Pet of the Month - Spirebound Crab

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Quintessence
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Pet of the Month - Spirebound Crab

Post by Quintessence » May 29th, 2014, 5:32 pm

Many thanks to [profile]Liopleurodon[/profile] for writing the battling portion of our newest feature, Pet of the Month. Here are some additional points on the [pet]Spirebound Crab[/pet] that she wanted to share!

How Do You Use Your Spirebound Crab?
The Spirebound Crab is a versatile pet which can fill a few different roles on your team, depending on which moves you select. This goes for most crabs possessing this moveset.

Pretty much every time I grind wild fights, my crab with an endurance move build is my go-to pet. Using [ability]Shell Shield[/ability], [ability]Healing Wave[/ability] and either attack option, my crab churns through battle after battle without stopping to bandage. I choose Healing Wave because the healing throughput on it is quite a bit higher than [ability]Renewing Mists[/ability], and with my crab, it's rare that I need to swap pets in wild fights after the initial hit with the lowbie.

The endurance build crab is one of my favorite workhorses in my stable for many tamer fights as well. He can be used for any fight which requires a per-hit shield reduction, like Aki The Chosen or Courageous Yon. In fact, if you tame 3 level 23 Spirebound Crabs the second you touch down in Pandaria you can beat Yon, assuming you've completed the prerequisites, because Shell Shield counters his pets' attacks so well.

In most tamer fights where I use a crab, I opt for Renewing Mists. Although the throughput is higher with Wave, being able to keep the heal over time from Mists rolling in a relatively predictable fight can help keep the pets in other roles alive longer as well. For the most part this is just personal preference.

The burst build has recently become more popular for PVP. With its heals, big damage and family defense against Undead attacks, crabs rip through the popular [pet]Unborn Valkyr[/pet] with ease. The rooting aspect of [ability]Whirlpool[/ability] can really mess up an opponent that relies on a swap-heavy strategy as well.

In PVP, Healing Wave is almost always preferable, because your opponent is unpredictable, and again the throughput is superior, but it can depend on how you build the rest of your team. I typically use [ability]Surge[/ability] when using my crab to PVP because speed is such a big deal. Surge lets your pet go first regardless of speed (quick note here: it actually gives a 100% speed multiplier, so the 'always' bit can be screwed up with enough slowing effects, or speed effects on your opponent). Surge & Whirlpool are both Aquatic damage, but very few people use Magic pets so doubling up usually isn't a huge concern. [ability]Snap[/ability] does more damage, but is subject to your crab's speed.

The P/P breed is generally preferable for both the endurance and burst builds. The burst build obviously does better the harder it hits. The Health stat can still be good for the endurance build. Because of how the Power stat affects Shell Shield and both the crab's heals, the longer your fights go the better off you are with P/P.

So, how do you use your Spirebound Crab? Any particularly daring PVP wins or an unorthodox way to beat a tamer? Let us know below!

-Tamer Liopleurodon
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Re: Pet of the Month - Spirebound Crab

Post by Luciandk » May 29th, 2014, 7:10 pm

You shouldve gone for the [pet]Emperor Crab[/pet] instead. Shares the same moveset, but have a better stat allocation.

A P/P [ability]Spirebound Crab[/ability] wastes points in speed. And what little speed it have of 244 is easilly outclassed by many other P/P breeds having the standard spread of 1400/325/260.

An Emperor Crab drops to 211 speed and rises to 357 power, which helps its heals to become stronger. And speed is arguably a nonissue when using [ability]Surge[/ability].

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Re: Pet of the Month - Spirebound Crab

Post by Liopleurodon » May 29th, 2014, 8:29 pm

Yep, you're right. Min-maxing, the Emperor is a better pick. The Spirebound does really well though... the difference between the 2 stats is, eg ~50 hp healed per Healing Wave cast, so it's not gamebreaking if you opt for the Spirebound. It's enough to make a difference in a really close fight, and I generally opt for the Emperor for PVP if I'm using a crab, but the strategy remains the same. For PVE the stat difference won't really matter as long as you're using the correct moveset for an encounter.

Thanks for reading, especially so closely!
xoxo, Your Pet Battling BFF, Tamer Liopleurodon.
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Re: Pet of the Month - Spirebound Crab

Post by Quintessence » May 29th, 2014, 10:15 pm

Luciandk wrote:You shouldve gone for the [pet]Emperor Crab[/pet] instead. Shares the same moveset, but have a better stat allocation.
Good point! The breed AND stat allocation should both be considered, especially if you're planning on using a pet in PVP.

