(This guide was created by Zoa, level 70 blood elf huter of the eu server, Vek'nilash. All credit is due to her for this wonderful guide. Date: 03/09/2007)
Tempest Keep
Lots of fire and arcane mobs - heck, nearly all mobs here have some sort of magic spell that can rip your ravager to ribbons if you are not carefull. If Tumbler dies too often, consider training some fire/arcane resistance on him.
Al'ar
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: Lots of things going on here, some which can instantly kill your pet. When Al'ar switches places, your pet might get aggro if it attacks straight away, and trust me, your pet can't hold up to the mighty phoenix. You might want to stop your pet as its running to a new position, just to give the tank some time to gain a bit of aggro. When Al'ar does his Fire Quill, be sure to recall your pet. When you get into Phase 2, you are probably best off dismissing or sacrificing your pet. It can be targeted for flame patch, which can hurt your tanks, it can be blown away by the phoenixes as your raid kills them, and it can be smashed by a meteor. Don’t let Wolfie die!
Void Reaver
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: While your pet wont be targeted for an arcane orb, it will be hit by pounding, doing around 2700 damage over 3 seconds to a pet with avoidance, every 15 seconds. A mend pet is usually enough to keep your pet up but you might want to recall it if it gets dangerously low on health. Be sure to make sure your pet is on the same side of Void Reaver as you are, so it is in range of mend pet and kill commands.
High Astromancer Solarian
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: Your pet can be targeted for arcane missiles, but is otherwise pretty safe in this fight. Wrath of the Astromancer was changed in 2.2, and is no longer a risk to your pet. Confirmation needed: Im truly not sure. I did TK last week, and my pet didnt get targeted by wrath, and i cant imagine that the spell has been designed to blow your pet up into the air, but if somebody has seen otherwise, please let me know.
Kael'thas Sunstrider
Pet danger: Medium
Boss notes: Boy, Tempest Keep isn't a very pet-friendly place, and the fight against Kael is no different. Your pet *can* attack Thaladred the Darkener, but is in risk of getting a nasty rend on him. Your pet can go all out on Lord Sanguinar, but not on Grand Astromancer Capernian. It might help the raid on Master Engineer Telonicus, as it can be the recipient of remote toy. When the weapons spawn, keep it clear of the bow, and make sure that your pet attacks the shield from behind, which is actually the "outer" side of the shield. Steer your pet away from any AOE'ing phoenix', and at gravity lapse, be sure to recall your pet. If it keeps attacking Kael, it will die from the clouds around him. Mount Hyjal We travel back in time, to meet up with a lot of old friends. Shadow resistence can be helpfull, but it is not overly needed. Fire resistence can help aswell, but if your pet is caught in a fire attack, it wont matter much in the long run. Rage
Winterchill
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: On the waves before Rage Winterchill, keep your pet away from those nasty abominations. When fighting Rage Winterchill himself, make sure your pet isn't standing in the Death & Decay (red bubbles) but that shouldn't be a surprise.
Anetheron
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: Your pet is pretty much safe here. It will take hits from Carrion Swarm (which is migraded by Avoidence), but it wont be that difficult to keep it up. The only real threat would be AoE from the Towering Infernals if it would happend to spawn near the pet. Whiskers will not be targeted by the infernal spawn.
Kaz'rogal
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: This is a pretty straight forward fight, at least for your pet. Make sure that your pet stays behind Kaz'rogal to avoid his cleave, and you should be in the clear.
Azgalor
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: Azgalor's Rain of Fire will be the big issue here. Azgalor will target a random raid member and rain down fire (hence the name, her her her). In addition to the initial damage, it will place a dot on the target dealing some 1700 damage each second for five seconds, meaning your pet will take a total of 4250 damage from the dot. Your main priority should be to pull the pet out of Rain of Fire if it is cast on melee, and start mending. Your pet shouldnt be in any of the danger spots unless it has at least 50-75% hp and has a mend pet ticking on it. I suggest recalling it and keeping it near you until its healed, or until you have gotten a feel for the fight. Be sure to stand at max range so your are unlikely to get rain of fire while your pet is standing next to you. We wouldnt want Whiskers to be hit by another rain of fire when he runs to you, would we?
Archimonde
Pet danger: Insanely super humongusly high
Boss notes: Roll a dice. If you roll a six, you have probably wasted what little luck you had of keeping your pet alive on this fight. If you are a BM hunter, improved revive pet, and improved mend pet is a must here. The danger comes from Doomfire, a spell that Archimonde loves to use, and does so frequently. If your pet is hit by this, it will take 1200 damage, and a non dispellable dot that deals 20400 damage over the next 45 seconds.* Your pet will surely die from this, so if you are dependant on your pet, be sure to get it ressed again. Improved Mend Pet cant dispell the doomfire dot, but it can dispel Grip of the Legion, an attack that does 250,000 damage over 5 minutes. Your pet wont grant Archimonde a soul charge if it dies, but it will take damage once he uses that (2000-2500 damage).
* I am going to assume that the Doomfire is an area of effect attack, and thus lowered by avoidence, but the dot probably is not, so your pet will take the full damage. Confirmation on this is needed.
Black Temple You made it. You are finally here. Illidan is cowering in his little castle, and you come in at him hard, from the sewers. If you made it this far, then congratulations!
Some of the fights in The Black Temple can be punishing for your pet. If you want to ease your stress a bit, pump your pet full of shadow resistence and perhaps a bit of frost.
High Warlord Naj'entus
Pet danger: Medium
Boss notes: Your pet can take damage if it's standing next to somebody getting hit by a needle spine explosion, and it will take 4250 damage when his Tidal Shield is broken. Two mend pets should be enough to get it back to full health most of the time.
Supremus
Pet danger: Medium
Boss notes: Your pet will be completely safe during phase 1, unless your offtanks are sleeping and your pet pulls aggro - which it wont. Suprisingly, the scary blue flames will not hurt your pet at all. When he goes into phase 2, however, thats an all different matter. Your pet will take damage from the volcanos that spawn, but while your pet will never be gazed, he will be killed if Supremus charges someone. For some reason, he does some AoE damage whenever he charges to a new target (if that target is within 40 yard range), which is sure to make short process of the pet. Keep him at your side in phase 2, and let him go all out in phase 1.
Shade of Akama
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: If you are in one of the groups taking care of the Spiritbinders, Elementalists and Rogues, your pet might take aggro on one of them and get hurt, but if your tank is fast enough it shouldnt be a problem. I suspect that the pet might be able to tank the Spiritbinder while it gets burned down, which would let the tank build aggro on the Elementalist and the rogue - that all depends on what your kill order is, naturally.
Teron Gorefiend
Pet danger: Middle
Boss notes: This fight has a lot of factors and sadly, you cant control any of them. Your pet can be attacked by the blossoms, but it seems that it is safe for the Incinerate. Your pet can also be a target for the Shadowy Construct, but that is more of a blessing than a curse. Seeing how a Shadowy Construct severely gimps your group, it's better that a pet dies to it than a raid member. If you get Shadow of Death, keep your pet attacking while you run away and wait for your doom - your pet will despawn perfectly as you die, so your pet bar is free to display the ghost abilities.
Gurtogg Bloodboil
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: Gurtogg Bloodboil is a nasty boss, that has a lot of area, cone and cleave attacks, and your pet can suffer most of them. In an ideal world, your pet wouldnt have to take any damage at all, but the world is hardly ideal. Gurtogg Bloodboil is most dangerous in phase 1, so if you want to use your pet you have to plan ahead a bit. After a few tries you should see where your main tanks are tanking him, and in what direction he is facing. Then you have to make your pet idle so that when your tanks has aggro, your pet is directly behind him. About 5 seconds before he changes to phase 2, you should click passive on your pet bar, which will make it run back to the spot you assigned to it. This is a dangerous spot aswell, though, and your pet might be hit by both acid and geysers while Gurtogg Bloodboil runs for his target in phase 2. A much safer way is to have your pet by your side in phase 1 - or at least standing in the caster group since it shouldnt move with you when you move out to take the bloodboil. This will lower your damage output, but allow you to keep your pet up for longer if you are having problems. Be aware to make your pet stay at his original spot if you get Fel Rage. If your pet is standing next to you when you are tanking Gurtogg Bloodboil, it will surely die.
REST COMING SOON!
Showing posts with label Raid Info. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raid Info. Show all posts
[Guide] Raiding with your pet: Gruuls Lair
(This guide was created by Zoa, level 70 blood elf hunter of the eu server, Vek'nilash. All credit goes to her for this wonderful guide. Date: 03/09/2007)
Gruuls Lair
Gruul's Lair is fairly safe for your pet. No special resistances should be needed.
Maulgar & Co.
Pet danger: Medium
Boss notes: As a hunter, you will probably be charged with tanking the shaman. Be sure to not send your pet to attack him, however, as this will trigger his AOE attack and knock you back, as well as damaging your pet. Send it to another target instead. Your pet should also keep far away from the mage, and you should have a timer (such as Deadly Boss Mods) to show you when Maulgar will do whirlwind, and get your pet out a few seconds before.
