Notes from Beta/PTR Build 9038
Blizzard updated the Public Test Realms and the WotLK Beta realms this evening with Patch 3.0.2 (9038). This was a small patch (something like 12 MB) and our second this week, so I am expecting primarily skill and talent tweaks.
Some good news to start, though: the 3% damage difference in ex-caster pets is gone! Ex-casters now have exactly the same stats as normal pets. (Let’s hope they stay that way this time.)
Unfortunately I still seem to be missing the Charge talent from my land-based Ferocity pets.
So far I am not seeing many changes in pet skills or talents, but once I am done with that I’ll go recheck untameable families, demon hounds, etc. I’ll update this post if I find anything (and put up a new exciting post if I find anything major). If you are on the PTR or beta, let me know if you find anything!
[Update #1]
They apparently raised the based health of level 75 pets, from about 4650 to about 5020. I don’t see a health difference on my level 65 pets, so I’m guessing they probably tweaked 70+ or 71+. At any rate, on a kitted out (but untalented) pre-made, that means that my bear has 12,000 health.
[Update #2]
Vargul Blighthounds can still be tamed (and are still wolves), but it still doesn’t look like any of the other demon hounds can. I also haven’t come across any new tameable families yet.
84 Comments
W0000000000000000000T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CASTER STATS FTL thank GOD there still gone
Glad to hear caster pets are fix’d, always seemed stupid to me.
and first!
dang…second….
Woo, I’d LOVE if they made demon hounds tamable <3 :D!!!
I think they said somewhere that charge was just for tenacity?
I haven’t seen my corehound playing “air guitar” so it looks like that fix went in fast.
As a second note… I love my core hound. I can’t wait for patch day so I can tame him. He’s so cute and chompy. *hugs it* Looks great beside my Green Orc.
which one do you have? kurken?
the bone spiders north of just dalaran that spawn around nerubians are now tameable, I got one and I will post SS soon. Whole new Spider model!
oh i CANT wait to see that, draeon.
who else is going to get the black worg and name it “Padfoot” ?
http://img243.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wowscrnshot100308234854cc9.jpg
Pic of the new spider!
New spider skin. :D
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=10697503407&sid=2000
er, as Draeon just posted. … wtb edit function!
Flying Ferocity pets still have Swoop, if that’s any consolation.
I dunno, it’s weird that Tenacity pets would get a move designed to lay instant hard damage on a target, aren’t they more geared toward tanking?
Charge for tenacity is a huge aggro grab, it helps them a lot.
So it does still have the major aggro?
Your pet charges an enemy, immobilizing the target and adds melee attack power to the pet’s next attack.
Hey guys, how do I actually get on the PTR? I downloaded the client and copied my hunter, but I don’t know how to pull it up.
Also, no caster pets is awesome! And here I just tamed a nether ray from heroic SP…on my third try no less. LOL
Selesti, when you bring up the WoW Launcher hit the Public Test button.
still nothing new regarding spirit beasts.wtb more than one in the entire game…
I feel your pain Tab. I lost so much sleep camping that thing. :-(
My level 80 worg pet only has 16 (ferocity) talent points to spend now. Before the patch there were 20 points.
To reply to the question way up there, I have the Corehound from Shadowmoon valley. It glows green and looks good beside my orc.
The white fluffy one has “screen bounce” and I hate that. I actually wanted the green one but no, I won’t have the white one. That screen bounce sucks. (( I tamed it to see how bad it is. It’s annoying as hell. Will give you a headake after a while))
It’s part of the reason I don’t think we’ll be seeing TOO many rhino’s outside of battlegrounds or the like… long term screen bounce like that will give you headakes or seasickness. lol
PS: After unlearning the talents on my hunter and using a different BM spec, the pet had 20 talent points again.
There’s still the problem that “Cower” is set to automatic in the pet talent tab, even if it has been disabled manually before.
Nobbie, I was just gonna suggest the reset problem. hehe.
I guess they just want us to use cower really really badly.
