A week after wiping 7 times on Marrowgar, OC’s team started off a new week with a bang: one-shots on Marrowgar, Lady Buzzkill, and the Gunship, and one partial wipe on Saurfang before getting him.

The difference was more attitude and attention than anything else: we reiterated the important things to do before each fight, AND the things NOT to do. And folks did, or didn’t do, them.

The good: hunter loot dropped off of EACH of the four bosses we downed.

Marrowgar: Linked Scourge Vertebrae

Lady DW: Handgrips of Frost and Sleet

Gunship: Pauldrons of Lost Hope

Saurfang: Hauberk of a Thousand Cuts

The bad: OC was the only hunter, and either already had or didn’t need any of those drops….so they were sharded.

I think we set a record for shards on ICC10 for us….

I leveled my pally to 80 mostly so my guild back then, the KLA, would have a tank if needed if we were short some run in Naxx or Ulduar, and for the odd (pre-Random Dungeon Finder) Heroic.

But ‘lo, Magni was short a tank for ICC, and Alpham was called upon.

I told him he was undergeared. i200 heroic and Naxx10 gear. Only 25k hp unbuffed. Though he is defense-capped.

They didn’t care (bless them).

So, on a second night’s run into ICC10, he off-tanked the Gunship, then Saurfang. A serious lack of ranged dpsers meant Saurfang still lives; however, Alpham survived and tanked well.

Thanks to awesome heals. mostly.

But, then, seriously….how the heck can a pally geared for Naxx and Ulduar, with only a few CONQUEST emblem gear pretty much skip ToC and Triumph gear altogether and perform ably in ICC?!?

Alpham was on the back burner as OC ran into ICC. But now, I’m gonna have to make Alpham at least respectbly geared, ‘cuz I feel dam guilty tanking crap two raids above his gear level…

The Hammers and friends completed Sunwell Plateau Monday night, downing Kil’Jaeden. And he dropped a Legendary: Thori’Dal, the Stars’ Fury !

The first Legendary I’ve ever seen drop, and only the second I’ve ever seen in game, period.

OC was the only hunter in raid, but it’s level 70, and while a Legendary item,  it’s not quite as good as what I already have: Njordnar Bone Bow .

After a little discussion, I Needed on it, as folks couldn’t remember whether they had Greeded or Passed on the lotsa loots he dropped. The only others who could even equip it were a rogue and two warriors. So I offered to roll off among the four of us for the Legendary (which was why I Needed…didn’t want to take the chance some mage would get it vendor it ).

The rogue won (dam…woulda been nice for RP! ), and ‘lo and behold…it’s a Feat of Strength!

http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=725

She got it when she equipped it…so I asked her if the 2 hour trade time still was on it. It was, so she traded it back to me, I equipped…and also got the FoS!

However, after I gave it back to her and she traded it to one the warriors…he equipped it but did NOT get the achievement…. >:

We know the Sunwell fights now, though (it’s tough enough to easily wipe 80s who don’t), so we’ll likely be going back…and I want it for TEH RP!!

Stop it. NOW!

I’m not talking about a brisk run pace; I don’t like to stop and drink after every trash pull, either.

I’m talking about tanks who literally move as fast as possible. Last mob down and they’re already off to the next - even when it’s it the next room….or even when the next is a boss.

Not even waiting for a shift-click loot.

Look, it’s one thing to clear a whole big room or an area like that. But to clear ALL the trash up to a boss, and then THE BOSS ITSELF, like that, makes you an asshole.

Tanks like to believe that they are the ones who control the pace. But they’re not. The healers do.

Try tanking all the trash and then the boss without any heals and see how far you get in a Heroic.

I was in a run last night where the tank did this. Never stopped to let anyone loot, not even a second. Literally, he ran into the bosses’ rooms without waiting to see if anyone else even followed.

Well, gold is gold, so I’m gonna loot. I skin, also, and even some 245 Leatherworking patterns take leather, so I’m gonna skin. The healer friend with our group would have liked to loot…but she felt obligated to stay with the tank…and so her play experience ( her “fun”) was negatively impacted by this idiot.

