the art team would make such a beautiful model yet fail to animate it completely.


When sent to attack he runs and lets out a mighty roar. As with all core hounds, Havoc's main attack is Lava Breath which reduces the target's attack speed by 25% for 10 seconds. Like many pet family abilities, this attack does not appear to work on bosses. When using this attack he will open both mouths very wide and spew fire. His exotic ability is Ancient Hysteria which is identical to a shaman's Bloodlust.


Being a ferocity pet, what Havoc lacks in tanking ability he makes up for in dps. He is always in my active stables and I plan to take him on many more adventures in Mists.



I'd love to have another roll.
Name: Corpsebryde
Level: 85
Exotics: Sure
Restrictions: Spirit beasts; I've tamed them all before. Brown Fox, Chromaggus
Rares: Deth'tilac, Chromaggus, Harakiss the Infestor, red Maddex, Scarr

[Finduilas]

How to tame your Deathravager as low level horde member

My pet challenge was the blue and green ravager for my low level hunter Rhanya. This ravager only exists on the Draenei starting island and is quite a challenge to get as horde. Rhanya is a hunter that likes the thrill of the hunt and the adrenalin rush a travel through enemy territory gives her. When starting my challenge Rhanya was level 39, which means slow riding skill and not many hp. I want to make this pet report also a taming guide on how you can get this pet even with a low level horde hunter without death.

First you have to ride to Darkshore. There you have to go to the place where the ocean between Darkshore and Teldrassil is the narrowest. I marked it with a red circle on my map so you can see where I started. When you stand on this rock you can already see the outlines of Teldrassil in the distance. Then you have two options to cross the water. Option 1 is to have a Elixir of Water Walking, you have to be level 35 to use it. Option 2 is to have a friendly dk help you with path of frost. I already did this ride with both options and they both work well. Then you have to start riding in a straight line. Don't worry about the exhaustion that will start a countdown. Even with slow riding you can reach safe water again without any problems. You just have to ride straight ahaid until you can see the ships in the harbor of Ruth'theran.


Then you should avoid the land and ride on the water in a circle to the boat to Azurmyst Isle. When you look on your map it's the boat to the left. I marked it with an arrow so you can see the right place. Then you have to climb the footbridge to get onto your boat. There is a rock next to it from where you can jump on the footbridge without getting aggro from the two guards. I marked the guards with arrows and in the pic Rhanya is standing on this rock. Then you just have to wait for the boat to arrive. The guards on the boat may be skull-level and enemy red, but they won't attack you unless you attack them first. So just ride your mount on the boat and wait for it to ship you to Azurmyst Isle.


The next part of your journey will lead you to the northern side of the island. In a cage the blue and green death ravager is waiting to be tamed. To get him out of the cage just kill the other ravagers that are all around the area until they drop a key to open the cage. Then it's the normal trap-and-tame process and this pet is yours.


I named my ravager Arys. I had this pet before on Findu and had a hard time keeping him until I released him back in the wild. First thing I noticed was that he was bigger than my bloodelf, and I think her pets aren't even maximum size yet. So this guy is quite big despite his fragile appearance. He is standing on his four tiny legs that always remind me of a camping cooking stove, while his body reminds me of a shrimp. Not so nice to think of your pet as shrimp on stove... His mouth is the thing that keeps me from liking this alien pet. It's the enormous long grown fangs on the lower lip while the teeth on the upper lip are quite small and normal. These fangs make him do a creepy permanent grin. His body has spikes attached on the side while tha back stays bare. I think it's strange for a pet to leave the back unprotected, but I guess his shell-like skin will do this job.
I really liked his colors. The aqua blue and green remind me of coral reefs and holiday. It's a nice combination and I think he's the only pet with these colors combined.


When I started walking around with Arys to take the screenshots I noticed his special walk first. He makes himself really flat and glides over the ground although he seems to have hurt a leg, he's moving limping, getting slower and then faster again to catch up with my hunter. I took Arys to a few dungeons and battlegrounds with me to test out dps and abilities.
The ravagers have a ability called "Ravage" that causes the enemy to take more physical damage. It has a 10,5 sec cooldown for my beastmaster and I still think it's too long. First I noticed that his ability doesn't seem to be top priority for my ravager and he uses it only when the other abilities like bite and growl are on cooldown and by this time on low level the mobs usually are almost dead. So he uses the ability and the mob is dead within a matter of seconds. The debuff would last 25 seconds but even during bossfights the low level bosses were dying so fast I couldn't notice a positive effect on the dps compared to a spider or bird. Ravagers belong to the cunning pet family so I don't compare his dps with a cat or wolf. I see him more in pandaria when you could make him a ferocity pet. For pvp even though he is a "pvp family pet" I wouldn't use him, I prefer birds (no weapon stupid warrior hehe), spiders and wasps.
His attack animations are worth mentioning. He has a variety of animations I miss on other pets. It's not just the normal run to target and bite, he also attacks with his "feet"/"legs" whatever you might call it and sometimes he does a really cute roll. I managed to get a pic of the "deathroll" when it was almost finished. He gets up in the air really high and seems to attack the target with his spikes.
While swimming Arys reminded me of a squid (an other water animal relation...), he uses his legs to push himself forward. Making himself very slim and then pulling himself together and pushing the legs out. It's hard to describe, but you have to see it yourself.
His sounds were annoying for me. Whoever had to fight tons of ravagers in outlands knows their sounds. Arys's sounds were a bit more quiet but still annoying for me. It's a sound I just remember with unpleasant and annoying quests, so this might be the reason I didn't like to hear him fight at all.


Arys and ravagers in gerneral are a familiy I really have trouble bonding with. I had Arys for a few weeks now and I find myself avoiding him. He is in my active list, but I still don't use him. I will perhaps give them a try again in Pandaria when I can make them ferocity. But for now I will release Arys into the wild again.

I'm asking for one more roll, but again it might take some time for me to finish and it might be my last for a while, because a lot events are coming up the next two months (my birthday, wedding and big wedding celebration). This roll will be for Findu.

Name: Finduilas
Level: 85
Exotics: yes
Restrictions: nothing deseased please.
Rares she has (and would happily report about): Ankha, Olm the Wise, Terrorpene, Karoma, Sambas, Loque, Skoll, Ban'thalos, Kirix and red Madexx.

[Daranara]

May I have one, please? :3

Name: Franzie
Level: 80
Exotics: yes
Restrictions: none!
Rares she has (and would happily report about): Arcturius

[TygerDarkstorm]

Derp, silly me forgetting to give these out the other day. >_<

Also, Finduilas, that is amazing that not only did you just give a report on your pet, you gave a wonderful guide to help any low level Horde hunters that may want the awesome Death Ravager. ^_^

Corpsebryde:
Red Boar


Finduilas:
Ghostly Blue Two-Headed Vulture

I'm not sure if this is too diseased for you or anything Fin so let me know if you're uncomfortable with it and I'll give you a reroll.

Daranara(Franzie):
Hunched Orange Striped Cat