For weeks I spent almost every weekday morning flying around Storm Peaks. I picked that time because that’s when there’s the least amount of people online. However, it looked like every hunter and their mother were also looking for Skoll. Then…I got lucky.

I started muttering “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod” over and over again as I landed close to him. For a minute Niqo dashed back and forth, looking for the best place to start the tame. I was so nervous that I forgot to lay down a freezing trap before starting the tame. And then suddenly…he was mine, in all his blue lightning goodness. I named him Selamiut, despite the fact that I already named Loque that. It just seemed appropriate somehow.

Selamiut [SEE-lah-me-oot] is an Inuktitut word (used by the Inuit) meaning “The Sky Dwellers,” and refers to the manifestation of departed souls, experienced amid the stunning beauty of the Aurora Borealis.

It’s a good day to be a hunter.

As a matter-a-fact, now that I think of it, having all of those pets just sitting around in the stables while Niqora runs about isn’t quite fair. In fact, it’s down right cruel to have them caged up as such when they should be running around free. And what about all of my other hunters with all their pets? How many days have those pets spent cloistered in tiny stable stalls?

So…this is my conclusion. No longer will I be a petoholic. Today I will release all of my pets into the wilderness from which they came, and I will bid all my hunters goodbye except for Niqora and one of her pets. And in keeping with the new purpose of Bloodriver (which will soon be named something more appropriate), I’ve decided to get Niqora a much more docile pet. I’m thinking maybe a pink moth or a sporebat. That way both Niqora and her pet can live guilt-free on fungus and fruit. And never again will I have to endure an abundance of loving and caring pets, each with their own unique and interesting personality.

Oh what a happy life that will be.

Now I’ve seen people run clear across Azeroth at the wee level of 10. They try their best to dodge enemies that would one-shot them but usually end up dying and respawning multiple times. If they’re lucky enough, they can convince a high-level friend to escort them, usually with promises of cake. These are the people who use PetEmote religiously, even if they aren’t a roleplayer. And heaven forbid that you kill their pet because you will suffer the full fury of their wrath.

But then I have also come across other hunters who don’t seem to give a rat’s arse about their beastly companion. Their pet is usually named something incredibly silly or demeaning, if they name it at all (not to say that silly pet names automatically equals no pet love). They will /slap or swear at their pet when it does something wrong (considering that we hunters have a LOT of control over our pets, I fail to see how our pets can screw up on their own outside of a glitch). Or even better yet, some of these hunters never bring out their pet, not even if there’s no reason not to have it out.

It should be pretty obvious to all of my readers that I fall into the first group. If the title “Petoholics” wasn’t a dead give away. All of my pets on all of my hunters mean something to me in one way or another, even if it’s only that the pet just “feels right” with that character. And I’ll be the first to admit that I’m extremely attached to at least one pet of mine.

So you can imagine how my jaw just drops when I encounter the 2nd kind of hunters. Pets are such an integral part of our class and they are unique even compared to the other pet classes. We have to cart around food for our furry friends and feed it to them regularly, sometimes at extremely unconvient times. They don’t level automatically with us. And they come in so many shapes and colours that it boggles the mind. Oh, and the things we can go through just to get the one that our heart desires. I can’t even comprehend treating my pets like crap.

Maybe I’m just being my normal weird self. But either way, I want to know what you other hunters think about this. What do your pet(s) mean to you? Why do some hunters treat their pets differently than others? This is a meme for all hunters, bloggers or not. Post your response on your blog or write up a comment on this here post. Either way, I want to know what the community thinks. You know my opinion, what’s yours?

It’s kind of amusing when people come to me to ask what pet they should tame with their hunter. Sure, there are theories about game mechanics that say this or that and there are some hunters I know who switch out pets frequently. But I’m a firm believer in the phrase “you play what you feel is right”. So when I wrote the following story, I tried to capture what a true bond between a hunter and her companion can feel like. Enjoy.

The air was thick with moisture from the recently departed rain. It formed dewdrops on the leaves of the bush Niqora was shrouded in, drops that fell to mingle with her black fur. Her breathing was slow and quiet, her will carefully controlling what her lungs took in and out. Every one of her muscles was taunt in anticipation and ached so, but she dared not move in case her quarry would hear her motions. She would be patient, she was always patient.

