fun, raiding

Coming Out of the Raid Closet

38 Comments

I am the stereotypical DPSer that every healer hates. I am the person that gets made fun of in trade channel. Who am I? I am Pike, and…

I HAVE NEVER LIVED THROUGH HEIGAN OR SARTH.

There. I said it.

Maybe it’s a graphics thing. I haven’t been able to see any bridges in the game, for example, or several building skins, since patch 2.2 or thereabouts. I’ve plummeted to my death in Thunder Bluff more times than I can count.

Maybe it’s a me-being-an-idiot thing. Hey, it’s more likely than you may (or may not?) think.

But whatever the reason, I cannot see these supposed waves of fire and lava that everyone else and their pet monkey can see.

My name is Pike, and I die on Heigan and Sarth.

/bow

alts, fun, i love hunters, screenshots

Rumors of My Rerolling Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

25 Comments

So I have a paladin who I’ve been spending a little time on each day, and I have a resto druid who randomly wound up with her very first old-school Badge of Justice the other day (Yes, it is apparently quite possible for a level 65 tree to heal a level 80 tankadin through level 70 heroics), but you gotta understand something. Namely, you can take the girl outta the hunter but you can’t take the hunter outta the girl. Or something along those lines.

Heck, scratch the girl part, you can be a hot blood elf guy too:

wow_althalorlevel40portrait

Althalor is now level 40. For the uninitiated, that means I now have a level 80 hunter, a level 70 hunter, and a level 40 hunter. And once you toss all my dozens of sub-20 hunters into the mix, I’ve clocked well over 200 collective levels in this class. Probably closer to 250.

Yes, yes, I know. But hey, I can’t help myself. Once you go pewpew, you can’t go… uh… I’ll get back to you on that one.

So yes, I am here to ease the panic that sometimes occurs on blogs, comments, e-mails, and the WoW Twitterati (term coined by one Matticus) when I briefly dip into a non-hunter interlude. Be not afraid– Pike is a hunter, and this is a hunter blog. One lil’ treedrood and one lil’ baby protadin are no match for the Hunter Mafia. I mean, I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the leveling of two little alts doesn’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy World of Warcraft.

Eh? Ehhh? See what I did there?

/cough

Okay, I’ll stop now. >.>

(P.S. Okay, so maybe not that many people are panicking. But I can pretend, at least, to make it more dramatic.)

alts, screenshots

Stop. Hammer Time!

29 Comments

So I finally managed to get a draenei over level ten. Now you may be imagining that I have some female draenei hunter working her way through the draenei starter area, and that would be a good guess, but sadly, it is incorrect.

See, I made a male draenei. Shake them facial appendages!

And I ran him to Elwynn Forest at level two. Yes, I’ve still yet to do a single quest on Bloodmyst Isle, with any character ever.

Oh and…

tanfarrlevel18

He’s a paladin. Jinkies!

His name is Tanfarr, meaning he continues my tradition of giving my Silver Hand toons a name that begins with “Ta”, and he is about a third of the way through level 18, which means he is now my highest level paladin ever– higher than that failed attempt of a blood elf paladin who I haven’t played in like a year and a half.

Something surprising about this character: he’s really fun to play. You gotta understand, no offense to you pallies, but I could never get into your class. Ever. I tried soooo many times. It was never fun for me. So what inspired me to start up once again, I have no idea, but something clicked this time and it’s been a blast. Heck, I even semi-jokingly asked my guild’s holy prot ret whatever-the-group-needs paladin if Blizz secretly made pallies fun in a recent patch, and his response was “As a matter of fact, yes they did.”

I was also surprised to find out that I could actually get into a melee class, though to be fair, I’ve noticed that more than going up and hitting things in the face, I enjoy being the one getting hit in the face, and then laughing because I am simply soaking up all the damage. Hence the fact that all my talent points so far have been dumped into the Prot tree.

Not to mention, how many level 18s can receive /thanks for buffing a level 80? Blessing of Kings for the win.

Gosh I love alts. Raiding can wait until BM is buffed up again; I’ve got old content to love <3

Uncategorized

Old Banner Plus Color Equals…

25 Comments

New site banner! Basically I just took the old one and had one of my sisters color it in with color pencils. Then I had one of my other sisters and my brother help me use Photoshop to snazz it up (would you guys call me crazy if I told you today was the first day I have ever used Photoshop? For real. I use GIMP, baby. But the computer here has Photoshop instead, so!)

