Wrath of the Lich King: Beta Coverage

A picture turned up on the Internet in recent days that suggests a new baby dragon whelp will join the pack. This one is appears to be a Frost Wyrm Whelpling. Those of you who've played Warcraft III will remember the mighty undead Frost Wyrms who hailed from Northrend, the continent featured in the next expansion. So I'm betting that this little fella will make his debut in Wrath of the Lich King, which is expected to hit stores in late 2008 or early 2009.

Further speculation suggests that this could be the special Collector's Edition pet. It would follow logic, as The Burning Crusade Collector's Edition gave us the Netherwhelp, a creature indigenous to Outland.

UPDATE: As of July 18, 2009 it's confirmed!

Two more minipets are rumored to be released in Wrath of the Lich King. As many people hoped, there will indeed be pet penguins to collect. At least two different types of penguins have appeared so far—one pictured at right. Additionally, there are rumors of a scarab beetle pet, similar to the scarab minions created by the Crypt Lord hero-unit from Warcraft III.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm stoked for this next expansion.

It appears as though Blizzard has chosen to honor my work on this site by immortalizing me as a pet supply vendor in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion! Thanks, Blizzard!

I—or rather my double—is situated in Northrend's capital city of Dalaran. So far, her goods include [Rope Pet Leash] and [Fetch Ball]. Let's hope she'll also be selling 28+ slot pet bags or expandable kennels... anything to help us collectors increase our bag space. For more info about these items, click here.

So start saving your gold, folks... my in-game counterpart is eager to sell her specialty pet wares (and hopefully I'll get a cut of the action)!

I'm still stoked that Blizzard's honored my work on this site with an in-game NPC. My counterpart (screenshot) is a vendor of <Pet Supplies> in WotLK, situated in the capital city of Dalaran. As of today, her goods include rope pet leashes and fetch balls. Dalaran is currently very much unfinished, so perhaps they'll be adding more to her shop as they get closer to release.

As far as these two items go, the [Rope Pet Leash] (seen with Murky in the screenshot linked above) is a reusable cosmetic item that provides a tether from you to your pet. I'm hoping a macro can be written to summon a leashed pet with a single click. I'm also curious to see how this leash affects already tethered pets, like the Dragon Kite. I'll post about that soon. We may also see other types of leashes, such as chain and leather.

The [Fetch Ball] is purchased in lots of 5 and stacks up to 10. It's a consumable that can be thrown from your inventory and retrieved by whatever pet you currently have summoned. But surprisingly, the ball doesn't wind up back in your inventory—it simply vanishes from the pet's mouth into oblivion. I'm thinking they made it a consumable as money sink. But personally, I would prefer a much more expensive ball if it would just reappear in my inventory when returned by my pet. Perhaps they'll add something like that in the future.

Two days ago I reported how lead designer Tigole stated, "Big changes are in store for mounts and vanity pets." Well, today we know what those changes are. Nethera, an official Blizzard representative, had this to say:

We’re pleased to announce a convenient upgrade to the way that mounts and vanity pets are handled in Wrath of the Lich King.

Players will be able to “learn” a mount or non-combat pet much like learning a spell, recipe, or new ability, and these creatures will then show up on a new Pet tab within the Character Info section of the interface. Players will be able to access and preview their learned mounts and vanity pets through this tab.

Once learned, the pet icon or mount icon will no longer appear in bag spaces or bank spaces. This inventory space will be made available once again for other adventuring needs. Pets can still be set to hotkeys by dragging them to the hotkey bar, much like any other spell or ability.

So there you have it, folks. Bag space is no longer an issue at all for collectors—all minipets will be treated like unique spells! The other nice thing about this change is that it should enable me to much more easily determine what belongs on this site and what doesn't.

P.S. With the announcement of this change, I'll be suspending my work on the Peripheral Pets and Items guide, since this change will make much of that guide obsolete. I'll likely rework the guide in some other fashion.

