However, practical concerns have limited my collecting. After all, one pet is quite enough work to keep leveled on its own -- much less if I had a pair. But, after noticing that every last Blood Elf hunter with an Eversong Woods cat identical to my pet Mittens, I decided I had to do something about it. I didn't want to be just-another-Blood-Elf-Hunter -- I wanted to be... well... unique! So I went searching for a new pet, one that every run-of-the-mill Hunter wouldn't have.
For the Horde Hunter wishing to be unique, there are several pets you won't find in Horde areas until later levels, and acquiring one of them will certainly make you stand out.
Owl: There are low-level owls in Teldrassil, the Night Elf starting area, but you won't see any other owls in the game until you hit Felwood in the high 40s. For the ubiquitous Night Elf Hunter, an owl isn't an unusual pet -- but for a Horde hunter they're much less common. Why? Because to reach Teldrassil, you have to run through the Night Elf city of Auberdine to catch a boat to the Night Elf capitol of Darnassus. Teldrassil is only accessible by running through Darnassus. Ouch! But if you go to all that trouble, the prize is a cool-looking pet that all of your friends back in the Barrens are sure to envy.
Ravager: You may think that Ravagers don't appear in the game until you hit Outland -- but you'd be wrong. There are two different varieties of Ravager on Bloodmyst Isle, the Dranei starting area -- an orange one (level 9 - 10) and a green one (level 16 -17). Getting here isn't quite as bad as getting to Teldrassil -- at least you don't have to run through an Alliance capitol city -- but it is pretty bad. You have to run through Auberdine and catch a boat to Bloodmyst Isle, just like you were getting an Owl, except after that point you don't have to run through any major cities. But for a Horde character, it's still a long and dangerous trip. But in the end, you'll net a pet no one else will have until Outland!
Spider: Not just any spider, of course! But there's a menacing-looking spider named Zarakh with a unique model out on Bloodmyst Isle that you might like. There's also similar, but differently colored spiders called Myst Leechers out there. Sure, you can find similar-looking spiders, but not until you get to Outland.
Bear: There are few bears in general in the low-level Horde areas, but a couple out in the Alliance zones have such a unique look that they can't be ignored. Want a white bear? There's one in Dun Morogh, the Dwarf and Gnome starting areas. No major cities to run through, but you'll pass plenty of guards getting there. The next white bears start showing up in Winterspring in the low 50s. Or perhaps you don't want such a clean-looking pet -- there's a torn-up looking bear on Bloodmyst Isle, similar to those you'll see in Felwood in the upper 40s.
Tallstrider: I'm not sure why anyone would really want a Tallstrider. From a practical standpoint, they have no interesting skills. However, there are a few out there with very interesting skins. In the Alliance zone of Darkshore, you can find a brightly-colored Strider Clutchmother, but she's a rare spawn and won't always be around. And closer to home, in Mulgore, you can find Mazzranache, a bright pink Tallstrider. (But since Mazzranache spawns so close to home for many Horde players, you may not find it completely rare.)
Cat: Since, when I first started my hunter, I asked you all what pet I should tame and you advised a Cat, I've decided to stick with that by picking up the transparent Ghost Saber from Darkshore. (Remember them? Mike wrote about them recently.) While it was a long run to fetch it, running through Ashenvale and Darkshore, all I had to do was stay on the road and I didn't run into any Alliance guards or other major trouble. And now, I have a pet that I've yet to see the like of in any of my Horde-side leveling. And the perfect name for a Cat that's never entirely there and never entirely gone? I call mine Schrodinger.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-01-2007 @ 6:29PM
Lexanya said...
Ghost Sabers are quite common on my server, even Horde side. So instead I decided to get my hunter Echeyakee. http://petopia.brashendeavors.net/html/mobs/mob_echeyakee.shtml
It's really easy to get too since she spawns from a quest.
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7-01-2007 @ 7:26PM
grimmlock said...
its nice to see someone actually giving an intelligent name to a pet. schroedinger's cat, awesome. reminds me of my pet dragonhawk i have on my lvl 13 dwarf hunter on coilfang. named him nidhogg after the anglicized version of the norse dragon Níðhöggr
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7-01-2007 @ 8:16PM
Diana said...
I agree on my server ghostsabers are pretty common, but I love mine on my Draenei hunter. They look alien together. :) His name isn't as cool as Schrodinger, but I think Spaceghost is a pretty fun traveling companion.
I do think my other Alliance hunter with Echeyakee is pretty cool since it is a Horde quest spawn. It was hard tracking down a friend with a Horde on the same server with the quest, but once found it was fun to work together with an orc to tame him. :)
Another common for Horde, but rare for Alliance at low levels is an orange tiger. Durator tigers are only level 7 and I don't think there are any more in the game until the mid-thirties in Stranglethorn Vale. I may be wrong about that though.
Taming new pets is fun. I will always keep my cat, but it is a nice change to train a new different pet to learn from them and break routine a bit.
Diana
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7-01-2007 @ 8:20PM
Areis said...
Schroedinger's cat didn't actually have a name. It is also a pretty common name, in game or out.
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7-01-2007 @ 8:58PM
Tekkub said...
Re: Schrödinger
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/06/02/im-in-ur-quantum-box/
The only good LOLCAT out there.
