Adrenis at DrainingSouls.net asked a very interesting question the other day: Are hunters the most sentimental class?
I was wondering about this recently because I’m questing in Nagrand on Arinelle and I will soon have the option of picking up Hemet’s gun. The problem is that I don’t use guns on her [...] Loud, noisy guns simply don’t fit that persona.
[...] I’m usually willing to do whatever I need to to squeeze out a little bit more damage. Respec? Sure! Drop a 1,000G for some new pants? OK! Equip a gun? … Nope, sorry.
So why is it just my Hunter that I have this strange rule for? I certainly wouldn’t ever turn down a nice fist weapon, or axe on my warrior. Is it the added emotion that comes from having a pet to deal with?
Sentimental isn’t quite the word I would have used, but … I have to admit that I’ve wondered similar things myself many times.
I know that I am particularly drawn to the hunter class in part because of the emotional bond we develop with our pets. (My attempts at playing a warlock inevitably wreck when I realize how much my imp hates me.)
So is it just that the hunter class draws a certain type of player, or is it that when you are playing a hunter you are influenced by the emotional bond with your pet even if you are not normally the sentimental type?
I have a strong bond with my pet in the game. I have a hard time playing other classes simply because I usually feel that I get lonely without a pet. I think its a mix of being able to choose any pet whenever you want, or work towards one that you keep for a long time and then having to feed it. Warlock pets I have no such bond with. Perhaps because demons you cannot name or feed, and you only get a small selection that none you really have to work for, much like camping for a rare pet.
From the time WoW was introduced, I played a priest for almost two years steadily on my server and at some point found it lacking and I started to become frustrated, regardless of the fact that I was really good at that class. I learned a great deal from playing my priest (and a warlock I once had)about micro management, but doing anything alone was a real test of my patience. So, I rolled my hunter and fell in love immediately! I began applying all of the micro managing skills I had learned and modifying them to my hunter. The more I played my hunter, the more I loved this particular class, especially since he is a Night Elf. My love and affection for this class really ranked up after I started acquiring my pets. Soon, I was looking and spending a great deal of time taming each and every rare elite spawn named pet, and even many that were not named, I could find, not just for their skills, but spend some time with them and learn from them in ways that went beyond just learning their special abilities. Many times I found myself deeply saddened that I had to, at some point, let one or more of them go in order to pursue the next set of pets I wanted. Each pet, regardless of its species gained a great deal of my affection for them, some more than others. I would often camp an area for days waiting for that special rare pet to come along and many times I got my rear end handed to me trying to tame them, but once they were at my side, I would sit with them and get a feel of what THEY themselves wanted to be named and what they expected of me in return for their companionship. My special rare spawn pets generally kept their Blizz given names, as I took pride in knowing I had achieved gaining their companionship. Some I even tamed more than once, just to rekindle the friendship with them. Each time I had to let them go, I would release them usually where I had tamed them, especially if they were particularly rare.
Playing my hunter I am very attached and sentimental about my pet companions, especially since I spent the majority of my time leveling alone, save for having my pet with me. The times when my pet would be killed by a mob, usually more than 2 at a time, I would become so furious that I would take the mobs apart with a fury that they would pay for their crime of killing my beloved companion! And so they did! There were times where in doing so cost me my own life because I would refuse to feign death knowing my pet had fallen to protect me … but once I rezzed and got my pet rezzed, I made a point of ensuring that those mobs were dead before I would leave the area!
Two pets in particular that I miss terribly are my white bat, Ressan and my white lion Echeyakee. I worked the hardest for Echey, because I leveled a horde rogue to around level 14 or so in order to summon him for me to tame. I spent 16 hours solid working on this process! But alas, at some point along the way our paths parted and I still miss my Echey more than my words express. As for Ressan, well, he just got so darned BIG! I could have put a saddle on him and had a great mount, but I didn’t think that Ressan would have appreciated that. =-P
I think the hunter class does have more of a unique special quality to it than any other class I’ve played or tried … and the pets have a great deal to do with that. The emotional bond of working so closely with a continuous companion at your side, who never lets you down, is always there for you all the time, and watches out for you, and vice versa for the hunters themselves, makes the hunter class quiet a unique class. Playing my hunter gives me great joy and pride, knowing that I am never alone and that even in raids I have my personal companion right by my side, looking out for me!
As for my experience playing a warlock … I got more irritated than anything else, especially with their summoned creatures. My imp was rude, cold and bitter and down right ugly! I had no bond whatsoever, neither with the summoned creatures nor my warlock. So, after about level 40 I deleted my lock and said good riddance.
My hunter is my main now, my priest is now my second in line …
Happy Hunting to All of my fellow Hunters and Huntresses!
May Elune Light your Paths!
Salem of Lightbringer
my first character was a troll hunter and as soon as i reached lvl 10 I tamed a duroatar tiger. I kept him till lvl 14 when I went to wailing caverns and saw a wind serpent. I was like holy crap i can tame a freaking dragon!!! I dropped my tiger on the spot and tamed a wind serpent who stayed with me all the way to 70. My only regret was not capitalizing the first letter in his name.
Pingback: The Guilt of Being a Raid Slacker | Ravven's Glass