Too Easy?

We walked into the Dragon Soul 10man normal on our first raid night this week and knocked over the first four bosses.  The fifth didn't seem too bad, people just didn't have the UIs set up for it and we started a little late.  This has me wondering if we'll be spending most of our raid time on heroic versions of the encounters.

I got the tier shoulders and new boots.  They match my set nicely.

Checklist Checked

Update addons. Check.
Test dps'ng a target dummy. Check.
Get under but real close to 4k honor and 4k JP.  Check.
Transmorgrify.  Check.
Run the three new 5 man instances.  Check.
Rake in gold in the AH by "creating value".  Check.

Two trinkets, improved steady shot, and a rapid fire equal +153% haste.

Two trinkets, improved steady shot, and a rapid fire equal +153% haste.

I was trying to clock the individual steps of haste to see if is all multiplicative, but it was pretty late. I saw numbers go from 20% to 47% to 69% to 153%. Then I tried to reproduce it and write down the haste ratings and couldn't for over half an hour. So all this is ... is eye-candy.

I had just made the NeedToKnow addon bars I was making for the trinket procs. I don't think I can monkey around with the proc of the Matrix Restabilizer to get it to do crit (via extreme reforging) because my Hungerer trinket proc will overwhelm it. They both certainly proc easy enough at the start of a fight.

Anyway, this is probably okay since I made the bars to alert me to focus down and throw Aimed Shot after Aimed Shot after Aimed Shot...

The Hunter Transmog Gear List - Take Two

When you're working on a transmogrification set, please remember that different items often have exactly the same models.  e.g.- These days, you can have a full set that looks like T12 but doesn't have any tier gear at all.  Also keep in mind that some gear is no longer possible to obtain.  That said, some of that impossible to obtain gear (think that old super-difficult to get-at-the-time "Dungeon Set 1") is coming back in patch 4.3 as obtainable as "Replica" armor.  That's armor which is specifically for being used for transmog'ng and has no stats.  I think there's also a level requirement.

Wowhead had a great little webservices API and Javascript library. It keeps breaking, so I put together a little jQuery work-around. Mouse over the gear for a pop-up. Still grats to wowhead.com even with the broken javascript library. Here's a round-up of Hunter gear.  Click through to go to Wowhead and see the individual pieces and where they drop.

Rare and Epic Hunter Armor Sets
Chain of the Scarlet Crusade
Bloodmail Regalia
The Gladiator
Black Dragon Mail
Beaststalker Armor
Beaststalker Armor (Recolor)
Champion's Pursuance
Beastmaster Armor
Giantstalker Armor
Dragonstalker Armor
Cryptstalker Armor
Field Marshal's Pursuit
Lieutenant Commander's Pursuance
Striker's Garb
Warlord's Pursuit
Blessed Garb of the Undead Slayer
Brutal Gladiator's Pursuit
Cataclysm Raiment (Recolor)
Demon Stalker Armor
Demon Stalker Armor (Recolor)
Desolation Battlegear
Dragonstalker Armor (Recolor)
Giantstalker Armor (Recolor)
Gladiator's Pursuit
Grand Marshal's Pursuit
Gronnstalker's Armor
Gronnstalker's Armor (Recolor)
High Warlord's Pursuit
Inferno Forged Mail
Merciless Gladiator's Pursuit
Mistshroud Set
Rift Stalker Armor
Rift Stalker Armor (Recolor)
Rift Stalker Armor (Recolor)
Stalker's Chain Battlegear
Sunwell Hunter Armor
Sunwell Hunter Armor (Recolor)
Vengeful Gladiator's Pursuit
Swiftarrow Battlegear
Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Battlegear
Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Battlegear (Lookalike)
Conqueror's Scourgestalker Battlegear
Deadly Gladiator's Pursuit
Frostsworn Bone Mail
Frostsworn Bone Mail (Recolor)
Furious Gladiator's Pursuit
Hateful Gladiator's Pursuit
Heroes' Cryptstalker Battlegear
Northrend Frozen Mail
Northrend Frozen Mail (Recolor)
Northrend Frozen Mail (Recolor)
Northrend Frozen Mail (Recolor)
Relentless Gladiator's Pursuit
Sanctified Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Battlegear
Sanctified Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Battlegear
Sanctified Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Battlegear (Lookalike)
Sanctified Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Battlegear (Lookalike)
Sanctified Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Battlegear (Lookalike)
Savage Gladiator's Pursuit
Scourgestalker Battlegear (Recolor)
Scourgestalker Battlegear (Recolor)
Thrall's Battlegear (Lookalike)
Valorous Cryptstalker Battlegear
Valorous Scourgestalker Battlegear
Windrunner's Battlegear
Windrunner's Battlegear (Lookalike)
Windrunner's Pursuit
Windrunner's Pursuit (Lookalike)
Wrathful Gladiator's Pursuit
Amani Chain
Bloodthirsty Dragonscale
Flamewaker's Battlegear
Flamewaker's Battlegear
Flamewaker's Battlegear (Lookalike)
Flamewaker's Battlegear (Lookalike)
Lightning-Charged Battlegear
Lightning-Charged Battlegear
Lightning-Charged Battlegear (Lookalike)
Lightning-Charged Battlegear (Lookalike)
Ruthless Gladiator's Pursuit
Ruthless Gladiator's Pursuit
Vicious Gladiator's Pursuit
Vicious Gladiator's Pursuit
Vicious Gladiator's Pursuit