Gruul the Dragonkiller
Pet danger: Medium
Boss notes: Your pet will not trigger shatter on other players, but it is affected by cave-ins. Usually a mend pet will take short notice of that, but you should watch out for several cave-ins on the melee, and compensate for that - Skip wont hold out long after a few of those.
Magtheridon's Lair
Magtheridon's Lair is fairly safe for your pet. No special resistances should be needed.
Magtheridon
Pet danger: Middle
Boss notes: When doing the 5 channelers, your pet may be damaged by a stray shadow bolt volley or infernal. When Magtheridon is released, your only pet concern is to make sure that Fang is behind him, and to keep him clear of the fire that will erupt on the floor. World Bosses There are quite a lot of world bosses on Azeroth, but only two in Outland. Both are fairly safe for your pet.
Doom Lord Kazzak
Pet danger: Middle
Boss notes: Consider your pet a rogue on this fight. He should be attacking Kazzak from behind, but your tank should turn Kazzak around anyways. When Kazzak does his shadowbolt volley, be sure to have mend pet up. It is considered an AOE attack, so Avoidence will lower the damage, but your pet will still take up to 7.000 damage. It should be able to survive that, at least with a mend pet on, and if you are afraid that you will get a second volley, keep mend pet up all the time after the first. Confirmation needed: If your pet dies, it will not heal Kazzak. (?)
Doomwalker
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: Your pet will be damaged by his earthquake for a total of 4.000 damage, and it will also help chaining the chain lightning which hits your pet for around 1.000 damage. There is a good chance of your pet getting smashed, but you should still use it for as long as you can, and keep mend pet up when its alive, especially if you are a beast master, so you can take advantage of beastial wrath. Serpentshrine Cavern Serpentshrine Cavern has a lot of nature based attacks and some bosses uses frost attacks aswell. If you find that you are stilling having problems keeping your pet up on some encounters, spending a few points getting nature and frost resistance up could be a solution.
Hydross the Unstable
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: Your pet wont be tombed, and he is usually safe on this encounter. However, since Hydross resets aggro at each transition, you should call your pet back before he changes, and don't send it in before the tanks have aggro on him again.
The Lurker Below
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: The only attack that your pet is in danger of is whirl, which can be healed easily, and a cleave from a stray add when Lurker goes down underwater. You should position your pet to stay on the outer edge of the circle around Lurker, and just send it to attack when he emerges. When Lurker submerges, your pet will run back to his spot and wait there. Don't recall the pet, since that will cause it to teleport to the outer islands where you will probably be standing, and it wont be able to run back again, meaning you have to spend time on repositioning it.
Leotheras the Blind
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: Leo clears his aggro at every switch and after every whirlwind, meaning your pet will be moving a lot. You should call it back a few seconds before each phase transition, and about 5 seconds before a whirlwind. Even worse, if you should happen to get an inner demon, you will be mind controlled if your pet gets the finishing blow - this applies to snakes as well, if you are using snake trap to get over your internal struggles.
Fathom-Lord Karathress
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: Your pet can take a hit from a stray enemy pet, the whirlwind or the Spitfire Totem, but it's not much to worry about.
Morogrim Tidewalker
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: The only thing you should worry about here is to make sure your pet is behind Morogrim and out of the way of his little bubbles when you get him to 20%. Recalling him for a few seconds as you reposition and sending him back in will take care of that.
Lady Vashj
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: Although high sounds a bit ominous, it might be a bit drastic to mark it as such. Your pet cannot get static charge, but it can be damaged by nearby raid members that have it. It will also be hit by Vashj's forked lightning, as well as the poison attack from a Tainted Elemental, and the poison on the ground from the Spore Bats. Watch out for that health, and keep your pet far away from any striders or nagas that can hit it.
Gruuls Lair
Gruul's Lair is fairly safe for your pet. No special resistances should be needed.
Maulgar & Co.
Pet danger: Medium
Boss notes: As a hunter, you will probably be charged with tanking the shaman. Be sure to not send your pet to attack him, however, as this will trigger his AOE attack and knock you back, as well as damaging your pet. Send it to another target instead. Your pet should also keep far away from the mage, and you should have a timer (such as Deadly Boss Mods) to show you when Maulgar will do whirlwind, and get your pet out a few seconds before.
Gruul the Dragonkiller
Pet danger: Medium
Boss notes: Your pet will not trigger shatter on other players, but it is affected by cave-ins. Usually a mend pet will take short notice of that, but you should watch out for several cave-ins on the melee, and compensate for that - Skip wont hold out long after a few of those.
Magtheridon's Lair
Magtheridon's Lair is fairly safe for your pet. No special resistances should be needed.
Magtheridon
Pet danger: Middle
Boss notes: When doing the 5 channelers, your pet may be damaged by a stray shadow bolt volley or infernal. When Magtheridon is released, your only pet concern is to make sure that Fang is behind him, and to keep him clear of the fire that will erupt on the floor. World Bosses There are quite a lot of world bosses on Azeroth, but only two in Outland. Both are fairly safe for your pet.
Doom Lord Kazzak
Pet danger: Middle
Boss notes: Consider your pet a rogue on this fight. He should be attacking Kazzak from behind, but your tank should turn Kazzak around anyways. When Kazzak does his shadowbolt volley, be sure to have mend pet up. It is considered an AOE attack, so Avoidence will lower the damage, but your pet will still take up to 7.000 damage. It should be able to survive that, at least with a mend pet on, and if you are afraid that you will get a second volley, keep mend pet up all the time after the first. Confirmation needed: If your pet dies, it will not heal Kazzak. (?)
Doomwalker
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: Your pet will be damaged by his earthquake for a total of 4.000 damage, and it will also help chaining the chain lightning which hits your pet for around 1.000 damage. There is a good chance of your pet getting smashed, but you should still use it for as long as you can, and keep mend pet up when its alive, especially if you are a beast master, so you can take advantage of beastial wrath. Serpentshrine Cavern Serpentshrine Cavern has a lot of nature based attacks and some bosses uses frost attacks aswell. If you find that you are stilling having problems keeping your pet up on some encounters, spending a few points getting nature and frost resistance up could be a solution.
Hydross the Unstable
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: Your pet wont be tombed, and he is usually safe on this encounter. However, since Hydross resets aggro at each transition, you should call your pet back before he changes, and don't send it in before the tanks have aggro on him again.
The Lurker Below
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: The only attack that your pet is in danger of is whirl, which can be healed easily, and a cleave from a stray add when Lurker goes down underwater. You should position your pet to stay on the outer edge of the circle around Lurker, and just send it to attack when he emerges. When Lurker submerges, your pet will run back to his spot and wait there. Don't recall the pet, since that will cause it to teleport to the outer islands where you will probably be standing, and it wont be able to run back again, meaning you have to spend time on repositioning it.
Leotheras the Blind
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: Leo clears his aggro at every switch and after every whirlwind, meaning your pet will be moving a lot. You should call it back a few seconds before each phase transition, and about 5 seconds before a whirlwind. Even worse, if you should happen to get an inner demon, you will be mind controlled if your pet gets the finishing blow - this applies to snakes as well, if you are using snake trap to get over your internal struggles.
Fathom-Lord Karathress
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: Your pet can take a hit from a stray enemy pet, the whirlwind or the Spitfire Totem, but it's not much to worry about.
Morogrim Tidewalker
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: The only thing you should worry about here is to make sure your pet is behind Morogrim and out of the way of his little bubbles when you get him to 20%. Recalling him for a few seconds as you reposition and sending him back in will take care of that.
Lady Vashj
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: Although high sounds a bit ominous, it might be a bit drastic to mark it as such. Your pet cannot get static charge, but it can be damaged by nearby raid members that have it. It will also be hit by Vashj's forked lightning, as well as the poison attack from a Tainted Elemental, and the poison on the ground from the Spore Bats. Watch out for that health, and keep your pet far away from any striders or nagas that can hit it.
[Guide] Raiding with your pet: Karazhan
(This guide was created by Zoa, level 70 Blood Elf hunter of the the eu server, Vek'nilash. All credit goes to her for this wonderful guide. Date:03/09/2007 )
Table of contents:
Introduction
Controlling your pet
Choosing a good raid pet
- Cats and ravagers
- Owls and Bats
- Wind Serpents
- Scorpids
- Wolves Talents Raiding encounters
- Karazhan
- Gruul’s Lair
- Magtheridon’s Lair
- World bosses
- Serpentshrine Cavern
- Tempest Keep
- Mount Hyjal
- Black Temple
Feedback, flaming, questions and the author
Introduction
A long, long time ago, even before I played a hunter, I would team up with hunters in parties. They would be doing damage, and all that they were supposed to, yet I would notice that most didn't use their pet. When I asked them why, they said the pet didn't do much damage. My theory has always been that all damage, even the slightest bit, would be beneficial, and concluded that the lack of pets was either because the pet was at danger of dying or that it was hard to control. Granted, before The Burning Crusade, pets were much less strong than they are now, but I still hold on to the claim that using the pet is always beneficial, no matter the spec - even in raids.
