Alrighty then!!! For my roll, the gold condor, I decided to grab the bird of prey version since I currently have two carrion birds and no birds of prey. I checked on wowhead and found that they're in The Jade Forest. "Great!" I thought, "I can just run right over and grab one!" Well, little did I know that there would be a special challenge involved with these particular ones. Namely, I was down here, while they were waaaaaaaaaay up there......
So, off to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms I went to buy Pandaria flying. I plunked down the 2,500g required, then headed back to The Jade Forest to tame my condor. Once I got there, I had a bit of trouble finding one that was in range, but finally, one flew right over my head. I hit tame, and the bird was mine!
Next, I had to come up with a name. I wanted something that had to do with heights, since I had to go so high up to get one. After some thought, I decided to go with a cloud name, and settled on Nimbus. It ended up being a nifty name, because the cloud that Goku rides in DBZ is called Nimbus, and it's gold, just like the bird!
Naturally, I had to play with the Trick ability a little.
As far as the model goes, I find its head a little ugly, but I suppose that can be said for most carrion birds. In my eyes, the Outland models are handsome, but they have two heads, so even they are a little strange. However, I really do like the gold color. It's not too gaudy, and it looks nice with the white and black striping. Also, some flying pets tend to be flappy and get in the way, but this one seems just right - not too big, not too small.
I queued for LFR with some friends, so Nimbus got to show what he's made of. I must admit that I didn't notice what his combat sounds are like, and for that I apologize (perhaps I can try again and edit this post later). I guess if I didn't notice it, at least that means it's not obnoxious. It cannot be said enough how much I dislike overly noisy pets. XD Unfortunately, he didn't bring anything special to the table in this particular run with his Tenacity ability (Versatility buff), since all the buffs were covered.
Once we were done with Highmaul, I headed to the Isle of Giants to finally get the tome of dinomancy so I could get a direhorn. He handled large groups of 91s with ease. After that, I decided to take him for a swim. This model's swimming animation is exactly like their flying animation, which I expected.
Overall, I'm not head over heels for Nimbus. Unfortunately, I have the Versatility buff covered with several other pets, so he doesn't really bring anything that I need. However, I will hang onto him for now. I like that he looks like a carrion bird but is in the bird of prey family, and the name was just too perfect for him. Also, the Trick ability is super cute, and it was fun to play with. I have plenty of stable slots left, and he is a very pretty bird (face notwithstanding) so I will be keeping him. ^.^
Thanks for reading!!!