Uncommon Mail Sets

Charger's Mail Warrior's Mail Battle Chain Mail Infantry Mail Cadet Mail Veteran Mail War Torn Mail Brackwater Mail Soldier's Mail Runed Copper Set Bloodspattered Mail Raider's Mail Burnished Mail Rough Bronze Set War Paint Mail Defender Mail Outrunner's Mail Fortified Mail Grunt's Mail Lambent Scale Mail Hulking Mail Battleforge Mail Spiked Chain Mail Glimmering Mail Sentry's Mail Silvered Bronze Set Banded Mail Slayer's Mail Wicked Chain Mail Phalanx Mail Combat Mail Green Iron Set Thick Scale Mail Barbariac Iron Set Pillager's Mail Renegade Mail Emissary's Mail Enduring Mail Knight's Mail Orcascale Mail Marauder's Mail Patient Mail Chief Brigadier Mail Golden Scale Set Sparkleshell Mail Jazeraint Mail Steadfast Mail Captain's Mail Ravager's Mail Brigade Mail Ancient Mail Blackforge Mail Bonelink Mail Turtle Scale Set Champion's Mail Counterfeit Mail Khan's Mail Sweet-Tempered Mail Tough Scorpid Set Warmonger's Mail Gryphon Mail Myrmidon's Mail Angor Mail Formidable Mail

Workforce Mail Lord's Mail Protector Mail Crusader's Mail Ebonhold Mail Ironhide Mail Merciless Mail Ornate Mail Bear Oiled Chainmail Bloodlust Mail Fifth Hunter Mail Engraved Mail Heavy Scorpid Set Impenetrable Mail Radiant Set Hero's Mail Magnificent Mail Unyielding Mail Felstone Mail Mercurial Mail Netherstalker Mail Warstrike Mail Masterwork Mail Nexus-Strider Mail Triumphant Mail Wrathfin Mail Fenclaw Mail Fel Iron Chain Marshcreeper Mail Blood Knight Mail Ironspine Mail Der'izu Mail Scaled Draenic Armor Garmaul Mail Skettis Mail Warcaster's Scaled Links Njord Mail Sundered Mail Skorm Mail Talhide Mail Netherstorm Mail Orca Mail Amberpine Mail Trapper Mail Shoveltusk Mail Mammoth Mail Frostscale Binding Nerubian Hive Wolvar Mail Cormorant Mail Ulduar Mail Spiderlord Mail Bramblescar Mail Spectral Mail Hiri'watha Mail Everstill Regalia Highperch Mail Razorshell Mail The Big Wave Thornsnarl Mail Tsunami Mail Windbound Mail Talondeep Mail Frayfeather Mail

More Transmog Gear Help

The AH
So, the above sets are nice.  And sets can be nice.  But really sometimes you can substitute out one piece for a solo, non-set piece and it looks almost the same.  Or maybe you just like them better.  For instance, I kinda like the Spored Tendrils Spaulders.  It's a family of shoulders that are available in many ways.  But they don't belong to any set.  I found them super-cheap on the AH.  The AH has a great little checkbox that lets you see the item as it would look equipped.  Try it out.

