How Many Pet Charms? 10k?

The new Shadowlands patch, 9.1, is now on the PTR and we have a list of some new battle pets which will be coming in that patch.  There are 45 listed so far in the journal and the most notable of these is the Flawless Amethyst Baubleworm which is listed as costing 10,000 Polished Pet Charms.  That is A LOT!  I am sure I have never even collected that many in total before.  The pet looks quite cool but my goodness it costs a lot, and it's not even unique.  There are three other Baubleworms listed, Turquoise Baubleworm, Topaz Baubleworm and Ruby Baubleworm.  These three pets are listed as costing three different grey items each, which some people have commented will mean they have to turn off their automatic junk selling addons :)  All four Baubleworms will be sold by a vendor in Oribos.

In preparation, I thought I would try and get the 10,000 pet charms before patch 9.1 arrives.  You can get the pet charms from Shadowlands pet world quests, Shadowlands command table, BFA pet world quests and the BFA mission table.  I didn't think that you could do the world quests on multiple characters but looking at it again today you can, although some of my alts do not seem to have them unlocked in BFA and only three are levelled for Shadowlands.  I will not be able to do every quest every day but time allowing, lets see how long it takes.

I will also have a look at the grey items required for the other three baubleworms and see if can also acquire them.  They are:

In other pet related news for patch 9.1 the limit to the number of pets you can have is to be removed. You can still only have three of each pet, still annoying when there are four different colours of the  OOX-35/MG mechanical chicken from Mechagon, but the total number of pets will have no limit up from a maximum of 2000 at the moment.  However it does not look like we will get any refunds for the pet portals that we have already purchased which previously increased the total number of pets allowed, first up to 1500 and then to 2000, and those cost 1000 pet charms each.  Come on Blizzard a refund would be nice and would help towards the 10,000 needed for the new pet, come on...please!

Good luck if you are also going for this and I will keep you updated with how I am getting on.  Happy pet charm collecting.

BfA Pet Battles: Crawg in the Bog

This pet battle is located in Nazmir, The Fallen Outpost (46:73) on Zuldazar.  Completing this battle is part of the achievement Battle on Zandalar and Kul Tiras, but it is not part of the Family Battler achievements

WQ – Crawg in the Bog - defeat Bloodtusk.

In this World Quest you need to defeat Bloodtusk, a beast pet who is good against elemental and poor against magic.  Bloodtusk has a special buff, Evolution - Bloodtusk will heal to full and gain 50% speed and 25% power if it kills an enemy.  He also has only one attack,  Evolving Bite which bites deeply into the enemy dealing 44 - 74 aquatic damage but damage increases each time it is used.

The team I used for this is:

          Zephyrian Prince (1,1,2)

          Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1,2,2)

          Cinder Kitten (1,2,1) but not required.

Battle: Start with Zephyrian Prince and use (3) Call Lightning followed by (2) Howling Blast and then (1) Wild Winds.  Then to stop him from being defeated swap to Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling.  Next use (3) Decoy and then (2) Thunderbolt followed by (1) Burn repeated until Bloodtusk is down.  The third pet is not required but maybe have one with a block just in case.

Zephyrian Prince drops from Al’Akir in Throne of the Four Winds and the Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling is from Pandaria Engineering.  Both these pets can be bought and sold on the auction house.

I checked out Wowhead and there were quite a few comments for defeating Bloodtusk and a battle using just the Iron Starlette (1,1,2) with Wind-Up, Supercharge and then Wind-Up again for an easy win.  Iron Starlette is a pet you get from a quest in the Blasted Lands at level 90+.  The quest is Report to the King for Alliance and Warning the Warchief for the Horde.

YouTube: BfA Pet Battles: Crawg in the Bog

BfA Pet Battles: Keeyo's Champions of Vol'dun

This pet battle is located in Vulpera Hideaway, Vol'dun (57:48).  Completing this battle is part of the achievement Battle on Zandalar and Kul Tiras.

Keeyo "You there, you seem like you have some experience in pet battles.  Let's not dance around.  Want to battle?"

