We just had to have a Nethercobra Leg Armor for our new armor, so we spent 360 gold on the mats for one, plus a 40 gold blue gem to finish the thing. Raiding ain’t cheap.

We had to go with the Agi/Sta gem because our meta gem would’ve been blown without a blue there. The Shifting Nightseye is a standard red/blue socket hunter-gem, nothing difficult about that decision.

What’s even better about these things is they get our Hit Rating back to 142! Huzzah! No more misses, no more hooks, no more raid-leader’s dirty looks!

So how do we look now, with our new gun and leggings?

Pretty darn spiffy, if we do say so ourselves.

Wanna see something cool? Check this out!

Hunters doin’ it for themselves! #1 through #4 on the FLK kill, both total damage and DPS.

I say, Who’s that atop those damage meters?

It’s Hunters! It’s Hunters!

The BRK Non-WoW Thought of the Day: If a restaurant doesn’t have a fax machine, do not call ahead to order lunch-to-go. Quiznos has a fax, Arby’s does not. Game, set, match.

“Dear BRK … I’ve been having issues targeting mobs during a raid. I’ve been running Kara a lot lately and when we pull 4+ mobs I spend most of my time just trying to click on the mob (and not my fellow raid members). By the time I finally get a shot off, the mob is almost dead anyway and then the cycle starts over again with the next one. Are there good strategies / macros / addons that could help?

“I already use a lot of addons and macros, but they always seem to have some kind of flaw that keeps me from trusting them. For example, we were running Kara tonight to break in a new MT. My macros work off of “focus”, so I made the MT my focus. Unfortunately, in the middle of a large numbered mob pull, I hit my “Assist” macro and then my Pet Attack macro. I’m guessing that our new MT was looking ahead at the mob in the next room because my pet pulled the whole next room. I didn’t trust my macro after that and just started to do things manually. Should I ditch the macros all together? Balrok”

We use an assist-macro as well. Do not allow a single incident of miss-targeting on the MT’s part to discourage using it.

There is one good way to lessen the chance that you’ll attack a target you’re not prepared to pull, and that’s by always using raid symbols.

Put a raid symbol over every mob in each pull. If you assist your MT and see he’s targeting a mob that doesn’t have a raid symbol, don’t send your pet.

Now the “attack the main-tank’s target” model works great in 5-man instances, but what about bigger raids. In 10-man and 25-man instances, you’ll have multiple off-tanks to switch among. How do we handle this situation? Well, we have two methods that work well.

The Main Assist is a similar concept to the Main Tank, but in this case the Main Assist is a DPS class. His job is to keep track of the order of attack and the rest of the DPS classes use him as their Focus and attack his target.

You’re running Kara, trying for Attumen. You’ve got a 5-mob pull with which to deal. MT and OT handle one each, hunter traps one, priest shackles one, paladin fears one. You mark the mobs:

Skull = MT
X = OT
Blue Square = Trap
Orange Circle = Shackle
Moon = Fear

The kill order is going to be Skull, Moon, Square, X, Circle. Once the MT’s mob is down, he grabs the feared mob. That guy goes down, the MT grabs the trapped mob, it dies. DPS switches to the OT’s mob while the MT grabs the Shackle. X dies, than Circle.

Can you follow the MT’s target for the proper kill order? Nope, the raid has to switch to the OT’s target and then back to the MT’s. With a Main Assist, the raid follows the MA from target to target, using the MA as their Focus and attacking their Focus’s target.

Being a Main Assist is a challenging job, as a very good sense of situational awareness is required. Rogues are usually a good candidate for the job as they don’t have crowd-control responsibilities after the pull begins.

Another method of organizing Focus Fire is to use CT_RaidAssist. For DPS classes, our favorite functions of this addon are twofold:

1. It allows the raid leader to assign multiple main tanks.
2. It allows us to target the target of these tanks via a keybind.

In our SSC raids, we’ll have five tanks. We assign them in CT_RaidAssist as MT1, MT2, … MT5. In the Keybinding section of our preferences, we have setup our number pad with MT assists.

