Yes, Hunters, Hati will be back…eventually

I play a Beast Mastery Hunter. She’s one of my favorite alts. And I haven’t logged her on since patch 8.0, because I know Hati won’t be there when I do. That’s just not something I want. As far as I’m concerned, leveling and playing a Hunter this expansion has been all about Hati. I didn’t even get the Marks or Survival Artifacts, despite being an utter lunatic for melee classes. For me, the Hunter fantasy was having two pets, and as I played around with my crazy thunder wolf I really grew to love the whole package.

Hati, if you don’t know, was the big draw of the Hunter Beast Mastery Artifact weapon Titanstrike. When equipped, the Artifact allowed you to have Hati and another pet out at the same time. Unfortunately with the released of Battle for Azeroth pre-patch 8.0, Hunters have lost the special powers of their Artifacts. That includes Hati, who has simply…disappeared.

When patch 8.0 came around, realizing Hati would be gone felt like a really good reason to just play something else. Luckily, there are signs that people at Blizzard understand how attached Beast Mastery Hunters could get to our crackling puppy buddy.

Ion Hazzikostas had this to say about the situation, when asked about the future of Hati during last week’s Q&A.

Nothing to announce right now, but there’s definitely an understanding of the depth of affection out there, not just for Hati, but also for some of the more unique Artifacts that had companions or personalities associated with them. That’s not something we totally want to leave behind.

That was reassuring, if not exactly solid information. But more directly to the feelings for players who miss their lightning dog, a response by Steve “Moorgard” Danuser to this heartrending tweet by artist Angela O’Hara definitely made me feel like one day I could play my Hunter again.

As I look upon this lovely and heart-wrenching image, my RL pup is curled up under my desk staring up at me.

Right. In. The. Feels.

Don't worry. You'll see Hati again. Just give it a bit of time. https://t.co/bdUZJnmbFA

— Steve Danuser 💙 (@SteveDanuser) July 19, 2018

There’s no solid date given, but at least it seems to be confirmation that we haven’t seen the last of Hati. Is it silly of me — and other Hunters — to feel this attached to a pet? Maybe. I don’t pretend to understand it, which is why I usually play Warriors. With a Warrior, I don’t have all these complicated feelings of guilt when I send a pet out to get punched in the face or what have you.

But the way players have fallen in love with Hati, or even with Aluneth or Thal’kiel or other Artifacts with strong personalities, shows how World of Warcraft is a game that resonates with its players. I really think it’s worthwhile to let players keep a hold of the aspects of play — like our shock pup — that we come to identify with and feel great affection for.

So yeah, thank you to Ion and Steve for giving us all hope, Angela for making that art that got Steve right in the feels, and especially thank you to Hati for making Beast Mastery a spec I actually enjoyed in Legion.