World of Warcraft

[Dis]

Originally posted by Sn00py
Blake, how much experience have you had with Hunters exactly?

It's odd that you put Hunters so low on Survivability considering one of the talent columns for the Hunter is infact "survival" iirc.

Also, the hunter has a number of abilities to attack multiple enemies hard, so I don't agree with your conclusions.

agreed. Long as my pet is alive, I can survive multiple adds. especially since they changed the way pet healing is done. I can heal and do damage at the same time now. Sometimes the healing pulls aggro from the creatures my pet is not attacking. But I wear mail now. I can usually handle someone beating on me for a few moments before my pet can get aggro back.

and there's always feign death. I've been getting a lot of resists on it in the outlands. but that's because I'm a lower level than the monsters I'm fighting.

Even though I use a cat, he can tank pretty well. He can handle 3 mobs and even 4 sometimes.

And I can't imagine using fear in these areas. It's wall to wall demons! Seems like if you fear someone, they will bring back 20 or 30 adds.

[Leirosa]

Priest fear isn't very good, it never lasts the 5 full seconds and then has a 26 second coldown before you can use it again (with talents). Using it with alot of other mobs around is a good way to get yourself killed, although sometimes it's enough to run away and get out of combat. I got into the habit of taking it off my bar altogether when I was any instance party so I didn't accidentally hit the button.

I don't think Priest fear is really worth mentioning, not like Warlock fear spells.

[FrostyBoy]

huh, you can heal your pet and do damage at the same time now!?

I noticed when I was mending my pet recently, he was only healed a little bit at a time, is that the change?

btw Blake, I agree that the Hunter is a deadly killer, I follow a typical step: (a level 33, attacking a level 33)
Using Sharp Arrows and a good Bow
Have Aspect of Hawk on
Target NPC
Attack with that poison arrow one from furtherest distance possible
Concussion shot
Arcane Shot (This one, on a lucky shot is currently giving me about 220hp at the most).
Because of Concussion shot, you're able to throw in one more that isn't charging up, and that is Multiple Shot, while yes you are only attacking one npc, this shot will always strike at over 100hp, so I will use it.

By this time the npc will have reached close combat, but with a final blow of an axe and they will be down. And if I wanted to, I could put down a fire trap, which is usually quite deadly.

And all this without using my pet.


========

If I am attacking more than one npc, say 3, I will send my pet in, this will aggro the 3 to attack just him. I will focus on attacking the same npc as my pet, this will leave just 2 to go, if my pet is 1500health, he will only be down to about 1200 by the time the first npc is dead. At this point, I will use multiple shot, this usually causes one of the npc's to go after me, while he is running at me, I will strike the npc my pet is attacking with a poison or arcane arrow, just to help him out, then I will begin to attack the other npc at melee range, with two one-handed axes, fire trap, wing clip and if he is still trouble, it won't matter, because my pet will be finished with the other dude and will begin attacking the 3rd npc, taking its focus off me. So killing 3 npc's at once is a piece of cake. Killing 4 can produce some problems, 5 is pushing it, you need a lot of luck, maybe some health potion and feign death + mend pet works wonders.

Yes, the hunter is just that, a hunter.

[Sparrowhawk]

I was playing last night teamed up with a level 16 hunter with a cat as a pet (I am a druid and at the time was level 18, now 19). At one point he asked me if I knew how to use my staff .

I took that as a hint to join him and his cat in melee. I was thinking more that he should have been joining me at the back (or me replacing him in front) but instead we tried it for a while with the three of us (Hunter, Cat and Druid) all in melee.

We completed two quests together, though they second one only by perseverance as we died more often than I care to admit. I have never played a hunter obviously, but isn't the advantage that your pet fights melee and you stay back and assist them from afar?

One thing that made me laugh.....at one point we had killed all the mobs in one section, and we looked down on a few over a ledge. I thought we were just surveying the situation while we had a breather, but he attacked the one closest to us and it took off running the other way. His cat similarly took off running the opposite direction (but with both going towards each other as the ledge we were on was not scalable). I figured no reason to let the cat go at it alone, so I followed the cat, not realizing that the mob was bringing ALL of his friends with him (I estimate I saw 20 or so in the brief time that I was following the cat and before I hit the "resurrect in 6 minutes" button).

