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Rez'ing Your Hunter: A Quick Guide

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So you’ve got a hunter parked at level 70 who is an alt that you haven’t played in a while, and you want to get them to 80. Here are a couple quick tips to help answer the questions you may have… (warning: probably BM biased >.>)

Specs
So as you log in to your 70 hunter and are taking a look at your shiny new 0/0/0 spec with 61 talent points to spend, you may feel a bit overwhelmed. I am here to say that the spec doesn’t have to be perfect, you are just going to be leveling. I am also here to say that if you always wanted to try out some talent tree that you haven’t tried yet, then now is a perfect time to do so. All three specs are pretty viable now.

Let’s say you’re going into Beast Mastery whether because you like it or simply because you want to level with it. This is the spec I am currently leaning towards personally in terms of a goal of PvE endgame. No guarantees it’s perfect but it’s what I really like at the moment. It borrows a lot from pre-WotLK talents– for example, you still only need 4/5 in Frenzy– and then picks up new good talents like Aspect Mastery and Invigoration Longevity (WORST TYPO EVER).  The number of deep BM hunters I see running around without Longevity is somewhat mystifying to me… it’s such a godly talent!

You are of course free to move talents around as you see fit. For pure leveling you may opt for 5/5 Endurance Training and 3/3 Thick Hide– really it’s a better choice for the level grind, I’m just stubborn =P Spirit Bond is a much more valid choice now than it was before and I don’t think many people would fault you for choosing that over Animal Handler. Invigoration and Cobra Strikes may wind up being worth it for you. You may want to pick up Aimed Shot in the Marks tree. Go for what you like and try it out!

Pets
There are now three types of pets: Ferocity (PvE/DPS), Cunning (PvP/utility), and Tenacity (Tanking). Note that the description I put in parenthesis for each one is very rough. But you sort of get the general idea. Each type of pet also has their own talent tree which you can spec along side yourself. For the most part, I think you can spec your pets how you think you need to and how you think you will be using that pet. Just as an example I’ve been going something like this (without the extra points) on my kitty, Locke. As you can see, I’ve picked up all the DPS-type talents and Cobra Reflexes (the faster your pet is attacking, the more he is proc’ing Ferocious Inspiration for you and your raid.) Pet respecs are cheap so it’s not a big deal if you screw up. =P Oh, and the 51-point Beast Mastery talent will get you four extra talent points for your pets to use.

I see a lot of people in Trade asking about which is “the best” pet but really it’s very flexible and situational. Each pet gets a special unique family “skill” now so you may want to look into those and see which ones you like. Also, just because a pet is a Tenacity pet doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be leveling with it– I’ve been alternating between a Cunning pet and a Ferocity pet myself!

Exotic Pets
The 51-point BM talent lets you tame “exotic” pets. Exotic pets are stuff like core hounds, devilsaurs, giant worms, chimaeras… stuff like that. Exotic pets typically tend to have a special ability that is above-average and at some point Blizzard said they were going to buff the damage of exotic pets in the future, by 10% or something. In the meantime, for most hunters, I don’t think an Exotic Pet is really a necessity. They’re fun to play with though =P

Glyphs
Myself, I’ve just been picking up glyphs as I go and experimenting with them and replacing them at will. The must-haves I have found at this point are Glyph of Steady Shot (this is the big reason why Serpent Sting is awesome now for BM hunters) and Glyph of Bestial Wrath (can you really say no to that?) I have also found Glyph of Freezing Trap to be pretty nice for chain trapping but I dunno if it would be something I keep around at 80– it remains to be seen if trapping will even be seen much in five-mans anymore now that tank AoE got so buffed!

Well, since the title pledged that this would be “A Quick Guide”, I’d best stop here. If you’ve still got questions leave a comment, and I will see about making a Part Two!

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So You Want to Play a Hunter? Part 12

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I’m Level 70, Now What?

There you are.  A level 70 hunter.  You’re wearing greens and ready to take on the world.  Of Warcraft.

