September 2010   « Archives | Current News »

UPDATE: We've officially finished our back end upgrades and server migration. Thank you for your patience. We're excited to be back online!

A Quick Heads-Up...
WarcraftPets will be undergoing extensive maintenance today as we migrate the site to a new server. Maintenance will begin at approximately 12:00 noon EST. We expect the downtime to last about 6 to 8 hours. Barring any unexpected trouble, we should be back online by 9:00 PM.

Upgraded Data Systems
We are also enacting major changes to the back end data systems that house all users and pet collections. You shouldn't notice any difference to the UI, but we expect the site to run faster and more efficiently. Plus, these changes will pave the way for future upgrades that you've been eager to see, such as the ability to track pet collections of several characters under a single user account.

A special thanks to Weena, without whom many of these changes wouldn't have been possible.

A swarm of new pets has made its way into the most recent Cataclysm beta build. Only one of these has been confirmed in-game—the Rustberg Gull. This sea bird is sold by a vendor in Tol Barad named Brazie (wares pictured here).

The associated faction is "Baradin's Wardens" and currently the gull is sold for 4g without any reputation requirement, but this may change before the expansion's release. Special thanks to Ashiritan for the screenshots.

Armadillos and more!
Even more pets have popped up in this last patch, including one that I've personally wanted for years—a Baby Armadillo!

So far, the only item discovered that teaches this pet offers the brown variety pictured here, but there are other colors as well. Time will tell whether these other variations might be offered as pets too. No details yet as to how this armadillo is obtained, but we'll keep you posted when we know more.

Several items that teach new pets have also turned up in the game files, but none of these have been confirmed in-game. So don't be too disappointed if they never make it into the expansion when it ships.

• Hardboiled Egg - we have no clue what this summons.
• Pebble - a pet rock, perhaps?
• And several baby turtles, including Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Leatherback, Albino and Olive. Note that these turtle files are not new. Some of them have appeared in the game files for years, but since they showed up again in the most recent beta build, we thought it worth mentioning.

Portable Pet Mansion?
Lastly, a strange new container appeared in the game files—Whizzlespark's Portable Pet Mansion. It appears to be a 24-slot bag. The description says, "Automated feeding, watering, bathing, and waste removal. Petting not included."

Back in the pre-Wrath days when pets were still summoned by items, such a bag would've made sense. But nowadays? Very curious...

UPDATE: Horde pet collectors will be able to collect the Withers pet, which was previously only available to Alliance players as a quest reward. Apothecary Furrows, residing in a cave in northern Darkshore, will sell the Withers pet to Horde players for a mere 30 silver.

Withers is bind on pickup so any character wanting this pet will have to make the journey in person. On the way, be sure to swing by The Eye of The Vortex and watch for flying cows! Trust me, it's worth seeing.

We're excited to report the first confirmed new pet available in Cataclysm! Withers is the little fella's name, befitting his ragged appearance and unique idle animation. He begins as a fairly large treant (well, large for a small pet) who withers away/shrinks over time. When he gets close to water, he emotes, "Withers absorbs the water, growing back to full size!"

Withers is rewarded from a long quest chain in Lor'danel, a new Alliance city in Darkshore. He therefore appears to be an Alliance-only pet. He's awarded to players by a new NPC named Cerellean Whiteclaw for completing the final quest in the series, Remembrance of Auberdine.

We remain confident that the developers will insert a Horde-only equivalent of some sort, possibly even the same pet. We'll keep you posted as we continue to receive reports from beta testers.

We have a lot of updated information on many of the new pets from the Cataclysm beta, which will hopefully whet your appetite for the upcoming expansion!

Guild Vendor Pets
As part of the guild leveling system, guilds can unlock special items for sale by the guild vendor. The previously reported Snail Pet is no longer listed among the guild vendor's wares (hopefully it will become available by some other means). However, an Armadillo Pup has been added and the Dark Phoenix Hatchling remains available. Below are the respective guild achievements and costs associated with these pets:

• Dark Phoenix Hatchling - Guild Cataclysm Dungeon Hero; 100g
• Armadillo Pup - Critter Kill Squad; 40s

As we understand the guild leveling system, the entire guild can contribute to unlocking the guild achievements. Once unlocked, any guild member (whether they contributed to a particular achievement or not) can purchase the respective rewards, provided they have the required funds (and reputation with the guild, where required).

