I don't know what for advice we should give eachother.

Seeing that all posts should point out that Survival is the way to go followed by MM.
And that MM is slightly better in movement heavy fights.

At least i think our class has to less uniqueness to bring into a raid. Seeing as Chimaera shot and Explosive shot both deal elemental dmg. And we should be dealing physical damage.

And all the party buffs we give are also given as other classes.

If you want to rock in Ulduar you have to ride a chopper. ( i love choppers )

And just stick at the top of the dps meter. That's mostly it.

But by far the very most rule you MUST follow is :

Enjoy yourself in Ulduar

Note to engineers: Now that they moved the haste to auto-shot directly rather than the Quiver, you can now dump it in favor of an Engineering bag full of ammo makers. 1 ammo maker = 2 slots of arrows. Just remember to click on em once in a while :)

While Hawk Eye does not directly add damage it makes it a lot easier to keep the sniper training buff up in a lot of encounters, it also allows for easier spread of the raid.

It might not be the best way to epeen your damage on ignis-like encounters but in my experience it wins out in the end, especially on bosses that are an actual challenege.

The best place to take those three points from would be trap mastery if you're using the standard cookie cutter sv dps spec for 3.1

i haven't explored ulduar yet myself, but would be nice to know how often we're forced to move? For instance, MM depends on steady shot procs and haste buffs, to maximize damage, a MM hunter would prefer moving during the usage of instants instead of steady shots in his/her rotation. Will i still be able to time my steady shots so i do not lose much dps through movement?

Hawk eye is a must for me, bosses are huge

I dont thing that theres some "secret" in dooing DPS with hunter its like SUrvival specced=Dps comes from LnL procs. MM= DPS comes from Haste but you will run out of mana really fast unless boss have Mana so you can sting him to get 3K mana..
Secret is that Hunters DPS is very low when you dont have good setup for 25man.

As hunter forums are generally full of advice and help normally this thread isnt that useful :)
Seriously unless you troll in here you get fast good advice very quickly in the hunter forums!
(4 years of getting %*!# from blizzard makes us stick together)

My class advice!

Don't get too attached to your spec/s, they're bound to be interfered with due some lame arena "balance" attempt by people without any creativity left, don't get me wrong but really.. the hunter class is a yoyo going back and forth. Tiresome but it makes us try to achieve MAX with what we're stuck with.

One week we're somewhat OP, the next week we're nerfed to oblivion and have to find a new spec to play with.

From being BM totally dominating and then hitting rock bottom, from Surv having a really good damage output both in the arena and in the raid instances to "fixed" to be somewhat underwelming but yet the best alternative in arena. What's next? =)

-

So my advice again.. be openminded to your current spec/s they're bound to be changed.

---

Q u o t e:
i haven't explored ulduar yet myself, but would be nice to know how often we're forced to move? For instance, MM depends on steady shot procs and haste buffs, to maximize damage, a MM hunter would prefer moving during the usage of instants instead of steady shots in his/her rotation. Will i still be able to time my steady shots so i do not lose much dps through movement?

---

Levi: not applicable
Razor: Low movement
Ignis: no data
Decon: Low movement
Kilo: Low movement
Council: Medium movement
CrazyCatLady: Medium movement
Holdir: Heavy movement
Freya: Heavy movement

That's all I have done on 25 man.

---

Q u o t e:

CrazyCatLady: Medium movement
Holdir: Heavy movement

---

I disagree with these two actually.
On Auriaya you don't really have to move at all except getting back in position after fear.

On Hodir Id really try to stand beside one of the toasty fires in which case you dont have to move much at all. It's more appropriately a medium then.

adding:
Thorim is medium once you hit p2

mimiron is heavy movement in p4, p3 as well if you're kiting the assault bots. p2 is medium and p1 is almost none.

vezax is pretty heavy on movement.

Yogg-Saron is heavy in p1, medium-heavy in p2 if you're top-side, no movement in p3 (or almost none)

---

Q u o t e:

Levi: not applicable
Razor: Low movement
Ignis: no data
Decon: Low movement
Kilo: Low movement
Council: Medium movement
CrazyCatLady: Medium movement
Holdir: Heavy movement
Freya: Heavy movement

That's all I have done on 25 man.

---

---

Q u o t e:

On Hodir Id really try to stand beside one of the toasty fires in which case you dont have to move much at all. It's more appropriately a medium then.

adding:
Thorim is medium once you hit p2

mimiron is heavy movement in p4, p3 as well if you're kiting the assault bots. p2 is medium and p1 is almost none.

vezax is pretty heavy on movement.

