Pet Battle System
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Pet Battle System |
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| Abilities · Companions · Trainers · Tamers |
The Pet Battle System, introduced in World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, allows players to use their companion pets in a turn-based mini-game to capture wild pets to add to their collection, battle NPC Pet tamers, and test their skills against other players. Winning a battle rewards the participating pets with experience, which allows pets to gain levels, increasing their power and unlocking new abilities to use in battles.
To participate in pet battles, players must learn the 
[Battle Pet Training] skill from a Battle Pet Trainer, available at level 5 for 10
. The skill applies to all level 5 and above characters on the player's battle.net account.
Pet battles are inspired by the widely popular video game series Pokémon, and are designed to be "fun and casual", only tracking the number of wins and not the number of losses.[1]
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Battle pets
Most companions are battle pets, and can participate in pet battles (while companions that too closely resemble humanoids or are entirely inanimate objects cannot). Battle pets gain experience, and eventually level up (up to the current level cap of 25), by battling other pets. Reaching levels 1, 2, 4, 10, 15 and 20 unlocks new abilities, though each pet may only select three abilities to use in battle.
Types
There are ten companion types, each with a unique passive ability. Each companion type is strong against one type of companion damage (taking only 67% damage from that type of attacks), and weak against one other type of companion damage (taking 150% damage). For example a Beast pet takes 50% additional damage from a Mechanical attack, but takes 33% less damage from a Humanoid ability. However a pet can have abilities different from its type - for example the 
[Mechanical Chicken] has 
[Peck] which is a Flying type attack, while the Mechanical Chicken is a Mechanical type.
Each battle pet can choose three of six pet-determined abilities, which may deal a type of damage different from the pet's companion type.
Although generally reasonable, a pet's type may not always match expectations. For instance, Peanut, the baby elephant, is of the Critter type, while Maggot is considered a Beast. Similarly, the undead Blighted Squirrel is of the Critter (not Undead) type, while the undead flying Blighthawk is of the Undead (not Flying) type.
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- Aquatic (strong vs , weak vs )
- Passive: The duration of harmful damage over time effects is reduced on Aquatic pets.
- Beast (strong vs , weak vs )
- Passive: Beasts deal 25% extra damage below half health.
- Critter (strong vs , weak vs )
- Passive: Critters break out of crowd control effects more quickly.
- Dragonkin (strong vs , weak vs )
- Passive: Dragons deal 50% additional damage on the next round after bringing a target's health below 25%.
- Elemental (strong vs , weak vs )
- Passive: Elementals ignore all weather effects.
- Flying (strong vs , weak vs )
- Passive: Flying creatures gain 50% extra speed while above 50% health.
- Humanoid (strong vs , weak vs )
- Passive: Humanoids recover 5% of their maximum health every time they attack.
- Magic (strong vs , weak vs )
- Passive: Magic pets cannot be dealt more than 50% of their maximum health in one attack.
- Mechanical (strong vs , weak vs )
- Passive: Comes back to life once per battle, returning to 25% health.
- Undead (strong vs , weak vs )
- Passive: Undead pets return to life for one round after being killed.
Abilities
Each pet has 6 abilities in total, placed in 3 tiers: level 1&10, 2&15, and 4&20. For example a 
[Core Hound Pup] learns 
[Howl] at level 2 and 
[Dodge] at level 15, so a player who has a level 15 Core Hound Pup can choose to use Howl or Dodge. Abilities can only be changed outside of a Pet Battle, and a pet can only use a choice of three abilities in combat.
Abilities are not exclusive to the pet's type, so a Mechanical type pet may have a Flying ability.
There are 6 ramping abilities : 
[Vicious Fang], 
[Frog Kiss], 
[Arcane Blast], 
[Focused Beams], 
[Sleeping Gas] and 
[Nether Blast].
Wild pets
Wild pets are new critter-like creatures that are found throughout the game world. Players with Battle Pet Training can choose to battle them using their own battle pets. Aside from their involvement in the battle pet system, wild pets are very similar to critters, having extremely low health and usually refusing to attack the player even if attacked.