If we wish to target MT1’s target, we press our number pad “1″ key.
If we wish to target MT2’s target, we press our number pad “2″ key.
…
If we wish to target MT5’s target, we press our number pad “5″ key.

SSC begins, the tanks grab their targets, we press our number pad “1″ key, BAM we’re targeting the first DPS target so we hit our PetAttack macro key. The PetAttack macro casts a Hunter’s Mark, sends Hobbes to attack, and hits the mob with a Scorpid Sting.

That mob dies, we press our number pad “2″ key, KAPOW we’re targeting the second DPS target, we hit our PetAttack macro … etc.

See how fast that is? Two keystrokes results in switching targets and accomplishing all our preliminary tasks, leaving us ready to watch our threat and adapt our shot-rotation accordingly.

How sweet it is.

The new BRK-Demanded WoW iMac is here!

24” (1920 by 1200 pixels) widescreen flat panel
2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
6MB shared L2 cache at full processor speed
1066MHz frontside bus
2GB (two 1GB SO-DIMMs) of 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM;
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory
320GB Serial ATA 7200-rpm hard drive
Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi wireless networking2 (based on IEEE 802.11n draft (specification); IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible
Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
Built-in stereo speakers
Internal 24-watt digital amplifier
Headphone/optical digital audio output (minijack)
Audio line in/optical digital audio input (minijack)
Built-in microphone
Built-in iSight camera
One FireWire 400 port and one FireWire 800 port; 7 watts each
Total of five USB 2.0 ports: three ports on computer, two ports on keyboard
Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard
iLife ’08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand)

$1949

Yes, you can get a faster CPU, more memory, or a bigger hard drive. But now we mortals can get a very modern video card in a Mac for under $2k. If Mrs BRK brings home the bam-bam this month, we’re gonna bogart her paycheck big-time and bring one of these babies home.

Just don’t tell her, capice?

The BRK Non-WoW Thought of the Day: Dr. Pepper has commemorative Indiana Jones cans. Dr. Pepper was established in 1885, which by remarkable coincidence is basically the same year that Dr. Jones was born. We wonder if the thriller “Ironman” will commemorate its lead actor, Robert Downey Jr. with a similar commemorative beverage, and if that beverage can be purchased by persons under the age of twenty-one in the US.

Loot Karma: We raided TK without DKP last night, as the SWAPS addon wasn’t working properly and the site that hosts it was wiped out by storms. Solarian dropped her hunter-boots last night, and even though all loot was being roll-decided, we passed. We have Boots of the Crimson Hawk which are basically the exact same thing as the drop, and we wanted another hunter to get some phat loot. As we said to The Egotistical Priest’s gang last night:

“Loot is fun. If we take your loot, we’re taking your fun. What kind of person would that make us?”

Size matters: What a difference a gun makes! Last time we took down Al’ar, we used our Ashtongue disguise and hated how we looked. But give us that Tuskbreaker gun and put our disguise on, and the new gun makes us look totally bad@ss. Yes, of course we forgot to screenshot it

Lunch: We’ve had spicy Kung Pao Chicken, two days in a row. We ask for spicy, we ask for hot, we get mild. Well, it least it’s better than the food poisoning that Chicago Uno’s of Merritt Island gave a bunch of our coworkers a week ago.

Movies: Thank you to everybody who wrote and expressed their pleasure with our Lurker Below movie. Yes, we are making more, but they take time. When we present a movie, it has to be showing the Right Things to Do. Take last night’s Solarian fight. We did everything right, but still died at the end when we got tossed in the air and blasted at the same time, resulting in us being dead before we even hit the ground. “How to Die with Solarian at 3%” is not a good hunter-guide movie, we think you’ll agree.

If you can form a coherent sentence after watching our friend Whistel’s latest movie, you’re better than we are.

Thank you, Zul’Aman timed event! The Stat Summary is comparing this beaut against our Barrel-Blade Longrifle.

