Well, hello there, readers. You've probably noticed I've not posted yet this month...sadly, I've suffered some blog lag due to real life. My uni work is starting to get serious and so I may have to post a bit less regularly. However, never fear. I shall still be here (rhyme) to post of course. It just might lose it's weekly-ness. I'm sure my vast supply of readers will be devastated!
So...what's this post about? Well, it's a small post about my laptop being a pain to me but it also raises a point too. Let me start with the laptop plight. I'm currently in a new guild due to a guild merger XXL have with them. They seem like really nice people and I've been lucky enough to go to Uld 25 with them a couple of times and one Uld 10 too. They invited me to go to Trial Of The Crusader and I accepted because my laptop seemed to be a bit slow but okay to raid still. However, once I accepted the invite and began a flight to the Tourney grounds from Storm Peaks, my laptop suddenly went NAO! and my frame rate went to either 1 or 0. If I was lucky, it went up to a whopping two!
Now, this was a problem to me cause I felt really bad cause it looked like I was making excuses because I had been asked to heal. Yes, I admit that I was nervous as hell about healing in it because I'm not amazing at healing yet. However, I would never let my guild down by saying no to healing because I warned them about it all and Moomy (guild leader) seemed fine with it. I know that my laptop isn't brilliant and it has an average frame rate of 8 and the highest I've seen it at is 17. There are people out there reading this right now who are going "OMR HOW DO YOU PLAY WITH SUCH A CRAPPY LAPTOP? GO BUY NEW ONE!"...sadly, I can't do this since I'm a student. But this raises another question...am I putting my guild at a disadvantage by not having a good laptop and all?
On the one hand, I've been in Naxx and Ulduar before and I've done things and my frame rate has been it's usual self and I've only had a bit of lag at times. I haven't just been frozen doing nothing. Therefore, you could argue that it works well enough and I'm fine to be included. However, my laptop is prone to lag and can do so during endgame. It also has an issue with overheating too that I've noticed...my poor poor laptop. Therefore, you could also argue that I'm actually hurting the guild by having this laptop. Whilst I left TOTC25 due to my low framerate (since it would have been very cheeky to stay when I couldn't do anything), the lag could strike anytime and I could ruin a fight because of it or I could have my laptop shut itself down due to overheating and also ruin a fight.
So...I'll put the question across to anyone who reads this and feels like commenting. Should someone with a lower end laptop be able to raid? Does it matter if someone has a laptop that isn't totally efficient as long as it does the job?
Tuesday 10 November 2009
Friday 30 October 2009
Survival Hunters, Sing With Me...I Will Survive!
10 days since my last post...tut tut. Sorting out my uni loan nonsense and uni work is getting in the way of my blog posting. I do apologise to those who are keeping up with my blog...let's hope things get smoother for me eh? Anyway, this is the final Hunter spec post and it's looking at Survival. So let's look at Gloria Gaynor's favourite topic...make sure to sing with me though!
Races
Alliance
Draenei-Survival is a good choice for Draenei huntards. They've crash landed and are having to survive on the Isles that are the starting zones for the space goats. I think that this would force Draenei hunters to focus on traps and tracking and surviving as best as they can. This is my fav choice for an Ally Survival Hunter.
Dwarf-Well, back when Survival was viewed more as a melee-hunter spec as such, I'd have said Dwarfs were a good choice for that. But Wrath has changed Survival for the better and Survival Hunters are not just about this as such and as a result, Survival is my least favourite choice for a Dwarf Hunter.
Human-Survival can work for a Human Huntard since they fit well with all three specs really. Survival spec would mean that Humans focus on tracking the beasts more and using traps to catch their prey.
Nelf-While Survival could work with regards to the tracking aspect, I don't think that Nelfs would care as much about traps as other races would nor would they like to get in as close as much as other hunters at times. Marks and BM fit better for a Nelf in my opinion.
Worgen-Survival would work well with the Worgen, I reckon. Here's why I have that view. Worgen are humans struggling to control their beast and all so they may be prone to running in to try and fight the mob personally before having to control themselves and back off. Also, tracking is a key aspect of Survival to me and the Worgen would be great at that.
Horde
Belf-I don't really like the combo of Survival and Belf. I guess I just favour Marks too much when it comes to looking at Belf hunters and RP'ing them.
Goblin-Survival would work well with Goblins. I can imagine them putting down traps and proudly telling everyone else how they built their traps and how they modified them personally and other things. I also reckon they'd use their traps to hunt animal furs/skins for mooneh.
Orc-Even though Survival isn't as melee-orientated as it used to be in my eyes, an Orc is still that Hunter who will love to get in close with their pet and fight alongside them which is what Survival lets them do better than the others. I imagine them charging in with their pet going "FOR THE HORDE" because that's what Orcs do best.
Tauren-Hmm, I'm not sure on Tauren and the Survival spec. While the Tauren would be really good at tracking and the shots you get with Survival, I don't see them being as keen on traps and I just think the other two specs fit them better. However, Survival isn't horrible for them.
Undead-Survival would work quite well for an Undead Hunter. I mean, they've had to fight for their survival in their starting zones thanks to the loveable Scarlet Crusade and I imagine they'd love to use traps to control the enemy or cause them pain. I'm looking at you, Immolation Trap.
Abilities
Raptor Strike-It's one of the Hunter's few melee strikes. I use these way too much when going around with Shiny because I like to hit things and be up close with Spork now and again. Don't follow my example (I am a Hunter Fail!), always remember to be at range in PvE and PvP. If something gets close, Disengage.
Track Humanoids-I know that it may seem pointless commenting on this but I had to put them in the list since they come under Survival. This one lets you track Humanoids. Go figure.
Wing Clip-This used to do damage but it currently doesn't do any. This means that you can use it if a Freezing Trap works on a mob or player and not break the trap. Handy because you can then Disengage away from them and begin to open up a can of ranged pewpew!
Immolation Trap-This is the first trap that Hunters get to place down. It's a nice little DoT trap but if you're a Survival hunter, you will find you use this very little since all Fire traps shares a cooldown with Black Arrow.
Mongoose Bite-A nice little secondary attack that can be used in melee range. While I don't advise that we get in close to fight enemies/players, it can't always be avoided so use this and then Disengage to get a little bit of cheeky damage off whilst fleeing.
Track Undead-Are there Undead around you? Use this to let them show up on your minimap. Isn't it EXCITING?!
Disengage-This spell got a major change for WOTLK and now it's really fun to use for me. Think of it as similar to a Mage's Blink spell only it launches you backwards instead. It's great for getting out of melee range and for catching up to people in Battlegrounds. Also, I've read some good stories about combining this with a jump to go further or a Parachute to just float across half of Warsong Gulch.
Freezing Trap-The second trap that us Hunters get to use and abuse. Use this to crowd control an enemy mob or an enemy player. Sadly, there isn't as much of a need for CC currently in instances but with Icecrown coming out soon, perhaps that will change. However, this trap has helped me so much whilst levelling Shiny that I considered marrying it but I didn't want to be known as Shiny Trap so I had to decline.
Track Hidden-This Track spell is useful for dealing with Rogues really. However, bear in mind that it doesn't show them on the minimap until they are close to you so you have a very good chance of seeing them but knowing it's too late as they Sap you and begin to wreak havoc on your innocent Hunter soul. Flare is more handy for revealing those in stealth but this will help too.
Track Elementals-This one lets you track MICKEY MOUSE! That's a lie but I just wanted to liven this up a bit.
Frost Trap-This is a handy area of effect trap that slows things down for you. I mainly find a use for it when running away from an angry swarm of mobs or in PvP but I imagine it might have situational usage in endgame PvE.
Feign Death-This is our "OH NOES, AGGRO!" button really. Use this to get the aggro back to your pet or a tank to avoid death really. However, it isn't guranteed to work 100% of the time. I presume that it works like that cause some mobs bother to check your pulse. Those clever mobs.
Track Demons-Explaining all these Track abilities makes me feel like I'm patronising the reader. It's like I'm teaching the ABC's to a toddler!
Explosive Trap-Here's a nice little AoE damage trap that will help when dealing with a group of mobs that you want to kill quickly. A combo of this and Volley results in some nice AoE damage from your Hunter. However, be aware of aggro when doing this combo since you can get unwanted attention this way.
Track Giants-Fee fi fo fum...this will help you track a giant's bum! That's about it really. Well, what did you expect? Pancakes?
Track Dragonkin-Finally, the last of the Track spells! If there are dragonkin nearby, track them. Always remember to track mobs if you have the Improved Tracking talent (for a 5% dps increase) which most Hunters will have really.
Deterrence-This ability gives you the ability to parry and deflect for a whole 5 seconds which makes you quite invincible as long as they attack from the front and all. However, you can't attack during this (since it would be far too OP) so bear that in mind since it could feel like you're using Dismantle (a Rogue move) on yourself.
Snake Trap-IM TRIED OF THESE MOTHERFUCKING SNAKE TRAPS ON THIS MOTHERFUCKING ZEPPLIN! Okay, on a more serious note, I really enjoy putting this trap down and watching the snakes go to work. They can come in handy during some PvE situations where they can absorb a spell too. However, I don't recommend this trap for PvP since the snakes have low hp and will die very very quickly.