The funny part was the Hunter's comment afterwards........"Sorry, I forgot to tell my cat to stay". I laughed to myself, thinking that the cat was not the stupid one, if he hadn't shot at the mob down below, nothing would have happened and we could have continued taking on 1 or 2 at a time.

I made a similar dumb move later when we were trying to finish the quest, I saw the final goal in sight and with only one guard, I thought I could get around behind it, grab the loot and we could get out of there. Unfortunately, the key words were "in sight" and when I came around a rock ready to grab the goal of the quest, there were two more mobs, ready to attack. We died there too

Worst part of that whole quest is that as we were going in, we passed another player coming out, and he had taken the easier route to the quest objectives leaving nothing for us to take unless we took the harder route (not sure how quickly it would have respawned, in hindsight we would have been better off waiting).

At one point we were talking about the quest in Guild chat (we are both in the same guild) and neither of us realized anyone else from the guild was online, but one of the higher ranking members was laughing at us still trying to complete the quest.........I was embarrassed until he said that when he was that level he just skipped the quest as it was too hard to complete.

Oh well, I am going to chalk the whole thing up to experience.

/me

[FrostyBoy]

Right, there are skills involved in how to use your pet.

Pets and cliffs can produce the funniest moments in WoW.


I will never forget one moment in Wailing Caverns, its near the start, another hunter on the team decided to jump down the cliff from the far side, and of course, to get down there properly, you must circle around the cliff edge and go down the ramp, which is exactly what his pet did, pets, and their high damage dealing, was able to survive the force of about 10 dinosaurs, all following him down the path to where this other hunter was. I just sat there observing in laughter and I told him, "hey btw, you're ****ed", from which he replied "why?", he must have looked around to see why, because he replied "oh ****".

It's classic stuff, it's like throwing catch with your dog, except the stick is a dynamite, hahaha

[Sparrowhawk]

I forgot to mention, I am level 19 and I have yet to spend a talent point, at level 10 I meant to read up on them and figure out what direction to go and haven't gotten around to it yet. Can someone tell me what I am missing out on or would talents just make for a stronger character all around? It could be good to spend my points all at once, might make a more noticable difference then I suppose, but it might all be a moot point as my two week trial is up and if I can't find an easy way to pay I am going to be SOL as far as playing.

/me

[FrostyBoy]

hmm, If I were you, I would use them up, I don't know what path to take for Druids, just go for what you think you need best. For me, the talent building have obvious choices over others.

Btw, you can have them removed at a cost and start again if you wanted to.

[Blake]

but it might all be a moot point as my two week trial is up and if I can't find an easy way to pay I am going to be SOL as far as playing.

You can buy gamecards from anywhere you would be able to buy WoW.


Now speaking of hunter's pet and instances and them playing "fetch half the mobs in the instance"... that's one of the reason why hunters are universally hated , hunters have trouble finding groups, because bad hunters have the greatest capacity, bar none, to ruin instance runs.
1) Pets cause wipes and spectacular wipes if not properly controlled.
2) Bad hunters tend to be addicted to DPS and do retarded **** like opening with multishot before the tank has agro on any mobs.
3) Bad hunters pull agro and expect the healer to heal them. (they may also expect their pet to be healed)
4) If the Hunter is healed (due to a healer without a tough-love policy) the bad Hunter will then reward the healer by using FD and dumping the mob onto the healer (bad hunters use FD when panicking rather than as a preventative).
5) Hunters roll on weapons which are more useful to other classes and whine a lot.
6) Hunters can neglect to bring enough ammo making them as useful as tits on a bull for the boss encounter.

Now, a GOOD hunter can bring a lot to an instance run (I liked doing 5man's with a guild hunter a lot), but hunters are a real crapshoot to bring into a PUG, they have UNRIVALED potential to cause conflict/grief and do not bring anything essential/coveted to the group, they can't heal, tank or rez and their CC requires co-ordination.