This guide is all about raiding, and is mostly aimed for beast mastery hunters, although a hunter with any spec should try and keep his or her pet active and healthy for as long as possible. But since beast mastery hunters rely on their pet, and many seem to spec away from beast mastery for fear of losing their damage when their pet dies, it's important for a beast master to know what to do and what to expect in raids.
This guide will provide tips and tricks to keep your pet, and thus your contribution to the raid, up.
Controlling your pet
There are many means for which hunters can control their pets. Some use key bindings, some use macros. Of the popular macros there are the classic hunters mark/pet attack macro, but I personally feel it limits me when I want to do either one of those. But in the spirit of teaching, here it is anyways:
/cast Hunter's Mark
/petattack Instead of this, I prefer to use key bindings.
Two simple buttons: Q and E. My "Pet Attack" key binding (default is shift + T) is bound to Q, and my hunter's mark is bound to E, meaning every time I want to attack something, I press those buttons simultaneously, and the pet runs off while I apply hunters mark. I can then proceed to use whatever skill I want after that, and if I should want to make my pet attack something else, I can quickly send it to that target without losing my hunter's mark on the first. Use whatever method you prefer to, but remember that it is important that you are able to keep your pet completely under control during a raid.
Choosing a good raid pet
There are many pets out there, and lots of fun ways to use them, but not all are great for raiding. If you are new to raiding, you a probably best off by getting a pet that focuses on DPS (cats, ravagers etc) rather than utility (owls, wolves etc) rather than that cool looking bear. Here is a list of pets that I would recommend for raiding:
Cats, raptors and ravagers: High in damage, these pets are often the prime choice for hunters. They can learn high damage skills as well as dash, and have a lot of cool and unique skins.
Owls and bats: Although we don’t see many bats and owls in Outland, they can still be a good choice for damage and utility. Both have the ability "Screech" which does somewhat low damage, but lowers attack power of all enemies in melee range by up to 210, which is a considerable amount. You might drop a tiny bit in damage, but 210 attack power off an enemy is still significant.
Wind Serpent: Though the wind serpent is past its glory days, it’s still a viable pet for some hunters. A survival hunter combined with "Go for the throat" talent, will cause your pet to spew out lightning breath like it was born to, and will rack up the damage quite nicely. Sadly it falls behind on fights where the enemies have a lot of nature resistance.
Scorpids: Scorpids has been a good alternative for beast mastery hunters because of the neat "bug" concerning their scorpid poison. This has been fixed in patch 2.2, yet it is still a malicious little pet. If you want to use a scorpid, pop all trinkets and bestial wrath before it applies the first poison and the strong effect gained from this will stick on the target as long as the scorpid can reapply it.
Wolves: Although the damage from wolves is lower than that of cats and ravagers, some might find its ability "Furious howl" a nice treat. Furious howl, which is on a 10 second cooldown, increases the damage of nearby party member’s next physical attack by 45-57 damage, which is effectively another 5 DPS for each melee in your raid. You will most likely not be in range for the buff, however.
Talents:
There are tons of good suggestions for raid specs on the various forums all around, so I am not going to post suggestions of my own. I am, however, going to name some key talents to pick if you are speccing beast mastery:
Improved revive pet: If you are a beast master, and your pet dies, you lose about 35% of your total DPS. You need to get it up again fast.
Improved mend pet: Cheaper healing and an easy way to clean your pet from that nasty poison. Frenzy: A pet with frenzy as well as serpent’s swiftness and cobra reflexes will attack incredibly fast, which is also nice for the next talent.
Ferocious inspiration: 3% more damage to all of your party members is arguably one of the best buffs out there. It scales perfectly, and increases not only the damage of you and your pet, but also your party members. With a fast attacking pet, this will be up most of the time, giving you a great damage boost.
For most fights, massive resistance on your pet is not needed.
Raiding encounters:
Here follows the main point of this guide - the raid encounters you will meet on your way to defeat the mighty Illidan and what you should expect to do to keep little Fluffy alive. This is based largely on my own experience, and of tips from other hunters.
Karazhan
The Tower of Medivh, and the first raid instance you will meet. One some encounters, arcane resistance will help your pet survive. This is fights such as The Curator and Shade of Aran, but it shouldn't be too hard keeping your pet alive without any resistance talents.
Attumen the Huntsman
Pet danger: None
Boss notes: This is a pretty straight forward fight. The only time you have to call your pet back is when Attumen jumps his mighty steed, in which case he will clear all aggro, putting your pet in a vulnerable spot. Just call your pet back, wait until the tank has a bit of aggro, and send it back in to rip Attumen to pieces.
Moroes
Pet danger: Medium
Boss notes: From time to time, Moroes will vanish and garrotte a member of your raid, and sadly, Mittens can be a target of this. You won’t be able to keep your pet up with mend pet, and your healers are sure to neglect your pet altogether and see it as a free card. I tend to sacrifice my pet and then resurrect it unless the boss is nearly down.
Maiden of Virtue
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: Your pet will be a benefit here, but it will take damage. Maiden's AOE damage, which affects all melee, is spread out among the people that are affected by it, meaning your pet will lower the damage even more. With Avoidance rank 2 and a mend pet once in a while, you will have no problem keeping your pet alive.
The Curator
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: While Curator doesn't pose a threat to Barney, the Astral Sparks that he summons are very dangerous. Not only will they target your pet, but your pet will also chain the lightning to other members, and your pet will be at high risk when killing the sparks. I suggest leaving your pet at the door, and only send it in to damage Curator during his evocation. Other people prefer to stick the pet on Curator for the duration of the fight, but beware that your pet will take at least one hit from each Astral Spark when it spawns.
Terestian Illhoof
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: While this boss is more or less safe for your pet, you might see it aggro Illhoof's imp if its tank isn't fast enough. Once in a while your pet will also take a hit from a small imp, but that damage is hardly anything to note.
Shade of Aran
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: Aran can be a nasty old bugger if you don't keep your pet under control. When he teleports you to him, just before an arcane explosion, you must be sure to drag your pet along as you run to the wall, or your pet will surely take a lot of damage. When he does blizzard, you should recall your pet for a second or two while you dodge it yourself, which will position your pet on the same side of Aran as you, and usually keep it out of harms way. Your pet can move freely when Aran does flame wrath, as it will not trigger the explosion.
Netherspite
Pet danger: None
Boss notes: Surprisingly, your pet won’t take any damage on this fight at all. He isn't affected by the constant damage, and can even stand in the black pools of death without being hurt. Prince
Malchezaar
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: While your pet won’t be affected by Enfeeble, it will be hit by his Shadow Nova, but with Avoidance rank 2, your pet will only take 1500 damage. The only other thing you have to look out for then, is the infernal spawns - your tank might not be in range of their fire AOE, but your pet might, so keep and eye out for that and reposition if needed.
Nightbane
Pet danger: Medium
Boss notes: Unless you manage to get your pet behind Nightbane, you won’t have to worry about it getting hit by Nightbane's tail. You should move your pet out of the Charred Earth, as it will do some 400 DPS to your pet, which can burn the fur and give you a cranky pet. When Nightbane goes up into the air, be sure to notice that he can target your pet with Rain of Bones. Park it away from the main group if this happens, and throw it a mend pet.
Table of contents:
Introduction
Controlling your pet
Choosing a good raid pet
- Cats and ravagers
- Owls and Bats
- Wind Serpents
- Scorpids
- Wolves Talents Raiding encounters
- Karazhan
- Gruul’s Lair
- Magtheridon’s Lair
- World bosses
- Serpentshrine Cavern
- Tempest Keep
- Mount Hyjal
- Black Temple
Feedback, flaming, questions and the author
Introduction
A long, long time ago, even before I played a hunter, I would team up with hunters in parties. They would be doing damage, and all that they were supposed to, yet I would notice that most didn't use their pet. When I asked them why, they said the pet didn't do much damage. My theory has always been that all damage, even the slightest bit, would be beneficial, and concluded that the lack of pets was either because the pet was at danger of dying or that it was hard to control. Granted, before The Burning Crusade, pets were much less strong than they are now, but I still hold on to the claim that using the pet is always beneficial, no matter the spec - even in raids.
This guide is all about raiding, and is mostly aimed for beast mastery hunters, although a hunter with any spec should try and keep his or her pet active and healthy for as long as possible. But since beast mastery hunters rely on their pet, and many seem to spec away from beast mastery for fear of losing their damage when their pet dies, it's important for a beast master to know what to do and what to expect in raids.
This guide will provide tips and tricks to keep your pet, and thus your contribution to the raid, up.
Controlling your pet
There are many means for which hunters can control their pets. Some use key bindings, some use macros. Of the popular macros there are the classic hunters mark/pet attack macro, but I personally feel it limits me when I want to do either one of those. But in the spirit of teaching, here it is anyways:
/cast Hunter's Mark
/petattack Instead of this, I prefer to use key bindings.
