Anyone else have more raiding experience post patch. I seem to be going OOM much quicker than before.
I as well seem to go OOM quite often. To combat this, I put 5 points into efficency (sp?), and it does help mitigate the mana drain. Gotta remember - they also increased Multi-shot's mana cost.
I'm debating getting rid of the stun proc Conc shot, and putting 5 points into improved arcane shot, and efficency. Arcane shot really seems to be the new bread and butter of Hunters, with a fast multi-shot and later steady shot, you're gonna need to get the most bang for your buck with talent specs, and +mana regen gear.
Anyone else have more raiding experience post patch. I seem to be going OOM much quicker than before.
I as well seem to go OOM quite often. To combat this, I put 5 points into efficency (sp?), and it does help mitigate the mana drain. Gotta remember - they also increased Multi-shot's mana cost.
I'm debating getting rid of the stun proc Conc shot, and putting 5 points into improved arcane shot, and efficency. Arcane shot really seems to be the new bread and butter of Hunters, with a fast multi-shot and later steady shot, you're gonna need to get the most bang for your buck with talent specs, and +mana regen gear.
I've downranked MutliShot for mana intensive fights, it's just too much.
I also have the Black Grasp of the Destroyer, http://www.thottbot.com/?i=53268
I'm not sure how effective it is, but every little bit helps. I'm curious to try the GM 1.8 attack speed bow with those. I might lose a bit of damage from white damage crits but I will certainly have a lot of mana gain.
I am writing to tell you all to die in the hottest of fires, and even if you shoot yourselves in the ass with your own silencing shots so that no one will hear you scream, know that I will be giggling with girlish delight at your demise.
Yours Truly,
The Humble Frost Mage, aka Johnny Two Shot.
I am writing to tell you all to die in the hottest of fires, and even if you shoot yourselves in the ass with your own silencing shots so that no one will hear you scream, know that I will be giggling with girlish delight at your demise.
Yours Truly,
The Humble Frost Mage, aka Johnny Two Shot.
Man, I stuck my guns and only went down to Trueshot Aura and Imp. Barrage, with the rest in Survival... and I get fucked up hardcore by Frost mages. My trinket helps, but not nearly enough.
Every other spell is a Frost Nova!
Hamurabi on
0
Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
edited December 2006
Don't worry, Lunatic. You can still take out the newbs like me. 600+ hours on my hunter and I played my first game of WSG on the weekend.
I had killing blows = to my deaths, so I wasn't pathetic, I guess.
I am writing to tell you all to die in the hottest of fires, and even if you shoot yourselves in the ass with your own silencing shots so that no one will hear you scream, know that I will be giggling with girlish delight at your demise.
Yours Truly,
The Humble Frost Mage, aka Johnny Two Shot.
so this bm spec'd hunter was number 1 in the damage meters during aq20. tier0/.5 with some level 53 epic boe gun. she was beating out the epic'd out casters, while being neck and neck with a nemesis equipped locke. I knew some of the casters, and they're not slackers.
so this bm spec'd hunter was number 1 in the damage meters during aq20. tier0/.5 with some level 53 epic boe gun. she was beating out the epic'd out casters, while being neck and neck with a nemesis equipped locke. I knew some of the casters, and they're not slackers.
how do you guys do it?
rogues put meat products in the boss's pockets and the pets smell it then go crazy wild trying to get at it.
so this bm spec'd hunter was number 1 in the damage meters during aq20. tier0/.5 with some level 53 epic boe gun. she was beating out the epic'd out casters, while being neck and neck with a nemesis equipped locke. I knew some of the casters, and they're not slackers.
how do you guys do it?
I was topping my own DamageMeters while running instances like SM, ZF, etc. when I was BM specced, but I always figured it was because I was standing away from the rogues and sometimes the mages.
Given that hunter's gear, I'd say it was a reporting error, honestly.
BM rocks for Parties now, every loves getting +1-3% dmg increase when your pet crits. Me i liked it mostly cuz i could onload fast but never take aggro, wether the mobs were on my pet or the MT.
Now im marks spec, just for the high burst damage and silencing shot.
To Lunatic: L2IceBlock+deadzone
blackpanther on
Aimed Shot A Hunter's point of view of World of Warcraft
But yeah, I sorta noticed they can keep aggro a bit better.
Even when I pull off like 4 crits and I'm spamming Arcane and Aimed.
