World of Warcraft

[DFF]

The thing about Hunter pets is that there are a lot of good choices and only a few really bad ones.

http://petopia.brashendeavors.net/ - Hunter pet site

My main is a 77 Night Elf Hunter, and I never really settled on one pet until the mid-20's. I used a windserpent as my only pet from the mid-20's until about lvl 62, when I picked up a wasp (Blacksting, the named one in Zangarmarsh). I've also got a wolf (Rema, the named giant wolf in Blade's Edge Mtns....which sadly shrinks to normal size once tamed), and I use it most of the time. Have tried using a warp stalker and a moth, but I ended up dropping both of them. (I'm mainly Marksman, so no exotic pets for me)

A lot of Hunters recommend gorillas as a pet, but you can't get one until the early 30s. I've never tried one, myself.

I definitely recommend avoiding bears, crocs, turtles, bats or owls. Bears and crocs are okay as tanking pets, but they're too slow in combat, in my opinion. Turtles are too slow, period. Bats and owls are bad choices unless you plan on ONLY soloing, because the sound of their wings flapping will drive other players nuts after a while and they also tend to get in the way of other players a lot. You also want to keep in mind what pets eat; you ideally want one that eats more than one type of food; I recommend a pet that will eat bread and/or cheese, since you can find vendors that sell those fairly easily. You can also come across fish and meat pretty easily, though. (You might want to take up fishing to deal with a fish eater; there are some fish vendors, but catching them yourself is better)

Winter got it right; get a cat or scorpid for your starting pet, if you're Horde. Cat, spider or wolf if you're Alliance. (There are no scorpids anywhere near the Alliance starting areas)

I have a cat, a gorilla and a ummm... what's those two-headed flying things called again? (I always forget their name). I use my cat 99.99% of the time and have grown quite attached to it as it was my first ever pet. The introduction of pet talent trees has added a nice new slant of pet levelling. 'Heart of the Phoenix' for example, is a GREAT ability for getting you out of a bind. It's auto-turned on with a 10 minute cooldown and, basically, if it's available when your pet dies, it returns to life with 100% health. I've managed to solo a few elites thanks to that ability alone.

Oh, another Hunter trick is to switch between Aspects of Hawk and Viper to save mana. It'll sound obvious to some people, but you'd be surprised at how little people use Viper. I usually go in full whack with Hawk then, as I get to about 10% mana, switch to Viper and let it build back up again.

Saying that, before they nerfed Volley, Viper + Volley = amazing fun. Has anyone tried volley since the patch? (I've been almost entirely on my DK)

[GhostMachine]

Two-headed = Chimera. You're Beastmastery?

I haven't tried Volley since the patch because like you I've been running a DK. The only times I've been on my Hunter since the patch were to do the Dalaran cooking daily or to chat.

Agree with you about Aspect of Viper. Of course, I switch between Viper and Dragonhawk, not Viper and Hawk. I think I've used Hawk maybe twice since getting Dragonhawk.

Heart of the Phoenix is possibly the best pet ability of all. Its saved my bacon quite a few times.

[rocksta]

I'm considering either a Paladin or a Hunter now. Blood Elves seem cool, so I might want to run a Blood Elf Paladin. Alliance could be fun as well. I dont know.

Also this 1.2 GB patch is taking forever >_<

Edited January 25, 2009 by Rocksta

[GhostMachine]

I'm considering either a Paladin or a Hunter now. Blood Elves seem cool, so I might want to run a Blood Elf Paladin. Alliance could be fun as well. I dont know.

Also this 1.2 GB patch is taking forever >_<

The BE lands are really nice.

If you start a Hunter, keep in mind there are more good crossbows and guns than there are bows in the game - which pisses me off to no end, since I made my Night Elf Hunter because I like Archery. (I can use guns, but I refuse to learn to use crossbows as a principle, because prior to TBC no race started off able to use crossbows, so logically there should be more good bows than crossbows, not the other way around; you had to go train to use crossbows) However, you can train to use whichever two ranged weapons you don't start out with, if you want.

Oh, and definitely don't take Herbalism or Mining if you start a Hunter, since you won't be able to track herbs or ore and mobs at the same time. Skinning and Leatherworking on a Hunter are your best bet, since you'll be able to make your own armor that way.

