gearing question

[Ferg]

hello, longtime warrior here, newtime hunter

char can be found @ Stupidhead @ Gorefiend

question is, at what item lvl does BM overtake Surv for best overall dps? i'm gearing up this toon faster than i thought i would and i'm unsure which spec to play right now.

any input would be greatly appreciated

thank you for your time

[Tehterokkar]

BM is always better than SV.

[Marxman]

BM is clearly ahead until Survival gets it's T16 4pc, at which point Survival becomes all about RNG and can easily pull ahead of BM with decent procs.

In BiS gear the two specs are very close.

[anjan011]

BM is clearly ahead until Survival gets it's T16 4pc, at which point Survival becomes all about RNG and can easily pull ahead of BM with decent procs.

In BiS gear the two specs are very close.

SV 4P is total RNG as u have mentioned. i rarely get any thing more that 5 procs. i rather like BM 4P, it works with BW, so every 45 sec, u become a red conster along with ur beast :P

[Shockymonkey]

I get awesome Surv procs I play full time survival now and not looking back.

[Joycey]

Id go for what ever you have fun with BM is on top Unless you have T16 4 set ,But if your casually playing your hunter just go for anything you like to play

[Terrapax]

Not a big enough difference between the two to matter to a new hunter (or even most longtime hunters, for that matter). You'll do more dps at whichever spec you're better at, and you'll likely be better at whichever spec you enjoy playing more. So go have fun!

[Ferg]

Thanks for all the input guys. Honestly I really enjoy all three specs, but sadly Marksmanship doesn't seem to be up to par right now, so I've just taken to swapping between BM and Survival every other fight :P

One other question, if anyone cares to answer; what pets am I "expected" to have as BM? I've gotten in trouble because the only two pets I have are that green core hound from SMV and the raptor I started out with as a troll

[BergErr]

Thanks for all the input guys. Honestly I really enjoy all three specs, but sadly Marksmanship doesn't seem to be up to par right now, so I've just taken to swapping between BM and Survival every other fight :P

One other question, if anyone cares to answer; what pets am I "expected" to have as BM? I've gotten in trouble because the only two pets I have are that green core hound from SMV and the raptor I started out with as a troll

One for every buff/debuff and combat res.
Tall strider is cool if your comp has everything.

[Jeremypwnz]

If you're in a 25 man, Tallstrider and never look back. Never a reason to have another pet. Otherwise, what BergErr said.

[Marxman]

Tallstrider and Sporebat are the 2 I'd always keep with me. They have the least readily available raid buffs.

Otherwise, use what you enjoy. I use my Wind Serpent the majority of the time because I have a man-crush on him.

[Tunguskaa]

If you're in a 25 man, Tallstrider and never look back. Never a reason to have another pet. Otherwise, what BergErr said.

I agree also with this cant do wrong with aoe sunders.

[clevin]

hit up petopia for a database of pets, where they're found, buffs they bring etc. http://www.wow-petopia.com

in general, as BM you want to be able to provide battle res and heroism/lust at the least, but it's a good idea to be able to cover most buffs. Obviously, if you LFR or 25man it's not critical. If you run 10s, it can be. Me, I just spend an evening getting several buff pets.

[Raicky]

The five pets I usually have with me are : Wolf (crit buff), Core Hound(BL), Hyena(Attack Speed), Sporebat(Spell Haste) and a Cat(cos he's my fav :P). And as others have said, always have a tallstrider or a raptor with you.

[Hayro1]

If you're in a 25 man, Tallstrider and never look back. Never a reason to have another pet. Otherwise, what BergErr said.

Same with a not-awful-as-hell 10-man, considering you only need what.....7? classes to get all debuffs/buffs.

[clevin]

Same with a not-awful-as-hell 10-man, considering you only need what.....7? classes to get all debuffs/buffs.

The problem in some 10 mans, especially the more casual ones, is that you might not have all 7 of those classes. It's simple in a 25 person raid to have all 7 classes - it's not even 1/3 of your raid. In a 10, it's obviously 70%. It's actually worse than that since you have 2 slots out of 10 occupied by tanks and only a handful of classes can tank. For a heroic 10 man you know all this and recruit carefully. In a normal mode 10 man you are more likely playing with whoever wants to raid in your guild so it's a good thing for the hunter in the raid to a) have a BM spec and know it and b) for them to have tamed at least the pets with the really important buffs. It's not really a lot to ask of a hunter since pets insta-level now, too.

[Hayro1]

The problem in some 10 mans, especially the more casual ones, is that you might not have all 7 of those classes. It's simple in a 25 person raid to have all 7 classes - it's not even 1/3 of your raid. In a 10, it's obviously 70%. It's actually worse than that since you have 2 slots out of 10 occupied by tanks and only a handful of classes can tank. For a heroic 10 man you know all this and recruit carefully. In a normal mode 10 man you are more likely playing with whoever wants to raid in your guild so it's a good thing for the hunter in the raid to a) have a BM spec and know it and b) for them to have tamed at least the pets with the really important buffs. It's not really a lot to ask of a hunter since pets insta-level now, too.

I know you can't always have those 7, my point was you don't even need 10 people, and those 7 don't even include a Hunter.