Her body may have been still but her thoughts danced around her head as always. She was thinking of the black worg that had accompanied her for so many seasons. She cared dearly for him, as a hunter should for any of her pets. Indeed they were true friends, but Niqora had always felt a restlessness, a tug at her heart that had eventually led her here to Feralas. The worg did not complain when she had left him in the capable hands of the local stablemaster and wandered out under the gigantic trees that dwarfed even the tall Shu’halo. He knew that his friend needed to seek out her heart-wish. Even though she had not spoken a word to him about it, he knew in the way only an animal could. He would not worry for her safety as he usually did, but instead focus his attention on cracking the marrow from the large juicy bone the stablemaster had presented him.

A twig snapped to her right and Niqora’s attention came aburptly back to her present environment. Only her eyes flickered in that direction, she would make no other movement. Two squirrels came racing down a tree trunk, one chasing and scolding the other, most likely a territory dispute. Mentally she eased back into place, taking in a very slow breath through her nose. Good, she could only smell damp leaves and earth. Before she had smeared a mixture of mud and leaves over her skin and armor to mask her scent. Soon it would dry and be rather uncomfortable but she was determined not to squirm. She might not get another chance at this…so she would wait.

~~~

She couldn’t help but fidget with one of the white feathers that her mother had so carefully woven into her mane. However, she was at least more patient than Anuniaq, who had lept forward only to be pulled back firmly but not unkindly. Niqora’s father Cain stood over Anuniaq, one of his large hands resting on her shoulder. Niqora had to smirk as her younger sister squirmed under their father’s hold.

Slowly she turned her gaze back to the shapes that were striding closer to the camp. Her sharp eyes quickly picked out her mother Pala walking to the right, still in the shape of the great bear form that she took when she went hunting. Niqora’s heart warmed at the sight of her mother but only a moment later, she felt a gentle pulling at it. Following the pull, her gaze came to rest on the other figures approaching. She saw many faces and heard many voices that she recognized as her clanmates but that was not what she sought. Trotting along at the hooves of the Shu’halo were a meriad of creatures.

The cunning eyes of hyenas shone the deepest of black as they cackled their joy of a good hunt. The great shelled bodies of turtle waddled slowly, long necks stretching out to seize a bite of the plump fruit hanging on the bushes. The tawny pelts of lions seemed to glow in the sun’s last lights, the large cats glided along as if they had not a care in the world. Swoops perched on their owners’ shoulders, preening their long dark feathers clean of any traces of the hunt.

A mass of thick coal-coloured fur burst from the returning hunting party, its long legs a blur as it raced towards the collection of tents that was a camp. It let out a loud yip before bowling Niqora over, causing the two of them to tumble onto the ground in a tangled heap. This sent a wave of laughter through every Shu’halo present. Anuniaq seized this opportunity to slip from her father’s grasp and race to her mother, wrapping her arms around her neck in a hug fit for the bear she was. Niqora was too busy with her own arms tightly hugging the black wolf to her.

~~~

Niqora almost didn’t hear the rustle in the bushes, it was so soft. Although it seemed impossible that her muscles could tighten any more, they did nonetheless. A dark point appeared beneath a leaf, a canine nose shiny with moisture. There was a careful sniff and then the creature slunk out into the small clearing. Most definitely a female, Niqora observed with a trained eye. And what a beauty she was. Her muscles were lean and strong under fur appeared to be made from the shadows themselves. Without warning, the wolf vanished from Niqora’s sight and the Shu’halo felt panic well up inside her. How could she have been so careless to let the animal slip out of her grasp like that?

Not a moment too soon, the wolf appeared exactly in the position she had been before. Niqora allowed herself a small smile. So the stories of the locals were true, these wolves had an uncanny ability to make themselves disappear when they wanted to. She could see now how the wolf had shifted ever so slightly, molding with the shadows easily in the dim light that managed to find its way through the thick treetops. A light breeze ruffled the bush around Niqora and she took the opportunity to breath the words of a marking spell so the wolf would have a harder time evading her sight.

