Hunter macros - can you have too many?

There is a very informative thread bouncing around on WOW's European hunter forums right now loaded with good hunter macros. However it does appear that it is just a rewrite from wowwiki's own hunter macro page.

For example:

Melee
#showtooltip Raptor Strike
/cast Blood Fury
/cast Raptor Strike
/cast Wing Clip
/stopcasting

What it does?
Racial Ability (ex. Blood Fury) + Raptor Strike + Wing Clip
This is a very simple macro that queues a racial ability such as Blood Fury for Orc/Berserking for Trolls, and Raptor Strike for the next normal melee swing and uses Wing Clip.

The stopcasting is used to cancel the Raptor Strike effect if the Wing Clip isn't done.

If your Raptor Strike is on cooldown, Wing Clip can be used alone.

Although this macro contains two skills, it works because one attacks instantly and the other attacks on the next melee swing.

Select the "?" macro icon for better use.

I actually stay away from macros. I have two computer setups that I switch between and the macros always throws me off. I'll end up having one macro on one comp and another on my other computer. One of these days I am going to dedicate a USB memory stick to macros and GUI mods. But not today...

Macros I really should use...

Melee
#showtooltip Raptor Strike
/cast Blood Fury
/cast Raptor Strike
/cast Wing Clip
/stopcasting

Farming

#showtooltip Hunter's Mark
/cast Auto Shot
/cast Hunter's Mark
/petattack

Pet

/cast [modifier] Revive Pet; [target=pet,dead] Revive Pet; [nopet] Call Pet; Mend Pet

 

A separate question... can you have too many macros? Sometimes when I cruise the forums it seems that some people just have too many macros. Macros for eating, changing aspects etc. At what point do you loose control of your character?

Grand Theft Auto 4 is here

Available in Europe today. I expect Azeroth to be slightly less inhabited the next couple of days while everyone gets their GTA fix. Personally I am taking the family away north to visit my parents this weekend so no GTA for me... or WOW.

Patch 2.4.2. on the testrealm: Druids beware!

Like a pandemic the latest patch notes spreads amongst the WOW bloggers and finally it has landed here.

The notes that I feel are of particular interest to the hunter class are the following:

• Aspect of the Viper: This ability now grants an additional amount of mana each 5 seconds equal to 35% of the hunter’s level.

Nice - Hunters have reported a heavier mana usage since the last patch. Obviously Blizzard are aware of the problem and letting our AotV be our salvation.

• Boar Charge: This ability will no longer make Growl cast immediately after it generates excessive threat.

I've actually never had a Boar - but I've heard everything from claims that the boar is THE über aggro-holding pet to that it has been heavily nerfed since the last 2.4 patch. Quite honestly - I DONT CARE. I have this personal hatred for boars. Give me a reason to run around with a spider pet instead!

• The pet ability Growl will no longer scale with pet Attack Power.

Interesting. Will this make life tougher as a marksman hunter? So far I've gone down the route of beast mastery and still only 58. I certainly don't have any aggro issues with my wolf or owl. I expect this to be late level 70 problems.

• Dire Ravens in Blade’s Edge Mountains now tamable.

A new pet is a new pet... yay! It is a carrion bird so I am not particularly interested.

• Scare Beast: The range on this spell has been increased to 30 yards and it is now instant cast.

This is the one! I love Scare Beast. I use it all the time in the battlegrounds against druids and enemy hunter pets. However right now it is hard to use it defensively when you are attacked yourself. Easier to use when protecting an attacked team member.

With Scare Beast becoming instant cast  this spell is going to be used a lot more in 1 vs 1 situations against druids / hunter pets. more druids are going to feel its effects. Feral druids will have a tougher time in the battlegrounds. I also expect marksman/survival hunters to be slightly stronger in PVP against BM hunters since much of their DPS can now be negated. Bestial Wrath will be more important to cast preemptive than before.

• Tamed Drywallow Snappers now will know Bite 5 (instead of Claw 5.)

Simple bugfix.

Latest music purchase

So not all posts here on the blog is directly connected to WOW and if you feel you can't handle that. Please stop reading now.

Since my first contact with iTunes and the iTunes Store my music expenses has risen dramatically. Not only because I buy more music - but wife does as well. Interestingly enough with all the music available at your fingertips, it is much easier to buy music that isn't smoking new. I recently picked up the soundtrack to The Day After Tomorrow and Gladiator - both which happens to be great while playing WOW...

So besides a couple of soundtracks I've discovered:

Babybirds - Between My Ears There's Nothing But Music - you might remember their old hit "You're Gorgeous" from 1996.. While it isn't exactly matching my music taste, I do like it alot.

Mindless Faith - Medication for the Misinformed - New EBM from 2007 that is not completely unlike the older materials from VNV Nation. Pretty solid music... unfortunately something I can't play loud at night without getting aggro from the neighbors (and they are not completely unlike Murlocs).

I am actually looking to refresh my EBM library, it is very easy to get stuck with bands you've listened to forever and ever... which reminds me! I need to check if the latest volume of Orkus has been relased yet.

Gear replacement: Outland Greens

As my hunter gets closer to 58 (56 now) ... there is less and less need to replace equipment. Most blue items between 50-60 are just waste since once you hit 57 you can start dressing up in Outland Greens - and they are a massive upgrade to any pre-TBC gear. I already have a full 58 gear set in the bank just waiting for that ding...