Two simple buttons: Q and E. My "Pet Attack" key binding (default is shift + T) is bound to Q, and my hunter's mark is bound to E, meaning every time I want to attack something, I press those buttons simultaneously, and the pet runs off while I apply hunters mark. I can then proceed to use whatever skill I want after that, and if I should want to make my pet attack something else, I can quickly send it to that target without losing my hunter's mark on the first. Use whatever method you prefer to, but remember that it is important that you are able to keep your pet completely under control during a raid.
Choosing a good raid pet
There are many pets out there, and lots of fun ways to use them, but not all are great for raiding. If you are new to raiding, you a probably best off by getting a pet that focuses on DPS (cats, ravagers etc) rather than utility (owls, wolves etc) rather than that cool looking bear. Here is a list of pets that I would recommend for raiding:
Cats, raptors and ravagers: High in damage, these pets are often the prime choice for hunters. They can learn high damage skills as well as dash, and have a lot of cool and unique skins.
Owls and bats: Although we don’t see many bats and owls in Outland, they can still be a good choice for damage and utility. Both have the ability "Screech" which does somewhat low damage, but lowers attack power of all enemies in melee range by up to 210, which is a considerable amount. You might drop a tiny bit in damage, but 210 attack power off an enemy is still significant.
Wind Serpent: Though the wind serpent is past its glory days, it’s still a viable pet for some hunters. A survival hunter combined with "Go for the throat" talent, will cause your pet to spew out lightning breath like it was born to, and will rack up the damage quite nicely. Sadly it falls behind on fights where the enemies have a lot of nature resistance.
Scorpids: Scorpids has been a good alternative for beast mastery hunters because of the neat "bug" concerning their scorpid poison. This has been fixed in patch 2.2, yet it is still a malicious little pet. If you want to use a scorpid, pop all trinkets and bestial wrath before it applies the first poison and the strong effect gained from this will stick on the target as long as the scorpid can reapply it.
Wolves: Although the damage from wolves is lower than that of cats and ravagers, some might find its ability "Furious howl" a nice treat. Furious howl, which is on a 10 second cooldown, increases the damage of nearby party member’s next physical attack by 45-57 damage, which is effectively another 5 DPS for each melee in your raid. You will most likely not be in range for the buff, however.
Talents:
There are tons of good suggestions for raid specs on the various forums all around, so I am not going to post suggestions of my own. I am, however, going to name some key talents to pick if you are speccing beast mastery:
Improved revive pet: If you are a beast master, and your pet dies, you lose about 35% of your total DPS. You need to get it up again fast.
Improved mend pet: Cheaper healing and an easy way to clean your pet from that nasty poison. Frenzy: A pet with frenzy as well as serpent’s swiftness and cobra reflexes will attack incredibly fast, which is also nice for the next talent.
Ferocious inspiration: 3% more damage to all of your party members is arguably one of the best buffs out there. It scales perfectly, and increases not only the damage of you and your pet, but also your party members. With a fast attacking pet, this will be up most of the time, giving you a great damage boost.
For most fights, massive resistance on your pet is not needed.
Raiding encounters:
Here follows the main point of this guide - the raid encounters you will meet on your way to defeat the mighty Illidan and what you should expect to do to keep little Fluffy alive. This is based largely on my own experience, and of tips from other hunters.
Karazhan
The Tower of Medivh, and the first raid instance you will meet. One some encounters, arcane resistance will help your pet survive. This is fights such as The Curator and Shade of Aran, but it shouldn't be too hard keeping your pet alive without any resistance talents.
Attumen the Huntsman
Pet danger: None
Boss notes: This is a pretty straight forward fight. The only time you have to call your pet back is when Attumen jumps his mighty steed, in which case he will clear all aggro, putting your pet in a vulnerable spot. Just call your pet back, wait until the tank has a bit of aggro, and send it back in to rip Attumen to pieces.
Moroes
Pet danger: Medium
Boss notes: From time to time, Moroes will vanish and garrotte a member of your raid, and sadly, Mittens can be a target of this. You won’t be able to keep your pet up with mend pet, and your healers are sure to neglect your pet altogether and see it as a free card. I tend to sacrifice my pet and then resurrect it unless the boss is nearly down.
Maiden of Virtue
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: Your pet will be a benefit here, but it will take damage. Maiden's AOE damage, which affects all melee, is spread out among the people that are affected by it, meaning your pet will lower the damage even more. With Avoidance rank 2 and a mend pet once in a while, you will have no problem keeping your pet alive.
The Curator
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: While Curator doesn't pose a threat to Barney, the Astral Sparks that he summons are very dangerous. Not only will they target your pet, but your pet will also chain the lightning to other members, and your pet will be at high risk when killing the sparks. I suggest leaving your pet at the door, and only send it in to damage Curator during his evocation. Other people prefer to stick the pet on Curator for the duration of the fight, but beware that your pet will take at least one hit from each Astral Spark when it spawns.
Terestian Illhoof
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: While this boss is more or less safe for your pet, you might see it aggro Illhoof's imp if its tank isn't fast enough. Once in a while your pet will also take a hit from a small imp, but that damage is hardly anything to note.
Shade of Aran
Pet danger: High
Boss notes: Aran can be a nasty old bugger if you don't keep your pet under control. When he teleports you to him, just before an arcane explosion, you must be sure to drag your pet along as you run to the wall, or your pet will surely take a lot of damage. When he does blizzard, you should recall your pet for a second or two while you dodge it yourself, which will position your pet on the same side of Aran as you, and usually keep it out of harms way. Your pet can move freely when Aran does flame wrath, as it will not trigger the explosion.
Netherspite
Pet danger: None
Boss notes: Surprisingly, your pet won’t take any damage on this fight at all. He isn't affected by the constant damage, and can even stand in the black pools of death without being hurt. Prince
Malchezaar
Pet danger: Low
Boss notes: While your pet won’t be affected by Enfeeble, it will be hit by his Shadow Nova, but with Avoidance rank 2, your pet will only take 1500 damage. The only other thing you have to look out for then, is the infernal spawns - your tank might not be in range of their fire AOE, but your pet might, so keep and eye out for that and reposition if needed.
Nightbane
Pet danger: Medium
Boss notes: Unless you manage to get your pet behind Nightbane, you won’t have to worry about it getting hit by Nightbane's tail. You should move your pet out of the Charred Earth, as it will do some 400 DPS to your pet, which can burn the fur and give you a cranky pet. When Nightbane goes up into the air, be sure to notice that he can target your pet with Rain of Bones. Park it away from the main group if this happens, and throw it a mend pet.
[Quick Guide] How to win the damage meter
(This guide was created by Isilwen, level 70 night elf hunter of the eu server. All credit is due to her for this guide. Date: 28/05/2007)
1] Specc 41/20/0 for optimal lulz. http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=ctbM0gxRwuVoVxbRV 2] Specc your pet with avoidence rank 2, highest possible dps talents (claw+bite or lightning breath) and Cobra Reflexes.
3] Dedicate your life to the following macro:
#showtooltip Steady Shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/castsequence reset=3 Steady Shot, Auto Shot
/cast [exists,target=pettarget] Kill Command
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()
4] Spam it 'till your fingers hurt
5] Keep Hunter's Mark up and pop Beastial Wrath + Rapidfire + Trinket as soon as they are off cooldown.
I've been raiding a long time now with this specc, and it's still amazing. However the first specc i linked (http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=mebM0xxRwuVoVVbRV) isn't really the cookie cutter one. I've realised too that imp mend pet is just too good to miss out on, so i removed points from Endurance Training to get that. Also I've had some comments about my choice to not take Imp. Hunter's Mark. We roll with 3 hunters normally, two of which have the talent so it felt kinda useless for me to take it. Anyway, I updated the original post to include these talents.
If you find yourself having manaproblems i would get Efficiency over Imp Mark.
1] Specc 41/20/0 for optimal lulz. http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=ctbM0gxRwuVoVxbRV 2] Specc your pet with avoidence rank 2, highest possible dps talents (claw+bite or lightning breath) and Cobra Reflexes.
3] Dedicate your life to the following macro:
#showtooltip Steady Shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/castsequence reset=3 Steady Shot, Auto Shot
/cast [exists,target=pettarget] Kill Command
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()
4] Spam it 'till your fingers hurt
5] Keep Hunter's Mark up and pop Beastial Wrath + Rapidfire + Trinket as soon as they are off cooldown.
I've been raiding a long time now with this specc, and it's still amazing. However the first specc i linked (http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=mebM0xxRwuVoVVbRV) isn't really the cookie cutter one. I've realised too that imp mend pet is just too good to miss out on, so i removed points from Endurance Training to get that. Also I've had some comments about my choice to not take Imp. Hunter's Mark. We roll with 3 hunters normally, two of which have the talent so it felt kinda useless for me to take it. Anyway, I updated the original post to include these talents.
If you find yourself having manaproblems i would get Efficiency over Imp Mark.
