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Quick Status Update
Mar 8th
Hey folks — first off, I’m sorry it’s taking me so long to get through the spec posts. Real life is taking over for a bit, so posting will be sporatic.
There’s been a bunch of news regarding BM huntering –which is pretty sweet. I’ll run some tests on the PTR hopefully soon, if not once servers go live.
In the meantime, here’s a kitty.
What’s that talent do? Marksman (Part 4)
Feb 26th
Come here often?
I’m going to cover the next 5 talents in the Marksman tree you’ll typically find in the 7/57/7 build.
- Rank 1 – Increases your total Agility and Intellect by 2%.
- Rank 2 – Increases your total Agility and Intellect by 4%.
This talent combined with Careful Aim increases your DPS significantly. Agility, AP, and for now Intellect (in this case) all help your DPS, so this talent makes perfect sense. Should be maxed out at 2/2.
- Rank 1 – Increases the damage you deal with ranged weapons by 1%.
- Rank 2 – Increases the damage you deal with ranged weapons by 3%.
- Rank 3 – Increases the damage you deal with ranged weapons by 5%.
Pretty self-explanatory. This talent directly increases the damage output from your ranged weapon. If you’re worried about your melee damage, you ought to check your goals as a hunter. 
- Rank 1 – Your critical Aimed, Steady and Chimera Shots cause the target to bleed for 10% of the damage dealt over 8 sec.
- Rank 2 – Your critical Aimed, Steady and Chimera Shots cause the target to bleed for 20% of the damage dealt over 8 sec.
- Rank 3 – Your critical Aimed, Steady and Chimera Shots cause the target to bleed for 30% of the damage dealt over 8 sec.
This is such an awesome talent. It is up more than not, which is great — free damage for the win.
Reader Question: Hunter hate?
Feb 21st
I recently received this letter from a reader named Mike.
I have raided everything in the game as either a healer, mage, or rogue (mainly a healer). Now I play a hunter. I have to be perfectly honest with you. Hunters are treated like crap! I’ve noticed I have to be perfect just to keep people from saying snide comments. I’ve made mistakes on my other toons and have even screwed up so bad that I wiped a raid but never received any disrespect ever. Especially as a healer.
Now that I’m a hunter I am doing better dps than I ever have and I feel I’m doing a great job. But people seem to want to think hunter=bad player by default. You have to prove yourself constantly.
I really love my hunter and won’t stop playing him no matter what but am very curious to hear what you have to say about this prejudice towards a class. I’m sure at some point I’ll be able to prove myself but it feels like an uphill battle. My rogue got better treatment.
I wish I could say this wasn’t the norm, but it seems to be true. It is very easy to be a bad hunter. Many people pick hunters to level as their first character for a couple reasons:
- It’s easy.
- You get a pet.
Remember, just because it’s easy, doesn’t mean you’re good at playing the class.
I can’t say that I’ve been the victim of hunter-hate lately, but I also tend to be one of the best-geared people in any PUG that I’ve been in. For whatever reason, people who see a high gear score tend to keep their mouth shut unless you’re doing something horribly wrong. Those people are probably using GearScore wrong! Just because you have the gear, doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing.
Now, I’m not sure what sorts of numbers you’re pulling, what kinds of groupings you’ve had, or the type of gear you’re working with. All of that may be factoring into how you’re being treated, but realistically, it’s up to you to re-establish the standard of what a good hunter is. You can’t change what others preconceived notions are, but you can change their opinion of you. Take what they say with a grain of salt, play your hunter well, and you may change their opinions. I know it’s difficult to do, but the general opinion won’t change unless more people run across hunters who aren’t bad. Getting defensive or grouchy about someone else’s opinions is only going to make you frustrated.
If you have any questions you’d like to ask, feel free to drop me an email, or use the Contact link at the top of my blog.
Thanks Mike for your question!
What’s that talent do? Marksman (Part 3)
Feb 19th
Today we’re going to cover your next 3 talents you should spec into.
In my previous entries, we’ve covered through Go For the Throat, Improved Arcane Shot, Aimed Shot and Rapid Killing.
Right now we’re going to look at Improved Stings, Readiness, and Barrage.
- Rank 1 – Increases the damage done by your Serpent Sting and Wyvern Sting by 10% and the mana drained by your Viper Sting by 10%. In addition, reduces the chance your Sting damage over time effects will be dispelled by 10%.
- Rank 2 – Increases the damage done by your Serpent Sting and Wyvern Sting by 20% and the mana drained by your Viper Sting by 20%. In addition, reduces the chance your Sting damage over time effects will be dispelled by 20%.
- Rank 3 – Increases the damage done by your Serpent Sting and Wyvern Sting by 30% and the mana drained by your Viper Sting by 30%. In addition, reduces the chance your Sting damage over time effects will be dispelled by 30%.
Improved Stings ultimately helps you in the long run 3 different ways:
- Increases your DPS output with your Serpent Sting.
- If you’re running low on mana, you’re going to regenerate it faster with Viper Sting.
- In PvP or in a fight like Faction Champions in ToC, your Serpent Sting will be dispelled less.
Why not Efficiency?
What’s that talent do? Marksman (Part 2)
Feb 15th
Welcome back!
Here we’re going to look at the third tier of talents for the typical 7/57/7 build Marksman hunter.
You’ll notice that there’s points in every single one of these talents — which may change based on your gear, so just keep that in mind.
Go for the Throat (1/2)
- Rank 1 – Your ranged critical hits cause your pet to generate 25 Focus.
- Rank 2 – Your ranged critical hits cause your pet to generate 50 Focus.
Why only one point here? Well, remember, as a MM, you’re critting all the time. Because of that, your pet has a constant flow of Focus that never seems to run out. Generating 50 focus every crit you deliver would be a waste since you do crit so often. Fido’s Focus dump ability has a cooldown on it, and you’re critting more frequently than that, so one point here is more than enough.
- Rank 1 – Increases the damage done by your Arcane Shot by 5%.
- Rank 2 – Increases the damage done by your Arcane Shot by 10%.
- Rank 3 – Increases the damage done by your Arcane Shot by 15%.
This talent is one that can be taken or left. It all depends on how your gear plays out. If you are chasing Armor Penetration, this is likely going to be 3 points you can move elsewhere. Personally, I really like having it, despite chasing ArP because it gives me another instant shot with a short cooldown that hits like a Mack Truck when I’m moving. Most end-game fights aren’t stand and DPS fights, so you may see some benefit to this talent. If your Steady Shot is constantly hitting for more than your Arcane Shot, and you’re proficient with stutter-stepping to not miss auto-shots, then this talent can be skipped also. Getting really proficient with stutter-stepping takes a lot of practice though, so keep that in mind if you decide to drop another instant shot from your rotation. Good trade-offs for this talent are: Focused Aim if you’re low on hit, or Improved Barrage (more details on this later on in this series).
Glory of the Hero
Abuse the Ooze
The Orb Whisperer (25 player)
The Crimson Hall (25 player)
Perma-Peddle