Misdirection-Ah, this spell makes us the best pullers in an instance in my eyes. Before we get this, you could argue that hunters aren't as necessary to pull. However, with this spell and Feign Death, we're the best class to pull mobs to the rest of the group really. I've found that some tanks won't accept this though and you wind up denting their tank pride. Bless them.
Freezing Arrow-This spell seems to be okay to me. It's great that you can trap from a distance as such but for PvE, a Hunter should be able to know how to trap properly at that point anyway. I can see how this move will have some uses for PvP but I don't think it's all that brilliant personally. What I'd rather see happen is that Freezing Arrow becomes Trap Arrow and what happens is, we get to choose the trap that goes with this spell with a toolbar bit that's similar to a Shaman's totem bar. Tis just my idea for this since Freezing Arrow seemed a bit disappointing to me.
Scatter Shot-And now we come to the talent abilities. Scatter Shot is a handy spell for dealing with enemies in PvP and getting a bit of distance/some more control as such. I personally would like to see this made a baseline ability since I don't think it should be a Survival talent only. However, I acknowledge that Hunters could be a bit too OP then so it would have to be done on public realms first to see how unfair it was to let all Hunters have it.
Counterattack-This is mainly a PvP move to help us gain range in a fight. The best thing to do is to use Deterrence first and then follow up with Counterattack once you're able to attack again. This robs your enemy of their mobility and you can just Disengage and laugh at them for being such an elephant in tar. Fear us Hunters, puny mortals!
Wyvern Sting-Nice little move that puts a mob/player to sleep and does some damage when they wake up. However, bear in mind that this suffers from diminishing returns of course and it shares this with Freezing Trap so you can't just spam Wyvern Sting forever and make a player's life hell. After all, we wouldn't wanna take the "They're not letting me do anything!" crown from the Rogues now would we?
Black Arrow-Now, this is a nice move and is one of the reasons why Survival went from being the LOLcat spec to a raid viable spec in WOTLK. One of the best abilities a Hunter could ask for. So if you are Survival, feel free to mock those who aren't Survival until they cry!
Explosive Shot-Someone set us up the bomb! Wow, this blog article has been full of a few internet memes now hasn't it? Anyway, Explosive Shot is another snazzy ability that Survival hunters got from Blizzard to say sorry for all the times they were mocked pre-Wrath. Make sure to use this ability all the time since it procs a busload of talents and it's an important Survival ability.
Bear Trap-This can be a trap that all Hunters can enjoy that catches a person in it and does a bit of bleed damage over time. However, it leaves them with a "Bleeding" debuff that causes them to take more damage from Bleed effects so you could use the Bleed Shot I suggested in the Marks thread or another Bear Trap. This way, it helps to increase dps for BM Hunters and possibly Marks too depending on their rotation. Survival probably won't use this trap but ya never know.
And there you have it. There's all three Hunter spec posts done. I hope you enjoyed reading this one and the previous two. At some point, there will be a WTB Summary post for those of you who are lazy or who don't enjoy the length of these posts. I can't help that I like to ramble!
Anyway, I don't know what the next post of mine will be so I'll leave you in suspense. However, if you want to suggest a topic for me to write about or a question for me to look at or answer, let me know via the comments!
Races
Alliance
Draenei-Survival is a good choice for Draenei huntards. They've crash landed and are having to survive on the Isles that are the starting zones for the space goats. I think that this would force Draenei hunters to focus on traps and tracking and surviving as best as they can. This is my fav choice for an Ally Survival Hunter.
Dwarf-Well, back when Survival was viewed more as a melee-hunter spec as such, I'd have said Dwarfs were a good choice for that. But Wrath has changed Survival for the better and Survival Hunters are not just about this as such and as a result, Survival is my least favourite choice for a Dwarf Hunter.
Human-Survival can work for a Human Huntard since they fit well with all three specs really. Survival spec would mean that Humans focus on tracking the beasts more and using traps to catch their prey.
Nelf-While Survival could work with regards to the tracking aspect, I don't think that Nelfs would care as much about traps as other races would nor would they like to get in as close as much as other hunters at times. Marks and BM fit better for a Nelf in my opinion.
Worgen-Survival would work well with the Worgen, I reckon. Here's why I have that view. Worgen are humans struggling to control their beast and all so they may be prone to running in to try and fight the mob personally before having to control themselves and back off. Also, tracking is a key aspect of Survival to me and the Worgen would be great at that.
Horde
Belf-I don't really like the combo of Survival and Belf. I guess I just favour Marks too much when it comes to looking at Belf hunters and RP'ing them.
Goblin-Survival would work well with Goblins. I can imagine them putting down traps and proudly telling everyone else how they built their traps and how they modified them personally and other things. I also reckon they'd use their traps to hunt animal furs/skins for mooneh.
Orc-Even though Survival isn't as melee-orientated as it used to be in my eyes, an Orc is still that Hunter who will love to get in close with their pet and fight alongside them which is what Survival lets them do better than the others. I imagine them charging in with their pet going "FOR THE HORDE" because that's what Orcs do best.
Tauren-Hmm, I'm not sure on Tauren and the Survival spec. While the Tauren would be really good at tracking and the shots you get with Survival, I don't see them being as keen on traps and I just think the other two specs fit them better. However, Survival isn't horrible for them.
Undead-Survival would work quite well for an Undead Hunter. I mean, they've had to fight for their survival in their starting zones thanks to the loveable Scarlet Crusade and I imagine they'd love to use traps to control the enemy or cause them pain. I'm looking at you, Immolation Trap.
Abilities
Raptor Strike-It's one of the Hunter's few melee strikes. I use these way too much when going around with Shiny because I like to hit things and be up close with Spork now and again. Don't follow my example (I am a Hunter Fail!), always remember to be at range in PvE and PvP. If something gets close, Disengage.
Track Humanoids-I know that it may seem pointless commenting on this but I had to put them in the list since they come under Survival. This one lets you track Humanoids. Go figure.
Wing Clip-This used to do damage but it currently doesn't do any. This means that you can use it if a Freezing Trap works on a mob or player and not break the trap. Handy because you can then Disengage away from them and begin to open up a can of ranged pewpew!
Immolation Trap-This is the first trap that Hunters get to place down. It's a nice little DoT trap but if you're a Survival hunter, you will find you use this very little since all Fire traps shares a cooldown with Black Arrow.
Mongoose Bite-A nice little secondary attack that can be used in melee range. While I don't advise that we get in close to fight enemies/players, it can't always be avoided so use this and then Disengage to get a little bit of cheeky damage off whilst fleeing.
Track Undead-Are there Undead around you? Use this to let them show up on your minimap. Isn't it EXCITING?!
Disengage-This spell got a major change for WOTLK and now it's really fun to use for me. Think of it as similar to a Mage's Blink spell only it launches you backwards instead. It's great for getting out of melee range and for catching up to people in Battlegrounds. Also, I've read some good stories about combining this with a jump to go further or a Parachute to just float across half of Warsong Gulch.
Freezing Trap-The second trap that us Hunters get to use and abuse. Use this to crowd control an enemy mob or an enemy player. Sadly, there isn't as much of a need for CC currently in instances but with Icecrown coming out soon, perhaps that will change. However, this trap has helped me so much whilst levelling Shiny that I considered marrying it but I didn't want to be known as Shiny Trap so I had to decline.
Track Hidden-This Track spell is useful for dealing with Rogues really. However, bear in mind that it doesn't show them on the minimap until they are close to you so you have a very good chance of seeing them but knowing it's too late as they Sap you and begin to wreak havoc on your innocent Hunter soul. Flare is more handy for revealing those in stealth but this will help too.
Track Elementals-This one lets you track MICKEY MOUSE! That's a lie but I just wanted to liven this up a bit.
Frost Trap-This is a handy area of effect trap that slows things down for you. I mainly find a use for it when running away from an angry swarm of mobs or in PvP but I imagine it might have situational usage in endgame PvE.
Feign Death-This is our "OH NOES, AGGRO!" button really. Use this to get the aggro back to your pet or a tank to avoid death really. However, it isn't guranteed to work 100% of the time. I presume that it works like that cause some mobs bother to check your pulse. Those clever mobs.
Track Demons-Explaining all these Track abilities makes me feel like I'm patronising the reader. It's like I'm teaching the ABC's to a toddler!
Explosive Trap-Here's a nice little AoE damage trap that will help when dealing with a group of mobs that you want to kill quickly. A combo of this and Volley results in some nice AoE damage from your Hunter. However, be aware of aggro when doing this combo since you can get unwanted attention this way.
Track Giants-Fee fi fo fum...this will help you track a giant's bum! That's about it really. Well, what did you expect? Pancakes?
Track Dragonkin-Finally, the last of the Track spells! If there are dragonkin nearby, track them. Always remember to track mobs if you have the Improved Tracking talent (for a 5% dps increase) which most Hunters will have really.
Deterrence-This ability gives you the ability to parry and deflect for a whole 5 seconds which makes you quite invincible as long as they attack from the front and all. However, you can't attack during this (since it would be far too OP) so bear that in mind since it could feel like you're using Dismantle (a Rogue move) on yourself.