Healers, it is YOU who control whether or not the tank goes too fast for the comfort and enjoyment of both yourself and your party. If you find yourself with a tank who doesn’t allow time to loot, who doesn’t even bother to fake caring about whether the party is ready…then sit your ass down and eat a cookie. Let the tank come back to you and politely inform him that the group will move as fast as YOU wish. not him.

The next tank that pulls this crap in MY group is gonna catch hell before I and my friends either:

1) Vote-kick his ass

2) Pull half the instance onto him and portal/stone

3) Let him die halfway into the instance while we eat cookies at the start.

*Recruiting, Thanksgiving, a civil suit deposition, and new job responsibilities have delayed my posting. No more!

Three-Three is here….and here’s my take…and give….

Many of the tail sweeps with knockback effects will no longer hit players’ pets. Ony is now Tito’s bitch.

Pet Resilience: All player pets now get 100% of their master’s resilience. Maybe Toofy will last more than 5 seconds now.

Hunters

• Call Stabled Pet: Cooldown reduced from 30 minutes to 5 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas. Yay! Gonna have to look for reasons and ways to break out a different pet every pull.
• Deterrence: Now also increases the chance for ranged attacks to miss the hunter by 100% while under its effect. About time. Still waiting for 360 degree effect. /target Blizz /tap
• Misdirection: Redesigned. Instead of having finite charges, it now begins a 4-second timer when the hunter using Misdirection performs a threat-generating attack, during which all threat generated by the hunter goes to the friendly target. In addition, multiple hunters can now misdirect threat to the same friendly target simultaneously. Appears to generate more threat for each hunter, and obviously MUCH more initial threat on tank if multiple hunters are MDing. But…why? Is the average hunter that clueless about grabbing early aggro? Is the average tank that bad at getting initial threat?
• Talents
  • Beast Mastery
    • Intimidation: If the hunter’s pet is in melee range of its target, the stun from Intimidation will now be applied immediately instead of on the pet’s next swing or attack. PvP buff. Win if he’s ally. BooHiss for all the taurens I’m gonna die to.
• Pets
  • Avoidance: This talent has been replaced by Culling the Herd. Hunter pets now innately take 90% less damage from area-of-effect abilities like all other class pets. This does not apply to area-of-effect damage caused by other players. Nice. More points for dps talents!
  • Cower: Redesigned. This ability no longer affects threat, and instead reduces damage taken by the pet by 40% for 6 seconds with a 45-second cooldown. While cowering, the pet’s movement speed is 50% of normal speed. Cower now only has a single rank and is available at pet level 20. Apparently, tanks are not so bad at threat generation that pets were out-aggroing them. Less pet damage, I’ll take every time.
  • Culling the Herd: This pet talent has replaced the Avoidance talent in the pet trees (Hunter pets now gain that benefit automatically without expenditure of talent points). Culling the Herd increases pet and hunter damage by 1/2/3% for 10 seconds each time the pet deals a critical strike with Claw, Bite, or Smack. More damage=good. Cobra Reflexes is likely a mandatory pet talent now. As CoH obviously is. *CoH procs from Claw, Bite or Smack, which are instants, so Cobra Reflexes won’t help.
  • Demoralizing Screech: The attack power reduction from this ability has been increased by 40%, equaling the maximum possible attack power reduction from the abilities of other classes. Good. I think. Until other classes complain about a pet overwriting/replacing their debuff….
  • Improved Cower: Redesigned. This ability now reduces the movement penalty of Cower by 50%/100%.
  • Pet Leveling: Hunter pets now need only 5% of the experience a player needs to level, down from 10%. Level five pets at once now.
  • Venom Web Spray: Range increased from 20 yards to 30 yards.
  • Web: Range increased from 20 yards to 30 yards. These two are Spidery things? I doan like Spiders….
  • Wolverine Bite: This talent is now enabled when the pet lands a critical strike rather than from the target dodging the pet’s attacks. In addition, this talent no longer has a prerequisite. With Culling the Herd and Cobra Relexes (to speed up basic melee attack), this Cunning pet talent might actually get my dragonhawk, Figment, into a raid.