Yep, the problem is that the pet loses aggro almost instantly when this is set to automatic ^^
More health is always good! Seems like a smallish buff though =(
Charge was removed from Ferocity in at least the patch before this one that just went live. I noticed it gone when I was respeccing my Devilsaur a couple of nights ago.
Dangit, Harleigh, now I’m going to because of you. *glares* :D
@Harleigh: Probably as many people as are going to get the Kurken and name it Fluffy.
Don’t get your hopes up about the demon hounds, guys. It’s possible, but it looks very much like a bug to me.
I think it would be an honorable tribute since we cannot name our pets sirius black.
As far as the demon hounds, if it was really a bug I think it would’ve been taken out with the cuddly wuddly bear. It would’ve made sense to do it then at least. They have to have noticed the fan fare that the demon hound is getting.
About Cower being on autocast, i thought that too until I noticed that it was casting at the exact same time as Growl. It looks like Cower might share the same cooldown as growl. I’m not totally sure, but it looks like it.
I just hate that my bat will have to be stabled forever after this patch goes live.I tested it out in the PTR.It will not maintain aggro after two auto shots after I wait a bit while it attacks with me still in quest greens.Who really thinks Sonic Blast needed a 1 minute CD anyway?Was it because of the lolstun?
Ooohh 2 whole seconds of stun,that’s really OP.*eyeroll*
I’d gladly give up the stun just to lower the CD by half even.
Anyone else think it would be funny to see a tauren hunter with a rhino? I know, a little off topic, but the two would be like cousins fighting or something! ROFL
Seidouyumi: I just tested it, and you’re right — Cower and Growl currently share the same cooldown even though they have different cooldown times. This probably explains those reports of Growl sometimes having a wacky cooldown time, because if Cower goes off first then Growl has to wait the full Cower time.
Anyway, I reported it as a bug and I’m sure they’ll get it fixed sooner or later.
(I was actually testing to see if Cower will still autocast. Since it no longer has a focus cost, I was assuming it wouldn’t. But I was mistaken, which I should have known since my other focus-less abilities still autocast.)
Thank you Mania,
I have it turned off in the pet spell book, so it doesn’t seem to be casting anyway, but if it is still bugged elsewhere, yeah, it’s going to really put Growl off. I have noticed that my pet has had a heap of trouble just getting threat if Cower goes off at all.
Maybe this bug is from giving pets cower that couldn’t learn it to begin with?
Update 2 makes me smile
Please give pets more health. I’m getting soloed by rogues; they sap me kill my pet then disarm my trap at my feet, then kill me and /gloat at my corpse. Ether pets health sucks or rogues need smacked around with that nerf bat. Also warriors seem to be able to beat on my pet for 3 secs into the ground then move onto me :(
don’t get me started with mages and polymorph. Yes it was very situational, they got the drop on me, except for the rogue who I tracked coming for me. Really rogues don’t even need stealth now, they just wtfpwn. Also flare does nothing they still can sap me from 10yards away unhindered. Perhaps widen that flare aoe abit.
Health suggestions: Give pets more scalable health with the hunter. Give pets an ability that when the hunter is incapacitated; sapped, polymorphed, cycloned; that the pet takes less damage by going into a warrior like defensive stance, like he is protecting the hunter. That would be very cool. Give Bm a talent that increases pet heath dramatically, since the pet is practically 1/3-1/2 of the hunters dps in Bm. Or just really make improved mend pet an actual improvement, increases ?% amount healed.
Please don’t think I don’t appreciate all the improvements you have made to the hunter as a class, but I don’t want pet survivability overlooked.
sorry for the long post
@Tashi
I would laugh my butt off seeing a Tauren hunter ride out in the arena on their kodo mount with a rhino in tow. I mean, it could apply to any hunter with the kodo, but cows make everything bigger and funnier. *nod* xD
Is it just me or some exotic pets got a size decrease? my core hound and devilsaur look smaller :/
The devilsaur seems the same size as a regular raptor…
Perhaps that’s the habit to see a devilsaur next to a dwarves hunters (I’m a bleu troll) …
The core hounds got a HUGE size decrease a few patches ago. They’re roughly bear size now (( a bit wider))
I for one like um better this way, I just wish they’d take out the booming footsteps now that they’re not really big enough to make them.
