Roll Call

A friend of mine was surprised at the number of characters I had as paladins so I thought for my amusement I would list them off (Just the over 80s) in no particular order.

Hunters;

Replacements for CC abilities on Pets in WoD

In WoD they are disarming CC and hunters get hit hard.  So putting on my thinking hat here are some ideas to replace abilities with.  Go let Blizzard know what you think of these ideas at http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/12413831293#1

Basilisk: Petrifying Gaze - replace with stone form from the dwarves.

Bat: Sonic Blast - Sonic Finder works as Faerie Fire vs stealth. Perhaps a + stealth detection on the pet?

Bird of Prey: Snatch - Grab: seize the target and do damage. While holding on unattackable.

Crab: Pin - Nerf Bat! No? Well how about Tough Shell (+armor/health) that stacks with last stand.

5.2 Hunter Gear (non raid)

I put together a list of gear for a friend of mine.  She avoids raids for the most part but we plan to do just enough to get a bit of rep for the assault in time.  I thought it might be useful for others so here is a lose guide for gearing up in 5.2.  Of course this also works for Shamans if your one of the sexy enhancement types.

Trinkets
Relic of Xuen 476 Darkmoon Fair Deck Crafted/Quest Trinket 1
Vicious Talisman of the Shado-Pan Assault 463 Rep: Shadow Pan Assault - Friendly 1750 VP Trinket 2
Malevolent Gladiator's Insignia of Conquest 476 PvP Vendor 1750 HP Trinket -

New Years Gift - Lovely Taureness

There is nothing to make a new year feel awesome as getting a gift.  Redcow did a wonderful job of herding the cats this year for Blog Azeroth's Father Winter event!

In the mail I found this lovely note;

***###***###***###***###***###***###***

Happy holidays! 

Transmog: Skylord (Mog Madness 3)

So I received a really unusual email yesterday.  I got a callback.

[Jimmy] "We got the client here, we looked at your tape, and we think we might have a real "Hercules goes bananas" angle on this. So we want you to come back in."
[Kirk] "Come back in?"
[Jimmy] "It's a call-back."
[Kirk] I had always heard about call-backs, but I had never gotten one!
(I <3 Hoodwinked)

Seems one of the other finalists had dropped out and they asked me to come and do an outfit after all.  I have to admit I'm a bit conflicted but I agreed.

So I give you, The Skylord and Skylady!

Transmog, Northrend Hunter

Ok so the last was a bit too flashy.  Apparently hunters are supposed to blend in better.  Who knew?

You know if someone told Elmer he might of done better..ah well.

So something better able to blend in and a gun thats more tech not mystic.  I think I can do that.  I just need to go back to the era of the Wrath of the Lich King for the base.

So I present, the Northrend Hunter!*

Transmog, Flame Hunter

Ive been trying to make an outfit for a net acquaintance.  Its been tough going since he doesnt know what he wants and I dont even know his character's sex.  Hmm.  Well i do know its a dwarf so I started trying to make a Mountaineer outfit.  Sadly that's all leather (Their really rogues?  Who knew!) so I figured Id try something flashy!

Bright and shinny your certain to stand out against those noobs in their tier sets.

Transmog, Blood Hunter

I ran into a delightful hunter on Steamwheedle Cartel named Cilah.  This wonderful gal introduced me to her transmog set.  She was so wonderful as to allow me to post her set and in return Ill post what staffs, pole arms, and ranged weapons might fit.

Drakesfire Epaulets a BoE item best found off the AH.

For the chest Demon-Forged Beastplate which is not avalible to players but is a blacksmith pattern so if you know someone who learned it before Cata they will still have it.

Main Combat Gauntlets are a nice BoE for the hands.

The belt is the Scarlet Belt random drop from the scarlet monastery.

Hunter Drabble

I fought in endless wars, spilled endless blood.  Burdened with the spirit debt of lives taken.  Then you saved me.

