Our First Question in Forever
So BRK had broken out the ShopVac and was trying to clean out the Chinese junk mail from the BRK Industrial Waste and Spam Burial Ground when an actual question from an actual player was actually asked of actual us.
“I was just curious what you thought about a boar tank for PVE? I’m trying to level fast, I’m currently 36. I have a boar and wasn’t sure where to place my points. I was also unsure whether to use dash or charge as a skill for boar. I’ve had mixed reviews and you seem very knowledgeable.”
Our ability to bamboozle our readers aside, it’s an excellent question. As we all know, hunters can have three pets. BRK recommends you get an Offensive-DPS pet and a Defensive-Tank pet, and use the third slot for experimentation.
Note: BRK is not advocating animal experimentation. After the “Gimme BRK” fiasco, we want to make sure we’re on the same wavelength.
Here’s da scoop. The Beastmaster spec is the fastest leveling spec, period.
“But BRK, I love Marksman and I level just fine!”
Pfft. No you don’t, you just don’t know any better. If you want to level, go Beastmaster, that’s your first step.
Next, get an Offensive-DPS pet. Don’t worry about it’s health or armor; you’ll be killing things too quickly for them to do anything to your pet.
Now then, BRK has often said that there are many Right Ways to do things, and some very specific Wrong Ways. An Offensive-DPS pet will have one of the following:
- Dive
- Dash
- Charge
If your pet cannot be trained one of these spells, just say no, and we really mean that.
BRK wants you to try a couple and find a pet that speaks to your Inner BRK. The pet that you look at and with whom you feel an affinity, who is an extension of you. Wonder why cats are so popular? There are more species of cat than any other pet, so they can meet the requirements of so many peoples’ personalities. The acquisition of your pet is should be a manifestation of your feelings about being a hunter, and thus of you.
(Oh, if you’re not a hunter, you probably don’t understand any of this. Don’t worry; we still like you.)
On the opposing side, many people disdain cats specifically because of their popularity, and that’s just peachy. Those hideous Plagued Swine in the EPL? Some hunters love them and get a thrill of bringing them out, like a rock star at a concert, very dramatically…
You’re a dwarf hunter in a party of Night Elves and female Humans. They are all tall and shapely, you’re a piece of rock, scarred and craggy. You bring out your level 70 Plagued Swine, you named him Pretty, and the girls all go “Ewww”. You laugh; you know Pretty is gonna max DPS the cr@p outta those squishies and probably save their lives once or twice. “Cmon, ladies,” you say, “let’s kill something…” You love to get dirty and bloody, your pet Pretty is ugly as sin, and you love her to pieces, doncha? Of course you do.
To Rapidfire, the hunter with the posed question: for your boar, BRK recommends Charge due to the Stun effect it imparts. Don’t forget Gore, and BRK would say not to worry about Bite at all as the Charge will give your boar more than enough aggro to prevent you from pulling accidentally. Don’t sweat the magic resistances, pile on the health and then armor.
There is an exceptionally large Boar-Hunter community. We are sure you’ll get some “Yay Boars!” posts in our comments. They will agree with me: Good choice.
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27 Responses to “Our First Question in Forever”
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well i guess i will have to get rid of my warp hunter no dive dash or charge =P
i had a boar for a long time they are fun they just act like they are so happy all the time..i just wish they would have came out with higher level boars in BC i would tame one….
Adrus/Yen
No! Pay attention! -5 BRK Cool Points points.
Dive/Dash/Charge is for Offense-DPS pets. The Warp Hunter is a Defensive-Tank pet, and an excellent one at that.
“Yay boars!”
I have currently no boar in my stable but when i had i liked to grind with it. Great initial aggro and a small stun.
Sting a caster and send your pet in AFTER the mob starts to cast it´s spell to interrupt it and take aggro. Pure poetry in motion.
Since level 10, it’s been Me and Tusker (one of those white boars that shows up right outside Ogrimmar) — something to be said for brand loyalty.
I tamed a white tiger off a quest, and planned to keep him up with Tusker, but I’ve found it’s really hard to keep both pets at your level until you cap out, so I’ve focused on the Pig. I pick up a third pet here and there to learn new skills (like sneaking into that Alliance “laketown” to tame their elite boar just outside town to learn his Gore and Charge), but I pretty much have to stick with one pet to keep him viable against the stuff I’m fighting — am I doing something wrong, or is that pretty normal?
I’m curious, though — I’ve always thought of boars as more of a defensive/tank pet rather than DPS (partly because, as a converted-BM hunter, the pigs got over twice the armor and 125% of the health of our tank) — your comments seem to indicate otherwise, Damh, and lump it in with the DPSers.
I mean, Ferocity and Unleashed Fury are nice, but the pig’s still only barely out DPSing our Mage.
Than again, I’m still 23/20, so I’ve probably still got the best DPS stuff up ahead in the tree…
/off
Mail sent BRk, U may check it out.. thx
/on
hmm ive seen many cats in my realm. but of all “felines” the frostsaber beats them all =). I dont see many frostsabers running around hehe
i thought boars were defensive pets -5 yen karma to BRK =P
and anyway i would never get rid of my warp hunter unless i get one of the green ones later they are one of the best pets i ever had
Adrus/Yen
p.s. haven’t named my warp hunter yet was thinking of Saphira after the dragon in eragon what you think?
OK, BRK recognizes that the Boar is classified as a Defensive pet by Petopia. However, they use pet stats as the sole arbiter of their categorization.
