Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Hunters, Pets, and Groups

Alright so I promised to break down whats the best pet to use in a group.  One you like, right?  The cat has the answer to that argument :)




So, lets back up what I'm saying with some facts.  I mentioned Id pick on shamans some more, and here it is. Not swapping your pets is like a shaman who only drops the same totems over and over even when one totem would be much stronger in a particular group.  In fact shamans have many buffs that happen to overlap with the ones pets provide.  This is deliberate on Blizzards part, so they know most buffs will be coming in a group.

So when you see a shaman take note if they drop an Earth Strength totem and if they do, put the cat away and pull out your wolf for the optimal buff.  If you have time ask that warrior if he will be using battle or commanding shout.  If you don't have a priest having him use commanding and your cat its roar means more buffs and better boss killing.

So what buffs do we have to work with?  DPS buffs that is, since I covered tank debuffs earlier.  The Dog, Moth, have pvp style debuffs so Ill skip them too for now.  Perhaps Ill do a utility pet post later.

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+# Strength and Agility
Pet: Cat (Ferocity) (Spirit Beast if your a Beast master)
Other classes with it: Death Knight, Shaman (Strength of Earth Totem), Warrior (Battle Shout)
A very powerful buff.  The 549 bonus strength and agility (at 85) can be vital to a group succeeding.  The problem is theres 3 classes that have it and their pretty popular.

+5% Critical Strike
Pet: Wolf (Ferocity) (Devilsaur if your a Beast Master)
Other classes with it: Druid (Feral), Shaman (Elemental), Warrior (Fury)
Much rarer you will end up with one of these specs and a very handy buff indeed.  After all thats also +5% healing crit.  And who doesn't want to give love to their healer?

+30% Bleed Damage
Pet: Hyena (Ferocity)
Other classes with it: Unknown
An excellent personal damage increase if your a marksman due the the Piercing Shots talent.  Almost useless unless you have a Cat Feral Druid or Assassination Rogue.

-4% to -12% Armor
Pet: Raptor (Ferocity), Serpent (Ferocity)
Other classes with it: Warrior (All, usually Protection use it), Druid (All, usually Feral use it)
Less spectacular then the hyena for personal dps it can be an excellent choice for a melee heavy group if you have a Paladin or Death Knight tank.

+4% Physical Damage taken by target
Pet: Ravager (Ferocity)
Other classes with it: Warrior (Arms), Rogue (Combat)
This compares to the Hyena ability for a Survival or Beast Master Hunter, scoring slightly below a Hyena for personal DPS but adding to all melee damage from the group.  

+8% Spell Damage taken by target
Pet: Dragonhawk  (Tenacity), Wind Serpent  (Tenacity)
Other classes with it: Unknown
If you have spellcasters in your group this pet will significantly increase their dps.  This includes Enhancement Shamans and all kinds of Paladins.  If your paladin tank survives fine but is having agro problems this might be a help as they do a lot of spell damage.

Beast Master Only
30% haste 40 sec every 10 minutes.
Pet: Core Hound (Ferocity)
Other classes with it: Shaman (All), Mage (All)
When you have a special boss that has a 'burn phase' (where the party can dump a lot of damage into it) this can be a great help.  Sadly the Hound's other ability of slowing casting speed is only of situational use.


+5% to Stength, Agility, Stamina, Intellect
Pet: Shale Spider (Tenacity)
Other classes with it: Druid (All), Paladin (All)
Powerful and very handy.  Sadly it comes on a tank pet so you will suffer a loss in dps for providing this buff.  But if your raid lacks Paladins or Druids it can mean a huge difference.
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So, you only have 5 pets slots what do you choose?  As I suggested in an earlier post take a bear for your personal tank and a fox in case you get a tank who is having trouble staying alive.  That leaves us with three to play with.

As much as I love cats I have to recommend against carrying one.  Warriors and Death Knights are just too common to say nothing of Shamans.  So a Wolf is a shoo in with an almost always useful and powerful to the entire party buff.  Raptor or Hyena would come next with their solid DPS increase.  The remaining pets are so situational you should pick one that suits your group and play style.

Or take a cat.  Their buff is amazing when your group can benefit from it,

And their adorable.

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