PVE Hunter tree

[DeeMarie]

Eyeful, regarding the marks bitch, doesn't this count as a debuff? Nos is limiting slots so....

[Karmacode]

There won't be any Hunter's Mark used in PvE until the debuff cap is increased (except if your raid has 10+ Hunters, I guess).
Also, hit cap on bosses is 8.6%, so getting or being able to have 9% hit for Tranq bosses is important.

[Mythall]

Thanks all certainly can't go far wrong now!

[Eyeful]

I somewhat forgot about the decision to go with the crutching cap of 8 debuffs in their recent decisions. So yes, a dedicated marks man would probably be out of the question. After the change, back into 16 slots, you are fine though.

Being said though, the 2 points don't really have anywhere else that much better to go. Arc shot shares CD with aimed, so that's not viable. You never use serpent sting at cap (Ever). And imp scorp shot is quite usless too. That leaves imp conc shot, but most mobs don't need to randomly be stunned or dazed in raids. So really, leaving those extra 2 in imp mark is still a viable choice, being conc your only 2nd.

As for 9% hit to surpass the 8.6% on level 63 mobs (bosses) for tranq, I've heard different things about it. Some claim it requires spell hit cap of 16-17%, others say 8% is fine, and in honesty I skipped over it in my head and just went for the 8% cause I was lazy. I've played a few times with 8% hit, and never missed tranqs, or many at all any shots in general (from other servers, so can be very misleading to true calculations blizz wanted).


I've also made a loosely verified pre-raid list from allahkazham's wayback page of pre 1.3 patch data. Not 100% absolutely sure about each item, but somewhat in the right direction if anyone is struggling to get a footing on some cap gear.

List is here

Funny seeing how little to no trinkets were really open to players that early. Anywise, covers the 9% hit, has some notes about switching items if lucky, but will very much so change when 1.3 patch and later come out (a lot of goodies from DM for hunters).

Edit**
Completely forgot about the 2p bonus from devil gear, for that sexy +2h. Means you'll have 9% selfbuffed from gear (although stat wise for dmg you might feel weak gimping for hit), so you could either go back into SF for +x to drop some +1-2h gear for dmg. Not a whole lot out there yet, so perhaps just going straight up 20/31/0, skipping the wolf party buff, and going cat deeps till you get 16 slots for imp mark, might be the better raid dps option. Don't care to go theory crafting when you can't even test your math.

[DeeMarie]

You never use serpent sting at cap (Ever).

There goes our cunning plan to have five hunters on SS every boss fight lol I'd still be tempted to take conc since my levelling spec is the same as raid, handy for some stunnage.

Just having a look at your list, there's one here too:

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=625

That second trinket is a pain, but I'm wondering about Shard of Afrasa - http://web.archive.org/web/200502040604 ... item=10659. I really can't find anything decent, maybe something in engineering?

I also forgot about the devilsaur bonus, I'll add that now, but I think ds is gonna be too much of a pain to farm.

[Eyeful]

Honestly, till DM comes out, I don't think there was a better option for your 2nd trinket than HoJ, or that one I listed from the centuar for Mara, which increased stats by 25 for 1m after being hit. I mean, you can really just use whatever, and not get dinged for it. After some patches, you end up with the DM trinket, or use rune guard (if horde) for the hit to replace other gear for better dmg stats.

DS, personally, I don't see being farmed as crazy as people expect. Might be a bit crowded after 20% of the pop gets capped for a while, but it dies off fast. DS set takes 22 devil leather to make, DS's have about a 10m respawn timer, meaning it takes on a perfect kill timer only 3.6 hours per set. A person can make around 5 sets in 18 hours.

Though if nost wants to be cheeky bastards, and alter spawn timers, you may get a different result.

[ohyi]

Anyone has some leveling tips?

As for talents, I'm thinking about this spec:
http://db.vanillagaming.org/?talent#cV0GdttRptVohh
Comments:
- Not taking imp. AotH since it's only 5% proc change in vanilla. Also like the more hp on pet better.
- Taking bestial swiftness because pet speed is lower then player speed (with AotC)
- Taking improved AotC (pathfinding) because only at lvl 40 you get your mount, sometimes u have to run long distances and 6% is nice then.
- The rest seems standard...


As for pets, I don't really know. What is the overall best pet for leveling?
Some say cat (high dps), bear (good tank), devilsaur raptor (good dps), gorilla (tank/dps), boar (dps, boar charge).

I'd like your comments on these topics.

[DeeMarie]

HoJ doesn't work for ranged, someone tested it And no idea if RG is in yet, since it's a post 1.4 item. Like you say, it's not a huge thing.

[konked]

If we going for true vanilla spec go melee survival.

[DeeMarie]

As for pets, I don't really know. What is the overall best pet for leveling?
Some say cat (high dps), bear (good tank), devilsaur raptor (good dps), gorilla (tank/dps), boar (dps, boar charge).

I'd like your comments on these topics.

MM + cat + dash + dps is good, but if you want a more easier grind with BM, I'd go with bear or something equally tanky.