Another easy way to do this is to look for the row of action buttons that shows whatever the key binding is on your passive button (usually ctrl+0), and just change that to whatever. I love having my attack/passive on f/g, respectively. Really helps with aggro management and whatnot.
But yeah, I sorta noticed they can keep aggro a bit better.
Even when I pull off like 4 crits and I'm spamming Arcane and Aimed.
Another easy way to do this is to look for the row of action buttons that shows whatever the key binding is on your passive button (usually ctrl+0), and just change that to whatever. I love having my attack/passive on f/g, respectively. Really helps with aggro management and whatnot.
I have Pet Attack on Q, and Passive on one o' my NumPad buttons. It works pretty well in those 'oh shit' cases where I accidentally sic my pet on something that's CC'd, or that isn't the right target.
I once had a macro that checked if my target was currently affected by a CC spell or ability and i tried to sick my pet onto it, it returned me an error message.
wonder if that macro would still work
blackpanther on
Aimed Shot A Hunter's point of view of World of Warcraft
I'm having a terrible, terrible time choosing between going full BM or MM. I love gettin' the crazy crits, but I also love watching the pet I've been using since lvl 12 tear through things. I'm thinking of a Bestial Wrath/Aimed Shot build.
Does troll berserker, rapid fire, imp. aoth, and BM talent to increase your speed all stack? If so, how sick is it?
I'm having a terrible, terrible time choosing between going full BM or MM. I love gettin' the crazy crits, but I also love watching the pet I've been using since lvl 12 tear through things. I'm thinking of a Bestial Wrath/Aimed Shot build.
BM is way more worth it now that pets scale with a % of your stats. Combine that with beastial wrath and let your pet go crazy on some helpless player.
Just last night I was in tanaris and I was passing a nelf druid and was hoping to avoid a conflict. Being that he was 46 and I was 44 he thought he may have had an advantage. He proceeds to root me when on my mount and sleep my wolf. I dismount turn around and let him spam fire me for few seconds. I pop beastial wrath and my wolf started owning the crap out of him. I have never seen a druid travel form fast enough. Too bad he didn't get very far :twisted:
I do hear that aimed shot is not worth getting now that arcane shot has been buffed out the wazoo. I still plan on getting it, but anyone else got any opinions on the worthiness of aim shot at this time?
tallgeeze on
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Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
edited December 2006
I'm playing a BM crit build (I guess). Basically, I have a Windserpent, Bestial Discipline and Go For the Throat.
I'm using a Hurricane and have been building my crit chance. I'm up to 22%.
My Windserpent absolutely tears things up. Frenzied and wrathed, he does almost 200 physical dps as well as throwing off almost constant lightning breaths for another 250 - 350 nature damage a cast. I don't even need growl anymore if I autoshot mobs - my pet will hold aggro past crits because every crit I do is a guaranteed lightning breath. It's beautiful.
The only other pet that can burn focus is a cat and the cat (I have a ghost saber along with my deviate dreadfang (Blue windserpent)) doesn't hold a candle to the windserpent.
EDIT - Also, I'm finally remembering I can lay traps in combat now and my UBRS run last night was wicked. Off tanking with my pet while kiting/freezeing another mob every 30 seconds. I love the changes to the hunter.
Well, I’ve played both BM and Marks in BG’s extensively. Both are exceptionally viable, my old survival build is no longer useful at all. Survival seems nerfed to hell and back actually. Maybe in the expansion they’ll buff it accordingly.
BM vs Marks.
Well I guess this is the primary question on every hunters mind. I did BM for the first week after the patch and my white damage was fantastic. I really want to try the fast warlord bow build with the serpent, that sounds pretty awesome for unexpected high DPS. Currently I’m running full marks with 9 points in survival. Entrapment + marks build is pretty awesome.
After I switched to marks I feel I’m personal more lethal than before. My arcane/auto/multishot combo can be executed in 2 seconds for anywhere from 1000-4000 damage depending on crits. Then toss out a silencing shot and most healers are dead before the debuff is gone. Warriors and rogues are a bit harder to deal with than marks. Unlike the awesome DoT that is the BM pet, you have to really hope for entrapment and pray for crits to bring down warriors. But I do admit, arcane shot not being reduced by armor is very awesome. I’m still a caster killing machine though.
As for the traps in combat, what an awesome change. I really like using feign death as a target drop more than anything else. I don’t have to save it for in combat traps anymore so any time I see a hunter aiming or a caster casting I hit feign death and cancel his spell. Its definitely a much better use for the ability.