Vendors
There are a surprising number of vendors out there.  When I was putting together my sets, I hit up vendors all over the place.  Some require raid drop tokens.  Some honor.  Some justice points.  I traveled to the Isle of Quel'Danas for old PvP tier and non-tier gear, to Shattrath for a cloak, and hit the legacy PvP vendors in Stormwind (I'm a dwaft dammit.)  But this is a tiny subset of the vendors still hanging out waiting to serve you.  Note: if you want to do some Honor or Justice sales and you regularly hit the 4k cap, you definitely should make your purchases before the end of the season when Valor and Conquest fall into Justice and Honor and prices reset.

Boots and Bracers
There are a very small number of boot differences out there.  If you're looking for a wild color, you may not get it if it isn't already "in a set".  Otherwise, you most likely have something that matches already.  Bracers will often not even be a factor in display.

Belts
The AH approach works especially well with belts.  Belts tend to have a lot of transparency in them so the armor itself will dominate them.  This isn't always the case, but browsing belts is an easy thing.

Cloaks
I haven't found the best source for a cloak transmog service.  But this one is close.  It still takes a lot of work. Most good cloaks are not available from the AH.  You'll need to farm or buy them for small amounts of points.

Weapons
Last but definitely not least are our weapons.  I don't think we really need to talk too much about style options here.  If you've been playing your hunter for a while, you have developed a friendship with your favorite stat sticks and ranged weapons.  If you have trouble remembering some of the guns available, you can look back on my Ole' Gun Rack Post.

Hunter 4.3 PTR Buff

For Beast-Mastery:

Focus Fire is going to last 20 seconds instead of just 15 seconds. I would guess that the CD also becomes 20 seconds. Yes, a longer buff is nice. But it says one thing to me: BM hunters were blowing it as soon as it was available and not trying to get more stacks of Frenzy. So now BMs have more time for additional Frenzy stacks to pile up. When they get a large stack they should blow other CDs to multiply the effect. So yes, this is an easy buff, but in the right hands and care it could be used as a larger buff.

I've always felt there was more to be gained there.  But I couldn't see how to squeeze it much more without adding a huge amount of complexity.  This was greatly reinforced when Kripparrian said that he just macro'd them into all his shots when he did Heroic Rag in a BM spec.  (So he just got whatever stacks he got every 15 seconds.)  Of course that's about as top-line raid awareness as it gets, so over-complex application of abilities isn't that desirable.

For Survival:

T.N.T is going to proc much more of the time. It will go from a 12% chance to 20% chance. That's a beautiful thing for improving single target DPS.

It will fix the issue with just waiting and waiting for abilities to come off CD.  And it might even help some of the focus starvation.  It will certainly give SV hunters a little more to think about in balancing out their attacks and ensuring the DoTs keep being applied.

Transmogrification Gear

I think I will transmogrify my stylish Firelands and Conquest PvP gear.  But I'm having some second thoughts.  This is the plan.  I'm feeling tentative...

My current PvE Firelands gear (heroic and non).

My rustic look for transmog PvE.

My "I am a bozo Pet Tanker" transmog set.

My current PvP gear (Ruthless and Vicious).

My black shaded transmog PvP gear.

Loot Reaver Loot Fail

I'm looking for the Merciless Gladiator's Chain Spaulders for one of my transmorgrify sets. Every hunter should solo Loot Reaver once. The nice thing is that it's easy. ;-)  Click any image for a slide show.

Very simple fight.  I was already in T5x2
so I didn't even need to use mend pet or pull him out for stomps.

The mortars he throws are of course "old school"
and don't have those ground target sign effects.
But with the MM self-heal you don't really
even need to move around unless you want to dance a little.

The trash is more difficult than the boss. 

This raid is configured for 25man only, so you get
three T5 tier tokens. Of course no hunter tokens.
So, I guess I'll come back next week.
As a consolation gift you get 250g cash too.