The WotLK expansion introduces the Achievement System into the fold, allowing players to show off their in-game accomplishments. When you earn an achievement, your guild will be alerted, as will everyone in the general vacinity of your character. Additionally, achievements are listed in the armory and accessible in-game so you can compare your feats to others. Points are earned for each achievement, but so far the points are strictly for show and cannot be spent.

Achievements offer something for everyone and every play-style, and that includes pet collectors! Here are several (but not all) of the pet-related achievements to date:

• Plenty of Pets - Collect 15 unique vanity pets. (10 pts)
• Plethora of Pets - Collect 25 unique vanity pets. (10 pts)
• Shop Smart. Shop Pet... Smart - Collect 50 unique vanity pets. (10 pts)
• Veteran Nanny - Acquire Egbert's Egg, Sleepy Willy, and Elekk Training Collar on one character. (50 pts)
• Sinister Calling - Obtain a Sinister Squashling Pet. (10 pts)
• Avast Ye, Admiral! - Obtain the Bloodsail Admiral's Hat... and try to get some fresh air every now and then. (Feat of Strength - 0 pts)

There are many more, several of which involve collecting an ultra-rare pet, such as CE pets and those only available to attendees of Blizzcon or the Worldwide Ivitationals.

Note that many people have speculated that another of these feats, Tuskarrmageddon, which requires killing 1,000,000 Tuskarr, will reward a pet item: Baby Seal Club. However, Tigole (lead designer) confirmed that this is actually an inside joke and will be removed in the next build. Sorry—no baby seal to report yet.

Other database sites have turned up a list of acceptable pets for WotLK achievements that involve collecting X vanity pets. Many of you have contacted me to share this list, but not all of these pets are new. So I decided to report them here to set the record straight about which ones are possible new pets.

Here's the list of what many collectors believe are new WotLK pets, along with my comments:

1. Baby Shark - NEW WotLK "Baby Shark" pet.
2. Competitor's Souvenir - NEW non-WotLK pet (China only); recently added to this site.
3. Fortune Coin - not new; Korea-only pet; listed on this site.
4. Frosty's Collar - NEW WotLK CE pet "Frost Wyrm Whelp".
5. Ghostly Skull - unknown pet; could be NEW.
6. Gold Medallion - NEW non-WotLK pet; recently added to this site.
7. Golden Pig Coin - not new; China-only pet; listed on this site.
8. Green Dragon Orb - not new; China-only pet; listed on this site.
9. Orange Murloc Egg - unknown pet; likely a promotional pet (not necessarily new).
10. Polar Bear Collar - not new; China-only pet; listed on this site.
11. Red Dragon Orb - not new; China-only pet; listed on this site.
12. Silver Pig Coin - not new; China-only pet; listed on this site.
13. Vampiric Batling - unknown pet; could be NEW.
14. White Murloc Egg - unknown pet; likely a promotional pet (not necessarily new).
15. White Tiger Cub - unknown pet; could be NEW.

In addition to these, there have been unconfirmed rumors of penguins and scarabs. Rest assured, I'll be adding official news of any confirmed new WotLK pets here.

With the recent news of how pets will become learnable summoning spells, everyone's wondering about the interface. In the WotLK beta, the new companions tab is starting to take shape. The tab is accessible by opening your character pane and clicking on the "pets" tab. From there, you can toggle between your companion and mount spells. Hunters and warlocks will also be able to preview their combat pets.

Note there are still some bugs, such as not being able to move beyond your first page of pets and there are some pets, like the Tiny Snowman, that aren't yet learnable. My guess is that they're still working on how to upgrade companions that require a reagent or a wearable item. But there IS hope—I noticed that my Bloodsail Admiral's Hat now includes the following text in the tooltip: "Teaches you how to summon this companion." Perhaps it will become a learnable spell that simply requires the hat to be worn when casting. Only time will tell...

P.S. And yes... those of you who looked closely at the above linked screenie can tell that I've been testing the new barbershop.

