Fresh off the 2.4.2 Public Test Realms, here is more info on the new Dire Raven hunter pet.
The Dire Raven is a level 67-68 carrion bird that lives in Raven’s Wood in the northwest part of Blade’s Edge Mountains (up by Grishnath). Dire Ravens in the wild are non-aggressive and very easy to tame.
These beautiful birds have a completely unique appearance among pets that I believe is the same as the non-epic flight form for Alliance druids.
Once tamed, Dire Ravens knows the skills Dive Ranks 3 and Screech Rank 5. They have the normal carrion bird diet of meat and fish and can learn all the skills that carrion bids can learn, including Bite, Claw, Dive, Screech, Growl, Cower, and the passive skills.
I wish he was an owl honestly. While the look is great, its hard to justify a low dps pet anymore. And it is the same as alliance non-epic druid flight form, so name it after your favorite slow druid. ^^
I’m pretty sure the Dire Ravens *are* Owls, if the screenshot is any indication. It sure looks like an Owl and not a Carrion Bird.
When I tamed it, its name changed to “Carrion Bird”.
::squints::
Hmm, they really ARE an exact copy of the NE druid flight form…right down to the elfy ears. Odd.
I’d also rather it had Owl stats, but hell, I’m having one regardless.
Thanks for the update Mania, I’m totally gonna pick one up as soon as possible. Also in that image, it didn’t look like the bird scaled at all. Maybe it did, I’m not too keen on Birds, but Im definitely willing to try one out.
This creature actually uses an older “stormcrow” model that most raven NPCs use based upon the existing owl and carrion bird model, while druids use an entirely different “stormcrowdruid” one with improved animations. Kind of a shame, considering the “stormcrowdruid” model just got upgraded with combat animations…
Congrats on carrion birds getting an attractive new member of the family!
I doubt they will stay tameable seeing as they look just like the NE flight form.
They should atleast remove the ears…
hang on, if they’re carrion classed then you get claw AND bite. Something owls don’t have. sure it doesn’t have the owls +7% damage but couldn’t you squeeze out more dps as BM spec with the 2 talents? Paired with screen its a pretty decent grinding pet.
@ Akyo
I don’t think it will really matter about looking the same as the alliance druid flight form, remember you can train druids in ground travel form :)
http://petopia.brashendeavors.net/html/skins/skin_tigerskinyellow.php
i hope it stays tameable.iv been wanting one since i noticed they had a diet despite being untameable…
fantastic news, I’ve been thinking about taming a bird recently and these guys have been on my “would like to have, shame they are untameable” list since I fist encountered them. roll on patch, roll on.
“So, there was this Nelf druid I found who was afk… I still wonder what happens when he logs on… his fault for being flagged though…”
Look on the bright side… it’ll be annoying AND confusing in PvP. :)
Akyo- You can tame the Night Elf Druid travel form, the Night Elf Druid Cat form, and now their Flight form. Ok, so the skin on the Cat form is a bit different, and it’s a hike to get, but you can tame it. They’re just called Lynxes.
As for them being considered Carrion Birds, that’s fine. I’ve found that Carrion Birds are pretty solid pets over all. Sure, they have slightly lower damage than an Owl, but they are the only pet out there with three attacks. In fact, we might see more of them used now because most people are very turned off by the look of the standard Carrion Bird.
Fun, finally getting a chance to tame a druid…my friend will so hate me :)
Holy crap. I am totally getting one of these when the new patch comes out. When I first saw them, I was like “Wow, those are awesome” and promptly cast a Beast Lore on them, and was quite disappointed to discover I couldn’t get one.
I ran all the way to Westfall for my first CB as a young dwarf and I’ve been running with one ever since. I am PSYCHED for a new baby to fight and annoy my enemies! Beware The Marmalader!!!
BTW…
Carrion Bird: Best. Pet. Eva.
Wow, I have to say that these are the most attractive carrion birds yet. Now I’m going to have to level my dwarf because a raven would fit with her perfectly. So, only 47 levels to go…
oh what a shame.
A few levels back a found those good looking birdies in BEM. Casted Beast Lore only to find out -untameable-.
Now they are! huzzay! I got hyped up after seeing your main 2.4.2 post, Mania.
It’s such a bummer they are carrion birds instead of owl. As a BM hunter i’m too stat loving to trade up 10%dps (kitty) for those looks.
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Mahes-
Before discounting this Carrion Bird, you might want to look at how that DPS really works out. I’m finding that a few of the pets that people discount because Cats, Ravagers or Raptors have higher base DPS may actually have much higher damage thanks to the mechanics of the given pet. It’s just that those pets are more work to sort out the DPS than a Cat, Ravager or a Raptor.