Right-clicking on wild pets will cause you to enter battle with them. If during battle the wild pet falls below 35% health, the player can attempt to Trap the pet. If they succeed, the pet will be added to the player's collection. Although encountered individually, battling wild pets will often lead to one or more additional pets entering combat to assist the wild pet, with the announcement "Another pet has joined the battle!". These additional pets need not match the original pet's type.
Wild pets can be distinguished from non-combat critters and mobs in a number of ways. Firstly, mousing over a wild pet will cause the cursor to transform into the wild pet icon 
. The icon will be green if the pet is within range for battling, or grey if it is out of range. Wild pets can also be distinguished by an icon next to their portrait representing their Type (see below), and capturable wild pets will display the text "Capturable" if moused over.
Players with [Battle Pet Training] can also choose to track pets. This displays nearby wild pets on the mini-map, allowing players to find them easily. It also causes the wild pet icon and the pet's name to be displayed above wild pets, making them easily distinguishable from non-combat critters.
Wild pets appear throughout Azeroth, with some being more rare than others. Weather and time of day could play into when the creatures appear as well. For example some wild pets won't appear unless it's raining or night time, possibly even both. Once a player begins a pet battle with a wild pet, the pet itself will be removed from the game world, preventing other players from attempting to battle it. However, if the player leaves the battle after being attacked by another player, or in order to enter a queued pet battle match, the pet will be re-spawned in the game world. [2]
There is planned to be one unique pet per zone.[3]
Wild pets have varying quality: poor quality pets have the lowest stats, compared to common, uncommon and rare wild pets. The quality of collected pets can be improved through the use of Battle-Stones, which can upgrade pets to uncommon and rare qualities.
Capturing a wild pet will reduce its level by a certain amount:[4]
- Catching any pet level 15 or under retains its current level.
- Catching a level 16-20 pet will lose 1 level.
- Catching a level 21-25 pet will lose 2 levels.
Battling
Pet battles are turn-based, rather than in real-time like World of Warcraft. Players can battle with their pets in solo matches or teams of up to three pets. Players can leave a pet battle at any time by forfeiting the match.
Some pets may have some different abilities or feature cosmetic differences, but no player will ever have a significant advantage based simply on the rarity of a pet.[3]
When fighting another player, you cannot see the other player's name or communicate with them.[1]
If a player's pets need to be healed or revived, they can either use 
[Revive Battle Pets], or visit a Stable Master and pay a 10
fee. They can also be healed using a 
[Battle Pet Bandage]. Bandages from First Aid cannot be used to heal battle pets.
Pets can have a boost in one area: health, attack or speed. For example a speed pet is essential for moves that does additional damage if done first, but is more vulnerable to an attack pet, and has a harder time defeating a health pet (unless it has a bigger advantage - see types section below).
While battling wild pets, characters will still appear in the game world, and can still be attacked. To compensate for this vulnerability, characters attacked by enemy players while engaged in pet battles will gain a three-second damage absorption shield, giving them time to cancel their pet battle and attend to their attacker. In these cases, the wild pet will be respawned. This should mostly affect players on PvP realms. [2]
Finding battles
Players can battle their pets against both computer opponents and other players. Pet battles can occur in four different ways:
- Right-clicking on a Wild pet (see below)
- Challenging a Pet tamer NPC to a battle, as part of one of the related quests (see below)
- Queueing for a pet battle by clicking the 'Find Battle' button in the Pet Journal
- Challenging a player by right-clicking on their portrait and selecting the 'Pet-battle Duel' option
Some aspects of pet battles are slightly different depending on the method by which the match is found. For instance, pet battles found through the 'Find Battle' and 'Pet-battle Duel' options do not alter the health or status of your actual pets; after battle, your pets are restored to the state in which they were beforehand. Pets therefore do not need to be healed or resurrected after these types of battle.
Queued pet battles
Queueing for a pet battle causes the player to enter a queue very similar to those used for queueing for dungeons, battlegrounds, etc. Once a match is found, the player will be given the choice of accepting or declining the match.
Although claiming to match you "against a player of similar skill", the battle queueing system would appear rather to select matches based on the combined level of the pets in each player's team. For example, a player with pets of levels 6, 6, and 7 (for a combined total of 19 levels), might find themselves matched against a player with pets of levels 7, 7 and 5, levels 6, 5 and 8, or even levels 10, 8 and 1.
