05/03/2019 - New Guides!
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In the last weeks, Xu-Fu got a lot of additional help, both from veteran Xu-Fu collaborators and new people. Most of the work has been put into guides and they are definitely worth a shout-out here.
One by one, the page now hosts:
Pet Powerleveling Guide
Written by Nyari and translated by Shenk, this guide explains in detail where and how to level up your pets in the most efficient ways possible, from Super-Squirt days all the way to great farming spots for wild pet battles.
Most used PvE Pets
Another addition by Nyari, a Tier list of pets depending on how often they are used in PvE strategies (against tamers or pet challenges). While not strictly necessary, the top spots on this list make a great shopping list for new battlers to be able and beat many different fights very quickly.
New PvP guide
The PvP section also got a lot of love by Shenk and Rosqo.
In this article, you will find detailed information about the most common team setups and strategies, as well as concrete team suggestions. This new article also allows you to add your own PvP teams if you like :-)
TD and Rematch Guides
We already had a guide on how TD scripts work and how to write them, written by Wazzak and Celellach.
Nyari and Shenk now followed up on this with a guide on how to use Rematch + TD Scripts.
And on the matter of TD Scripts, if you feel like trying your hands on writing them but feel stuck or just have a question, jump onto our Discord and we're happy to help! It's not too difficult and you don't need any programming knowledge to understand how it works and put your own scripts together :-)
Big thanks to the authors for their work on these articles!
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04/01/2019 - Legendary A.P.E.X.
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The recent maintenance paved the way for some big changes on Xu-Fu’s Pet Guides. If you joined us on Discord, you will have seen the beginnings of it already. Now it’s time to unveil the big news: Xu-Fu is going to transform from a page dedicated solely to providing the best strategies, to becoming the best pet trading platform on this planet!
We are going to introduce tools for you to compare collections, find compatible trading partners, offer up pets for others and to look for people who could give you a specific pet you might still be missing.
But we are not stopping there! We are already partnering up with other games to promote cross-trading, and once our user base is broad enough, ultimately offer the very same services for your beloved real life pets! Just imagine being able to trade your collection of Iron Starlettes for a cute puppy, with only a few clicks!
It truly is an exciting time, and to make all of this more obvious to each visitor, we are going to do a full rebrand.
Even though Xu-Fu lasted us a long time as a mascot, from this day onward, we will embrace the new direction with a title and logo:
All Pets, Excel and Xchange
Or in short: A.P.E.X.
What can I say, it will be truly Legendary!
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03/29/2019 - The Pet Moocher
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Activity has picked up on Xu-Fu and I’m really excited to introduce you to the latest addition in pet collection tools: The Pet Moocher! Not an April fools joke, it’s a real thing!
Ever wanted to compare your collection to someone else for any duplicate, cageable pets you can trade between each other? Or maybe just be selfish and see which ones you could mooch from someone else? That doesn’t have to be a tedious task with lists and formulas, enter the Pet Moocher!
Sounds like a bad commercial, I know, but it is pretty sweet! So, how does it work? It’s not a tool here on the page but over at Xu-Fu’s Discord channel. Once you’re in (you need a Discord account for that, but that’s free as well), just head over to the channel trade-eu or trade-us and read the instructions. It’s super easy to use, you just enter your own character name + realm and those of another player, and within seconds the Pet Moocher will tell you something like this:
Yuvilee has 2 tradeable Pets, that Aranesh does not own:
Bananas, Thistleleaf Adventurer
Neat! Give it a try, and please join me in thanking Shepard for creating this awesome tool :-)
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03/03/2019 - PvP updates with a welcome to Shenk!
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Pet battle PvP has never been my strong suit, making me rely entirely on other people to provide content for this part of the pet battling world. The latest newcomer to the Xu-Fu team kindly offered to provide his knowledge on that, admittedly lacking, part of the page: Welcome to Shenk!
The first new section up is focusing on the achievement Family Brawler, providing teams for every family right there, but you are of course more than welcome to add your own teams and ideas or leave comments.