First thing’s first: stop and think, what do you want to do?  Do you want to PvP?  Do you want to raid?  Do you want to explore things and see what is left to see?

Because my first move upon hitting 70 is usually to begin the process of getting “geared up”, and what you want to do at end-game will largely determine how you go about  this process.  I’ve always thought that getting “geared up” is a delightful thing, because you’re watching your gear be replaced at a fast clip and you can really watch your stats increase and watch your character start to look more and more epic.   Judging from some of the comments I’ve received in the past, I’m not alone in my assessment.  So, where do we leap into the fun?

Pike’s opinion: You want to start by replacing all your greens with blues, and then getting those blues enchanted.

Let’s assume you’re going for PvE here.  You want items with agility, stamina, intellect, attack power, crit rating, and hit rating.  Do not underestimate the importance of hit rating.  Period.  To achieve getting this gear you will probably find yourself doing some quests, and doing a lot of five-man instances.

The Beast Lord Armor Set is a great thing to aim for.  Heck, Tawyn’s still wearing the helm and shoulders.  Granted, Tawyn doesn’t do a lot of raiding past Tier4, but the point is that it’s a very quality set and will grant you an amazing set bonus that will help very much with your chain-trapping.  You can collect pieces of it from Botanica, Shattered Halls, Mechanar, and Steamvaults.  With a decent group these instances are all pretty straightforward and will give you a lot of practice for raiding if you haven’t done much instancing until now.

“But Pike, I sit in LFG all day and all people want is healers and tanks and mages!  Nobody wants to group with an unknown hunter!”

Friends, I feel your pain.  Believe me when I say that I have spent hours in LFG, jumped on the rare person to say “LF DPS for [some instance I need]”, whispered them excitedly, got a response like “Sorry, the group filled up 🙁 ” and then five minutes later saw the same person yelling for DPS again.   I have spent hours in LFG and found a group only to have to have the group disbanded because nobody would tank.  I have been there.  But it is not impossible to find a group.  Idle in LFG while you run around doing your dailies or quests.  Keep an eye out for other new 70s who want a group.  Every twenty minutes or so announce that you’re looking for a non-heroic level 70 instance.  Play an alt if you have to, with LFG up.  Be patient.  It will happen.  And people will remember you as a good hunter and keep you in mind in the future.

“Is there a way I can get geared for raiding without having to do all the instances though?”  Hmm.  Well, some good stuff does come through questing or crafting, or random world drops, but most of the best stuff comes from five-mans.  Besides, honestly, if you want to be a raider, you need to practice your PvE skills anyway! =P

“What about the battleground epics or the Stalker’s Chain Battlegear that you get through rep?”  The battleground epics are indeed pretty shiny and the Stalker’s stuff definitely isn’t bad for a just-turned-70 but keep in mind that this is PvP-oriented gear and is sorely lacking stuff like Hit Rating which will make a huge difference in PvE.  If you love PvP and want to jump into Halaa/Arenas/AV with gusto, then grats!  This is the stuff for you.  But if PvE is what you’re going for then you are going to want the rewards you get from, well, PvE.  I have linked it before and I will link it again, this guide is an invaluable tool here.

Do some rep grinds.  You will need Revered with Cenarion Expedition for the head inscription and Honored with Aldor/Scryer for the Shoulder Inscription (Exalted for the best version.)  In addition, Aldor gives a pretty nice ring at Revered. And don’t forget to make sure your pet has the maxed version of all its skills.

Save up your money and gather mats for enchanting and gems.  Myself, when it comes to new-70s, I enchant anything that I imagine I will be using for a while– basically most blues I get at 70 or close to it.  I got lucky with Lunapike and knew from experience which of my gear I got along the way would be sticking with me to 70 and beyond so I got some of this enchanted early on.  Check out my earlier guide if you have questions on enchanting-for-hunters.

Stay balanced, stat-wise.  You do not want to go overboard too much with one stat.  If you get a piece of gear and it is better than your current piece in some aspects and worse in others, squirrel it away in your bank in the event of having to juggle around gear later as your stats fluctuate.  Gearing up is both an art and a science, don’t worry if it seems kind of confusing.

