Party Strategy Guide

[kandrathe]

I do agree that hunters can be very effective group members and don't get enough respect.
...
[right][snapback]84756[/snapback][/right]

Some don't earn it, and a few rubes cause the class to be viewed with suspicion. In line with what you and Brista were discussing, it's been my experience that most healers will not heal or buff pets. Which makes keeping them alive even harder as Blizzard has stripped them of any innate resistances, and we have no way to give them any which is why we love druids and their "... of the wild" buffs. Our mend pet skill is woefully weak (channel 245 hp for 5 sec (1225 total) (option +10% with two talents in the >15 beast talent tree *not worth it dept*) for the mana investment (480). Compare mend pet to a priests Renew 810 hp/15 sec instant cast for 365 mana, or a druids rejuventation 756 / 12 sec instant cast for 335 mana. I use mend pet as a last gasp when I have to keep my pet alive, knowing that I'm sacrificing most if not all my mana (special skills including FD) to drop a target that has a shred of life remaining.

In instances, we keep pets in passive mode with auto cower to keep them from stealing aggro until we want them to try to grab aggro. I've been on some quickie raids and groups that try to bypass mobs, which is extra dicey for a class with a pet, as the pets pathing is entirely AI (read unpredictable).

The third challenge that Hunters have is that our effectiveness in dealing damage is affected by armor, where the other ranged dps classes aren't. Against some instances (with lots of plate wearers) we look pretty weak due to DR of our main damage type (physical). If the tank does a number of sunders it can help our dmg output, however most tanks only do enough sunders to hold aggro.

And finally, our attack choices become more restricted in instances. Aimed shot can only be used once it is clear that the tank has aggro locked, multi shot and volley usually cannot be used due to CC issues. Leaving autoshot, Arcane (+183 dmg 1/6 sec), concussive (1/12sec base dmg) and stings (also base dmg). I'm sure the other dps classes also feel this restriction on some of their skills, however I feel as a hunter I'm pretty restricted most of the time. I tend to open with a sting, sic my pet on the target, then use autoshot while the tank builds aggro, than add Arcane shot, and finally pump in Aimed shots when I can until the target is dead. Switch targets to the one that the tank has aggro locked on, rinse repeat.

Having damage meters helps me to measure just what my hunters contribution is, and in a 20 person raid my contribution is in the 5% to 8% of damage, with the bulk of it usually going to mages. In a 5 person group my contribution is usually in the top 2, losing to mages, warlocks, and rogues depending on the effectiveness of the toons, and the type of instance. I view it as somewhat irrelevant if the teams goals are achieved, but it is worthwhile to compare rogue, mage, warlock, and hunter as their primary purpose is dps.

Additionally;

Pets are one of the most dangerous things to being into a dungeon because of aggro. Not only do they have a tendency to run off and aggro large numbers of mobs, but they can also build threat on the wrong mobs and really make it much harder for the group to control aggro.

I have to take exception to this. Pets are not the problem, it is the Hunter, and they are an obvious scapegoat to other party problems. Sometimes using /assist, the designated MA is briefly looking at the wrong target, and since I've already set the pet to attack it takes additional effort to recall and retarget before the pet draws aggro. And, managing an additional character takes extra effort with a poor set of AI tools (attack everything, attack whatever hits me, and do nothing), so there are many opportunities for error. When traversing terrain, dismissing the pet is the safest and I tend to do that more now that I'm lvl 60. Using EoTB, needs to be done in conjunction with "Stay". I tend to have the pet jump down first, then "Stay", drop EoTB, then jump down myself, and return it to "Follow" mode. If you forget to use "Stay" the pet will try to run back to you and undo that marvelous EoTB work.