Can’t speak to the devilsaurs though.
Sybok…I feel your pain about rogues and warriors. My complaint isn;t quite the smae as yours though. My complain is: rogues can sap to get into their attack range, and warriors have some kind of charge (I have never used a warrioir, so i don;t know what it is called) to get into their attack range. Hunters, on the other hand, have no effective way to get back to our range. Disengage doesn’t work, and concussion shot only works if you are far enogh away. I, on the other hand, have no problem keeping my pet alive. So, the fix i offer is: have growl effect players as well as mobs. If I can force a rogue to pay attention to my pet for a few seconds, that would give me time to get back to range. I don;t think it is really the pet that need fixed. i think Growl needs to be fixed. After all, most of the other classes have a way to get enemy players at range… even Locks have fear to get players away. So, give us a way to get players back at range…and I think having growl force a player to pay attention to my pet for even a few seconds is fair… considering sap lasts forever and fear lasts almost as long. give the hunter some love when it comes to getting back to range.
I posted about the size decrease several posts back, but I guess no one else noticed. :/
Kalli-
The regulars noticed, but the more casual readers of the forums and blog probably missed it. It happens all the time here.
I kind of like the screen shaking personally, but I know some people might hate it. I know its the only reason I’m getting the corehound. I’ll never get a devilsaur though. i don’t like the raptors and the devilsaurs just look icky to me ^^;;
Ah well, as long as I have my wolves and a spirit beast I’m happy ^^
Dweezil - disengage does in fact work now. I was testing it tonight. It makes you jump backwards quite a distance. Just be careful you’re not on a ledge or you’ll fly over (as I found out the hard way). I was laughing so hard. Only thing is if you’re facing down any sort of hill disengage can jump you back a small distance or no distance at all and that really sucks.
Rikaku, only some of the core hounds cause the screen shake. My lovely green one does not, but fluffy does. I’m unsure about the red core hound. I’ve never hit MC. Much less gone in there solo to tame.
Anyone have information on Red core hound and screen bounce?
Personally I hate it ((Screen bounce)) with a frothing passion and have tamed Uhk’loc, for my LK tank. (( wanted a rhino but the bounce gives me a headake))
How many wolves are you gonna have Rikaku?
Though I doubt its new to this build,I tested today and the wasps from Underbog are indeed tameable. H UB is a good source for a lvl 70 wasp, only source until WotLK. That is of course if your group is nice enough and competent enough to NOT kill your would-be pet, two things my group happened to lack. :(
Ahh, ty, Seidouyumi! xD I’m still more of a newcomer and haven’t made those distinctions yet. :)
Great info about the spiders - I was afraid they weren’t tamable due to the scripted event that is going on it that area, so nice to see I was wrong.
Regarding Growl and Cower sharing a cooldown: it isn’t all that unusual for abilities to share cooldowns, even when those cooldowns are of different lengths, and as far as I know Growl and Cower have always been in that category - if you try to increase your pet’s threat one pet GCD, you can’t decrease it the next pet GCD and vice-versa. So I don’t see a new bug there - just the ongoing issue with abilities that aren’t on your pet action bar putting themselves on autocast. On that particular topic, have a look at this comment from GC in the shaman forums - the reason they haven’t fixed the bug yet, is because they’re still deciding how best to go about doing so (i.e. try to make it work properly within the current system, or else overhaul it).
On Ferocity pets and Charge: I haven’t logged into beta in a while - when folks say it is missing, do they mean the talent itself is gone (similar to the way Swoop used to be missing for flyers), or just that you can take the talent and not get the ability? (I’m guessing the former, but the posts I have seen have been a little ambiguous on the topic).
