…terrible and geeky title references aside, I spec’d my Horde hunter Survival because, well… currently she’s Survival due to RP reasons. (You know, as “RP Reason” as I can get away with for somebody who never actually roleplays.)
So I was dinking around with Survival and originally I wasn’t actually impressed. In fact, I bought dual spec (cheap now!) and went Beast Mastery, haha.
But then I figured “Dude, Pike, your main character is Beast Mastery, just give Survival a shot on your secondary character. Gosh already.”
So I started to practice with Survival. I reforged up to some Mastery and then the hunter hotfix came through the other day making things even yummier.
The Verdict:
Survival is currently hilarious.
Reason #1 Why Survival is Currently Hilarious:
This is my casual character who has never raided and is in a bunch of like… Triumph badge gear and the super old Nesingwary gun.. And yet when I pop trinkets and Lock and Load procs my DPS goes through the roof. Like, 8k. It’s freaking hilarious. Of course, then it dips down to a number that is lower but still very respectable.
Improved Serpent Sting makes your Serpent Sting do instant damage on first hit, like a normal shot. Serpent Spread makes your Multi-Shot put Serpent Sting on everything. Take these two talents and go Multishot into a giant group of mobs. I promise you will clap your hands and start giggling.
…I was going to have a Reason #3 but right now those are actually the only two reasons I can think of. The extremely high focus cost of Explosive Shot negates some of the fun, I think. That said, I really enjoy the spec. Almost as much as Beast Mastery.
Okay I’ve played around with Beast Mastery a bit in heroics and stuff and I have some tips for it. Note that this is not a comprehensive guide and I haven’t done any rooting around EJ or any real math or anything.
OVERVIEW:
Beast Mastery is now providing a very different playstyle than it has in the past. See, we used to be all about burst. Now, we’re all about ramping up. Your AoE damage is gonna suck now that we’ve lost Volley and MultiShot is expensive, focus-wise. Your DPS is probably gonna suck if your group is full of warlocks doing 10k on bosses (did I mention that I’m back to leveling my warlock? >.>) and thus the bosses die within ten seconds. Where your DPS is going to shine is on longer fights that allow you to use Focus Fire, get some of those tasty Kill Command crit procs (can’t think of the name right now), and take advantage of the new Glyph of Kill Shot which is ridiculous and awesome.
In addition we have a lot of fun procs and a lot of fun buttons to press and while I still dislike the mechanic of Focus (until I get used to it anyway) I’m liking all the new stuff-to-do. I’ve spent some quality time with all three specs and I can honestly say that I find the new Beast Mastery to be the most fun– and I’d like to think that I’m not being biased when I say that, seeing that I really fell in love with Survival a couple months back.
ROTATION:
Basically on a single-boss fight you are spamming Arcane and using Kill Command when it’s up. Use Bestial Wrath when it’s up. View Steady Shot as a “Mini-Viper” of sorts (that made the transition to using Focus easier for me). I.E., when your gas tank is starting to run dry, pop a couple of Steadies to get it back up to speed. Use Focus Fire when you see the icon light up. I had a comment ask if they had to be watching their pet’s Frenzy stacks now– no, you don’t, as far as I’m aware, because Blizzard is nice and made it so you get a big shiny glowy effect on your Focus Fire button when you can use it. (Note: you also get the big shiny glowy effect when your Kill Command “Killing Streak” thing procs.)
Just like I view Steady Shot as a new Mini-Viper, I also view Fervor as a Mini-Readiness of sorts, because it restores Focus to you and gives you a few extra seconds of Fun Stuff To Do. That is, I’ll pop it a few moments into a Boss Fight, as follows:
TYPICAL BEAST MASTER BOSS FIGHT:
The Beast Within ->
Rapid Fire/Any Trinkets ->
Serpent Sting ->
Spam Arcane and use Kill Command when it’s up ->
Once Beast Within fades, pop Fervor… this will give you a little more juice now that you’re not getting the Focus cost reduction from TBW anymore. ->
Right around here Focus Fire is gonna light up, so use that. ->
Go back to Arcane/Kill Command and Steady as necessary. Serpent Sting again if you’ve got a ways to go on the boss. -> Optional: Check Recount and feel special.
SPEC:
Pretty straightforward; scoop up the talents that give you DPS increases. Really the only choice you’ll be making is Spirit Bond vs. Improved Mend Pet. As usual I’m addicted to the latter but I imagine most people will pick the former, or perhaps put one point in each.
I had five non-Beast Master points left over, which I dumped into Go for the Throat and Efficiency.
GLYPHS:
Right now for Prime Glyphs I’m using Kill Shot, Steady Shot, and Arcane Shot. They’re sexy.
OVERALL SPEC/GLYPH SETUP:
I’m using this. Use at your own risk because I sort of just made it up as I went along.