Snake Trap-IM TRIED OF THESE MOTHERFUCKING SNAKE TRAPS ON THIS MOTHERFUCKING ZEPPLIN! Okay, on a more serious note, I really enjoy putting this trap down and watching the snakes go to work. They can come in handy during some PvE situations where they can absorb a spell too. However, I don't recommend this trap for PvP since the snakes have low hp and will die very very quickly.
Misdirection-Ah, this spell makes us the best pullers in an instance in my eyes. Before we get this, you could argue that hunters aren't as necessary to pull. However, with this spell and Feign Death, we're the best class to pull mobs to the rest of the group really. I've found that some tanks won't accept this though and you wind up denting their tank pride. Bless them.
Freezing Arrow-This spell seems to be okay to me. It's great that you can trap from a distance as such but for PvE, a Hunter should be able to know how to trap properly at that point anyway. I can see how this move will have some uses for PvP but I don't think it's all that brilliant personally. What I'd rather see happen is that Freezing Arrow becomes Trap Arrow and what happens is, we get to choose the trap that goes with this spell with a toolbar bit that's similar to a Shaman's totem bar. Tis just my idea for this since Freezing Arrow seemed a bit disappointing to me.
Scatter Shot-And now we come to the talent abilities. Scatter Shot is a handy spell for dealing with enemies in PvP and getting a bit of distance/some more control as such. I personally would like to see this made a baseline ability since I don't think it should be a Survival talent only. However, I acknowledge that Hunters could be a bit too OP then so it would have to be done on public realms first to see how unfair it was to let all Hunters have it.
Counterattack-This is mainly a PvP move to help us gain range in a fight. The best thing to do is to use Deterrence first and then follow up with Counterattack once you're able to attack again. This robs your enemy of their mobility and you can just Disengage and laugh at them for being such an elephant in tar. Fear us Hunters, puny mortals!
Wyvern Sting-Nice little move that puts a mob/player to sleep and does some damage when they wake up. However, bear in mind that this suffers from diminishing returns of course and it shares this with Freezing Trap so you can't just spam Wyvern Sting forever and make a player's life hell. After all, we wouldn't wanna take the "They're not letting me do anything!" crown from the Rogues now would we?
Black Arrow-Now, this is a nice move and is one of the reasons why Survival went from being the LOLcat spec to a raid viable spec in WOTLK. One of the best abilities a Hunter could ask for. So if you are Survival, feel free to mock those who aren't Survival until they cry!
Explosive Shot-Someone set us up the bomb! Wow, this blog article has been full of a few internet memes now hasn't it? Anyway, Explosive Shot is another snazzy ability that Survival hunters got from Blizzard to say sorry for all the times they were mocked pre-Wrath. Make sure to use this ability all the time since it procs a busload of talents and it's an important Survival ability.
Bear Trap-This can be a trap that all Hunters can enjoy that catches a person in it and does a bit of bleed damage over time. However, it leaves them with a "Bleeding" debuff that causes them to take more damage from Bleed effects so you could use the Bleed Shot I suggested in the Marks thread or another Bear Trap. This way, it helps to increase dps for BM Hunters and possibly Marks too depending on their rotation. Survival probably won't use this trap but ya never know.
And there you have it. There's all three Hunter spec posts done. I hope you enjoyed reading this one and the previous two. At some point, there will be a WTB Summary post for those of you who are lazy or who don't enjoy the length of these posts. I can't help that I like to ramble!
Anyway, I don't know what the next post of mine will be so I'll leave you in suspense. However, if you want to suggest a topic for me to write about or a question for me to look at or answer, let me know via the comments!
Tuesday 20 October 2009
Marksmanship: Making Sure You Always Hit The Mark
I've had a lot of silly things to sort out lately life-wise. However, I've found some time finally to do my next Hunter post and it's gonna be on....Marksmanship! If you've been following my blog, this will come as no suprise to you of course. Anyway, let's get to the usual routine.
Races
Alliance
Draenei-I just don't see these as the Marks type. Personally, I don't think Draenei would care too much about their accuracy and how good they are with their shots.
Dwarf-I could see a Dwarf Hunter trying to be the best shot EVAR with a gun. I imagine them to probaly do it to help to be really good at tracking and hunting animals and to enjoy the hunt (like Hemet Nesingwary) since Dwarves are one of two races who I imagine fitting that stereotype.
Human-And that leads me on to the second race who could fit the stereotype above. Humans would be Marksmanship to me because they'd want to brag about how they shot something from really far away and with only one shot. That's just how I see a Marks Human Huntard.
Nelf-I see a Marks Nelf Hunter favouring the bow over the gun and a Marks Nelfy Hunter would want to be the best shot because they would either have a sense of pride about their accuracy and ability, they would want to kill the animaly quickly/with as little harm as possible or a bit of both.
Worgen-Now, I know that Worgen are Humans that can turn into wolves...but I just think they'd care less about being the best shot or hunting animals now. After all, they are beasts themselves now and I just don't see them as enjoying the hunt gun wise. They might enjoy hunting animals with their bare paws but that's a different story.
Horde
Belf-Belfs are pretty similar to Nelfs really in my eyes. I imagine a Marks Belf Hunter is part of the Farstriders or acts similar to the Farstriders at least.
Goblin-A Goblin Marks hunter would not really care about how great their shots are. They'd probably care more about building their own gun and testing it (more of an Engineer thing there). However, they could fit the role of a Hunter trying to hunt animals for money but I think they'd do that via traps which would make them more suited for Survival.
Orc-Orcs are one of those races who can fit all 3 Hunter specs in my eyes. I imagine a Marks Orc Hunter to be one who hunts for honour and pride. Getting a one-shot kill would bring an Orc Hunter great honour after all.
Tauren-I see a Tauren hunter as being Marks only because they'd want to be an expert shot to make sure the animal they are hunting dies quickly and without pain. A bit like the pointy eared Nelfies really.
Troll-I see Troll Marks Hunters as being pretty flexible. Either, they want to be great with their aim because they want to be the best shot and have some pride in it or because they enjoy getting that one-shot kill and the thrill of hunting. I have an amusing idea that some Trolls are Marks Hunters because they are so laid-back, they'd rather kill them in one hit so they don't have to waste more ammo/spend any longer hunting.
Undead-I see Marks Undead Hunters as being the ones who work on their ability to aim a ranged weapon so that they can control their aim. Then, they can be as sadistic as they like with their arrows/bullets. Watch out, Alliance. The Undead MM Hunters will be shooting you in the crotch. You have been warned.
Abilities
Serpent Sting-The first sting a Hunter gets to enjoy. This is my default sting that I use on mobs and if you get glyph of Steady Shot, you'll always use this sting to get a damage increase for Steady Shot.
Arcane Shot-You'll mainly use this if you're a BM spec Huntard. Otherwise, there are better shots to use and this won't find a place in your shot rotations. Aww, poor Arcane Shot.
Hunter's Mark-This is a nice spell for catching those who like to turn invisible (I'm looking at you, Rogues). Also, you may feel it's good for a dps increase if you get the glyph for it. Personally, I think it helps at first but as your gear gets better and better, the glyph becomes less useful when compared to others.
Concussive Shot-It's a nice shot to daze a mob/player to reduce their movement speed. However, Steady Shot does more damage to Dazed targets so you can possibly do a nice ConcussiveSteadyCombo. Just a little tidbit of info there since I didn't know this till level 70. I'm such a noob...*cry*
Distracting Shot-It's not a shot that gets used very often but it has a place on my toolbar because it has situational usage. If there's a mob going for your healer or a clothie, use this to save their ass and they will praise you and offer to make you pancakes. Pancakes guranteed!
Multi-Shot-Even though this ability is just a simple multiple shot, I really like using this. However, you have to remember to watch crowd control before you use this move.
Scorpid Sting-This sting is one I rarely use whilst levelling. However, I imagine it could be handy for making things easier for a tank in an instance/raid. Bear it in mind that this doesn't stack with Faerie Fire though so if you have a Druid, you are probably better off using another sting.
Rapid Fire-Good old Rapid Fire. Speeds up your ranged attack speed as if your Hunter had been downing energy drinks or had decided to take some speed. Please note that Ninja says no to drugs and you should too. It also stacks with the Improved Aspect Of The Hawk talent too.
Flare-Well, this is a handy move for dealing with invisible and hidden mobs. While I like this move a fair bit, I find it personally a little bit awkward to have to aim and use when I know a Rogue's somewhere near me since by the time, I've aimed at the ground area I want to send the flare, I'm usually stunned and I know that I'm about to be Rogueraped. I'd prefer it if Flare just autocast at the area in front of me to avoid this issue.
Viper Sting-This is a very handy sting for using on someone or something with a mana bar. It drains their mana AND gives it to the Hunter who cast it. Useful for both instances and PvP when you need mana back since it's quite deadly to sit and have a quiet drink to yourself. Dont believe me? Try it and watch the other side thank you for being such a willing target.
Volley-Well, Volley used to be an uberamazing and overpowered AoE to use. Blizz saw that Hunters would mainly just use this over other moves however and did a reasonable nerf to bring it in line with other AoE moves from other classes. However, an undocumented change in 3.2 raised Volley's power up a bit more since it was a bit too weak after it's nerfing. It reminds me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears..."This Volley is too OP, this Volley is too weak...this Volley is just right!"
