Hunter - Pet Stats?

[Alrin]

Ok, with all the negative crap going on with hunters I'm going to add something here which might make its way into a guide somewhere someday.

I'm going to add some observations from the tricks and mistakes learned with my own Hunter, and seeing some of the same lessons learned by other hunters.

Hunters are great pullers, if you do it right.  How I see it done wrong is that the pet is set on defensive mode, the hunter shoots a mob, the mob charges or shoots back.  Here's where we get into trouble.  If the mob shoots back the hunter gets damaged and the pet defends running to the stationary mob and aggroing any beasts in the area to the pet.  If you have a good priest who is watching the pet and can keep it alive, perhaps the group will survive.  Now at this point the group will see an army of mobs pouncing on the pet and rush to defend each hitting a different mob.  :( 

How I've seen it work well;  The pet is kept on passive all the time when grouped.  Defensive works great when you are soloing, and so it becomes second nature for the hunter to have his little tank pull aggro off the hunter when he is attacked.  The hunter uses ranged to hit a mob, but unless he can do massive damage via aimed shot, ia less aggro intensive shot would make is easier for the tank to pull aggro off the hunter.  So the hunter should use (IMHO) one shot of Scorpid or Viper sting to pull the mob, then immediately switch weapons until the tank has acquired the aggro on the mob.  Some people would argue for concussive shot, but you are trying to pull so keeping the mob dazed or stunned for a few seconds does nothing and draws more aggro onto the hunter.  Using traps helps, and the party should notice where the trap is set and help to pull the mob onto the trap. 

Ok, that works when you have a warrior or other tank, but when the pet is the main tank, what to do?  For a melee mob, the hunter presses ctrl-2 (Attack!) once the mob closes on the group.  What about the ranged attackers?  The hunter presses ctrl-3 (Stay!) to keep his pet with the group, then pulls the mob forward onto the group by backing up until the ranged attacking mob is forward enough, then press ctrl-2 (Attack!) and have the pet get aggro the mob.  I can't stress how important it is to keep your pet trained in it's highest Growl and Claw (lesser so Bite).

In all cases the smarter the party is in understanding how aggro is shifting the better.  This is one reason the standard vanilla group consists of a warrior gun pulling, with a priest healing the warrior.  It's the simplest group aggro management formulation and results in a formulaic monotony of shoot, pound, heal.  In fact, in recent instance runs I've been on (as Warrior, and Priest), the party finds the most enjoyable times are when a snarl occurs and the entire party's special talents are all called upon to save the day.

Without UI mods, it is very difficult for priests to monitor or select the pet for healing, but the priest should be flexible to know that healing will transfer from the hunter (who is aggroed initially), to the designated tank.

Another role of a hunter in a party is to gather intelligence and report back to the party.  Some classes can be sneaky and poke around the edges, but the hunter's tracking abilites should be giving the party the best constant stream of what lies in the dungeon around the next corner.  Hunters mark, valuable in and of itself for the hunter, is a great party communication tool.  It can indicate which mob will be pulled for the party, and mages will be ready to "sheep" any non-designated aggro'd mobs.

I was excited when I first learned "Feign Death" and thought about how to fit this into the mix of hunting skills, but in practice it is of dubious use, similiar to how my priest felt about "Mind Soothe".  Great idea on paper, but Mobs resist it often enough with unpleasant results.

A note on Eyes of the Beast;  Yesterday I ran through WC as a priest on Terenas in a party with two hunters, a druid and another priest.  Using the pets as the tank worked very well, other than the frustration of trying to acquire them for healing.  One thing that as a level 30 hunter I had never done, which was required in WC, is to jump across chasms.  A note I made to myself was to practice with my hunter EOTB controlling the pet over hazards, like jumping across chasms.

Anyway, hope this helps new hunters.  I would suggest practicing solo the various methods of pulling using the pets, attack, ranged, or even eyes of the beast.  If you can, also party with even one other potential tank type to practice aggro transfer to the tank. 

I am hopeful that Hunters as a class are now getting some attention from Blizzard, and we will be getting some improvements that will make us more attractive to aiding in party play.

Oh, and always remember the Hunter's Creed.  If you see a gnome in another party you are required to say, "Oh what a cute pet! Where can I get one?"
[right][snapback]71389[/snapback][/right]

I hate to be a nitpicker but Attack! is Ctrl+1 and Come! is +2 and Stay is +3 :D
Ofcourse, you could just rebind them. :rolleyes:

<ducks and covers behind his black panther>