At least, I am according to my boyfriend, who posted the following in guild chat after him and I had quested together for about an hour:
(Apologizes on the small size, click on it to enlarge.)
Hmm… maybe I’ll stick with this spec for a while.
All posts by Pike
Fun With Respec'ing and Initial Thoughts
So today I respec’d from my normal “utility/PvP/marksman-ish” build into classic 41/20 Beast Mastery. It was a very incomplete build, however, because I’m not even close to level 70 yet, but I will go more into that later in this post.
My reasons for respec’ing were three-fold; firstly I was sort of getting bored with my current spec (not that I don’t like it, because I do, but I felt like spicing things up a little), secondly because I wanted to see Beastial Wrath/The Beast Within in action, and thirdly because I wanted to see if I can live without Hawk Eye, since it’s odd having those three points randomly in Survival if I don’t have anything else over there.
The initial verdict:
Stuff dies, and stuff dies fast. I seem to be critting a lot, which sort of amuses me because my crit chance % took a nosedive when I respec’d, thanks to not having enough points to put into the MM side of 41/20/0. But I seem to be critting left and right anyway. I think maybe because the Serpent’s Swiftness gives me more shots, that adds up to more crits. But I’m not sure, that’s just my initial thought. It could just be that I was getting lucky!
My trusty friend Tux has gone from doing about 30% of my total DPS to about 55%. Again, I’m sure I’d be doing more of the DPS if I had the points to put into MM but I don’t, so it amuses me that my pet is now my better half, so to speak. And is he a machine! He has gone from being my mild-mannered little pocket tank into a big red deadly ball of feathers. It’s an unusual thing which I’m not used to, but is it ever fun. Oh, and being a big red hunter is pretty fun too. ^^
Things that I am not too fond of: I miss a lot of my old marks talents. Granted I will get a lot of those back as I earn more talent points, but right now not having stuff like Mortal Shots, Lethal Shots, and Go For The Throat is a bit painful. I also sort of miss being able to put up those big crit numbers; even if BM does more overall DPS as I think it probably does, I’m a sucker for big crits. I’m an agility junkie so I’m still doing a lot of damage, but not as much as I enjoy doing.
I burn through mana even faster in BM than I did in Marks, and I’m not quite sure how or why.
Also the overall “feel” for BM is different than the overall “feel” for Marks in a way that I find hard to pin down and explain. It’s more… fast-paced, almost? More frenzied as opposed to calm and calculating, red as opposed to blue. Both specs require quick thinking, but they require it in different ways. It’s not bad, it’s just different, and different people will like different things and if you’ve been one spec for a long time it takes a while to get used to another, I think.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, I’ve decided to ditch Hawk Eye. If I ever start doing tons of PvP again or mess with a survival spec (which I know I will at some point), I’ll definitely pick that talent up again, but for a BM/MM PvE spec it doesn’t really seem needed to me. Better off putting those three points elsewhere!
Anyways, there you have it, my initial thoughts on my most recent respec. I think I’ll stick with it and play with it for at least a few days before I respec again, probably to something close to my “utility spec”. I’m definitely going to return to BM and try it out again later on down the road when I have more talent points, and I’m also going to give Survival a big test run at some point, but probably not right away.
I hope to be able to spend lots of time with and thoroughly learn each of the specs, because I feel that each spec has things to teach you and by spending time with each of the specs, you will become a better hunter.
Why I Am a Hunter (And Why I Play WoW)
I was browsing the WoW forums the other day (something that I rarely do, as I’m not particularly fond of the official forums), and stumbled across this thread which asks simply, “Who or what inspired you to play a hunter?”
And I decided to post my answer here rather than at the forum.
Why am I, Pike, playing a hunter?
Well let me take you back to Spring of this year, as I was just finishing up the last of my senior projects at university. Now that I was almost out of school and had nothing but “working” going on in my near future, I was mostly looking forward to playing some console video games when I got the chance– when you use Linux as your main operating system, it’s often more trouble than it’s worth to get most PC games up and running (though I did manage to get StarCraft and WarCraft III running with varying degrees of success, which made me happy.)
