World of Warcrafthas allegedly nerfed Hunter pets in a very literal way, shrinking larger pets so that they’re more manageable. Claims of the nerf have gained popularity within theWorld of Warcraftcommunity, and while official confirmation has yet to be delivered by Blizzard, the evidence does seem persuasive. However, it could just be a misconception driven by theWorld of Warcraftcommunity’s long-running request for certain Hunter pets to be shrunk down.
To be fair to Blizzard, there are dozens of Hunter pet families inWorld of Warcraftand hundreds in total, considering every color combination. Some of these pets are uniquely large, like those within the Mammoth family. If aHunter inWorld of Warcraftwants to tame a Mammoth as their pet, it stands to reason that they want a very large pet. Shrinking the pet would, in meaningful ways, deflate the Hunter’s player fantasy and achievement.
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As is often said, though, the gameplay is king, and very large pets inWorld of Warcraftcan be incredibly frustrating for players to deal with. OneWorld of Warcraftplayer known as Ultiverse recently showed what they believe to be evidence Blizzard is now acting on those frustrations. They shared a post on Reddit showcasing their twoMagmammoth Hunter pets"before," in which they’re shown to be much larger than the player while mounted, and “after,” in which the Magmammoths are similarly sized if not smaller than the player while mounted.
What the post is claiming is that Blizzard either shrunk Magmammoths specifically or has made broader changes that could impact many if not all Hunter pets. Blizzard has not officially confirmed any such changes, though the changes did occur afterBlizzard issued its latest 10.0.5World of Warcraftupdate. That could mean it’s an official change, a strange bug, or a misconception. Without further investigation, there’s no clear answer on the subject.
What is clear, though, is thatWorld of Warcraftplayers that aren’t Hunters are largely in agreement that changes like what was shown are necessary. Large Hunter pets can block sight of enemies or allies in combat and could cause significant disruptions in high-end content likeWorld of Warcraft’s raids or Mythic+ dungeons. Shrinking them even a small amount goes a long way to improving combat.
On the other hand, Hunters do love their pets very much. A medium-sized Mammoth is not the same as a massive one, and it likely has to sting logging intoWorld of Warcraftand seeing them shrunk for some players. Perhaps there’s a way to have them be full-sized outside of combat but shrunk in combat. For now, though, Hunters with Magmammoths may want to see whether they, too, have been hit by Blizzard’s literal Hunter pet nerf.
