Every Friday Tabana brings you the latest discussions straight from the Elitist Jerks forums with a recap of what was discussed and links to the full posts so you can stay on top of the latest in hunter theorycrafting.
- Marksmanship
- MM: Shot Cycles
- MM: 4.3 Shot Cycles
- Best way to play MM in T13 11/22/11
- MM: User Interface
- Mod for Tracking Cast Time? 11/22/11
- Mists of Pandaria: All Specs
- MoP: Talents
- Rivkah’s (Zeherah’s) Hunter DPS Analyzer at FemaleDwarf
- FD: Updates
- FD Updates: Patch 4.3
Best way to play MM in T13 11/22/11
In the Marksmanship thread, exkael asked if hardcasting Aimed Shot (AI) with some Arcane Shots (AS) to trigger the Tier 13 four-piece bonus would be the best way to play Marksmanship in Patch 4.3.
Whitefyst replied, “The best way to play MM in T13 will not change much from now beyond figuring out how best to utilize the T13 4P bonus.”
With a reported 105s ICD [internal cooldown] on it, I do not think that the T13 4P will be too impactive since we will only need to worry about it every approximately 2 mins. I say 2 mins since we ideally probably want to time it around times when we have other non-haste procs available.
The current “best” way to play MM [Marksmanship] now depends on the fight and your preferences.
- For a mostly standstill fight with few to no cast interruption possibilities, then a AI hardcast build with casting AI when sufficiently hasted is usually best. Haste and crit are the best secondary stats in this case.
- For a fight with a lot of movement or interruption possibilities or significant periods of AoE, then you still want to cast AI when on single targets, sufficiently hasted, and not in threat of interruption/movement but be casting AS as the focus dump otherwise on single targets and MS [Multishot] on multiple targets. In this case, crit and mastery are the best secondary stats after getting sufficient haste for a desired tight CS [Chimera Shot] cycle with AS as the focus dump.
Mod for Tracking Cast Time? 11/22/11
In the Marksmanship thread, Dreambeard asked, “Is there a way to track the cast time of Aimed Shot by e.g. setting up some Power Aura’s? If we are indeed better off casting Aimed Shot when our casting time is below 1.8 sec, it’d be a great help if an aura or warning of some kind would tell me.”
Nerec replied, “You can’t control casttime itself, as far as I know, but you could make auras for haste buffs which indicate that your casttime has been lowered.”
Whitefyst added, “As Nerec stated, I am not aware of any mod that tracks the cast times of our shots, although it is possible one exists. However, I do use Power Auras (other similar mods can work just as well) to help me realize when my AI cast time is sufficiently low.”
I have Power Auras show [...] when important dynamic buffs are present on me or dynamic debuffs on the target and how long is left on the buff/debuff. Items I monitor include RF [Rapid Fire], BL [Bloodlust] , SrS [Serpent Sting], ISS [Improved Steady Shot], trinket procs, Potion of the Tol’vir, Blood Fury (I am an orc), and other similar items. Once I get the T134P, I will include the haste buff from it as well. [...]
Landais suggested a new addon: MosphetCookies – WoW AddOns – WowAce. The author is currently looking for testers: LF Testers for Hunter Addon.
Alpha version but it looks very promising.
Baldeagle added, “I use Quartz addon to track the cast time of my shots, and when the proper amount of haste procs from trinkets, etc., my cast bar tells me exactly how long my Aimed Shot takes, making it very easy to know when to switch.” [...]
Changes in Talents and Abilities in MoP 11/23/11
In the Mists of Pandaria thread, Mericet wrote, “With the official talent calculator out we can see what abilities are now granted as spec passives as you level up.”
Also worth noting is as of yet Kill Command isn’t listed as a spec ability for BM but that’s probably an oversight. [...] Here’s a quick list of talents I’ve noticed are missing from the spec list:
Marksmanship:
- Efficiency (and baseline focus cost for Chimera/Arcane Shot is listed as 50/25, so it hasn’t just been integrated)
- Go for the Throat and Sic ‘em
- Improved Steady Shot (very surprised here, this was a defining feature of MM)
- Piercing Shots
- Rapid Killing and Rapid Recuperation
- Posthaste (the talent does not include the Rapid Fire cooldown reduction, so it seems MM will have a 5 minute Rapid Fire)
- Termination
- Resistance is Futile
Beast Mastery:
- One with Nature
- Improved Kill Command
- Bestial Discipline
- Pathfinding
- Improved Mend Pet
- Longevity
- Killing Streak
- Ferocious Inspiration (this seems like a mistake, or maybe it’s granted for choosing the spec at level 10 but isn’t listed?)