Then, one morning, my boyfriend informed me that he had installed WoW and had been up into the wee hours of the night playing it. Now you have to understand something: the two of us had spent the past year or so up until this point purposefully avoiding WoW like the plague. We both had seemingly endless amounts of friends who were, in our minds, addicted to the game: they did nothing but talk about WoW and they liked to inform us that “Oh you’ll start playing someday, you just don’t know it yet.” This annoyed us to no end so we vowed never to play it.
So when my significant other told me he had started playing, my initial reaction was one of shock, but it was replaced a few seconds later with “Well why did you start without me?”
I had a trial copy of WoW laying around, which I managed to successfully install on Linux thanks to WINE and an awesome guide, and after several hours of waiting for patches and stuff I was in game, ready to make my first ever character.
I knew nothing about any of the classes. I had never played an MMORPG before, the concepts of “tank”, “healer”, and “DPS” classes were completely foreign to me. I have played some D&D, not as much as I would have liked, but enough to know how to play the game. In D&D my main character was a half-elven ranger. I always thought they were pretty cool. They had this ability to talk to animals once a day (or something like that), so once in a game I used a spell to talk to a little bird and have him go scout around for me. That really stuck in my head as a neat ability.
So I was thinking of that experience. And I was remembering how one of my WoW-geek-buddies had given me a run-down of all the classes and informed me that hunters were one of the best (if not the best) for solo’ing, and I sort of figured I’d be doing a lot of solo’ing.
And… that’s it. That’s why I rolled a hunter. I knew nothing about them at the time, I’d never played the game before. I had no idea they got traps. I had no idea they got Feign Death. I even had no idea they got pets. All I knew was that they got a bow and arrow and were sort of like my D&D character and were good for solo play.
(As an aside here, yes I rolled a night elf. I figured they were closest to half-elves that I could get, since humans couldn’t be hunters, and I liked the night elves in WCIII. I had no idea at the time that “night elf hunter” was the biggest cliché in the game, or I probably would have thought twice about rolling one. Actually I’m going to be completely honest with you guys here, I really wanted to roll a tauren and play Horde but my boyfriend had rolled a human ‘lock and I wanted to play with him, so Alliance I was! I have a couple tauren alts now though, to make up for it.)
And so, here I am. Here I am thoroughly obsessed with my class which was chosen purely based on a D&D game and some random advice given to me by a friend.
And yes, here are my boyfriend and I, thoroughly “addicted” to the game in general, now that most of our friends have grown bored of it and moved on. =P Heehee.
Guild Stuff
My guild has taken to calling me “The [Insert Synonym for “Strong” Here] Hunter.” So I am now commonly greeted with stuff like “How is The Mighty Hunter today?”, “Well if it isn’t The Fierce Hunter”, and “What is The Ferocious Hunter up to?” And these names are only used to refer to me and not any of the other hunters in the guild, at least as far as I am aware. Granted, we are a somewhat small guild right now, but still… I am amused.
Considerably more unusual, however, is the fact that I have apparently become the de facto “hunter expert” in our guild. The other hunters in the guild come to me asking for advice regarding spec, gear, pets, and basically anything and everything pertaining to hunters. I feel rather not-up-to-task for this job. I’m the WoW-nublet who hasn’t even hit level 60 yet and these people who are working on their fourth or fifth character, some of whom have had hunters in the past, are coming to me for advice. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enormously flattered by it, but I can only hope that the guidance I am giving is actually good guidance.
Fortunately I feel that I have learned a huge deal myself from regularly partaking of the wisdom of blogs such as Big Red Kitty and The Hunter’s Mark, and many others (which I will link to at a later date), so even if I would refrain from calling myself a true hunter expert for a while yet, I think I can do an adequate job filling the role for the time being. I hope I can anyway.
And I suppose the above stories only go to show that other people can sense my enthusiasm for my class! I’m not surprised. =P
Reclaiming the Term
Diet Tips for a Longer, Healthier Life
Changing what you eat now could have big benefits later
We know that cutting back on red meat is good for heart health, fish is brain food, and calcium-rich foods can help keep our bones strong. But can shaking up what we eat help us live longer? Try out ikaria lean belly juice.
