Budget Celestials
Occasionally it's mentioned on various forums that the Celestial Tournament is "pay to win" or requires a menagerie of high end pets. Certainly, during the first several weeks most of my teams consisted in some part of pets that would be considered top-end. I decided to start on a personal challenge of beating the tournament with only wild-caught pets. Nothing from quests, drops, the store, professions, achievements, or the trading-card game are allowed.
Total cost: $0.
Not all of these ideas are my own. I read many forums, mixed in my own plans, performed a lot of capturing and leveling of pets that I've never used before, and went through much trial-and-error.
I made it through my first week with the following line-ups. Assume that if any pet is listed on multiple teams that means that I used multiple copies of the pet. I've noted breeds where I think they are important. I'll update in future weeks when I have access to the other trainers.
[Caveat: Some of these are heavily dependent on the random number generator. A miss in the wrong spot or an unfortunate critical hit against you could mean starting the tournament over.]
=== Xu-Fu (speed 296)
* Wild Golden Hatchling
* Turkey (S/S)
* Luyu Moth
The entire point of the Hatchling is to cast Call Lightning and then die, so sub in whatever pet you want in this slot. Tranquil Mechanical Yeti with his Ion Cannon would probably be better, if I was allowing myself crafted pets. The Turkey bangs away with Flock until either Xu-Fu or the Turkey are dead. If there's a bit to finish off, hit Xu-Fu with something fast. He'll still have the Flock double-damage debuff on him. I went with a Luyu Moth, because that's my level-up workhorse and I figured I'd give him a chance in a real fight.
The Turkey, Chicken, or whatever flying pet you're using with Flock has to be S/S, so that it's faster than Xu-Fu when the flying buff is removed.
=== Zao (speed 276)
* Skywisp Moth
* Cogblade Raptor
* (anything)
This fight is nearly identical to Xu-Fu. Skywisp sets up Call Lightning and dies quickly. Any Cogblade breed is faster than Zao, so pick whatever you can find. Cogblade uses Exposed Wounds and Batter until Zao vaporizes. If something goes terribly wrong, you might need a 3rd pet. I threw a Robo-Chick in for another Batter or possibly Wind-Up if Zao is trying to use Wish and needs to die in one shot.
=== Yu'la (speed 287)
* Your most favorite Rabbit
* Your second favorite Rabbit
* Your third favorite Rabbit
I already had a Tolai Hare team leveled up for PvP, and they are all S/S. This breed works against Yu'la, but the fight is crazy long. You're gumming Yu'la to death a few points at a time. If you have the choice, any rabbit that I'm aware of is already faster than 287 so bring something that hits harder than an S/S.
If you've completed Raiding With Leashes, throw Mr. Bigglesworth at her and just solo it.
=== Chi-Chi
* Unborn Valkyrie
* Alpine Foxling
* Rapana Whelk
-or-
* 3 Snails
Apparently I'm a sucker for stupid combos against Chi-Chi. My normal team uses Nuts and Sen'jin Fetish (Wild Magic + Rot + Stampede / Nut Barrage). Those two dink around with her, and then the Whelk comes in and kills Chi-Chi. Same thing with this team. The Valk + Foxling is a cute combo, but the Whelk still does most of the work.
My advice: Throw three snails at her and auto-win.
== Blingtron 4000
* Dancing Water Skimmer 1,2,2
* Flayer Youngling (S/S, P/S, H/S, or S/B) 2,2,2
* Lava Crab 1,2,1
The Skimmer and Youngling make short work of Au and Banks. Lil' B is the only challenging pet in this fight. Normally I would use a Blossoming Ancient and grind out a slow, automatic win. In this case I used a Lava Crab which hits hard enough and has just enough healing to pull through. This fight is more reliant on good luck than most. You mainly want Lil' B's Gift Package to hit you, because the healing it does on a miss is worse than the damage it does on a hit.
== Shademaster Kiryn
* Feverbite Hatchling 1,2,2
* Lava Crab 1,1,1
* Skywisp Moth 1,1,2
This is a straight-forward fight. The Hatchling's Brittle Webbing causes a massive amount of damage to Nairn when he casts Blizzard. I was trying Leech Life at first, but it doesn't hit hard enough to justify even with its healing factored in. Just go with Spiderling Swarm and pound away. This Lava Crab uses Spell Shield, instead of the heal used in the Blingtron fight, because the shield completely neutralizes Stormoen's turrets. Shield and pound; the mechanical cat won't live long. The Lava Crab should live long enough into the fight with Summer to soak up most or all of the turrets, at which point the Skywisp comes in for a Call Lightning and maybe one more hit for the win.
