Brand new models for the Hunter Tier 8 Dungeon Set.
Is this stuff sexy or what..?! Images courtesy of MMO-Champion. Be sure to check their site often as new Patch 3.1 information is coming in regularly.
Ladies First…
Male Model T8 Hunter Armor
First new pet after patch
Well, after much research and pondering I have settled on my 2v2 Arena pet of choice. It is of course…
the Bat!
Since my only two pets at 70 were Wolf and Wind Serpent I knew I had to go out and find something else for arena. I started to think my Wolf might actually be viable in 2v2 with my MS Warrior burst team, but when I realized Furious Howl doesn’t stack with Battle Shout it was back to my original plan. I had been considering Hyena for Tendon Rip, Nether Ray for Nether Shock, and then Serpent for Poison Spit.
After further thought, I narrowed my choices to pets within the Cunning family because I like that talent tree better for PvP. The Hyena’s skill also seemed less useful than a stun. A slow is nice, but casters can still nuke you, Warriors can still charge, and healers can still heal when slowed. Plus, we have Wing Clip, Concussive Shot and Frost Trap which typically can handle the slowing duties. Nether Shock and Poison Spit are great vs casters but they won’t do as much good vs physical dps classes. I decided a pet that can stun its target is the way to go. Stun is effective against all classes.
This left me with two viable choices: Ravager or Bat. At first glance the Ravager appears to win hands down. Ravage has a 40 second cooldown and more damage compared to the Bat’s 1 minute cooldown on Sonic Blast. However, Sonic Blast has two advantages over Ravage despite the longer cooldown and the reduced damage. What are they you ask? Well, I’ll tell ya. Sonic Blast is Nature Damage, meaning it can’t be dodged, blocked, parried, or mitigated by armor. Secondly, and this is the big one… it is a ranged attack.
The ranged stun is huge because it means my pet can lock down a mounted target. With 80% increased speed during Dive, the 20yd stun is just enough to stop those pesky casters that like to kite you around on their Amani War Bear at the start of a match. The Ravager has to be within melee range to stun its target, plus it’s a physical attack that can more easily be avoided. Also, if my pet is slowed somehow it can still stun an enemy if they’re within 20yds. Pretty neat huh. Lastly, with Longevity the cooldown is only 42 seconds, and just 14 seconds longer than Ravage. Most importantly though, Bats are just cooler. They glide and have fangs… and are cool.
I’m anxious to try him out in rated 2v2. I brought him into an EotS with me earlier tonight and it was pretty great. I’d sick him on a mounted target and watch them hesitate, then try and run off only to be blasted. As soon as that wore off I’d hit Intimidation, followed by an unloading of Mysterious Arrows into their dome.
Lots more to talk about, but I’ve spent most my time playing instead of writing. More findings and stories tomorrow perhaps.
Echoes of Doom
This is a huge content patch. I wasn’t able to explore all of the changes on the first day, but I was able to check out a few things.
Disengage is great. It’s still going to take some getting used to (I nearly launched off the bridge in Alterac Valley last night), but it’s been very useful in PvP. This skill seems like it would work wonders when used with Scatter Shot.
I like the new Aimed Shot. I ended up going with a 50/11/0 spec for Aimed Shot and the crit boosts. Initially I was thinking 50/0/11 for scatter, but then I decided to put the 11 points in MM for the extra burst and healing debuff. Even though the damage has been decreased, the fact that it can be cast while kiting is a huge plus in my book.
TBW and Intimidation seem to always be available when I need them. The 30% cooldown reduction from Longevity makes a huge difference. Having big red up every minute twenty four, and the 3 second pet stun every 42 seconds is very handy. I was still feeling pretty formidable vs most classes in the battlegrounds, except for these guys…
Ret Pallies..?! Anyone else notice how ridiculously overpowered they are? They’re unstoppable wrecking machines that can stun, bubble and heal. Their burst damage seems to have gone through the roof. This guy was absolutely nuking people while returning flags in Warsong Gulch.
The new pet talent trees and unique skills are a huge improvement. I actually brought my wolf out with me to most of the battlegrounds I queued for. Furious Howl is now very viable. With the reduced cooldown and increased range, this is a huge buff. It constantly refreshes, giving me a passive 140AP. I like it.