In the past, players might occasionally have to sacrifice a soulbound vanity pet or two due to lack of bag space. With Blizzard's new companion summoning system, we'll never have to worry about saying goodbye to our dear pets again. But even better, players who abandoned some of their former companions can visit any stable master to "relearn" certain summon spells.

I did a little testing with this feature. First I destroyed my Cat Carrier (Siamese) and a few other companions I obtained from vendors. There was no option available to relearn any of them. Next I deleted my Panda Collar and a few other blue items. I got the usual dialogue box where I had to enter the word "delete" to confirm my decision. Unfortunately, I could not reclaim these pets either.

UPDATE: Based on my testing along with what I've heard from others, there are only four pets that can be retrieved when lost (all are quest rewards):

• Miniwing
• Smolderweb Hatchling
• Sprite Darter Hatchling
• Worg Pup

 

The new companion summoning system in WotLK has prompted many players to begin investigating all of the possible summoning spells. Many of you have been contacting me about the spells in WoWhead's list. At first glance, it looks as though there will be several new pets in the expansion. But take another look... some spells that appear to be new are really just different names for preexisting pets. For example, "Summon Lavender Parrot" is the summoning spell for Miniwing. Furthermore, spells like "Pet Fish" have been around for years, never making it past the development phase.

Certainly, there are some pets in this list that will be new in WotLK. But until I see screenshots to confirm their existence, I won't be posting news of them here. There's no reason to get everyone's hopes up for a new pet skunk if it never makes it past the drawing board.

Fellow fansite creator Mania (of Petopia and Warcraft Mounts fame) recently contacted me about an item she discovered while testing the beta. Here's Mania's report:

Junior Apothecary Lawrence is an undead NPC in Venomspite, Dragonblight. He doesn't seem to have any quests for me, but when I talk to him, he does have a dialog option. He wanted me to test his Experimental Mixture on a non-combat pet. When I used it on Whiskers the Rat, he turned into a green blob for two minutes!

I thought this might be a random effect, but so far all I've gotten was a green blob. The mixture lasts 30 minutes and you can only carry one at a time, but it appears that you can talk to Lawrence as often as you like to get more.

Mania was also kind enough to include a few screenshots, which I linked above. Thanks, Mania! Yet another nifty pet-consumable to enjoy in WotLK (even if it is only temporary).

Anyone who's a fan of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is going to love this change. It looks as though our adorable brown-spotted bunnies are getting an upgrade of sorts. Come WotLK, the Snowshoe Rabbit will be white!

Real snowshoe hares have white coats in the winter and brown and spotted coats in the summer. So I'm wondering if this a temporary change just for WotLK. I love this new white rabbit, but I'll miss my spotted bunny. On the WotLK forum, I suggested that the developers make it so that this pet appears white when summoned in snowy zones and retains its old skin elsewhere. I think that would be a fun and unique concept for this pet.

NEW WotLK PET! It's confirmed: us pet collectors are finally getting a skunk! In recent interview, Jeff Kaplan, the lead designer for WoW, said the following:

One fun achievement that I may go for is the one that grants a unique pet for collecting all the available pets in the game – a pet skunk called Stinker.

Originally, many of us speculated that Jeff meant we'd have to fulfill the requirements of the "Shop Smart... Shop Pet Smart" achievement, which requires collecting 75 unique vanity pets with one character. Well, in the beta, it appears that the actual requirement is collecting 50 pets on a single character to achieve the "Pandemic of Pets" achievement. This is a much more realistic objective, enabling collectors of all levels the privilege of smelling this lil' Stinker.

The best part: After hitting the 50 pet mark, the [Reeking Pet Carrier] item will appear in your mailbox, sent by none other than me!

NEW WotLK PET! There appears to be a new Baby Shark pet in Wrath. And what's so unique about this pet is that it may be the first underwater-only pet. At the moment, it may be summoned on land as well, but players are speculating that this mechanic may change to prohibit the pet from being summoned outside of water based on its tooltip: "He really requires water." The sharkling is sold by an Arena Vendor named Morgan Day in Lake Wintergrasp for 60 silver. Of course, any of this information is subject to change before the expansion goes live.

