So I fell off the wagon

…the WoW sabbatical wagon, that is.

The other day I was commenting on my 2 week absence from Azeroth and how nice it was to divert that time and attention to other things. Well… last night I couldn’t resist the urge to queue for some arena matches. I mean, after all… I didn’t want my partner to start worrying about me. 😉

It’s funny just how long two short weeks can be in WoW time. It took me two matches to remember I was MM, and another two to remember where all my skills were. BM is hard coded into 4 1/2 years of WoW muscle memory, but MM is not. 😉

Anyway, it was fun getting some matches in. We didn’t do fabulous, but at least we made it to 1400 in our 2nd week since reforming the team, so I was able to get my Wrathful gloves.

Earlier in the season, we’d managed to top out at 1865 before we both were hacked. The perpetrators dismantled the arena team for some reason, so we had to start from scratch. I suppose I could’ve pressed for Blizz to restore it, but eh… no big. I also wanted to see how it’d go starting fresh with me as Marksmanship this go ’round.

Well… the jury’s still out on Marksmanship, as far as it working for us in arena. In fact, last night I dropped my PvE spec and went to a BM and MM dual PvP setup. I’m planning on spending the next couple of days determining which spec is going to be a better all-around choice for arena and BGs.

I’m an absolute juggernaut in BGs as MM, but it doesn’t feel quite as powerful with our combo in arena (Ret/Hunter). Having both of us be susceptible to CC is not a good vulnerability for double DPS. I feel like the 10 seconds of big-red-unstoppable-ass-kickery was working out well for us, because we need both of us active a good portion of the match in order to beat a lot of healer/DPS combos. Teams are also training me a lot more now that I’m more easily locked down.

At any rate, I’m going to alternate between the specs for the next few days and find what feels most comfortable overall. My guess… is I’ll probably gravitate back to Beast Mastery until Cataclysm. I really love Marksmanship for PvP, but as they say… you can spec the hunter out of Beast Mastery, but you can’t take the Beast Master out of the hunter. I’ve been a Beast Master for so long, it’s rough for me not having the spec.

Truth be told, I feel Marksmanship is superior to Beast Mastery for PvP. In fact, I’d say it’s a bit better than survival as well. However, I am still on the fence as to whether or not it’s a better fit for our double DPS 2v2.

In the half a dozen or so BGs I did last night as BM, I still felt very powerful, just not quite as beastly as when I’m MM. Yet, after queueing two weeks as MM in arena, I’m kinda missing Beast Mastery. The problem with arena is the line of sight issues it poses to us hunters, and the advantages and exploits it provides others. I often have to get closer than I’d like to my target in order to maintain pressure, which in turn makes me susceptible to CC. As a Beast Master, this is much less of an issue. I’m less likely to get CC’d, plus even if I am feared, sheeped, cycloned, blinded, rooted, stunned, you name it… my pet will still be chomping on their face.

Anyway… we’ll see how it goes. I’m sure we could use a little help in terms of Ret/MM strategy, but I dunno… I am missing my big red pet. 😉

So… it’s the start of a fun-filled week of PvPing, PvP pet taming and leveling. I’m planning on reuniting with my Chimaera, then taking the fast track to 80 with him by running a couple heroics. Once that’s done, I’ll begin my side-by-side comparison of the two specs. Should be fun. 🙂

As I said, I do feel that MM is probably the best end-game PvP spec at the moment, and at some point soon I’ll tackle a walk-through on how to spec, glyph, gem, which pet(s), which buttons to press and when, etc…

Lastly… anyone out there running a Ret Paladin / MM Hunter 2v2 setup? Having success with it? I’m open to any tips or suggestions.

I mean, we don’t totally suck, but I feel at times like we’re trying to cram a square block into a round hole vs some comps. I felt like we had more answers as Ret/BM, but then again… maybe we’re doing it wrong. 😉

Note to my readers: Please refrain from enlarging the thumbnail image at top right if you are sensitive to alcohol abuse. The tragedy depicted in that graphic photo may be too much to bear for some.