The beast sniffed the ground with intense interest, obviously having detected the rabbit scent that Niqora had carefully placed on the ground. A few more steps forward and she was just where the Shu’halo wanted her. Niqora stood up in one smooth motion that did not betray her poor aching muscles. She was beyond the pain of her body now, for she was not only on a hunt but a very special hunt. The wolf twisted her head ’round at Niqora the instant she moved. Blue eyes locked with bright yellow ones that flashed with a feral intelligence.

The wolf snarled at the intrusion and trickery that Niqora had caused. Snapping her strong jaw, she bounded across the clearing towards the Shu’halo. In her anger, the creature did not notice the carefully laid trap that Niqora had concealed hours before. The wolf’s right forearm touched it and it triggered with a snap, encasing her in a large block of ice only a foot before Niqora’s muzzle. Niqora leaned forward, pressing her hands against the clear icy walls, her eyes having never left the wolf’s. She felt the energy flow through her and around her into the frozen creature as she murmured the language of the Beast. This was old magic she was working with, older than the memories of even her brethen, as old as the land beneath her hooves. The connection that it formed between the two beings was almost tangible, could almost be seen as a thin silvery strand. Although her mind was still focused on the words, a thought drifted up to her consciousness. It was one of the first things she learned as a hunter: A spirit cannot truly be tamed, only befriended.

~~~

The zhevra carcass sizzled and spat from the heat of the fire cooking it. The Shu’halo had gathered in a rough circle about it, letting themselves relax in its soothing glow. The sun had already fallen behind the mountains and soon even twilight would leave them. But then the meat would be served and the story-telling would be in full swing. Even now the leader of the hunting group regailed how they had stalked and brought down their prey.

Niqora was seated crosslegged on the ground with her back against a log, the black wolf’s massive head in her lap. Even though she was larger than most calves her age, the wolf was easily her size if not bigger. To her right sat her mother and father with Anuniaq. Her mother had slipped back into her natural form and was cradling the sleeping form of Anuniaq in her arms. As usual, her younger sister had worn herself out before and would wake up later with a rumbling stomach. The wolf softly complained that she had stopped petting him so she glanced down with a sly grin and teasingly tickled his ear before running her fingers over the soft fur on his brow.

Beads tapping gently against one another brought her head up to attention. It had been the beads in her mother’s mane that made the noise as Pala had nodded her head in greeting towards a light-coloured Shu’halo that seated himself on the log to Niqora’s left. From the happy whine that the wolf made, she did not need to look at him to know he was the wolf’s hunter Iluq.

“Palaruk. Cainivat,” the hunter’s deep voice greeted Niqora’s parents as he returned Pala’s nod, using their full names as a sign of respect. “Anu,” he added quietly as his fingers gently brushed the fur of the young sleeping calf. Anuniaq stirred and moaned from her dreams before falling still again. Iluq then turned his merry gaze to Niqora and the wolf in her lap. “One would think that you are Shiv’s hunter, Niqo.” He reached out to touch the feather in Niqora’s mane.

Niqora returned his teasing smile and leaned over to whisper loudly to the black wolf. “I think he’s on to us, my handsome Shiv. We must do better to deceive him.” Shiv responded with a low whine and a wolfish grin.

Iluq chuckled heartily, having heard each word from Niqora’s mouth. Pala rolled her eyes at her eldest daughter but there was a shadow of a smile on her lips nonetheless. Cain playfully swatted Niqora’s shoulder as he commented, “We would have named you Niqora the Trickster if we had known you would be such a sly creature.”

Niqora beamed her most innocent smile and was rewarded with her parents’ soft laughter. There were smiles on their lips as they shook their heads at their eldest daughter. Iluq took that opportunity to say to Cain in a half-joking tone, “Whether you wish it or not, your daughter is destined to become a hunter.”

Cain glanced over at Niqora, only to see her preoccupied with rummaging through her pack in search of a zhera hair brush that she owed. As the three adults began to talk in low tones about adult things, Niqora gently brushed Shiv’s handsome black fur and the wolf closed its eyes in response to her soothing motions. A feeling of complete contentment settled over the young Shu’halo. She knew nothing of destiny or what was written in the stars, but she did know who she was…and who she was going to be.

