A Hunter's Story

Ok, so I’ve been in ICC quite a few times, but interestingly enough, I hadn’t downed Rotface (on 10 man) until last night. Done him on 25, done him on my healer, but never on my main on 10 man. Well, tried, but never succeeded. So I find it interesting, ironic, and funny that what do we do differently to make it work? Have the Hunter tank!

Now, these tips will probably help other tanks too, but I figure I just have to share as a reminder that yes, Hunters can DPS. Yes, Hunters can Heal (well, ok, never done a raid as a healer, but we can at least tank-heal things where our pet is tanking! lol). And yes, Hunters can Tank. HUNTERS FTW! Haha.

Ok, now the actual details, before someone thinks I mean that a hunter can run up and Mele Tank the Lich King. So I was actually in a good PuG. Run with these guys before, and this time happened to be on 10-man. Actually, we started one night, wiped on Rot a couple times, called it a night, and scheduled to go back in and try again later. So we did. Part of the problem was that neither of our tanks had ever succeeded in off-tanking Rot. So those of us who had seen it done were offering pointers, and no one really minded wiping because they were learning. They were listening and learning (such a different dynamic than the other day!). So we tried a number of times. Then we decided to change it up and I’d try tanking. Well, kite-tanking. And on our first try, we got down to the dreaded 0% wipe. Yes, Rot had less than 60k health left when the last person died. ZOMG! So then next try we had a healer DC, then another random prob, and then we successfully downed him. Yay us! Hunter tank FTW!

Soooooo onto the how. It’s actually pretty simple, and very reminiscent of Nax. Basically, it’s a combination of Distracting Shot, Disengage, Frost Trap, and strafing. So basically, the tank in plate armor keeps Rot’s attention in a simple Tank & Spank. The tank in mail armor starts off as DPS. As the fight goes on, Rot will create a small ooze. Whoever gets it runs out near (NOT ON TOP OF) the Hunter. When the next person gets a small ooze on them, they run out and merge it with the other one. They create a Large Ooze. At this point, the Hunter uses DS to get the Large Ooze on him/her. They then just kite it around the outer edge of the room. AotW will help mitigate the dmg of the green circles of death on the floor, but avoid them when possible to help the healer. Remember though – healers can heal you through the green circle of death. They can’t heal you if the Large Ooze hits you. Quite simply, the Large Ooze will kill you if it catches up. This is also why you need to have it merge near, not on top of, you. In one of our pulls, it merged almost directly on top of me, so when he went after me he killed me dead real quick. Where as sometimes when kiting, I had to run through the green goo. My health got low and I had to pop a health pot, but I lived. So word of advice – avoid the green goo of death on the floor, but avoid the large ooze more.

That’s really all there is to it. When I had the opportunity, I threw some extra DPS on Rot, but mostly just kited the ooze. Eventually it breaks apart, and periodically a new one will spawn. So don’t stand near Rot when it breaks up, and if a new one appears, grab it. If the ooze is getting too close, use Disengage to get away. Drop Frost traps to slow it down (well, I don’t know if it actually does, but it makes you feel better at least, lol). And that’s basically it.

So for that first wipe we had when I was tanking, it was all just bad coincidence. Somehow, our ooze just broke up, but then 2 new ones spawned at the same time that green goo came out. So I was standing in an area that was clear, saw an ooze pop up and grabbed its agro. Of course, that was the same time the goo appeared underneath me, and the other ooze appeared on the opposite side of the one I had. So it cut through the group as I tried to side-step in order to get a clear shot at the other one, and the heals just had no chance to keep up on either the group or I. So once I went down the 2 oozies went amuck and decimated the group. Still not really sure how we had the 2 pop up so close together, but seriously – less than 60k health! And no, 2 large oozies is not the end of the world. On our successful attempt, at one point the second ooze came up. Everyone’s initial reaction over vent was “Oh no, we’re gonna wipe” basically. Then those comments were followed by “Oh, nevermind, he’s got both of them!” because I quickly and calmly picked up the second one and kited it as well. The first one soon after broke up and I was back to kiting just one. No biggie, lol.

So anyway, I hope that helps people tanking on Rot. It’s not that it’s really hard to do, you just have to nail 2 things. 1 – land the taunt. 2 – don’t get hit. And that goes for whomever is tanking the oozies, whether Hunter or other. And no, you cannot taunt the little oozies. Don’t even waste the GCD on them. Just wait until it combines with another and forms a large ooze. Then taunt the large one. And all the while? Let your pet stack some nice deeps on Rot! Might as well give him as much damage as he’s giving out, right? Hunter tank ftw – we tank and dps at the same time! Lol.

