November 2019   « Archives | Current News »

There were some amazing reveals at BlizzCon this year, and most notably for pet collectors and battlers was the announcement of the next WoW expansion, Shadowlands, plus an upcoming charity pet.

Shadowlands Epic Edition Pet

Our adventures post-BFA will be to unknown lands with fascinating denizens and creatures. Ready to collect and battle your way through a whole new world?

The next expansion, Shadowlands, is now available for pre-purchase.

Players that buy the Epic Edition of the game will receive multiple in-game goodies, including the Anima Wyrmling battle pet (pictured right). This pet is added directly to the Pet Journal after purchasing Shadowlands Epic Edition.

Be sure to check out the Blizzard Store to learn more about all editions of Shadowlands.

• Epic Edition - $79.99 USD / EUR74.99
• Epic Edition Complete Collection - $109.99 USD / EUR99.99

No official release date has been announced for Shadowlands, however the Epic Edition pet and other in-game rewards are available right now.

The Anima Wyrmling's pet profile is live here on WarcraftPets, however like with most newly added pets, some users might have trouble importing it from their character's armory. We'll be monitoring this pet and any potential issues that might pop up. Thank you for your patience.

Pet Content In Shadowlands?
Speaking of Shadowlands, Wowhead recently conducted an interview with Senior Game Designer Jeremy Feasel. [source]

Feasel briefly noted some intriguing news about Uuna and Covenant battle pets. Here's a quick summary. Be sure to check out the interview for his full comment.

• As someone that has had experience with the darkness and death, Uuna may have some interesting comments about the Shadowlands. Perhaps we should speak with her once we've entered the other world?
• Each Shadowlands Covenant has an exclusive battle pet reward, and these pets have secret interactions with the world around them.

There will probably be more Pet Battle content coming in Shadowlands, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. New wild pets to collect, trainers to battle, challenges and achievements, maybe even the next Raiding With Leashes chapter? There are many possibilities! What kind of Pet Battle content are you hoping to see in Shadowlands?

Upcoming Charity Pet
Last but not least, a new charity pet was announced for release in the near future, Dottie the baby alpaca (pictured below)!


Much like previous charity pets, for a limited time proceeds from Dottie's adoption fee will be donated to charity. This year the charity organizations are the Make-A-Wish Foundation and WE Charity.

An official release date has not been announced yet for this plucky alpaca, however it's likely she'll be available some time starting this December.

Feasel shared some fun trivia about Dottie: she has a specially-made animation.

The animation team did a special *bounce around in a circle* for Dottie and it is p cute :)

— Jeremy Feasel (@Muffinus) November 1, 2019

Stay tuned for updates on when this companion will be available. We're so eager to meet her! "Dolly and Dot are my best friends..." ...and so is Dottie (Soon™)!

The PTR was updated with lots of Pet Battle content! New pets, achievements, and World Quests.

Additionally, Blizzard released information on upcoming changes to specific pet abilities, as well as plans for post-BFA tuning.

New Pets, Achievements, World Quests
Collectors will have many new companions to adopt in Patch 8.3. Lots were added since our last PTR coverage, bringing the current total to 32 new pets! Here's a quick summary.

• Drops from the Ny'alotha, the Waking City raid, treasures in Horrific Visions scenarios, two new faction Paragon caches, and from creatures/rarespawns in zones that are under N'Zoth's assault.
• New wild pets found in zones that are under N'Zoth's assault.
• A new pet from fishing (pictured right)
• An achievement reward related to Horrific Visions scenarios
• Purchasable pets from the Blackrock Depths Pet Dungeon vendor, and two new reputation vendors (latter requires Revered)

Check out all pets from 8.3 PTR

Be An Awesome Achiever
New achievements in Patch 8.3 include two new Pet Dungeon achievements, and one for completing all objectives in Horrific Visions scenarios.

• Pet Battle Challenge: Blackrock Depths - Reward: Shadowy Disguise toy
• The Shadows Revealed - Reward: Mayhem Mind Melder toy
• Reeking of Visions - Reward: Reek battle pet (pictured right)

World Quest It Up
There will be 8 new World Quests in the two zones under assault from N'Zoth (Uldum and Vale of Eternal Blossoms). [source]

Battlers will face off against level 25 legendary quality (tiny) minions of N'Zoth (example pictured left). Each one has the Elite buff.

These new NPCs cannot be battled unless their associated WQ is active. We'll have to wait and see if this is intended. There are currently no Family Familiar-style achievements tied to these encounters.

There's a lot to do in Visions of N'Zoth, including a new Pet Dungeon which we'll cover in a post in the near future. What are you most looking forward to? New battling challenges? New pets to collect? Serving N'Zoth ...*ahem* Defeating N'Zoth's minions?

Patch 8.3 Changes & Beyond
Blizzard announced some upcoming buffs (and possible nerfs) to a few pet abilities and strategies. [source]

Certain weather abilities will be receiving a buff in the upcoming patch. A new weather type is also coming in 8.3.

• Blizzard - Now also increases all elemental ability damage by 25%.
• Mudslide - Now also increases all critical damage dealt by 25%.
• *NEW* Toxic Fumes - Increases the duration of all hostile damage over time effects by 1 round. All pets are considered Poisoned while Toxic Fumes is active.

On top of this, some changes to previous content: Nazjatar and Mechagon Pet Battle World Quests, and WQs and wild battles in Uldum and Vale of Eternal Blossoms will scale to the highest level pet on your active team.

In the Future
Blizzard will be looking at other abilities for balancing, however we will probably not see any changes to these until next expansion.

• Black Claw and similar abilities that increase damage taken by a flat amount.
• Hunting Party and similar abilities such as Flock.
• The Shattered Defenses debuff effect from abilities such as Hunting Party or Flock.
• Any large percent-damage-taken or percent-damage-dealt buffs or debuffs.
• Twilight Meteorite and similar long-cooldown damage-splitting abilities.
• The Jar of Smelly Liquid ability.

Be sure to check out Blizzard's full announcement on upcoming and possible Pet Battle buffs and nerfs.

What are your thoughts on the proposed changes? Feel free to leave your feedback on Blizzard's official post (NA or EU) or on our 8.3 Updates/Changes forum thread.