And Now We Return to Our Regular Programming
So what do you do when your Internet is shot to h#ll? We take a long lunch and give the IT folks a chance to fix it. If it ain’t up in that 90 minutes, we go the heck home. Shazzam!
Well we’re back today, feeling a little less stressed about our backload of work and trying to catch up on everything. And we have our homemade raspberry latte so things are looking up.
How about we start with something sure to fuel the flame-fires, shall we?
“BRK, have you seen this hunter macro:
#showtooltip Steady Shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/castsequence reset=3 Steady Shot, Auto Shot
/cast [exists,target=pettarget] Kill Command
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()
Regards, Tosviolation”
Yup, we’ve seen that. For the non-macrophiles out there, what this thing is designed to do is to allow a hunter to just spam the beejezus out of a single button and capture every Kill Command as it becomes available while simultaneously firing Steady Shot whenever its cooldown is up. The inherent problem with the macro is that it will throw errors all over your screen. The author has “solved” that problem by turning off the error frame, clearing it, and then showing it again to reset the system.
In the programming world, this is called a Kludge. It is inelegant, inefficient, and wasteful.
It’s like strapping a nitrous kit made from a used fire extinguisher on your Porsche 911 Turbo.
It’s like putting John Travolta in drag on Desperate Housewives.
It’s like letting Barney have a guest-appearance on a Bugs Bunny / Road Runner cartoon.
It’s like letting Larry the Cable Guy be the first man on Mars.
It’s like that British game show opera singer who won their television talent contest on the same stage as Pavarotti back when he could hit nine tenor high C’s without breaking a sweat.
It’s like BRK being survival spec. (Note: don’t check our armory profile; it’ll freak you out and you haven’t heard the story behind it or what the h#ll we’re doing. Don’t worry, everything is fine and we’re not on smack or under the influence of a suspicious redhead, for whom we have been known to do some really stupid things.)
You are a Hunter! You have so much more to offer than Steady/Auto spamming. If you’re incapable of smacking Kill Command when it procs then you need more help than a macro can provide. If this macro increases your DPS you’ve been AFK-Fighting for too long; put the nachos down and use two hands to play.
Macros should be used to make complex tasks more simple, not make simple tasks more complex.
Edit: Tosviolation as a name ranks right up there with Thunderpants. We totally dig it.
veocon on 26 Jun 2007 at 2:54 pm #
Agreed, hell i dont even use hotkeys. clicker for life and i put out 20%+ dps in kara. hunters have no need for marcos.
although when id used to work, i did use a auto hunters mark addon
Toolio on 26 Jun 2007 at 3:05 pm #
I use this very macro frequently in Kara during sustained fights. It helps with DPS, and thats enough to justify its use for me.
Granted there are times where an occasional scorpid sting, MD or conc shot gets used during fights and interrupts the timing… But for a BM? That macro is sexsauce. USE IT!
Brotik on 26 Jun 2007 at 3:12 pm #
I have 2 macros that I use, /targetenemy to aquire a new enemy when the one my pet is on is almost dead and the standard /cast hunters mark /petattack macro.
other than that i use the Floaspect/totem addons and that is my setup.
So no need to macro every aspect of the game.
Zemulos on 26 Jun 2007 at 3:15 pm #
Actually, I don’t use macros at all, other than my vent info macro and my /target demon macro for the chains in the Illhoof fight. (a must have macro!) But can any of you macro genius macro users tell me how i might set a macro up that will target my tank and misdirect on him on the fly? Sometimes I like to toss him a misdirect in the middle of a boss fight and of course always give him one at the intro.
Anonymous on 26 Jun 2007 at 3:15 pm #
I use this macro all the time, i just spam and top the damage meter. I throw in an occasional conc shot or scorpid sting depending on the situation, or an arcane shot when I am on the move, but if you are BM, definitely use this macro, it’s awesome.
Karl on 26 Jun 2007 at 3:18 pm #
BRK survival spec?.. next thing we know raid groups will be asking for Retribution paladins for their DPS. What’s this world coming too?..
Well, I guess it’s time to respec.
What do you call a survival hunter?..
BigRedBand-aid?…
Karl on 26 Jun 2007 at 3:19 pm #
and to the point of the thread..
Is there a good collection of macros anywhere?..
BRK on 26 Jun 2007 at 3:28 pm #
“But can any of you macro genius macro users tell me how i might set a macro up that will target my tank and misdirect on him on the fly?”
We’ve covered this, so be sure to use the “Macro” label to find it and other spiffy macros.
We prefer to use the Focus method by making our tank our focus:
/focus tankname
Then using this macro will do a Misdirection spell on the fly:
/target focus
/cast Misdirection
/targetlasttarget
You may also use the forms:
/cast Misdirection tankname
or
/cast Misdirection focus
Bobflintston on 26 Jun 2007 at 3:31 pm #
BigRedTrapper, when are you going to let us into your little secret?