Previous Editions
The Hunter Dance – Part I (Misdirect)
The Hunter Dance – Part II (Shot CD)
The Hunter Dance – Part III (Trap Usage)
The Hunter Dance – Part IV (How to Pull)
The Hunter Dance – Part V (Tanking)

Possible Upcoming Editions
Pet Control
Survival – Feign Death
Trap Dancing / CC
Line of Sight
Where to Stand?
Macros
Pet Tanking
Disengage Uses

Not a Macro
This is not an explanation of a macro you can use that you just press it every second and it automatically uses the next ability in the rotation. This is not an exact guide to which button to press when for maximum DPS. Rather, this is a guide on how to squeeze more damage out per second than before. I pretty regularly have people comment that I do more DPS than others with my GearScore, which is further proof that GS is not an exact representation of how much DPS someone will do. Yes, GS can give an indication of how much DPS a char can do, or what level of content they’ve been into, but it is not XYZ GS = ABC DPS. So, with that in mind, here’s how I do it…

Uptime
First, is uptime. If you’re not shooting bad guys… You’re not doing damage. NO – this does not mean you should pull trash and go before the tank does! Rather, it means that if the tank is hitting things, you should be too. And no pauses between abilities. That’s the easy one – most people know to use Steady Shot when everything else is on CD, and that you don’t want to sit and wait before hitting your next ability if it’s ready. Really, the key here is starting as soon after the tank pulls as possible. You just better remember how to use Misdirect! And you can certainly wait a half second while the tank rounds up the mobs – better to be able to MD all of them onto the tank than only get half of them and pull the other half onto you. Trust me, pulling them onto the tank means more damage than dieing from being a Huntard.

So anyway, in summary – when the tank is in combat – you best be putting out the DPS. In a recent run I did some analysis after the raid. I noticed one of the other Hunters who out-geared me by a bit, yet he was doing significantly less DPS than I. I looked at his various hits and he was in the same spec (SV), a similar percentage of usage of abilities, but I had somewhere around 85% uptime and he had 75%. That means that 10% of the time during that raid, I was doing DPS and he wasn’t. No wonder I did more than him!

Shot Hierarchy > Shot Rotation
Hunters shouldn’t use a “Rotation” so much as a “Hierarchy”. Certain abilities are more powerful, and deal out the deeps better. Use those when not on CD. The lesser ones are used when the higher ones are on CD. This isn’t just abilities, but extends to glyphs and such too. Take for example someone with Glyph of Serpent Sting and http://www.wowhead.com/item=42914. Now which is more important to cast first – Steady Shot or Serpent Sting? It should be pretty obvious here that Serpent Sting should be done first, then Steady Shot. However, if Serpent Sting still has another 10 seconds on the mob, there’s no point in using it again just yet – so Steady Shot goes first… And if you have the set bonus that makes your dmg from Serpent Sting able to crit, it makes it that much more important. Unless it’s the end of the boss fight and you only have time to squeeze off a few more shots before he’s down. Except if he’s about to freeze the group, or he’s going to do a mega-blast that may kill most of the raid, or if…

Get my point yet? This is where you truly can add to your DPS. Using the right shots at the right time. And figuring out which ones to always use whenever they’re up. Which ones are more important? Which do more damage? Which will continue to dmg even through you’re web wrapped? I’d give you an exact Hierarchy, except it’s different depending on your glyphs, talents, and spec. And, more importantly in my opinion, is that you’d be surprised what you learn in the process of figuring it out. Don’t just look at the abilities/glyphs you do have – look at the ones you don’t too. It may be better to respec because you really like using one ability most, but aren’t even maximizing the dmg it can do. Or there might be a bonus hidden that you weren’t taking into account when deciding which ability is higher than the other. So honestly just look. I revise my Hierarchy a little every once in a while, and I revise it during fights often. Why? Because of the next tip…

Situational Awareness
Yes, I come back to this point in many posts. It’s that important. It’s important so you don’t pull with your pet, so you don’t pull agro, so you don’t overuse the healers by standing in goo, and so on. But it’s also important during each fight to maximize your DPS. Here’s where all the little questions come in…

