It's official--the first wave of the Shadowlands Alpha keys have gone out, and Wowhead has datamined a whole load of new information for players in all walks of the game, including battle pets!
Before we get into any of this, we'll put this up for anyone who doesn't want to see these changes before Shadowlands releases:
~~~~~
~~~~
~~~
~~
~
There, now that we've gotten that out of the way, we can take a look at some of the changes that have come up on the alpha.
1. Ability Changes
Link copied
The biggest change we've seen datamined so far were ability changes that Blizzard spoke about pre-8.3 release.
As a refresher:
What the Future Holds
In a future update, we’re targeting a number of balance changes we want to make, which will amount to lowering the effectiveness of some pets and strategies. Again, these changes will not be happening in Visions of N’Zoth, but we wanted to give you ample warning time that changes are coming. While we don’t have specific numbers or details to share right now, here are some examples of abilities that we’re going to take a close look at:
- Black Claw and similar abilities that increase damage taken by a flat amount.
- Hunting Party and similar abilities such as Flock.
- The Shattered Defenses debuff effect from abilities such as Hunting Party or Flock.
- Any large percent-damage-taken or percent-damage-dealt buffs or debuffs.
- Twilight Meteorite and similar long-cooldown damage-splitting abilities.
- The Jar of Smelly Liquid ability.
The link to the article detailing the full Blue Post can be found
here.
1.1 Flock-type abilities & Shattered Defenses
Link copied
The current version of the ability will be on the left, while the alpha version is on the right. I've also given the pet that Wowhead has used the values for, for the abilities. All pets listed are set to lvl 25 & Rare.
- Stampede (Pint-Sized Pink Pachyderm)
- Hunting Party (Zandalari Kneebiter, P/B)
Image courtesy of Lazey
- Falcosaur Swarm! (Snowfeather Hatchling)
- Flock X (Unit 35 -- Enemy Pet)
1.2 Other Ability Changes
Link copied
This change appears to impact only Murkalot & Sir Murkeston, while the ability for King & Queen Floret remains unchanged.
- Jar of Smelly Liquid (Master Tamer Flummox)
Image courtesy of Lazey
- Ancient Knowledge (Tottle)
- Double Zap (Gigacharged Mayhem Maker--Enemy Pet)
This change may be incoming, but the values on Wowhead appear the same between current & alpha builds.
- Necrotic Bomb (Nefarious Terry -- Enemy Pet)
Image thanks to Remte
2. Changes to Battle Pet Stats
Link copied
Thank you to Remte & Rosqo for providing the information on the stat changes!
The old stats are on the left, and the new stats are on right. Stats are in HP / Power / Speed
- Boghopper -- 1400 / 284 / 349 ~~to~~ 1339 / 248 / 349
- Hermit Crab -- 1400 / 284 / 349 ~~to~~ 1278 / 272 / 337
H/P -- 1810 / 261 / 284 ~~
to~~ 1810 / 261 /
236
P/S -- 1664 / 261 / 314 ~~
to~~ 1664 / 261 /
265
P/B -- 1729 / 261 / 297 ~~
to~~ 1729 / 261 /
249
- Cinder Kitten -- 1400 / 292 / 292 ~~to~~ 1400 / 284 / 284
- Crypt Fiend -- 1197 / 349 / 292 ~~to~~ 1197 / 349 / 276
- Mechanical Prairie Dog -- 1587 / 297 / 260 ~~to~~ 1506 / 297 / 260
- Tiny Blue Carp -- 1465 / 289 / 289 ~~to~~ 1465 / 281 / 281
- Mechanical Cockroach -- 1587 / 260 / 293 ~~to~~ 1587 / 248 / 293
3. New Pets!
Link copied
What most might consider far more exciting than ability changes, are some new pets that have come up in the alpha filters on Wowhead:
3.1 Plagueborn Slime
Link copied
3.2 Renny
Link copied
That's everything so far! What do you think about some of the ability changes now that we've got a better idea of what those changes entail? Let us know below!
Until next time, happy battling!
Have we missed something? Feel free to point it out, that way we can add it to the article!
1
Phil220 wrote on 2020-04-11 01:06:54
1
Gráinne
wrote on 2020-04-11 10:40:06
1
Raba#2893
wrote on 2020-04-11 16:45:06
1
Gráinne
wrote on 2020-04-15 09:33:58
1
Eekwibble
wrote on 2020-04-12 07:46:28
For the 3-round abilities, if the damage increases per round yet the debuff is applied when an enemy pet is hit, will the debuff be applied on the first round, thereby affecting rounds 2 and 3 and making swarm abilities the most OP move pet battling has ever seen (so I can't see this being the case), applied on the third round only, making dodges, stuns and swaps, etc. ridiculously easy to predict (so I can't see this being the case either), applied only when the ability has ended, be it after 1, 2 or 3 rounds depending whether or not it has been interrupted, or applied on the first round but unaffected by subsequent rounds of the ability by the active pet.
I'm lost here.
1
Remte
wrote on 2020-04-15 07:34:58
At most it can be 63 damage total compared to 45 right now, and while that's 21 per round, it doesn't take the latter debuff into the account…
I would also take a look at the discrepancy between shorter abilities while at it.
1
Gráinne
wrote on 2020-04-15 09:33:12
I did numbers on it: Link
However, I'm quite sure there must be another shoe to drop. Making this change alone would be just silly. Honestly, I have no idea what the devs are thinking with the stampede nerf move, but this specific change doesn't seem to accomplish anything they might be thinking about. Lazey opined on the Discord that we could see a change to the way damage is calcuilated, and that's certainly a possibility. But there must be a piece we haven't yet seen.
1
CoJo
wrote on 2020-04-10 21:34:59
2
Begija
wrote on 2020-04-10 17:02:43
2
Gráinne
wrote on 2020-04-10 18:01:03
New Comment: