Please forgive me while I wax philosophical for a moment. If you’re looking for the actual content, head for the links at the bottom of this post.
I like to think that I know the facts behind hunter pets pretty well. Ask me how many white bats there are and where to find them, and I can answer as fast as I can type. Ask me which pet family has the most different colors/models available, and I know the answer offhand. Ask me how to calculate the health modifier for a pet family and I’ll give you an immediate, if rather confusing answer. Of course I use Petopia as my extended brain for many of these questions, but that’s what it’s there for!
But there is a lot of stuff about the hunter class that I don’t know, I will never know, and frankly I’m not all that interested in knowing. I’m obsessed with pets alone — I don’t group, I don’t raid, I don’t PvP, I don’t generally solo instances (unless there are pets inside and I’ve got a good 20 levels on all the enemies), I don’t experiment much with different hunter builds, and I don’t pay any attention to equipment. Even my mathematical theorycrafting is limited strictly to figuring out how pets work. So I know relatively little about any of these other important aspects of huntering.
And this is fine, of course. I firmly support the right of any player to play the way that best suits them (at least within Blizzard’s Terms of Use). But in some ways this very narrow focus of mine is a hindrance — because many of you do want to know about these things and for some unknown reason you come here for information.
This has been especially noticeable during this early Wrath of the Lich King beta testing. Yes, I’m in the beta and yes, I leveled a copy of Mania to level 77 already. But as far as knowledgeable impressions, I’m really not the one to ask. I used my trusty cat Cloud (with Prowl turned off because the slowness annoys me), I pot-shotted things and did quests in my normal lackadaisical fashion, and it all seemed fine to me. It wasn’t even until Drotara asked me about my new skills that I realized that I never visited a hunter trainer and so I never trained any skills above 70 … And I still haven’t. I keep forgetting. I’m really bad about stuff like that.
So I feel bad when readers ask me how hunters feel in the beta. It’s really hard for me to give a useful answer. Things seem fine to me but what do I know? I’m weird!
Thankfully more hunters are being invited to the beta as it goes on. And some of them can serve as the kind of overall hunter resource that I’m just not qualified to be. (I still claim the title of hunter pet resource though!) Below is a list of some of the really good stuff I’ve seen so far.
Drotara from Less QQ, More Pew Pew has been posting consistently interesting beta impressions, including some pretty cool videos. He’s best known as a survival hunter, but whether you lean that way or not you should definitely check him out:
- Beta Impressions: Day 1 as Survival and a Death Knight
- Beta Impressions: Day 2 – Ack, where’s my mana and unholy DK grinding.
- Continuing Beta: The Nexus, 5-DK Ramparts and I fail at Fraps!
- Late Night Ramblings: Roar of Sacrifice
- Covering the Beta Weekend
And speaking of videos, Big Red Kitty has been outdoing himself on the video front ever since he made it into the beta. Check out his beta movie library:
This next block is somewhat … well, not second-hand. Hand-and-a-half? Unfortunately batgrl from Warcraft and Other Hooha hasn’t yet received her beta invite from last year’s BlizzCon, but her husband has. And so she’s translating his experiences into written form for our entertainment in her usual sparkling way! Not all of this is hunter-related, but all of it is worth the read.
- Grumbling Over the WotLK Beta
- WotLK Beta: Flamingo Test Taming! And Other Hooha
- WotLK Beta: Poo Quest Report!
- WotLK Beta: Help Track Down These Locations!
Hopefully that will keep you guys busy for a bit while I work on my secret project. *grin* Let me know if I’ve missed something good!
Well said as always! It’s my personal philosophy to NEVER play a game when you don’t like it. Within WoW that most definitely applies. Don’t heal if you don’t like it, don’t DPS if you don’t like it. Don’t read the quests if you don’t like it! I still love coming here, and although it isn’t filled with loads of hunter mumbo-jumbo, it IS the most informative site on possibly the thing which makes hunters unique… their Pets! I love the attention you pay to the pets(and thereby the hunter behind). I wouldn’t have you do anything else! Keep up the good work!
I personally haven’t enjoyed playing my hunter since Burning Crusade came out. Leveling it 1-60 was a blast! My favorite thing was to go around and tame all the rare spawns I could find! And my favorite pet to this day is the infamous Humar. But when BC released, they didn’t add any rare spawn pets really, and that took away the joy of playing my hunter =( I’m all about the pets!