Anyone with a high critical rate would definitely find a carrion bird of any sort to be insane. Normal DPS wise, you’d actually be better off with a bat, who has high DPS, screech and bite, which doesn’t hinder screech to much. That being said….. that model is gorgeous. I want one. Now I have to decide if I want to give up my serpent for it or not… *Chuckles* But that’d give me two night elf druid friends!
Palla-
If you mean that anyone with Go for the Throat would find that a Carrion Bird would tear through a dozen or so mobs pretty quick, you’re probably right. LOL, of course, oddly enough, Bite might really help with that initial aggro too.
I’ve found Throat helps out a lot with my grinding. Poison Spit and Fire Breath eat through focus, but with Throat, they’re casting two, or three times in a fight.
I had always considered trading in my owl for a carrion bird (I like a change now and then). This new skin is rather exciting :)
Yea, that was what I mean, sorry Sei, for some reason I didn’t even consider it as being a talent ability. It just tends to help a lot for maintaining focus, and thus aggro. And damage, if your beast master with a fair to high critical rating.
It’s ok, Palla. Beast Master Hunters also have a talent which increases focus regeneration, it just isn’t an instant increase. I know more than a few Hunters who go for both. Beastial Discipline increases focus generation by 100% (2 Talent Points). Throat’s been very useful even for my lowly hunters. In fact, I’ve been missing it on my Draenei since she hasn’t hit level 20 yet. It does mean though, that Fire Breath and Poison Spit can end up casting twice in a single battle.
@ Seidouyumi
Well, as im not a WoW proffesor (so to speak) i couldnt make out the exact numbers, yet the 10% more DPS from a cat looks plainy.. tasty. I’ll expiriment with the raven in a week when i’m back from vacation.
Mahes-
Oh certainly. It took me ages to find six pets I love. Oddly enough, they aren’t the highest in damage, but they suit me just fine. Sometimes we forget to look into the abilities when going over DPS.
Just so you know, my favorites are-
Igor, my Carrion Bird
Sasori, my Scorpid
Temari, my Wind Serpent
Hinata, my Dragonhawk
Anko, my Serpent
Enma, my Gorilla
Obviously not all on the same hunter.
I have liked the birds. However, because of the flappy wings, and the size of the birds, some do not like having them around in a multi-fight.
When looking at the pet families, most scale well to what I would expect. NOT the birds though! I feel they are far to big.
Bats – should be the smallest.
Owls – also small, but bigger than bats.
Ravens – wingspan should be about 2/3 the height of a Human.
Carrion – wingspan can be a tad over the height of a Human.
Dragonhawks – should be the largest “bird”.
The rest should fit in between the above.
Bats, Owls and Ravens, if smaller, would probably be more acceptable to other classes when in groups.
* I don’t think it will really matter about looking the same as the alliance druid flight form, remember you can train druids in ground travel form :) *
yeah i know about the travel form and ive always ment it should have been changed.
i mean the druid forms should stay unique.
* Seidouyumi
Akyo- You can tame the Night Elf Druid travel form, the Night Elf Druid Cat form, and now their Flight form. Ok, so the skin on the Cat form is a bit different, and it’s a hike to get, but you can tame it. They’re just called Lynxes.*
i know the lynx has the same model but its not the right color nor does it have the mark wich make it differnet. BUT this bird got the EXACT same look. same about travel form. the least Blizzard could have done was to remove the fuggly ears on the birds…
Well, I have to agree about the ears, but there is a certain amount of making sure things aren’t going to be too big in terms of a patch as possible.
For everyone saying “I wouldn’t trade my DPS pet”, do try to remember a few things:
1) we can have multiple pets for multiple situations
2) carrion birds have 2 instant attacks, claw and screech; cats only have one. With the right talents, this means you can keep up the overall DPS just fine, while using a pet with a higher HP/Armor rating.
3) carrion birds can hold aggro on multiple mobs without retargetting, thanks to the aoe dps reduction part of the screech mechanic. it may not do damage, but it causes threat, and a noticable amount – more than enough to cover you keeping Mend Pet up without having your pet Growling at everyone in turn
4) in raids where a large number of trash mobs are involved, that AOE damage reduction can be a lifesaver for your (off)tanks
It’s not just about how much damage you personally can do, but what you can contribute to the raid as a whole. Screech, for all the flappy annoyance from the pet, is a useful skill to bring.
Yes!! Finnally! Ive been waiting forever for these to become tameable! (Well, ever since BC started anyway hehe)