Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Rares: Trounce or Announce?


When I came across that rare creature with the silver dragon, I used to kill it, thinking I might get a really great drop. Well, I gave that up quick. (e.g. Sewer Beast Drop list via Thottbot)

Instead, I send out the creature and the location into general so that any hunters who want to tame it can do so because those rare creatures, like the Sewer Beast or the Ghost Saber, were intended to be one-of-a-kind pets for hunters (particularly given the long respawn time of the Sewer Beast).

I'd like to quote Drysc who said:


Every time you kill the sewer beast a hunter dies a little inside.

(Quote via this thottbot poster; thanks.)

However, now that we're well into the game, part of the point of taming these rare creatures has been lost.

First, all creatures normalize in size:
Pets scale to appropriate sizes. If you tame a pet, it will likely be smaller than the "monster" version. This was done because certain pets were very messy to play/group with at their default sizes.
(Source: Blizzard's Hunter Pets Page)

... their speed is all the same:
Base pet speed is standardized for all pets, including legacy pets.
(Source: Blizzard's Hunter Pets Page)

... and they lose all their elite skills:
Finally, remember that once you tame it a “rare” or “elite” pet has no special abilities that will set it apart from its common cousins (i.e. Snarler, once tamed, is just like any other level 42 wolf whether tamed at 42 or tamed at 8 and leveled up to 42).
(Source: Sticky on the WoW Hunter Forums which also lists an exception or 2.)


The question becomes - is it worth it to walk away from the rare kill and instead let some hunter out their tame it? Or don't they care either? Every time I sent a location into General no one ever seemed to rush over to tame it. I think there are just better pets out there.

And I'd like to make sure I link to this valuable resource for Pet Info: Petopia and the associated blog: Mania's Arcania.

Link Update (7/31/07): Gitr tells the story of a rare he tried to tame.

2 comments:

Keystone said...

Since the loots isn't worth it, I'd say let a hunter get their kicks. It might not have statistical bonuses for taming it, but it's still bragging rights.

Anonymous said...

Part of the problem with the Sewer Beast is that crocolisks aren't currently great (patch 2.1.3) and the skin isn't unique.

Hunters will always prefer Humar the Pridelord because cats are nice pets and Humar is the only tamable black lion in the game.