Helping hunters kill bosses one arrow at a time!

Sorry it’s been so long between posts, working retail is not condusive to raiding and blogging during the holiday season. Things are mellowing out now, so posts should be weekly once again, my apologies for running so far behind!

How to PuG!

I’ve run many cross-server instances on this point, mostly running with pugs on my alts. I’ve seen alot of interesting things hunters are doing out there, some of them good, some of them very bad, (melee hunter!). So I figured I’d write up a simple guide to making randoms a breeze!

Misdirect is Your Friend

When you hit the LFG system you run the risk of getting an under geared tank, or perhaps someone who is just learning, and despite their best efforts they just cannot hold aggro, thankfully we have a wonderful tool at our disposal to aid them: Misdirect. Misdirect will make your repair bill cheaper, and your healer will rejoice that you are not in-fact tanking things yourself.

Since they changed Misdirect in 3.3 it works alot better now, instead of only having three shots to help your tank with aggro you now have 4 seconds worth of attacks. So be sure to throw it on the tank as much as possible, but especially for boss fights.

If you are new to this spell it works like this:

1) Select the party member you want to receive your aggro

2) Hit the Misdirect Button, you have thirty seconds until it wears off

3) When you begin to shoot you will see the misdirect symbol now pops up over your head.

4) Pump as much aggro as you can into the next four seconds when you begin shooting, pop trinkets and cooldowns.

Oh Dear I still Have Aggro!

You misdirect but you see yourself climbing up the threat meter, it’s time to Feign Death! This is a temperamental spell to begin with, prone to being resisted at the worst possible times, but it is absolutely fabulous when it works, completely dropping all your threat.

In a nutshell you throw yourself on the ground and pretend to be dead.

That alone is a great reason to play a hunter, no other class gets to be classy like that, Paladins get Bubbles, Mages get Iceblock- we get to throw ourselves on the ground like a five year old.

My suggestions for the use of this spell:

1) Don’t wait until the last minute! There’s always the chance it will be resisted.

2) Using it and Misdirecting when you stand back up should solve most of your aggro issues.

3) If you are an engineer and have jumper cables it’s a quite handy tool to use in the event of a wipe,  rezzing the healer can save alot of frustrationin a pug.

4) If you accidentally pull a pat, and the rest of your group is not in combat, Feign Death and wait for them to pat away instead of running to your group and possibly causing a wipe.

A warning though, if your group does enter combat, your best bet is to quickly misdirect the mobs to the tank, and skip Feign Death, as that cold aggro them onto the healer.

WTF!? HOW DID THE BOSS GET PULLED?!

One of the bigger complaints I’m hearing from people is the lack of hunter pet management, or the lack of any pet at all. While I’ve covered what pets you should be bringing into heroics, I have not covered proper pet control.

You Rolled a Pet Class

You should always have a pet in any dps situation.  There is never any reason for a hunter to run without a pet! It’s always a dps loss, as your pet can do 10-13% of your dps, (much more than that if you are BM),  and some even provide you with buffs. No matter what spec you may be you should always have your loyal companion by your side.

Let the Tank Pull, Not Fluffy.

Upon entering a heroic your pet should be set on Passive, you never know what you’ll be walking into.  If you are quick with the passive button Defensive is acceptable,  but Aggressive is never ok! Also make sure that growl is turned off, so that your tank is not fighting with your  pet for aggro.

Fluffy Doesn’t Jump

Pets are not like us, they won’t jump from most ledges, they will instead choose to run around the long way, pulling any mob in their path. Be sure to dismiss your pet before jumping off of any ledge, (this spell is found in the Beat Mastery section of your spell book), calling it back when you jump down.

Be Nice to Your Fellow Puggers

Pugs can be rough, they don’t always go well, but you can also meet alot of great people and learn a few things along the way! I hope my guide has helped you make your pugs a better place.

Remember that in heroics people are still learning  try to make it a good experience for everyone involved!