WOTLKEE ZOO! WHICH IS FOR YOU?

EDIT 1: Well, gotta head back to work, so no time for links at the moment, but I’ll get those in there later tonight.

EDIT 2: Corrected a lot of errors that I forgot I had to double check before I posted.  Thats what I get for writing this after midnight from memory and thinking, “Oh, I’ll double check that before I put it out for all the intertubz to read”.  I also changed pet #6 because I was waaaaaay off.  Nuff Said.  Links still  coming soon.

EDIT 3: Links are finally in.  If anyone notices any mistakes still, let me know, I was sleepy when this one was written.

With all the changes coming out about Rash of the Itch Thing for Hunter Pets, it’s a veritable zoo and exciting to say the least.

BRK is once again at the business end of the Dwarven Hand Canon when it comes to passing great info about Wrath, having obtained a spot in the ßeta, he’s eagerly testing things out and putting out videos like they’re breath mints.  Speaking of breath mints, if you haven’t given any to your pet lately, you may want to.  Its bad enough they chew the faces off of our enemies, the least we can do is make smell pleasant for them when our pets are panting on them.  He’s also recently posted a ‘who’s who in the zoo’ (See what I did there? Yes, I did go there).  He talks about the (pet) winners and losers in Wrath and even lists a few that are in between at the moment until more info comes out about how they perform.

Mania is also ever-vigilant in keeping Petopia updated with as much Hunter Pet info as she can find.  She has an amazing FAQ up about new WOTLKEE pets, hunters and screenshots with many new pets and skins coming in Wrath.  A great big thanks on behalf of all of us Hunters who appreciate the hard work that both BRK and Mania (as well as anyone else in the ßeta that is putting this info out for us to munch on).  Whether or not everyone else agrees, I couldn’t say, but I know that their tireless effort is much appreciated and a thank you from those of us not lucky enough to get a key never hurts.

So, since I can’t hope to devote enough time to match their efforts, (nor do I see any reason to duplicate them), I’m not goig to go into the news of the ßeta with respect to pets.  I am however going to discuss what my stable will look like in Wrath.  First off, one of my favorite changes in the ßeta is the addition of two additional stable slots.  /thankgod.  What does that mean to me?  Well, I’m now going to be able to keep 5 pets, instead of 2 while leveling and 3 at level cap.  That is just full of win (if it makes it live of course).  So this is going to be my top 6 Wrath Hunter Pets and why.  (6 because I’ll likely use one for leveling and change it at level cap).

1. Pet: Devilsaur (Ferocity)
Skin: White. I just like the way this one stands out.
Why: This is a sure thing for me.  Blizz could totally nerf <Monstrous Bite> and give them Dino Fart that caused a RAP reducing debuff on their owner and I’d still take it.  But its not likely that they will nerf it and MB seems like a great talent right now.  With the Devilsaur being a Ferocity Pet, its likely going to be right up there for top raiding pet post patch 3.0.
Reason: COOLNESS FACTOR & RAIDING

2. Pet: Hyena (Ferocity)
Skin: White or Black
Why: Of all the special abilities that have been released in ßeta, this one is the most exciting for me.  <Tendon Rip> (slows enemy movement for 6 sec; 20 sec cooldown, 25 focus) seems like it gives the most bang for its buck.  The movement impairing effect lasts six seconds, which gives a Hunter plenty of time to get away (4 more than intimidation currently) and being on a 20 sec cooldown, it can be reapplied quite often.  Nor does it cost the lion’s share of his focus (yes, I went there as well).  All that said, I’ll probably turn off his focus dump and use him mainly for BW/TBW and his kiting effect while pvp’ing.
Reason: PVP

3. Pet: Crocolisk (Tenacity)
Skin: River / Marsh
Why: <Bad Attitude> is full of win.  Period.  As an AoE tanking pet, the Crocolisk is going to be able to deal some pretty sweet AoE damage to anything that hits it.  If Mend Pet can keep him alive and he can survive multi-mob attacks, this is going to be easy mode.  I expect to use the Crocolisk as my leveling pet from 70 to 80.
Reason: BAD ATTITUDE (Okay, AoE / LEVELING, but Bad Attitude sounds so much better!)

4. Pet: Rhino (Tenacity)
Skin: Slate
Why: Aside from the Devilsaur, I think this is one of the coolest additions to the Zoo.  I have yet to watch the video BRK put out with this bad boy, but I’ve seen the screen shots (and the video as well now).  Under Beastial Wrath he looks just freaking huge.  And destructive.  Might as well call him <Mammoth> (Dibs on that name, btw).  Provided their special ability (when it comes out) is viable, I’ll likely use this beast whenever I don’t NEED to be using something else.
Reason: COOLNESS FACTOR / DAILIES / GRINDING / INSTANCES

5. Pet: Wolf (Ferocity)
Skin: Frostwolf (Dire Wolf Skin Light Blue)
Why: While BRK termed this pet a toss up due to its buff <Furious Howl> only affecting melee, I’m likely going to have one anyways.  Grimshott’s from the Frostwolf clan, yo!  EDIT:  Much thanks to Drotara at Less QQ, More Pew Pew for pointing out that Furious Howl does now affect the Hunter which is a nice change! 
Reason: RP

6. Pet: Chimaera (Cunning)
Skin: Blue
Why: First off, I’m sorry Bre, I know you have this whole tryst going on with the Chimaera, but I think these things are ugly and I can’t believe I’m actually considering this.  But if they can get the <Froststorm Breath> working properly it might be like having your very own Frost Mage/Ele Shammy pet running around with you.  Kiting plus lightening?  I’m in, even if the thing does look like a rat lizard with wings and too many heads… Let me tame a real dragon and I’ll be happy!
Reason: ABILITIES ARE BETTER THAN IT LOOKS (and by it I mean the pet, not the ability).

