Comments on: IntroSPECtion

By: Noah

Noah — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:55:35 +0000

This is what I thought as well Pike. I recall 1 AGI being 2AP and I could swear that had changed quite a while ago, but I still see that equation being perpetuated today. Thanks for the confirmation. I wasn’t sure if I was mistaken or if it were other people.

By: Pike

Pike — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:30:48 +0000

@ Hung – I fear that Stats guide is rather out of date; AP is what you are going for now. Definitely gem for AP. Agility and crit are good too, but your pet is doing a bigger chunk of your damage these days so AP is what you want.

@ Noah – 1 AGI used to equal 2AP back in the days of Vanilla WoW. It changed with Burning Crusade but people who haven’t played a hunter in ages still seem to have it confused… =P

@ Chris – Aww, I don’t discriminate! Especially now that I’ve graduated! =P

By: Noah

Noah — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:18:54 +0000

@Hung – The AP vs AGI is a tough call. BM Hunters benefit from AP as it transfers to the pet but it’s always good to have a balance, as you do of course want a nice crit rate as well.
It’s my understanding that when the AP gem or enchant will significantly boost your overall AP then go with that, but when it’s close to go with the AGI as that stat does more for you.

The last confusing point for me, and for which I’d love a definitive answer, is that some people say that 1 AGI=2AP, while others say it’s 1 for 1. I think this has changed over various patches and/or depending on what level you are, so it’s a bit of a jumble. If the former is true (1 AGI=2AP) then yes, a 16 AGI gem is better than a 32 AP gem. If the latter is true (1 for 1) then as a BM you’ll get more out of the 32 AP gem.

I’m sure someone here can clear this up!

By: Hung

Hung — Sat, 16 May 2009 04:11:41 +0000

Hello Pike!

I love your site. Its great to see a cool hunter site with loads of helpful info and humorous reads to boot. I just discovered your site this week so I am still catching up on your previous entries.

I have a question for you. I have a level 80 draenei hunter. I am dual specced as BM and MM. After reading your blog, I have been running heroics as BM. However my DPS is quite low 1.4k – 1.8k. I have used the talents suggested in your most recent posts. I would like to show you my armory page but its not working at the moment. Boo!

Anyways, my specific question is…should I replace my gem sockets with + 16 agil rather than what I have now which is +32 attack power. I am hit capped btw. I had read in your hunter stat post about how Agil is more important than pure attack power because it also increases your crit.

thanks a bunch for keep such an awesome site

- Hung

By: Noah

Noah — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:02:08 +0000

I haven’t dual-specced my Hunter, I don’t see any off-spec that’s worth spending the 1000g for. My Shaman, absolutely, he’s Elementa/Resto but my Hunter is Marksmanship and I don’t see the need to have another spec.

I’ve never been really able to get into Survival (it was okay before the Black Arrow patch, but after that, meh) and I’m so terrible at BM it’d be a waste of gold to spec into that (apparently pets are supposed to live through fights or something? Improved Revive Pet is there for a reason!). So I’m happy with Marksmanship. I just need to evolve to not watching my bloody button bars all the time and watch the fight.

Oh, best part of your post today Pike? The link to that Scout Report comic! Holy cats that’s freaking fantastic!

By: Cowhide

Cowhide — Fri, 15 May 2009 09:15:34 +0000

I’ve found that the pet usually dies from standing in a void zone on KT. Void zones spawn beneath a random player, so with more melee, the pet is more likely to eat one. I try to stand where I can see my pet during the fight, and call him back when a zone spawns where he is — and most of the time he lives.

For dual specs, I have Surv spec that I use for raids/pvp.. not sure what I’ll do with the 2nd. A BM secondary spec is kind of nice b/c you can basically respec your pet on the fly (since the pet’s spec is cleared when switching from BM’s extra points to non BM). But I think I’ll be going with Marks for when I need strong, uninterruptable AoE (like in heroic 5 mans where everything is basically AoE’d.. even though I rarely run those anymore).

By: Nefernet

Nefernet — Fri, 15 May 2009 08:38:28 +0000

I specced BM/Surv for the exact same raisons you did : BM for fun and uber dps, Surv for traps (for Gluth mostly, we have a ret pally and a shadow priest and plenty of Surv hunters in the guilde…).

I miss so much my BM utilities when in Surv that I really limit it to specific fights. And yes other hunters wonder why my pet is still alive too, when their is dead long ago…

By: Phyllixia

Phyllixia — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:18:58 +0000

BM main, Surv off… for the same reasons as you, although I *do* like Arenas. The funny thing is, my 3v3 is actually 3 DPS… so BM tends to work better for the burst!

By: Fluffywumpki of Kilrogg

Fluffywumpki of Kilrogg — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:21:21 +0000

I went with an SV/BM spec. SV for the big(ger) numbers, Replenishment when my Ret Pallies aren’t around and the trap/clutch CC utility. BM cause I wanted a Spirit Beast (and got lucky finding Gondria )

By: Kiirl

Kiirl — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:33:43 +0000

My hunter is dual-BM speced. One is a variant on the cookie-cutter raid spec, though it may be changing to Marks for Ulduar raids. (For some reason my relative DPS to other hunters goes down in Ulduar, and I’m the only BM hunter we have.)

My second spec is pure pet tanking. I even have a separate set of gear. I’ve pet tanked in the portals of OS (we 6-manned Sarth10 one night when bored, but had only one tank). I was the de facto tank in an AQ40 pug, and somehow came in second on the healing meters despite there being for healers… Glyph of Mending FTW. (I guess they were watching our *real* tank–a 77 DK–but my “Stompy” was the one who held threat against the AoEers.)