Selash
12-21-2010, 07:14 AM
So! Now that S9 is live and that we've all had a chance to actually play with a full set of talent points and gear, I'm curious as to what specs, glyphs, tactics and such other hunters are using. Currently I'm running Survival with a build that looks like this;
http://www.wowhead.com/talent#ccbbZcZfMGcMGrRoz:RczdVmmM0
I've also hammered out a couple other builds, but the beast mastery build is purely theoretical. I haven't had a chance to really play with it yet.
Marks: http://www.wowhead.com/talent#cZfMGRborurofMR:kzcVmdM0m
BM: http://www.wowhead.com/talent#cchfckGdRRoZfMR:cozcdmm0M
As for tactics, few things I've discovered;
-Aspect of the Fox. It's a god send for PvP, but running and SS/CSing while it's active is a little awkward from the auto facing that is still currently plaguing the two shots. I'm hoping Blizzard fixes that soon. Also, be prepared to swap aspects if you find the chance to plant yourself and turret, because at that point, Hawk will benefit you more. Especially if you can sit and turret against a clothie or healer.
-Cobra Shot. Beats Steady Shot in nearly every aspect. While normal damage is usually lower than Steady, it will crit higher than it's predecessor. It also is very handy at keeping Serpent Sting up on a target when you don't have access to Chimera Shot. Against plate targets, this tends to be ideal when you don't have the focus to throw another shot since the nature damage it inflicts allows it to bypass armor.
-Camouflage. Stealthed hunters that are not night elves is now possible. The added element of surprise you can pick up while defending a point makes things very interesting. On top of that, in situations where you can see your targets coming at you, this forces ranged classed to come closer to where you are or onto a trap if they want to come at you while it's active. Flares, traps and trap launcher can be set while it's active, but bandaging or eating will drop you out of camo. Also, for the stealth effect, you must be standing still. You can turn while in this state to set yourself up for an attack, but moving forward or backward will cause the stealth effect to fall off, as will the wind up times for Steady Shot, Cobra Shot or Aimed Shot.
And, a few warnings:
-Lock and Load right now is currently not functioning correctly. At Rank 2, it will not proc 100% of the time off of Ice Trap or Freezing Trap as it should.
-Deterrence is also not functioning correctly. Some attacks can and will go through it that shouldn't be.
-Cunning pets that don't fly cannot spec for mobility unless they were already spec'd that way prior to Cata being launched.
-Master's Call can fail if the distance between you and your pet is increased past 25 yards after you use it, or if the pet is stopped midway as it runs to you, resulting in a wasted cooldown.
-Roar of Sacrifice does not fully protect its target from critical strikes even though it says it should, according to what I've been reading on the forums, but I haven't been able to confirm this one myself yet.
-There is a noticable delay between when you command your pet to move to a point and when it actually moves to said point.
I'll add more to this post later when I'm less tired.
http://www.wowhead.com/talent#ccbbZcZfMGcMGrRoz:RczdVmmM0
I've also hammered out a couple other builds, but the beast mastery build is purely theoretical. I haven't had a chance to really play with it yet.
Marks: http://www.wowhead.com/talent#cZfMGRborurofMR:kzcVmdM0m
BM: http://www.wowhead.com/talent#cchfckGdRRoZfMR:cozcdmm0M
As for tactics, few things I've discovered;
-Aspect of the Fox. It's a god send for PvP, but running and SS/CSing while it's active is a little awkward from the auto facing that is still currently plaguing the two shots. I'm hoping Blizzard fixes that soon. Also, be prepared to swap aspects if you find the chance to plant yourself and turret, because at that point, Hawk will benefit you more. Especially if you can sit and turret against a clothie or healer.
-Cobra Shot. Beats Steady Shot in nearly every aspect. While normal damage is usually lower than Steady, it will crit higher than it's predecessor. It also is very handy at keeping Serpent Sting up on a target when you don't have access to Chimera Shot. Against plate targets, this tends to be ideal when you don't have the focus to throw another shot since the nature damage it inflicts allows it to bypass armor.
-Camouflage. Stealthed hunters that are not night elves is now possible. The added element of surprise you can pick up while defending a point makes things very interesting. On top of that, in situations where you can see your targets coming at you, this forces ranged classed to come closer to where you are or onto a trap if they want to come at you while it's active. Flares, traps and trap launcher can be set while it's active, but bandaging or eating will drop you out of camo. Also, for the stealth effect, you must be standing still. You can turn while in this state to set yourself up for an attack, but moving forward or backward will cause the stealth effect to fall off, as will the wind up times for Steady Shot, Cobra Shot or Aimed Shot.
And, a few warnings:
-Lock and Load right now is currently not functioning correctly. At Rank 2, it will not proc 100% of the time off of Ice Trap or Freezing Trap as it should.
-Deterrence is also not functioning correctly. Some attacks can and will go through it that shouldn't be.
-Cunning pets that don't fly cannot spec for mobility unless they were already spec'd that way prior to Cata being launched.
-Master's Call can fail if the distance between you and your pet is increased past 25 yards after you use it, or if the pet is stopped midway as it runs to you, resulting in a wasted cooldown.
-Roar of Sacrifice does not fully protect its target from critical strikes even though it says it should, according to what I've been reading on the forums, but I haven't been able to confirm this one myself yet.
-There is a noticable delay between when you command your pet to move to a point and when it actually moves to said point.
I'll add more to this post later when I'm less tired.