SO SAY WE ALL!

 

– Fikkle

Some More Recent Hunter <3

So a while back I did a post about some good ole Hunter <3.  Well earlier I came across a link to my blog and went and checked it out. 

Aurik, over at /hug has apparently found a name I suggested for Bre for her cat.  Bre decided to go with something else, so the name was just sitting there, waiting to be ninja’d pickpocketed by a rogue-at-heart kinda player. ;)  So Aurik grabbed it up.  Drop on over and say hello to Monsoon!

Glad you liked the name!  Make sure all of your enemies enjoy the *ahem* Crapstorm *ahem*! :D

 

Much Hunter <3

We Need Help! Having Fun with Naming!

EDIT: So Sy really liked the idea of the contest and he wants to give something away.  So it looks like the prize is going to be a 60-card pack of the WoW TCG for naming the Arena Team.  He can provide more details a bit later.  I also deleted his comment because, and I’m quoting myself here, ‘NO SYLUS, YOU CANNOT SUGGEST NAMES AND WIN YOUR OWN CONTEST.’  So people, tell your friends and suggest away.

Sadly there is no prize for winning the naming my boar contest, except of course for my eternal gratitude and my soul or cake.  You’re choice, but you’re only allowed one. 

Note: The cake is a lie and I have no soul to speak of.

EDIT #2: Okay, all three of us decided we really liked <Serenity Now> so we’re going to change the contest to a 2v2 name, which doesn’t change much as the three of us will all likely be on the team as well.  Sy and Nim, let the people name it!

PART 1

Okay, so my 62 Hunter, Grimshott, has recently tamed a new Boar.  I can’t for the life of me think of a name for him.

Quick History Lesson: Grimshott is on an RP server, and I plan to RP with him.  I essentially have a backstory written and ready to be posted, but it makes no sense if I can’t have a name for the Boar.  Obviously it will be hard to suggest an RP name for the Boar without knowing a little about the character.  Hmmmm, that’s one of these.  Well, sort of I guess.  Now that I think about it, I’ve never read that novel and it sounds good.  Hmmmm, Note to Self for later: Visit site on interwebz that sells leet books.

I’ve also asked Mania for help.  I sent her an 2 emails (forgot a screenshot the first time) asking for her and her readers’ help in finding a name.  Mania is probably very busy though and I understand it might take her some time to be able to get it on her site.  So, in the meantime, I’m asking for your help.  Yes you.  No, don’t look over your shoulder, I am pointing right at you.  Through the internets.  What, you can’t see it?  Okay, back on track.  So here’s a picture of Grimshott in his full on Outlands Clown suit, with his as-of-yet unnamed Boar.

Okay, in addition to that, here’s a teaser for the as-of-yet unpublished story that will give you insight into how he tamed the Boar.

Setting: Durotar, some canyon or somesuch.

Situation: Grim is out exploring and hears a Boar squealing.  Comes upon the scene.

Scene: The Boar is cornered by 3 raptors, bleeding gashes on its sides.  Grim saves the boar and brings it home where he nurses it back to health.

 

Okay, cliché? Maybe.  I don’t care, its what I’m going with.  As for the name, I don’t care if it is male or female sounding, I’ll adjust the story accordingly.  I’d like it to be Orc-ish sounding as it would be Grim naming it.  I’d rather it not be too difficult to spell or too long as I’ll probably be blogging a lot about it and I’m a bit lazy.

 

PART 2

Okay, so the second part of this is that we need a name for a 3v3 2v2 Arena team for myself (Frost Mage), Sy (BM Hunter) and Nim (MS Warrior). Funny/silly names are acceptable.

Suggest away!

Much Hunter <3!

Okay, so the other day, I was reading Great Green Hunter, specifically this post, and that led me to another site, Can I Have Your Stuff, (which I agree is an awesome name, all win) with a post about Why People Hate Hunters.  I have to say I totally agree with the reasons given in the post.  Most people do hate (other) hunters for many of the reasons on the list.  So, I decided to spread the Hunter <3 by making a list of my own: Why (I think) People Love (to play) Hunters.  Ready?

1. Hunters (when played properly) can save a group from wiping.  Healer get aggro from a new add?  Send your pet, turn on growl, hit intimidation + beastial wrath, maybe a pet mend if needed.  The mob is sure as heck not going to be hitting the healer after that.  Tank just drop, same thing, use your pet as an offtank and pray that the healer realizes he needs to now keep the pet alive.  You an engineer with a spiffy trinket?  FD and rez a healer (I know it doesn’t always work, but when it does, you just love it!)

