Becoming a better hunter

Nogtooth said:Lok'Tar, Garwulf… I be Nogtooth, mon. *nogtooth pauses for a moment* Now I no dat you be Alliance, but les work togeather on dis one. *nogtooth grins*

http://www.wowarmory.com/chara.....n=Nogtooth

Alright Garwulf (and ne1 else reading) I have several questions that've been on my mind for the past few days. Any help would be appreciated.

I would like to PVP and PVE.

for PVP, I have 1 furious, 6 relentless, 1 wrathful & 2 wintergrasp

for PVE, i have two T9, and one T10

…..

for PVP, I play survival. I have a lot of fun with low trap cooldowns, scatter shot, wyvern sting, etc.

I use a Hyena for slow or Bird of Prey for disarm.

I'd recommend a spider or crab for PvP. Hyenas aren't bad, but they're a bit squishy. Also, the spider's root is easily the most OP pet ability available for a non-BM Hunter. Birds of Prey are a bit weak. Try a spider and/or crab and get back to me.

…..

for PVE I'm not really sure what I can do to get the best DPS. I ran VoA four times in the last two days. (two before the reset and two thismorning)

I was at about 2900 DPS… Not something I'm proud of. I feel this is because of two reasons:

1) My hit rating = 153. (nowhere near 263) You need to get hit capped ASAP.

2) I am specc'd for Arena PVP. Not a good idea for raiding.

I bought the dual spec, so I just need to decide what the best PVE survival build would be. Probably just getting rid of scatter shot/trap talents/ more sniper training, etc.

Here's the build you want: http://www.wowhead.com/talent#.....tdAhsk:NAf

Also, I'm not sure if my wolf has the most efficient PVE DPS spec.

Close, but not quite there… Here's the build: http://www.wowhead.com/petcalc.....00sc00hooo

…..

My PVP glyphs: MAJOR- Explosive shot/Deterrence. MINOR- feign death

You're missing Glyph of Aimed Shot. Gotta have it.

My PVE glyphs: MAJOR- Explosive shot/Serpent sting/Steady shot. MINOR- mend pet/feign death/scare beast

I'm obviously going to drop PVE scare beast and pick up PVP mend pet/scare beast. Then I COULD swap the PVE major glyph Steady Shot for Kill Shot.

Now you're talking…

However the thing i'm confused about, is why Steady Shot is never in anybody's shot rotations. What am I supposed to be doing when explosive shot is on cooldown, and Serpent Sting/Black Arrow are already applied?

Steady Shot is most definitely in the rotation, it's just last in the priority is all.

Maybe I should add Aimed shot to my spec, then use that when everything else is on cooldown. I guess this would be better too, since it gets bonuses from sniper training.

That's what I'm talkin' about…

…..

PVP Gear – Next week I'll have enough Arena pts to get another Relentless. Grats! And a few days of doing BGs should get me the Wrathful Cloak & Wrists.

Grats again!

Also, as soon as my 2's group gets to 1300 rating i'll pick up a Wrathful belt. 1400 rating = wrathful shoes, etc.

Good call.

For trinkets I've got Medallion of the Horde & Platinum Disks of Battle.

I'm fairly happy with these. Is there anything I should get instead of these?

Those are great. Unless you can obtain Whispering Fanged Skull or Deathbringer's Will, I'd stick with Platinum Discs. The ilvl 264 medallion is awesome.

…..

PVE Gear – I could buy the T9 chest, which would give me 55 hit rating.

Don't do it.

Or I could pick up the T9 chest that requires a [Trophy of the Crusade] (63 hit rating) However, I've never even been in ToC & I probably don't do enough DPS to get in anyhow.

Don't worry about it. Skip to T10.

Also, I'm at 38 frost, so hopefully in the near future I can get my 2nd T10 for the 2 set bonus.

There you go.

I don't have any PVE trinkets, but I'm thinking about getting Mirror of Truth/Banner of Victory. 2k buffs in attack power sounds tasty. However maybe I need trinket(s) that give hit rating instead…

Those trinkets are perfect for you. Use my build and you won't need to worry about hit for now.

…..

What's with spell penetration for explosive shot? I do a lot of arenas, so should I get this to 75?