Personally? I think its easier to kill casters as a marks build than BM. BM for casters is dependant on beastial wrath. If its up you can kill the caster easily. If its on cooldown they can CC the pet and your dps goes to shit. As a marks build its not that easy. Silencing shot, scatter shot, and feign death all interrupt spells and if you save silencing shot until they are near death its almost a certainty. Specially against healers. Mages just absolutely hate it. My mage buddies bitch me out nonstop after duels when I use feign death to interrupt a spell.
When the expansion comes out though I’ll be switching back to BM for the grind to 70. hands down the best option for leveling. Your pet alone can solo just about anything you want to fight for exp. You cant really beat that.
Bigzug on
This is my signature, there are many like it, but this one is mine.
The thing with a cat is that when a cat claws or bites he doesn't stop autoattacking. Assuming unlimited focus Wind Serpents will never autoattack. While a cat will auto attack and use all his cooldowns. At least thats my current theory for a cat beating my WS on loetheb.
For everything else so far WS way better than a cat tho.
Also, assuming that with the improved focus regen and Go for the Throat, that a cat can still use their focus fast enough, you'll get more crits to proc the part buff, than you would with lightning breath.
I'm having a terrible, terrible time choosing between going full BM or MM. I love gettin' the crazy crits, but I also love watching the pet I've been using since lvl 12 tear through things. I'm thinking of a Bestial Wrath/Aimed Shot build.
BM is way more worth it now that pets scale with a % of your stats. Combine that with beastial wrath and let your pet go crazy on some helpless player.
Just last night I was in tanaris and I was passing a nelf druid and was hoping to avoid a conflict. Being that he was 46 and I was 44 he thought he may have had an advantage. He proceeds to root me when on my mount and sleep my wolf. I dismount turn around and let him spam fire me for few seconds. I pop beastial wrath and my wolf started owning the crap out of him. I have never seen a druid travel form fast enough. Too bad he didn't get very far :twisted:
I do hear that aimed shot is not worth getting now that arcane shot has been buffed out the wazoo. I still plan on getting it, but anyone else got any opinions on the worthiness of aim shot at this time?
I've been specced Intim/Aimed shot->mortal shots, and while opening up with a 1.5k crit (lvl 55 using AV crossbow) makes you, lawl, you don't get as many oppurtunities to use it to a major advantage to make it worth it. It's great if they're not paying attention to you and you wanna pop 'em, and it's the best opener from freeze trap. After being specced this way since 2.0, I can tell you that it's not worth it compared to TBW. If you can't resist seeing those big numbers pop above a gnomes dying head, it's still good for that.
The Cat vs. WS debate is raging pretty heavily amongst my guild's hunters as well. Which one has better synergy/does better damage with GFT(F)T (and for some Bestial Disc.) has been a hot topic.
If you're BM, I argue to go with the cat. More Claw attacks means more Inspiration and Frenzy procs. Casting Lightning Breath also has an apparent impact on auto attacks (as mentioned above-- possibly resetting the timer? haven't paid attention enough to notice), so Claw is even more conducive to keeping up BM buffs.
If you're MM, I argue to go with the serpent. Without the pet procs from the BM tree, the only thing that's really left is which is a better funnel for GFT(F)T. Hands down, I'd say this is Lightning Breath. Add in the fact that this attack is armor-piercing, and you have a clear winner.
I'm presently spec'd MM->SiShot for PvP. I have both a cat and a serpent, and definitely prefer the serpent for PvP. I might take the cat out of the stables come time to level 60-70, but for now I'll stick to my Son of Hakkar~[/b]
Septic on
For victory we ride, fury of the storm!
0
Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
edited December 2006
My issue with the cat was alot of focus was wasted. The cat, even with bite and claw, couldn't burn all the focus I generated. Also, claw doesn't scale nearly as well as Lightning Breath.
The Windserpent will back to max range to fire off Lightning Breath, so auto-attacks do stop. This does lessen the amount Ferocious Inspiration procs, however, it means my windserpent has kited melee mobs. It also means my pet can continue dpsing melee classes like those in ZG that spin (Or have a cleave) without taking damage.
The cat may be better once I upgrade my bow and have a slower auto-shot, but since I crank out arrows like mad with the Hurricane, I need the Windserpents focus dump.
