Adumbledore
7 years ago
7.2 DK/Monk Pets and their Acquisition
So with 7.2 approaching, we've had some updates regarding the DK and Monk class hall pets that are coming with it. I must say, when I read what is required for obtaining these pets, I immediately felt downtrodden. What is being asked of the playerbase simply to obtain these pets is mind-boggling. To obtain these pets, you have to do the following:

- Death Knight - Must empower and fully unlock all artifact weapon traits for each DK spec (Blood, Unholy, Frost). Each pet requires the corresponding fully unlocked artifact weapon.
- Monk - Requires the achievement Power Ascended (empower and fully unlock all traits for one artifact weapon).

Quintessence was kind enough to go into more detail explaining what you need to do in order to get the pets. It's as follows (copied from the Pet Battles forum):

1. Level character to 110.
2. Max out artifact weapon to 34 (or is it 35?) (for DKs, 3 weapons to max).
3. Complete the class mount quest line to simply see the pets on the vendors. (Unsure if Broken Isles flying will be a prerequisite to class mount quests. If so, insert 'complete Pathfinder 1 and 2' prior to step 3.)
4. Complete the Broken Shore quest line and scenario.
5. Get quest to empower artifact weapon from Broken Shore.
6. Complete quest line to empower weapon(s).
7. Continue adding artifact power into weapon(s) until all traits (including new ones unlocked by empowering) are learned.
8. Have 10k resources to purchase pet (in the case of DKs, 30k resources for all 3).

Why is so much being placed in front of players looking to unlock these pets? Especially when the already obtainable class order pets have nothing like this ridiculousness placed in the way of the pets? Shaman only have to battle and defeat Snowfang in a pet battle to earn the pet. Druids need to have a bit of luck and the Evergreen order hall advancement to have a chance at earning Broot from their plots of soil. Still nothing that you can't accomplish on your own in a reasonable amount of time. Demon Hunters and Warlocks need to summon the special class-only bosses and defeat them for a chance at their pets. Again, reasonable. So why do DKs and Monks (and potentially future classes) have to suffer so much for their pet(s)?

If these prerequisites are simply placeholder information until something more concrete can be put in place, that would be great. It would also be great to know that they are simply placeholders. As it stands, quite a few members of the pet battle community (especially collectors) are disillusioned with these order hall pets and these kinds of crazy requirements to earn the pets is just another nail in the coffin.

Instead of the rather lengthy process outlined above, couldn't we have something more reasonable and in-line with the already obtainable pets? Something like:

- Death Knight - Each day there's a small chance that a special pile of dirt will appear in Acherus. Use your Raise Ally spell on the dirt pile to "raise" one of the pets into undeath (and your servitude, of course).
- Demon Hunter - Already in place
- Druid - Already in place
- Hunter - Each day, there's a small chance that Ohn'ahra will appear in Trueshot Lodge. Speak to her to obtain a special one-time use trap that can be used to trap a special pet running around Trueshot Lodge that can't be caught in any other manner.
- Mage - Each day, there's a small chance that a special tome will appear on the shelves of the order hall. Click the tome, defeat the tome in a pet battle, loot the pet. (Kind of like those weird book fights in Azsuna only with a pet battle inside.)
- Monk - When drunk, there's a small chance that you will see a special npc in your order hall that you can battle. Defeat them and you win the pet.
- Paladin - Once a day, there's a small chance that a tomb in one of the crypts in your order hall will become active. Click on the tomb, cast Redemption on the NPC and receive your pet.
- Priest - While praying at one of the altars in your order hall, there's a small chance that you'll receive your pet in addition to your normal loot. (Requires the Altars of Blessing order advancement)
- Rogue - Each day there's a small chance that a special pirate NPC will appear in your order hall. While stealthed, you can pick pocket the NPC for the pet.
- Shaman - Already in place
- Warlock - Already in place
- Warrior - Cause a food fight in your order hall by throwing cups of mead/plates of food at Valarjar Aspirants. While the brawl is going on, there's a small chance Odyn will join in on the fight. At the end of the food fight, Odyn will exclaim that he hasn't had that much fun in ages, and will reward you with a pet for your deed.
Muffinus
Game Designer
7 years ago
7.2 DK/Monk Pets and their Acquisition
Hi everyone! Thanks for your feedback, wanted to drop in a few updates/notes.

In the next build, you'll see that the required currency for each bonus item has dropped from 10000 to 1000 Order Hall Resources. We agree that the "hard part" of getting the bonus items should be maxing out your artifact, not the grind afterwards.

In 7.2, we want these bonuses to feel like a badge of honor for players that have unlocked the final ability on their empowered artifact. For some time they'll be pretty exclusive, and this is intentional. It makes sense for the Blood Death Knight, with their bloody mount, to also have the Bloodbrood Whelpling, showing off their dedication to their specialization.

It's also important to note that we also have no plans to remove these items in the future, and we will re-evaluate their acquisition in a post-artifact world. If you don't want to go for them right now, don't worry, you won't be permanently missing out on anything.

I hope this assuages some of your concerns. As always, we're looking forward to your continued feedback!
Edited by Muffinus 03/03/2017 12:51 AM
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