Now that you can spec to tame exotic pets, and my hunter is just the right level to do so, I can’t wait to play her again! I really would LOVE to tame “The Kurken” as an exotic pet but it is still unconfirmed whether it has been implemented to do so or not :(
I love this site, its all about pets, and thats what I’m all about. So don’t feel bad if your focusing on just one aspect of Wotlk.
You’ve made it further than I have – my druid made it to 71 in the alpha and I haven’t played her since, while Nim only hit 72 a couple of days ago. It’s possible that I spend too much time kibbitzing on the beta forums and not enough time actually playing the game :)
Thanks for the links Mania. As always, you’re the greatest, I’ve decided that I’m going to name my first child after you.
On another note…did anyone else notice the lvl65 Devilsaur crit the Clefthoof for over 600 dmg? Also, the moth crit the demon for over 700 dmg two or three times. It’s really going to suck being a clothie in the near future.
You shouldn’t feel bad at all, Mania. No other website comes close to offering Hunter Pet news to the measures that you have. That’s why I, and I’m sure plenty of others, come back here time and time again. :)
I think I’m very much like you in that I prefer to solo and do my own thing most of the time. It’s possibly quite telling that my favourite WoW sites are Petopia, Mania’s Arcania, WarcraftMounts.com, WarcraftPets.com and Els Anglin’. :D
Druid is going feral, that’s that x_x
Hunters were deadly enough! (Though my only 70 is a hunter, lulz.)
That is some LOLWUT damage from moth & devilsaur.
Don’t forget mounts! We count on you for mounts AND pets, Mania! I wouldn’t have found the Wintersaber mount without you! /hugs!
Ahh, I can never keep my third pet. I always have my Vulture and Wolf but never my third pet because theres too many to choose from! Only reason I play hunter is for the pets and its why I read this.
Dammit, don’t tease me. I thought that meant he was tameable :-(
Ah, but it works both ways. I’m hardcore raiding SV and my attention to general information about pets in WotLK is pretty much on the level of “They exist. Cool.” I rely on your more detailed reports to penetrate my personal fog of pet-unknowing and clue me in :)
Secret project??
I must admit when I first started coming here I asked all those hunter questions (pet related but pertaining to the hunter first and foremost) – but I keep coming back because you’ve made me love my pets even more and I love your take on the game and your toons. It’s so refreshing to not just have RAIDMOAR pushed on me all the time. WOW is so much more!
Whilst I find this is without a doubt the best and ultimate resource for hunter pets in all of the WoW gaming community I would have to disagree with your sentiments in a fashion.
A hunter can be a hunter without a pet (and raiding often leads to early pet demise) but a pet cannot be without a hunter. Therefore to know all there is about pets is to play them via the hunter in all the aspects of the game. I can tell you for sure there is a whole wide world of difference in using a pet in pvp, non-heroic, heroic and raid instances! Knowing how the pets interact with encounters will give you a greater understanding of how good a pet is and where its strengths and weaknesses lie. So if you truly wish to be the officionado of petdom then I would recommend trying these aspects with your pet to then use an informed judgement.
That being said… the effort and work you do put into this site is very much appreciated nonetheless!
Anyone seen Grunter outside Nethergarde Keep? I looked just for old times sakes but he doesn’t seem to be around. With the low population in the area I’d expect him to last all day.
MANIA HOW DO I TAKE SCREENSHOTS AND GET IN THE BETA PLEASEEEE TELL ME I REALLY WANNA GO INTO IT
I completely disagree with you, Drina. A hunter is not a hunter without a pet. That is a DEFINING measure of our class. And that is honestly one reason there are so many bad hunters our there. Mania does an excellent job at what she does even without those aspects. I should know, I’ve tried every aspect of the game as my hunter. The differences aren’t as great as you’d imagine, and honestly aren’t that hard to learn. Raids are fairly easy, either you get your pet out of the way of X attack or you rez them when things calm down. In raids and heroics your pet really is just an extension of your DPS, and not meant to offtank or anything. PvP, well, its a matter of paying attention and sicing your pet on the best possible target, a healer or a caster, or another hunter. Or a druid. My god put them on restoration druids to distract the stupid things. Soloing instances is just a matter of keeping aggro on your pet, and off of you, and keeping him/her alive. That ones fairly gear and level dependant.