When you compare the hunter with the Warlock, which also has the same pet issues: The Warlock can't dump agro, it suffers the consequences and learns from them. The Warlock doesn't have instant AoE - it can dot multiple mobs but the tank might still hold them. The warlock can soulstone the healer and hand out healthstones. The warlock can banish, which can't be broken.
A rogue is equally capable of pulling agro, but a Rogue has no pet. The rogue is actually capable of tanking mobs (to a limited extent and may relish in doing so) so probably wont dump the agro (vanish). The rogue can't forget to bring ammo.

Part of the problem is it's difficult for bad hunters to learn good party dynamics, because any good party will be very inclined to refuse an unknown hunter, hunters thus either have little group experience or only experience with BAD groups (which may be why they're such bitter whiners).

[FrostyBoy]

I'm smart, I get the Einstein award, those other pathetic hunters, like the guy I mentioned above, get the darwin award.

I'm very beneficial in raids, and often the last to die or get people out of near death. Just takes experience.

Tho I do have to point out, when people ask for people to help, they often ask for a hunter, maybe times have changed? Hunters got smarter?

I'm a devoted Hunter, have been for every RPG game I have ever played, I play nothing else, the whole idea of being independent, natural, instinctive, resourceful, deadly, explorative (not a word but it should be) intrigues me.

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Sparrowhawk
I forgot to mention, I am level 19 and I have yet to spend a talent point, at level 10 I meant to read up on them and figure out what direction to go and haven't gotten around to it yet. Can someone tell me what I am missing out on or would talents just make for a stronger character all around? It could be good to spend my points all at once, might make a more noticable difference then I suppose, but it might all be a moot point as my two week trial is up and if I can't find an easy way to pay I am going to be SOL as far as playing.

* Sparrowhawk

talents can completely change your play style

JM

[Blake]

Originally posted by Sn00py
I'm smart, I get the Einstein award, those other pathetic hunters, like the guy I mentioned above, get the darwin award.

I'm very beneficial in raids, and often the last to die or get people out of near death. Just takes experience.

Hunters ARE good, but they aren't EASY .

Guilded hunters don't have a problem. When I was playing my Druid I'd often insist on grouping with one of the guilds hunters, because he used the hunter very skillfully, the class has undeniable advantages in being able to frost trap nearly ANY mob type (universal CC is rare) and being able to shed agro and being able to keep another mob occupied with the pet. It was always easier to do a 5man with him due to the universal CC - he was excellent at frost traps and pulling.

However hunters I believe were the rarest class in our Guild, by a significant margin. They are a popular class to roll but have an uphill struggle for partying and guilds. A hunter needs to be damn good - and they need to be known as being good - before they'll really be wanted.

Of course not being a jerk/idiot goes a long way in WoW, like rogues have a reputation for being unpopular for parties, but on my Rogue I did Maraudon (Princess) at lvl45 with a PUG - they then invited me back to run it again even after I'd completed the quest . I thought it was pretty much charity the first time and was like wah?! , of course with lvl46 and my new thrashblade I could contribute more the 2nd time. But yeah, nice, competent people are valued in WoW regardless of class although it doesn't change the fact that a priest has to be a totally infamous unredeemable ******* before they'll have trouble getting groups/guilds - hunters are at the other end of the spectrum.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Sn00py
Right, there are skills involved in how to use your pet.

Pets and cliffs can produce the funniest moments in WoW.


I will never forget one moment in Wailing Caverns, its near the start, another hunter on the team decided to jump down the cliff from the far side, and of course, to get down there properly, you must circle around the cliff edge and go down the ramp, which is exactly what his pet did, pets, and their high damage dealing, was able to survive the force of about 10 dinosaurs, all following him down the path to where this other hunter was. I just sat there observing in laughter and I told him, "hey btw, you're ****ed", from which he replied "why?", he must have looked around to see why, because he replied "oh ****".

It's classic stuff, it's like throwing catch with your dog, except the stick is a dynamite, hahaha

I remember when some warrior decide to shoot at some pigs before in Razorfen Kraul. We were on the vine and they were below. It took a minute or so, but a whole bunch of them came right on up. wiped everyone except me (I was a fairly high level for this instance).