You can actually get into OG at level 57 but as a hunter I am in no hurry. My guess is that hunters are probably the least gear dependant class out there when it comes to leveling 1-60. Embarrassing enough I still have a few level 40 mail pieces that I still haven't replaced. Yet I still top the damage charts in the BGs and are more than able to perform my role - no doubt it would be even better with the correct gear - just saying that compared to a warrior or a rogue it doesn't give that much.

It is time to update my secondary goals. My intentions was to have fishing, cooking, mining and engineering at 300 before moving into the outlands proper.

Mining 299
Cooking 283
Engineering 291
Fishing 241

I obviously need to spend some more quality time with my fishing rod. One of my biggest reasons for getting fishing up was to have a cheap way of providing my pet with food. However I haven't had a fish eating pet since level 30... and right now I am happy with my new owl (another meat eater). Following my trend I'll probably swap pet soon again though.

Oh and in order to provide me with some ALT distractions, I've leveled a blood elf rogue to 10. Yay. I am an old rogue player so it is hard to resist the urge to get stealthy now and then. I plan to level my rogue using daggers and stay away from  the "grinding" sword combat build.

The difference between rogue and hunter makes for a good future posts though.

Tempted by an owl

I think it is time again for a pet switch. My loyal wolf is about to get stabled. We've been through a lot but now its time to go for a slightly more DPS pet - a white Winterspring Owl. I am not sure if I can handle the stress of having a big flapping bird obscuring my view but I'll give it a shot. I won't abandon my wolf just yet.

The Hunter Dance

I've picked up on a possible hunter grinding trick to maximize DPS without burning through immense amount of mana. Attack mob, send in pet and dance on the border between ranged and melee combat. While the autoshot is on cooldown, move in for a melee strike. After the strike move back out and pop an arrow. I haven't measured the DPS increase but at least it allows the grinding to become a little bit more action oriented. I am sure that you agree with me when I say that hunter grinding is lackluster at best if you're trying to conserve mana.

Oh... my hunter dinged 54 last night. Only four levels to go until I get into the Outlands greens and make a stop at the battlegrounds for the 12000 or so honor you need for the level 60 PVP gun. I am only getting the gun and then moving on. No need to get PVP armor that will be replaced as soon as you start questing in the Outlands.

Ps... check out Petopia. It has a brand new look... and it looks great!

Ding 50!

I've decided to move on from the 40-49 BG bracket and get the full glory of Alterac Valley. With the help of daily PVP quest my hunter dinged 50!

I'll have to take him at least to 52 before getting to learn the ropes of AV as a hunter. Exciting times ahead.

Hunter Battleground tips

So I've been playing a lot of battlegrounds in the 40-49 bracket lately and I've pulled out a few tips I think would benefit any hunter wanting to do good in the battlegrounds:

1. Use Aspect of the Beast when approaching the enemy base. You know that any hunters on defense will tighten up once they see that red enemy dot approaching.
   
   
2. Remember that Druids and shamans are usually in animal form and will not show up with Track Humanoids.
   
   
3. It is a good idea to switch over to Track Beasts now and then just to make sure there isn't a shaman, druid or hunter's pet lurking around.
   
   
4. When defending (or attacking) try to tag that incoming rogue quickly with Hunter's Mark. Surprisingly many rogues and druids stealth to late. They can Vanish to remove the mark - but hey it is nice to have them blow that CD.
   
   
5. Druids in bear, cat or travel form can be feared using the hunter skill  Scare Beast. (This can also be done to a teammate being attacked by a pet) Combined with a Freezing- or Frost Trap this can actually be done in combat.
   
   
6. Always have a trap out when defending. I usually go with a Freezing Trap. Try to have your trap spell available when combat ensues. If you're anything else but Survival specced that means you need a good 30 sec after a trap is laid to be able to trap again. Many times attackers do wait a few seconds before pushing the attack (waiting for allies and whatnot). Use this time.
   
   
7. Use Eagle Eyes to scout out enemy controlled (or neutral) nodes. Let your team know how many VISUAL enemies are present. This is used way to seldom. A good hunter on defense could be calling out the enemy positions during an entire battle.
   
   
8. Provide distraction when capturing the flag in WSG. Move to the roof, make sure your pet is passive, look out the edge and pop a flare in the flag area, and then fling a Viper Sting at any caster or hunter. If you encounter a newbie hunter odds are his pet will run to you. Even better if several defenders run up to finish you.... while your other team mates run away with the flag.
   
   
9. When running with the flag (or with the flag carrier), drop traps to slow down your pursuers. I drop Freezing if I am hunted by one or two and a Frost Trap if hunted by a raid sized party...
   
   
10. Likewise when running with flag - use your pet to stall your pursuers. Do not underestimate the daze effect. If you are a BM hunter that Intimidation talent on your action bar can ensure a clean get away against a single persistent follower. Don't wait until last minute to use it though. Hunters shine when using pre-emptive strikes.

Mini WOW patch - 2.4.1 is upon us

Yesterday during maintenance we received a small client patch, bringing us up to 2.4.1. Noticeable changes was fixing the crazy reloading of the new combat log every time you switch zones. Yay!

Assassins Creed on Steam?

Just updated Steam and the patch notes mentions:

"Updated game overlay to support Assassin’s Creed"

This makes me very happy. While I already have AC on the PS3, seeing big titles appear on Steam is great. I am sure that digital distribution is the future for the otherwise piracy infested PC market.

Interestingly Assassins Creed is not yet mentioned on Steam's  coming soon...

Did you miss any April Fools Day joke?

I am sure most of you got the various blizzard jokes - Tauren Marines in StarCraft 2, the Bard hero class using a Guitar Hero interface etc. Fortunately wikipedia has a page containing all reported 2008 jokes...