I know she's gone due to site plot, but with her gone, we have no real way of turning our pets Hydrus, unless we spend irl cash/csc/sp for the Miracle Potion. I think removing her entirely (and thus, removing the only option to make our pets Hydrus aside from the MP), was kind of a bad idea? I mean, we unlocked the ability to turn our pets Hydrus, only to have it taken away indefinitely, and that's just not cool.

Why has there been no update to allow us to continue to turn our pets Hydrus? We don't necessarily need Meranna there in order to do it. and I were talking, and she came up with the idea of a pool we can bless our pets at. We could even have Meranna hand out her blessings as random events to users who have completed the map, a new NPC giving out blessings in her name or something.

It's already been a month, why has nothing new been implemented?

I know they said there would be a way to make hydrus pets again in the future, but it kind of sucks for people who were planning on doing it and then the plot happened. I mean, we had no way of knowing that she was going to disappear for a while, so it's not like you can say well they should have done it earlier then.

I do hope we get some sort of update soon.

I hope it's in the near future rather than the far future. I was planning on getting another hydrus pet, but with her being gone, it's sort of impossible. :t I mean, it's been about a month already, and potioning our pets Hydrus is a reward people who have completed the map have earned. If we could zap for hydrus pets, it would be aggravating, but better than just not getting them.

Would be cool if say one of the Islanders could replicate the spell... or maybe Shinwa could and grant someone else the power.... All in all the lack of Hydrus pets will be sad specially for those who have ideas and love that color.

omg no on the zapping for hydrus pets. That's just as annoying as not having them available - if you get one, you'd have to get a Miracle Potion II to switch the species to the one you want because the chances of zapping into exactly the hydrus pet you want are astronomically low. pls no

I'd like a tidal pool where you could leave an offering of jewelry or something and dunk your pet in to turn it hydrus. Something with a timed window a la Peka Glade - available every 12 hours when the tide is high enough. Or a similar mechanic to steamwork pets - leave the offering and your pet at the pool, then come back after you get an event XX hours later to pick your hydrus pet up. Or just... a pool in her temple where you can do the same - leave offering and give your pet a bath in "blessed" waters.

And just to clear this up: plots with consequences are okay! I'm okay with Merana being gone for plot purposes.

But consider that Sarah more or less immediately took over Amy's quests when poor Amy died, and that all other plots (that I can remember) had no lasting effects of us losing out on a pet colour.

I'm a touch sad that a pet colour is effectively in limbo because of unforeseeable plot reasons. Heck, even Harvest Potions are obtainable year-round if you get lucky in the potion lottery.

*Merana ;)

i agree with all of this. i've been complaining all over the site. bangs fists on table i really need a hydrus pet!! i don't want to cave and spend cash on one, or blow my loyalty token on it, because i just know once that happens something will come around to make it available soon after. :/ but idk. i just have a mighty need. please please do something to let us bless our pets!

I'm sure Staff has something in mind for Merana and hydrus pets. They realized what they were doing long before we knew what was going to happen.

I don't think it is an issue that Hydrus is unavailable for free for awhile. There are still several ways to get Hydrus pets until then, it is just not free and I think that's okay for awhile. It's not as if it is totally retired forever.

I mean, if we get an alternative way to make Hydrus pets it has to make sense with the lore. We were told that while Hydrus pets might look pretty, it's a disease which puts their minds to Merana's service. I don't think the islanders or Shinwa would be ok with that. Maybe a random event, like "you hear a voice whispering your name", which leads to a Merana quest? The only problem would be getting back to the quest page, but maybe with a widget like the Oracle one it might work.

what if the curse was lifted, with merana cast away and all, but there could be some kind of new story leading up to the transformation not being evil anymore? i dunno :p

Hydrus pets were never available for 'free'. You had to spend a lot of SP on the maps and had to buy items in exchange for her blessing. You could spend anywhere from a few hundred to a few hundred thousand, depending on what items she asked for at random.

Eh, I don't know. I wouldn't mind Hydrus being like Harvest or Galactic, and only be available a couple weeks every year.

That's something I really like about Harvest, and Hydrus being that way would make sense.

Also, I don't think making Hydrus pets not evil anymore because Merana is free makes sense. The only thing that should change lore-wise is the fact they turn common in the pound. That should be removed because it's dumb.

Wow, I didn't even realize this had happened. What a horribly stupid oversight, and considering how long ago the plot was?

I'm flabbergasted over this, lol.

It wasn't that long ago? Again, keeping with lore there wouldn't be a solution this fast. The staff obviously have something in mind, perhaps when they are rereleased there will be redraws/more Hydrus pets. I just don't think it is that big of a deal, lots of sites have pets that are available seasonally (or you can pay out the ass to get them off season).

Isn't darkmatter similar to hydrus, if we're going for the 'virus' comparison? There's no reason we can't keep hydrus if we can keep the dm potion.

Okay not "free" but a few million sp vs CSC/20m sp. What I mean is it's just more expensive now to get it than it was before.

It's only been a month. Staff said they'd have a solution, it's not like your pets need to be Hydrus right this instant, is it? I know it's hard to wait, but it's not going to be gone forever.

It's not an oversight, it's expansion of site lore. I'm excited to see what happens next, how and where Merana starts infecting pets again.

Merana needs a break. She made an army of hydrus companions but was trapped on an island while her minions roamed free. Now she is free and needs time to reconvene, get up to date on everything before mass making minions again. Maybe it is a new plot in which the hydrus pets of the subetian world now turn on their owners. Do you really want to put yourself at that risk? Plus I am so down for some revamps on this. THEY COULD BE EVEN COOLER AND WORTHY OF TURNING

I'd be so down to take on my own pet. >:B Big Red could take Warden Ensign any day of the week.

I mean, I understand Merana being gone for plot reasons, but this is also a bit of an annoyance for people who like having their pets a certain color and had things planned out. I don't see why there can't be some small- maybe expensive- way to turn our pets Hydrus between this plot and whenever the next plot thing starts. I mean, we have Morostide, Fireside and Luminaire coming up soon, not to mention staff holidays. It could happen soon, but it could also take several weeks/months for us to get the option to make our pets Hydrus again.

I just don't think it's a big deal that Hydrus pets aren't available for the time being, since obviously they're not going to be unavailable forever (there's no sense in that). The best way to do it would be to have Merana be spotted somewhere following a new Hydrus release (she's gotta be around if she's making new minions right). Even if her quests are only available for a limited amount of time every couple of months or something.

Patience is a virtue. [edit]