• Is my Volley hitting EVERY mob, or just most? Can I adjust it a little to hit that one extra guy? I personally use this as an opportunity to help give some agro to the tank on that one stupid mob that won’t come closer (again – use MD, don’t pull that extra one onto yourself).
• Is the boss at a stage that in a second I won’t be able to hit him, but he’ll still take DMG from DoT’s? Should I wait to use Black Arrow for its DoT, or is Explosive Shot up and the increased DPS percentage from Black Arrow more important at this present moment?
• Am I standing in goo? Remember – a dead hunter can only do DPS if there’s a DK around to play with his corpse. So yes, it’s actually better to move first, even if in the middle of a Steady Shot.
• Is this one of those annoying fights that requires almost constant movement? If so, ensure 100% DoT uptime, definitely use the big bang shots, but if you know you’re going to have to move real soon, then adjust your order so that Steady Shot doesn’t come up right before you’re trying to move. Rather, time it so you’re moving and using insta-casts at the same time.
• Is an add going to spawn real soon? Adjust slightly and save some of those big punches so you can MD the add onto the OT. Help take it down quicker so you can get back to the main boss quicker. Don’t stop shooting – just modify your order a little so that they come up at a slightly different time.
• Use MD and FD right. If you pull the mob onto yourself, you then have to dump agro which of course means you’re doing things other than mass-dps! So help put the mob on the right target and stay at range so you can lay into them.
• Is your pet alive? D’uh. Our pets are a huge chunk of our DPS. So keep them alive. If they’re dead, depending on the fight and the situation… It may actually be worth the 10 seconds to revive them. I know what you’re thinking – 10 seconds?!?! But that’s 70,000 damage!!! (Using 7k as a randomly chosen avg dps for this argument). Now think about it. 70,000 damage in a boss fight that lasts 3 minutes? If you’re doing 7k DPS, and your pet averages (conservatively) 20% of your damage… Then if the pet dies at the beginning you could be looking at losing 250,000 damage. Which one is worth more?! Well d’uh, it makes sense if the pet is dead right at the start of a 3 minute fight. But near the end of one? In the middle of a 1.5 minute fight? Hence the reason for situational awareness…
• Is Volley better or Multi-Shot/Single Target? If it’s more than 3 Volley is probably the way to go. 3? Depends on their health pool, how close to death, etc. Less than 3? Probably not Volley…
• Other things? Yep. Just think about the situation or the fight, and look to see where you could be more efficient. It’s ok to replay a fight in your mind after it’s over to think what you could do differently for more DPS. Lots of us do it. Sometimes with aids, sometimes with in-game Recount tools, sometimes just with our own mind. But it’s worth it if you want to improve.

Avoid Feign Death
This should be pretty simple – avoid using Feign Death. It’s a last resort because instead of doing damage, you’re pretending to be dead. MD means someone else gets your threat. FD means you dump yours, but you’re also not dealing damage. ‘Nuff said?

Multi… Umm… Hrm, how to phrase… Extra Deeps!
Just because you’re doing single target DPS doesn’t mean you can’t put Serpent Sting on more than one mob. Just because you’re doing Volley doesn’t mean you can’t Serpent Sting some of them first. Or Multi-Shot, then Volley. Outweigh it with your other shots too though. Would it be beneficial to put serpent sting on 10 targets, or better to just Volley. Volley starts hitting them all at the same time and packs a pretty big punch. But 2 targets, and you can toss a quick Serpent Sting on the other one instead of using a Steady Shot? Probably worth it.

Summary
Here’s the simple summary: Be Flexible. It’s not a Shot Rotation of 1-2-3-4-3-4-3-4-1-2-3-4-3-4…. It’s a Hierarchy of which ones are more important during which situations. Know what’s going on, what’s coming up, and use the right shots. Be flexible and be prepared. And try new things! That’s how I squeeze the most DPS out of my char!

As many times as I say it, sadly Bliz won’t listen to me. Here is further evidence to the case that Hunters will be having a complete rework of their game mechanics and will soon become ranged rogues:

Lowering the GCD is as close to anything on the never list. We will possibly do it for hunters, but that is because their resource system is going to prevent them from ever spamming multiple buttons at once (in the same way rogues have a lower GCD). Even with rage normalization there are going to be times when a warrior is at 100 rage and can unload with multiple attacks at once. The GCD is there for a reason, partially for game balance and partially to keep the server – client communication from getting gummed up. [Source]

I mean, it would have been fine if we were setup that way from the beginning, but we weren’t. So don’t fundamentally change how we play the game! Oy!

Oh well. SWTOR will be coming out in not too long hopefully. I’m hoping it’ll be good. Seriously, who doesn’t want to run around w/ a lightsaber?

I’m impressed, there’s actually a pretty decent post about hunters on wow.com! Actually, their new author does a pretty decent job with many posts. But I like this particular post because he really hits home on the key point. And that main point is:

That’s true across the board, but particularly with hunters. We have so many different buttons we could push, so which ones do you push and when? Do you walk out of the green circle of death, or do you disengage out of it? Do you disengage in the right direction to position yourself for the next shot and not off the ledge or into a different mob? How fast can you change targets? Pull agro and then dump it on purpose at the right times?