Yes, research shows. In a study published in 2022 in the journal PLOS Medicine, Norwegian researchers analyzed data from a number of studies on diet and health, and used them to come up with estimates of how many more years people could expect to gain if they made some changes.
They found that shifting from a typical Western diet (heavy on red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, and refined grains) at age 20 to one rich in produce, legumes, fish, whole grains, and nuts could lead to a 13-year increase in life expectancy for men, and 10.7 years for women. But the study also posited that diet improvements adopted at 60 could increase life expectancy by eight years for women and 8.8 years for men. At age 80 you could still benefit, gaining about 3.4 years. (The researchers have a calculator that lets you see the effect of diet changes for someone your age.)
Other research suggests that several dietary patterns from around the world—Okinawan, Mediterranean, and Nordic, to name a few—can have life-extending benefits. Overall, these diets have more similarities than differences and a lot in common with the parameters the Norwegian researchers used in their study. We reviewed the evidence and talked with experts to develop these tips that may help you add (healthier) years to your life.
Trim Some Calories
Scientists have found that eating fewer calories can translate into a longer life, but early evidence came from studies on yeast and other organisms or animals, like mice and monkeys. The Calerie clinical trial at Duke University in Durham, N.C., is the first controlled study of calorie restriction in healthy people. Drawing from that data, a study published in 2022 showed that eating 14 percent fewer calories for two years had a significant effect on the thymus, an immune-supporting gland that produces T cells that fight infections.
Have Fiber at Breakfast
Adults 40 and older who ate breakfast and took in at least 25 grams of fiber per day had a 21 percent lower risk of dying over a 12-year period. That’s according to an analysis of national data from the West Virginia University School of Medicine published in 2021 in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.
While getting fiber from a variety of plant foods is important, there may be an extra benefit from including fiber from grain foods (such as whole grains and whole-grain bread and cereals) in your day, says Rupak Shivakoti, PhD, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. One study he and his colleagues did, published in JAMA Network Open, found that men and women 65 and older who ate more foods rich in grain fiber had lower levels of various markers of inflammation. Reducing inflammation may play a role in decreasing the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S., and other conditions.
And you might enjoy your morning cup of java even more when you hear that it may help you live longer. Coffee is rich in compounds called polyphenols, which can protect cells against damage. In a 2017 study published in Annals of Internal Medicine, almost 200,000 people—Black, Latino, white, native Hawaiian, and Japanese American ages 45 to 75 at the start of the study—were followed for an average of 16 years. Those who drank a cup of regular or decaf coffee per day had a 12 percent lower risk of dying from any cause during the study period. Just go easy on the cream and sugar.
Fill Up on Fruits and Veggies
The more produce a person eats, the lower the risk of death from any cause—up to five servings per day (three servings of veggies and two of fruit), according to a 2021 study published in the journal Circulation that tracked more than 100,000 men and women over 30 years. Eating more than five daily servings didn’t seem to offer substantially more benefits. And note that potatoes and fruit juices weren’t linked to the same benefits as other forms of produce. It’s best to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables instead of relying on the same types because doing so means you get an array of nutrients.
Swap Out Saturated Fat
Too much saturated fat (found in red meat and butter) can lead to clogged arteries and raise the risk for heart disease. Even cutting small amounts can have a benefit. A study in the journal Circulation Research reviewed data from more than 500,000 people collected by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for more than 16 years. It found that replacing just 5 percent of calories from saturated fat with foods rich in monounsaturated fat, like avocados, or linoleic acid, a type of polyunsaturated fat found in nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils, was linked with a 15 and 8 percent lower risk of death, respectively.
Eat More Plant Protein
Replacing animal sources of protein with plant protein may also give you extra years. The Norwegian study found that increasing the consumption of beans and lentils—which are among the best plant-protein sources—to ½ to 1 cup per day contributed the greatest gain in life expectancy. And replacing 3 percent of calories from animal proteins with plant proteins was linked with a 10 percent lower risk of early death in a 2020 study from the NIH that tracked more than 400,000 adults for 16 years. The benefit was even greater when the protein replaced was eggs or red meat, specifically.
