Went through the spec guides today and updated those that needed it to reflect talent choice changes with the new levels of gear available. No huge changes, but I do think each basic spec had at least one talent point shifted around.
Also I updated the pet spec guide images so that it’s showing Culling instead of Avoidance in the picture now.
(9 votes, average: 3.56 out of 5)
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Member
I just went to see the new MM spec and noticed that its a survival spec SS.
Lol, so the best MM spec is, in-fact, an Sv build?
Admin
Image corrected
Contributor
Clearly a Freudian slip. Quick, everyone respec to SV!!
This is why this is the best hunter site on the interwebs. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read stale content on a page claiming to be an invaluable resource for information.
I only wish there were a site exactly like this one for every class, seeing as how I am an altoholic. I find myself playing my tankadin more than my hunter now though as she is needed more. But I still check here several times daily for updates.
Member
@Zymry
I had to laugh when I read your post. I actually gave up my tankadin for my hunter. . . primarily because of this site! For me, playing my hunter is so much more challenging, not to mention fun. Another big thanks to Frost for providing some of the best WoW resources available!
Hey Frost, you posting any quick descriptions/reasoning behind the talent switches? If not that’s cool. I’d follow you into hell and back regardless
Just wondering was all.
Gaeb
Member
Yeah, why the removal from Imp Hunter’s Mark to Improved barrage? It seems like we’d get more overall (not to mention raid-wide) use out of an extra 195 ranged attack power on the boss, over a 12% crit increase for a shot that isn’t our highest damage-dealer. Of course, if you’ve already tested this I’ll just shut up
Admin
Hunter’s Mark basically doesn’t scale — it gives you a flat AP bonus. Thus the better your gear gets, the worse this talent is compared to other talents that scale better.
So these little changes are only good at the newer gear levels, ya? So a mainly 245 /251 with a couple 264s tossed in should stick with the older idea?
…. I respec too much as it is. :<
Admin
No, this assumes something around 232 – 245. Basically the gear levels that you can get to within a couple of weeks of grinding heroics.
And no one’s allowed to complain to me about respeccing too much
Member
Thanks for updating the guides. They were a huge help to me when I was making the transition from leveling to taking dps seriously. I’m glad the guides will continue to be of use to people learning the ropes.
I have to say, though, I still don’t understand why you recommend IAotH for SV. Hunting Party and now Improved Stings with tier 9 seem to always come out higher on the speadsheet as dump talents.
Admin
Hunting party is definitely a viable dump talent now with the higher levels of agility, though I still find that imp hawk works out a bit better, particularly if you glyph it, and I do in the guide recommend Imp stings while you have the t9 set bonus.
Contributor
I’m always comforted by Kriparrian’s simple advice that how you play the fights has MUCH more to do with dps than the last few talent points in a spec. I use the WHU as a template for almost everything hunter-related, but my spec usually deviates 1-2 points from Frost’s. And it’s just a matter of personal preference or awareness of my raid circumstances (how many ranged dps will benefit from Imp. Mark? Do I have mana issues? etc.), not because I think I have some insight that he doesn’t.
Un-commonly good looking.
Nuff said
So you’re recommending MM hunters use Arcane Shot even with ilevel 232-ish gear? Because I dropped Arcane from my stationary rotation about half way through 10-man Ulduar, or 212 – 219 ilevel. That’s when the combined damage of Steady + the extra bleeds matched what Arcane wad putting out. I switched over to something similar to your Armor Pen build even though I was (and still am) nowhere near the ArPen cap.
If nothing else it simplifies the rotation, which makes getting all the shots out in the right order a lot easier.
Admin
Yes, if you aren’t using an ArP build, you should absolutely be using arcane shot. You need something in the vicinity of 450 ArP passive before you drop arcane — at which point you’ll want to move from the standard MM build to the ArP MM build.
Member
Hmm. I see what you’re saying with the Hunter’s Mark vs. Imp Barrage, but I still get this nagging feeling that an extra 195 ap for every shot for the entire fight is going to do more for a hunter than 12% extra *crit* on arcane shot. I mean personally, it seems to me that a shot which only outdamages steady shot by a couple hundred or so isn’t worth the extra crits. Again, I love ya for your bullheaded testing on your theorycrafting, so when there’s a definitive, statistically significant dps increase i’ll go and respec. until then, my fellow SV hunters do quite like my mark
Admin
Ah, I see the confusion. Imp Barrage affect *aimed shot* — not arcane. Aimed is your 2nd hardest hitting shot, and when it crits it procs piercing shots. Increasing the crit a ton doesn’t just increase the damage of the shot but also boosts the damage of your piercing shots by proccing them more often.
Member
/facepalm
This is why I read your blog and don’t try to cobble together my own disgrace of a spec. Thanks!
errm Frost, small mistake there: “Arcane is your 2nd hardest hitting shot, and when it crits it procs piercing shots” You mean aimed shot. Seems the mistake melenaus made was contageous.