Guide:TBC Raiding consumables and you
(This guide was created by Crockmeister, level 70 dawrf hunter of the of the EU server, Bloodfeather. All credit is due to him for this wonderful guide. Date: 04/07/2007 )
Elixirs
Elixir of Major Agility:
Increases your Agility by 35 and your critical strike rating by 20 for 1 hour. Battle Elixir. http://www.thottbot.com/i22831
Onslaught Elixir:
Increases attack power by 60 for 1 hour. Battle Elixir.
http://www.thottbot.com/i28102
Elixir of Major Mageblood:
Regenerate 16 mana per 5 sec for 1 hour. Guardian Elixir.
http://thottbot.com/i22840
Fel Strength Elixir:
Increases attack power by 90 and decreases stamina by 10 for 1 hour. Battle Elixir. http://thottbot.com/i31679
Elixir of Draenic Wisdom:
Increases Intellect and Spirit by 30 for 1 hour. Guardian Elixir.
http://thottbot.com/i32067
Elixir of Mastery:
Increases all Stats by 15 for 1 hour. Battle Elixir.
http://thottbot.com/i28104
Potions
Haste Potion:
Increases haste rating by 400 (38.0%) for 15 sec.
http://www.thottbot.com/i22838
Unstable Mana Potion:
Restores 1350 to 2250 mana.
http://www.thottbot.com/i28101
Super Mana Potion:
Restores 1800 to 3000 mana.
http://www.thottbot.com/i22832
Fel Mana Potion:
Restores 3200 mana over 24 sec, but at a cost. Also reduces spell damage by 25 and healing done by 50 for 15 min.
http://thottbot.com/i31677
Super Rejuvenation Potion:
Restores 1650 to 2750 mana and health.
http://thottbot.com/i22850
Flasks
Flask of Relentless Assault:
Increases attack power by 120 for 2 hrs. Counts as both a Battle and Guardian elixir. This effect persists through death.
http://www.thottbot.com/i22854
Unstable Flask of the Bandit :
Note Gruuls only Increases the player's Agility by 20, attack power by 40, and Stamina by 30 for 2 hrs. You can only have the effect of one flask at a time. This effect persists through death, but only works in the Blade's Edge Mountains Plateaus and Gruul's Lair. http://www.thottbot.com/i32599
Foods
Ravager Dog:
If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 40 attack power and 20 Spirit for 30 min.
http://www.thottbot.com/i27655
Warp Burger:
If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 20 Agility and Spirit for 30 min.
http://www.thottbot.com/i27659
Blackened Sporefish:
If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 20 Stamina and 8 Mana every 5 seconds for 30 min.
http://thottbot.com/i27663
Grilled Mudfish:
If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 20 Agility and Spirit for 30 min.
http://thottbot.com/i27664
Other
Scroll of Agility V:
Increases the target's Agility by 20 for 30 min.
http://thottbot.com/i27498
Flame Cap:
Note shares cooldown times with healthstone Chance to strike a ranged or melee target for 40 fire damage. Also increases fire spell damage by up to 80. Lasts 1 min. http://thottbot.com/i22788
Sporeling Snack:
Increases the Stamina and Spirit of your pet by 20. Lasts for 30 min. http://thottbot.com/i27656
Superior Mana Oil:
While applied to target weapon it restores 14 mana to the caster every 5 seconds. Lasts for 30 minutes.
http://thottbot.com/i22521
Elixir of Demonslaying:
Note: Nice for some kara bosses Increases attack power by 265 against demons. Lasts 5 min. Battle Elixir.
http://thottbot.com/i9224
Thats all for now folks, hope its of some use
Elixirs
Elixir of Major Agility:
Increases your Agility by 35 and your critical strike rating by 20 for 1 hour. Battle Elixir. http://www.thottbot.com/i22831
Onslaught Elixir:
Increases attack power by 60 for 1 hour. Battle Elixir.
http://www.thottbot.com/i28102
Elixir of Major Mageblood:
Regenerate 16 mana per 5 sec for 1 hour. Guardian Elixir.
http://thottbot.com/i22840
Fel Strength Elixir:
Increases attack power by 90 and decreases stamina by 10 for 1 hour. Battle Elixir. http://thottbot.com/i31679
Elixir of Draenic Wisdom:
Increases Intellect and Spirit by 30 for 1 hour. Guardian Elixir.
http://thottbot.com/i32067
Elixir of Mastery:
Increases all Stats by 15 for 1 hour. Battle Elixir.
http://thottbot.com/i28104
Potions
Haste Potion:
Increases haste rating by 400 (38.0%) for 15 sec.
http://www.thottbot.com/i22838
Unstable Mana Potion:
Restores 1350 to 2250 mana.
http://www.thottbot.com/i28101
Super Mana Potion:
Restores 1800 to 3000 mana.
http://www.thottbot.com/i22832
Fel Mana Potion:
Restores 3200 mana over 24 sec, but at a cost. Also reduces spell damage by 25 and healing done by 50 for 15 min.
http://thottbot.com/i31677
Super Rejuvenation Potion:
Restores 1650 to 2750 mana and health.
http://thottbot.com/i22850
Flasks
Flask of Relentless Assault:
Increases attack power by 120 for 2 hrs. Counts as both a Battle and Guardian elixir. This effect persists through death.
http://www.thottbot.com/i22854
Unstable Flask of the Bandit :
Note Gruuls only Increases the player's Agility by 20, attack power by 40, and Stamina by 30 for 2 hrs. You can only have the effect of one flask at a time. This effect persists through death, but only works in the Blade's Edge Mountains Plateaus and Gruul's Lair. http://www.thottbot.com/i32599
Foods
Ravager Dog:
If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 40 attack power and 20 Spirit for 30 min.
http://www.thottbot.com/i27655
Warp Burger:
If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 20 Agility and Spirit for 30 min.
http://www.thottbot.com/i27659
Blackened Sporefish:
If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 20 Stamina and 8 Mana every 5 seconds for 30 min.
http://thottbot.com/i27663
Grilled Mudfish:
If you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain 20 Agility and Spirit for 30 min.
http://thottbot.com/i27664
Other
Scroll of Agility V:
Increases the target's Agility by 20 for 30 min.
http://thottbot.com/i27498
Flame Cap:
Note shares cooldown times with healthstone Chance to strike a ranged or melee target for 40 fire damage. Also increases fire spell damage by up to 80. Lasts 1 min. http://thottbot.com/i22788
Sporeling Snack:
Increases the Stamina and Spirit of your pet by 20. Lasts for 30 min. http://thottbot.com/i27656
Superior Mana Oil:
While applied to target weapon it restores 14 mana to the caster every 5 seconds. Lasts for 30 minutes.
http://thottbot.com/i22521
Elixir of Demonslaying:
Note: Nice for some kara bosses Increases attack power by 265 against demons. Lasts 5 min. Battle Elixir.
http://thottbot.com/i9224
Thats all for now folks, hope its of some use
A Beastmaster's Guide to pets and bosses
(This guide was created by Hoju, level 70 dwarf hunter of the Wildhammer server. All credit is due to him for this wonderful guide. Date: 05/12/2007)
I've seen quite a few posts asking about the viability of beastmaster builds in kara and beyond due to pets liveability. Ever since the hunter talents we're changed I have been a beastmaster hunter and I just want to share my tips to keeping your pet up and attacking for bosses in karazhan and gruul's lair. (I dont have enough experience with Ilhoof or Prince or Nightbane or Gruul to put them in at this time, hopefully will add in strats shortly)
For spec, i've been raiding with either a 41-17-3 or a 41-20-0 depending on what we're running. For pet, i've been using a cat. He's trained with the maximum stamina, +150 arcane resist, dash, claw, and growl, and a small armor buff if i remember. The arcane resist helps in kara a lot, especially with the curator.
As far as group composition goes, a shadow priest is always a big help to help heal your pet. A warlocks stam buff is a nice addition too. Make sure your pet is getting buffed with everything you are so that he can max health.
Updated 6/2/07
Karazhan
Midnight/Huntsmen - Pretty pet friendly fight. My pet is right with me on midnight until the huntsmen mounts up. I'll pull him off to allow the tank to re gain aggro for a few seconds, and once mounted he has a cleave that does a fairly large amount of damage. If your pet gets hit by a cleave or two, pull him back to you. Usually my pet can stay on target for the whole fight, but on some unlucky encounters i will have to keep him back after getting hit by a few cleaves.
Moroes - Another pet friendly boss. My pet will be attacking with me on the adds in the order they need to go down and will be on moroes after. Once on Moroes there is little danger for your pet. I don't think ive ever noticed Moroes garrote my pet, but i suppose its possible, and would be some bad luck. The only real danger to your pet will be Lord Robin Daris, who has a whirlwind that hits very hard.