In this World Quest you need to defeat the Master Pet Trainer, Keeyo, who has three battle pets:

Buzzbeak (flying) good against aquatic/critter and poor against dragonkin/flying.

Tikka (beast) good against critter and poor against flying.

Milo (critter) good against undead/critter/ humanoid and poor against humanoid/ flying/aquatic.

Keeyo "Time for a great adventure!"  "Time to farm up some more pet bandages."  "Good fight little guy, you'll get better!"

The team I used for this is:

          Nexus Whelpling (1,2,2)

          Luyu Moth (2,1,2)

          Obsidian Hatchling (1,1,1)

Battle: Start with the Nexus Whelpling and use (3) Arcane Storm and then (2) Mana Surge.  This should defeat Buzzbeak but if not, use (1) Tail Sweep as filler.  When Buzzbeak dies swap to next pet, Luyu Moth and use (3) Moth Dust and (2) Cocoon Strike on cool down and (1) Alpha Strike as filler.  When Tikka dies swap to the Obsidian Hatchling against Milo.  Start with (2) Leap and then (1) Bite.  Repeat this until Milo is defeated.

Keeyo "Shucks I hate losing.  Good fight."

BfA Pet Battles: Critters are Friends, Not Food

This pet battle is located in Savagelands, Zuldazar (70:29) just outside Scaletrader Post.  Completing this is part of the achievement Battle on Zandalar and Kul Tiras.

In this world quest you need to defeat the Master Pet Trainer, Karaga, who has three battle pets:

Lazy (beast) good against critter and poor against flying.
Spokes (flying) good against aquatic and poor against dragonkin.
Skeeto (flying) good against aquatic and poor against dragonkin.

Karaga "We have become used to the various insects that fly around these lands, some are very docile, some are very dangerous.  I have collected quite a few species over many, many years, and we are more than happy to entertain other pet battlers with a skirmish.  Interested?"
"I have not battled in a long while,  I hope I am still a good challenge to you."

The team I used for this is:
          Luyu Moth (2,1,2)
          Nexus Whelpling (1,2,2)
          Stormborne Whelpling (1,2,2)

Battle: Start with Luyu Moth with (2) Cocoon Strike and then (3) Moth Dust.  Use them on cool down and (1) Alpha Strike as filler.  If Karaga swaps to Spokes or Skeeto change to Nexus Whelpling.  Use (3) Arcane Storm and then (2) Mana Surge on cooldown and (1) Tail Sweep as filler.  The third pet Stormborne Whelpling is not often needed for this fight but if required do the same as Nexus Whelpling and use (3) Arcane Storm, then (2) Mana Surge and (1) Tail Sweep as filler.

Karaga "I guess I may be out of practice."

BfA Pet Battles: What's the Buzz?

This Pet battle is located in Barbthorn Ridge, in the north east of Drustvar (61:17).

In this world quest you need to defeat the Master Pet Trainer Michael Skarn with his three flying Bee pets.  They are:
Bumble B - good against aquatic and poor against dragonkin.
Fris B - good against aquatic/undead and poor against dragonkin/humanoid.
Busy B - good against aquatic and poor against dragonkin.
Speak to Michael to start the fight.

Michael Skarn "Some days I think I can make buzzing noises with my mouth and actually communicate with my bees, but it's probably not going to work until I finish my full size bee costume.  That's besides the point, my bees are the best around, want to fight then, or are you going to buzz off?"

The bees have very high health of 5000k + each.  Their first attack is Sting which has a 10 round cooldown before it can be used.

Sting = plunge your stinger straight into the enemy's chest, dealing 490 flying damage.  Then die a horrible death.

The team I used for this is:
          Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling (1,2,2)
          Ironbound Proto-Whelp (1,1,1)
          Emperor Crab (2,1,1)

Battle: Start with Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling and use (3) Decoy and (2) Thunderbolt on cooldown with (1) Breath as filler.  When the dragonling dies, which should be as near to the 10 round cooldown of sting running out, swap to Ironbound Proto-Drake.  The bees will now use Sting as their attack.  Use (2) Ironskin on cooldown, (1) Breath as filler and (3) Ancient Blessing if your health gets low.  Bumble B will use Sting and die bringing in Fris B who uses Sting and dies followed by Busy B who also uses Sting and dies.  You only need to last the 10 rounds for the cooldown to come off Sting and have about 1500 health to cover the three Sting attacks to win this fight.  I did not need my third pet but went for a third with a shield or heal just in case.