It’s at this point where we point out the Rating Buster has problems with the scope. And then we seem to think that a bunch of people will write in and say, “You noob, it works like this…” But we don’t remember “this” and it really does look like RB is not taking the crit-scope into account in its equations…

But both guns have the scope, so it’s irrelevant.

Are we going to get into the, “This gun’s too slow!” argument? Perhaps, but we wish to do some research and testing ourselves. What it does do is make us drool for the Tier 5 leggings we know are just a quick four-SSC boss clear away. Then, we can put our haste-shoulders back on.

Now here’s a pretty gorilla! She’s done a great job getting this guy to 70, now if we can only convince her to stop meleeing.

Yes, Lolliy, we totally went there.

OK boys and girls, let’s talk a little Raid Synergy. Why the heck should your raid take you before taking a rogue or a mage? What are you bringing to the table, hmm? What’s in your picnic basket?

If you’re a Beastmaster hunter, you’re bringing Ferocious Inspiration.

Pros:

It scales. As your raid’s DPS increases, the extra 3% damage scales.

It affects physical, both melee and ranged, and spell damage.

It stacks. Put two BM hunters in the same party and that’s a 6% bonus to damage for everybody in the party.

Cons:

It only affects the hunter’s party, not the entire raid.

The hunter has to keep his pet alive and cannot focus exclusively on his own DPS.

The hunter has to keep his pet engaged in doing damage. Fights that are pet-unfriendly are terrible for BM hunters as not only does FI not proc, but 35-40% of the hunter’s DPS is lost with the pet sitting on the sideline.

Jumping over to the Survival tree, this guy has Expose Weakness in his arsenal.

Pros:

It affects the entire raid, not just the hunter’s party.

It scales. As the hunter’s agility increases, EW gets more powerful.

Cons:

It is only beneficial to physical DPS, not spells.

It is very gear-dependent. A hunter with low agility will not provide much in the way of an EW bonus to the raid.

And finally, the Marksman tree brings us the old, reliable Trueshot Aura.

Pros:

It’s an aura and therefore it’s always on and benefiting the hunter’s party.

It is not gear-dependent.

Cons:

It only affects the hunter’s party, not the entire raid.

It does not scale. A MM hunter who just dinged 70 will provide the same TSA-bonus as a MM hunter in full Tier 6.

It is only beneficial to physical DPS, not spells.

BM versus MM and SV

If you have the skills to keep your pet alive in just about every raid encounter, if you’re willing to micro-manage your pet and use a good chunk of mana to keep him alive instead of contributing to your own auto/steady rotation, then roll BM. Have your raid leader lump you in with your raid’s highest-DPS casters and thwackers. This is where your 3% bonus to all damage is best used; when it’s scaled.

If pet-management just isn’t your thing, or your guild already has 120 BM hunters, then you should consider one of the other two trees.

SV versus MM

Since MM provides a fixed 125 AP bonus to all physical DPS, the SV hunter has to be able to have EW provide at least 125 AP. Since EW provides 25% of the hunter’s agility as a bonus to the raid’s DPS, the EW hunter needs 500 agility to equal the MM hunter, (500 * 0.25 = 125). But since TSA is always on and EW requires a crit to proc, we go a little further and recite the standard rule, “Until you have 600 agility, don’t go SV.”

But that’s not the entire story. The MM hunter’s TSA is applied to his party, the SV hunter’s EW is applied to the entire raid.

If the SV hunter has less than 600 agility and provides less than a TSA’s 125 AP EW bonus, but applies his bonus over an entire 25-person raid, he could be contributing more to the raid’s DPS than a MM hunter who is only buffing his party’s DPS, (this would depend on the raid makeup, of course.)

Is your guild physical-DPS heavy and spell-DPS light? Don’t be scared to go SV if your agility is less than 600, especially if you’re starting 25-man raid content.

If you are starting 10-man raids and you have an almost all-physical DPS party every week, MM might be a better raiding spec for you. But as your gear improves, your raid-enhancement is not going to change. That’s the inherent limitation of the MM spec for raiding.

