The silencing shot macro linked to Chim worked beautifully, Psycho and my dps tipped over 8k average for boss fights, and for a few of the fights topped over 10k. How far I have come since everyone's help here, thank you.
Tak, that addon is brilliant. I am also using it with Aspect, which flashes a different color when not in dragonhawk, so it's been a hilarious adjustment trying to link the grey matter with the red and blue flashes.
Now, i'd like to work on some kind of trash clearance, so that I am not single-targeting the mobs and taking them down that way. I see Volley high up on the charts, and the other hunters say they are using macros, only not which ones. The ones I am finding are mana hogs, and as a blood elf, my instinct is to tie it to arcane torrent, however, have yet to find a macro that still doesn't slurp up my mana. Any suggestions? Or are there alternatives or should I not even bother with Volley?
Based on my experiences (normals not heroics, and levelling gear, therefore your mana pool/damage expectations may vary :D) - Volley uses a lot of mana. It just does, and I tend to concentrate on ways to regain/regen mana without dratically reducing my 'volley uptime'.
If you have at least three mobs then I say
misdirect-> Multi-shot -> Volley, Volley [AotV] Multi-shot [AotDH] Volley, Volley, [AotV] Multi-shot [AotDH] Volley, Volley etc...
can help, if you're expecting a long pull.
More often, I just use volley and multishot in DH and switch to Viper between pulls (don't forget to autoshoot critters for extra mana regen!)
I don't see how Volley could really BE macro'd to anything useful, in terms of mana regen.
If you have less than three mobs (or, for example, a big tough one with two weenie adds) then I'd stay single-target and just use multishot to get the others. It may also be worth Serpent Stinging each of them before settling into your rotation.
I normally dont Volley unless its a mob of three or more. When I am using Volley, I just AotV in between fights and it keeps me going. I also carry lots of runic mana pots with me.
Wow, thank you Mock, I appreciate it. I do flip between Viper and Dragonhawk in between fights, and have it macro'd. My concern are the trash mobs in ICC at the start of the fights. The tanks are chain pulling them at this point and I do run out of mana quickly. there are usually anywhere from 5-10 mobs, and if they pull two groups it's a bit of a dance.
Tak, I don't normally volley either. I just don't care for it, and i tend to do more damage when I don't use it. Mock, htting each mob with SS before settling in is something i've read about but haven't yet tried. Maybe tonight.