{"id":8117,"date":"2010-10-14T21:40:02","date_gmt":"2010-10-15T05:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/huntsmanslodge.flywheelsites.com\/?p=8117"},"modified":"2011-11-21T21:31:36","modified_gmt":"2011-11-22T05:31:36","slug":"the-first-two-days-of-4-0-1-other-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huntsmanslodge.com\/staging\/8117\/the-first-two-days-of-4-0-1-other-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"The first two days of 4.0.1 & other thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"

I haven’t been able to do a whole heck of a lot, but here’s what’s gone on…<\/p>\n

As mentioned in the previous post<\/a>, I’ve decided to focus on Beast Mastery at the moment; wrapping my head around it, then focusing on MM & SV once I feel comfortable with BM.<\/p>\n

The PvP spec I’m going to try looks like this: http:\/\/www.wowhead.com\/talent#cfhfckGdRRoZh<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m not saying this is a recommended BM PvP spec, but it’s what made sense to me – for BM anyway. As for glyphs, I haven’t gotten that far yet.<\/p>\n

The PvE spec I went with looks like this: http:\/\/www.wowhead.com\/talent#cfhfckGzRRobZc:zsVcVsMz0<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Hunter<\/a>The only talent I’m on the fence about is Pathing<\/a>. With Focus Fire up, I’ve got an already well-hasted 1.5 second Steady Shot cast time. Toss in the occasional proc from Needle Encrusted Scorpion<\/a> (1.27 sec w\/ buff), Potion of Speed, Ancient Hysteria or Rapid Fire (1.1 sec w\/ buff), and I’m fast approaching a 1 second cast time – self buffed. Add a Windfury Totem to that and\/or some stacking haste procs, and I’ll be reaching below the 1 sec global cooldown threshold.<\/p>\n

This is also after<\/span><\/em> <\/em>reforging all of my haste in favor of Mastery. The image at right gives some examples of my Steady Shot cast times at my haste level, while self-buffed, and using no stacking haste or attack speed buffs. Even without Serpent’s Swiftness, BM hunters are still hasty. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

As you can see, I’m already pretty well hasted, so I’m thinking I may steal some points from Pathing and dump them into Improved Serpent Sting<\/a>. I’m also not seeing focus regen being a problem as a Beast Master. We are well hasted by default, plus we have a plethora of talents to help prevent us from becoming focus-starved.<\/p>\n

But isn’t haste the bees knees..? Doesn’t it help us regenerate focus at a faster rate..?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, but it’s still only slightly better than it was pre-4.0.1. I’ll talk about stat weights in a moment…<\/p>\n

As far as the glyphs I went with… they are a combination of ones I’d already known, and ones that weren’t requiring me to take out a loan to purchase them from the auction house. Scribes are making a killing right now, I’m sure.<\/p>\n

I may swap out one or two in due time – we’ll see.<\/p>\n

Hunter Stats in 4.0.1<\/h3>\n

Hit Rating<\/strong> is still the number one stat we must concern ourselves with. However, once we hit the hit rating cap of 8% (i.e., 246 hit rating w\/out buffs of any sort), we can move on to the fun stuff…<\/p>\n

Right now agility<\/strong> reigns supreme over all other DPS stats. Agility is now giving us 2 attack power<\/em> per point of agility instead of 1 AP, as well as some crit.<\/p>\n

After agility, Mastery<\/strong> is the next stat to focus on. Since Reforging is the only way to obtain Mastery at the moment, it is recommended that you reforge your secondary stats like haste and crit, in favor of more Mastery.<\/p>\n

Crit<\/strong> is still a good stat, but it doesn’t shine as brightly as Mastery – especially as far as Beast Masters are concerned. We have far fewer crit-based talents, which in turn leaves crits looking somewhat less lustrous these days. A double damage attack is still nice, but crits are not as synergistic as before. A flat percentage-based increase to pet damage is better than crit, so don’t hesitate to trade some crit for Mastery.<\/p>\n

Haste<\/strong> is slightly more desirable than it was pre-4.0.1, but it’s still at the bottom of the heap in terms of importance. Haste only affects two of our shots (auto and steady), and it still suffers from diminishing returns. Once the 1 sec Steady Shot cast time has been met (i.e., haste soft cap), the only benefits beyond that are more frequent auto shots and an ever-so-slightly increased focus regen rate.<\/p>\n

Haste is a good stat, but it’s not as good as Mastery and not quite as good as crit. Beast Masters especially, should not worry about haste too much, since we already have a nice near-passive<\/em> 15% haste buff with Focus Fire. I think it’s safe to say that you should reforge any haste on your gear, and shift those stats towards Mastery. BM hunters have a lot of talents to boost pet damage, which makes a percentage-based pet damage modifier quite attractive.<\/p>\n

BM Shot Priority in 4.0.1<\/h3>\n

Obviously, one of the things I’ve been working on is the new shot priority for Beast Masters. I’ve not had a great deal of time to practice it yet, but from what I can tell….<\/p>\n

Kill Command<\/a> is our number one damage dealer, and top-priority attack, apart from Kill Shot. After KC, it’s Arcane Shot, then Steady Shot – all the while making sure that Serpent Sting is active.<\/p>\n

So basically…<\/p>\n