Analysis of new Pet Abilities

[Worba]

Good Point! I was actually pondering something similar earlier today.
Maybe they should rename the bite/smack/claw attacks to something like: Rip/Tear/Slash/Smash etc. to show that a creature has many different ways that they can attack.

As I said in another thread, it's window dressing. It's the same functionality, regardless of what it's called. Does it REALLY make that much of a difference?

No.

[Turgus]

Kalliope wrote:

Turgus wrote:
Good Point! I was actually pondering something similar earlier today.
Maybe they should rename the bite/smack/claw attacks to something like: Rip/Tear/Slash/Smash etc. to show that a creature has many different ways that they can attack.

As I said in another thread, it's window dressing. It's the same functionality, regardless of what it's called. Does it REALLY make that much of a difference?

No, it really doesn't matter or make a difference to me. But, I think we are on the same page there.

Some people might prefer some change like that though.
But, I guess they should be the ones stating it, and not me assuming that is something that they would want.

I can only represent my own thoughts and ideas, and no one else's.

[ForestTroll]

It really feels more-like we're playing a warlock now, I always thought hunters were supposed to be about a special bond between a troll and his animal, but now it's more like go tame 25 random ass things and your group will tell you what to bring. It entirely reminds me of playing my lock where I use an imp for some things a felhunter for other things and a void etc for other things.

Oh well I guess no hyena for me anymore, it'll be all about the warp stalker. :O

[Kalliope]

It really feels more-like we're playing a warlock now, I always thought hunters were supposed to be about a special bond between a troll and his animal, but now it's more like go tame 25 random ass things and your group will tell you what to bring.

Actually, you can kinda bend the system to your will, if you feel like putting in a lot of time and effort.

I spent at least an hour on the PTR today pawing through and testing raptors to see who clicks with Kalli. I'd never really pictured her with a raptor, so I did a lot of taming and ended up with one I never expected to bond with. (I figure my 10m is likely to need the sunder debuff at some point!) I re-tamed Orpheus as a brown tarantula for arena, NEVER expecting that this little ball of fuzz was going to become his permanent form. It just plain worked.

You can cultivate attachments to your pets on your terms, even if you have to tame a pet you never would have given a second glance to otherwise. It just might take some time and/or trial and error to find the right fit.


(Meet Psyche. <3)

[Ellaran]

It really feels more-like we're playing a warlock now, I always thought hunters were supposed to be about a special bond between a troll and his animal, but now it's more like go tame 25 random ass things and your group will tell you what to bring. It entirely reminds me of playing my lock where I use an imp for some things a felhunter for other things and a void etc for other things.

Oh well I guess no hyena for me anymore, it'll be all about the warp stalker. :O

Course, you can also think of it as instead of merely one animal that you're forced to bond with because everyone tells you to, you can now have an entire stable of beasts that will be able to aid you in many different ways. You'll have your own personal army, all able to lend their special powers to whatever situation you find yourself in.

[Turgus]

Warning- This has nothing to do with Game Mechanics


I think of my BM hunter being kind of like Rexxar, not one for "civilization" but much more at home in the wild.

So I personally hate the idea of having my "pets" stored at the "stables."

I think of my hunter pets more as animal companions and friends.
That throughout all of his adventures, traveling throughout the land (forests, deserts, etc,) he made friends with creatures big and small. (Big-Hunter pets, and Small- Companions)
They all aid him when they can (pet summon being the call for assistance) but they do have a life of their own, packs to lead, mates and "pups" to take care of, etc.
Of course, if one particular animal companion hangs out for a longer period of time (5 levels or so) maybe he/she hasn't decided to "settle down" yet. Or is still looking for a good territory. Or for (insert your own idea here) reason.

To me, the larger the number of pets (or animal friends/ companions as I prefer) that he can call to for assistance, the better this idea of being able to call to the many creatures of the land for assistance works for me.

Of course I have my favorite, (King Krush aka Chomper) but my other pets help my hunter out quite a bit (The Beast aka LootMe (he loves alliance caster, NomNomNom,) Loque'nahak aka Taylor (he is always sneaking around even when I don't want him to,) Aotona aka Crackers (always stealing stuff, if you want it, don't put it down,) and Nuramoc aka PoiPoi(who loves making everyones hair stand on end))

Each of them has such a strong personality ( an invention of my imagination of course,) that I find it kind of silly to think that they sit around in the stables waiting to be let out. If anything they would "let themselves out" and come back when they were done with whatever they were going to do.

I can not wait to add to their numbers, with all the pets I had before but got rid of to be able to be able to tame my rare-spawns.
You can never have enough friends

But thats how I justify the stable as it is and with these changes, and it works for me.
Of course, mileage does very, and what works for me, might not work for others.

[ForestTroll]

I've always liked having ONE animal, call me crazy but I just always liked having one animal one animal that I chose to be my pal.