Maiden - One of the harder fights to keep your pet active for. Due to her holy wrath, your pet must be used in short periods of time. If theres a lot of melee in the group, only send your pet in after she has AoE'd and pull him out after about 15-20 seconds to try to avoid the next. Also, the timing of your Beast Within is very critical - its best used AFTER a repetence, so that you will no longer be under the effects of TBW for the next. If your are, you and your pet immune the stun, and your pet will likely be one shotted by maiden before the tank grabs her. If your pet gets hit with a holy fire, hope that a healer in your group will toss him a heal or two. Once you get the AoE timing and TBW timing down your pet will survive this fight and will do good damage, even though he wont be in the whole time.
Curator - I've tried it several different ways with curator and so far the best strategy has been to leave my pet on curator the duration of the fight. I've found the having him with me and moving on the adds will just add stress to the healers through the chain lightnings, or the flares will come right to my deadzone if targeting my pet, and healers wont waste mana on a pet for this fight. I will just send kitty right on to him from the start (this is where the arcane resist is almost a must - its a major help) so that he is still doing damage, giving FI buffs, ect, without causing much grief to the raid.
Shade Of Aran - While your pet is completley usefull during this fight, keeping him up will be a matter of luck sometimes. If shade decides to target him with a fireball or a frostball a few times your pet wont last long. However, I have been able to keep him up the entire a lot. Usually i will use TBW right away when running in and continue using it every time its up. Make sure when he does the arcane blast that as soon as you are pulled to the center, you put your pet to passive so that it will follow you out of the blast. It may also help to use dash or dive (if your pet has it) to get out of range before he does it. The same idea applies for blizzard - sometimes your pet will be safe staying on shade during blizzard, other times you may need to pull him out right away. Or, occasionaly the blizzard will eventually hit your pet, and i wont pull him out until the last second. Your position is very important for your pets surviability- make sure you are positioned so that your pet wont run through the blizzard to get to you. If someone gets conflagged its wise to pull your pet back as well so that he doesnt get hurt. Again, sometimes your pet will get nuked very quickly, other times you can use him the entire fight.
Netherspite - Easy fight for your pet. Always keep your pet visible to you, as the only danger will be the void spawns. If one pops on your pet or near your pet, call him back, reposition, and send him back in. We run out during the banish phase and my pet comes with us when we do this.
Gruul's Lair
High King Maulgar - For this fight I have been one of the two tanks on Kiggler. Our guilds been running this with two hunters - myself and a marksmen hunter. The marks hunter does the intial pull with a misdirection on the MT for Maulgar while I pop TBW and get some aggro on Kiggler. Beastmaster hunters help a lot for this, since we will be immune to his sheep for the duration, allowing us to grab a lot of aggro and also allowing the other hunter to do the pull and get aggro on kiggler. As for my pet, he will initially be right next to me to prevent any LOS issues when trying to use TBW, but then will be attacking whichever target the raid is attacking. It helps for this fight to have a macro for your pet to assist a raid memeber that will be on the appropriate targets the entire fight. When it comes to Maulgar time, be mindful of the whirlwind and other times when melee needs to back off.
Gruul - Very pet friendly fight after 2.1. As someone has said, pets are no longer affected by shatter and so can be used freely throughtout this fight. The only issue is the cave ins. If u notice your pet getting hit by it simply pull him out and send him back in when its gone or reposition slightly and resend him in.
BONUS INFO ADDED BY LEVEL 70 ORC HUNTER ZARAGA OF THE SERVER HAKKER AND LEVL 70 NIGHT ELF HUNTER ISHAAEL OF THE SERVER AZGALAR
(10/06/2007 )
Prince Malchezaar: Pet friendly fight. Not affected by Enfeeble, all you have to worry about is recalling pet before Shadow Nova and avoid Infernals. Phase 3 can be difficult to determine when Shadow Novas go off due to no Enfeeble.
Gruul: Pets are not affected by Shatter or Stoned now in 2.1! Feel free to keep him on gruul at all times and throw a Mend Pet on him with Cave In. Huzzah for free dps!
Illhoof: Send it and forget it pet fight. Just keep pet always on Illhoof and dont worry about him the entire fight.
Nightbane: Due to the narrow location, Charred Earth can take up the entire area your pet is attacking, which sucks. Also pets CAN be targetted for Rain of Bones. Not my favorite fight as a BM hunter.
SSC:
Hydross: Generally a fairly friendly pet fight, only issue is if you dont pull your pet off the boss as the phases transition as with its insanely fast attack speed it could cop the first autoswing and die.
Lurker: With current changes pets no longer take spout. End result, you leave your pet on lurker whenever hes "emerged" and keep up a mend pet. in the "submerged" phase you call him to you, fd drink for a few seconds should you be of the "i dont spend money on excessive mana pots" opinion, then re-send your pet onto the main melee add to be dpsed *dont attack the front, it cleaves*. your pet can take multishots. rinse repeat, res your pet if your any more than 20% of the fight to go.
Morogrim: Completely pet friendly. You start the fight with your pet on the backside of the boss, and it never for any reason moves.
Fathom-lord karathress: this fight depends ENTIRELY on your guilds tank positions. Generally start with your pet on the shaman who is usually the first dps target. Once he and his spitfire totem are dead stick your pet on the hunter and afterwards his pet. Most guilds then dps the priest, however she has heavy aoe which your pet will eat and probably die to. Much preferably stick your pet on fathomlord himself and then shoot the priest with the rest of your guild (entirely optional. was an amazing option when you could scorpid as it was generally about that point in the fight your cooldowns came up so you got a huge dmg boost by not breaking the poison stacks. still a good idea though).
Leotheras: you start dpsing the adds, the boss comes out and one of the hunters generally uses an MD. you then start dps on leotheras, making sure you have a boss-mod with the whirlwind enabled. around 5 seconds prior to his first whirlwind (10 seconds into his popping up) call your pet back and get to a decent range. NOTE: during this fight you can often fd and drink to full if you dont have the potions / mana efficiency. You can also use any of the times your pet dies to whirlwind to res him and FD feed him as generally you have a few seconds tanks are regaining aggro. The first time leotheras appears he will do 2 whirlwind phases. For the next 75% he will only do 1 per "human phase". Basically you pull your pet out nice and early, and you and he keep it safe, after the whirlwind you have another 20 or so seconds of humanoid form, then another minute of demon, and a further 10seconds of human before the next whirlwind forces you to call him back.
vashj: helps to give your pet lots of nature resist. Pull your pet back whenever a melee gets the lightning shield (name escapes me) in phases 1 and 3. for phase 2 pretty simple, almost all hunters are on the elementals, you're given an area to cover and you do just that, killing anything that comes across your path. If a tainted spawns in your area, or near enough to help with, you drop w/e your doing, blow any cooldowns you can and burn it. For phase 3 your pet should take zero damage from the spore bat poison cloud, and your guild will probably ask you to dps spore bats as they come in. Without hawk's eye it requires multiple hunters to coordinate on them, and after a while it wont be worth keeping up.
I've seen quite a few posts asking about the viability of beastmaster builds in kara and beyond due to pets liveability. Ever since the hunter talents we're changed I have been a beastmaster hunter and I just want to share my tips to keeping your pet up and attacking for bosses in karazhan and gruul's lair. (I dont have enough experience with Ilhoof or Prince or Nightbane or Gruul to put them in at this time, hopefully will add in strats shortly)
For spec, i've been raiding with either a 41-17-3 or a 41-20-0 depending on what we're running. For pet, i've been using a cat. He's trained with the maximum stamina, +150 arcane resist, dash, claw, and growl, and a small armor buff if i remember. The arcane resist helps in kara a lot, especially with the curator.
As far as group composition goes, a shadow priest is always a big help to help heal your pet. A warlocks stam buff is a nice addition too. Make sure your pet is getting buffed with everything you are so that he can max health.
Updated 6/2/07
Karazhan
Midnight/Huntsmen - Pretty pet friendly fight. My pet is right with me on midnight until the huntsmen mounts up. I'll pull him off to allow the tank to re gain aggro for a few seconds, and once mounted he has a cleave that does a fairly large amount of damage. If your pet gets hit by a cleave or two, pull him back to you. Usually my pet can stay on target for the whole fight, but on some unlucky encounters i will have to keep him back after getting hit by a few cleaves.
Moroes - Another pet friendly boss. My pet will be attacking with me on the adds in the order they need to go down and will be on moroes after. Once on Moroes there is little danger for your pet. I don't think ive ever noticed Moroes garrote my pet, but i suppose its possible, and would be some bad luck. The only real danger to your pet will be Lord Robin Daris, who has a whirlwind that hits very hard.
Maiden - One of the harder fights to keep your pet active for. Due to her holy wrath, your pet must be used in short periods of time. If theres a lot of melee in the group, only send your pet in after she has AoE'd and pull him out after about 15-20 seconds to try to avoid the next. Also, the timing of your Beast Within is very critical - its best used AFTER a repetence, so that you will no longer be under the effects of TBW for the next. If your are, you and your pet immune the stun, and your pet will likely be one shotted by maiden before the tank grabs her. If your pet gets hit with a holy fire, hope that a healer in your group will toss him a heal or two. Once you get the AoE timing and TBW timing down your pet will survive this fight and will do good damage, even though he wont be in the whole time.