Also, Claw is mitigated by armor, Lightning Breath is not. I also pulled aggro from my cat auto-shotting with growl off. Not so for my Windserpent.
Nova_C on
0
Lord DaveGrief CauserBitch Free ZoneRegistered Userregular
edited December 2006
Last week I ran Naxx with my new Beastial Wrath spec and my trusty bear, Pooh.
We were #2 on the damage meters for Anub, and #5 for Faerlina! This is in 6/8 T2 and nothing better. Not the best geared hunter by a long shot, let alone comparing to all those damn 5/8 rogues.
Yay for beast spec.
I've had my cat since level 6, and at about level 53ish, I really had to tuck it back while levelling, assuming Intimidation wasn't up. Of course, that was before the 2.0 pet buff. BTW, does anyone know if those Winterspring cats come with training points, or if they're already used, or just plain what the deal is? With my cat, I basically controlled where each and every training point went from level 8 onward, and I'd like to have that same level of control with any new pet I get.
I very much doubt I'd ever leave my Dun Morogh cat for anything new -- and if I did, it'd have to be extremely appealing to pull me away.
Hamurabi on
0
Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
I've had my cat since level 6, and at about level 53ish, I really had to tuck it back while levelling, assuming Intimidation wasn't up. Of course, that was before the 2.0 pet buff. BTW, does anyone know if those Winterspring cats come with training points, or if they're already used, or just plain what the deal is? With my cat, I basically controlled where each and every training point went from level 8 onward, and I'd like to have that same level of control with any new pet I get.
I very much doubt I'd ever leave my Dun Morogh cat for anything new -- and if I did, it'd have to be extremely appealing to pull me away.
You can respec your pets at the pet trainer. It costs money like a talent respec, and slowly ups over time in the same fashion, but it starts at 10 silver.
After the pet speed normalization all the cats will be the same except for their skins. :P
Well, I'll throw another animal hat into the ring. The wolf.
I just picked snarler at lvl 42 and I must say i'm very impressed. Right now I'm lvl 45 and I'm 31/5 BM so far. I say this snarler chomps the crap out of anything. Seeing my black ball of fur open up with a crit 200 bite with another crit 200 auto attack is very pleasing to the eyes.
I thought I was gonna be disspointed after trading my humar, but no regrets now. I haven't pvp heavily since I got him, so I don't know how he is gonna stack up. He may not be a great spell interrupter, but I think he will make his presence known.
I've had my cat since level 6, and at about level 53ish, I really had to tuck it back while levelling, assuming Intimidation wasn't up. Of course, that was before the 2.0 pet buff. BTW, does anyone know if those Winterspring cats come with training points, or if they're already used, or just plain what the deal is? With my cat, I basically controlled where each and every training point went from level 8 onward, and I'd like to have that same level of control with any new pet I get.
I very much doubt I'd ever leave my Dun Morogh cat for anything new -- and if I did, it'd have to be extremely appealing to pull me away.
All pets follow this formula for training points, (Loyalty level - 1) * level. If they already have a skill when you tame them, they'll be at negative training points (Meaning they have already paid the training points for the skill they have).
All pets have the same number of training points by level 60 at loyalty level 6.
I haven't played my Hunter ina loong time but signed on the other night for one purpose.
I am now the proud owner of a new snake pet. His name is Trouser.
I see that name a LOT now. Like, every third or fourth snake seems to be named 'Trouser'. :P
I played Arathi Basin for the first time last night. According to my friend, who plays a Troll Hunter on Kilrogg (So, not in my battlegroup; I'm on Icecrown), horde always wins AB. The Alliance just tries to not get wasted with a 5 cap.
I played six games, won three. It was freakin' wicked. The second win was a 5 cap. Totally stuffed the horde into their graveyard.
At one point, I was at 25% health after a battle and a rogue got the drop on me. The stun didn't last and I layed a freezing trap and got the hell out of there. I was at 10%, at range and layed the hurt. He never touched me again.
A stealthed druid tried to take me at one point as well. A frost trap later, I was kiting him in a circle while my pet ate him for breakfast.
I never really pvped before as I had no hope of getting the GM ranked weapons. Now that I don't have to compete, it's just a grind, I decided to go for at least the Grand Marshal's Bullseye and considering how much fun I had I may get a pair of those one handed fast attack swords as well.