(I have 0) I could drop my flexweave underlay, add +20 spell penetration enchant, and then stick two +25 gems in random blue sockets in my gear. 70 isn't going to be as great as 75, but 70 is certainly better than 0.

Spell Pen is for cutting through GotW. Resists can really nerf the damage of Explosive Shot (GotW, Fire Resist Aura,…). 75 spell pen takes care of that. I'd keep your cape enchant. It's great for PvP. Get the spell pen via gems.

…..

Right now I don't have any gems or enchants.

I had initially tried to copy what you had going on in you're armory page, but you were wearing some Wrathful, and some T10 at the time. the Wrathful had +attack power and +crit, while the T10 had straight +20 agility. (i think, i don't remember for sure)

So is PVP and PVE gear usually gemmed differently? Or just based on "do i need more resilliance, do i need more hit rating, etc) I know agility scales in raid buffs, so is that why in PVE you want agility, but in PVP you want attack power/crit?

For PvE as SV, you want agility – that's it. All red sockets should be filled with Delicate Cardinal Rubies. Yellow sockets hould contain either Glinting or Deadly Ametrines, depending on whether or not you need hit. Blue sockets should contain agility gems as well, apart from one – in that socket you'll stick a Nightmare Tear to meet your meta gem requirement.

Disclaimer: A lot of people will scream noob if they see you gemming for socket bonuses in blue sockets. I say f**k them. I actually gem for the bonuses in a couple of my blue sockets. Here's why…

Sometimes I mix and match my gear for PvP. I always socket for the bonuses with PvP, because I want the most stats obtainable. Second, survival is more forgiving with blue sockets, because our Hunter vs. Wild talent translates 30% of our stamina to AP. Furthermore, Survivalist grants us 10% additional stamina.

As a SV Hunter, you not only get the socket bonus from meeting the blue gem requirement, but you also net 5AP from the Shifting Dreadstone. More health is never a bad thing anyway. Honestly, in most of my spreadsheet tests, it ends up being like a 7dps difference at best in the most extreme cases.

For PvP, you need this:

• 75 Spell Pen
• 165 Hit Rating
• The rest should go into agility, crit, stamina, in that order. (Delicate Cardinals, Deadly Ametrines, Shifting Dreadstones)

Thanks for stopping by Nog. Sorry I missed you tonight. I ended up logging immediately after the raid.

I hope this info helps you, but from what I can tell, you seem like you've done some homework and are headed in the right direction already.

Best,

Gar

Thanks so much for the reply, Garwulf!

two questions -
1) Relentless Earthsiege Diamond or Nightmare Tear for meta?

2) Follow the gemming method you posted for both PVE AND PVP?

It's always Agility red, Agility+crit or +hit yellow, and Agility+stam blue?

Would it be stupid to just fill every socket in my (future) wrathful with all Delicate Cardinal Rubies? Your gemming details you wrote me were labled "for PVE" so I was kinda unsure.

Also, Since I'm at 153 hit rating with no PVE trinket, I might pick up a Mark of Supremacy for 50 triumph.

It's a +1000 attack power on use with a passive +128 hit rating, which brings me to 281. It's a bit much, but this method will be cheaper than buying 5 "Stormy Majestic Zircon" at 225 gold each on the AH.

What do you think?

Nogtooth said:

Thanks so much for the reply, Garwulf!

two questions -
1) Relentless Earthsiege Diamond or Nightmare Tear for meta?

2) Follow the gemming method you posted for both PVE AND PVP?

It's always Agility red, Agility+crit or +hit yellow, and Agility+stam blue?

Would it be stupid to just fill every socket in my (future) wrathful with all Delicate Cardinal Rubies? Your gemming details you wrote me were labled "for PVE" so I was kinda unsure.

Also, Since I'm at 153 hit rating with no PVE trinket, I might pick up a Mark of Supremacy for 50 triumph.

It's a +1000 attack power on use with a passive +128 hit rating, which brings me to 281. It's a bit much, but this method will be cheaper than buying 5 "Stormy Majestic Zircon" at 225 gold each on the AH.

What do you think?

Nightmare Tear is a Prismatic gem, which is different than a meta. It provides +10 to all stats and it can be socketed in any color slot. This is why it is a good choice for use on a blue socket.

My PvP gemming suggestions are at the end of that post. In short, PvP gemming is basically the same as PvE, apart from the fact that you want to gem a combination of Spell Pen/Stamina + Agility in the blue sockets.

