So after my post yesterday I want to thank everyone who left comments or sent e-mails. There is no question in my mind that you guys are out there reading and enjoying the blog. And as long as people are doing just that, that’s reason enough to keep writing. I also know that you are a quiet bunch so that I shouldn’t be concerned about the small comment count. So no worries there.
So let’s talk about stuff today, shall we? First things first, trivial stuff but fun to talk about none the less. We ran an almost full guild Magtheridon last night. We do this truthfully so we can get the gem bag. We fill it up with tons of guildies, fill in the last slots with whoever wants to come, we have random rolls for every piece of loot and by statistical probability our guild will win the gem bag. But besides the gem bag, I won Magtheridon’s Head. This turned into a Ring of the Recalcitrant which should hold me over till I can finagle a Signet of Primal Wrath out of Kraz’s Package.
Lately we have made an absolute killing selling Super Mana Potions and Elixirs of Major Agility. The market has been really dry so the prices have sky-rocketed. The Mana Potions were selling for 17g and up just a few days ago but have settled around13g a stack. It’s been a great time to have all that Felweed and Dreaming Glory stockpiled for a rainy day.
“I always keep something pinned inside my vest for such a rainy day occasion.”
“It’s a good thing. It was clouding up pretty quick.”
Random movie quote. Bonus points to whoever gets the quote. :)
So it’s the start of the raid week which means I am Survival again. I respec Beast Mastery on the weekends after we finish raiding for a couple reasons. One, people don’t want Survival Hunters when they are trying to push for a 3 or 4 timed ZA. The bonus from Expose Weakness just isn’t justified in such a small group, especially if you are caster heavy for minimal downtime, usually involving a Mage, Warlock, Shadow Priest, etc. So the personal DPS gain is well-worth it.
In addition, the last few times we have done Arena I have had better luck as BM. In 3v3 with Vinculum and Xcebin I was getting eaten alive by Rogues and Warriors. Sure, Scatter Shot was nice but it wasn’t getting the job done. And while the Beast Within may only last 18 seconds, in our 3s games, at the point it was already determined. We have either killed someone or they have killed one of us. Especially when I would blow Bestial Wrath and they would change targets and I would get to unload a BM shot rotation. It didn’t always work, but it worked “enough.” Our rating went up, and since Vinculum and Xcebin both got their personal ratings to 1850 in 2v2, I am more than happy to help get them enough points to buy S3 weapons before the season ends.
So let’s look at the Survival spec I opted for this week, which is quickly becoming by favorite for PvE. 7/20/34. You can view it here.
Improved Aspect of the Hawk is an amazing talent, as you can see it’s prevalence in many builds and not being limited to just Beast Mastery. Depending on your attack speed you can drop down to a 1:1 rotation for the duration of the buff, or continue running a 1.5:1 rotation, with just a smaller window to squeeze in the Arcane Shot. Regardless, it is a DPS increase. Combine that with Focus Fire and you have a straight 2% damage increase not counting the bonus from the Kill Command critical strike chance.
The Marksmanship tree is the standard 20 points down to Mortal Shots, no new tricks here. I did change the Survival tree slightly from my other builds, as I opted for Improved Feign Death. With my crit chance, I was finding myself threat capped very early on in fights and a resisted Feign Death would ruin my day. And despite my concerns about Entrapment in a raid setting, I never find myself every using a trap that might cause this to proc outside of dropping in during Mount Hyjal trash far away from everyone so the mobs initially run to me so the tanks can grab targets.
But I must end this post now, as I have recently learned there are a few unexpected deadlines at work today that I must accomplish. Thanks again for everything you guys wrote. It was reassuring. I frapsed a short video that illustrates the latest craze in Sunwell Plateau trash farming that I will upload tonight. Thoughts, comments, questions, leave ‘em here!
oh noez! dont show people how to farm sunwell trashes. i want lewts all for me self. 2x sunmote = epic mount. :-P
Heh, you still have to get a raid to do it. ;) I am still waiting for the dang polearm to drop. :)
Ack, I’m late! If it counts for anything, I read your stuff all the time too. I count you as being on par with BRK in terms of hunter knowledge (even ahead of him).
You’re not late. I appreciate you stopping by. :) And I like the screenshot of you and your wolf overlooking Hellfire. :)
sunwell trash farming?.. (ears perked up!)
I really need the Surestrike 3.0 and the embrace… (polearm would be nice too!)
What gear level ya need for this?…
and some sunmotes for the JC items would be really nice….
and yes, please keep blogging! while BRK is entertaining, his forums have long-since surpassed the information level of his actual blog.
Interestingly enough, the gear requirement is pretty simple. While most groups who form up for trash avoid people rocking full greens, but you frequently find Kara/ZA level gear jumping in and farming trash. I will make sure I upload the video tonight.
cool! (WTB progessive server that is actually capable of farming the trash…)
I was told yesterday that I might need to start looking for a BM Hunter to fill our raids depending on the status of our other one. ;)
I think I might try your current spec for a little while, but I wanted to get your thoughts on my current build… Looking through your posts I don’t think I’ve ever seen 0/27/34, and I’m curious to hear your thoughts on barrage/combat experience over iAotH/focused fire.
I actually tried the Barrage spec last week (or two weeks ago) except instead of Combat Experience I took Ranged Weapon specialization, since the flat percentage increase yields a bigger personal gain in DPS.
It was a fun build but much more mana intensive. However since you get to keep Thrill of the Hunter it is generally not an issue.
Thanks for continuing to provide great information that even supposed experts (like me) continually find useful!
Also, I’m enjoying the fruits / change of pace of speccing BM. We’ve been going to TK, clearing trash and such, but it became apparent to me that, even with Expose Weakness helping everybody out, going BM provides a much bigger benefit to the whole raid, for now at least.
Maybe later when I’ve got the ill Survival gear and 800 agility unbuffed, I’ll go back, but for now, Track is ripping things UP. :D
video?… :-)
I’m assuming a 25-man raid to do this. correct?
regarding the specs, I’m wondering what the effects will be of the 10-man raiding in WoTLK. Having one Surv and one BM would seem to make sense, unless you have enough CC in the other slots.