Anyways, I rather like this one because it combines the old “Hunter Kindergarten” motif of notebook paper and a scribbled sketch, with some color. I think it turned out well. Hopefully you guys like it too!

pets, screenshots, stories, Uncategorized

There Was One She Still Missed, Part Two

42 Comments

(Continued from Part One)

The Outland.

There were few that remained here now that most of the action was going on in Northrend. Oh, there were some armies still stationed here, and the younger adventurers cutting their teeth in this gods-forsaken land. But for the most part, there was nothing to be seen…

…except perhaps a bright pink raptor wreaking havoc on the moths in Terokkar Forest. And his subsequent containment by the Cenarion Expedition, who proceeded to bring the now caged creature to their main base of operations in Zangarmarsh.

“What do you make of this… creature?” Warden Hamoot asked Kameel, the Stable Master, as he gestured to the raptor furiously thrashing about behind bars. “He does not appear to be like anything else I have seen in this area…”

Kameel nodded. “He is native to the Wetlands in Azeroth,” he said in his deep voice. “How he got up here, I don’t know, but he does not belong here, and so long as he stays I do not think he will be happy.”

“Happy?” the Warden chuckled and lightly scratched his back with his mace. “When we found him he was terrorizing the creatures of Terokkar, they are the ones who only wish to be happy. But you are right, my friend, we must do what is best for this animal. There is a fear in his eyes, and I believe it may be driving him mad, if it hasn’t already. He should go back to the Wetlands.”

“The quickest way would be to take him to Shattrath and through the portal to the dwarves’ city, Ironforge,” replied Kameel. “From there, it would be a relatively short trip by cart to his native land.”

Warden Hamoot shuffled his hooves. He didn’t like using the portals, they relied too much on arcane magic in his eyes, and he was glad that this time he would have a good excuse to not have to use one. “Obviously you and I shall not be able to make the trip to the dwarves’ city, not with the Alliance and Horde still at odds as they are prone to be. You and I would clearly… raise a few eyebrows, so to speak, if we went. But one of our Night Elf colleagues, perhaps…?”

Kameel voiced his agreement and the two tauren went about deciding who the best representative would be as the raptor once again attacked the bars of his cage, letting out a shriek that sent the nearby sea birds soaring away.

—

“Tell that blasted thing to shut up!” the dwarf banged his gun against the bars of the cage, which only provoked the raptor further as the Night Elf druid escorting it tried to calm both of them down. “Why’d ya bring this thing ‘ere into Menethil Harbor anyway, boy? Couldn’t ya have just left it outside tha town?” the dwarf continued to thunder.

“I– I worry about being alone when I release it, just in case–”

“Bah, we could use less o’ those beasties around ‘ere anyway. I say we end the thing.”

A woman’s voice yelled something out in Dwarvish, and the dwarf yelled back “Dearie, ye can’t take away mah gun. It’s a dwarf’s solemn right to have a gun in one hand and an ale in the other–”

Simultaneously the woman snapped something back; the Cenarion escort said “Please, I’ll handle it,” and the raptor screeched out to the heavens as the curious Night Elf hunter approached. The boat from Northrend had landed and was soon to depart, but no commotion was going to take place without Tawyn’s investigation, whether or not she might miss the boat. A druid and a dwarf were rather feverishly discussing something, she observed, and in a cage was a brilliant magenta raptor…

He glanced at Tawyn. Tawyn blinked.

“…Wash?”

In an instant the raptor’s screeches took on a more pleading tone and Tawyn was at the cage. “Let him out. Let him out!” she roared, and it was somehow a bestial enough threat that the dwarf backed away and the druid fumbled at the lock without question.

The padlock fell away and the small crowd that had gathered tensed. The raptor, now quiet, slowly padded out of the cage, off the wooden cart, and up to Tawyn. The hunter reached down and gently stroked his head without a second thought. “What’s wrong, boy…?”

Still, he was silent. Tawyn stared searchingly into this eyes; there was pain therein. Not physical pain though– he had seen something. Something bad…

She thought about how she’d released him in the Outland. Perhaps, on second thought, not a good idea. So much chaos up there–

“You,” she looked at the druid. “What were you doing with him?”