"Every time I train up new bees.  It's always the same thing.  They get big and strong and seemingly unbeatable, and then they sting something and die."

BfA Pet Battles: Small Beginnings

This Pet Battle is located in Zuldazar north of Dazar'alor (50:23) and the nearest flight point is Garden of the Loa for Horde but quite a run from Scaletrader Post for Alliance.  Completing this is part of the achievement Battle on Zandalar and Kul Tiras.

In this fight you need to defeat the Master Pet Trainer Zujai who has three battle pets:

Scales (critter) good against mechanical/critter and poor against critter/flying.

Breaker (flying) good against aquatic/critter and poor against dragonkin/flying.

Stickers (aquatic) good against elemental and poor against magic.

Zujai "There are many creatures in Zuldazar, some small, others huge.  I have taken it upon myself to capture and train the smallest creatures as a reminder that great things can come from small beginnings."

The Team I used for this is:
          Luyu Moth (2,1,2)

          Ashwing Moth (1,2,2)
          Amber Moth (2, 1, 2)

Battle: For this battle I used a triple moth team.  Start with Luyu Moth with (2) Cocoon Strike against Scales' blind and then use (3) Moth Dust on cool down with (1) Alpha Strike as filler.  When Luyu Moth dies bring in Ashwing Moth and then Amber Moth.  They all have the same abilities.  Against Breaker use (2) Cocoon Strike to counter Headbutt and against Stickers use it on cooldown.  For the rest of the fight use (3) Moth Dust on cooldown and (1) Alpha Strike as filler.

I checked out some comments on WOWhead and many people use a much more complicated battle team but, the triple moth team worked brilliantly for me with no issues.

BfA Pet Battles: Unbreakable

The pet battle is located in The Wailing Tideway, Tiragarde Sound (88:80) and defeating him is part of the achievement Battle on Zandalar and Kul Tiras.

In this fight you need to defeat Chitara.  Chitara is a beast pet with a buff called Unbreakable Shell. With this buff Chitara's shell grows more brittle every time it takes damage.  Damage taken is reduced by 100% until 5 attacks are made against it.  Chitara is good against critter and poor against flying. 

The team I used for this is:
          Ikky (1,1,1)

          Clockwork Gnome (1,2,1)

          Olive Tail Hare (2,2,2)

Battle: Start with Ikky and use (2) Black Claw and then (3) Flock before swapping to the Clockwork Gnome.  Use (3) Build Turret on cooldown and (1) Metal Fist as filler until the gnome is dead. Switch back to Ikky and use (3) Flock until Chitara is dead.  The Third pet was not needed.

After checking chat many people defeated this pet battle using a three moth technique with Moth Balls as the soul attack. Anything with a multi attack like Flock, Moth Balls and Flurry will dispatch the shell quite quickly and after that Chitara has fairly low health.

BfA - First New Pet: Poda

Having played BfA for a couple of days the first Zandalar zone I chose to quest in was Vol'dun.  Just outside the Vulpera Hideaway you will find Vivi who gives you a quest.

Vivi is standing with her pet polecat Coda.  She had discovered Coda out cold after being stung by a wasp and she used the sandstinger remedy to revive him.  But, some of his friends are missing.

Q Missing Business - Rescue 7 Sable Polecats, you get Sandstinger Remedy to use.  The missing polecats are in The Prickly Grove.

 

Use the sandstinger remedy on them to revive them and they will run back to Vivi.  Once you have rescued 7 return to Vivi.

"Oh thank goodness!  We'll have to keep these little guys away from anything with a big mean stinger out here.  Man, I'm going to be busy.  If you could protect Coda's little brother, that would help us out a lot!"

"This is Poda.  Thank you and please give Poda lots of snuggles!"

Poda is the first new battle pet I have got in BfA but he is not rare so I will need to use a token to upgrade him.