Now if you do choose the SV tree, you must remember two things:

1. Your entire focus is on Agility. Crit will come with Agility, so don’t use +Crit gems. RAP doesn’t contribute to EW either, so none of those AP gems or enchants. You are Captain Agility. Crank it up and let the EW-goodness fly.

2. Your purpose in the raid is to enhance the rogues, feral-cat druids, enhancement shaman, ret pallies, arms/fury warriors, and holy priests who like to stab things with their daggers. Your DPS will almost always be lower than the BM hunters in your raid. If you’re a BM hunter who respecs SV, be prepared to be astonished and depressed when your personal DPS drops from top-3 to bottom-5 of the damage-meters.

And if you choose the MM tree, you must remember one thing:

1. You’re raid-talent is weak and going to be chosen only if there’s a spot in the raid they cannot fill with anything else. Or they’re ill-informed. Or you’ve got something to blackmail the raid leader into inviting you.

BRK’s Recommendation to Blizz to Fix the MM Tree

Easy. Make Trueshot Aura scale with RAP. Can you imaging a MM hunter with 2300 RAP and a TSA bonus that converts 25% of that RAP to an AP bonus to all members of the hunter’s party?

So sayeth BRK, so let it be done.

A warlock. /shudder

And a holy pally! /cheer

Yup, Aetherial Circle is need of a raiding warlock and holy paladin. Warlock-spec is irrelevant, as long as it’s raid-based, not personal-DPS based. If you’re a warlock and have a fire-resist set, you’re cooking with even more grease, but not a requirement.

Full Tier 4 or equivalent, no pre-Kara or mostly-Kara. You’re going to get in on Vashj and Kael and Mount Hyjal.

Must have a stable Internet connection. Must be able to achieve double-digit frame rates in a 25-person raid. Must know the difference between a Guardian and a Battle elixir. Must not be a loot-whore, dingleberry, or drama-mama. Cannot be on more than three mood-altering medications.

Not much to ask, is it?

Send your application email to recruitment@aetherialcircle.com

If you could please include:

- Your Armory link.
- Your gear list (in case you logged out in like, farming gear).
- A paragraph about yourself and your raiding experience.

Letrz rittn lik ths will not be taken as seriously as those that aren’t.

Irwin has been with BRK a long time. He’s not a big-time raider, he’s not a PvP god.

He’s a croc-man. It’s his thing. /salute

Do you have to have Tier 6 gear or full Season 3 epics to have fun in WoW? Nah.

Would we recommend a croc to someone who asked for pet-advice? Never.

Are we gonna jump up and down and tell Steve to forgo his love of crocs? Never!

Rock on, Irwin. Way to be.

You’ve run Karazhan and gotten through Shade of Aran. You’re karma is good, and the Drape of the Dark Reaver drops. The loot-gods smile and you win it. Huzzah!

You go further into Kara eventually down Prince. Your loot-hax hasn’t been discovered by Blizz, and you cause the Farstrider Wildercloak to drop. You ninja it, good and proper, hearth back to Shat, and slap that puppy on. It’s got an ItemLevel of 125; it must be better than the Dark Reaver cloak, of course!

Not so quick, sassafrass.

Our good buddy Rating Buster comes out, caresses your face and bonks you on yer noggin. Look at the stats, not the item-level:

You can configure Rating Buster to show you many stats and stat-differences. What we see here is the some of the computations that result from comparing the two cloaks against each other. We equipped one, compared the other to it, than reversed the process.

Is it good to know that the DotDR has 36 Agility and the FW has 12? Sure. But what happens to that Agility? It becomes Armor, Crit Chance, and Ranged Attack Power. And the cloak with the lower ItemLevel actually has more Armor and Crit Chance than the cloak with the higher ItemLevel.

But what about our bread-n-butter, Ranged Attack Power. The FW has more of that than the DotDR, doesn’t it. Well yes it does. One could then reasonably think, “What’s more important: +12 RAP or +0.60% Crit?” And one could actually make a mathematical model and calculate the effects these would have on one’s specific gear.

