Hunter Vs. Priest

[Mirajj]

I recently capped my priest. Along with that came an Eye of Divinity. About a week later, I now have Benediction. I also have a hunter with Rhok'Delar. I have gone through the debate about which epic quest is "harder". In my opinion...they are pretty equal. Let's start off under that assumption that the person doing these quests has a guild at their backs, and hasn't "bought" their way in grab a leaf/eye.

First, the starting drop. It's a 50/50 shot out of Majordomo's chest. Either the RNG loves you, or it doesn't. No way around this one. Tie.

Second, acquiring the extra 'bit'. For hunters, this is a Black Sinew off Onyxia. It's safe to assume that a guild deep enough into MC to get a Leaf in the first place is killing Onyxia on a somewhat regular basis. It's one of Ony's %based drops, with the % increased recently. It only drops off her.

For priests, this is the Eye of Shadow. Which drops in a place that even the best of priests CAN NOT solo it. It also drops off Kazzak, a world boss on a random timer (requiring aforementioned guild). In the very least, a priest and a friend can likely duo this, but it'll be slow. It gets faster the more friends you add. Recently, the drop % here increased. Thank god.

Due to the utter unsoloability of this part for priests, in addition to getting at least one helper or more out to a remote world location, priests get the win on this part. To put an item so temptingly close, and yet make it unsoloable, Blizzard wins "Devil" points.

Third, acquiring the quest 'bit'. For hunters, this means a trip around the world. You have to fight 4 demons solo. Two of those demons are in high traffic areas (Silithus and Burning Steppes) while two are a bit more out of the way (Un'Goro and Winterspring). These demons are easily despawned by accident or intent, and are on 3 hour timers.

For priests, they have a quest in an out of the way corner of a semi-popular zone. Their quest is easier to grief, but harder to find, and the mob is on a 2 hour timer. I will note that it's easier to grief this quest, as simple movement in the quest zone during an activated quest will do it. No other action required.

Hunters have it harder here.

Fourth, actually DOING the quest(s). For hunters, this is 4 seperate fights, testing several skills, applying different skills to each mob. (Simone = Melee, Klinfran = Run'N'Gun, Solenar = Stand and Deliver, Artorius = Kite). Each demon has a 'trick' to them, and when you emerge victorious with the 4 heads, you'll be a much better hunter than when you started the quest.

For priests, you have to save 50 peasants before 15 die. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Unkillable archers peppering your peasants, disease plaguing them, and melee skellies chewing them up. The priest runs around like a chicken with their head cut off, healing, de-diseasing, and beating up the melee skellies. While the peasants mindlessly walk along their route, or even worse, stop to fight the skellies themselves.

This is where the hard call comes. Personally, I only found one of the hunter fights "hard". That was because I'm not a very strong hunter when it comes to kiting a mob. But the times I was doing the priest quest were INTENSE. I felt every second pass by. A real heart-thumper here.

I'm going to call this a tie.

Here is where the priest quest finishes. You combine the two Eyes, and the Splinter won from your quest, and bam, you have an amazing multi purpose staff that will suit you well for a good long time to come.

The hunter line soldiers on with an optional quest. You can turn in the heads and the Black Sinew to get a stunning bow that'll last you a long, long time in the game (IMHO, it's only replacement is currently in Naxx) and be done with it, or you can continue along and dig up a Blue Dragon Sinew. This is a 100% gauranteed drop off the world boss Azuregos, or a very very slim chance drop off the blue dragonkin in front of Haleh's cave in Winterspring. The reward for the Blue Sinew is the best quiver currently in the game. An 18 slot, +15% attack speed quiver. It's even better than the AV rep/PvP one, by 2 slots.

I killed dragonkin (they are soloable by a hunter, but it goes faster with a group) for 41 hours without seeing the drop. I bought mine on the AH. Later, I go back and use the dragonkin to keep my 'edge' on. They are good grind/farm mobs. A Blue Sinew did eventually drop for me, about 3 months after I'd finished the quest. I also know a hunter who got his in 45 minutes. RNG love, for sure here.

So the hunter quest wins for 'bonus items'.

So there you have it...as I can see it, IMHO, it's a 'tie' for the epic quests. Both are very challenging, both give great, useful rewards, and both are very fun and stimulating to do.

[Sword_of_Doom]

That was a very nice write up. I have only done the Priest epic and i would have to agree your heart is pumping and its agonizingly slow as you try to keep up the wave of diseased peasants. Its probably the most fun solo quest i have done. I always imagined the Hunter epic would be more difficult because there seems to be a lot more to do. Interesting that you would rate them a "tie". A question i have is when you completed your Hunter quest with Mirajj were you epiced out? Also, was there a major gear difference between Daenary and Mirajj? I am guessing that gear is going to make a difference in either of these encounters. I know in my guild, new Hunters struggle with the Hunter quest until they get some decent gear.

[Mirajj]

A question i have is when you completed your Hunter quest with Mirajj were you epiced out? Also, was there a major gear difference between Daenary and Mirajj?

Well, looking back over the ARP history for Avarice, I find that before Mirajj won the leaf, she'd won the GS boots and belt as well as Striker's Mark. I didn't start using GS until I had 5 pcs of it, so I was most likely in the DM "crit set" with Striker's when I was doing the hunter quests.

