WoW Hunters

I don't know how many people are already using Power Auras, but here's a nice walkthrough for setting up a couple configurations. It's useful for keeping track of Serpent Sting*, Black Arrow, Lock and Load procs, Kill Shot, Hunter's Mark, buffs/debuffs, and so on. You could also set it up to show when you're in Pack or Viper, although I use AutoAspect to make sure I don't accidentally stay in Viper for too long.

Any other interesting uses of PA, or other mods? I might take a look at ForteXorcist tonight if I get a chance to set it up.

*It can't seem to differentiate SrS cast by you and other hunters, but you can use the timer function as well.

Yeah, I 100% second the recommendation of Power Auras.

Odd, I never seem to have a problem with that. This is with the "cast by you" option turned on for the specific aura?

Actually, for Serpent Sting I use two auras: one that counts down the duration of the SrS currently on the target cast by me, and one that shows a bubble over the counter when one is not present. Perhaps changing to a configuration like that would help with the issue you are having?

As I mentioned in the other thread, my core mods for managing my performance are PA and Quartz. I also use PA to see when proc abilities are currently active so that I can make better decisions about when to hit my big red murder buttons.

Other than that, I also use SCT (and SCTD) to have better scrolling combat text so I can make sure that me and my pet are always doing the damage we should be with our hits, and I use CDT cooldown timers (although these days PA is almost making those pointless). Everything else I have installed is for utility purposes primarily; Fubar and lots of extensions, Xperl, Bartender, Baggins, a few tooltip enhancing things, etc.

That looks sexy, but for now I'm good with what I'm currently using. Of course, let us know if it is super awesome.

Yeah, as far as leveling goes, BM is still probably your strongest option. That said, you'll be fine with either of the other two specs and both are (currently) better for end game raiding. As such, it might be worthwhile to level as MM or SV if you intend to raid as them so that you can get a feel for the differences in how they play as you level.

If you do go with BM, though, you can work your way towards any of the 53/X/X specs I posted above and you'll be just fine (the 55/X/X won't even begin to have value until 3.2). Some people prefer Endurance Training over Improved Hawk while leveling, but I don't see it as necessary. Other than that the core talents in BM are the same for soloing and raiding, but if you get annoyed by how frequently you have to go into Viper mode you could throw a point or two into invigoration.

For your bear leveling spec you'll want to start with something like this and work toward something like this if you go BM, or this if you go MM or SV and work toward something like the starting BM spec. Those specs are tuned for PvE soloing, mind you, with a nice mix of damage and survivability effects. You can also build a tenacity pet to be more focused on one aspect or the other, or you can get abilities with PvP or group play in mind, but those specs will be a nice middle ground appropriate for soloing.

As you approach 80 you're going to want to grab and level a ferocity pet or two. Currently wolves are top DPS pets for MM and SV, and wolves and devilsaurs are close competitors for BM. In 3.2 cats might be making a comeback, but other than that there doesn't look to be much change coming for pets. Your level 80 BM ferocity spec should look something like this. You'll notice that there is one point left over in that spec, though -- personally I like to either put it in bloodthirsty or boar's speed, but it can also be useful in charge (most raid mobs are immune to the charge effect, but it's unquestionably useful when you use the pet for soloing). If you go MM or SV you'll want this spec, although it's worthwhile to play with the spreadsheet to see if the last point will be more useful in shark attack or wild hunt.

Sorry, I forgot about that -- at level 80, you only want to go down to 3/5 when you have a very high crit rate, say 26-27% or greater (which works in conjunction with cobra strikes to keep frenzy up for your pet). Normally you would get to 4/5 there by floating a point over from spirit bond or mend pet, but for leveling you might actually prefer to keep those points in the healing talents. Also, you might consider going 1/2 in each of spirit bond and mend pet or even 2/2 in mend pet rather than the 2/2 I had in spirit bond. When leveling, the cleanse effect from mend pet is probably going to be more important than the bonus healing from spirit bond.

Yeah, I think I leveled with the beastial wrath and viper glyphs, and dropped viper for steady shot and serpent sting glyphs when I hit 80. For leveling, the viper glyph is almost certainly going to be more useful than either of those. (At 80, though, these days people often go with kill shot or hawk glyphs rather than the serpent sting one I'm currently using -- the math on that varies quite widely depending on the nature of the fight, though.)

Quite likely. Your bear will already be an AoE tanking machine, and that bonus healing will make him nigh indestructible. And as you noted regarding the steady shot glyph, a bit of extra damage isn't going to be hugely meaningful in most leveling contexts. Or to put it another way, if I had access to the T5 2 piece bonus for leveling, I would have kept it equipped probably all the way to 80 (despite that fact that by like 76 or 77 you'll see better gear stat-wise from quest/rep rewards).

