I’m not actually a complete newb, I’ve been battling for quite a while and have a decent stable. Still, any time I approach an epic/legendary, or a master running 25s, I end up getting stomped bloody, usually very quickly. I get that there are strategies, and I’ve tried to apply them, as I’m able, but from what I’m reading, it’s starting to seem as if you have to either already be able to handle extremely difficult fights, (to acquire the pets needed… for extremely difficult fights,) or shell out huge amounts of gold for the very specific, best-of-the-best pets, then on top of that, spend ages and a ton of charms leveling them up. If the only way to beat the masters, epics, and legendaries is to shell out a massive amount of gold on the AH, then I think I’m probably just going to give it up. Don’t mean to be a whiner here, but strategy guides tend to just tell me “Use Ikky” and “Use Unborn” and “Use Starlette,” which honestly, doesn’t help, when you lack the means to acquire them.
I read an earlier thread (2017- didn’t want to necro,) that had a similar theme, complaining that NPC pets cheat, and the general response seemed to be “but we love the challenge!” Personally, I love a fair fight. Doesn’t seem like that, putting my beagles out in a ring with mastiffs and pitbulls.
If I’m wrong about this feeling of a “buy-in to win” situation, please enlighten me. I’d prefer to be wrong.
Okay, hafta disagree that it’s become pay-to-play. Is more like work-to-play. Examples you use, Iron Starlette and Ikky, either of them a 120 can knock out in under half hour, or go the easy route and pick them up on AH for well under 10K each (lot less on some of the non-RP realms). Yeah, the Unborn is tedious but not really that bad.
Tables are indeed stacked against you battling trainers, their RNG is a helluva lot more forgiving than ours is, but that’s deliberate on part of the developers. Kinda like with dungeons, the bosses are hard. We have an edge there though, their moveset is mostly predictable, we can work around that.
The published strategies, most of them work. And you don’t really need them, they just make it easier and you don’t wipe as much. It’s sort of dependent on how much you’re into pets, cause yeah, you do need to work at it.
If that’s true about the prices on those particular pets, I’d feel a bit better about it, but I’ve seen them much higher than that in the past. And I do know the Unborn can be caught in the wild- nearly caught one myself, but I overcompensated, and killed her.
I suppose i see your point to some degree- the trainers (and their pets) aren’t capable of reacting, adapting, or making anything resembling a conscious decision, so there’s some reason at least for handicapping in their favor, at least some.
As for working at it- I have been, and I’ve improved considerably, but the masters and epics just seem out of reach. Guess I’ll keep plugging away, til I manage, or get sick of it and walk. Just seems like the learning curve is ridiculously high, going from pets on a level(ish) field, to an almost immediate jump to pets that wildly outclass anything any player can ever get their hands on. It is frustrating, and strategy “guides” that just tell you “use this pet you probably don’t have” … it’s less than educational.
That’s why I referred you to Xu-Fu’s. Many battles have 10 or more options. While you may not have the pets for the easiest option, you probably have more than you think.
You really have to level up more pets. It’s hard to be fighting master tamers with a relative handful of level 25 pets. I know it seems like a lot of work, but you have so many more options than I did when I started out. The introduction of the Garrison changed everything.
Bottom line: find a couple of tamers you can beat. Park some alts there. Use those battles to slowly level up pets. Make sure you have a viable strategy for Squirt and spend whatever time you can when she comes up. It’s the easiest way to level pets. Then take advantage of the next pet battle week.
No, Paxion, you are not a complete newb, and it’s obvious you’ve put some work into collecting and leveling pets, but you still do not have a “decent stable”.
Much of the strategy of pet battling involves having pets that can specifically counter and beat the pets you are facing, and a mere 8, mostly mediocre, level 25s, is not nearly enough. Pet battling is dependent on pet collecting, just as raiding is dependent on gearing up. You need appropriate tools to work with in any endeavor.
It’s surprising that you complain about the cost of pets, then mention 3 which you can get for yourself for nothing. Of course you have the means to acquire these; just check Wowhead if you don’t know where to start with with Ikky and Starlette.
Rare NPCs you come across are tougher, faster and more powerful than you too. Warcraft needs challenges to make it fun and worth playing.
There’s a list here of pets with which you can easily defeat most pet battles.
~https://www.wow-petguide.com/index.php?m=LegionWQ
It will take some work, but I suggest you make a project of collecting these.
You could start with building a garrison and getting a level 3 pet menagerie if you don’t already have one. The extra pets you get can be leveled and sold , making it a profitable investment.
Currently on Feathermoon Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling is on auction for under 2000 gold, very good value as it’s not exactly free to make.
There’s also a Tranquil Mechanical Yeti there for 1250 gold, an absolute steal if you can get it.
If you want a really fun pet you can easily catch at a high level, head down to Stormheim and catch yourself a couple of Rose Taipan, breed 4, powerful, (PP) and breed five, fast, (SS).
I wish you well and really hope you will put in the groundwork necessary to have fun pet battling. It really is enough fun to be worth the trouble.
Noticed you have an Unborn Val’kyr now, gratz ! Glad to see you’re still plugging away at it.
And may not have been overcompensation that lost you the first one, it’s good idea to check and see what abilities they’re using before making your first move. If they have Unholy Ascension instead of Haunt, they’re going to die and nothing you can do about it. In this case you want to forfeit and start battle again until they’re using Haunt instead.
Assume you’ve seen the advice to have a pet with an ability that can’t reduce opponent’s health below 1, like Terrible Turnip with Weakening Blow or a doggie with Superbark. Really handy when you want to capture a hard-to-find pet or breed or rarity.