Survival:
- Imp Serpent Sting
- Hunter vs. Wild
- Pathing
- Survival Tactics
- Point of No Escape
- Counterattack
- Mirrored Blades
- Resourcefulness
- Toxicology
- Noxious Stings
- Sniper Training
As far as I can tell, the only thing we gained is Focused Aim for all specs (pushback reduction on Steady/Cobra Shot), and otherwise nothing is particularly different about any of the things we did keep. [...]
Lilbitters also noted changes apparent in the new talent calculators: “[The] newly released Mists of Pandaria Talent Calculator not only has the previously known talent selections, but also the base class and spec talents learned while leveling.”
Obviously, it’s not finished so take it with a grain of salt, but still I noticed a few things missing. For example, all hunter specializations no longer mention the passive buffs of Animal Handler, Artisan Quiver, or Into the Wild. [...]
Hunter Base Class:
- Removed from Game
- Dual Wield [...]
- Raptor Strike
- Parry
- Disengage (Note: Definitely an omission error since it is mentioned in talent choices)
- Widow Venom
- Aspect of the Wild
- New Additions to Talent Choices
- Frozen Arrows
- Arcane Arrows
- Venom Tipped Arrows
- Evasiveness
- Exhilaration
- Aspect of the Iron Hawk
- Flash Freeze
- Black Ice
- Transmorph Trap
- New additions to Base Skill
- Focused Aim
Beast Mastery Specialization:
- Removed from Game
- Animal Handler
- [Others listed are the same as in Mericet's list, see above]
- Moved to Talent Choices
- Intimidation
- Spirit Bond (Note: Now doubled periodic healing effect, but no longer gives 10% increased healing received)
- Fervor
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Chimera (Note: Same as having 2/2 currently)
- Remains in Specialization
- Frenzy (Note: Same as having 3/3 currently)
- Cobra Strikes (Note: Same as having 3/3 currently)
- Focus Fire
- Bestial Wrath
- Kindred Spirits (Note: Same as having 2/2 currently)
- The Beast Within
- Invigoration (Note: Same as having 2/2 currently)
- Beast Mastery
- Mastery: Master of Beasts
Read Lilbitter’s full post for a list of changes regarding Marksmanship and Survival specs.
Frchorknabe remarked, “Given that Blizzard stated that hunters would be restricted to wielding ranged weapons only (in exchange of getting rid of the dead zone), the removal of Dual Wield and other melee-related skills seems logical and not an omission. Also applies to Wing Clip which wasn’t listed so far.”
Nooska replied, “As for [the removal of melee skills], it is, by what we have been told, absolutely logical, and not an oversight or omission. Remember, when 5.x hits we will lose the ability to equip a melee weapon, thus Dual Wielding, Raptor Strike and Parry go the way of the dodo, since they would require the use of a melee weapon.”
As to the rest, what I’m mainly seeing are positive removals – the more “Buffs you X by Y” that are in, the harder it is to balance the effects of X across all three specs. I am fairly certain that the straght damage, agility or AP boosts will stay out and the class will be balanced around them not being there, instead of balancing around 10 agility on an item in reality is 11.22 agility for SV (translating to 25.91 AP with raid buffs), and 10 agility for BM (translating to 28.88 AP with raid and spec buffs) and just straight 10 agility for MM (23.1 AP with raid buffs) who then get a boost to their auto-attacks. The AP variance from agility is, right now, 25% from MM to BM, which is a lot when all our abilities scale off AP somehow.
Tier 13 Four-Piece Proc Internal Cooldown 11/19/11
In the Hunter DPS Analyzer thread, Rivkah announced, “Based on reports from PTR, I’ve updated the ICD on the 4pc T13 bonus to be 105 sec (still modeled with a 40% proc rate). If anyone has any contradictory information on the proc please let me know.”
A full index of all Elitist Jerks posts recapped at the Wow Hunter’s Hall is maintained in the Index of Elitist Jerks Hunter Forum Posts.
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