Kalli-
You’re welcome.
Nimizar-
Charge has been removed from the Ferocity Talent Tree.
If I got one of the black worg like things that the other poster said I’d name it Gmork after the wolf creature in Neverending Story :P Because Gmork kicked but and they remind me of him.
I haven’t been able to get on the PTR for awhile after this patch oo It just won’t let me log in. And interesting new Spider Skin, webs on the legs… Niiiiiiiiice XP
PepsiJedi: Yeah, only Kurken does it. Thank god lol. I really dislike the other corehound models. Yes, I’m extremely picky and something that drools THAT much is not traveling with me lol XD
Harleigh: At the very least, 2. Like I’ve stated a few times before, I do have a ghost wolf. I’m NEVER abandoning him. I love the new saberworg. I plan on getting the white one, then switching it out for the color-changer.
I like the pets, but there are just some I will NEVER own for purely aesthetic reasons. Silithid, Spiders, Scorpids, Serpents, and Wasps just because I abhor bugs and snakes and I’m scared of spiders, also the spider attack noise makes me grit my teeth. Gorillas, Crocolisks, Devilsaurs, Raptors, Ravagers & Boars (Unless its the Black armored one), and Bears. These guys for various reasons ranging from annoying idle noises to I just really don’t like them (in the case of Devilsaurs). Some may think that knocks out alot of pets (I’ve been told “jeez what do you like?”) but actually it works just fine for me and I’ve never noticed ^^;
So come Wrath, I’ll probably be sticking with the wolves and alot of old-world pre TBC pets since they’ll level to just below me.
Drakkena - webs on the legs? The only new spider model I’ve seen is the spiky “bone spider” look, but I’m aware there are some “flying nerubian” models out there, which I’d given up for lost as either undead, humanoid or unclassified. Any sign that the flying spiders are tameable, cos I’m all over them if they are.
Rikaku - that’s fine. Cats, wolves, bears and other hairy, smelly mammals really creep the hell out of me. Give me a scorpid, silithid, spider or wasp any day :)
I remember being up there in Storm Peaks and killing those spiders and wondering why Blizzard hadn’t made them tameable. I had tried to tame one of them several weeks ago. I’m really glad Blizzard made that bone-legged spider model tameable. Thanks, Draeon!
Last I saw one, the red Core Hound also did the screen bounce, but also had a fire sizzling sound effect, similar to burning woods. I’m getting this one anyway, I can live with the bounce, as long as I get the skin I like the best.
I guess I’m lucky that the one I like best, the green one, doesn’t do that! Yeah me!
PepsiJedi: I liked the green one til I tamed it. When it threw its head back and did the drool flying through the air thing, I kinda got nausious. I’d kept him if he hadn’t have done that.
I can’t wait to try out Hyenas <3 I love the little buggers XD
Rikaku,
Hyenae are pretty solid pets now. That tendon rip is good if you have a high focus regen rate. I took it off auto cast since it will be used right at the beginning. However, I kept an eye out for runners about to break and used it manually, and it worked a treat. So far, I’ve used all the pets below lvl 27 except for Ravagers and Moths, and they’re all great pets now. Some are just a bit more, well, in need of direction than others.
Sei: That is music to my ears. Now I can get me one of the ridiculous purple ones and “Hurruu~” my way through Northrend XD Hmm… I’ll have to try one out on the PTR. Don’t be surprised if I name my hyena “Sei” after you now XD
I see lots of people hating Moths because they’re Ferocity pets. And after testing one for awhile, I think they fit perfectly in that tree. This little fluffy things are harder to kill than others just due to Serenity Dust. When it starts to get too low on health it will pop it up, and regen health as well as do 10% more damage. And frankly, before you get high enough to put points into Bloodthristy it will save the Moth. Once you can also get Lick Your Wounds then it’s even better.
I say they’re going to be great leveling up pets, especially for Draenei hunters. Serenity Dust + Mend Pet + Gift of the Naaru = Win.