It looks as though the Snowshoe Rabbit isn't the only pet getting an overhaul in Wrath. It turns out the Spirit of Summer will be abandoning its red glow in favor of a bluish tint, making it appear more like a Spirit of Winter. The name of the pet will remain the same and the model will still be a red wisp, but the ambient glow will appear blue (as pictured here). It's unknown whether this will be a permanent change or just a little wintry adjustment until the next new expansion. My thanks to Jasmyne for submitting the screenshot.

Much like the upcoming change to the Snowshoe Rabbit in Wrath, the Prairie Chicken is also in for a change. However, rather than a color alteration, this update affects the name of the pet. Our favorite white chicken will henceforward be known as the Westfall Chicken. This is a fitting change, since the vast majority of us collectors picked this pet up in The Westfall right near Farmer Saldean.

Recently, news of a new recipe for Critter Bites turned up on MMO Champion. Unlike Pappa Hummel's famous pet biscuits, these tasty morsels affect neutral level 1 critters rather than vanity pets. So why are we mentioning them here? Because these treats will enable us pet freaks to run around with previously unattainable critters, such as crabs, deer, and squirrels!

UPDATE: It turns out that critters will indeed follow the feeder around just like a typical vanity pet, but the effect only lasts 3 minutes. However, the good news is that players can have as many critters follow them as they have Critter Bites!

NEW PET ACCESSORY! In the latest Wrath build, my pet supply vending counterpart is selling an all-new pet accessory—a grooming kit! It's a single-use consumable (stacking in lots of 10) that truly makes your pet "shine". The sparkle effect, which looks very similar to the sparkles that rise from a lootable object, can be seen on Murky in the lower right of this screenshot. With the addition of this item, I'm thinking that an annual pet show could be the ultimate new guild event... so long as Murky wins 1^st place.

No, probably not. I wanted to quell this rumor before it starts. A new item showed up in WoWhead's beta database: Certificate of Ownership. This is an item created through the new Inscription profession. While the text says, "Allows you to rename your pet," we'd bet dollars to donuts (mmmm... donuts) that they're talking about renaming hunter pets.

Aside from the large amount of work on the part of Blizzard developers to implement companion naming, we have another reason to believe this item won't effect vanity pets. Blizzard recently updated their official Small Pets page and the very first bullet under Other Information states very clearly that small pets cannot be renamed. You also might notice that Blizzard was kind enough to provide a link back to this site for additional info (Yay!)

The new official Small Pets page also states that players can hit "Shift-P" to open up their pet tab. I imagine that's a shortcut quite a few of us will be using in the near future.

NEW PET ACCESSORY! Move over, Papa Hummel—there's a new pet treat in town! My pet supply-peddling namesake is now offering Happy Pet Snacks. These are single-use consumables sold in lots of 5 (stacking up to 20) that will make your vanity pet adore you! A heart effect appears above the pet lasting for five minutes per treat. This effect is reminiscent of the hearts that appear over the heads of guards during the Love is in the Air event. Indeed, companions have been receiving a lot of love from the developers as of late and I'm sure I speak for the rest of the community when I say, "Keep it coming, guys!"

NEW WotLK PET! Our friend El of El's Extreme Anglin', the best fishing fansite around, contacted us to report the first new vanity pet obtained via fishing in the expansion. Players who test their luck angling in the Underbelly of Dalaran might catch a very rare Giant Sewer Rat. This is one BIG rat! As seen in the preceding link, the Giant Sewer Rat is almost as big as El!

Check out El's full article for all the juicy tidbits about this new titanic rodent.

REPOST: NEW WotLK PET! It's confirmed: the WotLK Collector's Edition pet will be the Frost Wyrm Whelpling and I, for one, think it's a great addition to the whelpling lineup.

Those of you who've played Warcraft III will remember the mighty undead Frost Wyrms who hailed from Northrend. So it's fitting to find one of their young as the WotLK CE pet, much like The Burning Crusade CE gave us the Netherwhelp, a creature indigenous to Outland.

