I logged into the Cataclysm beta tonight to test whether or not you can use Call Pet in combat. This would be particularly useful to call a new pet immediately after your previous pet dies.
And … I can no longer use Call Pet when my pet has died. When I try, I get the message:
You already control a summoned creature.
I have to revive my dead pet and then dismiss it before I can switch to another.
Since there has not been another patch yet, I am assuming that this was a hotfix – probably to prevent legions of beta hunters from getting stuck with a dead pet, given it was so annoying to work around this bug.
The question I have: Was this just a quick and dirty fix, or does Blizzard intend that we cannot use Call Pet to switch away from a dead pet without reviving it first?
I guess we’ll have to see what happens with this behavior in the next beta patch. Here’s hoping it’s soon!
Aside: Amusingly, if I mount up and fly away after my pet has died, his corpse appears at my feet when I dismount. Poor dead crocolisk!
Edit: Oh, yeah – and Call Pet works fine while you are in combat.
Oh gosh, that’s so sad! D: I hope it’s just a quick and dirty fix. >_<
I’d bet my lunch money (all three of them dollar bills :-)) that this is the intended behavior; there is no way Blizzard wants us to react to our pet dying with “Meh, I’ll just call the next in line…”
I initially thought this behaviour (having to revive a pet before calling a different one) would just be annoying, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more I think it makes sense to have to do it. Anything else will encourage stacking more than one of the same pet in different active stable slots.
It also fits in better with the warlock parallel GC mentioned the other day. ‘Locks have a 10 second cast time on their pet summon spells, talented to 6 seconds with 2 points in Master Summoner (Fel Domination is currently gone in Cataclysm).
With this implementation, hunters have a 2 second Dismiss Pet cast time and an instant Call Pet to switch pets normally, but will always incur the full 10 second Revive Pet cast time if our pet dies (although I still hope to see Improved Revive Pet make a comeback to the talent trees – one of the best quality-of-life talents we had in the BM tree and they took it away when we finally have the points free to get it again, the way we could back in the TBC days).
Having the corpse appear at our feet when we rezone is actually kinda handy – after a raid wipe, I don’t always know if my pet died before I did. Having a dead pet appear at my feet when I zone in will save me being surprised when Call Pet doesn’t work (or Revive Pet, if I’ve assumed my pet died when it actually lived).
Did you get an answer to the original question? Does Call Pet still work in combat? Given the other change, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to restrict it.
Yup — I should have mentioned that. Call Pet works fine when you are in combat (although testing it nearly got me slaughtered by some sort of fire-wielding ogre).
I added this to the post also.
i always skilled imp. revive pet with my bm and mm builds oO
kinda sad they removed it
In regards to Fel Domination, I forgot that the “instant summon” mechanic is likely moving to Soulburn. The closest hunter equivalent is Heart of the Phoenix.
That’s the most eloquent explanation for it making sense, Nim. And if they make imp revive pet a glyph instead of a talent, then all hunters can have it! It’ll be like warlocks, only in reverse. Cause they can instantly dismiss a pet if they choose to.
Oh LOL could you imagine that if a Hunter could just keep calling pets and set them on it’s target after each pet dies. It would be like that children’s tv series Pokemon (based on brief glimpses of it). He He!!
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