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...

Now playing

WOW is not the only game I am playing right now. Actually I think I've never played as many games simultaneously as I do now. About a month ago we purchased a PS3 - and I am growing more and more fond of it. The games I am most looking forward to are no longer PC titles, but PS3 titles.

Now Playing:

Assassin's Creed (PS3)- My wife has almost beat it and I am up next. Actually I had a sneak preview last night playing to the first city (Damascus). The animations are amazing and the visuals are stunning. I am not so sure about the gameplay yet though. I am not a big fan of open world games. We'll see as I go deeper into the game.

Resistance Fall of Man (PS3)- My first FPS game on a console! Initially I had some serious problems with the controller but I've almost ironed them out. I still feel that the PC has a superior control system but when a game is slower paced and "developed" for a console it doesn't really matter that much. I am almost complete with the game and I am having a blast so far. I especially like the weapon designs...

Vegas 2 (PS3) - I am a huge fan of the Rainbow Six games. I do think that the Vegas series is less fun than the previous - much less tactical and strategical choices but more in the action department. I've just begun playing but am enjoying it so far.

Call of Duty 4 (PC) - This game is amazing. The single player experience is like a movie (and just about as interactive) and well executed. The multiplayer is the best FPS action since the original Counter Strike.

Soon playing (backlog):

Genji (PS3) - While I've heard that this game is utter crap, I bought it cheap on Tradera (swedish equalent of E-bay). I am going to try it...

Heavenly Sword (PS3) - It looks amazing and it has a cool redhead as main character.

 

Wish list:

Condemned 2 - The first one was an amazing horror survival FPS which gave me the creeps. Last one I played that I really loved was Silent Hill 2. I have high hopes for this game!

Dynasty Warrior 6 - Me and my wife have played the previous titles together so this is naturally something we look forward to on the PS3.

 

What are you playing besides WOW?

Stay with me forever...or at least 10 levels

Today I tamed a new pet... 

My first pet was an Elder Springpaw and I swore I was going to keep it to 70. It lasted until the early twenties where I found new love in a tranclucent Ghost Saber. This cat was surly staying with me all the way. It wasn't until 10 levels later in the deep jungles outside of Grom'gol where I forgot all about my ghastly cat and tamed a blood red raptor. I loved my raptor and said to myself that this is the one. It would be the one because raptors themselves were so rare as pets. Cats can be seen everywhere. Most Hunters go for the black kitty Humar or the white striped tiger from Winterspring but I've also seen alot of Ghost Sabers on my realm. Then... during a long quest grind killing coyotes in the Badlands (ten levels later) I suddenly found myself drawn to the wolf... I shrugged it off. My red raptor "Fury" was going to stay with me... all the way!

I managed to keep my Raptor happy for 2 more levels... and then halfway into 46 while fishing Glossy Mightfish in Tanaris I could no longer resist the urge. I made haste to the Badlands, waved bye bye to my Raptor and promptly put him into the stable and then rode to the far north-east of the zone. That's where I found him... my new love - a Rabbid Crag Coyote. While I want to keep him all the way to 70, I am probably going to find a new pet when I reach 55-57...

Did you keep your pet all the way to 70?

WOW patch 2.4 is here!

Today the European realms were updated with patch 2.4... Now the fun of updating all mods begins. Each time a major update hits I am reminded that I use way to many mods...

New blogs on the blogroll

I've added a few more blogs to the wow blogroll that I usually read.

• Big Bear Butt Blogger - Life through the eyes of a bear... druid.
  

• Cricital QQ - Pee-vee-pee through a mage's perspective. It is actually much more than just a squishy's take on battlegrounds. So get over there.

• Gun Lovin' Dwarf Chick - A hunter oriented blog that brings up all kinds of WOW topics.
  

• Too Many Annas - Shaman galore together with other general WOW stuff. Good read!

In addition you really should take a look at the "Looking for players in all the wrong places" by Big Bear Butt Blogger. One of the best wow articles I've read so far. It does also have that "he is writing about me feeling" too...

Patch 2.4 hunter notes

With the advent of patch 2.4 soon upon us I took some time to check out what it has in store for specifically for hunters.

It seems to me that the biggest change to hunters in this patch is the class becoming even more easy to play.

So lets look at each of the hunter specific changes in turn shall we.

 

• Equipping a thrown weapon while in the middle of an Auto-Shot will no longer cause animation issues.

Eh? I am not sure what the point is to equip a throwing weapon during combat but I guess exploiters have their ways of confusing their opponents.

• Casting Flare while in any way not visible, will no longer cause your flare to be invisible to other players.