So after a several month hiatus, I returned to wow to discover that hunter talents are omgwtf changed. Anyone have good tips on what I should be absolutely avoiding and what I should definitely grab? I went ahead and threw points into marksmen, but i'm not above respeccing if I did it totally wrong.
Depends entirely on what you want to do: PvP, PvE, combo...
All three trees have at least some goodies to offer, and arguments can be made for a variety of different specs atm (there isn't one SUPREME spec). Even specs that look similar can differ on personal preference and experience.
I would say a general rule of thumb atm (some may argue otherwise, but they're dense): Avoid going too deep in the Survival Tree at the moment. Its upper-tier talents don't really compare to what BM or Marks can offer at the same levels. If you like using your pet, BM can make it (and yourself) into an unstoppable wrecking ball. If you like being more self-sufficient and putting out a boatload of damage yourself, take up Marks. If you're BM dump your extra points into Marks, and if you're Marks, dump your extra points into Survival (IMO). You can find some pretty cookie-cutter builds just about anywhere... I would suggest taking a look at some and seeing if they fit your playstyle. Modify as needed, and voila!
Keep in mind that the expansion is releasing in a month's time. With it, the level cap will be increased to 70. Whatever you choose now might not be the best for levelling (I, for one, am currently Marks but switching to BM for 60-70), so depending on how quick you're getting back into the game you might want to spec with future levelling in mind. Otherwise, spec as desired and respec when the expansion rolls around.
Posts
Why is this?
Edit: And because we think all the loots are for us. (Which they are)
Fix'd for Official Forum-ness.
I as well seem to go OOM quite often. To combat this, I put 5 points into efficency (sp?), and it does help mitigate the mana drain. Gotta remember - they also increased Multi-shot's mana cost.
I'm debating getting rid of the stun proc Conc shot, and putting 5 points into improved arcane shot, and efficency. Arcane shot really seems to be the new bread and butter of Hunters, with a fast multi-shot and later steady shot, you're gonna need to get the most bang for your buck with talent specs, and +mana regen gear.
I also have the Black Grasp of the Destroyer, http://www.thottbot.com/?i=53268
I'm not sure how effective it is, but every little bit helps. I'm curious to try the GM 1.8 attack speed bow with those. I might lose a bit of damage from white damage crits but I will certainly have a lot of mana gain.
I am writing to tell you all to die in the hottest of fires, and even if you shoot yourselves in the ass with your own silencing shots so that no one will hear you scream, know that I will be giggling with girlish delight at your demise.
Yours Truly,
The Humble Frost Mage, aka Johnny Two Shot.
Man, I stuck my guns and only went down to Trueshot Aura and Imp. Barrage, with the rest in Survival... and I get fucked up hardcore by Frost mages. My trinket helps, but not nearly enough.
Every other spell is a Frost Nova!
I had killing blows = to my deaths, so I wasn't pathetic, I guess.
Awwww, I think he loves us...
Also, what's the macro command to set your pet to Passive?
But yeah, I sorta noticed they can keep aggro a bit better.
Even when I pull off like 4 crits and I'm spamming Arcane and Aimed.
how do you guys do it?
rogues put meat products in the boss's pockets and the pets smell it then go crazy wild trying to get at it.
I was topping my own DamageMeters while running instances like SM, ZF, etc. when I was BM specced, but I always figured it was because I was standing away from the rogues and sometimes the mages.
Given that hunter's gear, I'd say it was a reporting error, honestly.
Now im marks spec, just for the high burst damage and silencing shot.
To Lunatic: L2IceBlock+deadzone
A Hunter's point of view of World of Warcraft
Another easy way to do this is to look for the row of action buttons that shows whatever the key binding is on your passive button (usually ctrl+0), and just change that to whatever. I love having my attack/passive on f/g, respectively. Really helps with aggro management and whatnot.
I have Pet Attack on Q, and Passive on one o' my NumPad buttons. It works pretty well in those 'oh shit' cases where I accidentally sic my pet on something that's CC'd, or that isn't the right target.
wonder if that macro would still work
A Hunter's point of view of World of Warcraft
Does troll berserker, rapid fire, imp. aoth, and BM talent to increase your speed all stack? If so, how sick is it?
A Hunter's point of view of World of Warcraft
As will your pet if/when you get Go for the Throat.
Oh man.
Oh man.
BM is way more worth it now that pets scale with a % of your stats. Combine that with beastial wrath and let your pet go crazy on some helpless player.