Steady Shot-Once you get this shot, it will become your main source of damage whilst levelling and if you're BM, it will continue to take this honour. Arcane Shot is still used and is better against well-armoured targets (due to magic damage) but generally, you'll find you go with Steady 9 times out of 10 because it's nicer on your mana. The only downside to SS is that you have a cast time with this move but that's understandable since the shot involves being "steady" and all that stoof.
Tranquilizing Shot-I love this move. It's a "chill pill" shot basically that removes an enrage effect and a magic effect which is very very handy. Don't be that Hunter who forgets to use this.
Kill Shot-This is similar to a Warrior's Execute move only it's at range. Comes in handy for both PvE (since a lot of raid bosses will stay under 20% for a little while) and PvP (Oh look, that Mage is trying to flee with low health). Make sure to yell BOOM HEADSHOT! every time you use it to finish something off.
Aimed Shot-And we're on to the talent spells. This move is a move that is mainly useful as an opening shot really and unlike how it used to be, you'll find that it now doesn't get much useage after the opening shot with regards to PvE (unless the mob can heal itself or be healed by another near to it and you need to refresh the healing debuff). However, this is a very very handy spell for PvP and I imagine it can irritate healers quite quickly.
Readiness-This ability used to be in the Survival tree but it decided to pack it's stuff up and move house and now it's in the Marks tree. It's handy for resetting nearly all the Hunter's abilities. The only one it doesn't reset is Bestial Wrath because that would have been too OP with it's lengthy duration that it used to have. However, BW got a recent nerf and only lasts 10 seconds but it does operate like a PvP trinket so it may still be a bit too OP for PvP which is a shame because having the ability to have Bestial Wrath on twice in PvE would be a handy dps increase for BM Hunters. Maybe Blizz could have it where this only refreshes the BW cooldown in PvE.
Trueshot Aura-Nice little handy permanent aura to increase the attack power of you and your party/raid members. Be aware that this does not stack with an Enhance Shammy's Unleashed Rage and a DK's Abomination's Might. I'd like to see Trueshot Aura get a bonus given to it for the Hunter to have incentive to spec into Trueshot (like how Enhance get expertise or DK's get Strength). I'd say 2-3% hit rating because it would fit in with the "Trueshot" idea. If not that, replace hit rating with Agility then.
Silencing Shot-Thanks to an added interrupt effect, Silencing became useful again to Hunters and is something that should be used against casters in both PvE and PvP. It's also handy for pulling casters as a Hunter since they will be forced to run towards you due to being silenced.
Chimera Shot-This move is awesome for several reasons. Firstly, it makes Scorpid Sting viable for the disarm effect (in PvE and PvP) which is groovy. Secondly, it makes Viper Sting more handy for mana regeneration. Finally, use the Glyph of Serpent Sting (which a raiding Hunter should really use) and it makes the Serpent Sting even more deadly. All in all, Chimera Shot is hot stuff and it makes for an excellent final talent for the Marks tree.
Bloody Shot-This is a new move I invented just now that I'd like to see. It would be a shot that all Hunters (regardless of spec) could use to make the target bleed for a period of time. This would help for offering synergy with other classes that benefit from bleed effects AND would make the Stampede ability useful for those Hunters who have a Rhino.
So there we go. You'll notice I didn't come up with a specific Marks related "new" ability. The reason why I didn't was because I felt they already had enough abilities in their talent tree really. 5 talent spells is quite a lot really and I don't think MM Hunters are specifically in dire need of an extra skill. Next post will be about Survival of course and then that's all three specs covered. Let's hope real life doesn't cause me to be as late with that post as I was with this one!
Races
Alliance
Draenei-I just don't see these as the Marks type. Personally, I don't think Draenei would care too much about their accuracy and how good they are with their shots.
Dwarf-I could see a Dwarf Hunter trying to be the best shot EVAR with a gun. I imagine them to probaly do it to help to be really good at tracking and hunting animals and to enjoy the hunt (like Hemet Nesingwary) since Dwarves are one of two races who I imagine fitting that stereotype.
Human-And that leads me on to the second race who could fit the stereotype above. Humans would be Marksmanship to me because they'd want to brag about how they shot something from really far away and with only one shot. That's just how I see a Marks Human Huntard.
Nelf-I see a Marks Nelf Hunter favouring the bow over the gun and a Marks Nelfy Hunter would want to be the best shot because they would either have a sense of pride about their accuracy and ability, they would want to kill the animaly quickly/with as little harm as possible or a bit of both.
Worgen-Now, I know that Worgen are Humans that can turn into wolves...but I just think they'd care less about being the best shot or hunting animals now. After all, they are beasts themselves now and I just don't see them as enjoying the hunt gun wise. They might enjoy hunting animals with their bare paws but that's a different story.
Horde
Belf-Belfs are pretty similar to Nelfs really in my eyes. I imagine a Marks Belf Hunter is part of the Farstriders or acts similar to the Farstriders at least.
Goblin-A Goblin Marks hunter would not really care about how great their shots are. They'd probably care more about building their own gun and testing it (more of an Engineer thing there). However, they could fit the role of a Hunter trying to hunt animals for money but I think they'd do that via traps which would make them more suited for Survival.
Orc-Orcs are one of those races who can fit all 3 Hunter specs in my eyes. I imagine a Marks Orc Hunter to be one who hunts for honour and pride. Getting a one-shot kill would bring an Orc Hunter great honour after all.
Tauren-I see a Tauren hunter as being Marks only because they'd want to be an expert shot to make sure the animal they are hunting dies quickly and without pain. A bit like the pointy eared Nelfies really.
Troll-I see Troll Marks Hunters as being pretty flexible. Either, they want to be great with their aim because they want to be the best shot and have some pride in it or because they enjoy getting that one-shot kill and the thrill of hunting. I have an amusing idea that some Trolls are Marks Hunters because they are so laid-back, they'd rather kill them in one hit so they don't have to waste more ammo/spend any longer hunting.
Undead-I see Marks Undead Hunters as being the ones who work on their ability to aim a ranged weapon so that they can control their aim. Then, they can be as sadistic as they like with their arrows/bullets. Watch out, Alliance. The Undead MM Hunters will be shooting you in the crotch. You have been warned.
Abilities
Serpent Sting-The first sting a Hunter gets to enjoy. This is my default sting that I use on mobs and if you get glyph of Steady Shot, you'll always use this sting to get a damage increase for Steady Shot.
Arcane Shot-You'll mainly use this if you're a BM spec Huntard. Otherwise, there are better shots to use and this won't find a place in your shot rotations. Aww, poor Arcane Shot.
Hunter's Mark-This is a nice spell for catching those who like to turn invisible (I'm looking at you, Rogues). Also, you may feel it's good for a dps increase if you get the glyph for it. Personally, I think it helps at first but as your gear gets better and better, the glyph becomes less useful when compared to others.
Concussive Shot-It's a nice shot to daze a mob/player to reduce their movement speed. However, Steady Shot does more damage to Dazed targets so you can possibly do a nice ConcussiveSteadyCombo. Just a little tidbit of info there since I didn't know this till level 70. I'm such a noob...*cry*
Distracting Shot-It's not a shot that gets used very often but it has a place on my toolbar because it has situational usage. If there's a mob going for your healer or a clothie, use this to save their ass and they will praise you and offer to make you pancakes. Pancakes guranteed!
Multi-Shot-Even though this ability is just a simple multiple shot, I really like using this. However, you have to remember to watch crowd control before you use this move.
Scorpid Sting-This sting is one I rarely use whilst levelling. However, I imagine it could be handy for making things easier for a tank in an instance/raid. Bear it in mind that this doesn't stack with Faerie Fire though so if you have a Druid, you are probably better off using another sting.
Rapid Fire-Good old Rapid Fire. Speeds up your ranged attack speed as if your Hunter had been downing energy drinks or had decided to take some speed. Please note that Ninja says no to drugs and you should too. It also stacks with the Improved Aspect Of The Hawk talent too.
Flare-Well, this is a handy move for dealing with invisible and hidden mobs. While I like this move a fair bit, I find it personally a little bit awkward to have to aim and use when I know a Rogue's somewhere near me since by the time, I've aimed at the ground area I want to send the flare, I'm usually stunned and I know that I'm about to be Rogueraped. I'd prefer it if Flare just autocast at the area in front of me to avoid this issue.
Viper Sting-This is a very handy sting for using on someone or something with a mana bar. It drains their mana AND gives it to the Hunter who cast it. Useful for both instances and PvP when you need mana back since it's quite deadly to sit and have a quiet drink to yourself. Dont believe me? Try it and watch the other side thank you for being such a willing target.
Volley-Well, Volley used to be an uberamazing and overpowered AoE to use. Blizz saw that Hunters would mainly just use this over other moves however and did a reasonable nerf to bring it in line with other AoE moves from other classes. However, an undocumented change in 3.2 raised Volley's power up a bit more since it was a bit too weak after it's nerfing. It reminds me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears..."This Volley is too OP, this Volley is too weak...this Volley is just right!"