I guess I'm going BM and getting The Beast, cuz I imagine he's the most general blanket pet I can get and I don't mind looking at him.

Maybe I am thinking too deep into it that these animals are not our buddies they are acquaintances

[Gundo]

oddly it would be this thread that makes me want to finally join the forums...


So Lonnnnnnnnnng time reader first time poster.


Thank you to Jay for posting this its nice to see what’s happening with the pets in cata. I personally think this is wonderful changes. So sick of using a wolf in raids and having a variety of pets to choose from in pve/pvp is just plain epic. Its nice to see that pets are getting abilities that make them a lot more versatile!

[Sukurachi]

I tried reading through this whole thread... sorry, I'm not a raider. I'm a solo/duo kinda guy.
I use a Spirit Beast because of the ranged attack (Spirit Strike) it can open with. It extends my pulling range, and also allows me to stay QUITE safely out of harms way while my pet builds aggro.

So, do I understand correctly that all of my Spirit Beasts will be completely useless for this now?

[Worba]

I tried reading through this whole thread... sorry, I'm not a raider. I'm a solo/duo kinda guy.
I use a Spirit Beast because of the ranged attack (Spirit Strike) it can open with. It extends my pulling range, and also allows me to stay QUITE safely out of harms way while my pet builds aggro.

So, do I understand correctly that all of my Spirit Beasts will be completely useless for this now?

Unless their second skill turns out to be a ranged debuff of some kind (not a bad idea - might as well use that cool animation for something eh?), your pet will need to use charge.

[Rulah]

I've always liked having ONE animal, call me crazy but I just always liked having one animal one animal that I chose to be my pal.

I guess I'm going BM and getting The Beast, cuz I imagine he's the most general blanket pet I can get and I don't mind looking at him.

Maybe I am thinking too deep into it that these animals are not our buddies they are acquaintances

So if you want only one pet then use only one pet, but then don't complain when groups say no or call you a huntard because you refuse to bring a buff they need.

This patch is for those of us who are tired of staring at a wolf, regardless of how many different skins we tried (I settled on one from HFR for my troll but am still not entirely happy about it). Now the casuals can continue to have the one pet they love just because and raiders can have whatever one pet they want (typically) just because they like it too.

To the dude upset because of spirit beast's change making it harder to "pull" things. What exactly are you doing that requires that?

[Mang]

It really feels more-like we're playing a warlock now, I always thought hunters were supposed to be about a special bond between a troll and his animal, but now it's more like go tame 25 random ass things and your group will tell you what to bring. It entirely reminds me of playing my lock where I use an imp for some things a felhunter for other things and a void etc for other things.

Oh well I guess no hyena for me anymore, it'll be all about the warp stalker. :O

Um, yah I'm an 80 warlock main and I can tell you, warlocks don't switch pets for the sake of utility. Each raiding spec currently has exactly no less than one pet that is in any way viable for that spec, for good or ill.

Hunters are a completely different animal.

Also Hyenas are great in Cataclysm. 30% more damage?

[Zeilla8]

It really feels more-like we're playing a warlock now, I always thought hunters were supposed to be about a special bond between a troll and his animal, but now it's more like go tame 25 random ass things and your group will tell you what to bring.

Actually, you can kinda bend the system to your will, if you feel like putting in a lot of time and effort.

I spent at least an hour on the PTR today pawing through and testing raptors to see who clicks with Kalli. I'd never really pictured her with a raptor, so I did a lot of taming and ended up with one I never expected to bond with. (I figure my 10m is likely to need the sunder debuff at some point!) I re-tamed Orpheus as a brown tarantula for arena, NEVER expecting that this little ball of fuzz was going to become his permanent form. It just plain worked.

You can cultivate attachments to your pets on your terms, even if you have to tame a pet you never would have given a second glance to otherwise. It just might take some time and/or trial and error to find the right fit.


(Meet Psyche. <3)

I had that one. I can't wait to get her again. Mine was named 'Daisy', I really loved her and am glad I will have a raid use for her again! And I totally agree with what you said: that's how I feel.

[ForestTroll]

It really feels more-like we're playing a warlock now, I always thought hunters were supposed to be about a special bond between a troll and his animal, but now it's more like go tame 25 random ass things and your group will tell you what to bring. It entirely reminds me of playing my lock where I use an imp for some things a felhunter for other things and a void etc for other things.

Oh well I guess no hyena for me anymore, it'll be all about the warp stalker. :O

Um, yah I'm an 80 warlock main and I can tell you, warlocks don't switch pets for the sake of utility. Each raiding spec currently has exactly no less than one pet that is in any way viable for that spec, for good or ill.

Hunters are a completely different animal.

Also Hyenas are great in Cataclysm. 30% more damage?

Hyenas get 30% more bleed damage or whatever mangle is.