Those are all things that a good hunter knows. Anyone can volley into a big crowd of mobs that the tanks rounded up, and see their DPS climb into 5 digits. But since anyone can do it, why would the group pick you, or invite you back? Regardless, the point is well made that it just takes a little research to determine a max (or near max) spec and gear set. The ones that constantly pull more DPS and are more useful are the ones who know what to do with that gear, and when to sacrifice personal DPS for the benefit of the raid.

I did think it funny though, that I had someone asking what my GS was because they were running with another hunter and thought our gear was about comparable. Turns out we had a pretty close GS and it just turns out that I do a lot more DPS consistently than he does. But that could be because I’m passionate about my character and he’s not. Or it could mean he eats while playing and has to finish his bite before pressing the key. But since the difference between he and I are consistent, it just helps go to show that it’s not as much what gear and spec you have, rather it’s more about what you do with that gear that matters.

First things to note:

• Changes have been announced – lots of people will discuss on blogs. I am, obviously, not exempt from this guideline, lol.
• They’re preview changes. Not actual changes.
• The changes will probably be changed by the time they go live

So! If you haven’t seen them yet, heeeere it is! So please reference that when I make my notes. And here are the thoughts:

Cobra Shot, Trap Launcher, & Camoflauge – Good! I’ve been saying it for ages, but it’s nice we’ll finally be able to hide and shoot! I mean, obviously if there’s a warrior trying to take down the tree you’re hiding in, he’s got a good shot to hit you. So mele can still hit you. Or if someone lights your tree on fire, you’ll probably burn. But now that we can actually hide from ranged damage, it’ll make us more like we’re actually hunters! Cobra Shot? Bliz is just trying to take away the monotonous steady – shot – steaaady – shot – steaaaaady – shot…. So w/e. And launching traps? Well, we had to evolve somehow, since no one really uses traps much anymore. Heck, right now when I’m bored and want to do an additional 1.5-2k DPS, I’ll run in, drop some explosives, jump back, and then rain down arrows. But I’m in the minority, and I don’t even do it all the time. But if I could toss it from afar? Yep, becomes part of the list of abilities used for rotations.

Next change – Focus instead of Mana. Ok, I really don’t think it’s a smart move, as much as I’m trying to be open minded… I mean, we’ve used mana since the beginning. All of our gear has intellect on it. But I’ll still try to stay somewhat optimistic. Maybe it will be good, even though it completely changes the stats of gear we’re looking at, as well as how we use our skills and abilities and what we do in between fights, and during fights, and………….. Get my point? But maybe it’ll be good? Maybe we won’t become ranged rogues?

Ammunition – The hunter in my says “Yes!” (ignore the lore – it’s cool to not have to worry about stocking up) but the Engineer says “No!”. There goes my source of funding. I’ll be interested to see what they change for engineers to keep it as a useful profession. They’ll have to do something, since that’s pretty much it at the moment. This one though, I’m actually hopeful will work out (unlike the focus/mana thing)

Pet Management – Cool! The point of being a hunter (other than being the best class in the game, and doing some ridiculous amounts of DPS) is the pets. So it’s totally awesome we’ll be able to collect more than just one per spec. Some we train since level 1 and want to keep them because of the emotional bond. Some we had epic hunts to find. Others, well, they do lots of dmg with that spec, so we keep them around. And some are just plain pretty. And yes, there’s one or two we can release back into the wild. But anyway, cool. And it also seems like they’re trying to make the various pets more equal in damage output so that you can pick your pet based more on your relationship with the pet, or the buff it brings to the table, which is also cool.

We are reinforcing hunters as a ranged class. – D’uh, if they’re going to make our game mechanics more like rogues, they have to do something to differentiate us! Ranged Rogues, right? Ok, I’ll stop the sarcasm… For a few… Going to try to remain optimistic…

The rest of the changes are mostly just normal patch changes that Bliz messes with just for fun. I’m happy about pets, ammo, and that they’re trying to make us more like hunters in that we can actually hide and shoot. Now we’ll just need to see how it works out by the time November rolls around…

So what do you think? High hopes for the Cataclysm Hunter changes? We’ll hear about them soon… Other than they’re making us into ranged rogues (taking away mana & giving us something along the lines of focus…)… But anyway, I’m trying to keep an open mind. Maybe the changes will be good? Maybe? /crosses fingers