~~~

The words that Niqora spoke were not truly words, nor did they have a particular rhythm or tone. However she knew when they came to an ending…only the freezing trap broke before she could finish. The female wolf took only a fraction of a second to recover and knock the Shu’halo to the ground. The fall knocked the wind out of the hunter and for a moment, she gasped for breath to fill her lungs once more. The beast, who had positioned herself over Niqora, moved to snap her powerful jaws over the hunter’s face. Niqora’s hands flew to the wolf’s chest and held her back so the pearly teeth only just grazed her right cheek. Ignoring the gash on her face and the claws digging through her leather armor, she continued to mutter where she had left off, looking deep into those aware yellow eyes.

Suddenly there was no more to say and the wolf stopped struggling to pant heavily on Niqora’s face. The Shu’halo let her arms thump to the ground as her aches and pains finally began to creep into her. The wolf stepped neatly to Niqora’s left and collasped on the ground with a grunt, her sides heaving.

Despite all her muscles protesting, the hunter rose to retrieve her packs from a nearby bush, coming back to sit down with a grunt rather like the wolf’s. Out of her bags she pulled several large barbecued buzzard wings. She handed one to the wolf, who took it gently in her teeth and began to chew on it eagerly. Niqora began to nibble on another wing between taking swigs from a canteen of cool spring water.

The food and drink seemed to restore her energy and a small sigh escaped her. For a brief moment, her eyes closed and though all she saw was the star-spangled darkness of her inner eyelids, she could feel where exactly the wolf was before her. She could sense every black hair on the creature’s body, its cupped lupine ears always twitching with curiousity and intrigue. When she opened her eyes again, the wolf was watching her with interested yellow eyes.

Removing her helm, she splashed some of the water over her face to clean away the mixture of caked-on dirt and her own blood. She then rinsed out the inside of the helm and filled it with the rest of the canteen water, offering it to the wolf. As the canine lapped it up swiftly, Niqora said to her very softly, “My name is Niqora Wildstride.”

The wolf groaned, following with a peculiar whine. The Shu’halo chuckled low as she interpreted: The wolf already knew who she was, in the way that animals do, and her own name was Blacky.

Eyebrows coming together in a peak on her brow, Niqora turned the wolf’s name over in her mind slowly. It was not quite the sort of name she had expected but who was she to question someone’s name?

Once Blacky had had her fill of drink, Niqora stood somewhat stiffly and stretched each limb and joint slowly. Determined to wash all the dried mud and grime from her fine dark fur, she set a comfortable pace towards the nearest stream. The wolf appeared at the Shu’halo’s side and matched her stride. With a sudden tug at her heart that Niqora did not understand but did not need to understand, she buried her fingers into Blacky’s thick coal-black fur. A small but companionable whine came from deep in Blacky’s throat. Niqora tilted her head upward and although the tree leaves blocked her view, she could imagine the wide open night sky above. She did not believe that one’s entire life was written in the stars but she knew–had always known–that there were some things that had to happen in order to complete one’s live.

She let her gaze fall down, blue eyes meeting yellow eyes once again. She smiled as a vast contentness filled her being, even greater than it had years earlier. There were also some bonds that had been there since the beginning of time…they just had to be discovered.

Instead of doing one big update that would look very daunting right now, I’m just going to say a couple of important things and then go into detail in a later post.

First of all, I’ve moved all my characters that were on Moon Guard to the new RP realm, Wyrmrest Accord. That includes Niqora, Anuniaq, Brighit, and Tkasha, as well as my new DK Githinji and my baby shammy Zulrea. Yes I know, I actually made some non-hunters. I’ll explain those later.

Secondly, Niqora has reached level 80! Woot! And…she’s engaged to be married! Screenies and details to come.

Thirdly, all my hunters are staying Beast Master. I have nothing against other spec, BM is just what I like. After all, I am a petoholic.