Tracking and Pet Tricks (Hunters, Warlocks, Frost Mages)

Awesome Elf Hunter by Mab

Hunter pets were recently nerfed, their functionality severely reduced by the removal of the Aggressive and Defensive stance.  With some work I've managed to more or less get some of the old functionality back.

1) Run the new Defensive stance.  This means the pet will attack those attacking you/it.
2) Add into your attacks a line command: /click PetActionButton1
This will click the first button on your pet bar telling your pet to attack.  Its not perfect, in some cases its a huge pain.  But its less of a pain than the current stances.

Now I've been fiddling with the tracking for hunters.  Its a pain in city areas but handy in the wilds.  here is the result.

/run for i = 1, GetNumTrackingTypes() do local name, _, active = GetTrackingInfo(i) if name == "Track Humanoids" then return SetTracking(i, active == nil) end end

If it sees it running it turns it off, if it isn't running it casts it.  Kind of like in the 'good' old days when tracking didn't have that abominable drop down menu.  Want to track Beasts in stead (or whatever)?  Just change the name in the macro.

Tricksy Hunters

The new multipet system is really slick but when your sneaking through dungeons and need to dismiss your pet or when its kited away from you in pvp and despawns the game can suddenly get very exciting as your trying to click that dropdown menu to get your pet back when trouble happens.  Well there is an easier way.

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 :)

Pets, Hunters, and Buffs, oh my!

Ive been asked what pet is the best pet is for a hunter.  Back in the good old days there was an answer to that.  But Blizzard tried to allow everyone to use everything and muddied the waters more than a bit.

For an amusing video discussing it check out
What is the Best Hunter Pet?
The language is kinda bad but it is funny.
(Brief explanation, it took Blizzard over a year to make the spore bat even cast its ability.  The poor bats just haven't ever lived that down.)

Sadly this post isn't going to help the 'must have one pet crowd', unless your looking to change.  Their like the Shaman I met who only cast [Frost Shock].  Didn't matter if [Earth Shock] did more damage in short fights and that with [Flame Shock] more in long fights - he just wanted to 'Frost shoooock!'

10-30 Hunter Talents

I hunt because hunting is my passion, I kill because it is my nature to kill

Nightwill and her companion Foehammer.

Pick a pet that goes with your character and their mood.

For leveling the choice in talents is simple, Beast Mastery.  Here is why.

Beast Mastery gives you a stun that also acts as a major agro generation.  This means you can almost always pull a mob back off you and even if you cant it should be out of the fight for long enough for you to run away.  At 1 minute the cooldown is a bit much but its really handy.  Compare that to Marksman and Survival which both have you doing more damage with an extra shot.  Nice but likely to pull threat off your pet and have monsters gnawing your face.

Level 10 Hunters

Superior firepower is an invaluable tool when entering 'negotiations'.

So why is level 10 such an important level for hunters?  Because its when your pet unlocks all of his abilities.

1) Your pet now gets hungry and needs to be fed.  If you don't eventually he will run away.  To feed him click on the Feed Pet spell and then on a bit of food in your inventory.  It will say if he doesn't like the food or not.

Petopia has great guides for caring for pets and is fantastic for thumbing through to find the right pet for you.

Having control of your pet means something very important to your fighting, you can send your pet in first so it holds the agro better.  at 14 you can combine that with casting hunters mark in a nice little macro.

/cast Hunter's mark
/click PetActionButton1

If you want a suggestion, get a bear.  At the moment its the best tank pet in the game until you can tame exotics and pets that are tanks let you go to town more on damage whatever spec you have.

The Cataclysmic Hunter

I am the lion among wolves.

Puppy cuddling!  Because a happy pet is one that will fight will die for you.

1 - Arcane Shot: 25 of your 100 focus, instant, pretty hard hitting shot.  Not enhanced by anything saying it adds to +arcane damage.
1 - Auto Shot: When you right click a mob thats attackable/fire a shot you keep firing at it till its dead or too close and you swap to melee weapons.  Only Hunters can do this- everyone else has to cast a spell for every shot.