This is a random collection of notes as I poke around the new beta build that went up tonight. Expect this to be very disordered.

At this point I have finished updating this post. What you see here is all you get! (Although I am now working on getting Petopia update with new info, and as always please let me know anything you run across.)

First thing I noticed on login: Maniacal (level 77) has rest XP again! That implies that the level cap has been lifted. Let’s kill something and see … Whoops! It helps if I kill something that’s not gray to me. Other players in the area are saying that the experience needed to level has been reduced for them, but I never thought to note mine so I can’t verify that.

Unfortunately I still can’t fly in Borean Tundra. I’ll recall to Dalaran and fly from there. Ooh, Northrend has a decent flight point map (when you talk to the Flightmaster, I mean) finally.

This is odd: my hunter talent points have been partially reset. I was refunded 6 points from the Beast Mastery tree — looks like the 5 points from Aspect Mastery (which has been replaced in the tree wuth Separation Anxiety) and the 1 point from the Beast Mastery talent itself. Separation Anxiety, by the way, is marked NYI for Not Yet Implemented. But I’m buying it anyway so I can have my exotic beasties back.

I’m in flight, so I’m poking around the interface. The Pet tab (the one that now includes Companions and Mounts) has been renamed Pets, and the Tokens tab is still completely messed up.

Ooh, here we are in Sholazar Basin. Hey, I seem to be tracking fish schools whether or not I want to. I wonder if that’s a bug, a tracking menu weirdness, or something new. Hardknuckle Foragers (the light grey gorillas) can be tamed now. Excellent!

And so can Sapphire Hive Wasps (as Ceron reported in a comment on the last post). Oh wow — thee guys are gorgeous. Let me get a screenshot up. There we go … not the best shot, but it gives you an idea. Wasps are huge, too! Wasps seem to be a new family in the Ferocity tree (also as Ceron reported). The family skill is:

Sting (Rank 5): Your wasp stings for 47 to 63 Nature damage, and decreases the armor of the target by 610 for 0 sec. Whle affected, the target cannot stealth or turn invisible.

Wasps are apparently a non-exotic family — so says Beast Lore — although that family skill seems pretty exotic to me. Oh, and right now they eat Cheese, Bread, Fungus, and Fruit. Sapphire Hive Drones, which are red and blue, can apparently also be tamed although they come in groups of three so I’m not going to try it right now. I can also see a Sapphire Hive Queen on my mini-map, but she’s underground and I have no idea what she looks like or if she can be tamed.

Moving on … Pitch, the black lion of Sholazar Basin, can also now be tamed. That will take some pressure off of Humar. Longneck Grazers (a type of giraffe), however, still cannot be tamed.

Rhinos are a new exotic pet. (Also as reported by Ceron. Sheesh! I need to get logged in sooner to beat him to anything!) Oddly, I was able to tame one without the Beast Mastery talent, but that might be related to a problem with the partial refund of hunter talent points I noticed.

Rhinos eat Cheese, Bread, Fungus and Fruit (which seems to be the new default diet) and use the Tenacity tree. They do not yet seem to have a family skill, which is a bit of a problem, but I am sure they will get one soon. The coolest thing about my new rhino? He comes with his own tickbird. Yes, the white bord on his horn is a seperate creature — a level 1 Critter, in fact — that apparently just likes to hang out on rhinoes, even tamed one.

(I killed my tickbord to see if it would respawn. It didn’t immediately, but another rhino spawned nearvy and attacked up. After we killed the new rhino, its tickbird settled on my tamed rhino horn. Unfortunately I noticed later that the tickbord did not dismiss and recall with my rhino — when I mounted up, it went and found itself another perch.)

Ah, interesting. The Shardhorn Rhino is also a color-changer, between brown and grey. And he has those heavy (rather annoying) thudding footsteps that the devilsaurs do as well.

Neither the hydras here in Sholazar nor the mammoths can be tamed. Nor can Primordial Drakes, which I’m sure will (continue to) disappoint some hunters. And I was just killed by some undead bats up on the Avalanche.

Well, since I just 1) died and 2) then flew into Icecrown by accident and got teleported back to Warsong Hold, I decided to check in the stables for my demon hound. He’s still a wolf and he can still be pulled out of the stables, but I’ll need to swing by Zul’Drak and see if they can still be tamed. (Aside: Ceron tells me that the Vargul Blighthounds can still be tamed, and that the blue ones still cannot.)