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02/13/2019 - Welcome and thanks Schlumpf!
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Long time no proper announcement, it’s time to change that! And not just because WoW just turned 14 in Europe - Congrats to that!
But there is another thing that’s overdue to mention:
For a couple of weeks now, Xu-Fu has seen some immense improvements. Most notably in loading times, which are reduced drastically, but there have been changes in the background in most areas that make the page faster, more flexible and more secure. All of that is thanks to Schlumpf!
Piece by piece he has worked through my own code and optimised it, changed it or replaced it with much better versions. I am immensely grateful for all the help and wanted to make sure that it’s known who you need to thank for all the recent improvements.
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10/14/2018 - So Many News!
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In the last weeks I had much personal stuff to do, but today was reserved for Xu-Fu and was able to catch up with a lot of stuff! The list is longer than usual, hang tight ^^
1. Giveaway winner
Sadly Machiavelli never claimed his Cap’n Crackers, so I had to draw yet another winner. This time it goes to:
SeiriCerin#2343 as shown in this super cute image!
Please get back to me within 2 days to grab your loot code :-)
2. New addition to the team
Not exactly “new”, Jagûar has been around for a long time and worked very hard to get the entire Falcosaur strategy section up and filled with strategies! Strategy Curator is only a logical next step. Welcome to the team (again^^)!
3. Patch 8.1 Preparation
The next patch brings a new pet battle dungeon: Gnomeregan, as well as a new family achievement. Family Battler! Both sections are set up and can be filled with strategies already.
4. New alternatives sorting
A tiny change, but it will have some obvious effects. I made a tiny tweak to the sorting of alternatives.
Before:
Favourite > Pets in Collection > Tags > Average Rating
Now:
Favourite > Pets in Collection > Average Rating > Tags
Having tags overrule the rating had some weird effects, and with the rating and favourite system being used widely now, it makes more sense to swap this around. Sorry for any confusion this might cause now!
5. Hazelnutty’s videos
Long established in the pet battling world, Hazelnutty is putting out some awesome videos that I can only recommend.
Very recently she published a video with her best tips and tricks for BfA pet battling, including some very nice words about Xu-Fu!
It’s only appropriate to return the favour, so go watch the video and ideally her channel, it’s worth it for every pet battler:
Watch the video
6. More absence, oh no.
Last but not least I have another personal note. The last two weeks of October I will be almost entirely offline and there will not be much new coming from my side on Xu-Fu. That might stretch well into November - depending on how this “real life” thing works out. But I’m not gone for good and will continue working on the page once I’m back! Promise :-)
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10/12/2018 - New winner Drawn!
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It turns out that Pantonia already got the little Crackers and was kind enough to pass on, thank you very much for the honesty and friendliness!
That means I was able to draw a new winner from all submissions, aaaaand the lucky one is:
Machiavelli#2856 with his trusty Captain Snips!
Yarrrr! Congratultions, please check your messages to collect your prize :-)
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10/08/2018 - Winners announced!
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So many great entries! Way too hard to pick among the cool, cute and piratey pics, so a random roll made the decision for me. And the winners are:
Franky651 with Captain Nibs
Pantonia with Brightpaw
Congratulations!
I will message you here on Xu-Fu, please respond to the message within the next 48 hours (until Wednesday 10/10) or I will have to select a new winner.
And a big thank you to everyone for participating, as well as to Blizzard for sponsoring the codes :-)
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09/25/2018 - Cap'n Crackers Giveaway!
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The Giveaway has concluded and no new entries will be accepted! Winners will be announced and contacted shortly. Thank you for participating!
All hands hoay! 'tis time to grab ye some bounty!
Cap'n Cracker be here t' find a new crewmate, 'n it could be ye! Sponsored by Blizzard Europe 'n up fer grabs are two shiny EU loot codes fer this colourful companion. But don't let his appearance fool ye, he's got a nasty beak. Figuratively speakin'.