My personal list of priorities, and responsibility to my guild, goes something like this:

1) Guild raids

2) Non-guild raids / Guild 5mans

3) non-guild 5mans / other guild activities needing groups, like quests

In other words, I don’t raid outside guild unless my guild isn’t raiding or doesn’t need me. Between outside raids and guild 5mans, I stick with what I’ve committed to and am currently in. I won’t leave either to join the other, but will wait until I’m done.

So……

The other night, the KLA didn’t have enough for a 10man and were talking about running the daily and 5mans, when I got a whisper to go to ToC25 from a friend.

<mentally checks priority list>
The 5man guild runs hadn’t gotten off the ground yet, or even invites out, so I accepted the raid invite.

A few goofy wipes on Northrend Beasts (healer d/c, Jormungar does a 360 and wipes half the raid, etc.), but we get them down and move on to Joraxxus. I start getting Officer chat about how long I’d be, could I bring tankadin Alpham to guild run, etc. I say it’d be a little while, we’ve wiped a few, aren’t likely to go all the way now. I’m wondering what the problem is, that they can’t find a tank for 5mans, even the daily.

We wipe on Joraxxus, we’re by now 30 mins past my original time estimate, I’m still getting asked about Alpham, and so I tell’em one more try, another 15 minutes. We get Joraxxus down and Oilcan is the ONLY hunter in the raid and the ONLY Leatherworker, and thus gets both Pattern: Black Chitin Bracers and the Talonstrike that drop. The crossbow is a huge upgrade for OC, from his venerable Nerubian Conqueror, even though he loses about 1.27% crit.

I tell the raid I gotta go, leave raid, tell guild I’m out and switching to Alpham.

And I find out that while I’ve been in ToC, the night of 5mans has turned into a Naxx10 night, as more folks logged on after I started in ToC.

I’d been holding up a guild raid for over an hour.

Dam. Apologies around, and Alpham starts main-tanking Naxx. We get Patchwerk down, second try and head to Grob.

We wipe. Several times. Once, Alpham d/c’s when Grob is at 50k……TWICE, I mis-click a Lay on Hands, hitting a frakkin’ BUBBLE, which wiped the raid. I think in all the time Alpham’s been tanking, I might have done that ONCE before…and now I’ve done it TWICE in 15 minutes…..

A couple folks by now have to go (don’t blame’em) and we get another pally in guild while I switch to OC so we can 9man it.

But it’s been a while since he’s tanked Grob (although he’s tanked plenty else), and he doesn’t have Decursive but another mod. One that doesn’t ignore Grob’s debuff, but shows it to him….so of course he starts Decursing it….poison pools are all over the middle, we’re yelling at folks to get outta the middle and to the walls…..and we STILL get Grob inside 10% before we wipe. And find out that the tank was decursing.

Arrgggh.

/sleep

Possibly my BEST / WORST night in a very long time.

Deathgoddess has a DK dps blog and started a DPS questionnaire, which I picked up at Pike’s Aspect of the Hare blog. So with no further ado:

What is the name, class, and spec of your primary DPS?

Oilcan, hunter, spec’d SV raid and SV pvp.

What is your primary DPSing environment? (i.e. raids, PvP, 5 mans

Probably equally raids (10s with guild and 25s with outguilders) and 5mans, with about 20% pvp. Single boss 25s every week, and usually a couple nights each 10s and 25s.

What is your favorite DPS spell/ability for your class and why?

Hmm….hunter shots don’t LOOK very different from each other, rather boring to just *watch* a hunter dps…but even though I’m SV I do like when I can launch Volley. It just looks so different from my other shots. Oh, and Snake Trap…you know….SNAKES!!!

What DPS spell do you use least for your class and why?

Arcane Shot, because it shares the same cd as Explosive Shot. It’s not on toolbars and I’ve literally not used it in almost a year.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your DPS class and why?