== Wise Mari
* Crow 2,2,2
* Infinite Whelpling 1,2,2
* Oily Slimling 2,2,2
This entire fight revolves around Wise Mari's pet Spirus. Carpe Diem and River are not going to challenge you at all, unless they pull off some amazing critical hits. Spirus combines heals, dodge, and a large offense. The Crow will still be alive when Spirus comes in, letting you refresh Darkness and hopefully get in a couple big hits. The Infinite Whelpling needs to finish off Spirus or you've lost. Weakness and Darkflame play against Spirus's strengths, while Tail Sweep provides the damage. Watch for Spirus's cooldowns closely and don't run one of your powerful effects into his Soul Ward.
Good luck and have fun.
Total cost: $0.
Not all of these ideas are my own. I read many forums, mixed in my own plans, performed a lot of capturing and leveling of pets that I've never used before, and went through much trial-and-error.
I made it through my first week with the following line-ups. Assume that if any pet is listed on multiple teams that means that I used multiple copies of the pet. I've noted breeds where I think they are important. I'll update in future weeks when I have access to the other trainers.
[Caveat: Some of these are heavily dependent on the random number generator. A miss in the wrong spot or an unfortunate critical hit against you could mean starting the tournament over.]
=== Xu-Fu (speed 296)
* Wild Golden Hatchling
* Turkey (S/S)
* Luyu Moth
The entire point of the Hatchling is to cast Call Lightning and then die, so sub in whatever pet you want in this slot. Tranquil Mechanical Yeti with his Ion Cannon would probably be better, if I was allowing myself crafted pets. The Turkey bangs away with Flock until either Xu-Fu or the Turkey are dead. If there's a bit to finish off, hit Xu-Fu with something fast. He'll still have the Flock double-damage debuff on him. I went with a Luyu Moth, because that's my level-up workhorse and I figured I'd give him a chance in a real fight.
The Turkey, Chicken, or whatever flying pet you're using with Flock has to be S/S, so that it's faster than Xu-Fu when the flying buff is removed.
=== Zao (speed 276)
* Skywisp Moth
* Cogblade Raptor
* (anything)
This fight is nearly identical to Xu-Fu. Skywisp sets up Call Lightning and dies quickly. Any Cogblade breed is faster than Zao, so pick whatever you can find. Cogblade uses Exposed Wounds and Batter until Zao vaporizes. If something goes terribly wrong, you might need a 3rd pet. I threw a Robo-Chick in for another Batter or possibly Wind-Up if Zao is trying to use Wish and needs to die in one shot.
=== Yu'la (speed 287)
* Your most favorite Rabbit
* Your second favorite Rabbit
* Your third favorite Rabbit
I already had a Tolai Hare team leveled up for PvP, and they are all S/S. This breed works against Yu'la, but the fight is crazy long. You're gumming Yu'la to death a few points at a time. If you have the choice, any rabbit that I'm aware of is already faster than 287 so bring something that hits harder than an S/S.
If you've completed Raiding With Leashes, throw Mr. Bigglesworth at her and just solo it.
=== Chi-Chi
* Unborn Valkyrie
* Alpine Foxling
* Rapana Whelk
-or-
* 3 Snails
Apparently I'm a sucker for stupid combos against Chi-Chi. My normal team uses Nuts and Sen'jin Fetish (Wild Magic + Rot + Stampede / Nut Barrage). Those two dink around with her, and then the Whelk comes in and kills Chi-Chi. Same thing with this team. The Valk + Foxling is a cute combo, but the Whelk still does most of the work.
My advice: Throw three snails at her and auto-win.
== Blingtron 4000
* Dancing Water Skimmer 1,2,2
* Flayer Youngling (S/S, P/S, H/S, or S/B) 2,2,2
* Lava Crab 1,2,1
The Skimmer and Youngling make short work of Au and Banks. Lil' B is the only challenging pet in this fight. Normally I would use a Blossoming Ancient and grind out a slow, automatic win. In this case I used a Lava Crab which hits hard enough and has just enough healing to pull through. This fight is more reliant on good luck than most. You mainly want Lil' B's Gift Package to hit you, because the healing it does on a miss is worse than the damage it does on a hit.