Yogg-Saron is heavy in p1, medium-heavy in p2 if you're top-side, no movement in p3 (or almost none)

---

thanks for the response, exactly what i was looking for.

btw MM has no mana issues in a 25 man raid with few replenishment classes in it; just take rapid recuperation and you can last forever

---

Q u o t e:
I dont thing that theres some "secret" in dooing DPS with hunter its like SUrvival specced=Dps comes from LnL procs. MM= DPS comes from Haste but you will run out of mana really fast unless boss have Mana so you can sting him to get 3K mana..
Secret is that Hunters DPS is very low when you dont have good setup for 25man.

---

I'm sorry but you're mistaking YOUR DPS with the DPS of hunters in general you must do bad DPS if you say that without good setup we do bad DPS, how much DPS do you do unbuffed on a dummy? about 1.5k or something. i do 3k-3.8k DPS unbuffed on test dummy and about 5k DPS in Ulduar.

You can either enjoy ulduar or do well. Seeing as you have 4cds of yourown to watch along with linking pet cds and ensuring you have the capability to blow everything for heroism :P

you barely have to move on any fight, the last 3 bosses are a fair amount of movement, but then again it is for everyone. Other than that all the other fights can be done with disengage, and as you stop moveing before the buff runs out it replenishes giving no downtime.

For those with mana issues, there are several fights where you can make it intensely easier. For thorim.freya and iron council are most notable.

On thorim phase 1 (if your in the arena aoeing/frost trapping) focus target thorim and viper sting him everyone CD, basically 3k ish mana back every 15 seconds. same with freya whilst you take down the adds and council do it for the little guy (basic tactic) generally makes life a lot easier when you have all your +dmg debuffs on curent target full nuking, then missing 1 move every now and again to keep you up with infinite mana.

no time in aspect of viper = win

Ok, so this is where we share all our advice.

Ok, advice - Lets not beat around the bush here. this advice isn't quite for the players, its more for the blues and GC.

Now im not going to bore you all to death with pages and pages of text to read through, im going to make it quite simple and less complicated as i possibly can.





FIX HUNTERS



/end.

Nothing spectacular here, just a few things I've picked up on as a Survival Hunter.

The obvious is timing Black Arrow for the most appropiate time. Always bear this in mind on any encounter.

Razorscale; Timing of Black Arrow is the only key I can offer here. Due to the spawning off the adds, a trap isn't always viable to drop to have LnL as soon as she comes down.

XT002; Can have some great benefits, obviously timing BA at the heart phase is crucial. A LnL proc here is a huge boost to your DPS.

Kologarn; This can be fun, if you use Aimed Shot, switch it out for Multi-Shot on this encounter as the single shot strikes all 3 body parts, on 10 second cooldown its a signigicant boost. If like our guild you only kill the Right Arm, theres an advantage to be had here, especially in the latter stages. Of course, your primary DPS focus should be the Right Arm, however when the body approaches 19% hp, take this time to assist a Tank, or manually change target to the body, fire a Kill Shot, let off a Serpent Sting for good measure before returning to the Arm. DPS as normal and again return to the Body for a Kill Shot, ignore the sting this time as it should still be ticking away. Back to the Arm, DPS DPS DPS and keep going as fight is fit.

Auriya; This is a risk factor to be taken here, the timing comes with the pack of guardian spawns and a well timed Explosive Trap. If timed correctly, the trap should trigger damage on all of the guardians and proc Lock and Load to boot. Rinse and repeat.

Iron Council; Nothing massive here on a regular kill, if you're quick enough you can sting all 3 at the start of the fight for a small boost. Your biggest advantage lies at making the most of the Runes of Power. Remember as a Hunter you're also very mobile to chase around Brundir during P3, and can blow a Misdirect just as he lands, aiding your tank and not hindering your DPS. However, if you're gonna chase Brundir around whilst he flies, remember to call back that pet!

Hodir; Key here is making the most of whats given to you, whenever you can, stand inside the moonlight beams, but don't forget to move either! A little tip here is whilst in a Lock and Load proc to make the most of this time, rather than stand still and use ES>SS>ES>SS>ES or whichever filler you is up next, take the time for the shot to tick off and move in and out of the beam of light. ES>Jiggle>ES>jiggle>ES. Again here Kill Shot is a friend whilst in the beams.