All ye needs t' be doin' is put on yer finest freebooter clothes, strike a darin' pose next t' yer best loved companion, 'n make a screenshot! Post it here 'n ye got yourself a chance fer Cap'n Crackers unendin' loyalty.
Them Rules:
- The 2 pet codes only work for EU, sorry!
- You have to post with a Xu-Fu account. If you don't have one, top right to sign up, they are free :-)
- Your post must include a link to an image of your character with your favourite pet of choice. Pirate clothing optional but for extra style!
- You can post a picture until October 3rd. Shortly after, the 2 winners will be selected at random
- Winners are announced here and notified via direct message on Xu-Fu's. If someone doesn't claim their code, new winners will be selected.
- Only one entry per user, obviously :-)
Good luck and fair winds t' ye!
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09/23/2018 - A few updates!
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Hey :)
Thanks everyone for reaching out about volunteer positions! Still looking, so if you're interested, give me a shout on Discord.
Meanwhile, I have a few news to share around Xu-Fu:
1. A warm (re-) Welcome to the first three volunteers: Nyari, Remte and Morazor!
Nyari will work mostly as News Writer and Content Creator for the German version of the page and I will help develop some better tools to make localized versions of the page easier to navigate.
Remte has always been very active in posting advice and finding errors on the page and will now be a Strategy Curator.
Morazor is the author of Magpie and as such the role Content Creator can't be more fitting!
2. You now have the option to include the strategy steps within rematch strings! It is on by default, but you have a slider right below the Rematch button to turn that off, if you wish.
3. A shout out to all strategy creators: I will remove the option to modify tags. Unfortunately, the tags system has been used very inconsistently, and sometimes even to push new strategies to the top by adding every positive tag available without them being true. In the future, more tags will be automated (especially the "Reliable" one), and only strategy curators will have access to tags. In that light, I will also remove all custom tags that have been added so far.
Sorry for any confusion or inconvenience because of this!
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09/19/2018 - Xu-Fu is looking for volunteers!
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Hello!
With the addition of user-created-strategies, Xu-Fu has entered a new phase and is supporting more and more pet battlers out there in the world. Time to become a bit more structured and organised!
Volunteers have been a key part of Xu-Fu and I am both proud and grateful for the help I have received. Going forward, I want to make it a better experience for everyone involved, with a clearer role description, better access rights and more decision power for those who help with the project.
Here is what I need to make Xu-Fu even better:
News Writer (1-2)
Are you always up to date with everything pet related that’s going on? Would you like to moderate the News section of one of the most visited pet battling pages worldwide? Get in touch, I would love to hand over the News to someone who is eager to share news and updates on the pet battling world!
You’ll have access to my own article editor and it will be your decision what to post and when to post. And if you need any new tools, I am more than happy to add what you need!
Content Creator
As a Content Creator, you own a section of the page containing your favourite topic. Are you a mad pet PvP mastermind who wants to share your insights? Do you love the funny interactions pets do and want to write about it? Or maybe you created a tool that you want to host somewhere and Xu-Fu’s might be a good place? Let me know, let’s discuss, and if we agree on it, you’ll get your own section with full editing rights and my support if you need any custom features coded.
Strategy Curator (1-2)
Every day new strategies are added to Xu-Fu’s. As a strategy curator, you will be the checks and balances. That does not mean going through each and every strategy to test it, but to have an eye on trends, to identify the very best ones and flagging them as staff picks. It could also mean reaching out to strategy creators who made mistakes and asking them if they want to fix that, or worst case, removing it from the page. This role comes with full editing rights for all strategies on Xu-Fu.
Translator
Many parts of the page are being auto-translated already, but there are some gaps and some languages are not covered at all. If you visit Xu-Fu in your native language and want to help fill those gaps, please get in touch! The same languages as World of Warcraft are supported: German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Korean and Chinese (simplified).
Any of this sounds good to you? Please send me a private message on Discord (Aranesh#6150) and let’s talk!