== Shademaster Kiryn
* Feverbite Hatchling 1,2,2
* Lava Crab 1,1,1
* Skywisp Moth 1,1,2
This is a straight-forward fight. The Hatchling's Brittle Webbing causes a massive amount of damage to Nairn when he casts Blizzard. I was trying Leech Life at first, but it doesn't hit hard enough to justify even with its healing factored in. Just go with Spiderling Swarm and pound away. This Lava Crab uses Spell Shield, instead of the heal used in the Blingtron fight, because the shield completely neutralizes Stormoen's turrets. Shield and pound; the mechanical cat won't live long. The Lava Crab should live long enough into the fight with Summer to soak up most or all of the turrets, at which point the Skywisp comes in for a Call Lightning and maybe one more hit for the win.
== Wise Mari
* Crow 2,2,2
* Infinite Whelpling 1,2,2
* Oily Slimling 2,2,2
This entire fight revolves around Wise Mari's pet Spirus. Carpe Diem and River are not going to challenge you at all, unless they pull off some amazing critical hits. Spirus combines heals, dodge, and a large offense. The Crow will still be alive when Spirus comes in, letting you refresh Darkness and hopefully get in a couple big hits. The Infinite Whelpling needs to finish off Spirus or you've lost. Weakness and Darkflame play against Spirus's strengths, while Tail Sweep provides the damage. Watch for Spirus's cooldowns closely and don't run one of your powerful effects into his Soul Ward.
Good luck and have fun.
Re: Budget Celestials
Were all your pets rare quality? In some cases (the flayer youngling comes to mind) it seems like it would be more time/effort to get a rare version of a wild pet than it would be to just get a drop. And you know what they say, time is money.
Re: Budget Celestials
Yes, they are all rare. I'm doing it for the challenge, and to counter the assertion that this tournament is "pay to play." There are certainly easier ways to go about it.
Re: Budget Celestials
Assuming you do the pet trainers at least once or twice per week and you don't needlessly waste your upgrade stones on being lazy, upgrading a couple of pets every now and then shouldn't be a problem.Sellys wrote:Were all your pets rare quality? In some cases (the flayer youngling comes to mind) it seems like it would be more time/effort to get a rare version of a wild pet than it would be to just get a drop. And you know what they say, time is money.
Re: Budget Celestials
For Xu-fu, you can use an alpine foxling et any spider with brittle webbing and spiderling swarm just hit dazzling dance/bite/howl(dead after that) and brittle/swarm with the spider !
edit : your spider has to be p/p !
edit : your spider has to be p/p !
Re: Budget Celestials
I guess Bonkers would be considered a "drop," but he's nearly wild (and easier to get than an Unborn Val'kyr). He doesn't cost "real" money.
I only mention it because he can solo Yu'La without needing to get Raiding with Leashes
I'd think you could include some quest pets... Is there anyone at all who doesn't at least have a Fishy?
I only mention it because he can solo Yu'La without needing to get Raiding with Leashes
I'd think you could include some quest pets... Is there anyone at all who doesn't at least have a Fishy?
Re: Budget Celestials
Definitely an interesting challenge and congrats on putting this together, though catching some of these pets and getting them to rare is just as time consuming as (for instance) getting and stoning a tranquil mechanical yeti. However your post should prove to the nay-sayers that it CAN be done with "simple" pets and not just the power combinations.
The tourney can be beaten by a wide variety of pet combinations and it's great to see more of them. There will no doubt be a list that settles out of the better/best combinations to do things the fastest/least RNG prone - especially because 1 loss can equal "Start over" for someone without a large stable of level 25's. Still, your post should give people who don't think it can be done with their available time some hope - *IF* they are willing to at least put the time in to catch and level (and stone as needed) the "simple" pets.
The tourney can be beaten by a wide variety of pet combinations and it's great to see more of them. There will no doubt be a list that settles out of the better/best combinations to do things the fastest/least RNG prone - especially because 1 loss can equal "Start over" for someone without a large stable of level 25's. Still, your post should give people who don't think it can be done with their available time some hope - *IF* they are willing to at least put the time in to catch and level (and stone as needed) the "simple" pets.
