An old friend

Uhk'Loc

Last week I went to the cave at Fungal Rock in Un’Goro Crater to reunite with an old friend. Uhk,Loc, or Mongo as I refer to him, was not there when I arrived. The next day however, I found him waiting patiently right as I logged in. 🙂

He’s been one of my all-time favorite pets, with this being the fourth timed I’ve tamed him over the years. Each time I’ve let him go it’s been a tough decision, but I always do so with the notion that I’ll probably be back to call upon him again at some point.

My reason for taming him yet again is not only because I missed him, but because I want to try him out as a new PvP companion. I’ve never been one to blindly follow the herd, which is why I’m looking at making a gorilla and ravager my two primary PvP pets since going Marksmanship.

Also, I don’t do f**king spiders. I think they’re outstanding pets for PvP, but you won’t catch me with one. I’ve tried to bring myself to use them, but it just ain’t gonna happen.

There are some players who would PvP or raid with an untextured cube if it provided the best utility or DPS. Not me. I like my pets to have some character… some personality… individuality and perhaps a story. Spiders don’t offer me that.

I even tried to change my view on them. Some months back I ventured into the cave in Dustwallow Marsh where the Darkmist Widow lurks. I figured that maybe an uncommon rare spawn spider would be worthy of taming, but once I got it, I couldn’t abandon it fast enough. I’m fine with spiders in the real world, but as a pet in World of Warcraft… no thanks. I prefer pets with two eyes, not eight. 😉

Darkmist Widow

When you join a BG, 4 out of 5 times you’re going to see hunters with spiders for pets. There will be an occasional crab, wolf or Core Hound, but most the time it’s gonna be spiders. Blech! Web is a great ability and their spot in PvP is well deserved, but that’s not enough to make me want to keep one of those ghastly things by my side.

Since a Ravager is my answer for a cunning pet, I wanted to fill my stable out with a second PvP pet, this one being Tenacity. I usually run with a crab when I PvP as a spec that’s not Beast Mastery, but this time I’m trying something different. I’m going to run with a gorilla not only because they’re just freaking cool, but because of the 2 second silence they provide.

Currently, the two classes that give me the most trouble are Warlocks and those that begin with Shadow and end with Priest. Basically, the two DoT-and-run classes. I win many of those battles, but it can be a struggle versus a well-geared one, and without cooldowns. I’m thinking that the additional 2 second silence on a 30 sec cooldown will help out a bit in that department.

Although the Ravager is tough to beat in my opinion, having access to a Tenacity pet is also important. Mainly due to Roar of Sacrifice and Intervene – two huge abilities that enhance survivability. Also, let’s not forget Charge.

Anyway, my plan now is to fine-tune my UI some for MM PvP. Meaning, create some new Power Auras and possibly some additional NeedToKnow timers. That was actually my intention a few weeks ago before I was hacked, but since then I’ve lost some of my drive. Our arena team was dismantled as a result of the hacking, and with all of the business going on outside of WoW the past few weeks, I haven’t been in a hurry to get back to it. However, I think I’m about ready to get the Hunter/Ret pain-train rolling again – this time with me as Marks.

We’d sort of hit our proverbial glass ceiling with our Ret/BM combo anyway, somewhere in the 1860s. If we can get enough matches in before the season ends, maybe we’ll be able to at least get our helmets. Wishful thinking perhaps, but it’d be at least fun to try. 🙂

I’ve not been playing all that much lately (on Garwulf anyway), which is why things have been somewhat quiet around here. I had a lot of steam earlier in the month, but the hacking sort of took the wind out of my sails. I did manage to get all of my things back about 10 days ago, and I feel I’m about ready to start doing some hardcore huntering again.

On a side note, I broke down and crafted my Rock-Steady Treads. They cost me a pretty penny, but finally my raiding gear is resilience-free!

12 thoughts on “An old friend”

  1. Call me a newb but….someone in trade was looking for a “Pro BM Hunter…with Beastcleave 2k…I haven’t played the BM spec in a while but…could someone enlighten me?

    Reply
    • Beastcleave typically refers to BM hunter + Enhance shammy. The strategy involves nuking an opponent into oblivion by blowing all cooldowns at once, ie: Big Red Pet, Spirit Wolves, Heroism.

      The terms become way overused now, but a true beastcleave team is either BM/Enh 2v2 or BM/Enh/healer in 3v3.

      The player in trade was likely looking for a BM hunter w/ 2K+ arena rating experience with that combo.

      Reply
  2. If you want a good pet for marks pvp, get a serpent. It’s mostly usable on arena, without its ability to protect your serpent sting, dispelers will crap on you 🙁

    Reply
    • I haven’t been doing any arena lately, but I may very well look at a Serpent if I start up again. That was one of the pets I’d planned on trying for the masking of the sting.

      So far in BGs it’s not been much of a problem, but I know that in arena, especially in the higher levels, MM damage can really get nerfed if the opposing team is good with the dispels.

      Also, the cast speed debuff is nice too. Thanks again for the reminder.

      Reply
  3. Hey! I dont comment too often on posts but I wanted to ask if everyone has had the same experience I have had im regards to GrapeApe. I know he is white but GrapeApe was perfectly fitting for my White Gorilla.

    I have found that Uhk,Loc is always sitting in the cave at the beginning of the server restart on Tuesday’s. Now granted there has been several patches since I have tamed him and I know computers about like I know soup-sandwhiches.

    If anyone has not tamed him, that might give you a great opportunity to reign in this Guggenheim of Gorillas.

    Reply
    • Yeah, I knew about Lady Sathrah. That’s one of the more memorable quests from the NE starting area. She is a quest objective, but she’s not rare. She’s just an uncommon model for that area.

      I’d actually thought about going after Rekk’talic because he has an unusual look, but once I got to Searing Gorge and was about to tame, I thought… no way. These just look silly. My opinion anyway.

      I’m really particular about my pets. 😉

      Reply
  4. To drive casters crazy, don’t forget you have two more interrupts if they are targeting you: Feign Death and Shadowmeld. If you’re quick with your buttons, you can interrupt pretty much everything they cast at you with all those tools!

    Reply

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