Battle Pet Changes in Legion Patch 7.0.3

The latest 7.0.3 patch in preparation for Legion brought with it some changes to Pet Battle balancing, adjustments to the Garrison pet battle daily rewards, updated models, and 2 new pets!

Here's a list of the documented changes. If you know of any undocumented ones, please include them in the comments below and they will be added to this post.

Pet Battle Changes in Legion Patch 7.0.3

Damage and Balance Tuning:

- The undead racial was nerfed. During the pet's invulnerability round, the active undead pet will now do 25% less damage. 
- Frog Kiss and Sleeping Gas now have a 1 round cooldown.
- Approximately 15% nerf to damage on the following abilities: Thunderbolt, Avalanche, Grave Destruction, Carpnado, Arcane Storm, and Psionic Storm.
- Thunderbolt and Avalanche now have a 5 round cooldown.
- The base states of the Graves have changed. Speed is 244 (up from 211), Power is 297 (down from 314) and Health 1587 (down from 1668).
- Graves' abilities Consume Corpse and Grave Destruction were swapped.
- Cleave damage reduced by 25%
- Shell Armor now lasts 2 rounds instead of 3.
- The damage bonus from Howl now only affects 1 attack.
- Pandaren Water Spirit's Whirpool and Geyser abilities now share the same ability slot.

New Pet Models:

- Sheep, Squirrels, Mice/Rats, Rabbits/Bunnies/Hares, and Crow/Raven have received new and updated models.

Garrisons and Pet Charms:

- The Pet Charms awarded for doing the daily pet battles in Draenor have been reduced by half. 
- Garrison Perks have been removed, including the Menagerie perk of a reduced cooldown to revive your battle pets. The revive now has it's normal 8 minute cooldown, even while in Draenor.
- The Menagerie dailies are now account-wide.

Two New Pets Available!

The patch also brings with it 2 new pets to collect, level, and battle!

Felbat Pup - This pet can be earned during the Demon Invasion Event, the prelaunch event for Legion. It will be purchased with the new currency called Nethershards that you get from completing invasions. Remember, this pet is only available for a limited time, so get out there and help take down the Legion!

Nursery Spider - This new spider can be purchased from Breanni in Dalaran for 200g.

Special Note About Some of Our Pet Battle Strategies:

Please keep in mind that some of these changes make a few of our strategies involving the Pandaren Water Spirit unreliable or simply outdated now. We will be fine tuning these strategies in the near future to reflect these changes. However, even with the changes in patch 7.0.3, many of our strategies are still working. Battle on!

Major Payne Pet Battle

Major Payne
Location: Argent Tournament grounds in Icecrown

This is my favorite strategy to bring down Major Payne... who is exactly what his name suggests. A huge pain in the you-know-what. He is the Grand Master Pet Tamer of Northrend and wants everyone to know. Most people who challenge him end up frustrated, defeated, and curled up in the fetal position. This guy can be rather rough but we have a foolproof strategy to show him who the true Grand Master is (hint: it's YOU, of course!). Use our deadly tactics below to claim victory in this hard encounter.


Pets to Use
Lil bling (1,2,1)
Pandaren Water Spirit (1,2,2)
Any other pet

vs Grizzle
Open with Lil' Bling
Make it Rain on cooldown > Extra Plating > Smckthat.exe as filler

vs Beakmaster X-225
Make it Rain on cooldown > Extra Plating > Smckthat.exe as filler

vs Bloom
Lil' Bling will probably be at low health by now so cast Make it Rain one more time if possible, then let him die.
Swap to Pandaren Water Spirit
Whirpool > Water Jet until Bloom dies.

Gutretch Pet Battle

Gutretch
Location: Zul'Drak

Gutretch is a dumb ghoul. No, literally. He is a dumb ghoul. Maybe The Lich King dropped him on his head as a baby ghoul? Who knows? This tamer is the easiest one in all of Northrend, and in fact, he can be solo'd with 1 pet. Send this tamer crying as you claim victory in the crumbled Troll empire of Zul'Drak.

Pets to Use
Son of Animus (1,1,1)
Any other pet
Any other pet

Son of Animus performs nicely in this fight, and can easily solo this tamer. Keep Extra Plating active at all times, Siphon Anima when it's available to heal up, and Metal Fist the rest of the time. Open with your carry pet, attack once, then swap to Son of Animus for a quick easy win.

It doesn't get any easier than this.