Find Room for Fish
Compared with people who never ate fish, those who had about 14 ounces each week (three to four 4-ounce servings) had a 12 percent lower risk of death from any cause, according to a review study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Use the acronym SMASH as an easy shorthand when choosing fish that are high in health-boosting omega-3s and low in mercury: salmon, mackerel (Atlantic), anchovies, sardines, and herring. In addition to omega-3s, fish also supplies key nutrients such as selenium, vitamin D, and zinc.
Take a Few Small Steps
How can you accomplish all this at once? It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Little things can add up and feel more manageable to do. Here are some easy swaps that make a difference.
• Sauté vegetables in olive oil instead of butter.
• Get guacamole on a taco salad instead of cheese.
• Order salmon at a steakhouse instead of prime rib.
• Halve the amount of pasta you dish out but double up on the veggies.
• Trade a baked potato with sour cream for roasted cauliflower with tahini.
• Make your go-to crunchy snack nuts instead of chips or pretzels.
• Try cinnamon to add flavor to your coffee instead of sugar.
• Have an orange instead of orange juice.
• Put roasted, spiced chickpeas in salads instead of croutons.
• Try a black-bean burger in place of a beef burger.
• Have oatmeal with blueberries and walnuts for breakfast instead of a blueberry muffin.
Editor’s Note: A version of this article also appeared in the July 2022 issue of Consumer Reports On Health.
Impressive!
Today I was herb-farming in Hillsbrad and stumbled across a level 24 Blood Elf Hunter taking on a level 30 Giant Yeti. I reigned in my horse and observed as, bit by bit, she took him down. A very impressive feat, I thought, for somebody who, say, didn’t even have Feign Death yet. I’m still not sure how she did it, although it seemed to involve a lot of bouncing around, a lot of shifting aggro between her and her pet, and at least one healing potion.
By the end of the epic battle it was getting to the point where either side could have been the winner. I think the blood elf probably would have won anyway, but just to be safe I quickly fired off a shot, critting and easily disposing of the yeti. I wanted to let her know how impressed I was… /congrats, perhaps? But she pulled a /bonk on me and ran away. So I responded with a /giggle on went on my way as well.
Dear level 24 Blood Elf Hunter on Silver Hand, and all other awesome resourceful hunters everywhere: you guys remind me why I love this class so much. Because playing a hunter is like playing with a big bag of magic tricks– it’s fun, it’s supposed to be. Please keep on performing epic feats of survivability and have fun with your class!
On PvP Servers
I’ve been wanting to make a post regarding my thoughts on PvP servers for a while now, and now, while my other computer is busy running a file system check, sounds like a good time.
I really, really want to like PvP servers. They add an element of excitement to the game that is lacking on normal servers. I like the idea of them in principle– “in principle” being the key words.
The main problem, for me, is that the my idea of an ideal PvP server, and most other peoples’ idea of an ideal PvP server, seem to conflict.
For an example, I will tell of some of my adventures yesterday. I was logged onto a tauren alt, questing in and around Tarren Mill in the Hillsbrad Foothills, which is arguably one of the most contested areas in the game. In my hour and a half of playing, most of which consisted of hunting bears and mountain lions for some quests, I was ganked… 8, 9 times? I lost count around there. One of those was a decently fair fight– I say decently because the other person was four or five levels higher than me– but it was still a fun enjoyable little skirmish and I dished out some damage before dying. The other 7 or 8 times I was ganked, it was by somebody who was level ?? and was able to one- or two-shot me.
To me, PvP servers would be ridiculously fun if most of the PvP went on like the first fight I described– by people at decently similar levels. But in my experience, most of the PvP is high-levels ganking low-levels, when the low levels are trying to quest or something. That, to me, is not fun. It is just annoying.
Now I don’t claim to be an expert on this subject; maybe it gets better later on, or maybe it’s just like this in certain zones (like Hillsbrad and STV). And obviously a lot of people enjoy PvP servers, and I don’t blame them. But my style of play is one where I like being able to go to Booty Bay and think “Wow, what an interesting place full of interesting characters”, and not “Oh joy. Booty Bay. I wonder how long I can survive this time before I’m one-shotted, maybe I can last more than a minute and set a new record.”