“We– the Cenarion Expedition– found him far from his home, and he was not happy. We were simply bringing him home, to release him here. That is all. I hope I did not interfere with anything…”

“No,” Tawyn smiled thinly. “Thank you for thinking of what was best for him.” She looked down at the raptor. “You’re home now, and safe. Go on now.”

Wash stood his ground; clearly he wasn’t intending to go anywhere. There was still pain in his eyes, but something else too…

He wanted to help.

Tawyn realized what this meant, and nodded. Then she turned and headed towards the ship to Howling Fjord. Wash followed.

“Where are you going?” asked the druid.

“Northrend,” replied Tawyn.

“And why are you taking… him?”

“Because… we are partners.”

wow_tawynwashwetlands

And with that the hunter and her pet got onto the boat, and sailed away into the mists.

(The End!)

Uncategorized

After These Messages We'll Be Right Back

10 Comments

Beast Master hunters in a nutshell:

2009-01-271

(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!

stories, Uncategorized

There Was One She Still Missed, Part One

18 Comments

There was one she still missed.

Tawyn had long felt a connection to the beasts of the world. In her childhood she would climb up the trees, barefoot, to sing with the birds; an attempt at flight had bruised her kneecaps but not her admiration. She crawled into bushes and out of them again, burrs stuck to her tousled hair, in pursuit of all manner of tiny crawling things, and there were some nights that she would howl at the moon like a wolf. Her parents had shaken their heads at it all and pondered aloud if she would maybe make a good druid, but the druids said she lacked the patience for the art, and thus she followed the path of her family and joined the school of the hunt.

Her training had gone well; while she lacked the eye of some of the more gifted sharpshooters she made up for it with her passion and her love for the whole idea of the bow and arrow. Still, to her, the most important part was the communion with the animals, and the seemingly magical gift that enabled a hunter to tame a wild companion of his or her choosing. This was how Tawyn had encountered Tux the owl, and later, Locke the tiger and Eltanin the windserpent as well. There were no words in either Darnassian or Common to describe what these beasts were in relation to Tawyn, suffice to say that like her gun, and her wits, they were an extension of herself.

And yet there was one other– forgotten? No…

For the months had stretched into years and through this time Tawyn had had “trial runs” of sorts with various creatures, who she would release back into the wild upon realizing that they simply were not right for each other. But there was one–

A fierce raptor from the Wetlands. Tawyn was captivated with them the first time she saw one, stepping gracefully through the reeds to ravage a crocolisk. To tame one would be to capture a summer thunderstorm in a bottle.

So she did.

She named him Wash after a great hero from stories she’d heard of faraway lands, and she knew right away that he was different.

Wash was headstrong and stubborn, and didn’t break easily. Tawyn would give him a command, and he would do the opposite. She wouldn’t give any commands and he’d run off and attack something. And yet there was something that made Tawyn unable to release the raptor, and something that made the raptor unable to run away in the night. A growing, begrudging kinship. For they each saw themselves in the other’s eyes.

A month passed and it became clear that as the battles became more fierce and Tawyn ventured to more dangerous lands, it would be imperative that she had the trustworthy and steadfast Tux by her side. And so it was that she took Wash to a nearby stable master that she knew, and entrusted him in her care. Wash fought and resisted but Tawyn promised she would be back.

And she was– many, many months later, when her fighting prowess had been much improved and she remembered the fiery little raptor from the Wetlands. It wasn’t fair of her to keep him captive like that when she had other pets at this point. She had been putting it off, selfishly perhaps, but she knew the right thing had to be done.

Thus Tawyn took Wash far away, to a beautiful clear river in Nagrand. He was happy to be out and about, and cavorted around with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. But when they reached the river Tawyn gave him a pat and said “You’ll be happy here… there’s lots of room for you to roam around”…

…and then she released him.

Wash blinked and gave the night elf a quick indecipherable look, and then he was gone, off among the grasses and trees somewhere.

Tawyn watched him go.

—

The hunter glanced around the fire. Tux was perched on a log, Locke and Eltanin were curled up on the ground by her feet. They appeared to be asleep, though each was actually opening an eye every so often and scanning the surroundings. Tawyn reached down and gently scratched Locke behind an ear, and his subsequent growl of contentment made her smile.

But there was one she still missed.

(To Be Continued!)

specs

Embracing the Whole Hunter

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One thing I have wanted to do for a long time is embrace all of the hunter specs and learn about them. That’s because while Beast Mastery is my favorite tree, one thing that is important to me more than the love of a certain talent tree, is my love for the class as a whole. So since “respec” seems to be on a lot of peoples’ minds lately, I went to Darnassus (less traffic!) and put some serious practice into a couple of specs.