Never tried this myself but I guess it is a viable exploit in the battlegrounds. Always good to get rid of these.

• Hunter’s Mark: Hunters with Improved Hunter’s Mark will now properly overwrite Hunter’s Mark cast by Hunters without the talent.

Simple bugfix but this was previously sometimes very annoying in raid situation with eager hunters without IHM.

• Improved Mend Pet now has a 50/100% chance to remove one Curse, Disease, Magic, or Poison effect, up from 15/50%.

This little improvement for BM hunters is nice, now you can be certain to dispel those nasty debuffs from your pet. Arguably you can now move one point in the BM tree from IMP to somewhere else. Personally I love to have 100% dispel chance.

• Multi-Shot: This ability will no longer strike any secondary targets which are under the effect of crowd-control spells that break on taking damage. i.e. Polymorph, Sap, etc.

Now here is the big thing for casual and new hunters.. no need to have multi-shot break crowd controlled mobs. Personally I think this is slightly sad as it was at least a small challenge in instances not to fling the usual multi-shot all the time. Still it will make it harder to detect Huntards quickly.

• The stamina tooltip for hunter pets will now display the proper health increase.

Always good to have proper tooltips.

• Track spells will now persist after death.

For those of you that hang around in the battlegrounds - this is good stuff! Its simply annoying to turn on all the tracking every time you die.

• Hunters will no longer spin around if they cast Aimed Shot or Steady Shot while facing away from their target.

Nothing more than a minor bugfix.

 

So all in all we get a few bugfixes and with the change to multi-shot - easier life in instances. Cheers!

Goals Updated

Time to update my goals:

 

My Short-term goals:

• Get Engineering up to 300
• Get Mining up to 300 before level 58 (I want to be able to mine as soon as entering the Outlands)
• Level to 47-49 before starting next round of glorious battleground PVP
• Earn enough gold to buy a mount at level 40
• Level up to 40 once the PVP badges are collected
• Earn 20 Warsong Gulch badges to buy Forest Wind Bracers before levelling past 39
• Earn 20 Arathi Basin badges to purchase the mail boots before leveling past 39

Long-term goals:

• Get the hunter up to level 70 before next expansion (40/70)
• Max out Engineering (235/350)
• Max out Mining (185/350)
• Get fishing up to 300 before going through the outlands portal (180/300)
• Get full PVP gear

Yesterday I reached the number of WSG badges needed for the epic Windtalker's Wristguards and the AB badges required for Defiler's Mail Greaves. With those complete I run around and explored Ashenvale and boom! My hunter turned 40 when discovering The Warsong Lumber camp. A hearthstone later my hunter left Silvermoon with a new black Hawkstrider and all the mail he could wear...

I've now left battleground mode and returned to leveling again. I already miss WSG! I'll level up as quickly as possible to return to the battlegrounds around 46-48 for the next batch of PVP gear.

What are your goals?

I feel it is just as important to have goals in WOW as it is in life. Without them you'll risk advancing at the pace of a restoration druid or worse wobble around like a rogue high on his own flash powder.  Personally I have a few goals, both short term and long term goals. When you’ve defined your goals you can break them down into more detailed tasks - and then start working on them.

My Short-term goals:

* Get Engineering up to 300
* Earn 20 Warsong Gulch badges to buy Forest Wind Bracers before levelling past 39 (13/20)
* Earn 20 Arathi Basin badges to purchase the mail boots before leveling past 39 (completed)
* Get Mining up to 300 before level 58 (I want to be able to mine as soon as entering the Outlands)
* Earn enough gold to buy a mount at level 40 (completed)
* Level to 47-49 before starting next round of glorious battleground PVP
* Level up to 40 once the PVP badges are collected

Long-term goals:

* Get the hunter up to level 70 before next expansion (39/70)
* Max out Engineering (235/350)
* Max out Mining (180/350)
* Get fishing up to 300 before going through the outlands portal (180(300)
* Get full PVP gear

So right now I am spending all online time in Thunderbluff signing up for WSG games. With my limited play time I can usually manage to get around 20 badges over the course of a week. I’ve had about 50% wins so far in WSG and 75% in AB. Between games I usually craft deadly blunderbuses and accurate scopes to put on AH. Obviously the goals change as I level up.. I imagine that once I’ve reached Outlands I’ll add a few reputation goals.

What are your goals?

Sick with flu

I have been out of comission for almost a week. I've finally regained my health and then my little kid gets sick. Its a bad omen since he was the first one to get it meaning we are already in the next cycle. I hope we won't catch it again.

Quaranteene protocol initiated.