I sense a WoWInsider piece coming soon on the various specs.
How did you post the latest Blog if the internet is broken at work?
BRK on 26 Jun 2007 at 3:36 pm #
Internet is fixed! It was broken yesterday.
My Elune! You looked at our current spec! Look away! No no no!
Karl on 26 Jun 2007 at 3:39 pm #
BigRedTrapper indeed.
(and in other news, Flying hellboars have been reported in Honor Hold today…)
Haim on 26 Jun 2007 at 3:48 pm #
… BRK have you heared of shot-weaving macros?
Misfit on 26 Jun 2007 at 4:13 pm #
I’ve said it before, but since the misdirection macro subject has been brought up again, I’ll say it again…
Misdirection does not stack and is wasted if two hunters try to use it at the same time. Coordinate your misdirections by establishing who will use their’s first through Vent or through chat. For those long fights where your Misdirection CD is up a second time I like to see when the other hunters are using their misdirection, so I have made them all add an emote or /say to their misdirection macro.
/target focus
/cast Misdirection
/e has cast misdirection on %t!
/targetlasttarget
or
/target focus
/cast Misdirection
/p [Player] has cast misdirection on %t!
/targetlasttarget
Anonymous on 26 Jun 2007 at 4:16 pm #
As far as I know, the advantage of this macro is that when using it, you don’t get the 0,5 sec or so delay that you normally get after using Kill Command.
The downside is that it messes up the timers and subsequently my rhythm.
gileyman on 26 Jun 2007 at 4:17 pm #
Is it really worth the 75 mana for Kill Command if your not SV? I really don’t think it’s mana efficient for the damage you get. On long boss fights I try to be very mana efficient to match my mana with the bosses health. On any other mob, spam away.
Misfit on 26 Jun 2007 at 4:21 pm #
It’s worth it if you have the 4-peice set bonus from the BL set, otherwise, I really dont use KC being a SV hunter.
Guy on 26 Jun 2007 at 4:32 pm #
Dude.. I just looked at it.
Even for a SV spec it’s kinda ugly.
BUT… it’s got the ranged virtues. Just don’t forget that SV is back loaded. Meaning the paper doll is unreliable because of the proc damage buffs.
Then refer to my previous post about how to gear yourself, Agility stacking is NOT the way to go. Realize your weapon speed/crit chance and RAP ratios. Do that, and you will be an excellent SV hunter.
Again.. The overlooked key to the spec is EW. But you need to treat it like TSA. It’s AP and it needs to be up every 7 seconds in order to be useful. Stacking agility lowers your AP and heightens your raids AP. Itemization though favors AP. As long as you meet the AGI requirements of SV you’re going to make that AP back.
Your EW only gives you back 25% of your agility in AP though, meaning:
4agility=
4.6agility with LR
1.15 AP for EW.
NET AP gain= 5.75
So your break even point is 5.75 AP can be given up for 4 agi. Your raid isn’t going to notice if their EW is up by 1.15AP as much as you’re going to notice if you lost 5.75 AP.
NOTE: This only works if you are at your crit/weapon speed/agility thresholds for this spec.
If you don’t have the min agility, or a weapon speed and crit rate to support it, then you can’t fully realize what it’s capable of. I have to pot to make the crit threshold that my weapon will allow if I’m not given the right group make up. I’m guessing you’ll have to come up with some tricks of your own to make the spec work.
I swear to god BRK.. if everyone and their mother starts using this spec instead of BM and MM, I will come find you.
ONLY ONE EW PER RAID.
-guy
Misfit on 26 Jun 2007 at 4:50 pm #
/target Guy
/highfive
Dude, I’m with ya on that. I tried hard to get my Agi up while still maintaining a decent amount of AP. I am lacking on the gems atm, but I think I am pretty well balanced.
Guy, check out my armory and let me know how I’m doin.
http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Whisperwind&n=Misfitique
No one else is allowed to look at my profile, including BRK, cause he might get jealous about my Sonic Spear.
Keep in mind I am a trapping god, and really keep that as my priority over being number one on the meters (which I usually am anyway :)).
BRK on 26 Jun 2007 at 4:53 pm #
We’re not “using” it. It was an experiment in Heroic Bloodfurnace. Frankly, we loved the ease of trapping and double-trapping, but not at the expense of our DPS. Frankly, we don’t think we have the gear to really make an SV-build shine and that probably is affecting our outlook on the spec.
We will be going back to our beloved 41/20/0 ASAP.
Karl on 26 Jun 2007 at 5:09 pm #
A question for the survivalist guys here… if you are not in a solid team where everyone knows their roles, and instead you are in a guild that is growing and changing and everyone is leveling, and it’s more like a massive PUG, is there any sense in going survivalist?
I can see the utility, but I only see it being really usable if you have a chance to do your vodoo with guys that understand what you are doing..