Daenary hit MC when she was 59. On that very first run, she ended up with the Eye and the Boots of Prophecy. When I hit 60, I equipped both.;)She had (at that time) a mooncloth robe and mooncloth hat. She's in some decent blues, with a smattering of greens (Cloak, and Silithus gloves). So I'd say they were pretty simliarily geared, though I'd probably have to give the gear edge there to Mirajj.

The reason I felt that actually doing the two quest bits were a tie was that while there are 4 of them for the hunter, when you figure the trick out to the fight, it's not really that hard. I tried each encounter myself, the first time to see how it went. I killed Simone on the second try, Klinfran and Solenar on the third (they were both grief-despawned on me the second) and Artorious drove me nuts. I had to challenge him 13 times before taking his head off his shoulders. The priest quest is intense 'gogogo' as soon as that first wave pops. If I had to pick one of the other, I'd say the priests have it a bit easier, due to the mob repopping faster (and not despawning on success, unlike the hunter mobs which are gone, success or failure) and it being more out of the way, and thus not as easy to find to grief.

[MongoJerry]

For priests, they have a quest in an out of the way corner of a semi-popular zone. Their quest is easier to grief, but harder to find, and the mob is on a 2 hour timer. I will note that it's easier to grief this quest, as simple movement in the quest zone during an activated quest will do it. No other action required.

On Tichondrius, there's nothing that some people like more than griefing people, and I can tell you, the hunters have it much worse. They have to kill four demons, and all it takes to despawn a demon is to hit the demon once. For a while, there were a couple of guys who knew exactly the hunter demon timers and would log on their griefing characters at exactly the right times to despawn them again. With the priest quest, I'm not sure what you mean by saying that a "simple movement in the quest zone during an activated quest" will break the event. When I did my quest, I had two people in the area watching the whole thing. One of them stood above the tunnel and even got shot by the invisible to him archers.

I'd definitely say the hunters have it easier getting their pieces but have it harder with their outdoor quests. The Eye of Shadow requirement for the priests is a pain, but while the priest outdoor quest is fun and pulsepounding, we definitely have it easier than the hunters have it.

[Mirajj]

On Tichondrius, there's nothing that some people like more than griefing people,

We have jerks like this on SR, too. Thankfully, griefing is a reportable offence (though on a PvP server I'm given to understand that you are told to find a "pvp solution" GG there, Blizz...) most of the time.

They have to kill four demons, and all it takes to despawn a demon is to hit the demon once. (Snip) With the priest quest, I'm not sure what you mean by saying that a "simple movement in the quest zone during an activated quest" will break the event. When I did my quest, I had two people in the area watching the whole thing. One of them stood above the tunnel and even got shot by the invisible to him archers.

Let me clarify. For hunters, a single attack, buff or heal to the hunter or demon will despawn it on you. But it has to be one of those. You have to do something to get on the demon's aggro list to despawn it. If someone is standing in the middle of the road when someone else is kiting Artorius down the road, the demon will run right through the person in the road, with no consequence. However, those friends who were standing there watching you work your mojo? If they'd moved so much as one step, that movement would have triggered The Cleaner to come. You can have the place stuffed with "friend totems', but a single step, intentional or otherwise, will spring the Cleaner. From when the quest is activated until it's completed, any movement in that area that is not by the priest doing the quest themselve will bring the Cleaner about. It's much easier to grief, just by dint of that. I'd wager that many a priests quest has been 'griefed' by a friend riding up a minute late to watch.

That is actually one of the ways to 'ease' the priest quest. Have someone stand at the mouth-ish area of the cave, with a fistful of Immo's. The melee skellies will spawn and go right for that person, ignoring the peasants. You've just removed the holy nova aspect of this quest that way. The damage soak doesn't even have to see the skellies, they'll hit that person regardless. As long as they don't move (Oil of Immo) it doesn't count. Make it someone who can heal (Another priest, a pally, or a shammy) and as long as they don't move or heal the person doing the quest (no Holy Nova for the damage soak/Skelly distracter) then it still counts.

Where I can see it getting a bit mixed up is the "Fools Peril" AoE the hunter demons have. They do this to anyone who gets into melee aggro range if they are "challenged", but not engaged in combat. It's a 6-8000 AoE. But that's only if the demon is standing idle, unengaged. If the demon is engaged, and you do nothing to get onto it's aggrolist, you can /dance circles around if it you are quick enough.

[Watto44]

On Tichondrius, there's nothing that some people like more than griefing people, and I can tell you, the hunters have it much worse.

I have to agree with you there. Even on Stormscale, which is fairly carebear (that's the non-derogatory use of carebear by the way) as far as PvP servers go, hunters pretty much have to take some friends with them to keep opposite faction griefers at bay. (Playing a blocker is actually some pretty interesting PvP for those that are interested.) I've yet to hear from a single priest who got griefed on their quest, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a hunter that wasn't.

Good write-up though Mirajj. One day, when I grow up big and strong, I'll get to do one of these epic quests! (I've been a part of many a skyfury run, but that doesn't seem anywhere near as fun as the hunter and priest ones.)