So there you have it– why I’m not a big fan of PvP servers. I will continue to play on many of them because it’s where most of my friends play, and because (as far as the aforementioned tauren character is concerned) I’m a part of some great guilds. But when given the choice… I think I’ll stick to my normal/RP servers.
Closing Note #1: I am yet to try an RP-PvP server, I would definitely like to look into that.
Closing Note #2: Some interesting stuff does indeed happen PvP-wise. For example, the level ?? guy who went around and killed all the low-levels he found… except for me. And then he proceeded to help me kill a monster to finish a quest. I don’t know why he chose to help me instead of gank me. I like to think that maybe he is a fan of Dostoyevsky’s novels, after which my pet Alyosha was named. Much more likely, I was the only girl there, and/or he was planning on killing me later and I just left before he could. Either way, it was interesting and sort of fun.
My Love/Hate Relationship with Battlegrounds (A Confession)
I will start by saying that, in general, I’m not a huge fan of PvP. I’d rather be playing on a normal server with my PvP flag safely off than, well… the alternatives. I’d rather be /waving at and /dancing with members of the opposite faction, instead than ganking them. Yeah, I’m a carebear, that’s how I roll!
But I have this thing for battlegrounds. Anytime one of my characters gets to a level that ends in 8 or 9, I’m off to Warsong Gulch or Arathi Basin.
Now sometimes I feel like a masochist for this. Battlegrounds can be (and usually are) excruciatingly irritating for me… often filled with rude people and twinks. Now I don’t have a big problem with twinks, they’re playing the game the way they want to and I can certainly see the appeal of twinking… but it does make things hard for us “normal players” in battlegrounds. If the other side is full of twinks, and your side isn’t, well, things just aren’t fun.
So yeah. Often times I sit there getting my tail handed to me over and over by twinks, or our team refuses to work together, or a variety of things happen and I wonder “Why oh why am I doing battlegrounds? I hate this!” Then after the match I go right back up to the battlemaster and do it over again.
Why?
Because when things do come together… when your team does work well together and maintain and execute a tight plan… when it’s not just entirely twinks and you find yourself locked in good solid battle with another guy… when the game is a close, close match and you happen to pull it off… it sure feels good.
I’m not a twink and I wouldn’t call myself a PvPer. I just occasionally find myself gripped by this random addiction to battlegrounds. My fairly new tauren hunter Lunapike has been rocketing down the questing/leveling path but I’ve held her at level 19 for what must be a week by now because I can’t bear to level her, I’m having far too much fun. The 10-19 Warsong Gulch bracket is painful and irritating to play, and it makes me want to kick my computer over, but it’s fun.
And there you have it, that’s my confession. Battlegrounds, I hate you, but I love you. And try as I might, I can’t get over you.
Alliance vs. Horde?
A lot of people have huge preferences when it comes to what faction they play on. They will only play on one particular faction, they have many reasons for it, and those who play on the other faction are “nooblets”.
…so it’s okay to like them both, right?
Cause that would be me. I really have no preference. I like various aspects of each faction and I would very happily play either. What faction I choose to play on a particular server mostly has to do with what faction my friends/guild are.
Going a little more in depth though, here are some things that I’ve noticed: (note: these are all my personal observances and they are probably different for you!)
Races: I’d like to start by saying that I actually like all the races in the game. Some people out there have races they love to hate (gnomes and the elves come to mind), but I like them all. However, in general, I find the horde races to be more interesting. If I had to pick my three favorite races in the game it would probably be… Tauren, Troll, Night Elf, in that order. Two horde races up top. I really love everything about the Tauren– their lore, their starting area, their philosophy, their physical “look”, and their special move Warstomp. Trolls are a close second, I can’t tell you exactly why I find them so intriguing, but I do… they’re just fun! Night Elves I like mostly because I am enamored with their lore and backstory. I like playing them too, but… when it comes down to it I’d rather play a Tauren or Troll.