Like Pike, I just LOVE being able to ignore Spell Lockouts. Mostly though, I think’s it’s just continous dps. Even when the raid has to move, or a boss teles or something, a hunter can still shoot, as most shots are instant. And if you see a hunter move, stop, move, stop, it’s because he’s stopping to get off his autoshot. It’s been a while since I’ve died on Heigen, so I like dpsing while dancing…and hunters are about the only class that can do it.

What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your DPS class and why?

Melee range, obviously, but that also ties in with the huge hit boxes of some bosses. Melee doesn’t have that problem with hit boxes, and casters don’t have a minimum range. Also, any movement fight. Even though I can still dps on the move, I lose autoshot mostly, and that’s 30% of my dps gone. Finally, pets are both a strength and a weakness. BMs obviously love them, but my wolf’s buffs mean a lot to my dps…and losing him takes a good chunk outta my dps.

Yeah…I know that’s three…

In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best DPS assignment for you?

Patchwerk. Let me MD the tank, stand stock still, and rock and roll while my pet is safe and buff-buff-buffing me

What DPS class do you enjoy DPSing with most and why?

DKs (mmm…Agility) and ferals for Leader of the Pack are always nice. But I suppose Pallies…MIght, Kings, Wisdom, Sanc….as Survival I get more RAP from ALL OF THEM!!!

What DPS class do you enjoy DPSing with least and why?

Locks actually, just because I have no idea how they do what they do. I have no idea why one lock will do 5-6k and another 2-3k. Seed of Corruption and Chaos Bolt are the only two spells I can even name…

What is your worst habit as a DPS?

um…<whispers>..pulling trash <20% off the tank so I can drop’em with Kill Shot while they’re running towards me…try it, it’s just so cool….

What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while DPSing?

Pet buffs. And pallies dithering on Blessings.

Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other DPS?

Mostly. If your good. Tippytop endgame, I don’t know about, but if you’re equal geared and play your class well (not just good), you’ll be up there with or above me. Gearing up, it does seem that hunters hit 3-4k faster than other classes, in equal gear.

What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a DPS?

Recount, though not why you’d think. My DPS varies widely depending on the fight and buffs. I use Recount to check my crit rates and the damage spread of my different shots. I’m typically 40-45% Explosive Shot, 25-30% Autoshot, 10% Steady Shot and a few-5% Aimed/Kill Shot/others. If I’m at the low end on Explosive Shot, it means I’ve been late with cds or didn’t have DoTs up (talents boost my damage when I’ve DOTs on target).

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your class?

That it is easy. We look like we’re just standing there…our shots don’t look much different from each other…it certainly *looks* easy. But managing cds and priorities is a split-second thing, and often require judgement - Do I hit this now? Will doing so delay a better cd? If I delay this cd for another, will it be worth the bonus to the first, having the second up? Essentially, those multiple decisions are required every 6 seconds. Most may be relatively easy choices, but you need to be aware of them regardless…and you have only seconds to be able to evaluate a difference of just a second or two…when the consequence may be 20 seconds out.

What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new DPSers of your class to learn?

Pet management, easily, is the most difficult. Even for Warlocks, Hunter pets are just so different. And they’re so integral to our dps game, that bad pet management likely costs a hunter more dps than almost any other part of his/her play. And pets are usually the LAST thing a new hunter thinks about.

What DPS class do you feel you understand least?

Locks. Just…do whatever…I don’t care. I seriously can’t judge a lock by anything more than gear, so I don’t.

What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in DPS?

Omen. Even with the threat tanks have nowadays, OC still finds himself right behind them, and usually close enough to watch, if not FD. Also, I still use Kharthus’ Hunter Timers, though usually for non-hunter stuff like Heroisms. No Quartz anymore, and I really don’t watch damage numbers. They are what they are (or were).

[Your class's preferred basic stat] over other stats or balanced stat allocation, and why?

Hit, until capped, there’s no easier way to boost your damage. Agility is a great stat for hunters in general and particularly for Survival (Expose Weakness), as it adds RAP and Crit, both the basics behind hunter dps.

