Beast Master hunters in a nutshell:
(image courtesy Sinfest)
Okay, now then. I would like to thank all the people that commented or e-mailed me involving “The News”. I am in fact well aware of it, and happy about it, though we aren’t out of the woods yet. But it is indeed a very nice thing to be aware of. Be of good cheer my comrades!
Anyways, now that we’ve covered The News, I’d like to take this opportunity to do a quick Public Service Announcement. The idea of “spec loyalty” and what you should spec and why can be a tough decision, I know. And it is a personal decision. And everybody’s reasoning for doing what they are doing and everybody’s playstyle is their own personal decision and I for one will not look down upon any hunter for what they are or are not doing. In the end we are all hunters and we all love our pets, regardless of spec or spot on the DPS meter. Isn’t that a good enough reason to get along?
All the debate and discussion on the subject is welcome here in the comments so long as it is done in a respectful manner, and I am pleased to say that I think it all has been so far. Please keep it up guys. <3 I know this is a touchy subject but remember what brought us all here in the first place: our love of hunters. That's all for now folks, I hope to have the next chapter in my story up soon!
Ohhhhh, Sinfest. How I love thee.
I had a cat like that in Sinfest. Love the heck out of it. As for hunter specs, I’m just glad that we have a choice now-a-days. Remember the days when no one would role SV. Those days are gone. Its stupid to have 3 specs, but only have one of them be viable in my opinion (which doesn’t count for much).
Yeah.. spec loyalty is a tough one.
It seems that to many to it’s either a decision to remain loyal to a favorite spec or get into the end game content.
For you people that often PUG this must be even a bigger issue. So many PUGs are ill informed or are just “reading the headlines” and feel what ever the spec du jour is that’s a requirement. This leads to the non-guildies or PUG runners in a tough spot. To respec to the new popular spec or not. 🙁
I kind of relate it to trends or keeping up with the joneses. Either your comfortable with where you are, or your not and need to chase public acceptance.
Anyways.. good thoughts 🙂
Like you would know.
*pulls out spray bottle* Play nice, kittens.
I love the cartoon Pike. Had to show it to The Guy. He laughed. ^_^ Now let’s see if this at all helps blizzard decide what to do with Hunters. They really don’t know what we are suposed to be or suposed to do.
Heck, lately I’ve been poking at a paladin…
I know, ME + Paladin does not compute… Error! Error!
If they can get me something I’ll actually like playing again (read pet is not just decoration) I’ll be back to hunter. For now? Sword and board and pretty heals it is!
Loved the comic.
I do not think that trying a new spec is being disloyal.
For me I am BM, it is who my hunter is, but that is no reason not to try MM or SV.
I will be trying out SV because it has been buffed, but I will be going back to BM and I won’t necessarily be waiting for them to rebuff it, I will be beck while it is still ‘nerfed’.
It’s the play style I’m used to and the play style I like and I *need* to use my spirit beast.
At the end of the day, I”m still playing my hunter, that’s the main thing, it’s not like I’ve run off to my mage. Nope poor sod is still lvl 70 hahaha!
I’ve had no problem with PuGs complaining about my spec, and I’ve been survival through some really bad times. Never once has anyone thrown me out of a group for being the wrong spec.
Mostly, I think PuGs care less than end-game progression guilds. All a PuG cares about, on the whole, is whether you are able to provide enough dps to do the job, and whether you are likely to ninja the loot.
Luckily for me, my guild is not a progession guild, and any attempt to get anyone to spec in any particular way would be met with gales of laughter.
The News is clearly bad news for me in terms of raw dps, I’m pretty sure that they are going to nerf the bejeezus out of survival in the name of “balance”, and honestly, I’m loving having decent burst damage in pvp, as well as feeling like my PvE dps is contributing. But, it’s probably needed – if every hunter specs survival then either surv needs a nerf, or the other trees need a buff. Even if they nerf us to hell and back, I’m still likely to stay survival.
It’s been said so often, it feels gawky to repeat it, but it does bear repeating. Spec the way that you like, whatever floats your boat; dps meters are not an accurate measure of your contribution to any group or guild.
This has been a tough one for me.
I love BM, I love the playstyle, I love my pet. But the numbers are clearly lacking – I went from top 3 DPS to bottom 3 DPS on our charts after the patch hit.
Looks like I’m going to have to respec, at least for the time being. I know my guild would never force me to, but I feel bad when my DPS is bringing our average down.
I agree that BM needed both added difficulty and a bit of a nerf, but they’re right, they went overboard. I don’t mind not being #1, but I do mind when I can’t do my job (pew pew).
I understand that MM/SV hunters felt the same way before when BM was tops, and I don’t disagree with them. Ideally, they should each be able to come out on top of DPS as long as the skill is there.
Fortunately, my Hunter is now a non-raiding alt who just hit 76. So I’ve no qualms about staying deep (51+) BM, and about to start pursuing the elusive Spirit Beast.
You can have my spec when you pry it from my cold, dead talent-tree!
Oddly enough, all the recent changes have done is force me to stop using Volley as much… Unless there are 4+ mobs I do more damage with single target burn as I do with Volley spamming.
Although I do still contend that they should have reduced the Damage % increase for Volley Crits or given it an internal Crit Rate Nerf instead of reducing it’s damage outright… but that’s just me it seems.