While queued, players can engage in other activity with their character, including battling wild pets. If the player's queue match comes up while they are engaged in a battle with a wild pet, they can still choose to enter the new match; the battle against the wild pet will be abandoned. Leaving combat using this technique appears to re-place the wild pet in the game world, potentially allowing you to battle it again once your queued match is completed. However, players cannot queue for pet battles while currently in a battle.
Pet battle duels
Pet battle duels, initiated by challenging a nearby player through right-clicking their portrait, have some differences to other types of pet battles:
- The winner's pets gain no experience
- Winning duels does not count towards achievements such as
[Cat Fight!]
These rules were likely added to ensure that all player-vs-player pet battles that grant experience or achievements are randomly matched, and prevent players from exploiting the system by repeatedly throwing premade battles.
Weather
Various abilities can create weather effects, or take advantage of existing ones. Weather abilities last 9 rounds.
| Weather | Effect | Caused by | Used by |
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| Arcane Winds/Arcane Storm | Pets cannot be stunned or rooted. |  [Arcane Storm] |
 [Mana Surge]  [Psychic Blast] |
| Blizzard | All pets are considered Chilled. |   [Call Blizzard] |
 [Belly Slide] |
| Cleansing Rain | Hostile Damage over time effects last one less turn and aquatic pets deal 25% more damage. |  [Cleansing Rain] |
 [Dreadful Breath] |
| Darkness | All pets are considered Blinded and all healing received is reduced by 50%. |  [Call Darkness] |
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| Lightning Storm | All pets deal bonus Mechanical damage on each attack and Mechanical abilities deal 25% additional damage. |   [Call Lightning] |
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| Moonlight | All pets receive 25% additional healing and Magic abilities deal 10% additional damage. |  [Moonfire]  [Starfall] |
  [Creeping Fungus] |
| Mudslide | All pets who enter battle are rooted for 3 rounds. Rooted enemies are unable to swap out. |   [Mudslide] |
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| Sandstorm | All pets take less damage and their accuracy is reduced by 10%. |  [Sandstorm] |
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| Scorched Earth | All active pets suffer Dragonkin damage each round and count as Burning. |  [Scorched Earth] |
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| Sunny Day | Maximum health of all pets is increased by 100% and healing done is increased by 25%. |  [Illuminate]  [Sunlight] |
 [Solar Beam]  [Photosynthesis] |
Status
Various statuses can be caused by certain abilities. While statuses have no effect in and of themselves, other abilities can take advantage of them.
| Status | Caused by | Used by |
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| Blinded |
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| Bleeding | ||
| Burning | ||
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| Poisoned | ||
| Stunned |
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| Webbed |
Quests
Once a player visits a Battle Pet Trainer and learns Pet Battle Training, they learn how to battle, level, heal and capture pets with a short questline.
[90] Learning the Ropes- [90] On The Mend
- [90] Level Up!
- [90] Got One!
Pet tamers
Pet tamers are NPCs that have their own pets that they use to battle with. Players will automatically get a quest to challenge the local pet tamer when one of their pets reach level 3. Quests to challenge higher level pet tamers are unlocked as they defeat previous pet tamers.
Addons
Several addons are available for the Pet Battle System, collected in a category. The most popular ones include:
See also
Patches and hotfixes
- Hotfix (2013-03-07): Experience gains from winning a Pet Battle have been reduced.
- Hotfix (2012-10-04): "The cost to learn Battle Pet Training has been reduced from 100 gold to 10 gold."
Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): Added.
References
- ^ a b Mists of Pandaria Press Tour. MMO-Champion (2012-03-19). Retrieved on 2012-03-19.
- ^ a b Pet Battles Q&A with Cory Stockton (2012-09-25). Retrieved on 2012-09-30.
- ^ a b perculia 2011-10-23. BlizzCon 2011: Exclusive Interview with Dave Kosak, WoW Lead Quest Designer. Retrieved on 2012-04-26.
- ^
Mumper 2012-08-03. weakened by capture feedback. Retrieved on 2012-08-20.
External links
World of Warcraft Pet Battle System features
Wowhead Interactive Battle Pet Map
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