Curator - I've tried it several different ways with curator and so far the best strategy has been to leave my pet on curator the duration of the fight. I've found the having him with me and moving on the adds will just add stress to the healers through the chain lightnings, or the flares will come right to my deadzone if targeting my pet, and healers wont waste mana on a pet for this fight. I will just send kitty right on to him from the start (this is where the arcane resist is almost a must - its a major help) so that he is still doing damage, giving FI buffs, ect, without causing much grief to the raid.
Shade Of Aran - While your pet is completley usefull during this fight, keeping him up will be a matter of luck sometimes. If shade decides to target him with a fireball or a frostball a few times your pet wont last long. However, I have been able to keep him up the entire a lot. Usually i will use TBW right away when running in and continue using it every time its up. Make sure when he does the arcane blast that as soon as you are pulled to the center, you put your pet to passive so that it will follow you out of the blast. It may also help to use dash or dive (if your pet has it) to get out of range before he does it. The same idea applies for blizzard - sometimes your pet will be safe staying on shade during blizzard, other times you may need to pull him out right away. Or, occasionaly the blizzard will eventually hit your pet, and i wont pull him out until the last second. Your position is very important for your pets surviability- make sure you are positioned so that your pet wont run through the blizzard to get to you. If someone gets conflagged its wise to pull your pet back as well so that he doesnt get hurt. Again, sometimes your pet will get nuked very quickly, other times you can use him the entire fight.
Netherspite - Easy fight for your pet. Always keep your pet visible to you, as the only danger will be the void spawns. If one pops on your pet or near your pet, call him back, reposition, and send him back in. We run out during the banish phase and my pet comes with us when we do this.
Gruul's Lair
High King Maulgar - For this fight I have been one of the two tanks on Kiggler. Our guilds been running this with two hunters - myself and a marksmen hunter. The marks hunter does the intial pull with a misdirection on the MT for Maulgar while I pop TBW and get some aggro on Kiggler. Beastmaster hunters help a lot for this, since we will be immune to his sheep for the duration, allowing us to grab a lot of aggro and also allowing the other hunter to do the pull and get aggro on kiggler. As for my pet, he will initially be right next to me to prevent any LOS issues when trying to use TBW, but then will be attacking whichever target the raid is attacking. It helps for this fight to have a macro for your pet to assist a raid memeber that will be on the appropriate targets the entire fight. When it comes to Maulgar time, be mindful of the whirlwind and other times when melee needs to back off.
Gruul - Very pet friendly fight after 2.1. As someone has said, pets are no longer affected by shatter and so can be used freely throughtout this fight. The only issue is the cave ins. If u notice your pet getting hit by it simply pull him out and send him back in when its gone or reposition slightly and resend him in.
BONUS INFO ADDED BY LEVEL 70 ORC HUNTER ZARAGA OF THE SERVER HAKKER AND LEVL 70 NIGHT ELF HUNTER ISHAAEL OF THE SERVER AZGALAR
(10/06/2007 )
Prince Malchezaar: Pet friendly fight. Not affected by Enfeeble, all you have to worry about is recalling pet before Shadow Nova and avoid Infernals. Phase 3 can be difficult to determine when Shadow Novas go off due to no Enfeeble.
Gruul: Pets are not affected by Shatter or Stoned now in 2.1! Feel free to keep him on gruul at all times and throw a Mend Pet on him with Cave In. Huzzah for free dps!
Illhoof: Send it and forget it pet fight. Just keep pet always on Illhoof and dont worry about him the entire fight.
Nightbane: Due to the narrow location, Charred Earth can take up the entire area your pet is attacking, which sucks. Also pets CAN be targetted for Rain of Bones. Not my favorite fight as a BM hunter.
SSC:
Hydross: Generally a fairly friendly pet fight, only issue is if you dont pull your pet off the boss as the phases transition as with its insanely fast attack speed it could cop the first autoswing and die.
Lurker: With current changes pets no longer take spout. End result, you leave your pet on lurker whenever hes "emerged" and keep up a mend pet. in the "submerged" phase you call him to you, fd drink for a few seconds should you be of the "i dont spend money on excessive mana pots" opinion, then re-send your pet onto the main melee add to be dpsed *dont attack the front, it cleaves*. your pet can take multishots. rinse repeat, res your pet if your any more than 20% of the fight to go.
Morogrim: Completely pet friendly. You start the fight with your pet on the backside of the boss, and it never for any reason moves.
Fathom-lord karathress: this fight depends ENTIRELY on your guilds tank positions. Generally start with your pet on the shaman who is usually the first dps target. Once he and his spitfire totem are dead stick your pet on the hunter and afterwards his pet. Most guilds then dps the priest, however she has heavy aoe which your pet will eat and probably die to. Much preferably stick your pet on fathomlord himself and then shoot the priest with the rest of your guild (entirely optional. was an amazing option when you could scorpid as it was generally about that point in the fight your cooldowns came up so you got a huge dmg boost by not breaking the poison stacks. still a good idea though).
Leotheras: you start dpsing the adds, the boss comes out and one of the hunters generally uses an MD. you then start dps on leotheras, making sure you have a boss-mod with the whirlwind enabled. around 5 seconds prior to his first whirlwind (10 seconds into his popping up) call your pet back and get to a decent range. NOTE: during this fight you can often fd and drink to full if you dont have the potions / mana efficiency. You can also use any of the times your pet dies to whirlwind to res him and FD feed him as generally you have a few seconds tanks are regaining aggro. The first time leotheras appears he will do 2 whirlwind phases. For the next 75% he will only do 1 per "human phase". Basically you pull your pet out nice and early, and you and he keep it safe, after the whirlwind you have another 20 or so seconds of humanoid form, then another minute of demon, and a further 10seconds of human before the next whirlwind forces you to call him back.
vashj: helps to give your pet lots of nature resist. Pull your pet back whenever a melee gets the lightning shield (name escapes me) in phases 1 and 3. for phase 2 pretty simple, almost all hunters are on the elementals, you're given an area to cover and you do just that, killing anything that comes across your path. If a tainted spawns in your area, or near enough to help with, you drop w/e your doing, blow any cooldowns you can and burn it. For phase 3 your pet should take zero damage from the spore bat poison cloud, and your guild will probably ask you to dps spore bats as they come in. Without hawk's eye it requires multiple hunters to coordinate on them, and after a while it wont be worth keeping up.
Raid Leader's Guide to Hunters
(This guide created by Elakuan, level 70 troll, of the server Vashj. All credit is due to him for this wonderful guide. Date 05/14/2007)
Hunters,
I hear every day about raid leaders not understanding how to use, or worse...not including hunters in their 25-man raid schemes. I've written this for you to point your leaders to. I'll link it on the raid board as well.
Raid Leaders,
In spite of the ridicule we've been through in the last few months, there is little question that the hunter class is back in force as of 2.1.
I'm lucky enough to be in a guild who has 3 raid hunters...so I've seen us in action in a lot of encounters. I myself, through some creative gear choices, have almost always been top 5 in our raid dps and have occassionally even grabbed the top slot on a boss kill, all the while providing raid-wide ap buffs.
It can be done.
Let's break it down.
1. 2.1 Changes
Hunters took a beating in 2.1 for pvp, but got an amazing bump in raid utilizaiton. Naturally, the gear has all had a massive upgrade (perhaps even more so than other classes).
We also have a new Hunter's Mark (the big red arrow). This one does the same as it did before for melee (with improved hunters mark talent, 110 ap to the raid). But for ranged, it now improves with every shot, scaling up pretty quickly to 440 ap. In other words, your hunters just got a 15% ap boost. (by the way, as you can imagine this isn't super-useful in pvp...this is a great solution to buffing our raid dps without making us pvp gods again).
Also, the long-scoffed-at survival tree is getting a huge boost. 4% ap bonus, and an expose weakness that procs with EVERY crit. So...imagine having a geared survival hunter (like me) in your raid. Buffed, 800 agility converts to 200 AP. Not just for the party...for the whole raid. Trueshot aura is great...but that's only 125 ap for the party. If you can make your survivor's dps work, you've got a great buff to all melee classes.
Finally, our pets are getting a MAJOR survivability boost. Cleaves and aoe's have a muchly reduced damage potential on pets. Blizzard WANTS us to put pets into the raids...they are key to a hunters' dps, regardless of their tree. And as a BM hunter recently reported...there are no more known issues for hunter pets wiping a raid on bosses. They do a LOT of damage, and now have a lot of survivability.
2. Misdirect - your warlock's best friend.
If your raid composition is like most, you have warlocks, mages, and shadowpriests chomping at the bit for their tanks to get more hate so they can let the leash off their dps. Misdirection, castable every 2 minutes, puts your hunter's bow in your tank's (or offtanks) hand for 3 shots. We open every fight with a misdirected Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot, and Steady Shot...and for a hunter like me, that's between 2500 and 5500 damage. Nothing makes a warlock happier than hearing "MD crit, don't bother waiting for sunders."