I’m glad caster pets are gone! I only wish they would put the trexgreen skin on something other than an extremely rare elite with a long respawn time. I love that skin but it will be near impossible to get. At least I’ll have a flying mount and track beasts but lets hope he has a 2-8 hour respawn time.
Is anyone else really pumped to get a wasp? i’m going for the light blue silithid wasp boss skin, i’m a troll and i think a wasp would look good by my side.
Deathbang, I hope the same thing only for the spirit beast XD
Speaking of Spirit Beasts, has anyone found any new skins for them? Or is it still just the one <.<
@Sei
I’ve noticed that to be a pattern thus far with many of the new pet family abilities - they need to be manually used by the hunter. I can’t tell if that’s the reason for my PTR pets’ seeming lack of overall dps or if it’s just all the classes getting to be overpowered.
Does this seem to be the new thing for hunters and their pets? You have to manually have them use skills, so they’re even more of an extension of yourself, as opposed to just letting them go? I’m just curious, since I’m still trying to decide on which one is going to be my pvp pet.
I am happy that all the pets are getting their own skills, I am expecially happy with the Hyena skill, tendon rip. Since my main (well only pet I actually use) is a Hyena. though I still plan on getting a blight hound if they remain tamable. Silithids, I’ve always wanted one of those and I am glad my fav model is the tamable type. havent figured out what I want for the last two slots, I might leave them open for now…maybe a spirit beast…depending on what other models there might be.
Probably won’t pvp till after the expansion, and then test out some pets…Rhino’s and core hounds and worms oh my!
I think I could put up with a rhino’s screen bounce as long as I can enjoy seeing it knock people off cliffs.
@BoarWood: Sorry to burst your bubble, but Silithid Wasps have not been tameable sofar in the PTR. So, unless they changed it in this build (can anyone confirm?), the only one that are tameable are at least level 75 won’t be available until after Wrath is out.
I think Boarwood means the blue ones in Northrend, which use Silithid Boss models from Ahn’Qiraj, but are tameable beasts.
And I’ll be grabbin’ me a wasp too, although a firefly type I think.
Name that firefly Serenity.
Yeah, that is indeed what i meant, the 75 ones in sholozar basin.
Has anyone tried to tame the Core hounds in the Northern part of Netherstorm yet? They have black skin. I would get one of them if they are tamable.
@Clawclaw-I never even thougt about that. Defending the lumber mill, using the rhino to send people flying over the cliff… oh the thought of seeing gnomes going flying just makes my troll heart beat with excitement.
At least they fixed the DPS problem with former caster pets. Now I can truly get my nether ray and have fun with it :D
@Thranos
I haven’t checked this build, but they’ve always been Demon and are likely going to remain as such =(
@Clawclaw: I’m with Shagrat. I can’t wait to use it on gnomes-oh wait…. damn they’re part of my faction… rats. ._. Oh well, I can always send blood elves flying. (No offense to any blood elves, but blood elf pallys always make me angry for some reason XD)
I didn’t realize that the others where not Demons. It would be cool if they changed them to not be demons. i really like that skin.
I’m glad that they finally reduced pet leveling experience. And I’m glad they’ve been bumping up pet health a couple of times now. Even though it is a little at a time. And I now have all “5″ of my Stable slots filled. White Devilsaur, the one and only (so far) cat(-like) Spirit Beast, an albino lion, a whitish rhino and an albino eagle. If they add any more pets, that appeal to me, they’re gonna make me choose!
There’s Uhk’loc http://petopia.brashendeavors.net/html/mobs/mob_uhkloc.php the white gorilla.
Temper… i’ll take that. It’s better than what hunters had to get back to range. At least we may have a chance against melle opponents now.
@ Bradagore
http://img243.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wowscrnshot100308234854cc9.jpg
Look at this screenshot, see the WEBS on the legs there? Or am I just seeing things that are hanging from the spiders legs? I didn’t see any posts on the Bone Spider, unless you mean the ones from the Islands where the Draenei start.
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