Re: Budget Celestials
This is an interesting challenge. I have had a personal rule ever since Blizzard opened the pay Pet/Mount store that I would not buy any, and (so far) I have not. The only 'pay' pet I have is a TCG Sand Scarab that I found for about 1000g on the in-game AH (I didn't even know that until I looked it up).
The irony is that I was comparing my pet collection to others on my server (I come in at around #20 sorted by number of pets) - and I found a trend I did expect, and one that I did NOT expect:
1) All of the pet collections ranked higher had several Pet Store pets
2) Just a few of the top-ten collections had Celestial Tournament pets, and I don't think any in the 11-20 range had a single Celestial Tournament pet
So in light of your challenge, I found that to be really ironic - I have completed the tournament every week so far, but without using a single Pet Store pet. But I will say that I have sold pets for a lot of gold on the AH over the expansion (selling for anywhere from a few gold to 10000g), and that gold has been re-invested into buying pets on the AH (almost always paying 1000g or less each).
The irony is that I was comparing my pet collection to others on my server (I come in at around #20 sorted by number of pets) - and I found a trend I did expect, and one that I did NOT expect:
1) All of the pet collections ranked higher had several Pet Store pets
2) Just a few of the top-ten collections had Celestial Tournament pets, and I don't think any in the 11-20 range had a single Celestial Tournament pet
So in light of your challenge, I found that to be really ironic - I have completed the tournament every week so far, but without using a single Pet Store pet. But I will say that I have sold pets for a lot of gold on the AH over the expansion (selling for anywhere from a few gold to 10000g), and that gold has been re-invested into buying pets on the AH (almost always paying 1000g or less each).
Re: Budget Celestials
That's the whole point right there. You don't have to be on a raid team or have store pets to compete in the tournament. I took it to an extreme by excluding even easily obtained quest pets and cheap profession pets. That way no one could say, "Yeah but you had [fill in the blank] advantage."Rendigar wrote:Definitely an interesting challenge and congrats on putting this together, though catching some of these pets and getting them to rare is just as time consuming as (for instance) getting and stoning a tranquil mechanical yeti. However your post should prove to the nay-sayers that it CAN be done with "simple" pets and not just the power combinations.
I guess I should have seen the "Yeah but you had [time to farm up pets like rare Val'kyrs] as an advantage" argument coming, but it really comes down to how you choose spend your time. This certainly is not a guide on the easiest possible way to beat the tournament. I'm just saying that even with artificial and overly restrictive criteria on my team compositions, the tournament is still beatable.
As someone who trades and buys a moderate number of pets, I do like that none of the tournament reward pets are tradable. If someone has one out, they do know how to assemble a battle pet team.
Re: Budget Celestials
I want to add my own testament that the idea of the Celestial Tournament being pay-to-win is ridiculous. I've beaten it several times now using 'round about 50 max-level pets. 'Twas less the first time I beat it, more now, and all of these are pets I've collected through casual play.
By "casual play" I mean I have spent a few hundred gold here and there but mostly have collected pets from zones. I have spent no real money or used trading cards. I've soloed old raids, but not farmed for rare drops. These are things that are well within the capabilities of any casual player.
The Celestial Tournament is meant to be a challenge, and every challenge takes some effort. The effort required does not include buying pets.
By "casual play" I mean I have spent a few hundred gold here and there but mostly have collected pets from zones. I have spent no real money or used trading cards. I've soloed old raids, but not farmed for rare drops. These are things that are well within the capabilities of any casual player.
The Celestial Tournament is meant to be a challenge, and every challenge takes some effort. The effort required does not include buying pets.
Re: Budget Celestials
I don´t know how you can say it is pay to win unless you are bad.
the 4 celestials
3 foxes
3 snails
3 raptors
1 greg grell, which is very cheap on the AH. If not him, I would think any human with a block would work.
But then again, I had someone on my server on TI screaming that Blizzard sucks because lil Oonasta was impossible to beat and they just wanted us to waste our time doing impossible things for months until it is nerfed.
Pet battles are very binary..stuff goes from difficult to brainless very quickly.
the 4 celestials
3 foxes
3 snails
3 raptors
1 greg grell, which is very cheap on the AH. If not him, I would think any human with a block would work.