Steady Shot-Once you get this shot, it will become your main source of damage whilst levelling and if you're BM, it will continue to take this honour. Arcane Shot is still used and is better against well-armoured targets (due to magic damage) but generally, you'll find you go with Steady 9 times out of 10 because it's nicer on your mana. The only downside to SS is that you have a cast time with this move but that's understandable since the shot involves being "steady" and all that stoof.
Tranquilizing Shot-I love this move. It's a "chill pill" shot basically that removes an enrage effect and a magic effect which is very very handy. Don't be that Hunter who forgets to use this.
Kill Shot-This is similar to a Warrior's Execute move only it's at range. Comes in handy for both PvE (since a lot of raid bosses will stay under 20% for a little while) and PvP (Oh look, that Mage is trying to flee with low health). Make sure to yell BOOM HEADSHOT! every time you use it to finish something off.
Aimed Shot-And we're on to the talent spells. This move is a move that is mainly useful as an opening shot really and unlike how it used to be, you'll find that it now doesn't get much useage after the opening shot with regards to PvE (unless the mob can heal itself or be healed by another near to it and you need to refresh the healing debuff). However, this is a very very handy spell for PvP and I imagine it can irritate healers quite quickly.
Readiness-This ability used to be in the Survival tree but it decided to pack it's stuff up and move house and now it's in the Marks tree. It's handy for resetting nearly all the Hunter's abilities. The only one it doesn't reset is Bestial Wrath because that would have been too OP with it's lengthy duration that it used to have. However, BW got a recent nerf and only lasts 10 seconds but it does operate like a PvP trinket so it may still be a bit too OP for PvP which is a shame because having the ability to have Bestial Wrath on twice in PvE would be a handy dps increase for BM Hunters. Maybe Blizz could have it where this only refreshes the BW cooldown in PvE.
Trueshot Aura-Nice little handy permanent aura to increase the attack power of you and your party/raid members. Be aware that this does not stack with an Enhance Shammy's Unleashed Rage and a DK's Abomination's Might. I'd like to see Trueshot Aura get a bonus given to it for the Hunter to have incentive to spec into Trueshot (like how Enhance get expertise or DK's get Strength). I'd say 2-3% hit rating because it would fit in with the "Trueshot" idea. If not that, replace hit rating with Agility then.
Silencing Shot-Thanks to an added interrupt effect, Silencing became useful again to Hunters and is something that should be used against casters in both PvE and PvP. It's also handy for pulling casters as a Hunter since they will be forced to run towards you due to being silenced.
Chimera Shot-This move is awesome for several reasons. Firstly, it makes Scorpid Sting viable for the disarm effect (in PvE and PvP) which is groovy. Secondly, it makes Viper Sting more handy for mana regeneration. Finally, use the Glyph of Serpent Sting (which a raiding Hunter should really use) and it makes the Serpent Sting even more deadly. All in all, Chimera Shot is hot stuff and it makes for an excellent final talent for the Marks tree.
Bloody Shot-This is a new move I invented just now that I'd like to see. It would be a shot that all Hunters (regardless of spec) could use to make the target bleed for a period of time. This would help for offering synergy with other classes that benefit from bleed effects AND would make the Stampede ability useful for those Hunters who have a Rhino.
So there we go. You'll notice I didn't come up with a specific Marks related "new" ability. The reason why I didn't was because I felt they already had enough abilities in their talent tree really. 5 talent spells is quite a lot really and I don't think MM Hunters are specifically in dire need of an extra skill. Next post will be about Survival of course and then that's all three specs covered. Let's hope real life doesn't cause me to be as late with that post as I was with this one!
Sunday 11 October 2009
Are You Baking Your Best Cake?
The title will make sense, you just have to scroll down to see why. I figured I'd do this post and then get back on to the Hunter related articles. So all you Hunter players, relax. The article will come soon. Honest! This article is going to take a look at when someone leaves a guild with their main but keeps an alt in there and I'll be giving my opinion on the question "Is it right to do this?" and I'll hopefully be seeing some comments answering this too. Let's get to the discussion part then.
I've seen it done before in a few guilds I've been in. A player chooses to leave with their main but keeps their alt or alts in that guild still. Sounds like a harmless thing to do right? I would disagree with that and here's why. Firstly, your main character is the one that you'll go on the most usually. While you may get bored of them and go on alts more, I imagine that you'll still go on that main for dailies and to do endgame fun which means you're removing the character you go on most from the guild but justifing it by saying you'll keep a character in the guild who you go on less. It's like you're no longer going to bake your best cake for them anymore but you'll bake your second best cake when you can find the time.
This leads on to my second point. Your main will probably be the one with the best gear and full professions (unless you're lazy like me) and therefore, be they a tanker, a healbot or a pewpewdps, they have a lot to contribute to the guild in comparison to your alt. By removing your main, it just seems like you're handicapping the guild a little but trying to soothe the blow by saying "No, wait! I've got my alt still guys!" and I don't think it's fair on the guild.
Finally, there's a very big issue with regards to alts that I see happen again and again. I'm not saying everyone does this but it happens frequently enough in my eyes to be a problem. Some players will find a guild with their main that they grow to love and enjoy. As a result, they will probably remove all their alts from the guild they had told "Guys, you still have my alts!" and move them to their new guild. While it seems like you're going back on your word there, it's understandable.
However, there are some people who use the guild to level up their alts and then they remove them. Personally, I think that's really unfair and nasty to the guild because a player is essentially just using that guild for their own means and then discarding them when they have no more use. Now, if you've read all of this article so far, you're probably feeling like I'm coming across as Mister One-Sided. Well, allow me to show you my ability to see the other side! POW!
I can understand why some people remove their mains. Perhaps they can't get into the raiding teams of the guild they're in with the main for whatever reasons or their friends have started a new guild and they want to help them but they don't want to totally abandon the guild so they leave an alt in it to help them still. I just think that the removal of a main from a guild can do a lot of harm to it and the player should consider this before going "Well, you have my alt still!" or something like that. But enough from me...I want to see what others think. So if you do read this, feel free to give your opinions in a comment.
Is it okay to leave a guild with your main with the reasoning that you still have an alt in that guild?
Is it the leaving that's important or the reasons behind the removal of a main?
Is it okay to use a guild to level your alts up to 80 and then move them across to the guild your main is in?
I've seen it done before in a few guilds I've been in. A player chooses to leave with their main but keeps their alt or alts in that guild still. Sounds like a harmless thing to do right? I would disagree with that and here's why. Firstly, your main character is the one that you'll go on the most usually. While you may get bored of them and go on alts more, I imagine that you'll still go on that main for dailies and to do endgame fun which means you're removing the character you go on most from the guild but justifing it by saying you'll keep a character in the guild who you go on less. It's like you're no longer going to bake your best cake for them anymore but you'll bake your second best cake when you can find the time.
This leads on to my second point. Your main will probably be the one with the best gear and full professions (unless you're lazy like me) and therefore, be they a tanker, a healbot or a pewpewdps, they have a lot to contribute to the guild in comparison to your alt. By removing your main, it just seems like you're handicapping the guild a little but trying to soothe the blow by saying "No, wait! I've got my alt still guys!" and I don't think it's fair on the guild.
Finally, there's a very big issue with regards to alts that I see happen again and again. I'm not saying everyone does this but it happens frequently enough in my eyes to be a problem. Some players will find a guild with their main that they grow to love and enjoy. As a result, they will probably remove all their alts from the guild they had told "Guys, you still have my alts!" and move them to their new guild. While it seems like you're going back on your word there, it's understandable.
However, there are some people who use the guild to level up their alts and then they remove them. Personally, I think that's really unfair and nasty to the guild because a player is essentially just using that guild for their own means and then discarding them when they have no more use. Now, if you've read all of this article so far, you're probably feeling like I'm coming across as Mister One-Sided. Well, allow me to show you my ability to see the other side! POW!
I can understand why some people remove their mains. Perhaps they can't get into the raiding teams of the guild they're in with the main for whatever reasons or their friends have started a new guild and they want to help them but they don't want to totally abandon the guild so they leave an alt in it to help them still. I just think that the removal of a main from a guild can do a lot of harm to it and the player should consider this before going "Well, you have my alt still!" or something like that. But enough from me...I want to see what others think. So if you do read this, feel free to give your opinions in a comment.
Is it okay to leave a guild with your main with the reasoning that you still have an alt in that guild?
Is it the leaving that's important or the reasons behind the removal of a main?
Is it okay to use a guild to level your alts up to 80 and then move them across to the guild your main is in?
Friday 9 October 2009
Mind The Gap
There's been a lot of guild drama recently in the guild I'm in with Ingredients. XXL had a major officer leave after she tried to arrange a Naxx run and only her and one other came online for it despite the fact people had signed up to do it. Thankfully, she came back but it raised an interesting point. How hard is the leap from a social guild to a raiding guild? And is it possible to be a "casual" raiding guild at all?
A social guild (in my eyes) is one that might do events or heroics but it's usually a guild that doesn't have a strict focus on endgame. It's there because either the people in it are all good real life friends/e-friends and wanna have a laugh or they focus on helping people do quests and possibly boosting but that territory would be more for a levelling guild. A raiding guild is one that does all the endgame stuff in terms of raids and progression and most social guilds probably wish to aim for this at some point or levelling guilds will become raiding guilds once everyone's high enough of course. But how easy is this to do?