Engineering Pets
Two previously datamined engineering pets, the Personal World Destroyer and the De-Weaponized Mechanical Companion are now showing up in the beta as recipes available from a trainer at level 475 engineering. They are currently bind on pickup, so only the engineer who creates them will be able to learn to summon them. This is only the beta, though, so it could possibly change before launch.

Archaeology Pets
It looks like there will be a few new pets attainable through the archaeology profession. Players will conduct research, digging for artifacts at various dig sites throughout the continents. Once enough study has been completed, they can "solve" their current project to piece together a surprise item, which might just include one of the following pets:

• Crawling Hand - taught by Mummified Monkey Paw
• Fossilized Hatchling - taught by Fossilized Hatchling
• Clockwork Gnome - taught by Clockwork Gnome

Reputation Reward Pets
The only new reputation reward pet we have seen yet is the Rustberg Gull. This pet has been updated to require honored status with Baradin's Wardens (Alliance) and 60 Tol Barad Commendations for purchase. The Horde faction associated with Tol Barad, Hellscream's Reach, does not currently have a quartermaster, but we are confident one will be added to make the gull pet available to Horde players.

News is trickling in of several other new pets that will debut in Cataclysm. Here are a bunch that you can look forward to collecting in the expansion.

Tiny Shale Spider
The Tiny Shale Spider (pictured) is a companion that's currently dropped by a rare spawn called Jadefang (lvl 85). This is the only green Shale Spider seen (apart from critter versions that crawl about the area). He's very tricky to reach, requiring quest access and a bit of ingenuity. We'll have more details when we publish the official pet profile when Cataclysm launches.

Mr. Grubbs
Farming for Mr. Grubbs, a small BoP carrion grub (video), is similar to farming for our favorite little Disgusting Oozling. Check out the walkthrough posted at Quintessence's Perks N Peeves blog.

Pebble
Joining the Scorchling is a tiny earth elemental pet called Pebble. He's rewarded through completion of the Rock Lover achievement.

Elementium Geode
The first of its kind, the Elementium Geode is obtained by miners. It's found randomly in Elementium mining nodes and it's BoU so it can be traded to others. It's a very tiny pet. In this picture, it's been fed a pet biscuit—it's usually about half the size.

Guild Achievements
Both the Guild Page and Guild Herald are rewarded through new Guild Achievements. Oddly enough, both pets appear to be summonable for 5 minutes at a stretch, making us wonder whether they are true vanity pets.

Enchanting Pets
As promised, enchanters will have the ability to make some pets. An Enchanted Lantern and a Magic Lamp will both require Enchanting 500 to create. We're hoping they'll be BoU pets, so that they can be auctioned just like many of the older pets made by engineers.

Mini Jousters
Players will be limited to collecting a single Mini Jouster—either a Gold Mini Jouster or a Blue Mini Jouster. You may choose one or the other as a quest reward for a Mount Hyjal quest called Egg Wave.

Others...
Whirling Waveling, Rumbling Rockling and Fox Kit... not much is known about these companions yet. They could be required for quests or some might never even make into the game. We'll keep you updated as we learn more.

Yep... Cataclysm is shaping up to have more for pet collectors than any of the previous expansions! Very exciting!

We have some new pet models to share, fresh from the Cataclysm beta! The Dark Phoenix Hatchling, pictured in the video below, appears to be a pink and purple version of the Phoenix Hatchling. In other words... it's totally awesome!



Models have also been found for the Enchanted Lantern and Magic Lamp, though we are not certain as to which one is which. We also do not know if enchanters will be able to learn both formulas, or if one will be specific to Horde and the other to Alliance. We will be sure to keep you updated!