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08/27/2018 - New view on your strategies
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When Legion was released, I struggled very hard to keep up with the world quests and test+add strategies. Now with BfA, since everyone can upload strategies, every one of the new quests has a number of different alternatives available already.
It worked out very well, all thanks to you, the creators of all those strategies out there. A BIG THANK YOU!
And as a little treat I've just completed the last important feature for it: A "My Strategies" section!
Hover over your name on the top right, check it out. You'll see a summary of your strats, how they do, and you get notifications if someone writes a comment on your strategy :-)
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08/13/2018 - Battle for Azeroth
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The release of a new addon is always a very special time. All that anticipation, culminating into the first hours of entering new zones and experiencing all the new content that we only read about or maybe saw some videos. Or played on the beta, but it's not the same right?
All that is going to happen in just one hour. For that, Xu-Fu and I wish you an amazing start into this new expansion. Let everything else be aside for a while, embrace the experience, and enjoy it!
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08/01/2018 - Add your own Strategies!
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What's that ominous Plus sign right next to each strategy? Your way to add strategies to Xu-Fu of course!
It was long overdue and from this day onward you can stop adding your strategies into comments, because now you have access to a full new toolset allowing you to upload it right there as a new alternative!
Make sure to check out the Strategy Creation Guide if you have questions, or want to know how everything works exactly: https://www.wow-petguide.com/index.php?m=StratCreationGuide
And if you have any feedback or questions, post them here or send me a message!
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07/16/2018 - Battle for Azeroth - Pre-Patch Preparations
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One month to go for Battle for Azeroth, and this week the pre-patch will hit already! With so many changes coming in that patch, a blog entry about it is long overdue.
1. Use your pet charms today!
Pet Charms as we know it will lose in their value immensely. With the pre-patch comes a new currency and you won't be able to buy upgrading stones with the old charms anymore. So if you still need some or want to stockpile, spend them today!
Details: https://us.battle.net/forums/en/wow/topic/20762158027?page=5#post-82
2. Pre-Patches break stuff
Especially the API, the data source that Xu-Fu is using to grab info from the WoW servers like pet skills or your collections. It's very likely that some of this will break in the process. In the past it took Blizzard about 1-2 weeks to get everything back together. In the meanwhile, you might see incorrect pet stats or weird errors. Sorry!
3. Xu-Fu is not ready :-(
I am working hard on getting things done before the addon hits, but I did not make it in time for the pre-patch. Unfortunately, and to my regret, some parts of the page will be outdated from tomorrow on. That is especially true for any strategy involving the Teroclaw Hatchling (looking at you there, pet dungeons!).
I would like to shed some light on why it takes so long, and why there is nothing visibly changing on the page in the meanwhile. From the very start, the user system had one larger goal: allowing every user to upload their own strategies. To make that possible I needed a user login system, and breeds, and a better handling of alternatives - all that is working towards that one goal.
Previously I had a little admin tool where my helpers and I could change and update strategies. In all these update processes, it broke and simply to save time, I did not repair it but continue working on the new strategy editing mode. That's why we were not abble to update all the strategies in time.
But, I plan to have this all done *before* Battle for Azeroth, and it looks promising! Fingers crossed and thank you so much for being patient with me through the next few weeks :-)
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07/01/2018 - Dynamic Alternatives!
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Another update already!
This one went much smoother than I expected, and I'm super happy about it. It is feature 2 of 3 core things I need to complete before Battle for Azeroth hits the shelves. That gives me another 6 weeks from now to finish up and have Xu-Fu ready for the next addon. Yay!
Here's what's new today: dynamic alternatives!
The page started out without the possibility to have more than one strategy for a fight. Rather quickly it became necessary to add more, so I created the system that has been active for almost 3 years now. It first supported up to 9 alternatives, but that soon became too few and I extended it to 15. And now, with the plans I have, that won't do anymore.
This release removes the limit entirely. But with more alternatives, a better sorting system needs to be in place and that's what you will notice immediately.