Well, the first thing to look at is the people in the guild. If there's not a close bond between leader and officers, you probably aren't ready to raid. And you need to make sure to have the right number of healers and tanks and dps of course...but what happens if you can't seem to get them or they don't stay? Another thing to look at is the time and effort it will take to sort out both times for raiding and being ready for raids. It can be tricky to find a day and time that is best for everyone...what happens if you can't find that day and time? Also, people need to be aware of being prepared for a raid too. Flasks, potions, gear....everything has to be ready. It all becomes much more difficult when you see the things that need to be considered.
My other thing to ponder is this...can a raiding guild be classed as "casual" or not? Casual implies a loose and laidback approach instead of a weekly structure of days and times to raid. The guild would just set a day and time and see what happens. Is that casual or bad organisation though? Is a raiding guild unable to be "casual"? I know that I'm using a lot of rhetorical questions here but I think it's a big thing for a guild to try and make the step up to raiding and it's on my mind because XXL is trying to make this step. I'd like to see what my readers think though.
1. Do you think there's a big gap between a non-raiding and a raiding guild? If yes, why?
2. What are the most important things for a guild to do or have when making the leap?
3. What is a "casual raiding guild" to you? Is there such a thing?
A social guild (in my eyes) is one that might do events or heroics but it's usually a guild that doesn't have a strict focus on endgame. It's there because either the people in it are all good real life friends/e-friends and wanna have a laugh or they focus on helping people do quests and possibly boosting but that territory would be more for a levelling guild. A raiding guild is one that does all the endgame stuff in terms of raids and progression and most social guilds probably wish to aim for this at some point or levelling guilds will become raiding guilds once everyone's high enough of course. But how easy is this to do?
Well, the first thing to look at is the people in the guild. If there's not a close bond between leader and officers, you probably aren't ready to raid. And you need to make sure to have the right number of healers and tanks and dps of course...but what happens if you can't seem to get them or they don't stay? Another thing to look at is the time and effort it will take to sort out both times for raiding and being ready for raids. It can be tricky to find a day and time that is best for everyone...what happens if you can't find that day and time? Also, people need to be aware of being prepared for a raid too. Flasks, potions, gear....everything has to be ready. It all becomes much more difficult when you see the things that need to be considered.
My other thing to ponder is this...can a raiding guild be classed as "casual" or not? Casual implies a loose and laidback approach instead of a weekly structure of days and times to raid. The guild would just set a day and time and see what happens. Is that casual or bad organisation though? Is a raiding guild unable to be "casual"? I know that I'm using a lot of rhetorical questions here but I think it's a big thing for a guild to try and make the step up to raiding and it's on my mind because XXL is trying to make this step. I'd like to see what my readers think though.
1. Do you think there's a big gap between a non-raiding and a raiding guild? If yes, why?
2. What are the most important things for a guild to do or have when making the leap?
3. What is a "casual raiding guild" to you? Is there such a thing?
Monday 5 October 2009
BM Rule Number One: Never Treat Your Pets Like You Would A Sims Character!
The title says it all really. I don't know about the rest of you but all I did on Sims was find ways to kill them and once I got bored of that, never played any more. Tis a good thing that I care about my pets more then. But wait, you didn't come here to read me comparing Hunter Pets to Sims people now did you? I didn't think so.
Due to some recent guild drama yesterday, I've got a couple of articles coming up related to the challenges of trying to be a raiding guild and asking whether it's okay to leave an alt in a guild when you leave it with your main. But before all that, I wanted to get to one of these Hunter articles again since I've neglected them and I think they'll start going all emo on me at this rate and threaten to self-harm if I don't show them attention. So here's an article on Beast Mastery, the spec I use the most and enjoy the most.
Races
Alliance
Draenei-Beast Mastery links well with the Draenei and their starting zone questing. Your character hits 10 and realises that now's a good time to get himself a pet since you realise that you're gonna need a pet to survive if you decide to explore the rest of the world. Draenei are a caring race by nature and some of them would care deeply for their pets and be BM.
Dwarf-Perhaps it's a mix of bias (with Shinyspoon) and the opening trailer for original WOW but my favourite pick for an Ally BM Hunter is a Dwarf. It's not an easy choice to make though. Dwarf BM Hunters would be the types who would pick a pet they feel is formidable and grow to respect and care for the pet.
Human-It's not hard to understand why a Human would be good at BM. In real life, you get those humanoids who love their animals and dote on them. WOW would be no different for these people.
Night Elf-I view Nelf Hunters as being "Ranger" type hunters. Therefore, a BM Nelf has most likely grown attached to their pet because it's their main companion and possibly their bestest friend when they go wandering through the lands.
Worgen-It's interesting to consider a BM Worgen Huntard. It will be a human who is cursed to turn into a beast leading a beast. Will the beast side connect more with the pet on a feral level? Perhaps the Worgen Hunter becomes "packleader" to the pet when in Worgen form. I feel sorry for a Worgen's pet...it might get confused when it's master keeps changing.
Horde
Belf-A BM Belfy is interesting in my head because I imagine it to be a hunter who has some sort of an exotic pet like a Dragonhawk. I think that they would be attached to the pet for a mixture of care and vanity and I imagine that they are the ones who would make sure their pet always looks fabulous on the Horde side.
Goblin-A Goblin BM Hunter is interesting too. When I make my Goblin Hunter, I think he'll have BM as one of his two specs because he'll be a Hunter who values having a pet to keep him alive and therefore, it will be worthwhile buying the food to keep the pets he has happy. I imagine BM Goblins start off getting a pet for convenience and become attached to them over time.
Orc-An Orc BM Hunter isn't my favourite choice though they can happily be one of course. I imagine them to be the type who would pick an honourable pet or one who can prove itself well in battle or already has done so against the Orc Hunter.
Tauren-Out of all the Hunters, I reckon Taurens will be the ones who will be the most mystical about hunting and being a Hunter. A Tauren BM Hunter would have chosen pets because they probably sensed that it had a noble spirit and are one of the Hunters most likely to view a pet as an equal. This is my favourite choice for a Horde BM Hunter.
Troll-Similar to Orcs really...I have nothing against them but I'd prefer a Tauren or a Belf or a Goblin. It might just be me but I think that Alliance Hunter races all lean more towards BM and Marksmanship whereas Horde Hunter races lean more towards Survival and Marks.
Undead-There is only one way I can see a BM Undead Hunter working and that's if they use Undead skin pets to show that just because they are undead, it doesn't mean they aren't useful. It might be a personal thing and all. Otherwise, I don't see BM working at all for the Undead. I mean, it involves CARING about the pet much more then the other two trees and the Forsaken LACK emotion. It's a major thing about them. And I'm not even going into the wants-to-kill-all-the-living stuff.
Abilities
Aspect Of The Monkey-The first aspect a Hunter gets to enjoy. Best used if you get stuck in melee with something. However, as you get higher, you should find that it will be easier to avoid having to get into a melee situation. Will be replaced by Dragonhawk at 74.
Aspect Of The Hawk-Got Mana? Then use this aspect to do more ranged damage. You'll find yourself mainly using this aspect unless you're in dire need of mana (Viper) or someone's got a bit too close for comfort (Monkey). Will be replaced by Dragonhawk at 74. I'm a parrot!
Call Pet-Is your pet there? Did they die? If no, use this and stop being that hunter who doesn't have their pet out with them!
Dismiss Pet-I rarely use this because it makes me feel guilty. If you're worried about jumping down and your pet running around and causing a trail of mobs to come, just tell it to stay and go away from the pet and it will despawn anyway without making them grumpy.
Feed Pet-While pet talents will make pets happy and reduce the need to feed them, it's always important to feed to keep them happy so they do more damage. Also, I like the new animation for this ability. It's the little things in life that make me happy.
Revive Pet-If your pet dies, revive it asap. Simple as that really.
Tame Beast-The key spell to getting pets. Make sure to use a combo of Concussive Shot and Frost Trap and you should be able to tame a beast easy enough.
Mend Pet-Simple...use this and your pet will stay alive for longer. Don't and it will die. Also, Glyph of Mending is a handy one to pick up for levelling Hunters. I'm not sure how useful it would be for a raiding BM Hunter but I imagine it has the potential to be handy.
Eagle Eye-Works just like a Shaman's Far Sight spell. Perhaps the two spells are twins who happened to have a falling out over how nature should be viewed.
Eyes Of The Beast-Now, I know this could be used for scouting purposes...but I honestly have only ever used this spell to make my pet jump around me and others nearby to my location. Should be renamed "Eyes Of The Disco Beast" really.
Scare Beast-Useful in PvE if you get swarmed by beasts and can be used on another Hunter's pet, druids in Cat/Bear forms and Shamans if you catch them in Ghost Wolf in PvP.
Aspect Of The Cheetah-Useful if you wanna get somewhere quick and you won't have the risk of combat. I used it a lot back when you didn't get a mount till 40. As a side note, it bugs me that it doesn't improve swimming speed. Is it too much to ask for a swim speed increase when it comes with the Daze disadvantage?