So, when it comes down to what races I like best… horde wins.
Locations: There are a lot of really unique locations in the game and I like many of them. However, I am going to admit right here and now that I am madly in love with Stormwind. Best place in the game. I love the layout and the way it looks, I love all the big statues out in front, I love the sweeping choral music that plays. I also love Goldshire, if you can get past all the… kids that hang out there. Hehe. You know what else I love? Darnassus. I didn’t used to be a big Darnassus fan, because I found it to be confusing to navigate, but it’s really grown on me recently. It’s way out of the way but I go there sometimes just for the heck of it.
Horde has some great locations too. Thunder Bluff and Mulgore come to mind– I really find Thunder Bluff to be unique and memorable and I’d call it my “home city” hordeside. And I love the lore of the Undercity, even though the city itself isn’t really my style.
But in the end Alliance is the clear winner for me in this category. They get Stormwind, Darnassus, Ironforge, the ridiculously cute Goldshire and a lot of memorable places in general in the Eastern Kingdoms. As much as I love Thunder Bluff, in the end Durotar/Orgrimmar is just too blindingly orange for me, the Undercity/Tirisfal is a little too spooky, and Silvermoon, while gorgeous, ends up being rather dull. Alliance wins!
(That said, I have to admit, I harbor a severe phobia of Exodar. I once wandered around there for about a half hour trying to find the exit. I shudder just thinking about it and I pretty much refuse to go there.)
Maturity Level/People: Hehe, this is probably the one some of you have been waiting for. A big argument I hear a lot is that “I play [insert faction here] because the players are so much more mature than the other side”. Well… I think it probably depends on what server you’re on and what type of server you’re on because that’s really the only difference that I’ve noticed. I’ve seen a bit more of the testosterone aspect on PvP servers (both factions) and a bit more introspection and “artsyness” on RP servers (both factions) but the difference isn’t particularly huge. (I’m afraid I haven’t spent enough time on a normal PvE server or an RP-PvP server to share my thoughts on those yet.) People have been rude to me on both factions and people have been nice to me on both factions and in the end I really think it comes down to the individual people on each individual server, rather than faction. Horde/Alliance tie.
Final Score: Horde – 1 1/2, Alliance – 1 1/2. I like them both equally well, they both have their strong points and weak points and I am more than willing to play either. I might revisit this at a later date with some more categories and such, but until then… Pike’s out!
Helping Out
The other day I was logged into my Night Elf Tawyn, headed north up the road in Stranglethorn Vale to see if I could finish up a quest when I saw a level 10 Blood Elf ahead of me, running up the road as well. He waved at me, and I, being the sort to return kindness with kindness, reciprocated the gesture.
Not long after that, the poor guy was mauled to death by one of the tigers in the area.
I paused for a bit and sure enough he was back within a few minutes, doggedly continuing on down the road. Of course, it was only a matter of seconds before he was killed again.
A passing troll priest rezzed the guy, and this time I decided to do something myself as well. Namely, I hopped off my horse and began running along the road with the blood elf, pulling aggro off of him and disposing of the many monsters in this area that were eager to pounce on a level 10.
It was a long run, but up we went through Stranglethorn Vale, into Duskwood and through part of Westfall, with my trusty owl Tux and I successfully protecting him from countless deaths. Eventually, after many /thanks and /welcomes and /cheers all around, we got to Elwynn Forest, where he paused by the road and told me to /wait, and logged out.
A few seconds later I received a whisper from a level 65 human mage. He informed me that he was the blood elf, rode up to me and gave me a cash tip of some sixty-odd silver, and then promptly proceeded to pull out the Murky pet, his BlizzCon Murloc costume, and the picnic grill and hold a dance party in the middle of Goldshire, all the while singing “I am Murloc” at the top of his lungs.
Sometimes I love being the silly carebear player that I am!
(P.S. in case anyone was curious, the sole reason he wanted to go to to Elwynn on his Blood Elf was apparently just to amuse Goldshire. That is to say, he’d log into his alliance character, yell “BLOOD ELF!” and then log into the blood elf and run around as a lowbie and bug people. …heehee, yeah.)