I suggest 3x Stormy Majestic Zircon and a Nightmare Tear in your blue sockets. Shifting Dreadstones for the rest, if you have more than 4 for any reason...

Delicate Cardinal Rubies in the red sockets and Deadly Ametrines in the yellow.

As for the Mark of Supremacy... stay away. Use the build I suggested and your hit problems will vanish. 3/3 in Focused Aim, along with a glinting Ametrine in one of your yellow sockets and you'll be golden.

In my last post, I wrote...
"It's a +1000 attack power on use with a passive +128 hit rating which brings me to 281. It's a bit much, but this method will be cheaper than buying 5 "Stormy Majestic Zircon" at 225 gold each on the AH."

I meant to say...
I have 153 hit rating. I need 263. It will take 11 "Glinting Ametrine"s to get me hitcapped for level 83's in PVE. A Glinting Ametrine is ~200 gold. So That's why I was weighing a 50 triumph trinket versus 2,200 gold over the auction house.

After I spec'd to what you reccomended, I swapped back and forth, keeping an eye on my hit rating. (with 3/3 Focused Aim in one spec, and 0/3 Focused Aim in the other)

However my Ranged Hit Rating stays at 153. I thought that maybe the window was bugged, so I logged out between swaps. Still, the number stayed at 153.

I went and spent ~200 gold on a Glinting Ametrine to see if I could make some magic happen. However, when I socketed it in my helmet, I simply got the "+10 hit rating" it promised in the description. So now my attack rating = 163.

Pretty confusing stuff, but I'm sure I'm just missing something.

Thanks!

Nogtooth said:

In my last post, I wrote…
"It's a +1000 attack power on use with a passive +128 hit rating which brings me to 281. It's a bit much, but this method will be cheaper than buying 5 "Stormy Majestic Zircon" at 225 gold each on the AH."

I meant to say…
I have 153 hit rating. I need 263. It will take 11 "Glinting Ametrine"s to get me hitcapped for level 83's in PVE. A Glinting Ametrine is ~200 gold. So That's why I was weighing a 50 triumph trinket versus 2,200 gold over the auction house.

After I spec'd to what you reccomended, I swapped back and forth, keeping an eye on my hit rating. (with 3/3 Focused Aim in one spec, and 0/3 Focused Aim in the other)

However my Ranged Hit Rating stays at 153. I thought that maybe the window was bugged, so I logged out between swaps. Still, the number stayed at 153.

I went and spent ~200 gold on a Glinting Ametrine to see if I could make some magic happen. However, when I socketed it in my helmet, I simply got the "+10 hit rating" it promised in the description. So now my attack rating = 163.

Pretty confusing stuff, but I'm sure I'm just missing something.

Thanks!

The way hit rating works is that you need an 8% increased chance to hit. With 163 you're just a hair under 5%. Each point in Focused Aim is worth 1%, so with 3 points, you'll be extremely close to 8%.

Focused Aim is only reflected in the hit percentage ad not hit rating, so that's why your tooltip still says 163. However, you are getting the added +3% increased hit – trust me.

If upgrades are flowing in like crazy, I wouldn't sweat it too much if you're sitting somewhere around 7.98% for example. Chances are you will have a Draenei around to buff you with their racial, putting you well above hit cap.

Ideally, you should be at 165 hit rating before 3/3 Focused Aim, but like I said, it's not that big of a deal at this point.

Now… if you do happen to acquire some upgrade(s) which contain hit in the near future, you can drop one point from FA for every 33 hit rating you obtain. So, if you get some piece of gear with 38 hit, then you could safely pull a point from FA and put it in Hunting Party.

Update: I'm really sorry here Nog, but soemthing just dawned on me… You mentioned having 2pcs of T9.

Your build should actually look like this: http://www.wowhead.com/talent#.....tdAhsk:NAf

Improved Stings is really important for the 2pc T9 bonus. That build simply borrows points from Lethal Shots and puts them in Improved Stings.

It was late last night when I got to your post, so I was slippin' a bit.

Ah, I didn't realize that Focused Aim was an invisible buff.

Because even when I hovered over my Hit Rating and then switched back and forth between my specs it stayed at 4.97%

However if the Focused Aim is actually working, then my Hit rating = 7.97! Sounds pretty good to me.