And yes they changed mend pet in the patch. It's nice because I think it helps people out with non tank pets. I almost never healed pets before. Of course now in the outlands, I have to. So it's nice they changed it. You might miss one autshot, but the cast delay isn't that bad. I think it only pushes autoshot back 1/2 second, if at all. It's a heal over time, so don't wait till the last second, or the pet will die. I usually do it when he goes between 1/3 and 1/2 hp's.

[Dis]

what is a PUG?

I never figured that one out.

One guy on our last instance (sunken temple- I was doing it for hunters quest) had a party dps. Mine was second highest, but was much lower than the Paladin (who was our tank). Why is this? Was it including my pet (i'm a beastmaster hunter)? I know my gear isn't all epics, but I've been getting some damn good gear in the outlands for quest rewards. I'm under the impression that in a lot of cases, this surpasses level 60 epic gear.

I was conserving mana and not using very many shots (as this party had no casters, and didn't stop, so I knew I had no time to drink). When I did use shots, I pulled aggro. Which led me to believe I can out dps the paladin. This is a protection paladin too. He was one level higher than me. But it's embarrassing he had almost twice the dps I had. but my pet has almost as much dps as I do, so I'm wondering if my pet was included.

edit: I want to make a remark on hunters in instances. I think I'm pretty good. I don't do stupid things like warriors and paladins do. Occasionally I make mistakes. My worst offender is using tab to cycle through enemies. when one baddies goes down, I tab to the next and send pet. sometimes if my camera angle is low, I don't notice the next baddie is far off in another group. And my pet is already on the way. And sometimes I don't call it back in time. But I've gotten pretty good about that.

Pets should always be on passive. I think pets get blamed alot for runners pulling in others. Pets don't cause the others to come in. The runner did (they call for help). You should never let runners get to other mobs. Don't blame pets for addons. It's the party's responsibility to kill runners before they get to other mobs. And the party should not be doing combat in such close proximity to other mobs anyways. It's called pulling people. That being said, hunters have a responsibility to use concussive shot on runners. Eventually you figure out when they run. usually 10 ot 15%. But if you have a warrior they should be using hamstring (not sure if that's available in defensive stance though). Don't blame the hunters pet for everything.

But you do have to be careful on ledges. Parties like to jump off to save time. but in my last instance in sunken temple, my pet followed me. Perhaps they changed this in the last patch. I don't seem to have as many problems with my pet following me off cliffs now.

[Dis]

Got a new pet. A purple ravager. I can't fit too many letters. So I call him ppurpleeater for purple people eater.

He's a level 62 venomspitter ravager found on the path from hellfire peninsula to the marshlands to the west. I'm level 63 now, and I want to try the ravager one. I'm wondering if he will be bigger (they look bigger in the wild) and have more hp's. Yeah I just want him to be bigger and look more intimidating. I want him for a high dps pet. I'm pretty sure he easily out dps' my cat. His hp's are a little low. Less than mine actually even with great stamina 9. So I gave him tier 2 resistances in all to help against casters. He has good armour already to help against melee.

I'm going to tame a level 63 since I dinged and see if there's any difference. I want mine to look bigger to scare low levels I gank. .

[Dis]

Originally posted by Sparrowhawk
I forgot to mention, I am level 19 and I have yet to spend a talent point, at level 10 I meant to read up on them and figure out what direction to go and haven't gotten around to it yet. Can someone tell me what I am missing out on or would talents just make for a stronger character all around? It could be good to spend my points all at once, might make a more noticable difference then I suppose, but it might all be a moot point as my two week trial is up and if I can't find an easy way to pay I am going to be SOL as far as playing.

* Sparrowhawk

what do you spend most of your time in? bear form?

I recommend feral talents as they are the easiest I think. It's easiest to do most of your damage in cat and bear form.

Start off in cat form (you'll get this at level 20, no quest involved), build up 5 points, and then rip (I think that's the correct finishing move word- I can barely remember). Then if necessary go to caster form, heal, then go to bear form. Usually my cat is so tough, it only takes 4 points and a rip to kill a monster. No need to shift to caster form until after combat and heal for the next battle. Then back to cat.

It's nice this way because of little downtime. You'll regain mana while in cat form, and have very little mana problems (only when you are seriously getting pounded mana will be a problem), and you'll always be healed, no bandaging or eating necessary.