PETS:
Corehounds are the current New Hotness because they get Bloodlust/Heroism. A lot of pets get a lot of great stuff though, check out this chart for details (I didn’t make it):
…of course, really the chart should have a line that says something to the effect of “Are you Pike -> Yes -> Use Whichever Pet is Prettiest” because you guys have to remember that I’m that person who refused to use a wolf throughout the entire duration of WotLK because I thought dinosaurs were much more awesome, so…
…yeah. *coughs*
THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR: I’m not sure if it’s bugged or what but Kill Command sure likes to tell me I’m “out of range” and the like when I try to use it. DISREGARD THAT, just wait to use Kill Command until your pet is actually attacking something.
Also my pets seem to be dying a lot.
Dunno, I’ll get back to you on those.
Okay, I think that’s about it. Questions/comments/rants/raves/rambles? Lemme know! *points to commenting link*
Oh hey look, my AoE DPS sucks. Just like Burning Crusade.
But I do pretty good on bosses. Just like Burning Crusade.
I actually have to wait for the tank to get aggro. Just like Burning Crusade.
…we’re wiping. Just like Burning Crusade.
This heroic is taking forever. Just like Burning Crusade.
…
…okay, you know what, I liked Burning Crusade and all, but when I did a heroic in BC it meant the following:
a.) Waiting for people/guildies I trusted to all be on at the same time (was a rare occurance, considering our respective schedules– so heroics didn’t happen every day)
b.) Getting on Ventrilo
c.) Generally setting aside at least an hour for the whole thing.
And now I’m trying to PuG this via the Random Dungeon Finder.
Hello! I’m all settled into my new place, albeit jobless (though if worse comes to worse there’s always K-Mart… u_u ) so I’m back to pester you all! Exciting, no?
Let’s get down to business. 4.0 is coming out today. Don’t come to me for any guides or anything, at least for a bit. I’m no good at explaining things if I haven’t actually sat down and done said things (I’m a “learning by doing” person, 100%), and since I never got into the Beta and I’m not really a PTR kinda girl I have no idea how the new gameplay is going to be. Nor am I overly concerned. I’ll figure it out as it comes. *shrug*
So instead, have a list of awesome characters I started but then abandoned.
Tanfarr the Level 27 Draenei Paladin
I had a great RP for Tanfarr. The idea was that he was a very devout and just Paladin who was horrible at speaking Common. Thus, everything he attempted to say would come out very very wrong. (“The hand of the light touches you in a very special way!”) The joke is that poor Tanfarr would never dream of saying this stuff in his native tongue but has no idea how racy it all is.
So I was really excited about this character and paladin’ing was actually pretty fun for a while. Then I just, I dunno, got bored. I guess I got tired about only having like two attacks. It’s been about a year and a half since I logged into him, I think (not counting the time I stripped him of his BoAs to send them to other characters). Sorry ol’ buddy. I keep him around just in case.
Skybinder: aka Goggles Bear: Level 29 Feral Druid
Hey remember when I quit WoW? Yeah, I was actually gone for a good few months. Then I decided to come back, but for a while, I still didn’t want anything to do with my 80s or endgame and I didn’t want to be tempted by them, either. So I activated a second account and spent a really fun month and a half playing from scratch as a feral druid engineer. I had no BoA items and no help from any level 80s and it was honestly a really good time. I successfully tanked a couple instances (my first attempt at doing so) but then a bad SFK run turned me off of it for a while and I opted to kitty my way through dozens of Arathi Basins instead. Good times. Really good times.
So what happened? Well, long story short I finally decided to reactivate my original account. Then I wanted to save money by not having two accounts running at once, so Skybinder has been stuck on an inactive account since then.
Goggles Bear lives on, though; recently rerolled as a tauren druid who I’m excited about. Engineer, of course.
I drew it :3
Any Death Knight I’ve Ever Rolled
I dunno about you guys but I really do think the DK starter quests are a tour de force. It’s always an experience when I go through them, and I always come out of them really excited about my Death Knight. The first time I did it I remember I’d see other DKs running around afterward and feel an odd kinship with them… they know what I’ve been through. Props to Blizzard for making an emotional connection like that.
Of course then you’re kicked out into Hellfire Peninsula (a zone that I hate) with no idea how to play your class.
No Death Knight I’ve ever played has gotten beyond level 58. I try. And I fail. I always get really close to 59, but it just never happens.
RIP, Pike’s Death Knights.
Any Mage I’ve Ever Rolled
I have this really bad habit of rolling mages, getting them up to the mid-10s or early-20s, and then getting distracted.
I don’t know what it is. I like mages. I just… I dunno.
The highest level mage I have is… huh, can’t check at the moment. I wanna say level 27. I turned her into one of my bank alts some time during Burning Crusade. Oh well.
McDuff, the Level 13/14(?) Undead Mage
He falls into the above “Any Mage I’ve Ever Rolled” category as well, but I wanna give him his own section. I had a really fun backstory for this guy. Geeky sciency farmkid who goes to Lordaeron to study geeky sciencey things and gets undead-ified by the Scourge. Bad timing and all that. Of course, that doesn’t faze our hero, who just wants to blow things up.