And lastly, I have had a lot of pet changes for my hunters which I will need to post and talk about.

Oh! And I command you all to visit A World (of Warcraft) Apart, the home of my esteemed and wonderful guild leader (and Niqo’s betrothed <3).

Ha! I dare you to tell me that I need to update now!

I was playing around with the pet talent calculator and ended up with a build for Niqora’s warp stalker Grakoth. If I had to pick one great thing about Grakoth (and warp stalkers in general) is his Warp ability. It instantly teleports him to the mob, costs no focus and has a 15 second cooldown. It’s up for practically every fight and saves me having to wait for him to run over to the mob. It’s perfect for someone like me who does a lot of farming, soloing, dailies, etc.

So about the talent build. When I created it, I kept Warp in mind, as well as wanting Grakoth to keep aggro, stay alive, and maybe do a little DPS on the side. I used Big Red Rhino’s talent review and builds as a guide, making some adjustments for a warp stalker and the fact that Grakoth is only level 70.

Tier 1: The first 3 points went into Great Stamina for the health boost. I ignored Charge because of Warp and Natural Armor was put on the backburner due to it being useful but I think the points are better spent elsewhere. The next 2 points were put in Cobra Reflexes. Previous theory-crafting (not mine, I can’t remember where I saw it) concluded that Cobra Reflexes increased DPS because more attacks means more crits.

Tier 2: 3 points into Spiked Collar because hey, more damage is good. Boar’s Speed was ignored because again…Warp. I put 2 points into Blood of the Rhino for the extra boost it will give to Mend Pet. When I’m doing dailies, I sometimes find that Mend Pet does just a little less healing than I need to negate the damage Grakoth is taking.

Tier 3: More threat helps him keep aggro, hence the 2 points in Guard Dog. Intervene was ignored because I solo mostly and ahem…he’s got Warp. Lionhearted would probably be more useful in PvP so I passed on it. 3 points were put in Avoidance because of the reduced AOE damage and it leads to Last Stand.

Tier 4: No points here. Great Resistance is more for instances and PvP. I was considering Grace of the Mantis but somehow it didn’t seem worth it. A small percentage to reduce the mob’s melee crits…I believe the points could be better spent elsewhere.

Tier 5: Taunt was taking to help Grakoth keep aggro. Last Stand is good for some temporary hit points, say for taking on 3 or 4 mobs at a time.

One of my options is to take the 3 points of of Spiked Collar and put 2 into Natural Armor and 1 into Pet Barding. But my way of thinking is the faster the enemy goes down, the less damage Grakoth has to take. So for now at least I’m willing to sacrifice some armor for the DPS.

There you have it! My patches are finally getting close to being done and I’m going to head off to download some addon updates so I can get right down to playing once everything’s ready. I welcome any opinions and suggestions on this build.

Edit: I forgot that in a comment, Tzia had asked me if Warp and Charge share a cooldown. As you can see, I didn’t take it here and a web search came up with nothing. Unless someone else knows, I’m going to guess that they don’t, because well…that wouldn’t make sense to me. Of course I could be wrong and the only sure way to know is to test it out in-game…which I may end up doing anyways.

I especially like the roaring bone dragon. Very nice touch. I don’t suppose I can tame one…

Unfortunately all the realms I play on are still down. So I can’t log in and get Niqora a nice new chimera or core hound. I’m not really interested in any of the other new pets. Okay, maybe the moths. Brighit might get one of those. And possibly devilsaurs too. I suppose time will really tell.

I am really looking forward to the new pet skills and talent trees. Every family gets a focus dump and its own special skill, Dash/Dive/Charge is now universal, pets have their own talent tress, new pets are auto-leveled to within 5 levels of your hunter…and last but not least, no more traipsing all over Azeroth to find that rank of whatever pet skill you need.

I remember not so long ago when there was a certain rank of Dash Blacky needed, but the lowest level beast with it was in Blackrock. Niqora tried to venture in there on her own, and then later with a druid friend…only to die repeatedly. I decided it was easier just to wait a few more levels. But now I will never have to do that again!