Just last night I was in tanaris and I was passing a nelf druid and was hoping to avoid a conflict. Being that he was 46 and I was 44 he thought he may have had an advantage. He proceeds to root me when on my mount and sleep my wolf. I dismount turn around and let him spam fire me for few seconds. I pop beastial wrath and my wolf started owning the crap out of him. I have never seen a druid travel form fast enough. Too bad he didn't get very far :twisted:
I do hear that aimed shot is not worth getting now that arcane shot has been buffed out the wazoo. I still plan on getting it, but anyone else got any opinions on the worthiness of aim shot at this time?
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/hunter/talents.html?5020300052501205311100505200000000000000000300000000000000000000
I'm using a Hurricane and have been building my crit chance. I'm up to 22%.
My Windserpent absolutely tears things up. Frenzied and wrathed, he does almost 200 physical dps as well as throwing off almost constant lightning breaths for another 250 - 350 nature damage a cast. I don't even need growl anymore if I autoshot mobs - my pet will hold aggro past crits because every crit I do is a guaranteed lightning breath. It's beautiful.
The only other pet that can burn focus is a cat and the cat (I have a ghost saber along with my deviate dreadfang (Blue windserpent)) doesn't hold a candle to the windserpent.
EDIT - Also, I'm finally remembering I can lay traps in combat now and my UBRS run last night was wicked. Off tanking with my pet while kiting/freezeing another mob every 30 seconds. I love the changes to the hunter.
Well, I’ve played both BM and Marks in BG’s extensively. Both are exceptionally viable, my old survival build is no longer useful at all. Survival seems nerfed to hell and back actually. Maybe in the expansion they’ll buff it accordingly.
BM vs Marks.
Well I guess this is the primary question on every hunters mind. I did BM for the first week after the patch and my white damage was fantastic. I really want to try the fast warlord bow build with the serpent, that sounds pretty awesome for unexpected high DPS. Currently I’m running full marks with 9 points in survival. Entrapment + marks build is pretty awesome.
After I switched to marks I feel I’m personal more lethal than before. My arcane/auto/multishot combo can be executed in 2 seconds for anywhere from 1000-4000 damage depending on crits. Then toss out a silencing shot and most healers are dead before the debuff is gone. Warriors and rogues are a bit harder to deal with than marks. Unlike the awesome DoT that is the BM pet, you have to really hope for entrapment and pray for crits to bring down warriors. But I do admit, arcane shot not being reduced by armor is very awesome. I’m still a caster killing machine though.
As for the traps in combat, what an awesome change. I really like using feign death as a target drop more than anything else. I don’t have to save it for in combat traps anymore so any time I see a hunter aiming or a caster casting I hit feign death and cancel his spell. Its definitely a much better use for the ability.
Personally? I think its easier to kill casters as a marks build than BM. BM for casters is dependant on beastial wrath. If its up you can kill the caster easily. If its on cooldown they can CC the pet and your dps goes to shit. As a marks build its not that easy. Silencing shot, scatter shot, and feign death all interrupt spells and if you save silencing shot until they are near death its almost a certainty. Specially against healers. Mages just absolutely hate it. My mage buddies bitch me out nonstop after duels when I use feign death to interrupt a spell.
When the expansion comes out though I’ll be switching back to BM for the grind to 70. hands down the best option for leveling. Your pet alone can solo just about anything you want to fight for exp. You cant really beat that.
For everything else so far WS way better than a cat tho.
I've been specced Intim/Aimed shot->mortal shots, and while opening up with a 1.5k crit (lvl 55 using AV crossbow) makes you, lawl, you don't get as many oppurtunities to use it to a major advantage to make it worth it. It's great if they're not paying attention to you and you wanna pop 'em, and it's the best opener from freeze trap. After being specced this way since 2.0, I can tell you that it's not worth it compared to TBW. If you can't resist seeing those big numbers pop above a gnomes dying head, it's still good for that.
If you're BM, I argue to go with the cat. More Claw attacks means more Inspiration and Frenzy procs. Casting Lightning Breath also has an apparent impact on auto attacks (as mentioned above-- possibly resetting the timer? haven't paid attention enough to notice), so Claw is even more conducive to keeping up BM buffs.
If you're MM, I argue to go with the serpent. Without the pet procs from the BM tree, the only thing that's really left is which is a better funnel for GFT(F)T. Hands down, I'd say this is Lightning Breath. Add in the fact that this attack is armor-piercing, and you have a clear winner.