Aspect Of The Viper-I love this aspect. Who needs drinks when you have Viper eh? Just use it when you're low on mana to get mana back then switch back to Dragonhawk and let rip again.
Beast Lore-The most powerful trick in a Hunter's arsenal...IT WILL CONSUME YOUR SOUL! Okay, not really. Think of it as a Pokedex for WOW.
Aspect Of The Beast-This is only really useful for Battlegrounds when you wish to be really good at hide and seek. However, I do use this a fair bit sometimes cause I like to melee with Shiny whilst questing to help raise weapon skills and cause I like to get stuck in every so often for fun.
Aspect Of The Pack-Generally only useful if you wipe in an instance and wanna get everyone back to where you wiped quick or for helping lowbie friends get to flight paths faster. However, it does have the chance to shine in the fight with Anub'Rekhan in Naxx and there may be other situations like that. I can't say I know all the boss fights raid wise yet after all.
Aspect Of The Wild-If you, your group or your raid need some nature resistance, stick this on and flex. Otherwise, ignore this Aspect and don't let the fact it says "Wild" fool you into thinking it's an uberaspect.
Kill Command-We're finally into the more useful BM spells! Not that Feed Pet or Aspects aren't useful but this was the first BM-orientated spell that felt like I did something useful with my pet that wasn't feeding it, healing it or making sure it isn't running off to hump other pets. Anyway, I find it's best to either use this with Bestial Wrath or wait for a proc from the Cobra Strikes talent if you have it.
Aspect Of The Dragonhawk-I'm all for making things easier on my toolbars. This Aspect does that. Once you hit 74, use this and don't worry about all that switching between being a Monkey and being a Hawk.
Master's Call-Even though you should have plenty of reasons to keep your pet alive anyway, this is another one. You can use this to remove your pet and yourself or another person out of roots and movement impairing effects.
Call Stabled Pet-This is a very handy spell indeed. There have been complaints that it's a lvl 80 spell but I believe this is done because of the fact that if you shift to a different spec via Dual Spec, the cooldown is gone. So you can essentially change pets on the go at any point as long as you have Dual Spec. However, since you can get Dual Spec at 40, I see no reason why this shouldn't be of use at 40.
Intimidation-A handy spell to do a stun on an enemy/player. It currently does it on the next attack but if the patch 3.3. notes are correct, it will do it automatically as long as the pet is in melee range. This is a buff for both PvE and PvP.
Bestial Wrath-This recently had a makeover and left some Hunter players confused. Is it a nerf? Is it a buff? Is it a plane? I've spent some time looking at this before deciding that it's more nerfy. The 10% dps buff that they handed to us isn't really enough to make BM Hunters feel they are equal to Surv/MM Hunters and it's a heavy hit for PvP BM Hunters. I think 10 seconds was too harsh a nerf and I'd like Blizz to move it up to 12 seconds duration or possibly even 15. 10 seconds is too short for my liking...even if they've increased the mana cost reduction to 50% and all.
Master's Summon-This is my suggestion for a new BM only move. Let a BM Hunter be able to summon a second pet from the stable for a period of time. You'd be able to highlight a pet in your stable and that one would be the one summoned. This pet would appear beside you for a minute or two and fight alongside you and your current pet but you aren't able to control the second pet you summon in terms of their focus moves since I think that's a bit too much. This would really give BM Hunters a way to access dps for PvE scenarios. Also, it won't unbalance PvP too much now we have the Avoidance changes coming up for 3.3 which means pets can be AoE'ed swiftly by other players.
And there we have it. Bit of a lengthy article, I know...but I don't really want to split it up into two parts. Apologies if it feels too longz! Anyway, I haven't decided the order yet but the next article will either be the Marks Hunter one or the one about the challenges a guild faces when it tries to become a raiding guild. Watch this space!
(Well, don't watch this particular space since this article's been published already. You're better off looking at the space above this post since that's where the next one will appear.)
Due to some recent guild drama yesterday, I've got a couple of articles coming up related to the challenges of trying to be a raiding guild and asking whether it's okay to leave an alt in a guild when you leave it with your main. But before all that, I wanted to get to one of these Hunter articles again since I've neglected them and I think they'll start going all emo on me at this rate and threaten to self-harm if I don't show them attention. So here's an article on Beast Mastery, the spec I use the most and enjoy the most.
Races
Alliance
Draenei-Beast Mastery links well with the Draenei and their starting zone questing. Your character hits 10 and realises that now's a good time to get himself a pet since you realise that you're gonna need a pet to survive if you decide to explore the rest of the world. Draenei are a caring race by nature and some of them would care deeply for their pets and be BM.
Dwarf-Perhaps it's a mix of bias (with Shinyspoon) and the opening trailer for original WOW but my favourite pick for an Ally BM Hunter is a Dwarf. It's not an easy choice to make though. Dwarf BM Hunters would be the types who would pick a pet they feel is formidable and grow to respect and care for the pet.
Human-It's not hard to understand why a Human would be good at BM. In real life, you get those humanoids who love their animals and dote on them. WOW would be no different for these people.
Night Elf-I view Nelf Hunters as being "Ranger" type hunters. Therefore, a BM Nelf has most likely grown attached to their pet because it's their main companion and possibly their bestest friend when they go wandering through the lands.
Worgen-It's interesting to consider a BM Worgen Huntard. It will be a human who is cursed to turn into a beast leading a beast. Will the beast side connect more with the pet on a feral level? Perhaps the Worgen Hunter becomes "packleader" to the pet when in Worgen form. I feel sorry for a Worgen's pet...it might get confused when it's master keeps changing.
Horde
Belf-A BM Belfy is interesting in my head because I imagine it to be a hunter who has some sort of an exotic pet like a Dragonhawk. I think that they would be attached to the pet for a mixture of care and vanity and I imagine that they are the ones who would make sure their pet always looks fabulous on the Horde side.
Goblin-A Goblin BM Hunter is interesting too. When I make my Goblin Hunter, I think he'll have BM as one of his two specs because he'll be a Hunter who values having a pet to keep him alive and therefore, it will be worthwhile buying the food to keep the pets he has happy. I imagine BM Goblins start off getting a pet for convenience and become attached to them over time.
Orc-An Orc BM Hunter isn't my favourite choice though they can happily be one of course. I imagine them to be the type who would pick an honourable pet or one who can prove itself well in battle or already has done so against the Orc Hunter.
Tauren-Out of all the Hunters, I reckon Taurens will be the ones who will be the most mystical about hunting and being a Hunter. A Tauren BM Hunter would have chosen pets because they probably sensed that it had a noble spirit and are one of the Hunters most likely to view a pet as an equal. This is my favourite choice for a Horde BM Hunter.
Troll-Similar to Orcs really...I have nothing against them but I'd prefer a Tauren or a Belf or a Goblin. It might just be me but I think that Alliance Hunter races all lean more towards BM and Marksmanship whereas Horde Hunter races lean more towards Survival and Marks.
Undead-There is only one way I can see a BM Undead Hunter working and that's if they use Undead skin pets to show that just because they are undead, it doesn't mean they aren't useful. It might be a personal thing and all. Otherwise, I don't see BM working at all for the Undead. I mean, it involves CARING about the pet much more then the other two trees and the Forsaken LACK emotion. It's a major thing about them. And I'm not even going into the wants-to-kill-all-the-living stuff.
Abilities
Aspect Of The Monkey-The first aspect a Hunter gets to enjoy. Best used if you get stuck in melee with something. However, as you get higher, you should find that it will be easier to avoid having to get into a melee situation. Will be replaced by Dragonhawk at 74.
Aspect Of The Hawk-Got Mana? Then use this aspect to do more ranged damage. You'll find yourself mainly using this aspect unless you're in dire need of mana (Viper) or someone's got a bit too close for comfort (Monkey). Will be replaced by Dragonhawk at 74. I'm a parrot!
Call Pet-Is your pet there? Did they die? If no, use this and stop being that hunter who doesn't have their pet out with them!
Dismiss Pet-I rarely use this because it makes me feel guilty. If you're worried about jumping down and your pet running around and causing a trail of mobs to come, just tell it to stay and go away from the pet and it will despawn anyway without making them grumpy.
Feed Pet-While pet talents will make pets happy and reduce the need to feed them, it's always important to feed to keep them happy so they do more damage. Also, I like the new animation for this ability. It's the little things in life that make me happy.
Revive Pet-If your pet dies, revive it asap. Simple as that really.
Tame Beast-The key spell to getting pets. Make sure to use a combo of Concussive Shot and Frost Trap and you should be able to tame a beast easy enough.
Mend Pet-Simple...use this and your pet will stay alive for longer. Don't and it will die. Also, Glyph of Mending is a handy one to pick up for levelling Hunters. I'm not sure how useful it would be for a raiding BM Hunter but I imagine it has the potential to be handy.
Eagle Eye-Works just like a Shaman's Far Sight spell. Perhaps the two spells are twins who happened to have a falling out over how nature should be viewed.
Eyes Of The Beast-Now, I know this could be used for scouting purposes...but I honestly have only ever used this spell to make my pet jump around me and others nearby to my location. Should be renamed "Eyes Of The Disco Beast" really.
Scare Beast-Useful in PvE if you get swarmed by beasts and can be used on another Hunter's pet, druids in Cat/Bear forms and Shamans if you catch them in Ghost Wolf in PvP.