The first was the much touted Survival spec that is all the rage now; I can’t remember exactly what I put for talent placement but it was essentially very close to the one that a lot of people are using now. I pounded on those training dummies as Survival for a very long time. The first thing I noticed was that the rotation has a similar overall feel to the new Beast Master one, except it’s Steady/Explosive Shot instead of Steady/Arcane. The second thing I noticed is that when Lock and Load procs you have to switch to another rotation. The third thing I noticed was that I personally did not like this playstyle, and the fourth thing I noticed is that I am horrific at this Survival thing because I was consistently winding up a couple of hundred DPS below what I do as post-nerf Beast Master on the same training dummy.

Okay. So clearly I’m either doing something super wrong, or the new magic Survival spec involves gear scaling or buff scaling. Fair enough. I could have sat down and figured out what I was doing to mess up but I really didn’t like the weird spur-of-the-moment rotation and I wanted to get out of the spec as soon as possible. (I 100% swear, no offense to you Survival types. I have a lot of respect for you guys.)

So then I respec’d again. To 11/53/7 Marksmanship.

I’m pretty sure the first word out of my mouth was something along the lines of “ZOMGWHENDIDCHIMERAGETTHISFUNOMG”

A rough transcript, anyway.

It also resulted in a slight DPS increase over what I was getting as BM but to be honest at that point I couldn’t have cared less if I was doing less DPS than a squirrel, this Marksman thing is really frackin’ fun. The shot rotation is based off of priority so my eyes were basically glued to my action bars, but regardless! Fun.

I was invited to a Heroic Gundrak and I took my new spec along. Wound up performing very well. My main gripe was that I missed the hunter/pet synergy from BM so much. I couldn’t even look Locke in the eyes without feeling bad. =( But if there’s one thing I love almost as much as pets, it’s shot rotations, and on that count, MM delivers. We’ll have to see where things go from here!

I’m glad I have so many hunters. At this rate, I can always have one hunter for each spec that I like! =D

(P.S. Don’t worry, BM is still my favorite.)

thoughts

Aspect of the Hunter

22 Comments

With all the changes to our class lately, I’ve found myself having to stand back and think about what this blog is and what it represents. There are a lot of really good and informative hunter blogs out there and most of them have very different focuses, and it’s really visible with this patch. There are people busily hammering out the next max-DPS spec and there are others sticking to their favorite playstyle. There are Survivalists perhaps a bit baffled that their spec is suddenly the one in the sun. There are people reporting anywhere from DPS losses to DPS gains, depending on their gear and spec and what they do. And there are others who don’t do much PvE stuff and aren’t affected very much. Everyone has a different opinion and it’s really brought out to me how unique all these dozens of hunter blogs are from each other.

What about Aspect of the Hare then? Is this a hunter kindergarten blog, or a Beast Mastery blog, or a “casual”-raiding blog, or what? That’s what I had to ask myself today, sitting here at my computer with a hunter shirt on and a Tauren Hunter figurine beside my desk and my first character standing guard over everything. What about Pike?

I decided that while this blog covers a variety of topics, it is mostly about two things. The first is that it is about teaching new hunters about their class, and also sort of reviewing these things for long-time hunters. This comes in the form of the guides that I post, for example.

Secondly, and more importantly, this blog is about three little words: “Hunters are fun.”

This blog is for anyone who has ever enjoyed the hunter class. It doesn’t matter if you PvP or PvE or fall anywhere along that spectrum. It doesn’t matter if you are decked out in epics and have screenshots of doing over 6000 DPS on a boss fight, or if you have never set foot inside a raid. It doesn’t matter if you’re a hardcore theorycrafter or if you avoid math like the plague. It doesn’t matter what spec you are, and it doesn’t even matter what level you are– if you have ever felt a little thrill at sending your pet in to attack something and proceeding to start some semblance of a shot rotation, this blog is for you.

I just figured I would get that out there; it’s never a bad thing to define a blog’s focus. Rest assured that while there may be some frustrations and nervousness as we– myself included– try to sort out our collective reactions to the latest patch, I, for one, can still log into one of my hunters and still feel that thrill.

And really, that’s what it’s about.

Everyday I'm Huntering