I am really bad at leveling alts. I don’t know why. I have a Priest who is level 64 that I can’t bring myself to play. I have a Paladin I started a while ago who is level 24. But neither one sounds fun to play. So my time has been spent dinking around in Orgrimmar. But I got to thinking, which is a dangerous habit, I know. A lot of people have been wondering, asking, contemplating on whether or not they should stick with their Hunter for the expansion. Is it going to be worth it? And thinking about that, personally, is what brought up the questions.
So given that we have 45 days to level alts, if we so desire, is it time we get crackin’?From the looks of it (in which I might be proven wrong later today) I don’t think we are going to get Patch 3.0.2 anytime soon. We have just around one and a half months until release date so soon is a relative term. I think we are going to spend less time with the new talents at 70 then a lot of people are expecting. At most, I think you will them for a couple weeks before the expansion hits. I am guessing we will get them about 2 weeks early. So given that we have 45 days to level alts, if we so desire, is it time we get crackin’?
- What’s your primary motivation in WoW?
When you log on, what is your primary goal? Run an instance? To finish leveling? To kill Kil’jaeden? To reach Gladiator? The Hunter excels at a lot of things. It’s a class easy to get attached to. This may be due to, in no small part, the uniqueness of pets. Especially with the upcoming changes having a “viable” pet is becoming a lot easier. Depending on how you respond will mean a lot about if your Hunter will get you through the expansion. The class will still “work.” You will be able to log on, take your pet, shoot something, and pick up something shiny. - Are you OK with not being the top of the PvP food chain?
I can go into a battleground and obliterate damage meters. I can rack up killing blows. But let’s face it, the honor grind was never what you would describe as difficult. Time consuming? Sure. And battlegrounds can be a lot of fun. But as it stands, your PvProwness is measured by Arena ratings. 54-0 in Alterac Valley, while awesome, means nothing to people if you are hovering at 1380 for Arena ratings. And no changes have been made to the Hunter class to drastically fix our Arena representation.Sure, there will be Gladiator Hunters. But using an out-lying piece of data as a basis for your example is never a good idea. Just because one Liberal Arts major makes 100 grand a year doesn’t mean the majority does. (Sorry, Liberal Arts!) But maintaining a high Arena rating will be like it is now. Without changes, you will have to work twice as hard as another DPS class to get there. So take comfort in knowing that you played twice as good as someone else. If that’s a comfort
- Are you a min/maxer?
Did you replace all your blue gems with purple gems because you wanted the 2 extra stat points? Do you know where every logical item upgrade for you comes from? Or what the appropriate critical strike rate is in which you should switch to a Wind Serpent (at least until they patch)? Not everyone is a min/maxer. You don’t meet people who *want* to be bad players or a bad Hunter. But not everyone understands why 200g (or more) justifies going from 8 Agility to 10 Agility on a gem. Hunters have gone a long way in squeezing the most out of their class.But the point is, no matter how homogenized pets, specs, and classes become, one will come out on top.Take a look at the sites that have popped up for Hunters. Look at Cheeky’s Spreadsheet. The advent of the 3:2 macro. These are not coincidences. The population of the class has gone a long way to maximize the effectiveness of the class. And with changes to how our shots function eases up on the theorycrafting a bit, min/maxing will still be quite prevalent. Will there be a pet that comes out on top in terms of DPS, either personally or through raid contributions? I am sure there will be. Top DPS spec? You betcha. My money is on 50/21. But the point is, no matter how homogenized pets, specs, and classes become, one will come out on top.
- Do you want to contribute more to your raid?
Right now, if you are a BM Hunter, as a general description, you hit your Steady Shot macro while trying to keep your pet alive. Sure, each fight has its own nuances, but this is what we do. We kill things that our tank is tanking while our healers heal our tank tanking the thing we are killing. OK, so that sentence was redundant. But it was fun to write.“With DPS getting “normalized” across classes this is the time to play what class you enjoy the feel of more than ever.”But do you want to play a more integral role to your raid? Yes, I know without DPS nothing will die. But it is no secret that Blizzard wants ALL classes to be comparable. They want hybrid classes to be with a few hundred DPS of a pure DPS class when both are played equally. So it raises a concern, why play a “pure” DPS class? What’s the draw? Sure, you won’t see many Rogues jumping ship in order to roll a new class because they are lacking. Now don’t take this the wrong way, I really like playing a Hunter. as you can tell from the blog, I’ve done the best I can to be the best Hunter I can be. But as someone stated on the beta forums, “With DPS getting “normalized” across classes this is the time to play what class you enjoy the feel of more than ever.”
Playing a class that can tank or DPS, or DPS and heal, or hey, how about all 3, makes a lot of sense. Retribution Paladins are awesome right now and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Take a look at this: Judgements of the Wise. Really? I mean . . . really? Tell me, why does the hybrid DPS/Tank/Healer class get a talent that will instantly restore 20% of their MAXIMUM mana on an ability they can use once every . . oh . . . 8 to 10 seconds? Like I was saying . . . hybrids are looking pretty good. Not to mention Death Knights are a blast to play.
Trying to be optimistic, we still have a bit more time before the patch/WotLK hits. But unfortunately we know that our Survival talents will be shipped in an unfinished state. Our 41-point Survival talent won’t be fixed until a post-LK release patch. We are unsure of when we will see the promised changed to Aspect of the Viper. I think the hardest thing for me is giving up what I have done on Drotara, similar to why it was so hard to give up Aratar, my Warrior. Exalted factions, mounts, professions, etc. In order to “soften” the profession blow, whatever I end up leveling would take Inscription, that way Drotara’s Herbalism would help out, with the second profession being like mining or something for cash purposes. But this all remains to be seen in the coming days and weeks.
What are your thoughts? What kind of goals are you looking for in Wrath of the Lich King? Raid more? Get into raiding earlier? Focus on PvP? Share your thoughts, opinions, etc.
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