BRK kindly disagrees. Its usefulness in specific situations should also be considerd. Yes, the boar is a lower DPS pet than a cat, but why is the boar so loved in PvP? Because of Charge. It is a tremendous spell that is also super-handy in PvE.
Boars with Charge = great leveling pet.
Totally Agree.
I can’t wait until beast mastery gets the nerf it has deserved for a long time. It’s ridiculously overpowered, an ideal spec for the most noob class of WoW.
Boars FTW! Been using the ole RFK boar since lvl 24(named him Guapo).
Everyone loves Guapo. Always in vent, you hear.. “Oh no Guapo died” lol
Damh- can I take away 10 BRK points from daggah for you? That’s just mean! That’s like saying “I can’t wait until they make pallys wear cloth, those freakin healers should be squishy..” Need I remind that the vast majority of players in the new realms are hunts? are you trying to become hated? sad. so sad.
We will not take away BRK points from daggah; the man had the courage to not post anonymously. He has an opinion, he spoke it, we’re all capable of dealing with it.
Just sit back and relish your power to intimidate and inflict mental anguish on those lesser classes, bonnie, like this:
Ahhhhhh….
daagah what class and spec are you? Im tired of hearing people rant about BM specs being overpowered, what class are you again?
What about end game raiding? I currently use a boar as well but have been considering switching to a DPS pet for Kara and beyond.
I have a 70 enhancement shaman and a 60 demo (for leveling, he’s going right back to affliction as soon as I have the gear to back up that spec) warlock.
I have yet to find a class that doesn’t complain about beastmaster spec hunters.
It’s time for a nerf.
Love boars, most of my hunters start out with a boar, and 2/3rds of them still have it at 60, and beyond. Ummm, how many hunters do I have? Many. On 4 servers. Multi hunters in some guilds. That is because I love professions, and playing an herbalist/alchemist is a different game from skinner/LWer, or miner/engineer.
Nice site adding to my favorites.
daggah demonology is the warlocks version of BM.. straight up… i cant wait til those felguards get nerfed and locks cant chain fear me out of existence while loading me up with 20k dmg worth of dots and mitigating all my dmg i do to u by lifestealing… tell me whos overpowered… unless u dont know how to last long enuff against BW the by all means u have an argument
At 39 (well, almost) I’m a newly converted BM hunter (thanks to you) and I read this looking for suggestions on pets. I’ve tried several different pets along the way but just keep coming back to CaptCarl, the crab I’ve had since I learned to tame. But this post made me see the power of the boar so I looked up petopia to find one suitable for my level only to learn I’m essentially to go boar-less until 48? Any alternate suggestions until then? Aside from the cats, I mean. They’re great but not my cup of tea. (By the way - thanks SO much for the BM spec post - last night was my first night with it and I simply loved it. CaptCarl’s a big fan, too!)
I love boars myself, and have trouble using any other pet (despite the annoying lack of variety in their looks). But labeling them a “DPS” pet has me confused. Statistically they get -10% to DPS. I see from the other comments that I’m not the only one confused. What exactly is your definition of a “DPS pet”?
It sounds more like you are thinking of pets that allow the hunter to do the most DPS. But that would be better termed a “tanking pet”. Perhaps you care more about holding aggro than surviveability, and that’s the difference?
Hi Im Alexxann lvl 70 currently specked 0/39/22. I need to respec… anywho I have a wolf… I love him he is an awesome pet i just can seem to find anything i like better or even close to the same except dosXX my 2headed white carrion bird(need to get screech on him), I have had a wolf since 46 when i could get the black one from hinterlands. I haven’t seen anything on wolves here so i just wanted to ask what is your take on them? I find DarkAsh very utilitarian i have tried other pets (not a boar and now it would be a pain to lvl just to try)but nothing even comes close to how i play with Ash.
I have just turned level 55, and ran off to winterspring to get myself a cub.
I have a 55 gorilla (U’cha from Un’goro) because a white gorilla is very cool, and aoe taunt with thunderstomp.
Alas that means Pigmahon, my boar, is stuck at level 52. He can barely keep aggro on the mobs I am currently facing. He is a ashmane boar, and I really hate the gnarly look of the plagued boars. Curse blizzard for not making any boars of higher level. I am most likely going to trade him in for a Warg from the burning stepps. Truly he will be missed.
Do you think I should stick it out with my boar? I can always dump the monkey for my wolf.
I just wanted to add that when your boar uses Charge, it is NOT a stun, and will NOT interrupt spell casting.
It is essentially a 1 second root.
Charge also gives a bonus to attack power on the boar for his next attack. Petopia also says if he uses growl after charge, the growl holds much more aggro.
I’ve got to say that my absolute favorite cat is the ghost saber. I play hunters on 4 different servers and it’s the one I like best out of all the pretty kitties out there.
I’ve got one of the Ashmane boars from near the Dark Portal, and love him although it’s kind of a pain dragging his level up behind me. I can steady/sting/arcane/auto shot before I send him in and as soon as he charges they forget about me completely. Over 4k threat in that one attack and all my damage just turns to a meek little blip on Omen.
Got Ironjaw the wolf from Terrokar too, but he doesn’t hold aggro nearly as well and I’m very probably going to replace him with one of the black tigers from near Skettis when I hit 70.
And yes, if you look me up in the armory, my gear is utter crap. Happens when you solo from 1 - 66 as an alt and don’t feel like spending thousands of gold from your main.