I had a lot of fun thinking about this backstory and playing this character but I guess he was never just very high on my priorities list. Too bad, because last year I spent days farming Brewfest tokens for him so he could have a purple hat. Hey, you gotta have a geeky hat for a geeky character. True facts.
—
I have tons of others I could ramble about but I’d rather not crit you with the text. What are some characters that you were excited about that you wound up abandoning?
There are rumors on the internets that I’m returning to Aspect of the Hare full-time.
And you know what, I’d love to do that.
It’ll be different. At the moment I lack both the time and interest to raid or really play “hardcore” or provide hunter guides. However, I had a lot of fun writing, say, the food post and I’d like to do more “fun” stuff like that, a few times a week, if possible.
Unfortunately this is going to have to wait a bit. See, due to a REALLY long and convoluted series of events I am moving to the west coast (Western Washington to be specific.) I am doing so, uh… *checks watch*… in under twenty-four hours. I also had to quit my job. And I haven’t been able to find a new one yet. (Which has me absolutely terrified, by the way.) So these next few weeks will involve the following: throwing things into a truck, driving 600 miles west, unpacking, and frantically job-hunting because I have bills and crap due in a few weeks.
I’m telling you all of this primarily because I feel bad about repeatedly getting everyone’s hopes up about the return of the Prodigal Pike which is inevitably followed by me not really delivering. But this is what’s going on, so now you know.
TLDR: I’d love to come back but gimme some time to make sure I can actually afford food and stuff.
I was really casual about it. Did the easy quests when I remembered and didn’t stress if I skipped a day or two. (Or three, or four.)
But it turned out to be a really enjoyable little grind. I would not have wished doing it at 70 upon anyone, though. I mean, all those elites running around and everything, yipes.
But yeah, logged on every morning (I’ve been working evenings), did a few quests, and here we are less than a month later.
4. Conjured Croissant: I love croissants. Especially the ones that come in bulk from Costco. BONUS: Go to the WoWHead page for this item. Observe the screenshot. LOL.
5. Conjured Mana Pie: I seriously can’t look at this without having to repress the urge to go get a pie.
6. Golden Fish Sticks: I’m a huge junk food person and I’m a huge seafood person and fish sticks are divine. Also: Check the “screenshot” on this one, too.
7. Poached Emperor Salmon: I was born on an island in the Pacific Northwest, mere miles from the ocean. I blame this for the fact that the disease known as A Lust For Salmon At All Times runs rampant in my bloodstream.
9. Rock-Salted Pretzel: You know those giant soft pretzels that you get at the fair? (or the Target food court?) Yeah. This. Yum.
10. Slow Roasted Turkey: I do apologize to all vegetarians that read my blog but OMG THIS MAKES ME HUNGRY.
11. Smoked Salmon: Guys I wasn’t kidding about the salmon thing I mentioned before. It’s basically the food of the gods.
12. Tasty Cupcake: More screenshot gold. And yeah cupcakes make me happy out of game as well <3 13. Versicolor Treat: This has got to be the yummiest-looking candy in the game. Mmmmm.
14. Wild Ricecake: It looks like something I could get from IHOP. Thus, I want one.
Armory Data Mining has some fun info on hunter pets. Now some hunters are all into having what everyone else doesn’t have– you know, so when Cataclysm comes out and everyone is running around taming everything, you can say you tamed a pet when it was still underground– so I figured I’d go through, figure out which pets per family had been tamed by less than 1% of hunters with that type of pet, and list them here. There are really some underused jewels here. So without further ado:
Hit the link for the complete lowdown, as well as a list of pets with unique properties as opposed to unique skins. But now you at least have a start if you want something new and different.
I had a request for this, so although I feel a bit silly writing this up mere weeks before everything changes, I am here to deliver!
I’ve been playing around a lot with Survival lately, and having a lot of fun. Black Arrow is tied to Lock and Load so you quickly learn not to “waste” Black Arrows. I don’t really have any hard and fast rules for this, other than what’s common sense:
Don’t use Black Arrow when the mob is about to die.
Don’t use Black Arrow if you are or are going to be in Viper.
Don’t use Black Arrow on mobs that are non-elite and/or going to die in a few seconds.
and etc.
Don’t feel too bad if you screw up– it has a fairly short cooldown so “wasting” a Black Arrow ultimately isn’t something to beat yourself up over; it’s just something to watch. (Lock and Load itself does have its own 22 second internal cooldown, which still isn’t that bad.)
Lock and Load will also proc from trapping things. You don’t get a chance to do this much in PvE at current but you’ll soon figure out moments and take them to your advantage (Hint: the ghouls during the last boss fight in ToC).
And that is Black Arrow.
–
As for me, I’m still plinking around with Netherwing Dailies. It’s going much faster than I was expecting. Guys: I’m not doing all of the dailies, I’m not going overboard with eggs, and I’ve skipped a few days because I’ve been busy or whatnot, and I’ve already hit Revered in two weeks. Easy-squeezy.
…did I just say Easy-Squeezy? You have permission to facepalm.
