Some noob questions o_o

[Direshadow]

So i've decided to dust off my hunter again and level him up to 80, and put him into some of our alt ICC runs even.

This is coming from someone who has played a Spriest for almost 3 years now.

I have a few questions that will sound VERY noobish... but hear me out.


1. Is it worth using Serpent Sting, even if you're not specc'd marks? Back in BC, people would tell me it was useless, but things have changed.

2. If you want to raid, are you restricted to having a wolf pet? Am I capable of doing as much dps without one?

3. On the issue of mana... I run out a lot... is switching aspects every few moments something that will happen even when i'm geared and at 80? Is this only something that happens with leveling?

Thanks a lot.


Also a thought.... would anyone here be for the idea of taking Ferocious Inspiration out of the talent BM tree and giving it to all of the ferocity pets? If they removed the wolf's howl, and replaced it with something else, this would allow all pets to be used in raid without a penalty. I just hate seeing every hunter with a wolf...especially those ugly ones from Northrend.

[Sativex]

1. Anything that takes longer than 10-12 seconds to kill it should be used on.

2. Wolf is the best dps pet for raiding, as BM a raptor is fine.

3. Mana is not really a problem in raids that much, you can switch aspects on transitions and downtime in fights to help keep it up.

As for your last comment, I'd say leave it, Ret's already bring that buff, so giving to all pets would be a waste anyways. There will always be a "best" dps pet, and that's why people end up using the same one.

[Irony]

1. Yes have it up at all times.
2. Yes only wolf, sorry =\
3. With a Ret pally judging light you'll never have issues, without one though you'll start to oom around 50%(Depending on Boss obviously)

[Direshadow]

What if they just removed Ferocious Inspiration from the BM tree and gave it to all pets, but made it to where it increased your attack power like the howl ability?

[Leggomyeggo]

1. Survival has Noxious Stings and all hunters should be using Glyph of Steady Shot. These both increase your DPS while Serpent Sting is applied.
2. For Marksmen and Survival, wolves are the best dps pet.
3. Mana is the bane of hunters outside of a raid. It takes a while, but you will get used to needing to switch aspects frequently. Inside a raid, hunters are very dependent on Judgement of Wisdom from a paladin. As long as this debuff is up on what you are shooting, your mana shouldn't be a problem. Without this debuff being on your target, you will need to manage your mana more carefully. Survival hunters (depending on spec) typically have a better time with mana than Marksmen.

* Regarding your last comment, Blizzard does want hunters to have more options when it comes to pets. We will just have to wait and see what they come up with for Cataclysm. I do not expect any changes to happen to our class before then.

[Thereign]

Basically what they said, serpent should always be up on a boss, wolves offer the best dps by a fair amount (100dps or so), and although mana sucks with questing, once you get into a raid situation with replenishment, etc, it is fine

[Cyph3r]

So i've decided to dust off my hunter again and level him up to 80, and put him into some of our alt ICC runs even.

This is coming from someone who has played a Spriest for almost 3 years now.

I have a few questions that will sound VERY noobish... but hear me out.


1. Is it worth using Serpent Sting, even if you're not specc'd marks? Back in BC, people would tell me it was useless, but things have changed.

Nowadays SS is our bread and butter. As MM you want to apply it to anything that takes more than a few seconds to kill, as chimera shot (our primary hard hitter) gets bonus damage applied if there's a SS on the target. Furthermore, one of your major glyphs should be Glyph of Serpent Sting, which increases it's duration, and therefore increases the damage bonus chimera shot gets (this is because chimera calculates the bonus damage using the highest POTENTIAL damage that SS can do over a single duration, not on damage already done. Longer duration, higher potential damage, more chimera bonus damage).

2. If you want to raid, are you restricted to having a wolf pet? Am I capable of doing as much dps without one?

Short answer: yes. Long answer: Wolves are highest dps of all ferocity currently simply because they buff you as well. In high end gear it's about 120 dps on average between a wolf and say a cat or raptor (next 2 highest pets). So yes, if you want to truly maximize dps, use a wolf. However, you can get away with raiding with something else (and in fact wasps come in handy if there's no boomkin in the raid) if you really want. I use a cat personally, because I love him.

3. On the issue of mana... I run out a lot... is switching aspects every few moments something that will happen even when i'm geared and at 80? Is this only something that happens with leveling?

When soloing or doing heroics, yes, get used to spending a lot of time in viper. In a raid (even a 10 man) the group buffs are typically enough to keep you out of viper throughout most boss fights. In the event you ARE running out in a raid however, here's some helpful tips: NEVER apply serpent sting while in viper, since it carries the ap debuff. Steady shot is the quickest way to regain mana fast while in viper, if you are goign to fire chimera/aimed, switch back to dragonhawk, fire them, then go back to viper to minimize dps loss. Don't waste rapid fire's while in viper. Overall, the less time in viper, the better.

Also a thought.... would anyone here be for the idea of taking Ferocious Inspiration out of the talent BM tree and giving it to all of the ferocity pets? If they removed the wolf's howl, and replaced it with something else, this would allow all pets to be used in raid without a penalty. I just hate seeing every hunter with a wolf...especially those ugly ones from Northrend.

The ferocity tree already has this in the form of culling the herd. However it only applies to the hunter and the pet. The nice thing though is that it STACKS with ferocious inspiration as well as the other 3% damage buffs. FI is a BM hunter's only raid buff (as opposed to trueshot aura or replenishment), you can't really take that away without giving them something else. I won't be surprised if things change in Cat, time will tell.

[deadman80]

Since FI was changed relatively recently from a proc to an aura, I doubt there will be any desire on Blizzard's part to mess with it again until Cataclysm.

For your original questions:
1) Yes. Use it. Especially if you have 2pc T9 it is very much worth keeping up on any target that takes longer than 10sec to die.

2) SV/MM tend to catch flak if you use a non-wolf pet, but if you are in a raid with at least 3x physical dps AND you have no druid to put up FF, then you might want to consider using a wasp. Your dps may go down by 100-200, but the overall raid dps output should go up enough to more than compensate for that.

3) I've always been in the habit of bringing health/mana pots, hp/mp vendor food, bandages, pet food, feasts and personal dps food (plus my soloing/pet tanking gear set) whenever I leave town ^^;; Sure it takes up some bag space, but since we are well past the days when ammo only stacked to 200, I still have at least 45 free inventory slots so it's a small sacrifice to know that I'm really prepared for anything XD It's nice to know that IF I'm on the last few percent of a boss and I'm running low on MP that I can pop a pot and keep going full throttle vs the risk of missing the enrage timer due to having to pop viper at a bad time.
Also, whenever you have a chance on 3+ target fights, pop viper + multishot then go back to d.hawk.. It'll net you 3k-4k mp ^^ Basically a free MP pot which is plenty to keep you rolling until a quiet moment to grab a drink.