Thorim; This isn't my favourite fight, doesn't mean its impossible to do fairly well. Arena is where you make up most of your damage if played right. Remember you don't need to be dead center as a Hunter, we need some range. The dance here kinda becomes a rotation once you get into it. Initially, you want to be looking out for the larger adds, as soon as an add with mana pops up, viper sting him and forget about it, stand at the edge of the circle, 5 yards and kill it. Now move into the middle just as the small adds all rush in, again lay an Explosive Trap, FD if needs be. Now fire a Volley or 2 to finish off the small adds to which a large add, this time manaless should be approaching. Use your Lock and Load here, and remember to squeeze in Kill Shot where you can. Viper-Explosive Trap-Volley-Kill Shot. When Thorim lands, DPS as normal, useing Viper Sting if needed for the extra mana.

Freya; Nothing great here, you can go with Trap dancing on the Swarm of Nature, I try to do this as I also play a Main Assist position sometimes, where this can lead to Lock and Load and getting a number of them down very fast indeed. Otherwise, remember between spawns to traget Freya herself and use a Viper Sting, mana mana mana!

Mimirion; Again, nothing amazing. However if you are like most Hunters you are probably using a Wolf for DPS, if your pet manages to die for some reason, between phases switch to Viper Aspect and get regenerating, remember to ressurect your pet to as you regenerate whilst you cast. If things turn sour here, also remember that if you are high atop the threatlist, the boss will come chasing you, especially the bottom part during Phase 4. Deterence is there for a reason, it buys you and your raid 5 valuable seconds, and you can always FD before it expires. Who said Hunters can't tank?

Only done Vezax and Yogg a couple of times, don't think I;ve noticed anything I can abuse just yet. I'll see what I can find, hope you enjoy the above.

sting all 3 for a boost? thats the biggest waste of GCDs i can imagine. Serpents stings damage is low as hell, just zerg your initial target with the little on on focus macro for viper sting, face side on to the curent target and spam dps whilst getting a viper off for mana without switching target for minimal dps loss.

On hodir get the lightning charge priority, then camp fire with the charge buff, fire gives inc magic dmg increase taken by boss, hence explosive dmg blasts up, that and you dont have to jump or move, only get moonlight if its near fire, seeing as the majority of your damage is ok a fixed CD.

Personally for thorim i put a slow trap for raid benefit over my own, and as previously, stick thorim on focus macro and spam viper sting whilst aoeing your heart out with insane mana regen. Same with freya.

mimi you have like a year to get mana back inbetween phases, no problems.

general, try not to cast moves when not in black zone, you will be getting 12k explosive crits in it, and all other moves costing 70% less mana. You dont need to go into the green zone, possibly once you never know, makes healers lives easier. Though this fight depends on your raid tactics etc.

Yogg, not downed yet, having to rely on the idiots in my raid to perform well is a downfall, so far phase 1 is no problem at all mana wise, and havnt had much practice on P2, tho im sure there will be something somewhere with mana you can just focus and soak mana from.

In short there is NO mana problem on ANY fight in ulduar (normal modes) just use your head.

as far as anything else goes, my personal rotation is (KS) ES, BA,SerpS , MS , SS
multi will be before ba serp app one time, after the next etc, personall i just found it nicer to manage this way, and got 5.5-6k dps from it, so dont rly need to poke out more till hard modes start flopping around.

---

Q u o t e:
sting all 3 for a boost? thats the biggest waste of GCDs i can imagine. Serpents stings damage is low as hell, just zerg your initial target with the little on on focus macro for viper sting, face side on to the curent target and spam dps whilst getting a viper off for mana without switching target for minimal dps loss.

---

Not really a waste of GCD at that point is it, yeah, lets go all out zerg from the pull :P. For anyone who priorises properly, you pull with either Multi or Explosive, ofcourse you juggle the explosive to ensure full charges are consumed for threat on a MD.

0 - ES
1.5 BA
3.0 MS
4.5 SrS
6.0 ES
7.5 SS

Theres your typical priorities and time scale, but it doesn't take an ounce of common sense that you can probably do yourself and your tank a few favours by wasting an extra 3 seconds on SrS on the other 2 adds.

Putting Serpent on the other members of the assembly may look good on the meter but they get healed fully when one of the others die. It's a waste of mana and time. So yeah, it's a really stupid thing to do.

I thought this was Class Advice for Ulduar encounters, and seeing as we're a DPS class, thats kind of our job, to look good on meters. We've already established the mana issue by vipering an off-target. So theres no real waste at all. You're boosting yourself, and allowing your 1st add a vital few more seconds just to get his mob in position, rather than nuke from the off-set and manage to waste your feign too early before you're chasing the tank again. Of course there is more to playing than topping the meters, but from the basics of playing a DPS class, thats our job.