But wait!

The “lesser” cloak has one more thing going for it: Hit Chance. Is your Hit Rating 142, are you hit-capped so you’ll never miss against level 73 bosses, (those found in Kara and beyond?) If not, then DotDR is your choice, regardless of the Crit/RAP argument.

Missing shots can be a big loss of DPS over time. Getting your hit rating as close to 142 is a critical part of hunter-gear itemization.

If you look at our armory profile, you’ll see that our current hit rating is 117. We used to be hit-capped, but our Tier 5 gear and the Badge of Justice ring we’ve picked up have no hit rating and are replacing gear that did. Since our raiding party has been giving us +Hit bonuses, and our WWS reports aren’t showing that we’re missing more than one shot per raid boss, we’re not going to freak out and start putting our old hit-rating-gear back on.

But when the FW cloak dropped into our greedy clutches, we immediately assumed it was a good upgrade for us over our DotDR and spent the gold on the +12 Agility enchant. But we’re not going to use this cloak, as even though it is a “higher level” piece of gear, for us it’s not a “better” piece of gear.

Remember that ItemLevel is a guide, not a Rule. Do your research and itemize yourself based on stats, not ItemLevel.

Thank you to everybody for their condolences and donations, your kindness is an inspiration. We’re leaving the donation button on the blog through the Running of Da Bulls.

/moo

Random Non-Wow Thought Of The Day: One knows one lives in Florida when one is driving to work and hears, “Watch out for smoke on the highway; the marsh is still on fire.”

The PTR: Everybody has read about how a hunter pet’s Growl is no longer going to scale with the pet’s attack power, yes? Perhaps you’ve also seen where Blizz is instead going to have Growl scale with the hunter’s attack power, but only when the hunter’s RAP is above a certain level? Well, yes, that sounds pretty nice, but as with all things on the PTR, we prefer to remain silent until the stuff goes live. We dislike freaking out or singing the praises of stuff that may not even be a factor in a week.

Is the Running of Da Bulls really just one week away? Holy cow, it is! Next Saturday, 7pm EDT (11PM GMT) on Cenarion Circle!

We’re going back to Kara tonight for the first time in months. Why? Because we don’t need the Shattered Sun dailies anymore, we have broken the 5000 gold mental-barrier again so we’ve lost the need to farm, BRKTestBed is level 40 and has a mount, and we haven’t got the energy to roll a female gnome warrior.

If we couldn’t be a hunter, we’d be a female, gnome, fury warrior. Red-head, not pink.

The only class we’ve never tried is a warlock. You may read into that what you may.

Aetherial Circle cleared ZA, unfortunately we weren’t there. Grats folks, glad that’s finally done. /wipes hands clean

OH!! After we took down Al’ar the other day, our graphics got totally messed up. Our camera was “fixed” in that we could rotate our toon but the camera didn’t follow. It was awesome; we’ve been trying to figure out how to do just that for years!

But then we couldn’t get it to return to the normal state, and we had to exit the game to restore the camera to nominal condition. How the heck did we do that? And don’t say, “It’s one of those camera-settings, noob!” because it’s NOT one of those camera-settings, we’ve tried them all, hundreds of times.

Would it be wrong to publish on our blog the IP addresses of the two people we banned? Their comments have been purged, their IPs smacked with the BRK Ban Hammer, that’s probably enough.

Listen to us now and believe us later. If you’re a leatherworker, start stock piling the mats for Riding Crops. If the PTR change about Riding Crops becoming more like an enchant and no longer a trinket goes live, people are going to be buying the new Riding Crops for their epic ground mount. Don’t make the Riding Crops now, just in case that change doesn’t get implemented, but have the mats for the Riding Crops ready to go. There will be a limited-time to make mondo-gold on this change, so don’t dilly-dally.

New iMacs next Tuesday, foshizzle. Let’s see if we get a better video card in the next revision. We needz a new rig, pronto!