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With the release ofWorld of Warcraft: Mists of Pandariafrom the looming ocean fog,World of Warcraft: Cataclysmis beginning to roll out the changes to prepare the denizens of Azeroth for the next big expansion. The introduction of pet battles added a whole new dimension to the game, with animal companions and small furry critters that were formerly for cosmetic value only now graduated to a new status as fighting pets.
These aren’t combat pets, like Hunters and Warlocks, and are part of a minigame that includes fights in the wilderness and against other players, taming new pets, and leveling new ones. Just like every pet battle game, each pethas its strengths and weaknesses, and there’s a way to organize them to know which pets to choose. Players have to be trained before they can begin capturing and training their Battle Pets. There’s a questline related to the training process, which includes a lot of travel, training, and exploring.
Higher-level characters will log on and discover that many of their cosmetic pets are now listed in their Pet Journal tab as Battle Pets. Some exceptions include items like balloons and non-animals like the Argent Dawn Grunt. All of these start at level 1, no matter when they were acquired, and have to be leveled like any other pet captured in the wild.
The Battle Pet Trainers
Get The Skill, Start The Quests
The first trainer the character speaks to begins their Pet Battle adventure with some basic quests related to demonstrating their Pet Battle prowess. Most players will either meet with Audrey Burnhep in Stormwind Cityor Varzok in Orgrimmar.
However, there are several other pet trainers in other convenient locations.
The Pet Journal
Organizes Pets Into 10 Distinct Categories
The tab labeledCollectionsis still in the same location on the player’s UI, but the pet section has been changed to include thePet Journal. Even if the companions that the player owned previously can’t be converted into Battle Pets, they’ll continue to be listed here. They can be organized by level, family, and type, and there’s also a search feature for specific pets.
The Battle Pets in World of Warcraft are organized into families that reflect their nature. Some are obvious, like the small and furry Critters, but others are not so much, like the Aquatic companions that can be mistaken for Elementals or Beasts.
Certain families are stronger against other groups and weaker against others, but pets havea myriad of different powersand abilities, so there are always exceptions to this rule.
Check which family the Battle Pet is from using the Pet Journal when in doubt or fighting an enemy with specific weaknesses. For example, the Harpy Youngling appears to be part of the Flying family, but these creatures are officially classified as Humanoid.
Fighting And Leveling
Unlock More And Stronger Abilities
After players finish the initial quest chain, which is basically a tutorial, they’ll receive a much longer quest chain that requires them to travel throughout Azeroth’s two main continents. They’ll seek out advanced pet trainers and challenge them as a way to introduce the different abilities of each pet family and how to defeat them.
Each of these trainers has a different set of pet companions to test the player’s skill. This is an ideal way to learn how to build different teamsfor every possible situation. Players should also get used to the pet leveling system, which mirrors that of the players. For example, the highest level pets are in the level 80-85 areas, while the lowest are in starting areas or major cities.
The more the player’s companions fight, the better they get, and players can either wander in the open world and challenge pets in the wilderness or use the “Find Battle” button.
Healing And Resurrection
Not every battle is going to be a win, and trainers can’t heal pets orbring them back from the dead. It’s up to the player to make sure their companions are fit and ready for battle.
