Battle-Stones vs. Rare Hunting

[Quintessence]

Which do you find more satisfying/gratifying:

• Stumbling across a rare quality pet in the wild or getting a Flawless Battle-Stone to drop from either the daily bag or a successful wild pet battle?

I can't decide which I enjoy seeing more, stones or rare pets. Either way, I must say I love seeing that blue color.

[Syrrie]

The stones are nice in a "That's one less rare I have to catch!" way and/or lovely to be able to upgrade the non-wild pets.

I think for me, though, there's a bit more statisfaction from finding that rare and catching it. I basically did two passes at collecting all the pets with the first pass being just catching the first of whatever and then upgrading only if I happened across one while leveling pets. The second go around was the 'upgrade everything to rare quality' and I don't know why, but I enjoyed the second go much, much more. The first go I think I had a bad set of pets picked or something because leveling was difficult and I hit a wall at level 15 that made me quit pet hunting and actually level for about a week out of frustration. Comparatively I've spent more hours than I'd care to admit rare hunting but I've enjoyed it all.

Edited to add: Nothing will quite compare to rush of the rare Minfernal I found when they were still "camp server restart or gtfo". ^^;

[Quintessence]

The second go around was the 'upgrade everything to rare quality' and I don't know why, but I enjoyed the second go much, much more.

I had a similar experience. It felt so good to replace the non-rares with upgraded versions. Seeing that blue name pop up upon entering battle would absolutely make my day sometimes. ^^;

[Florencia]

I'm sorry but I'm just sick of seeing people talking about flawless battle stones...after battled over 1000(if not more) times for 3 days still haven't seen any of those stones droped I'm getting really pissed off..

People talking about getting their stones after 50 battles or 100 battles and still not satisfying thinking they had bad luck..

/sigh

[NathKnave]

I think for me, though, there's a bit more statisfaction from finding that rare and catching it.

This times 1000.

I spent about four hours in The Hinterlands over the last couple days searching for a rare Brown Marmot to replace the uncommon I settled for the first time through (and Blade's Edge Mountains, where I just didn't see enough of them for it to seem worth the farm). After seeing every other battle pet available in the zone as rare three or four times each, it's amazing how fast the frustration dissipates when you finally see that blue name.

Full disclosure: I still haven't seen my first Battle-Stone, and I'm sure they're a really nice surprise, but I'm just not sure that could compete with that feeling of a quest finally ended.

[Sadiesaurus]

Hi new to the forums ^^

I spent 7 hours straight yesterday trying to get the perfect Fluxfire Feline (Rare with speed increase.) Eventually I found him (named him Blitz) but I have to say i'd have been just as happy to have found a mech stone at that point. xD

So far I have found 2 stones, both aquatic when I was farming turtles in pandaria. I thought in the patch-notes it said they were trade-able? But alas they were both soulbound. Anyway I used one to upgrade my Sea Pony since he's super cute and the other just on a random otter I think. I don't have any plans for aquatics right now so didn't see the use in hanging onto it.

[Baner]

I've gotten two stones, both from trainer bags. One from the dozen or so I saved pre-patch, the other since.

I'm personally more interested in using them to upgrade my non-capturable pets, but I might break down and use them to get a specific breed ID if I just can't seem to get the breed I want in rare.

I think it's much more fun to hunt for the rares, and the stones are nice for those favorite pets from days past that are only uncommon (Baby Blizzard Bear and Peanut were my first upgrades).

[GormanGhaste]

I haven't gotten a battle stone yet, but I don't see how it can beat getting a rare spawn. I'm not too anxious about getting battle stones, though. The only reason I hunt for rares is it's something to pass the time while I'm leveling pets.

[Quintessence]

I thought in the patch-notes it said they were trade-able? But alas they were both soulbound.

The "general purpose" ones can be traded. They're the ones that aren't family-specific and can be used on any pet. Only the family-specific ones are BoP.

[Talmar]

I can't really say. I've only seen 1 stone from a tamer bag. However, I can't imaging it being the same as seeing the blue name when entering battle.

It makes the whole battle that much better. Especially if it's higher level pet.