So, by special request, we’re off to Zangarmarsh to look at fireflies. And look what Kaet picked up there: Blacksting! He’s a beast now, and a Wasp to boot. The Fen Striders and relatives cannot be tamed, unfortunately, nor can the clefthooves or talbuks of Nagrand. (It seemed worth checking the clefthooves since rhinos are somewhat similar.)

*** Brief pause while I rest my over-excited eyes and take some aspirin. ***

While you wait, make sure to check out Ceron’s screenshots. Ceron writes:

Here’s the new pet info I’ve gathered so far. I wrote this as Mania was posting up this info so forgive me for being redundant. :-P

New pet family: Wasps
These include the silithid-like wasps in Sholazar Basin, and the Fireflies in Zangar. Yes it’s true. Possibly the wasps in ungoro by the silithid hive are tamable too. They are a ferocity class pet and non exotic.

Pics(Wasp family skill “Sting” included)
http://i36.tinypic.com/r2qdfk.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/xgbo5l.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/2ujsc4z.jpg

Pitch in Sholazar Basin is now tamable. 2nd lion in the game with the Humar skin.
http://i33.tinypic.com/qqd9vs.jpg

New exotic beasts:Rhinos. I can’t tame yet because I’m Survival but I’ll respec asap and get a shot of their family skill. I’m assuming they are a Tenacity pet.
http://i36.tinypic.com/2rf7ekp.jpg

Oil covered animals in Borean Tundra are tamable. They revert to their normal skin when tamed though.
http://i36.tinypic.com/zkn6kh.jpg

Artic Grizzly Cubs are tamable. Lol @ chewing someone’s face off with a bear cub!
http://i36.tinypic.com/14kwqhi.jpg

Emerald Skytalons are tamable now.
http://i36.tinypic.com/o9lglf.jpg

Drakuru Raptors(new raptor skin, neon purple underside) are now tamable, with an interesting bug. Once tamed, they respawn the Drakuru Raptor Rider that was mounted on it previously before tame lol. It will keep respawning and will stop until you dismiss your pet and resummon. Here are pics:
http://i36.tinypic.com/fld0sx.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/2wn20z4.jpg (pic of the respawned mob, you can see my pet fighting it even though its on his back)
http://i34.tinypic.com/10r7hvq.jpg (better pic of the raptor)

On a smaller note: Gundrak Raptors in Zul’Drak are tamable and so are Frost Leopards. Also there’s level 78-79 white worgs in Storm Peaks that are tamable. They have a PH tag by their name so who knows what they will finally look like.
http://i34.tinypic.com/2hf71ci.jpg

Okay, back to me. I’m almost done with the wanderlust and ready to sit down and go over the skills and talents, though. But just a little more exploring first …

Ooh! Carrion Condors in Borean Tundra can be tamed now. Excellent — I think they are my favorite condor color. Or maybe second favorite … Anyway, I love ‘em. Kili’ua in Dragonblight can also now be tamed, as can the elite Dreadtalon. Adding that to all the things Ceron checked it looks like they may have done a general pass over tameable beasts. I haven’t found any other new families, though — looks like we may have to be satisfied with just two this build. *grin*

Oh my! They made Alystros the Verdant Keeper — the level 74 elite green owl in Dragonblight — able to be tamed as well You have to have the quest to summon him down off his peak, though. Oddly, Rattlebore still cannot be tamed.

And by the way, Disengage is a lot of fun.

I stumbled on an Alliance settlement in Crystalsong Forest. I think that’s new. Also, quite painful since I wasn’t paying attention and really annoyed the natives. And hey, here’s the Horde settlement, populated by the Sunreaver faction. Heh — whoops — their dragonhawk taxis can be tamed, just like the Silvermoon Dragonhawks. Unfortunately I don’t see anything else in the zone yet, although it does look to me like some of the areas are being worked on.

So let’s take a quick look around the Storm Peaks … This zone looks pretty big and interesting — and very, very vertical! — but I’m not seeing a lot of beasts right off. Some rhinos, some worgs .. ooh, and a very nice armored war bear that can’t be tamed. And some serious level 80 elites who are not happy to see me. Well, I’m dead.

And I think this is a nice place to end my adventures for the evening. Thanks for joining me for yet another disorganized ramble through a new beta build. I’ll try to get this information organized and up on Petopia soon.