New Pet: Silithus War tank

After the changes to Silithus due to the impact of Sargeras' sword, Blade of Sargeras, embedded in its centre, the Silithid hives have all but been destroyed.  However, some Silithid have survived.  At each hive there is a rare which spawns.  The spawn timer for these is not very long but you can only kill them once each per day per character.

The rares are located in the following places on the map.

Hive'Ashi (north east) - Qroshekx, Hive'Regal (south) - Ssinkrix, Hive'Zora (west) - Xaarshej.

These rares have a chance to drop the battle pet, Silithid Mini-Tank. I was lucky and managed to drop the pet on only my fifth kill.

Happy hunting!

Dalaran Postmaster: Part #3

After completing the tasks for Johnny Awesome you are sent another mail asking you to again return to the Post Office where the Postmaster will request further assistance to help sort the mail.

Q The Mail Must Flow - help the Postmaster sort at least 15 letters within the time limit.  This is a mail sorting mini game.  To start the game speak to the Postmaster.

Me "I want to sort letters!"

In this mini game you must sort letters which contain an address listing a town/location and a zone. The continents to sort to are: Kalindor, Eastern Kingdoms, Outland, Northrend, Pandarian and Broken Isles.  If you get 15 letters within the time limit you will get the achievement The Total Package which rewards 5 achievement points.

This completes the quest chain however, there is more.  There is also another achievement for completing this mini game but for sorting 30 letters within 60 seconds.  Completing this will reward the achievement Post Haste and the Mailemental pet.

You will also receive a mail giving you a copy of Lost Mail, which started this quest chain, to pass onto a friend, some Solid Stone and a toy, Katy's Stampwhistle.  This toy summons Katy and gives you access to your postbox for 10 minutes.

Call through sleet and snow to Katy Stampwhistle, Postmaster's Assistant extraordinaire.  Katy will deliver and retrieve mail for 10 min, or until she is called elsewhere (3 hour cooldown)

If you talk to the Postmaster again you will get the opportunity to complete the harder challenges of sorting the mail with only partial addresses.
Postmaster "Still plenty of letter to sort, if you're up to it!  Or how about something more challenging?  We also received letters without the full address on them.  Think you can handle it?"
Me "Give me a challenge! I want to sort the letters with partial addresses."
The game will start but instead of including the zones it will give only the town/location.  If you can sort 30 partially addressed letters within 60 seconds you will receive the achievement Priority Mail which rewards the title, 'Postmaster #'.

The mini games are fun and test your knowledge of the whereabouts of all the zones in Azeroth and beyond.  It took me a few attempts to get these achievements but with a little practice it is possible.

BfA Pre-patch is here

The BfA pre-patch is here and has brought big changes to WOW.  There is another stat squish, Artifact Weapons have lost all their powers and there will also be some class changes to get used to and lot of little changes too.  Here are my first impressions.

I was excited about the pre-patch, having waited for a long time and having finished the Mage Tower just in time, I was ready for something new.  However, although the pre-patch brought many changes there isn't really anything to do YET!  The new quest line isn't for another week.  Maybe they wanted to give us time to get used to class changes but I was a little disappointed initially.

PVP Changes 

The changes to the honor system are quite significant.  Your honor is now account bound and prestige levels are no more.  Any prestige levels have now been replaced by honor level achievements and all levels on all characters have been combined.  For me I had not really done any PVP on any character apart from my DK so my level was roughly the same although I was only about 500 honor from reaching Prestige 18 which rewards the title '# The Unstoppable Force' and now I am honor level 90 having to get quite a bit of honor to reach level 100 which rewards that title so that's a little annoying.

Finding out your honor level I found tricky as it has moved and now shows on the group finder tab under PVP.

Another change is War Mode.  You are now able to toggle the new mode called War Mode on/off as desired.  Turning on War Mode will turn your server into a PVP server.  There will be new rewards for kills and playing with this mode turned on. War Mode can only be changed in your capital city, either Orgrimmar or Stormwind. 

Collection Achievements
There are some new collection achievements which I got straight away when I logged in including:

80 Exalted Reputations which rewards the title '# The Admired'

There is also a follow up quest for this 90 Exalted Reputations.