For a Paladin, the only advice I will give is that no matter which build you decide to go with, definitely put some points into the Blessing of Kings talent (and Improved Blessing of Kings, if you want) under Protection, and learn to use both 1-handed and 2-handed weapons (carrying a shield when you're using a 1-hander). And keep in mind a Paladin can make both a good tank (or a damn good tank vs. Undead) and a good back-up healer. Can't offer much more advice than that, because my highest lvl Paladin is only lvl 19. (I have two, both Alliance, but on different servers; a Human and a Draenei)

[DFF]

Two-headed = Chimera. You're Beastmastery?

I haven't tried Volley since the patch because like you I've been running a DK. The only times I've been on my Hunter since the patch were to do the Dalaran cooking daily or to chat.

Agree with you about Aspect of Viper. Of course, I switch between Viper and Dragonhawk, not Viper and Hawk. I think I've used Hawk maybe twice since getting Dragonhawk.

Heart of the Phoenix is possibly the best pet ability of all. Its saved my bacon quite a few times.

Yeah, I'm a BM Hunter. Some some decent stuff in the tree. Though, last few levels has seen me branch into MM (extension on concusive shot, a few points towards crit and I'm aiming towards getting the int bonus to AP).

And I don't use Dragonhawk as I haven't got it yet - I'm only 70, and I believe you get it at 74 right?

What's the MM tree like as a whole?

I'm considering either a Paladin or a Hunter now. Blood Elves seem cool, so I might want to run a Blood Elf Paladin. Alliance could be fun as well. I dont know.

Also this 1.2 GB patch is taking forever >_<

I have a Belfadin. They are definitely fun to play and are great fun levelling if you have a friend on some kind of dps class like a Warrior (and you're healing them).

I'm considering either a Paladin or a Hunter now. Blood Elves seem cool, so I might want to run a Blood Elf Paladin. Alliance could be fun as well. I dont know.

Also this 1.2 GB patch is taking forever >_<

The BE lands are really nice.

If you start a Hunter, keep in mind there are more good crossbows and guns than there are bows in the game - which pisses me off to no end, since I made my Night Elf Hunter because I like Archery. (I can use guns, but I refuse to learn to use crossbows as a principle, because prior to TBC no race started off able to use crossbows, so logically there should be more good bows than crossbows, not the other way around; you had to go train to use crossbows) However, you can train to use whichever two ranged weapons you don't start out with, if you want.

Oh, and definitely don't take Herbalism or Mining if you start a Hunter, since you won't be able to track herbs or ore and mobs at the same time. Skinning and Leatherworking on a Hunter are your best bet, since you'll be able to make your own armor that way.

For a Paladin, the only advice I will give is that no matter which build you decide to go with, definitely put some points into the Blessing of Kings talent (and Improved Blessing of Kings, if you want) under Protection, and learn to use both 1-handed and 2-handed weapons (carrying a shield when you're using a 1-hander). And keep in mind a Paladin can make both a good tank (or a damn good tank vs. Undead) and a good back-up healer. Can't offer much more advice than that, because my highest lvl Paladin is only lvl 19. (I have two, both Alliance, but on different servers; a Human and a Draenei)

Yeah, I don't think a Hunter should ever really look outside f Skinning + Leatherworking. It just makes too much sense to do those over the others.

[Mick]

I strongly disagree with the "Don't take skinning and mining/herbalism" bit, along with getting Leatherworking.

While yes, you can make your own armor, the amount of leather that you'd need early on is just crazy to be able to make anything worth a damn in the early levels.

Also, yes, you can't track and have find minerals/herbs on at the same time, but when is this ever an issue for any other class? Changing your tracking is pretty easy.

Skinning and one other gathering profession is your best bet at the moment, at least in the early levels. Either one can make some parts of another crafting profession, either engineering or leatherworking, much easier in later levels.

As far as a mage being easily solable, having leveled a mage to 70 before Blizzard introduced reduced levels, it's not that easy, at least with group quests. Solo quests are just that, but as a mage, some quests were just total pains in the ass. Usually I could go through maybe 4 or 5 mobs before I had to drink. My hunter can go through them like kleenix.