You're right, that trinket I wanted would have added 3.90 hit rating, putting me at 11.87. what a waste!

Trinket slots are really valuable, so it's better to shoot for something like Whispering Fanged Skull instead of Mark of Supremacy. As long as you're hit-capped, all it's doing is giving you the on-use buff and nothing passive.

I'm anxious to hear how your DPS and PvP performance(s) are doing since my suggestions. Let me know. 😀

I just bought T10 shoulders, but they have 0 hit rating, while the T9's have 1.43%.
I cannot PVE with a +6.54% ranged hit rating. So I feel I have four choices…

1. wear my T9s and keep myself at the +7.97% I've been at…
2. Buy the mark of supremacy, making my hit rating +10.44%
3. Buy two yellow gems (Rigid King's Amber) making my hit rating +7.75%
4. Buy three yellow gems (Rigid King's Amber) making my hit rating +8.36%

I have T10 shoulders/gloves, and I have T9 head/shoulders.

I'm thinking of choosing either option 2 or 4, then leaving my shoulders on, for the T10 set bonus, then buying the T9 legs to get back my T9 set bonus.

What do you think?

Are you factoring in dropping points from Focused Aim provided you purchase the Mark of Supremacy?

If not, that would probably be the most cost effective stop-gap for being hit-capped for now.

If you can pull two points from there, making your hit 8.44%, then that would be my recommendation.

Hello there!

I'd like to start by thanking you. You've been an amazing role model for me.

If I had sent my origonal post to anybody else, they would have responded with "The best spec is the one you enjoy the most" and all of that unhelpful nonsense that I don't want to hear.

You told me "This is the best spec for you" and "You need to gem this way". You gave me something to look forward to and I worked hard to get it.

Nearly every piece of my gear has been upgraded since we've last spoken. I've been attending ICCs regularly, and my gearscore (or garscore, as I like to think of it) is increasing steadily. (5800 addon, 3099 wow-heroes)

Here is my current gear. (Red is what i've been looking for in ICC, etc.)

<-- CLICKY

My DPS is amazing. It's around 7600+ in VoA and anywhere between 8-13k in ICC. I crit on over 80% of my explosive shots and I'm always at the top of both "damage done" and "dps" in my recount window. (I'm survival now, remember.)

Now, my plan was to gather more ilvl 264 hunter gear (which mostly all give ArP) then swap/gem for MM. However, I just realised that patch 4.0 is coming soon- meaning ArP is about to disappear.

I suppose now the only thing to do is to start saving up Honor/Arena for the "new honor" as well as Frost/Triumph for the new "justice points". Then I guess i'll grind to 85 and buy myself some new blues. (eww)

But I guess that's what we're all doing. Thoughts?

Thanks! -Nog

T10 gloves are better than Logsplitters, since you want the 4 set bonus.

*nods at Nogtooth*  Garwulf be a good sorts mon, even doh he be Alliance. He been helpin' me out wit all sorts of tings, so I not be holdin' it against 'im. *grins*

Gar has pretty much covered anything I could think of. Hope it works out for you.

Thanks for the kuddos, dude, and love your icon.   Pretty sure Tak thinks it rocks the world.  hehehe!

Yes, that is what I am doing, however, am also trying hard to learn everything I can about the new guild leveling system.  I am gl of a large social guild, and do not want Cat Day 1 to start off with "Hey Niika, how come I don't get all my loot money?" and "Hey Niika, how do I get a scorpid mount?" and "Hey Niika, how can I craft you all Level 85 Epic Gear quickly so that you don't have to pay a dime when you reach 85..."

...okay, that last one is a total pipe dream, but it can happen!

As for me as a hunter, I'm reading anything I possibly can on theorycrafting for both my priest and my hunter, and listening. Gathering Frost and Triumph, will get all my heirloom gear tonight (I have a huge download coming in from Blizzard this morning, and just listening to rumors) and will go from there.

Bump, so that Gar can see my post.

Also, note that each Frost/Triumph is worth 11.58 Justice Points. This means that you need 345 emblems, combined, to hit the cap.

(Going over this cap turns each Frost/Triumph into 47.5 silver each. DO NOT GRIND OVER THIS CAP!)