And once you’ve got yourself decked in blues and maybe an epic or two, and you’ve done your five-mans and practiced your chain-trapping and your pet control and your shot rotations— congrats, you are ready for the first half of Karazhan.

And there you have it.  How to get a hunter from the character selection screen to standing on Attumen’s butt like a good lil’ raider, and do it the right way.  Now you can go forth and read all those great hunter blogs and resources out there that are focused on endgame.  I hope that you newer hunters have learned something from this guide and if you still have any questions, toss them at me, to give me writing fodder!  SYWtPaH’s out, until someday when I re-do the pet portions of the guide and teach you how to get to level 80.

/bow

So You Want to Play a Hunter?

Part One: Introduction & The Birth of a Hunter
Part Two: Just Starting Out & Levels 1-5
Part Three: Levels 6-10 and Jump Shot Kiting
Part Four: Talent Points & Pets
Part Five: Life With a Pet
Part Six: Levels 12-20
Part Seven: Intro to Freezing Trap
Part Eight: Levels 21-30
Part Nine: Levels 31-40
Part Ten: Levels 41-60
Part Eleven: Levels 61-70
Part Twelve: I’m Level 70, Now What? [current]

Fin.

/collapes somewhere backstage

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So You Want to Play a Hunter? Part 3

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So you’ve hit level 6 and you’ve got Arcane Shot. Great! This will make it easier for you to kill stuff before it gets to you. Now there seems to be some confusion, I think, involving when to use Arcane Shot. In all honesty, I don’t think there is a set “best rotation” for Arcane Shot in the low-levels. But the basics that you want to know is that you don’t want to use it too much, because it will eat up your mana and pull aggro away from your pet pretty easily. It does, however, round out most of the skills you will be using pre-level-62.

Hunter’s Mark is the other thing you learn at level 6. There is some debate over whether Hunter’s Mark is worth the mana. In my mind, it is: it provides a sizable DPS boost (particularly over time), and if you are spec’d for Improved Hunter’s Mark, it boosts your pet’s attack power by a significant amount, too. Think of it this way: if you are a Beast Master or Survival hunter, Improved Hunter’s Mark is basically like your own mini-Trueshot-Aura. And if you are Marksman, it’s more of the goodness! Rank 4 Hunter’s Mark is going to give you an extra 110 AP and the more you shoot it, the higher that bonus rises (for ranged only). Pike’s verdict: learn to use and love Hunter’s Mark.

Typical Lowbie Hunter Rotation:
-Hunter’s Mark
-Serpent Sting Opener
-Auto Shot until the mob is dead, throw in an Arcane Shot every so often to speed things up.

That’s really all there is to it. Before you have a pet, you are most advised to use your Arcane Shot whenever you can, though.

If you are looking into doing more PvP than PvE, Arcane Shot is going to become basically the cornerstone of your life and everything you hold dear, but us more-PvE types typically love our Steady Shot more.

And now you’ve hit level 8. And you’ve got Concussive Shot. Your mission, if you choose to accept it: put your kiting skills to the test and learn how to jump-shot-kite.

Jump Shot Kiting is accomplished by jumping, turning, shooting, and then turning back and landing, while moving. Sound complicated? It is, and it’s difficult at first, but if you practice a little, you will soon have the hang of it. It’s a little hard to describe through writing, so I’ve made a movie:

I don’t know if it is the clearest or most helpful movie, so let me know if you need clarification! Also, I have decided that Hellfire Peninsula is perhaps not the best place to hold many of these videos in the future, because over the overwhelming… red…ness… yeah. Note to self: Nagrand next time.

Well, congratulations, you have (hopefully) mastered the art of playing sans-pet. /diploma

And that’ll do it for this week’s installment of SYWtPaH. (pronounced Suit-paw…? Perhaps!) Be sure to join us next week when we go on a crazy pet-taming adventure!