[GhostMachine]

What's the MM tree like as a whole?

Its pretty good; I don't have the last two abilities, though, because I also have several points in BM and a few in Survival.

I like Improved Stings (increases the dmg of Serpent Sting and the amount of mana drained by Viper Sting), Readiness (resets the cooldown on all Hunter abilities except Bestial Wrath), Trueshot Aura (improves the attack power of everyone within 45 yds of you as long as you have it turned on), and Wild Quiver (gives you a small chance of firing an extra shot that doesn't take up any ammo and does nature dmg when you use auto-shot).

MM also does things like improving chance to hit and chance to crit, and improved damage, and reducing the mana cost of shots.

(Improved Stings also increases the damage of Wvyern Sting, but that's a Survival talent and you have to put way too many points in Survival to get it - 31 pts)

Survival sucks, in my opinion. When I was in a raiding guild back before I quit playing to go back to City of Heroes, I had a mostly Survival build for a while because they needed more Hunters with Wyvern Sting, and I absolutely hated it. I was tempted to go BM so I could get a Core Hound, but I like MM way too much, even though BM is probably easier for soloing.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Has anyone ever had a problem with the interface where it keeps disappearing?

I just installed a new video card yesterday. I've been playing WoW for about 2 hours, and I got a group together to do Heroic UK when my interface started disappearing at random. It started when I was flying out of Crystalsong towards Howling Fjord, then it didn't kick back up until I got to Utgarde Keep - every couple of paces I would make on my mount, the interface would disappear. I stopped flying, interface reappeared. Started flying again, interface disappeared. At one point my entire character also disappeared with the interface except for his head.

I'm wondering WTF's going on.

[GhostMachine]

Do you use any game mods or anything? That could be causing your problem. I had an obsolete version of TitanPanel with a mod in it that was no longer needed due to game changes they made (it was a PvP honor calculator or something) that caused problems similar to that once.

(I only use TitanPanel, Fishing Buddy, Atlas and AtlasLoot, myself)

Oh, and what server do you play on? (I'm guessing you're Horde?....)

[MalaCloudy Black]

Maelstrom, Horde.

And yeah, I use.. sec. Let me think.

FuBar 3.5, AtlasLoot Enhanced, Dominos, ArkInventory, DurabilityFu, Recount, RecountFu, Quartz, DeadlyBossMods (only have party mods turned on though), PallyPower, FlagRSP2, and XPerl Unit Frames.

I got back on and played for about 15 minutes and had no problems after a reboot. All my addons are up to date.

[MalaCloudy Black]

The most bizarre paladin changes for patch 3.0.9 (courtesy MMO-champion)

* The duration on all Seals has been increased to 30 minutes and can no longer dispelled.

* Divine Plea: The amount healed by your spells is reduced by 50% (up from 20%) but the effect can no longer be dispelled.

* Sanctified Seals: This talent no longer affects dispel resistance, but continues to affect crit chance.

uhhh.. I guess the seal thing is to compensate for the Divine Plea nerf? I don't know. Really, honestly, that's out of fucking nowhere. Seals lasting 30 seconds sucked. Seals lasting 2 minutes ruled. Seals that last 30 minutes and can't be dispelled? Are these fake patch notes or something? :|

[MalaCloudy Black]

Paladin changes in Patch 3.1 blow dick. Between making Spirital Attunement a deep Prot talent and nerfing Holy paladins, ugh. The whole Spiritual Attunement change really fucks up Seal of Blood/Seal of Martyr. It's the best DPS seal for Ret paladins, and that's partially because the damage in inflicts on the person using it means it returns a little bit of mana every time you judge. Now the whole self-damaging aspect of the seal is retarded.. because you don't gain anything from it. It turns that into a silly gimmick, and it also invalidates the Glyph of Seal Of Blood - now that glyph will only be useful to prot paladins who, uhm, don't use Seal of Blood.

This is one of the most retarded changes to the class lately. I was actually pretty happy about where paladins were - especially Ret, since it's my primary tree - but with that change and the holy paladin nerfs, just ugh. I loathe how Blizzard does the whole "this nerf was intended for PVP" thing, and nerfs the PVE aspects as well. I don't PVP, so I don't give a shit about nerfs to PVP talents, but when they start oozing over into my PVE it gets irritating.

blargh.