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7-01-2007 @ 9:26PM
Brad said...
I couldn't care less about this post because your a blood elf.
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7-01-2007 @ 10:47PM
Grimtar said...
Friend of mine tamed Zarakh around level 19, and I dont see him abandoning it any time soon. They are 49 now. That spider is a brutal tank, and its dps is reasonable too.
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7-01-2007 @ 11:04PM
Facegriller said...
Want rare? Try Humar the Pridelord. I spent a week camping the spot where he spawns until I finally saw him.
Though he is rare, the fact that so many hunters desire this pet BECAUSE of its rarity (and the fact that he's in the barrens) means that Horde-side he's not as uncommon as you might think - probably on par with what you see with your Ghostsabre.
-Facegriller, CC
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7-01-2007 @ 11:12PM
thingy said...
Schroedinger, original? Ha! EVERY movie where there's a scientist with a cat, that's what they call it. Cats are called Schroedinger left right and center in other areas too, it's probably the least original cat name one can use. I'm sure a huge number of hunters with cats thought of it, but then realised it was too lame and too done.
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7-01-2007 @ 11:14PM
Xiphus said...
I hear that Arikara summoned by one of the Horde quest of the same name in Thousand Needles is one heck of a pet. Difficult to tame since he HAS to be summoned and he is also an elite. Still, worth it though since he has very high armor and some brutal damage.
In case you are wondering, he is a red colored winged serpent. A big red colored winged serpent.
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7-01-2007 @ 11:55PM
tallguy59 said...
Your pet's name made me smile. Very good!
I agonize endlessly over what I'm going to name my pets, to the point where they'll have leveled up several times and still be called, "Cat" or "Wolf". But it's worth it in the end if I can come up with something at least slightly more imaginative than SLICER or ripper or Mauler. (How can people stand to have their pets' names all in capitals anyway? It would drive me mad)
I captured a wolf once, and named it Nighteyes, after Fitz's wolf in Robin Hobb's assassin trilogy. Unfortunately I didn't really like playing with a wolf, even though I liked Nighteyes well enough. So I had to go another pet-and-name-for-pet-hunt.
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7-02-2007 @ 3:35AM
Killhouse said...
I've got a Ghost Saber on Rivendare named Geist (obvious reasons.) A Ravager named Nibbles, and a bear named Eatsbabies (can you guess why?)
I would have probably gone for a dragonhawk except the caster stats at higher levels. I still use my Ghost Saber at 65, took me almost 3 hours to get him.
-Killhouse
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7-02-2007 @ 4:54AM
dotorion said...
The Naraxis model
http://petopia.brashendeavors.net/html/skins/skin_minespiderskinblood.shtml
also makes for a rare spider pet.
That thing never seems to be in his (her ?) cave,
but you can get one in Zul'Gurub as well.
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7-02-2007 @ 5:28AM
RogueJedi86 said...
Bad names? Back in STV in my 30's, I was killed by a Horde who had a cat named "shthead".
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7-02-2007 @ 7:56AM
Naaruminded said...
I always applaud an Alliance character that manages to get Humar, The Rake, or Echeyakee at low levels, especially the latter since it takes either coordination with a Horde friend or ganking an unfortunate Hordie's quest. On my server (Draenor) they are still unique enough to be worth the effort, IMO. I got both Humar and The Rake early on my dwarf hunter alt thanks to some patient camping.
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7-02-2007 @ 10:45AM
d_bandoni said...
Come on people enough with the cats where is the love for the Scorpid. Great armor, nice degen skill. For PVE the scorpid is the man. I guess I just love my scorpid...Fluffy.
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7-02-2007 @ 11:35AM
Caipora said...
Taming unusual pets is a prime motivator for me in the game. Some people love fishing; I love collecting the uncommon pets.
Just signed onto Zangarmarsh yesterday and ran my Lvl 11 troll over to Azuremyst to pick up a Ravager Specimen. That's really an easy trip - you only have to die once to get on the boat at Auberdine - and I'm surprised that more Horde hunters don't grab one. With Bite 2 and Gore 2 already on them, they're great little critters to start off with.
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7-02-2007 @ 12:10PM
Pyewacket said...
At 70, I went back to the Un Goro Crater, tamed the rare spawn white gorilla and leveled him up.
I named him CheGuevara.
Not too many 70 Guerillas on my server.
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7-02-2007 @ 12:25PM
SeanKReynolds said...
Arikara is a neat pet because he always appears in a puff of smoke (my orc hunter Snakey on Bronzebeard tamed him just to see if this was true, it is).
Personally my BE hunter likes her black widow spider from northeast Tirisfal ... because spiders don't have any special skills (like the Tallstrider, which you knock but oddly don't knock spiders) people don't often take them as pets (to the extent that people can recognize me from afar). And I like the contrast between my overly-pretty BE hunter and her big scary spider named Ungoliant.
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7-02-2007 @ 1:11PM
lfnotter said...
I named my ghost saber Moonstone, and later kicked myself briefly for not thinking of Heisenberg. ;-)
I've run into quite a few hunter pets with great names, like a black STV panther named Sanchopanzer, a blisterpaw named QuickBefore ("QuickBefore the hyena comes.."), and a rotting, disease-ridden boar named AnnCoulter.
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