EDIT: Oh, and one more note on the tenacity spec I posted: as a matter of preference, you might put a point into boar's speed, perhaps taken from avoidance. Honestly, though, while there is a very clear cut best ferocity spec, tenacity specs are a lot more fluid. The goal of the spec is to have a pet that stays alive and helps you kill fast, so you shouldn't hesitate to shift the balance of talents between damage and survivability of you are doing fine in one area or the other. If you use the Rift Stalker bonus in particular, you probably could get away with starting with something like this and leave blood of the rhino at 1/2 as you level to something along these lines.

I've dropped my account, but here's my two cents on 70-80 as a hunter: Spec MM w/ BM as your dual. When it comes to leveling efficiency, MM spanks BM so hard it's really not that funny. I was running AoV half as much MM spec'd as I was BM spec'd, and even at 80 that's not an uncommon occurence. Add in all the frontloaded damage you get from an MM spec, and you're pretty golden. Just make sure you use MD as often as possible.

The trick with MM is that your shots use way less mana, and you're less, since they're more damaging as well, with a generally better crit rate.

at 70 , as BM i am sitting with about 2100 ap and 30 crit and I believe I was hit capped with a food buff which I have about 90 of still in my bag. The issue I have is stat ratios will drop dramatically as I level though so I want to play a spec that when I hit 75 and my gear is obsolete it will still be powerful.

I have a different spec than most and find myself not using Viper if at all. I went with Rapid Recuperation that servers me very well unless I am running a lowbie through an old dungeon, then I drop into Viper or sit and drink. I haven't changed my spec too much when I was leveling and walked right into raiding. I have always been MM and probably will never change. I might DS into BM so I can have a Spirit Cat or T-Rex but that is just for show.

Point is just like Zero said every spec has their ups and downs. I always refer to WoW 1.0 when I say this. When playing a Hunter in WoW 1.0 MM was the easiest spec. In a group you sit back send in your pet to attack without really caring if it lived or died and just shot the target. BM was the step up because you had to split your focus from what you were doing and what was happening to your pet, so situational awareness started to enter your vocabulary. SV spec was ALL about situational awareness, with use of traps and a lot of the old talents like expose weakness and such.

Things have changed and the specs have grown from 1.0 but those basic tenants still hold true. Anyone can play a Hunter and most play MM but to really play a Hunter BM or SV were the ways to go to really learn the class.

I may be pigeon holing myself here since I said I have always been MM but I have learned to play a Hunter and I think I do it fairly well.

Oh no I use it all the time. Because I also have Rapid Killing which reduces my rapid fire cooldown by 2 minutes and with Rapid Recuperation I get 6% of my mana back which is more than enough for when I am solo'ing.

There's plenty of fail in that thread. Any MM hunter who doesn't fire Chimera Shot every single time it is off cooldown should have his hunting license taken away.

MM isn't too hard, but a lot of folks put too much into the science instead of the art of it.

MM hunters should be using traps (to reduce the number of mobs you're facing), Silencing Shot (a silenced caster means your group takes less damage), Rapid Fire/Steady Shot (to recharge your mana when you're low) and Kill Shot/Readiness/Kill Shot in boss fights.

Folks typically present their rotations as Stone Cold Fact when, really, there are a lot of situations that require you to do something other than to press the same buttons in the same order.

Alright that is one powerful gun.

So I just got back into playing as my dwarf hunter, now I haven't played him since WoW 1.1 but I've already got him up to level 67 in the last week or so. I recently respecced to Survival as I'm grouping with a Warlock and I wanted to become a mana battery, plus it seemed that as a BM I wasn't dealing enough damage before the Warlock would nuke the mob to death. Also I'm horrible about switching out of Aspect of the Viper.

My question to you far more experienced hunters is whether there is a superior leveling build for burst damage? I've learned rather quickly that all of my old knowledge from 1.1 is very irrelevant at this point.

You can't go wrong with Marksman if you're looking for burst damage while leveling.

Hunter's Mark/Pet Attack --> Serpent Sting --> Chimera Shot --> Aimed Shot --> Arcane Shot --> Kill Shot. Figure that you'll get two or three Auto Shots in there. Combine that with pet damage, and there won't be much left of whatever you're shooting at. Plus it'll die fast.

Of course, this will blow through mana, so you'll have to get used to switching into and out of Viper. That's just the breaks.

My build (11/55/5) is linked below. I'm fine with it, but the EJ Approved build is more along the lines of 7/57/7 -- you take points out of Endurance Training (BM) and Aspect Mastery (BM) and put them in Survival Instincts and in either Efficiency, Imp. Barrage or Wild Quiver.

I could probably do a better job with my glyphs, but Serpent Sting is the only must have b/c it increases your Chimera Shot damage.

All that said, I'm not sure how you'll fare with a warlock. They're all about blowing things up in spectacular fashion.

Good luck!

"Smells faintly of raspberries." Haha.

BRK apparently had this thing for raspberries, especially in drinks. Yeah, I read most of what he read, but I completely whiffed on the reference until I looked it up.