Freya's Guardian -- Introduction of Combat Pets!

[Ciderhelm]

When I logged into the newest build of the PTR I was given a quest from a placeholder NPC at Ulduar which sent me to Freya in Sholazar. Once at Freya, I received three quests (which were hopefully also placeholders for a longer quest chain) that simply had me talk to her again. And then...



"Obtain one of the Titan's combat pets." Nice.



So what does combat pet mean, exactly? After learning and summoning the pet, here's the final product:



The quest line wasn't available to a Mage and Warlock who were online at the time I picked it up, so it appears to be class based. I'm assuming from the achievement wording that there are several types of these to be found as quest chains stemming from Ulduar.

There are a couple concerns I have w/ this. The first is that the pet is fairly large (about the size of the original Frosty), and if every raider is expected to get pets similar to this, we're going to be swamped. The second concern is the relative value of the pet. The 400 health bonus is superb, but the chance to prevent a killing blow may not be so stellar. For instance, if I'm AOE grinding, which is a situation where I could potentially die without a healer, preventing a single killing blow will not save me. If I'm in a raid, a dangerous spot will usually be covered by a Guardian Spirit anyway, and I'd imagine that this would frequently spend it's charges in those same situations.

There are a few different mechanical issues with the buff at the moment. Either it's not procing at 30% or it has specific requirements to it (i.e. not PVP, which is where we've been testing it). Also, some tanks are reporting that they're gaining more than the 400 health listed on the buff.

All of this isn't to suggest I'm not expecting some clutch recoveries out of the pet. I'm curious how much better another pet would have to be to replace the proc on this one.

[Lyco]

Wow. A 400 hp and 30% chance of cheating death sounds absolutely amazing! Guess every tank will be walking around with a green/red monster besides him in Ulduar

[Fayre]

Blizzard have to get up ever so early in the morning to get something like this past Tankspot today.

[Roana]

Interesting, but I'm not sure if it's good in the long term. The benefits seem so good with no downsides that you'll want to have them out constantly, and 25 combat pets in a raid is going to be a bit messy.

[klor]

I agree with Roana.. this is going to be sloppy. I remember when Mojo's had to be banned from raids because they caused problems.. I am sure this is only going to do the same. It's also going to have people relying on that 30% proc chance.. ugh.. I can see it now..

"I was expecting to survive that but my pet didn't proc" sigh

[Grif]

Cheat the Reaper, is this AOC??? I want that!

[Edgar]

I do love some gambling and 30% is plenty. Looking forward to the quest-line.

[Klimpen]

Knowing Blizzard, they'll do a Druid Idol on this and only make it require something from Ulduar.

[Tanner]

I'm kinda hoping that the buff is something that is limited to the PTR... That could save a lot of raid groups from wiping on any particular encounter and seems fairly OP. Also, I'm not the biggest fan of pets in raids. Less things flying around, hopping, stumbling, etc the less likely someone gets distracted.

[Solowar]

Got the combat pet from the ptr after reading this post.

However, try to duel a friend for about 50 odd times but didn't manage to get the 30% chance to prevent killing blow to proc.

Not sure if it works for duel? Going to test it in bg....

[Wao]

I told my guild that I had take an extended leave of absence o move to japan and create a band called Gundam Gothic Romance to pursue a deeper relationship with christ.

[Ciderhelm]

Got the combat pet from the ptr after reading this post.

However, try to duel a friend for about 50 odd times but didn't manage to get the 30% chance to prevent killing blow to proc.

Not sure if it works for duel? Going to test it in bg....

I'm just guessing, but this might be because duels never actually kill you, so the mechanic that leaves you at 1% is probably preventing this proc from going off as well.

[Krisby]

...almost....did this! so tempting yet so evil!

[idn]

While the buff and questing aspect of this is exciting, I have one major concern about this right off the bat...

Who wants to see 25 pets floating around the raid? Harder to see, harder to click on anything if you need to, more clutter blocking things like wells and food buffs, and more potential hits to framerate.

Blizzard seems to be hellbent on making the game cute. Why not make buffs like this personal auras or something?

Perhaps I'm overreacting, but from previous experience in other games, tons of pets aren't the best idea.

[slashtankadin]

If theres an option, like with hunters pets an Dk minions where you can turn them to passiv, then it will be a very good thing to have in raid.

[Igfad]

There is a thread on the US forums somewhere I saw earlier(lost it now, will post when I find it) about a combat pet suitable for a caster with a quest starting at a newly added Ulduar NPC, it has a small chance of a mana return on spell cast and an int boost similar to the hp this 'tanking pet' has?

Doing the quests for this guy now. Can't wait!

[Bowjangles]

Logged onto the PTR and saw someone in Dal with Thorim's guardian, blue proto-drake pet. Logged before I could ask him what the effect was. The quests do not seem to be available to me. Very interesting.

[Fyran]

Since I don't have a PTR account just now, I can just look forward to the implementation of these pets - awesome

I just hope the quest chain isn't one of these "start today, finish 2011" ones.

[Magnuss]

Wow, this badboy is sweet. It seems to still be slightly bugged though because it was giving me more health back then it was supposed to (Something like 600 or so). Might be bugged or modified by some kind of buff, i cant tell yet. The save from the killing blow is cute, but not something to rely on yet by any means.

[Szader]

Well, EverQuest had something similar. Wizards were given non-combat pets called Familiars, which were pretty much nothing more than a buff with a character model.

Raids eventually got tired of these things, so Verant added a / command that made all non-combat pets vanish from view, while still giving the buff.