The list of strategies is no longer set by myself or a moderator. Instead, when you open up a fight, all available alternatives are checked for a few criteria:
- is it one of your favourite strategies?
- do you own the pets?
- are there good or bad tags on it?
- what is the rating of the strategy?
According to that, the page will pick the highest one to show you, and the alternatives menu shows you all the others in the order of their likely importance to you. Some of that you can control directly:
- if you set a strategy as favourite for example, it will always be shown first.
- In your Settings you can also select which tags are important to you and which you dislike - if you don't mind TCG pets for example, move it to the ones you prefer and more of these strategies will show up.
Likely, giving a strategy a fitting rating is now so much more important and will help you and everyone else to have a better experience.
This is quite a big change in how the page works and I am very curious to hear your feedback. Please let me know what you think of it.
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06/27/2018 - New section on Xu-Fu unveiled
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Today I am very happy to introduce a new section to Xu-Fu’s Pet Guides. A topic that has been neglected for way too long: Pet PvP!
Rosqo, well known in the pvp world of pet battles, volunteered to work on this section and will fill it with life. He is creating many pet related videos on Youtube to share his team setups and the thoughts behind them. Definitely worth checking out!
The first page to go online is an overview of the recommended pets for PvP, separated into Tiers which are based on how often these pets appear and how powerful they are when facing human opponents.
Have a look at the new section and let us know what you think! Or if you have a different opinion, or maybe you think a pet is missing? We certainly would like to know :-)
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06/02/2018 - +100 Intelligence for Xu-Fu!
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First of all, my apologies for the long maintenance! There was a LOT of work that needed to be done for this update and half the page wasn’t working during it anyway :D
The Battle Tables desperately needed an overhaul. They are the core part of the page, and yet they were old and dusty. Not any more! It's all fixed, brought up to modern standard, loads much faster and most importantly a ton of new features:
So, what’s new?
Breeds
Yes, finally! But what's better than breeds? Stat requirements, such as "more than 280 speed”! That’s in as well, and Xu-Fu shows possible breeds automatically based on those requirements. Sweet!
Automatic substitute finder
The pride of the show. Don’t have that Mudshell Conch? No problem! How about those other twenty critters with the same skills? Xu-Fu now checks for every pet if there are others of the same family that have the required skills and stats, and you can leaf through them on the fly. *points at the bottom part of the screenshot*
Collection check-up
Not sure if you even have any of those critters? Don’t worry, if you’re logged in, Xu-Fu shows you right there on the pet card if you have a pet or not and what level or breed it has. And also if that breed might work or not. Three green bars at the bottom? All cool, go for it.
Crowd intelligence
It’s hard for a strategy creator to test or calculate every odd eventuality. Now you can help with that more easily: open up the additional info panel and you can send in your attempt(s). Xu-Fu will record those and refine the strategy!
Phew, that's quite the int buff right there, but there is more!
- Ratings! Give that clever strategy you love some extra love… I mean stars, give it some stars.
- Favourites! One heart to give per tamer. That will have some real use later on, promise.
- New rematch format. More automatism, less hassle. And yes, the substitute finder works with that as well.
- Tags. Prefer a reliable strategy over a fast one? Cool! Later on, you’ll be able to filter strategies based on your preferred tags.
- Tamer experience. See that “High XP” tag? Hover over it. You won't regret it.
- Enemy pets. So you won't forget who the real enemy is - visible in the additional info panel.
- Coordinates. Click on it to copy TomTom waypoints to your clipboard.
Now that's it. And it’s a lot. Before I'll send you off to explore the new shiny features, let me say a big, big thank you to:
- Simca for his amazing add-on Pet Battle Breed ID and for sharing the breed info with it.
- Jerebear and everyone else who contributed to gathering XP information about tamers.
- Grainne and Remte for their testing, feedback and input, especially on the substitute finder.
Enjoy the new features, and let me know what you think about them!
I'm extremely curious to hear some feedback :-)
Aranesh
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