But then again, I had someone on my server on TI screaming that Blizzard sucks because lil Oonasta was impossible to beat and they just wanted us to waste our time doing impossible things for months until it is nerfed.
Pet battles are very binary..stuff goes from difficult to brainless very quickly.
Re: Budget Celestials
Most people is incapable of dealing with just an iota of challenge, hence why LFR was invented. We dont need it for pet battles too.
Re: Budget Celestials
Pats on the back Slog!!!
I've been fighting the Celestial Tourney with my husband’s less than pitiful team - sorry Honey but level some pets will ya!
I'll be giving your guide a go tonight instead of mailing him all my high level pets =)
I love a challenge!
Thanks Again!!!!
I've been fighting the Celestial Tourney with my husband’s less than pitiful team - sorry Honey but level some pets will ya!
I'll be giving your guide a go tonight instead of mailing him all my high level pets =)
I love a challenge!
Thanks Again!!!!
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Shakesbeard
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Re: Budget Celestials
just wated to post in this thread so i could find it more easily, and bump it for others.
one of the better tournament guides imo
one of the better tournament guides imo
MADORAN__ <WCP> Shakesbeard
___________<LPL> Factotem
___________<PP> Orcane, Shrecksar, Remoo
___________<LPL> Factotem
___________<PP> Orcane, Shrecksar, Remoo
Re: Budget Celestials
Thanks for bumping this had missed it and was about to put a lot of time and gold into getting the pets some of the other guides suggest, will try this first and see how I go should have most needed 
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Melmo
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Re: Budget Celestials
Elitist much? LFR is a time saver. I work a lot and don't have any friends that play WoW, my guild has 3 people in it, nor do I sit at home on my computer 24/7 to level pets, raid, spend time on farming gold or drop pets... so sorry some of us have lives to live. Not being capable of dealing with a "challenge" has nothing to do with it, the game shouldn't punish those who have real lives. The Tourney needs to be fun, challenging, and accessible to all as well--and I feel that it is.Luciandk wrote:Most people is incapable of dealing with just an iota of challenge, hence why LFR was invented. We dont need it for pet battles too.
Re: Budget Celestials
Actually, the game does need to punish "those with lives" to a certain degree, otherwise it can never reward those "without a life". Fact is, those who invest more time and have more skill than the average should be rewarded for that, otherwise there is just no incentive to be good. As a former "no-lifer" I see both sides of that argument and quite frankly I'm still partial to side with the ones who invest more time over those in the same situation as myself (work, school, social demands, etc) because those are the people who push the game to its limits.
I don't make WoW my nr. 1 priority anymore, as a punishment I don't get to see bosses on heroic mode or play arena at a high level. I'm okay with that, what's important to me lies elsewhere. Thing is, the people who do put time and effort into WoW should be rewarded for that with things I don't get, that's actually fair. There's no reason for my lack of time to punish other people, as long as I have things to do when I do log on.
I don't make WoW my nr. 1 priority anymore, as a punishment I don't get to see bosses on heroic mode or play arena at a high level. I'm okay with that, what's important to me lies elsewhere. Thing is, the people who do put time and effort into WoW should be rewarded for that with things I don't get, that's actually fair. There's no reason for my lack of time to punish other people, as long as I have things to do when I do log on.
Re: Budget Celestials
Implying that people who raid don't have "real lives" is just as bad as talking trash about people who do LFR. You can't accurately make blanket statements about either group. There are plenty of raiders who have real lives, just like there are plenty of decent players with limited/irregular schedules who do LFR.Melmo wrote:Elitist much? LFR is a time saver. I work a lot and don't have any friends that play WoW, my guild has 3 people in it, nor do I sit at home on my computer 24/7 to level pets, raid, spend time on farming gold or drop pets... so sorry some of us have lives to live. Not being capable of dealing with a "challenge" has nothing to do with it, the game shouldn't punish those who have real lives. The Tourney needs to be fun, challenging, and accessible to all as well--and I feel that it is.Luciandk wrote:Most people is incapable of dealing with just an iota of challenge, hence why LFR was invented. We dont need it for pet battles too.
As for the topic, I agree with you. also did the celestial tournament with mostly wild pets, a few crateable pets, and no store pets. I won't bore anyone with the details, but I will add that Chi-Chi is definitely the hardest one and I did him with two snails and a restless shadeling.