In other news, I reserved my copy of WotLK a couple days ago. It turns out that they don’t take pre-orders for the Collector’s Edition which I want. They sell those on a first-come-first-serve basis. So I’ll be hanging outside my local EB Games come November 13. With the expansion, I’m looking forward to new areas to explore and, as always, new pets! I’ve basically been glued to Mania’s Arcania for latest pet updates. Will I be trying out the new Death Knight class? Most likely but I doubt I’ll stick with it. After all, I’m a hunter and pet lover at heart!

Niqora

Has reached level 65. At level 64, she tamed a Warp Hunter who she named Grakoth. I just took a screenshot of them in Elwynn Forest (because it’s funny to bug the Alliance). Unfortunately it’s night now so the lighting is horrible.

Here’s a better picture taken from the character chooser screen.

I am loving the Warp ability. Only a 15 second cooldown and it instantly takes Grakoth to the mob…it’s really great for grinding or farming. He’s already up to Loyalty 5 because I’ve quested with him all through level 64. Luckily he likes his fish so it gave me an excuse to work on Niqora’s fishing skill, which is now over 300. And I think he’s just the cutest thing when he tilts his head up and sniffs at the air. It reminds me so much of a dog’s behaviour. Grakoth won’t replace Blacky but he is definitely going to be staying around.

Brighit

Brighit is level 24 as of today. A while ago, she moved to the Moon Guard server to join Wolfrider’s Alliance warlock. He also created a baby NE druid and she’s been waiting for him to catch up so they can level together.

Khaja

Quite a while ago, Khaja tamed a Ravager Specimen from Azuremyst Isle. You might remember that Khaja has gone through quite a few pets so I was hesistant to mention the ravager in case I got rid of him. But I think (don’t quote me on this)…I think this companion might be sticking around the little troll. I’ve named him Xiuhcoatl, which is an Aztec name meaning “weapon of destruction”. Quite an appropriate name for a ravager, wouldn’t you say? Definitely a tongue twister…I’m not even sure how to pronounce it so his nickname is going to be Xi.

Machalor

Yay! Machalor is level 40 and now my second character to get her mount. Of course, this happens just shortly before the announcement that we might be getting mounts at level 30…*grumble grumble*. Oh well, it will make it easier for my other 7 hunters.

After running around all of Azeroth during the Midsummer Festival, she got the 350 flowers she needed to trade them in for a Spirit of Summer, which can be seen next to her in the screenie below. It was quite an adventure that involved a fair bit of dying and dashing through areas that she really shouldn’t have been in. I did try to capture the flame in an Alliance city (Exodar in particular) but it was just too much work so I decided to stick with the little towns instead.

Fhionn

Not much has happened with Fhionn, except that I was bored one day and went around killing the Blood Elf Bandit again until he dropped his wonderful mask. I may or may not be moving her to Moon Guard (she and Brighit are a bit of a team, it doesn’t seem right to separate them like this).

Tkasha

What is it with my troll characters and constantly switching between pets? Tkasha was going to have a crab as her pet…but then I had to go to Petopia and browse through all the pets. I kept going back to the golden maned lion one, which is very strange because that model had never appealed to me before. So I tamed one and named him Rajesh, which is East Indian for “king of kings”. Then…I saw Humar. Of course I had seen and heard much about him before and I had never really paid much attention to him. But at that moment, I realized that Tkasha had to tame him. If you were to look at it RP-wise, Khaja began to notice that Rajesh’s coat was growing darker with each passing season, until his 23rd season where his fur was as black as night. I’d say that taming Humar was difficult but that part wasn’t. It was waiting for him to spawn. After spending about 2 days logging in and having no luck at him spawning, I woke myself up at about 5 am to tame him and sure enough, there he was. I was even going to have a little fun and make a movie out of the taming but alas, in my sleepiness I somehow managed to shut off FRAPs right before I tamed him. *sigh*

I do think that he is just gorgeous and I’m pretty sure he will be at Tkasha’s side for a long time (again, don’t quote me >.>)

Here’s some pictures of Rajesh when his coat was still golden. In these screenies, he’s with Tkasha in the old Lordaeron throne room above Undercity.