May 2018   « Archives | Current News »

UPDATE: A few achievements received additional updates. [source]

• Battle on Zandalar and Kul Tiras - Rewards a new toy, Laser Pointer
• Battle Safari - Rewards a new pet, Dreadtick Leecher
• How to Keep a Mummy (a Mythic Dungeon achievement) - Rewards Miimii

UPDATE: The existing companions earned from PVP Prestige will be available in BFA. They will require Honor Rank 5 (Dutiful companions) and Honor Rank 20 (Wyrmtongue companions). Those that have already collected these four pets will get to keep them regardless of Honor Rank in BFA. [source]

This week's Battle For Azeroth Beta patch included a plethora of Pet Battle content! Many new pets, including 27 wild pets, collecting achievements, and more. [source]

Over 50 New Pets
The Beta Pet Journal was recently updated with over 50 new pets, bringing the current total of new BFA battle pets to 73! Note that this may not be the final count.


Summary of what was added:

• 27 wild pets (six pictured above)
• 1 vendor pet (Lost Platysaur, pictured right)
• 4 achievement rewards (see below for more information)
• 6 reputation pets
• Many more from unknown sources

Check out over 70 new Battle For Azeroth battle pets!

Many of the new Pet Journal entries are incomplete, so there's still some mystery behind a handful of the upcoming pets. There are lots of new pet models, here's just a preview.


We're sure to learn more in future updates, so stay tuned.

New Achievements
Collectors will be rewarded for their efforts in BFA — 4 new achievement pets! We also now know where a previously datamined companion, Hearthy, will come from.

• Pet Emporium - Collect 800 unique pets. Rewards Rooter.
• Master of Minions - Collect 1000 unique pets. Rewards Hearthy.
• Toybox Tycoon - Collect 400 toys. Rewards Brutus. (pictured right)
• Battle Safari - Catch every battle pet on Zandalar and Kul Tiras. (Placeholder pet reward)

A new achievement, Battle on Zandalar and Kul Tiras, was also added. It requires the completion of 20 Pet Battle WQs (out of a total of 24 possible) on Zandalar and Kul Tiras.

Currently, the BFA WQs have similar spawning to Broken Isles WQs. There are 4 random active Tamer NPCs each day, with one of those possibly on a different timer than the other three. Players must be max level (120) to see and challenge the Tamers. Check out this handy list of possible BFA Pet Tamers and their locations on Zandalar and Kul Tiras.

Pet Charm Changes
As noted last month, there will be a new Pet Battle currency in the expansion. It's still unknown how we'll gather Polished Pet Charms, and what rewards will be available for purchase. A new achievement to collect 500 Polished Charms was also added.

The existing Pet Charms appear to have had a slight update — they were renamed to Shiny Pet Charm. The existing Pet Charmer achievement name was also changed to Shiny Pet Charmer.

Before you go on a spending-spree to use up existing charms, there is strong evidence that Shiny Pet Charms will not be a new currency. It's likely this is simply a name change, and current Pet Charms will still be usable to purchase rewards from the Dalaran and garrison Pet Battle vendors in BFA. Note that Blizzard has yet to confirm this. We'll announce any updates or clarification on this topic.

Which battle pet are you most excited for? What type of new rewards would you like to purchase with Polished Pet Charms?

This week's BFA Beta patch filled out many of the incomplete Pet Journal entries, updated some achievements, plus added new pets and toys. [source]

Blizzard also provided some clarification on Pet Charms and how they will be handled in the expansion. [source]

Achievement Updates
We previously noted some Pet Battle achievements coming in BFA. A few have been updated to include new rewards.

• Battle on Zandalar and Kul Tiras - Rewards a new toy, Laser Pointer
• Battle Safari - Rewards a new pet, Dreadtick Leecher
• How to Keep a Mummy (a Mythic Dungeon achievement) - Rewards Miimii

On top of this, a new achievement, Let's Bee Friends, awards an adorable bee pet, Bumbles! (pictured right)

New Pets
A handful of new pets was added in the recent Beta build, bringing the current total number of upcoming pets to 88! This might not be the final count, as hinted by Game Developer Jeremy Feasel (aka: @Muffinus) on Twitter.


The majority (pictured above, except Ragepeep, Scabby and Teeny Titan Orb) of these newest additions are drops from rare or elite spawns found during the Arathi Highlands Warfront.

• Aldrusian Sproutling
• Foulfeather
• Fozling
• Fuzzy Creepling
• Ragepeep
• Scabby
• Squawkling
• Teeny Titan Orb
• Voidwiggler

Check out over 80 Battle For Azeroth battle pets!

Two particular pets, Lil' Siege Tower and Lil' War Machine, are still Works In Progress, and their journal entry descriptions state "Placeholder". These appear to be faction oriented miniature turrets. Where do you think we'll find these pets in BFA?