[GhostMachine]

I definitely agree with that last part. I really hate nerfs done for PvP reasons that carry over into PvE, period. I used to play City of Heroes and they nerfed Phase Shift, which was one of my favorite powers, when they added PvP. (Keep in mind that CoH PvP is a lot different than WoW and is a lot more optional than PvP in WoW)

Haven't run my Paladin in ages, but the changes they've made have me glad I wasn't planning on going Holy, because I'd have to bust out the Talent Calculator if I was. (I'm leaning toward a Protection build)

[DFF]

So patch 3.1.0 is up. What does everyone make of it?

My main being a hunter, I've been obviously paying more attention to that. There doesn't seem to be many major changes to that particular class, aside from the odd bug fix and the odd tweak.

Apparently talent points are going to be reset again. I'm giving consideration to re-speccing down the MM tree, or maybe even try out Survival for while.

[BlackFlagg]

mainly curious to see how my ret pally does mana wise now that spiritual attunement is no more for him. Other than that only major change was the 1k gold from my pocket from buying his duel spec, heh

as for hunters, surv's been the top dog for pve since the patch when they nerfed bm, it's still the top dog, just not by as wide a margin as before.

Edited April 15, 2009 by BlackFlagg

[MalaCloudy Black]

mainly curious to see how my ret pally does mana wise now that spiritual attunement is no more for him. Other than that only major change was the 1k gold from my pocket from buying his duel spec, heh

as for hunters, surv's been the top dog for pve since the patch when they nerfed bm, it's still the top dog, just not by as wide a margin as before.

No change for your ret pally, scout's honour. That was one of my main concerns, but as far as solo PVE goes, I'm not noticing any changes as far as mana or comat effectiveness goes - I've got one more spell in my rotation (exorcism), but since they upped Judgements of the Wise back up to 25% it + Divine Plea is making up for mana regen lost with the loss of Spiritual Attunement.

Need to get another 300 gold before I can dual spec though, so I've been doing the Argent Tournament stuff. I love it.

[GhostMachine]

I didn't really get much time to play around with WoW yesterday, but I do like some of the changes they made to talents.

I believe my Rogue will be more useful than he has been since the last few patches, and I like some of the Deathknight changes. (I have an Alliance Unholy DK on Whisperwind and a Horde Frost DK on Steamwheedle Cartel)

Unfortunately it will probably be a few days before I can play again; I recently got a new computer and am having problems getting the network adapter (which is on my old computer, the one with WoW on it) to work, and haven't installed it on the new one (which I am on right now) yet.

(The new computer has a better processor and 3 times as much memory as the old one, as well as a better video card.)

I have no interest whatsoever in dual spec; I can't even afford to buy the epic flying riding skill yet, and that's my main priority at the moment. (Don't have to worry about getting an epic flying mount, fortunately, since I have the Headless Horseman's mount.)

[BlackFlagg]

well dont mean solo pve, more along the lines of lengthy raid boss fights, but I'll find that out tomorry when I make my first trip into Ulduar

[MalaCloudy Black]

World first Yogg-Saron kill already (no surprise). Guild named Vodka got it, I believe. There's screenshots of the fight up at MMO-Champion.

I still haven't even ever done Naxx, but man, I looove the whole Old Gods thing - probably because I Lovecraft.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Just bought dual specs, so now I'm a Ret/Prot paladin. My prot gear's all stuff I picked up during guild raids/heroics as offspec pieces, so I'm happy about that - just have to do Heroic Azjol-Nerub and get the trinket off Hadronox and I'll have a nice, full Prot set (as it stands the only thing I'm lacking is one trinket). I haven't played as Prot yet nor have I had a chance to enchant my gear, but I'm hoping I can learn how to tank doing high level normal instances (HoS, HoL, etc.) and then move on to tanking some of the easy heroics.

I'm totally broke now too, I bought dual specs and had about 100g left, bought a meta gem for my Prot helm and a yellow gem for my new belt and now I have barely over 1g. Oh well, that's what dailies are for.

Edited April 19, 2009 by Claudio Cloudstagnoli