TJ on 26 Jun 2007 at 5:20 pm #
You dare sass Paul Potts?
You won’t soon be forgiven for this.
Melgin on 26 Jun 2007 at 6:12 pm #
Note that an more refined macro for misdirection is simply:
/cast [target=focus] Misdirection
no worrying about the targetlasttarget jazz
Misfit on 26 Jun 2007 at 6:20 pm #
Karl,
All I can say is before every guild run, be proactive about people out their understanding the differences between specs. To the common WoW player, if you arent a MM Hunter then your useless, and this is a stigma that we here at BRKland deal with and talk about daily. A lot of people out there, even hunters, dont realize the amount of utility that a SV hunter brings to a group or raid. The only way to get it known is to show people how it’s done and try to break the “MM Hunter or bust” mentality one group (guild or pug) at a time.
On a related note, I was SL pug with my Shadow Priest the other day and told the leader to use me for Mind Controls. He was hesitant at first, but once he saw it in action, he was sold. Every pull had me MCing something and it was awesome (I got to play a different class on every pull :)). After the run was done everyone in the group had admitted to not really noticing the value of Shadow Priests until then.
Take this approach to showing the utility of a SV hunter (along with some solid damage) and people might realize that were more than mail wearing mages.
- Misfit
Guy on 26 Jun 2007 at 6:49 pm #
Misfit,
Let me preface all this with saying I look at these things from a pure raid perspective.
You have a lot of +hit, just remember with sure footed your hit cap is about 89. I have the same problem right now, I can’t seem to drop the +hit and pick up Crit or RAP. Shucks.. I guess I’ll just have to suffer through NEVER missing a shot.
Your weapon speed is 2.43. This means you need a crit rate of 34.71% to maintain EW on Autoshot alone. EW procs off all shots though so using that weapon you could probably get away with a crit rate of 30% or better and be fine. Pick up that wolfslayers rifle as soon as you can.
I recommend using your current crit trinket and the one from BM or Skyguard rep. That’s a lot of crit.
Unless you expect to upgrade the sonic spear, I would agility chant that.
You’re talents aren’t raid friendly, but you probably knew that.
Now I’m going to admit the kind of loser I am.
I woke up this morning and the first thing to go through my head was:
“If I looked at my mana pool, the cost of Steady shot, master tactician proc rate, my crit rate and thrill of the hunt, I can theory craft how much more damage I’ll be able to produce after I’m OOM now vs if I did have thrill of the hunt.”
Then I realized I just don’t run out of mana that much and it wasn’t worth it to gimp my damage.
Readiness is your friend, that’s 3 rapid fires in the time a normal hunters get off 2. Double misdirection can save a wipe. Readiness and traps is a no brainer.
It seems like your talents aim to do a lot of different things okay, and not anything great. I would say pick a direction and go with it. If you want to account for things then look at it like this:
Even if your freeze trap ticked for 1000 damage per second that your mob was trapped, you would still be better off with master tactician than you are with improving your traps. You’re going to spend more time dealing ranged damage over the course of a raid than you will trapping.
Go for the throat is a main stay of any raid spec. (Another reason why the MM tree rocks).
I guess my question to you Misfit is, what do you want to do? Pick one and only one: trap? Damage? Melee? PvP?
It just seems like the points are all over the place, or you have spec’d JUST to trap. That’s cool if so.. but something tells me your groups inherently need better CC than what one SV hunter provides.
Karl,
As long as you’re geared right and know what you’re doing, the people you roll with knowing what you do is just the icing on the cake. Ultimately, the people who don’t know you will judge you soley on your damage. If a SV hunter can realize his own thresholds and does what he can to meet them then the damage will produce itself.
A group who asks where their TSA is only needs to be told that they have EW instead and that EW is going to give them X number of AP more than TSA.
-guy
Anonymous on 26 Jun 2007 at 9:31 pm #
no improved hunters mark???
glit
didnt you say htat only selfish hunters didnt take IHM?????
Guy on 26 Jun 2007 at 9:43 pm #
iHM doesn’t stack.
it’s not worth it for someone to dump the points in there if another hunter has it.
-guy
Hamish on 27 Jun 2007 at 12:30 am #
RE: iHM not stacking (Guy)
I thought this was the case, but hadn’t run Kara yet to prove it. I assume Trueshot Aura doesn’t stack either, making two MM hunters in the same raid a lot less effective than an MM hunter and a SV hunter, OR an MM hunter and a BM hunter.
BRK on 27 Jun 2007 at 3:43 am #
Nope, Trueshot does not stack.
But Ferocious Inspiration does.
Guy on 27 Jun 2007 at 6:37 am #
Two MM or two BM hunters in seprate groups works well too.
but only ONE SV hunter per raid.
EW does not stack.
-guy
PS: Diversity makes you stronger, two BMs are weak sause. Yeah the buff stacks but you’re better off bringing another spec for it’s buffage.