Consider it with three hunters in your raid. Even at the low end, that 7500 threat generated every 2 minutes. That means you can say, 4 minutes into a fight with 22500 threat added..."Stop holding back guys, you're not going to pull hate."
Be aware that in its current build KTM doesn't account for MD. So you have to eyeball it. Someone should write a mod that reports MD damage to the raid leaders. For now, youll have to feel it out. Also make sure your hunters know not to stack MD...you need to do it in a rotation. Double MD's up cancel both. Easy to coordinate (think Tranq Shot rotations).
3. Trees
The highest dps hunter is quite simply, one who stands shoulder to shoulder with other hunters. While each tree has its own personal dps boost (Ap bonus for marks, crit bonus for survival, attack speed bonus for BM) they also have different STACKABLE raid buffs (Expose Weakness for survival, Trueshot Aura for Marks, Ferocious Inspiration for BM). All 3 are pretty good buffs. One of each in a group with each other is going to be a massive dps boost.
All three trees are now balanced, and perfectly viable. There are reports of hunters from each tree topping 1k dps. This isn't easy, pre 2.1, but it can be done.
4. Gearing your hunters
Itemization is probably the biggest killer to our class in BC. The gear we were given from quests and low-end instances didn't add together to make dps at all viable. Which hurt.
Quick itemization lesson - we need the same stats as a rogue to do damage: Agility, Crit, and Attack Power (not to mention a certain level of hit rating). Agility feeds into our AP and Crit, so ultimately those 2 stats (with our bow damage, etc) is what calculates our dps...at least in the short run. We're also mana users, so we need Int and Mana/5 for any kind of sustainability.
Our gear, to date, has not satisfactorily brought our dps to a point where you'd want to bring us to a raid. A lot of that is getting changed in 2.1, but if you want to try an experiment...think of this.
Imagine a hunter decked out in rogue gear. Much higher ap, much higher crit. He does a lot more damage. His sustainability is a problem...but you could give him a lot of longevity by giving him a stack of mana pots. His mana usage is far less than that of a clothie...so he could even take a 15 second drink break in mid-fight without killing his dps.
In other words...you could gear him in leather, fixing his dps in a hurry, and putting him in a mana shortage, which in most fights can be dealt with.
This is how I play a hunter, and as a survivalist I can go all the way down that road - I need less hit rating and mana to get the job done. But, a smart hunter will gear himself for the fight ahead (or even go so far as to FD and switch gearsets in mid-fight).
But ultimately, pushing the balance between damage and sustainability is the way to increase dps for any hunter.
All that said, it should be noted that most hunters don't cleanly understand, in the new mechanics, the relationship between crit and ap as it applies to their dps. If you fear this is the case, send them to my guide on the subject so they can get a feel for how to valuate their gear:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=102930385&postId=1027511430&sid=1#0
5. Final Thoughts
The 2.1 hunter raid buff is amazing. Guilds that have brought their rogues and hunters through the hard times are going to see some serious progression. If you can find them, make room in your 25-man for one of each tree...and watch them and the rogues take over your dps meters...even while those chain misdirects mean your casters can open up. Find room for a little rogue gear to go to your survival hunters...and give them mana pots to make up the gap.
It STILL isn't easy. But there's little question the raid hunter is back.
Thanks for reading, guys.
Hunters,
I hear every day about raid leaders not understanding how to use, or worse...not including hunters in their 25-man raid schemes. I've written this for you to point your leaders to. I'll link it on the raid board as well.
Raid Leaders,
In spite of the ridicule we've been through in the last few months, there is little question that the hunter class is back in force as of 2.1.
I'm lucky enough to be in a guild who has 3 raid hunters...so I've seen us in action in a lot of encounters. I myself, through some creative gear choices, have almost always been top 5 in our raid dps and have occassionally even grabbed the top slot on a boss kill, all the while providing raid-wide ap buffs.
It can be done.
Let's break it down.
1. 2.1 Changes
Hunters took a beating in 2.1 for pvp, but got an amazing bump in raid utilizaiton. Naturally, the gear has all had a massive upgrade (perhaps even more so than other classes).
We also have a new Hunter's Mark (the big red arrow). This one does the same as it did before for melee (with improved hunters mark talent, 110 ap to the raid). But for ranged, it now improves with every shot, scaling up pretty quickly to 440 ap. In other words, your hunters just got a 15% ap boost. (by the way, as you can imagine this isn't super-useful in pvp...this is a great solution to buffing our raid dps without making us pvp gods again).
Also, the long-scoffed-at survival tree is getting a huge boost. 4% ap bonus, and an expose weakness that procs with EVERY crit. So...imagine having a geared survival hunter (like me) in your raid. Buffed, 800 agility converts to 200 AP. Not just for the party...for the whole raid. Trueshot aura is great...but that's only 125 ap for the party. If you can make your survivor's dps work, you've got a great buff to all melee classes.
Finally, our pets are getting a MAJOR survivability boost. Cleaves and aoe's have a muchly reduced damage potential on pets. Blizzard WANTS us to put pets into the raids...they are key to a hunters' dps, regardless of their tree. And as a BM hunter recently reported...there are no more known issues for hunter pets wiping a raid on bosses. They do a LOT of damage, and now have a lot of survivability.
2. Misdirect - your warlock's best friend.
If your raid composition is like most, you have warlocks, mages, and shadowpriests chomping at the bit for their tanks to get more hate so they can let the leash off their dps. Misdirection, castable every 2 minutes, puts your hunter's bow in your tank's (or offtanks) hand for 3 shots. We open every fight with a misdirected Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot, and Steady Shot...and for a hunter like me, that's between 2500 and 5500 damage. Nothing makes a warlock happier than hearing "MD crit, don't bother waiting for sunders."
Consider it with three hunters in your raid. Even at the low end, that 7500 threat generated every 2 minutes. That means you can say, 4 minutes into a fight with 22500 threat added..."Stop holding back guys, you're not going to pull hate."
Be aware that in its current build KTM doesn't account for MD. So you have to eyeball it. Someone should write a mod that reports MD damage to the raid leaders. For now, youll have to feel it out. Also make sure your hunters know not to stack MD...you need to do it in a rotation. Double MD's up cancel both. Easy to coordinate (think Tranq Shot rotations).
3. Trees
The highest dps hunter is quite simply, one who stands shoulder to shoulder with other hunters. While each tree has its own personal dps boost (Ap bonus for marks, crit bonus for survival, attack speed bonus for BM) they also have different STACKABLE raid buffs (Expose Weakness for survival, Trueshot Aura for Marks, Ferocious Inspiration for BM). All 3 are pretty good buffs. One of each in a group with each other is going to be a massive dps boost.
All three trees are now balanced, and perfectly viable. There are reports of hunters from each tree topping 1k dps. This isn't easy, pre 2.1, but it can be done.
4. Gearing your hunters
Itemization is probably the biggest killer to our class in BC. The gear we were given from quests and low-end instances didn't add together to make dps at all viable. Which hurt.
Quick itemization lesson - we need the same stats as a rogue to do damage: Agility, Crit, and Attack Power (not to mention a certain level of hit rating). Agility feeds into our AP and Crit, so ultimately those 2 stats (with our bow damage, etc) is what calculates our dps...at least in the short run. We're also mana users, so we need Int and Mana/5 for any kind of sustainability.
Our gear, to date, has not satisfactorily brought our dps to a point where you'd want to bring us to a raid. A lot of that is getting changed in 2.1, but if you want to try an experiment...think of this.
Imagine a hunter decked out in rogue gear. Much higher ap, much higher crit. He does a lot more damage. His sustainability is a problem...but you could give him a lot of longevity by giving him a stack of mana pots. His mana usage is far less than that of a clothie...so he could even take a 15 second drink break in mid-fight without killing his dps.
In other words...you could gear him in leather, fixing his dps in a hurry, and putting him in a mana shortage, which in most fights can be dealt with.
This is how I play a hunter, and as a survivalist I can go all the way down that road - I need less hit rating and mana to get the job done. But, a smart hunter will gear himself for the fight ahead (or even go so far as to FD and switch gearsets in mid-fight).
But ultimately, pushing the balance between damage and sustainability is the way to increase dps for any hunter.
All that said, it should be noted that most hunters don't cleanly understand, in the new mechanics, the relationship between crit and ap as it applies to their dps. If you fear this is the case, send them to my guide on the subject so they can get a feel for how to valuate their gear:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=102930385&postId=1027511430&sid=1#0
5. Final Thoughts
The 2.1 hunter raid buff is amazing. Guilds that have brought their rogues and hunters through the hard times are going to see some serious progression. If you can find them, make room in your 25-man for one of each tree...and watch them and the rogues take over your dps meters...even while those chain misdirects mean your casters can open up. Find room for a little rogue gear to go to your survival hunters...and give them mana pots to make up the gap.
It STILL isn't easy. But there's little question the raid hunter is back.
Thanks for reading, guys.
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