For collecting 400 toys there is a new achievement Toybox Tycoon which rewards the battle per Brutus.

 

There is currently no follow up quest after this for toys.

For collecting 800 unique battle pets there is an achievement Pet Emporium which rewards the battle pet Rooter.

There is also a follow up quest for collecting 1000 unique battle pets, Master of Minions, which is not possible yet but will be after the launch of BfA.

Class changes
Every Class has had some changes, talents have changed slightly and been reset.  There has also been a star squish so item level which was previously 900+ is now 200+.  Artifact weapons have lost all their power in the defeat of the legion and will now just level up with your i-level.

Communities
On the first day of the patch the new communities thing did not work but a few days later it is working fine.  There is a new UI for guilds which will take a little getting used to.  There is also a new voice chat option.  You can toggle voice chat on and off in the guild/communities tab and join groups for your guild, for any party you are in and even set up your own groups with just the click of a button, and it works really well although push to talk seemed to be having some issues initially so we all had to go open mic.


There are many other changes in prep for BfA but these are the main ones for me so far.  The new pre-patch quest chain starts next Wednesday (25th) which will be good.

Legion Pet Battles: WQ - Azsuna Specimens

This fight is located on Faronaar in Azsuna.  You need to defeat or capture a Felspider.  This is not a hard fight and you could basically win with any set of three level 25 pets as it has no buffs and if just joined by two more ordinary level 25 pets.

The Felspider is a beast pet which is good against mechanical/critter and poor against critter/flying but has no significant special attacks.

The team I used is:
         Sharptalon Hatchling
          Arctic Hare
          Obsidian Hatchling
But like I said anything will do.  In this fight he was joined by a Bandicoon (critter) and a Dusk Spiderling (beast)

Battle: start with the Sharptalon Hatchling with (1) Swarm, (3) Predatory Strike which killed off the Felspider.  I then used (1) Swarm, (2) Wild Winds which killed off the Bandicoon.  Then (1) Swarm was enough to kill the Dusk Spiderling.  I did not need the other two pets.

Falcosaur Hatchling: I used the Sharptalon Hatchling in this fight but you could swap this for any of the other Falcosaurs as they all have Swarm and Predatory Strike.  If you are worried about cutting it fine with health just swap out after you kill the second pet (in this battle the Bandicoon).  This is a really good world quest for any of the quests while leveling your Falcosaurs.

New Wild Pets on Argus: Mac'Aree

The new wild pets in Mac'Aree are Void Shardling, Skyfin Juvenile, Pygmy Marsuul, Felcrazed Wyrm, Arcane Gorger, Voidstalker Runt and Warpstalker Runt.

Void Shardling

Skyfin Juvenile

Pygmy Marsuul

Felcrazed Wyrm

Arcane Gorger

Voidstalker Runt

Warpstalker Runt

Legion Pet Battles: WQ - Rocko Needs a Shave

This fight is located in the Lifespring Cavern, in Val'sharah.  Follow the corridor and at the totem/pond go right, across the pond and up.  Then across the next pond and up the rocks on the left, straight across the next pond, up the ramp and then straight away go right up a corridor to a large room.  Rocko is located directly across this room slightly behind the central pillar.

In this fight you need to defeat Rocko a Legendary Elemental pet with the Crumble buff.  The Crumble buff is where this pet is immune for 10 rounds until it crumbles apart and dies, so you just need to stay alive.  Rocko is good against mechanical and poor against critter.

The team I used for this is:

          Sprite Darter Hatchling (2,2,1)

          Singing Sunflower (1,1,2)

          Any other level 25 pet.

Battle: Start with the Sprite Darter Hatchling, you can pass each turn until you get to <500 health and then use (2) Life Exchange.  When Sprite Darter dies being on Singing Sunflower and use (2) Photosynthesis to heal.  They should survive for the 10 rounds the third pet is not required but may die due to Rocko's attack Pound which does AOE damage to all pets.

