Pets are coming to Epic Seven in an update coming in November 2019. The developers have released an announcement of what to expect from this update. Whole new menus and systems are going to be implemented. Are pets going to completely change the game?
No, probably not. Pets seem to be a supplement added to the game as an additional, low maintenance activity to manage. There are, however, some worries about Battle Pets with Repeat Battling which are mentioned below.
How to obtain Pets
There will likely be a new menu for you to adopt a pet. Adopting a pet cost one Pet Adoption Ticket. To get these tickets you’ll need to purchase them from the shop. You’ll be able to obtain two types of pets: Lobby and Battle Pets.
Lobby Pets
These pets have something called Gift Acquisition, which provides the player with, what I assume, periodical gifts in the lobby. Currently only gold and energy are mentioned as gifts. I’m assuming that since there are levels attached to pets, the higher level the pet, the better the gifts.
Battle Pets
These pets have Repeat Battling, which allows the player to repeat stages without any interaction. Battle Pets open treasure chests and enter Goblin Gates automatically. Higher level pets might possibly be able to assist in actual combat with different skills. Battle Pets require the item Homemade Snack to be able to do Repeat Battling.
Concerns about Repeat Battling
Some people say that Repeat Battling will drive away players with concerns of making the game too auto-battle-focused. There is definitely evidence that games that focus on auto-battling have lower player retention. I believe that Epic Seven has enough manual content for players to actually play the game. Also, I assume that Homemade Snacks are something that is not given out too liberally, but something to be worked for.
Some argue that you don’t have to use pets if you don’t want to. While that is a point, I don’t think it’s valid. If you’re missing out on something in any mobile game, you’ll likely feel bad. Like people who missed out on certain banners or couldn’t afford to spend money (whale out).
Other things you need to know about Pets
Pet Skills
Besides the basic functions of Gift Acquisition and Repeat Battling, pets will be able to obtain different skills depending on the type of pet. There isn’t much on the type of skills there will be but they’re likely skills that augment the basic functions. For instance, Lobby Pets might have skills that change the type of gifts that players receive.
The developers write: “Each pet will learn one skill randomly, and the higher the generation, the more skills it can learn.” So we can assume that there will be a decent variety of skills for pets to learn.
Pet Generation
Each pet is labeled with a grade from what currently looks to be A to D. This is unconfirmed, but I’m speculating that this might mark its generation. You’ll be able to synthesize similar pets together to make your pets stronger and inherit appearances and skills.
What is Affinity?
In this developer screenshot you’ll notice a stat called Affinity. The developers haven’t mentioned anything about this. I assume this has something to do with the effectiveness of your pets’ skills.
Conclusion
I hope you’re excited about pets, and stay positive about the outcome of this new system. Smilegate seem to be on the right track so far, so I don’t expect them to fail us now. As a side note, these pet designs evoke a bit of Neopets nostalgia. I’m looking forward to taking care of these pets!