And my main is a warlock as well, and I do switch pets for utility all the time, more-so when I'm soloing than when raiding though.

[Mang]

It really feels more-like we're playing a warlock now, I always thought hunters were supposed to be about a special bond between a troll and his animal, but now it's more like go tame 25 random ass things and your group will tell you what to bring. It entirely reminds me of playing my lock where I use an imp for some things a felhunter for other things and a void etc for other things.

Oh well I guess no hyena for me anymore, it'll be all about the warp stalker. :O

Um, yah I'm an 80 warlock main and I can tell you, warlocks don't switch pets for the sake of utility. Each raiding spec currently has exactly no less than one pet that is in any way viable for that spec, for good or ill.

Hunters are a completely different animal.

Also Hyenas are great in Cataclysm. 30% more damage?

Hyenas get 30% more bleed damage or whatever mangle is.

And my main is a warlock as well, and I do switch pets for utility all the time, more-so when I'm soloing than when raiding though.

OP didn't specify what damage was getting a 30% buff from hyenas, and I haven't browsed the wowhead datamines really at length. D:

Edit: Do hunters actually have a bleed or a build that uses them?

Also it looks like lock pets are supposed to be a lot closer to each other in damage in Cataclysm even for Demo, which is interesting to me too.

[Saturo]

Edit: Do hunters actually have a bleed or a build that uses them?

MM has a bleed, but it isn't really powerful enough to warrant a pet to buff it. The real use of bleed increase is for warriors, rogues and feral druids.

[minko]

You forget that the pet buffs are weaker than the class buffs, so we're not going to be sought out only for those over what pallies, druids, priests, etc can do, UNLESS it's a 5-man or 10-man and there may be a gap in what can be provided. And a hunter won't be chosen over a shaman for the sole fact that their Core Hound can Bloodlust.

K 1st off thats incorrect. Pet buffs are exact copies of class buffs on beta.

Heres a repost of what I said on wow forums in regards to hunters complaining about these changes and that they would be forced too tame 25 pets just too get into a raid group.

"Frankly anything is better then the wolf or gtfo system thats in place on live.
There is currently no diversity amongst raiding pets and theres no viable system for pet collectors to you know... actually collect pets. Pets are nothing more then a Dot with an AP buff in there current state.

Expanding our stable size so we can tame upto 25 pets is so damn awsome.
Homogenizing there damage so I can change up what pet I want to use on any given day is so damn awsome and will certainly make hunters unique from each other.
Giving pets amazing raid utility so we effectively become a 1 stop buff shop has given us some of the most diverse utility of any class.

Complaining that you now have a plethora of options and that you may actually have to put some time in too earn them all is just flat out stupid."

"Buffs are only required in raids.

If you are raiding within the confines of a guild you should have at least 2 of every class if not more. (25 mans)
Realistically how often do you really think you will be forced into picking a pet specfically to provide a buff/debuff ?

In 25 mans hardly ever. 90% of the time you will be free to choose w/e pet you happen to love that day.
In 10 mans prolly 70% of the time. Even in 10 mans your team will be built around specific classes and not your pet lineup.

Apart from raiding you wont REQUIRE buffs for heroics/questing/dailys/grinding/pvp."

[Nachtwulf]

I think the main thing here that makes a lot of these abilities feel useless is that about half of them don't work on bosses. Oh, sure, they're great on (most) trash, but... anything that says 'cast time slow' or 'disarm' or 'interrupt'.... is basically a trash ability when you get to anything that matters.

Now, if Blizzard -changes- how bosses work so that this stuff is actually, you know... pertinent.... then I think a lot of people will be less mad about the changes, but as long as half the pets have a skill that's pretty much worthless for raiding, then people are never going to consider them for end game.

[Ellaran]

I think the main thing here that makes a lot of these abilities feel useless is that about half of them don't work on bosses. Oh, sure, they're great on (most) trash, but... anything that says 'cast time slow' or 'disarm' or 'interrupt'.... is basically a trash ability when you get to anything that matters.

Now, if Blizzard -changes- how bosses work so that this stuff is actually, you know... pertinent.... then I think a lot of people will be less mad about the changes, but as long as half the pets have a skill that's pretty much worthless for raiding, then people are never going to consider them for end game.

A lot of bosses that wield weapons can be disarmed, so the disarming pets can help with that. And all mobs, boss or otherwise, are vulnerable to damage reduction, armor reduction, damage increase, etc. A lot of caster bosses have spells that can be interrupted as well, and unless they're robots they can bleed, which our pets can increase as well.

[Nachtwulf]

The only boss I can think of that's disarmable in Wrath is Jedoga... I can't think of any raid bosses offhand that don't pop up a big fat immune when you try. And most raid bosses are immune to cast-time slows and interrupts save for a couple of generally non-important spells.