Falcosaur Hatchling: This is not a good World Quest to use for the Falcosaur battles because the AOE damage done by Rocko (Pound) will probably kill the Falcosaur.  There is a slim chance that the Direbeak Hatchling with (2) Ironskin and Snowfeather Hatchling with (2) Crouch may survive.

Falcosaur: Snowfeather Hatchling Part #3

Quest 8: The Unfriendly Faction - When passing the other faction recently, your Snowfeather walked right up to them without fear.  It does not appear to understand that they are the enemy. Probably best to teach them before something bad happens.  Complete 3 PVP World Quests with your Snowfeather Hatchling out.

Everyday there are several PVP world quests available on the Broken Isles.  The easiest are the warden towers located one each in Val'Sharah, Highmountain and Stormheim.  These are the easiest as they not often contested.  The others are harder and there is a higher possibility of death.  Just make sure you have your Snowfeather out when you complete the quests and to re-summon it if you die.  

The hatchling emits a low hiss when you pass a member of the opposite faction.  Mission accomplished! It will need to rest after this adventure.

Quest 9: Snowfeather Bonding - Your Snowfeather Hatchling keeps getting into your pack and making a mess.  It squawks loudly whenever you remove it, and rams you with its head.  Maybe you can distract it with a tiny pack of its own.  Buy a Tiny Pack from Susana Averoy in Dalaran for your Snowfeather Hatchling.

Susana Averoy is on the second floor of the Glorious Goods shop to the right of the Dalaran fountain.

You feel a special bond form between you and you hatchling it will need time to recover from this adventure.

Quest 10: Hunting Lesson: Mudshell Conch - Your Snowfeather Hatchling has made friends with some of the other Flying pets.  The flock seems interested in hunting some of the snails of Highmountain.  Defeat 3 Mudshell Conch in Highmountain with your hatchling and 2 flying pets.
For this fight I used the Snowfeather and two level 25 moths, Amber Moth and Luyu Moth both with (2,1,2).  The Mudshell Conch is an aquatic pet and is joined by two random other pets.  Start with the Snowfeather and use (2) Squawk, followed by (1) Swarm and then (3) Predatory Strike.  As the snail has a shield Swarm will not really work again so use Squawk to defeat him.  Swap to either moth if the Snowfeather gets to lower than 500 health, to make sure he does not die.  With the Moth just use (3) Moth Dust on cooldown, (2) Cocoon Strike to mitigate any big attacks like Burrow or Whirlpool and (1) Alpha Strike as filler.  I only needed the Snowfeather and one moth to defeat this battle.
The hatchling looks more confident in its abilities.  It will need some time to recover from this adventure.

Quest 11: Teamwork Lesson: Naraxas - While victorious, your Snowfeather Hatchling squawked and pecked at its allies during some of those last fights.  Showing it a good example of teamwork might help.  Defeat Naraxas in Neltharion's Lair with your hatchling. 

Naraxas is the third boss in Neltharion's lair and he is a big worm.  Just make sure that you have summoned your Snowfeather before defeating him in this dungeon run.

The hatchling looks like it might have absorbed some of that lesson, at least it enjoyed the trip.  It will need to recover.

Quest 12: Hunting Lesson: Coralback Fiddler - Your Snowfeather Hatchling is particularly wary of the Elemental pets in your menagerie.  They will need to learn to work together if they are to get along.  Hunting together against the new prey it has begun stalking may just do the trick.  Defeat 3 Coralback Fiddlers in Highmountain with your hatchling and 2 elemental pets.

For this fight I used Snowfeather Hatchling (1,1,1), Cinder Kitten (1,2,1), Electrified Razortooth (1,2,2).  Coralback Fiddler is an aquatic pet that is joined by two random other pets.  Use Snowfeather with (1) Swarm, (3) Predatory Strike which should defeat the crab but if not use (2) Squawk.  Use Swarm against the second pet but swap in Cinder Kitten when the Snowfeather gets to less than 500 health.  With the Cinder Kitten use (2) Leap, (1) Claw and repeat but use (3) Prowl against any large attacks.  The third pet is not required.
The hatchling looks much more at ease around elementals now.  It will need some time to recover from this adventure.

To be continued... Falcosaur: Snowfeather Hatchling Part #4