New Toys
As mentioned above, completing the Battle on Zandalar and Kul Tiras achievement rewards a new toy. However, two more fun toys were added just for battle pets!

• Imaginary Gun
• Tiny Mechanical Mouse

Both can be purchased for Polished Pet Charms from vendors located in Stormsong Valley and Zuldazar.

Pet Charm Clarification
Speaking of Pet Charms, Blizzard provided clarification on how the existing currency and new currency will be used in BFA.

• Pet Charms will be named Shiny Pet Charms. Shiny Pet Charms continue to be acquired by doing pre-BFA battle pet content.
• A new currency has been added -- Polished Pet Charms. These are acquired by doing BFA content, such as Pet Battle World Quests.
• Vendors that sell battle pet items that are always useful have had their wares changed to require new Polished Pet Charms as currency. For example, the vendor Serr’ah in Dalaran now wants the new Polished Pet Charms. Similar vendors who sell such items have had their costs adjusted as well.
• Vendors that sell things like unique pets or toys that have always required Shiny Pet Charms will still require Shiny Pet Charms. For example, Giada Goldleash in Dalaran will still sell all of her pets and toys for Shiny Pet Charms.
• The Pocket Pet Portal item, which was an achievement reward for completing 30 of the Pet Battle World Quests on the Broken Isles, will be added to a vendor with a Polished Pet Charm cost. This is to avoid players feeling obligated to farm previous expansion’s world quests. You can do current content to catch yourself up. This is coming in a future Beta build.
• Ultimate Battle-Training Stones are going to have their cost increased from 45 to 60 Pet Charms.

Players will still be able to use their existing Charms, but only on existing vendor pets and the Magic Pet Mirror and Narcissa's Mirror toys. (pictured above)


All other items, including battlestones, pet biscuits, and vanity items, sold by Lio the Lioness, Serr'ah and the new NPCs in BFA will require Polished Pet Charms. (pictured above)

There are currently no plans for a currency conversion. So if you have a large number of saved Pet Charms and were planning on stocking up on battlestones at any point in the future, it would be best to do so before the expansion's release.

We're springing into summer with a vibrantly colored flying friend — the adorable Royal Peachick!

Collecting the Royal Peachick
The Royal Peachick can be collected by completing the achievement Draenor Safari.

This achievement is pretty straight forward, and collectors with a decent stable of level 25 battle pets should have no problem capturing the pets on the list.

There is a total of 25 wild pets that must be captured from zones in Draenor. The majority are plentiful and can be easily found wandering around. A few will only spawn in a small area within the zone (Shadow Sporebat in Talador, is one example), or nearby their larger counterparts (Leatherhide Runts are usually near clefthoof mobs in Nagrand).

All wild pets in Draenor are level 25. The achievement doesn't require a specific pet quality, so if you're in a rush to complete it, capture the first of each unique Draenor battle pet that you come across. You can always use a battlestone to upgrade them later, but keep in mind that many of these come in multiple breeds.

The Royal Peachick is a gorgeous little bundle of feathers, and it has cousins! Three other baby peacock pets exist, two of which you'll end up collecting on your journey to the Royal Peachick: Brilliant Bloodfeather, Everbloom Peachick, and Golden Dawnfeather.

Battling with the Royal Peachick
The Royal Peachick is a colorful little fighter with some versatility to offer.

The combo of its natural speed from being a Flying pet, plus the combo of a group speed boost from Dazzling Dance and a Feign Death swap means the Peachick can offer its utility from the back row. Feign Death is a super powerful move for avoidance as well.


Dazzling Dance also provides some good self-synergy for Quills, which hits an additional time if the pet using it attacks first. The other DPS option is Savage Talon, which will provide additional DPS throughput without that extra speed hit from Quills. Talon will also be a better pick against multi-hit counters like Shell Shield.

Arcane Storm, an anti-root weather effect isn't powerful by itself, though the ability to change the weather at all comes with a lot of value.

One of the best abilities the Peachick has is Rain Dance, which will heal the Peachick and boost your team's hit chance by 50%. This makes for a great combo with abilities with less chance to hit. Nocturnal Strike will always hit when comboed with Rain Dance, for instance, but 2 turns is a very small window with no chance for error.

There are a few pets you can try in a pinch for substitutions, if you still need to round out your stable before you can nab your Peachick. If you're looking for a pet which can feign death, Egbert is an easy pickup for the spring season. Rain Dance is also used — perhaps better — by the Junglebeak, an easy tame in Gorgrond you'll already have from the Safari achievement before you get the peachick.

This is really the Peachick's one real weakness. It's a solid little pet on its own, but because you have to tame so many high-value pets to get it, those pets generally have better tricks up their sleeve.

Pet of the Month is co-written by Liopleurodon, an experienced pet battler and long-time WoW player. She maintains her own Pet Battle blog and is a Pet Battle and esports columnist on the fansite Blizzard Watch.