Wind Serpents aren’t as bad off as I thought, but they aren’t a top choice for PvE or PvP either. The ranged nature damage is still nice, but the 7 second cooldown for Lightning Breath (with Longevity) makes it less attractive. The Cunning family is suited more for PvP, which makes this skill so-so. A stun, snare, or debuff would be better in my opinion.
One of the first things I did after redistributing my talent points was to grab my monkey out of the kennel. I wanted to start leveling him to 70 and witness the AOE tanking ability firsthand. I went to Nagrand and beat up on some wildlife for awhile. The tenacity talents coupled with Thunderstomp make for awesome tankage.
Those were the early assessments for the 3 pets that I have. I purchased my 2 extra stable slots, so I am looking forward to testing out some other pets soon.
I also managed to pick up The Gladiator’s Resolution. I had some honor banked, but not enough for that and Battlemaster’s Resolve. This weekend I should have the extra needed for the trinket. I figure I’ll need all the help I can get if Matt and I are going to try and hit 1800 before the expansion.
More later.
Which pets to go with
This is something I’ve been pondering since I found out about all of the changes coming to Hunter pets in tomorrow’s patch. I’m especially excited about getting 2 more stable slots. Since I’ll most likely never abandon my Grimtotem Spirit Guide, I really only have 2 stable slots at the moment. Having a few more to experiment with different pets will be huge.
In addition to my novelty ghost wolf (who actually is going to be quite viable soon), I also have a wind serpent and a gorilla. The wind serpent is the pet I use 100% of the time. The gorilla is sitting in my stable waiting to make the jump to level 65 when the patch hits. I got really excited about the change to Thunderstomp, so I had to rush back to Un’Goro crater and re-tame this guy.
The gorilla was one of my favorite pets, but the 1min cd on Thunderstomp and lack of a focus dump caused me to abandon him in favor of something else. I went Marksman for a few weeks and needed a Scorpid, so the ape got the boot. I’m very pleased now that I’ll have MONGO at my side once again. This guy’s going to be my pocket pally, err… pocket tank I mean. 😉
On the other hand, I’m pretty bummed about the change to Lightning Breath. 10 second cooldown..?! Well, at least they’ll have another focus dump skill in Bite. Still, I’m going to miss the constant spamming of Lightning Breath with 2/2 Go for the Throat and 36% crit. I’m also on the fence about wind serpents being a Cunning pet, as opposed to Ferocity. Some of the other pet skills in the Cunning family appear to offer better utility for PvP, which is what I’d primarily use him for. Again, I guess it just boils down to testing and more testing.
I suppose if LB scales well with RAP, then it could still be a worthwhile pet for BM due to the 7 second CD. LB hits well over 95% of the time since it can’t be dodged, blocked or parried, but only resisted. Plus, it’s ranged too which is great for being able to rob Warriors of their charge or blast a target while rooted. Hopefully I’ll be able to still have room in the stable for TROGDOR. I’d be pretty sad if I had to put him out to pasture in favor of a more useful pet.
The change to Furious Howl has me all giddy. Ever since I started playing Hunter, the wolf was the pet I wanted. Deathmaw was my favorite pet before TBC. When Blizzard decided to normalize pet attack speeds I had to let the poor boy go. My wolf will most likely become my primary pet for raids and parties.
As for what to tame next… The pets that I’m most anxious to try are the Moth and Hyena. Serenity Dust looks interesting, as does Tendon Rip for PvP. What’s really cool now is Hunters will have a lot of variety and more utility with these new pet skills. In arena for instance, we’ll be able to use a pet which utilizes a skill that fills in a weakness for that team or boosts a strength.
I really don’t see myself putting the 51st point into the BM tree if I decide to stay BM. That 1 point seems better used elsewhere and the Exotic Pets don’t really blow my skirt up. However, I may very well go 51pts into BM next month for WotLK. It looks like leveling with a Rhino could be pretty fun. 😀
It’s great that each and every pet will now have its own unique skill. It’ll be nice to see all of the different wildlife instead of a zillion cats and scorpids running around.