I'm presently spec'd MM->SiShot for PvP. I have both a cat and a serpent, and definitely prefer the serpent for PvP. I might take the cat out of the stables come time to level 60-70, but for now I'll stick to my Son of Hakkar~[/b]
The Windserpent will back to max range to fire off Lightning Breath, so auto-attacks do stop. This does lessen the amount Ferocious Inspiration procs, however, it means my windserpent has kited melee mobs. It also means my pet can continue dpsing melee classes like those in ZG that spin (Or have a cleave) without taking damage.
The cat may be better once I upgrade my bow and have a slower auto-shot, but since I crank out arrows like mad with the Hurricane, I need the Windserpents focus dump.
Also, Claw is mitigated by armor, Lightning Breath is not. I also pulled aggro from my cat auto-shotting with growl off. Not so for my Windserpent.
We were #2 on the damage meters for Anub, and #5 for Faerlina! This is in 6/8 T2 and nothing better. Not the best geared hunter by a long shot, let alone comparing to all those damn 5/8 rogues.
Yay for beast spec.
I very much doubt I'd ever leave my Dun Morogh cat for anything new -- and if I did, it'd have to be extremely appealing to pull me away.
You can respec your pets at the pet trainer. It costs money like a talent respec, and slowly ups over time in the same fashion, but it starts at 10 silver.
After the pet speed normalization all the cats will be the same except for their skins. :P
I just picked snarler at lvl 42 and I must say i'm very impressed. Right now I'm lvl 45 and I'm 31/5 BM so far. I say this snarler chomps the crap out of anything. Seeing my black ball of fur open up with a crit 200 bite with another crit 200 auto attack is very pleasing to the eyes.
I thought I was gonna be disspointed after trading my humar, but no regrets now. I haven't pvp heavily since I got him, so I don't know how he is gonna stack up. He may not be a great spell interrupter, but I think he will make his presence known.
All pets follow this formula for training points, (Loyalty level - 1) * level. If they already have a skill when you tame them, they'll be at negative training points (Meaning they have already paid the training points for the skill they have).
All pets have the same number of training points by level 60 at loyalty level 6.
I am now the proud owner of a new snake pet. His name is Trouser.
I see that name a LOT now. Like, every third or fourth snake seems to be named 'Trouser'. :P
I played Arathi Basin for the first time last night. According to my friend, who plays a Troll Hunter on Kilrogg (So, not in my battlegroup; I'm on Icecrown), horde always wins AB. The Alliance just tries to not get wasted with a 5 cap.
I played six games, won three. It was freakin' wicked. The second win was a 5 cap. Totally stuffed the horde into their graveyard.
At one point, I was at 25% health after a battle and a rogue got the drop on me. The stun didn't last and I layed a freezing trap and got the hell out of there. I was at 10%, at range and layed the hurt. He never touched me again.
A stealthed druid tried to take me at one point as well. A frost trap later, I was kiting him in a circle while my pet ate him for breakfast.
I never really pvped before as I had no hope of getting the GM ranked weapons. Now that I don't have to compete, it's just a grind, I decided to go for at least the Grand Marshal's Bullseye and considering how much fun I had I may get a pair of those one handed fast attack swords as well.
SniperGuyGaming on PSN / SniperGuy710 on Xbone Live
All three trees have at least some goodies to offer, and arguments can be made for a variety of different specs atm (there isn't one SUPREME spec). Even specs that look similar can differ on personal preference and experience.
I would say a general rule of thumb atm (some may argue otherwise, but they're dense): Avoid going too deep in the Survival Tree at the moment. Its upper-tier talents don't really compare to what BM or Marks can offer at the same levels. If you like using your pet, BM can make it (and yourself) into an unstoppable wrecking ball. If you like being more self-sufficient and putting out a boatload of damage yourself, take up Marks. If you're BM dump your extra points into Marks, and if you're Marks, dump your extra points into Survival (IMO). You can find some pretty cookie-cutter builds just about anywhere... I would suggest taking a look at some and seeing if they fit your playstyle. Modify as needed, and voila!
Keep in mind that the expansion is releasing in a month's time. With it, the level cap will be increased to 70. Whatever you choose now might not be the best for levelling (I, for one, am currently Marks but switching to BM for 60-70), so depending on how quick you're getting back into the game you might want to spec with future levelling in mind. Otherwise, spec as desired and respec when the expansion rolls around.