2. Hunters get to have pets and name them too!  Thats almost like having something…. and getting something else too… hmmm. Anyways, how awesome is that.  I’ll bet the majority of hunters are pet lovers anyways (I know I am) and getting to have a pet that doesn’t poop on the rug, bark at the neighbours or fart on you while you’re trying to watch tv is just all win! CAKE!

3. Hunter CC is one of the most versatile CC’s in the game.  It is effective on just about every type of mob in the game, if spec’d and/or used properly it can reapplied for a very long time, and if done properly will give you a great sense of satisfaction that you pulled off something that isn’t easy to master!

4. Feign Death saves on repair bills.  Hey, I realize that other classes may not like that you have this ability, and that they’re praying it gets resisted, but rogues have vanish, mages can go invisible (for a time) and if you have it and you don’t have to pay another couple of gold afterwards, why not? Right?

5. MQoSRDPS.  (For that one guy out there who doesn’t read BRK, first, shame on you, second that is a Hunter’s bread and butter: Massive Quantities of Sustained Ranged DPS!)  If you need an example, you can go check out his and hers Laser Chickens who decided to roll with a couple hunters and were able to 2-man (or 2-person?) WC and SFK.  First off, grats on all the happiness, secondly, holy crap, nice job with the hunters!

6. Hunters can wear any non-plate armor and use any non-mace or wand weapon in the game!  That gives us quite a bit of options to tweak our specs to optimize our MQoSRDPS.

Next: More Hunter <3

On top of the ones I already mentioned I read a couple other Hunter Blogs on a daily basis (well I check them daily, and read them when they’re updated).  These include Big Red Kitty, Gun Lovin’ Dwarf Chick and Mania’s Arcania.

Great Green Hunter, we have to say thank you as you are one of the first to add us to your blogroll.  It made us smile and now we read your site every day and it still makes us smile! Much Hunter <3!

A few days after a started, a week maybe, I’m not sure exactly, but BRK gave us some huge link-love on this post.  I’ll come back to this in a minute.

Today I got caught up on reading GLDC and saw this post.  Bre talks about how amazed she was when she got linked by somebody she read and looked up to.  Going back up a few lines, me and Sy know totally how you feel.  We have some serious respect for the BRK, read him religiously and credit him for making a fun class a ba-gazillion times more fun by learning how to play it better!  Much Hunter <3!

And Bre, I love reading everything you write.  And I agree with Suzanne, since this is roleplaying.  Keep writing and we’ll keep reading!  Much Hunter <3!

Lastly, but most definately not least, on to Mania.  If you don’t know, Mania manages another site aside from her blog called Petopia.  Personally, that name is perfect since if you need to know anything about hunter pets, there abilities or, well ANYTHING, Petopia is the place to go.  And Mania puts a lot of time and effort into maintaining the accuracy of Petopia throughout a changing world (of warcraft).  No matter how much we say thank you, its not enuogh, but we should keep trying.  Thank you Mania, we love Petopia.  Much Hunter <3!

Oh How Sweet It Is

So I found Bob last night.  He’d flew off to some far away place where all the people have crazy hair cuts and live in a big tree.  I mean, I know tree houses were cool, when I was six, but these guys must have never grown up.  Here’s Gorg with Bob:

Anyways, Sy came with me and we both decided to make a day of it.  The run up to Auberdine was fairly uneventful.  There was only one Alliance character that spotted us in all of Ashenvale and Darkshore (up to Auberdine) and he didn’t really seem all that interested in attacking us.  Funny thing is, as soon as he saw us, he mashed the stealthed button.  We figured he was gonna attack, until he didn’t.  We kept on running and he never caught up.  He probably saw two Hordies and figured ‘O crap!’ so he stealthed and hid before he saw our levels.  Fine with me.

Auberdine wasn’t actually as bad as I remember it, I mean, aside from all the crazy Elves.  But the corpse run was worth it because before long, we’d reached the portal into Darnassus and were able to Spirit Res at the Spirit Guide out in the middle of Teldrassil.  From there it was a minor inconvenience to run from there to where the Strigid Hunters are at, tame a couple, and Hearthstone home.  His a shot of us on the boat to Teldrassil:

 So I forgot to take a screenshot of it last night.  But I’ll take one at lunch and have it up before the end of the day.  Sy still isn’t sure what to name his.  I think Bob is pretty solid for me, and I’m happy with it.  I was thinking about maybe trying to get a Ravager as well.  I know I can really only keep two pets or I won’t be able to tame stuff.  I could always let Steve run around Durotar again.  I mean, it wasn’t all that hard to get him back this time.  Damn!  We agree with BRK.  We demand more room at the Stable!

Thats about it for Gorg for now.  I’ll probably be going back to Anteaus for the rest of the week(end) to try and get him a few more levels.  If I really push it, I could have his flight form by Sunday night.  Well that’ll be the goal anyways.  Starting off Thursday morning, Ant is about 1/3rd of the way through 64.  Updates to follow.