Aspect Of The Cheetah-Useful if you wanna get somewhere quick and you won't have the risk of combat. I used it a lot back when you didn't get a mount till 40. As a side note, it bugs me that it doesn't improve swimming speed. Is it too much to ask for a swim speed increase when it comes with the Daze disadvantage?
Aspect Of The Viper-I love this aspect. Who needs drinks when you have Viper eh? Just use it when you're low on mana to get mana back then switch back to Dragonhawk and let rip again.
Beast Lore-The most powerful trick in a Hunter's arsenal...IT WILL CONSUME YOUR SOUL! Okay, not really. Think of it as a Pokedex for WOW.
Aspect Of The Beast-This is only really useful for Battlegrounds when you wish to be really good at hide and seek. However, I do use this a fair bit sometimes cause I like to melee with Shiny whilst questing to help raise weapon skills and cause I like to get stuck in every so often for fun.
Aspect Of The Pack-Generally only useful if you wipe in an instance and wanna get everyone back to where you wiped quick or for helping lowbie friends get to flight paths faster. However, it does have the chance to shine in the fight with Anub'Rekhan in Naxx and there may be other situations like that. I can't say I know all the boss fights raid wise yet after all.
Aspect Of The Wild-If you, your group or your raid need some nature resistance, stick this on and flex. Otherwise, ignore this Aspect and don't let the fact it says "Wild" fool you into thinking it's an uberaspect.
Kill Command-We're finally into the more useful BM spells! Not that Feed Pet or Aspects aren't useful but this was the first BM-orientated spell that felt like I did something useful with my pet that wasn't feeding it, healing it or making sure it isn't running off to hump other pets. Anyway, I find it's best to either use this with Bestial Wrath or wait for a proc from the Cobra Strikes talent if you have it.
Aspect Of The Dragonhawk-I'm all for making things easier on my toolbars. This Aspect does that. Once you hit 74, use this and don't worry about all that switching between being a Monkey and being a Hawk.
Master's Call-Even though you should have plenty of reasons to keep your pet alive anyway, this is another one. You can use this to remove your pet and yourself or another person out of roots and movement impairing effects.
Call Stabled Pet-This is a very handy spell indeed. There have been complaints that it's a lvl 80 spell but I believe this is done because of the fact that if you shift to a different spec via Dual Spec, the cooldown is gone. So you can essentially change pets on the go at any point as long as you have Dual Spec. However, since you can get Dual Spec at 40, I see no reason why this shouldn't be of use at 40.
Intimidation-A handy spell to do a stun on an enemy/player. It currently does it on the next attack but if the patch 3.3. notes are correct, it will do it automatically as long as the pet is in melee range. This is a buff for both PvE and PvP.
Bestial Wrath-This recently had a makeover and left some Hunter players confused. Is it a nerf? Is it a buff? Is it a plane? I've spent some time looking at this before deciding that it's more nerfy. The 10% dps buff that they handed to us isn't really enough to make BM Hunters feel they are equal to Surv/MM Hunters and it's a heavy hit for PvP BM Hunters. I think 10 seconds was too harsh a nerf and I'd like Blizz to move it up to 12 seconds duration or possibly even 15. 10 seconds is too short for my liking...even if they've increased the mana cost reduction to 50% and all.
Master's Summon-This is my suggestion for a new BM only move. Let a BM Hunter be able to summon a second pet from the stable for a period of time. You'd be able to highlight a pet in your stable and that one would be the one summoned. This pet would appear beside you for a minute or two and fight alongside you and your current pet but you aren't able to control the second pet you summon in terms of their focus moves since I think that's a bit too much. This would really give BM Hunters a way to access dps for PvE scenarios. Also, it won't unbalance PvP too much now we have the Avoidance changes coming up for 3.3 which means pets can be AoE'ed swiftly by other players.
And there we have it. Bit of a lengthy article, I know...but I don't really want to split it up into two parts. Apologies if it feels too longz! Anyway, I haven't decided the order yet but the next article will either be the Marks Hunter one or the one about the challenges a guild faces when it tries to become a raiding guild. Watch this space!
(Well, don't watch this particular space since this article's been published already. You're better off looking at the space above this post since that's where the next one will appear.)
Tuesday 29 September 2009
Wipes: We'll Need A Clean Up On Aisle TOC!
Wiping in WOW is never fun. Actually, I can't think of any time in real life where wiping is fun unless you're a cleaning freak or something. But on WOW, a wipe is never fun. Repeated wiping is even worse. I know what you're thinking now...why is Ninja going on about this? It's obvious. Well, I'm going to tell you about my recent experiences and then look to see if the wiping did me more good than harm. Now, gather around, it's time to tell you a story.
XXL (my guild) have decided to work their way towards raiding and therefore, heroics seem like a great idea to gear up (with badges and whatnot) as well as Trial Of The Champion. Three days ago, we were fine and we did Heroic Utgarde Keep, Nexus and Gundrak. We struggled a little with the Rhino boss at the end but generally, the runs were fine and I healed my first heroic by healing for Nexus! However, the next two days would be painful. Let me explain why.
Day One started off well by blitzing through Heroic UK in no time at all. I also got to heal it so yay for more healing experience. After that, we went to go do Heroic Gundrak and it all went horribly wrong. We just kept on dying at Slad'ran. For some reason, even though we had a better tank this time round, we just couldn't do Slad at all unlike the day before. The group had three of us from the day before and we were just amazingly puzzled at how we'd done this boss yesterday fine yet today, he was a horrible snake-infested monster. We called it a day and looked to tomorrow hoping it would be better. It wasn't.
Day Two was meant to be a day of Trial farming. It was only Normal difficulty so I figured it would all be fine even though Anun (our tank) didn't have much tank experience and his gear wasn't too brilliant. I didn't mind cause we all need to learn and it was a guild run (so a nice and supportive group). We did Faction Champs and Eadric fine and then it came to the Black Knight. The first two goes, we just couldn't get past Phase Two. Next two, we got to Phase Three but wiped without getting him down loads. Final try, we got him down to low health but couldn't seal the deal. With morale already low from the Gundrak failing, I think it was safe to say this dealt a crushing blow to us.
And that's my story but the article doesn't end here. I didn't do this just so I could tell you my woes. I could come up with logical reasons why we failed (gear, experience, tactics etc...) but I'm not going to go into that. Instead, I found that while wiping regularly was very depressing, it also helped me by making me determined to learn what went wrong, to look up boss tactics again and to memorise things. It made me want to improve and become a better player. So in the end, it might have cost me a lot of confidence (and gold...I'd hate to think what the tank repair bills were like) but it also gave me some more motivation and drive to do better and succeed. Wiping actually may have done some good for me and for all the other guild folk who went on the heroic runs with me.
Do you think wiping regularly can do some good? Or is it merely highlighting how bad a group are? Does it show you that you need to gear up or does it show you that you suck as a player? What are your thoughts on wiping?
XXL (my guild) have decided to work their way towards raiding and therefore, heroics seem like a great idea to gear up (with badges and whatnot) as well as Trial Of The Champion. Three days ago, we were fine and we did Heroic Utgarde Keep, Nexus and Gundrak. We struggled a little with the Rhino boss at the end but generally, the runs were fine and I healed my first heroic by healing for Nexus! However, the next two days would be painful. Let me explain why.
Day One started off well by blitzing through Heroic UK in no time at all. I also got to heal it so yay for more healing experience. After that, we went to go do Heroic Gundrak and it all went horribly wrong. We just kept on dying at Slad'ran. For some reason, even though we had a better tank this time round, we just couldn't do Slad at all unlike the day before. The group had three of us from the day before and we were just amazingly puzzled at how we'd done this boss yesterday fine yet today, he was a horrible snake-infested monster. We called it a day and looked to tomorrow hoping it would be better. It wasn't.
Day Two was meant to be a day of Trial farming. It was only Normal difficulty so I figured it would all be fine even though Anun (our tank) didn't have much tank experience and his gear wasn't too brilliant. I didn't mind cause we all need to learn and it was a guild run (so a nice and supportive group). We did Faction Champs and Eadric fine and then it came to the Black Knight. The first two goes, we just couldn't get past Phase Two. Next two, we got to Phase Three but wiped without getting him down loads. Final try, we got him down to low health but couldn't seal the deal. With morale already low from the Gundrak failing, I think it was safe to say this dealt a crushing blow to us.
And that's my story but the article doesn't end here. I didn't do this just so I could tell you my woes. I could come up with logical reasons why we failed (gear, experience, tactics etc...) but I'm not going to go into that. Instead, I found that while wiping regularly was very depressing, it also helped me by making me determined to learn what went wrong, to look up boss tactics again and to memorise things. It made me want to improve and become a better player. So in the end, it might have cost me a lot of confidence (and gold...I'd hate to think what the tank repair bills were like) but it also gave me some more motivation and drive to do better and succeed. Wiping actually may have done some good for me and for all the other guild folk who went on the heroic runs with me.
Do you think wiping regularly can do some good? Or is it merely highlighting how bad a group are? Does it show you that you need to gear up or does it show you that you suck as a player? What are your thoughts on wiping?
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