So, there's no denying it:
Pet Battles = Pokemon
Now that that's out of the way, this is my idea on how EPIC pets should work:
What is currently missing from Pet Battles is the concept of EVOLUTION, so to avoid copyright, let's call it:
PET TRANSMUTATION
How does it work:
- The idea is a bit like ALCHEMY where you have a base product (a pet) and you mix it with some ingredients, and you get something new.
Examples:
Squirrel x3 + Mechanical Battle Stone = Mecha Squirrel
This allows you to use up any family stones that you don't necessarily want. It will have a chance to produce an epic pet based on the quality of pets used for Transmutation:
Blue - 25%
Green - 15%
White - 10%
Grey - 0%
So if you use 3 Blue quality Squirrels, you'd have a 75% (25 x 3) of getting an Epic pet. You also have a 25% of getting a Blue version of the transmutted pet (in this case, mecha squirrel) but that comes into play later.
If you had 2 greens and 1 blue, you'd have a 55% (15 x 2 + 25) of getting an Epic pet.
If none of the pets are blue, you will only make a BLUE pet.
If none of the pets are green or higher, you will only make a GREEN pet.
To compensate for the 25% chance with the 3 Blues, some epic pets will be "3rd Stage Transmutations" meaning that they'll require you to make 3 Blue pets via transmute and then transmute those 3 into an Epic. The "3rd Stage" is a guaranteed epic.
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In addition to battle stones, the true customization comes into play with WHAT ELSE WE CAN THROW IN
Other examples:
Nightsaber Cub + Elemental Battle Stone + Volatile Fire x 10 = CINDER KITTEN. Elemental gives the cat flavor, and the fire tells us what flavor. Since the Cinder Kitty is associated with Hyjal and Druids of the Flame, it will use the Cataclysm ingredient.
Nightsaber Cub + Elemental Battle Stone + Volatile Earth x 10 = GROUND/ROCK KITTEN. This is how we see the introduction of new pets and new models.
Nightsaber Cub + Elemental Battle Stone x 2 + Volatile Earth x 5 + Volatile Air x 5 = SAND/DUST/DESERT KITTEN. When you combine dirt, earth, rock, and air, wind, gusts you usually get dust flying in your eyes, or sand.
Combining ingredients will become a huge cornerstone. Since some pets come from some areas, the local ingredients will be needed which will get people back into the world. And you thought you were done farming Primals in Shadowmoon Valley.
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Let's throw in some professions:
Fiendish Imp (demon) + Mechanical Battle Stone + Adamantite Frame + Khorium Power Core + Overcharged Capacitor [Fel Reaver's Piston] = Pocket Reaver
WOAH - not only does this recipe call for Engineering supplies, but also items? Yeah, items. Boss drops. Now, when we go through old content, we'll actually have a use for some of the junk we get instead of just vendoring everything we can't transmog.
Since they require boss drops, I won't be mean. If they require epic items to make, they will 100% yield an epic pet.
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Now I'm going to spitball some more examples of pets with items:
Dragonhawk Hatchling + Elemental Battle Stone + Volatile Fire = Firehawk Hatchling from Firelands
Azure Whelpling + Magical Battle Stone = Nexus Whelpling
Dark Whelpling + Elemental Battle Stone + Volatile Air + Volatile Fire + Volatile Water + Volatile Earth + Volatile Life = Chromatic Whelpling
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We can also do Pets with Pets --> PET FUSION
Whithers + Searing Scorchling = Burning Treant
Blossoming Ancient + Wolvar Pup = Ancient of War
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So those are my ideas.
DISCUSS