Click here for additional details regarding the contents of the WotLK Collector's Edition. Some stores will be accepting CE preorders, but we do not have a list—check your local shops and online dealers for info.

REPOST: NEW WotLK PET! A new pet has turned up on the Beta and it's one we collectors have really been clamoring for—it's an adorable pet penguin! He goes by the name "Chilly" and he has a nifty swimming animation too!

UPDATE: Originally, this pet was available to beta testers on US realms. According to the in-game mail message, Chilly was a thank-you gift for players who linked their WoW account to their Blizzard account. However, Bornakk, an official Blizzard moderator, recently stated:

As of right now, there are no details on how this little guy will be available on the live realms.

So perhaps we jumped the gun on posting about how this pet will be obtained. It may still have something to do with linking WoW accounts to Blizzard accounts, or it may be obtained through completely different means. One thing is certain: as soon as we know for sure, we'll post the details here.

NEW WotLK PET! Reports are coming in of a creepy new pet that can be purchased in the beta. The Ghostly Skull, sold by Black Market vendor Darahir <Reagents and Magical Goods> for 40 gold, will make the perfect traveling companion for your new Death Knight. Darahir can be found peddling his wares in the sewers of Dalaran. The teeth-chattering skull emits an eerie blue glow while hovering next to its owner.

With the addition of this pet, plus the pet store (owned by my counterpart) and the Giant Sewer Rat, I'm thinking that Dalaran is going to be a very posh and popular place for pet procurists.

NEW WotLK PET! As if little Chilly wasn’t enough to satisfy our cravings for penguin cuteness, it appears that a second pet penguin, named Pengu, will become available in the upcoming expansion! Reports from the beta are that Sairuk <Kalu’ak Quartermaster> in Moa’ki Harbor, Dragonblight is selling a [Nurtured Penguin Egg] for 10g. But he will only entrust this treasure to those players who have proven their utmost dedication to the Tuskarr by becoming exalted with The Kalu’ak. With any luck, Pengu will be just as cute and full of crazy antics as Pingu, the star of a Swiss claymation children’s show by the same name.

UPDATE: Our thanks to El of El's Extreme Anglin' for the screenshot.

UPDATE: In addition to the four vanity pets listed below, the [Mysterious Egg] has a chance to hatch into a Green Proto-Drake mount!

NEW WotLK PETS! Four new pets have just been discovered in the Wrath of the Lich King beta. All of these pets can randomly hatch from a [Mysterious Egg]: Tickbird Hatchling, White Tickbird Hatchling, Cobra Hatchling, and Proto-Drake Whelp.

The Oracles are a tribe of primitive reptiles, known as gorlocs, inhabiting the Sholazar Basin. They resemble a cross between murlocs and gremlins (the scaly kind that you get if you feed the fuzzy ones after midnight). These cute, yet creepy creatures must defend themselves against the encroachment of what they refer to as the "puppy-men", an opposing faction of wolvar called the Frenzyheart Tribe. For your efforts in assisting the Oracles, you may purchase a [Mysterious Egg] at revered. The egg will hatch after seven days, with a chance to give you a new little hatchling of the native fauna. Should you choose to side with the wolvar, you can buy a [Disgusting Jar]. Exactly what might emerge from this jar remains to be seen.

NEW WotLK PET! A new pet has been discovered in the upcoming expansion, and this one has a doozy of a name! The Kirin Tor Familiar is an arcane elemental that can be obtained from our favorite portable wizard pal, Archmage Vargoth. The catch is that you must complete the Higher Learning achievement before you can visit Vargoth in his secluded spire atop the Violet Citadel. The achievement entails reading 8 different books about arcane magic in Dalaran. The catch is that they are on 3 hour spawn timers and they share spawn points with nearly 30 other non-achievement books. As if the Scorchling wasn't frustratingly difficult enough to get already, Blizzard has to go and make another elemental pet to torment me... I mean, us!