It isn’t often I get to spend close to 1000g on gems and enchants in a single night, but after topping damage and dps in VoA on Koralon, I won the Relentless Wristguards of Triumph that dropped (with a 99 no less). We had captured Wintergrasp just prior, and the 3 Wintergrasp Marks were just enough for me to get my Titan-Forged Chain Leggings of Triumph with 40 marks. I had 30+ Emblems of Triumph, so I went for the trifecta and picked up Windrunner’s Handguards of Conquest, my first Windrunner’s gear.

OC’s PvP gear, as mentioned before, is north of 800, so I gemmed and enchanted/leg armored the PvP gear for more dps, as opposed to stamina or resilience. I should end up with about 840 Resilience (down from the 870 previous), but with a 50 dps increase in white damage, a 9-10% increase, so I think I’m better off than before, as long as I’m not up against a pally

 

I like Koralon, as I get to stand and shoot, hence the *almost* 6k dps (dam, did I miss a cd? late hitting a cd? soooo close….). We wiped on Emalon 3x and ran out of time before WG reset the bosses because folks stood in the fire, but I topped those efforts, also, with 4700 dps.

Dead dps, doesn’t.

Several in raid were suggesting we kick a few undergeared dpsers (had a couple with GearScores under 3k, and several under 4k), to which those of us who were more intelligent responded with a resounding “STAY OUT OF THE FIRE”.

I’d rather have someone doing 2k the WHOLE fight, than a 4ker who dies 25% into the fight because they are stupid.

Again: Dead dps, doesn’t.

Seriously. GTFO the FIRE!

With Oilcan’s acquistion of a Deadly Gladiator’s Chain Helm, I finally have a full PvP set. Only my weapons are non-PvP.

Closing in on 20k kills in the BGs, I can only wonder at where I might be if I hadn’t taken almost 2 full years off from PvP.

Some random notes (keep in mind, records are only since WotLK and Achievements and don’t include anything prior):

Alterac Valley: 28-33 record, 2030 HKs, 208 deaths, Loyal Defender and The Alterac Blitz

Arathi Basin: 13-25, 873 HKs, 209 deaths

Warsong Gulch: 22-33, 1180 HKs, 365 deaths, Supreme Defender

Eye of the Storm: 9-13, 549 HKs, 121 deaths, The Perfect Storm

Wintergrasp: Not tracked as Achievements apparently, but have Vehicular Gnomeslaughter, which is just cool anyway

Oilcan currently has Resilience north of 800. Cuts chance to be hit and crit by about 9%, reduces damage from crits by about 20%, and an additional damage reduction of another 9%.

When I got back onto PvP, OC had less than 300 Resilience. The difference between 300 and 800+ is quite noticeable. You just live longer and survive more. If you’re getting into PvP and are discouraged by your squishiness, just keep at it. More and more Resilience will keep piling on as you get PvP gear; in addition, the frantic and furious skills you develop as a squishie desperately trying to stay alive will make you all the more formidable when you ARE able to stay alive.

Just stay away from Ret pallies.

U10 group had good dps, though melee heavy, as the KLA downed Freya (try #2) and Thorim (try#3).

Freya trash has a disconcerting tendency to ignore OC’s traps. No resists. No dots on target. Well away from main group. Just….trap disappears while OC get whacked on. <sigh>

Resolved: I will not die in the Gauntlet on Thorim.

Poor Dram, our dps warrior, did. We took quite a while getting through it, as we missed an acolyte standing under a mini-boss for about 30 seconds, and the mini-boss’ AoE took Dram (and Tito) out. We made to the Arena, though, and started the boss stage.

Rezzers: “Where’s Dram? I can’t find him??”

Me: “In the Gauntlet. Dead. You can’t rez him.”

“Oh”

Must be the most boring death, falling in the Gauntlet, yet watching the raid fight the boss, in chat and vent,  while you stare at dead npcs, the odd skittering vermin, and the Release Box. And even after Victory….you still have to release….raid has to wait while you run back in….folks staring greedily at the loot chest, salivating….while they wait for you….

Won’t happen to me. I’ll MD the Gauntlet healer, send Tito straight after Thorim, something, anything.