It came down to a choice between the Emperor Crab and Spirebound Crab for this month's feature, but we chose the Spirebound Crab not only because of its possible breeds but also because of its availability. It can be captured in the starting zone of Pandaria, so players who are beginning to level from 85-90 can easily collect one from the Jade Forest. Just to buff up their battling arsenal until they gain access to the Dread Wastes to capture an Emperor Crab. ;)
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Re: Pet of the Month - Spirebound Crab

Post by Luciandk » May 30th, 2014, 2:39 am

Quintessence wrote:
Luciandk wrote:You shouldve gone for the [pet]Emperor Crab[/pet] instead. Shares the same moveset, but have a better stat allocation.
Good point! The breed AND stat allocation should both be considered, especially if you're planning on using a pet in PVP.

It came down to a choice between the Emperor Crab and Spirebound Crab for this month's feature, but we chose the Spirebound Crab not only because of its possible breeds but also because of its availability. It can be captured in the starting zone of Pandaria, so players who are beginning to level from 85-90 can easily collect one from the Jade Forest. Just to buff up their battling arsenal until they gain access to the Dread Wastes to capture an Emperor Crab. ;)

It 'would' have been a good point, where it not for the fact that the Spirebound Crab is located on the Windward Isle, a lvl 90 area for Order of the Cloud Serpent. Any new lvl 85 player going there will get gibbed. So my point stands, I believe the Emperor Crab to be the superior choice.

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Re: Pet of the Month - Spirebound Crab

Post by Quintessence » May 30th, 2014, 5:02 am

Luciandk wrote:It 'would' have been a good point, where it not for the fact that the Spirebound Crab is located on the Windward Isle, a lvl 90 area for Order of the Cloud Serpent. Any new lvl 85 player going there will get gibbed.
Absolutely. The Windward Isle is a pretty dangerous place for a character below level 90, but reaching the island and capturing a pet is still doable. It'll be a challenge, but not impossible.

One last thing that should also be mentioned is that the Spirebound Crab has a chance of spawning as a secondary pet in wild pet battles in the Jade Forest, meaning players are much more likely to come across it before they encounter an Emperor Crab.

We'll take closer note of the battling potential between similar pets for the next Pet of the Month. Thanks for the feedback!
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Re: Pet of the Month - Spirebound Crab

Post by Kel » May 30th, 2014, 4:09 pm

I have both a Spirebound (in P/P) and an Emporer (in P/P) and honestly I didn't really now the minute difference between the two until reading this thread. So either way, I'm covered, and I'm glad I got to read this month's article! thanks guys!
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Re: Pet of the Month - Spirebound Crab

Post by Kpb321 » May 30th, 2014, 5:03 pm

I'm pretty sure it also shows up as a secondary in Timeless Isle, not that someone still leveling would be there. Personally, I had a horrible time getting a rare Spirebound Crab at all. It was the last pet I needed to capture in Jade Forest and I ended up stoning it after getting an aquatic stone while farming it before I found a rare. Sure enough I got a rare p/p as a secondary in TI later on.

I think if these Pet of the month spots are going to be for pets like the Crab or Rabbit that have a lot of virtually identical alternatives that it would be good to talk about them that way. Talk about what makes Crabs or Rabbits good and then point out the "best" options such as the P/P Spirebound and Emporer crab or any S/S rabbit and the uniqueness of the s/s Grasslands Cottontail.

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Re: Pet of the Month - Spirebound Crab

Post by Vek » May 30th, 2014, 5:31 pm

I also have both the Spirebound and the Emperor in P/P breeds. And I don't think I have ever used the Spirebound but often used the Emperor. Still sometimes I just wish the Emperor was a bit faster. Especially against Val'kyrs. Often I just get to do one attack and then a Shell. It would have been nice to get two Snap in before the Haunt for some good damage. Spirebound P/P would make that doable against H/H Val'kyrs. B/B Val'kyrs would make it random, and the 244 speed sometimes cause more trouble. For example facing an Idol you pretty much know when Sandstorm is incoming and can do Healing Wave then. If having same speed you might get unlucky and heal before sandstorm and/or get hit first in the next turn after sandstorm.

Still I think I'm actually going to try the Spirebound out next time I'm running into valkyrs.

Nice article. :)

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