I think the only times I'll be super excited about a stone is if I get a Magic and Undead one...then my Minfernal and Scourged Whelpling will see the joyous blue text themselves.

[Jeykama]

Finding the rare = yeah *GUTS* adrenaline rush

Finding the stone = breath of relief at one less rare to camp or one more uncommon vendor pet to upgrade *yay*



Don't care if Fluxfire Felines are campable. I've camped it plenty now. Unless I find a rare one, much less a nice breed rare, before I get a mechanical stone, gonna use it on that. But then, I've only really gotten stones from trainer bags as I don't have time to pet battle other than that.

[Gwenolyn]

There is this nice elated feeling from farming for a rare, and getting it. And I prefer to farm rares myself. But I've only seen one Minfernal ever (I got it, it's poor). So I would use a stone on that for example. I'm not a breed ID person, since I don't PvP, so any rare will do.

The stones are extra nice for non-wild pets that you could never get rare. I remember way back in the day (beta) people complaining that their favorite pet ever was common. I think Blizz heard you and put the stones in just for you

[Mathew013]

I think it's incredibly gratifying to see a Flawless Battle-Stone appear, no question.
The freedom to be able to upgrade ANY pet family is akin to getting a gift certificate for Christmas!
(The whole 'What to spend it on?' feeling)

>> Mat

[Darkke]

Finding a rare always leads to a great rush,

-UNLESS-
I'm hunting for a specific Breed ID, and then it becomes an even bigger let down when I find out it does not have the stats I'm looking for.


However, I've found one battlestone in a daily bag, and that had about the same rush, but since I can choose who to use it on, I don't ever think that will feel like a waste.

[Baner]

I've actually been having really good luck getting stones from the pet trainer bags- been able to upgrade my Curious Oracle Hatchling, Baby Blizzard Bear, Peanut and a Molten Hatchling with a breed ID I liked.

After hearing the stories of stones disappearing on logging, though, I've been paranoid about spending them when I get them.

Else, I might have waited to capture something else that I really wanted to upgrade.

[Zaelo]

To answer the OP's question, I prefer finding stones, for simple reasons.

Stones will take your pet to rare without any if or buts. There's no "shit I critted and killed him so I cant capture him now", or "my WoW crashed in the middle of the pet battle and I lost the rare", or "forgot to dismiss my pet so I got taken out of battle and someone jumped on the pet while I was killing the mob on me", or "finally found a rare! but its not the breed I want.. so I'll have to release him and try again", or "finally a rare of that! i can ditch my 25 uncommon and relevel this one from scratch"

Also, some pets are very hard to find rare as is, some other are impossible to find rare as is, so the stones are the only way to get rare version of these pets.

The stone is safer, quicker, easier to use, and works on all pets. So I have to go with the battle stones
They're also much rarer than finding blue pets in the wild, and their rarity makes them even more special

[Quintessence]

Great points, everyone! I'm still torn about it. Finding either a rare or a battle-stone is incredibly satisfying for me. If I ever get both from the same battle, I think I might just *squee* irl lol.

It seems tougher to find a battle-stone though, since we pretty much have 0 control over that. At least when hunting for rares, we can pick and choose which pets to go after, and then hope that one of those teams has the rare we're looking for.

So does tougher find = greater satisfaction when finding one? Or being able to have a little bit of control over whether you find a rare pet = more enjoyable?

As a sidenote, I'm having a tough time deciding whether or not to hunt for rares or stones instead. I was hoping I could base my answer on which I enjoy doing the most, but I still can't make up my mind. XD

[Kagalii]

I've been doing all tamer battles that give baggies the last week or so and have amassed a variety of stones. But now the problem is I'm too indecisive to actually use them. The only ones I've upgraded this way have been the Feline Familiar and a breed 4 Minfernal. I have only received one stone from doing an actual wild pet battle. I'd say for me as long as there's a chance of catching a rare in the wild, I'll do that until I'm blue in the face. Stones for me will be the last resort, as it seems kind of like a cheat.

Also, I know this is going to sound bad, but I look forward to doing my round of pet tamer dailies and seeing if I get any goodies. Need to go outside more, if it weren't so damn cold and snowed in.