In the end, Mania is THE Officiando of hunter pets. The enviroment she can and does test pets in gives a great overall view of what pets are capable of. I don’t come here so I can find out how to play my hunter, I learned that over the course of three or so odd years. I don’t come here to see how to use my pets. I come here for pet information, and honestly because I like most of the people who post. Everything else I can figure out on my own. So, as usual, THANK YOU, Mania, for eveerything you do.
Mania, i’ve been hunter as a main class for over 2 years now. If ever i need to know something about pets i come here and always will continue to.
If i want to know the ins and outs of shot rotations, theory crafting and specifics like that, there is the happy geeks at elitest jerks to go to. (Geeks in the nicest of terms)
PETopia. Not HUNTERopia.
We tame the pets we can in game, and we know what we do about pets in game because your site and the people that contribute to it lets us know about it.
I must say that normally I don’t read the blog sections, but within the past several weeks or so I check in everyday to see if there is something new. I must agree with what you have done for pets opened up my eyes to their possibilities. I myself just went for looks, I was happy with my Albino Croc with the red eyes, but I wasn’t happy with the fact that he didn’t have much in the way of skills. I love the cats so I saw they were great for dps, I was like oh even better, & tamed the one that I thought looked the best. I even went & tamed one of the multicolored birds from Sethekk Halls & named her LadyHawk.
With that out of the way I would like to ask the ppl that do come here not to post comments like this.
“Featherkitty – MANIA HOW DO I TAKE SCREENSHOTS AND GET IN THE BETA PLEASEEEE TELL ME I REALLY WANNA GO INTO IT” I feel like that they are yelling at you needlessly for information that is widely available & asking for something that you can not give, unless your a Dev. :)~
Featherkitty – to answer your question you press the Print Scr button on your keyboard usually it is to the right of your F11 or F12 key. To view it you go to my computer, click on your hard drive usually its the C drive, click on program files, then scroll down if you need to & open up the World of Warcraft folder. Inside you’ll see a bunch of other folders look for the one labeled Screenshots open it & you’ll find all of the screenshots that you have taken in game & only in the game. If you want screenshots of whatever is on your desktop not in the game, then after you press the Print scr button open up Paint & press Ctrl + V to paste the screenshot you just took onto the blank page, then save it. To get into the beta you sign up for it, & if your lucky you’ll receive an email with how to join it. I think Mania is doing a great job with keeping us all up to date on the pet situation in Beta. I’m hoping that a hunter will suggest several changes to the class in the Hunter Beta forums since the blues actually respond there, & don’t seem to bother looking at the normal hunter forums anymore. Like 1. Asking to have scattershot removed from the talents & to have it become a trainer taught skill for all hunters to utilize. That in its place there would two talent points for imp scatter shot reducing the cooldown by 5secs per point placed. 2. Asking for the infamous knockback skill whether it knocks your target back or you push yourself away like a jump back but by 20yds, with a 20sec-30sec cooldown. Hopefully the cooldown would be the same as Intercept & Shadowstep. No this knockback or pushback would not be overpowered, as the melee classes have a lot of ways to get back in melee again. Just something to help hunters deal with the problems we face.
Mania, you’ll never know how happy I was to find you when I started my first toon, a hunter. And you’ll never know how much better I felt being a “lone” hunter who wasn’t into raids, or PVP or battlegrounds. I, too, will do instances when I feel my higher level will keep me from dying every other second. lol
Do I wish I could get that really terrific bow that you need PVP points or marks for? Sure. But I do the best I can with drops and AH and enjoy finding out just how far I can take Ghost and not feel like a “huntard” because I’m not that skilled and frankly can’t see through those Taurens to keep up with my guildies (who are so nice to schlepp me along if I really need something for rep).
My independent spirit and toon salute you. You have helped me more in-game (and not just pets) by your comments than you will ever know.
Ya i no i dont need to yell i just need information
Mania, you’re exactly how I am. So for me, you always have the “feel” of a hunter questions answered already =)
As a random note question though, i wonder if they’ll do wrath like they did TBC. By that I mean release the talents early. I wouldnt mind trying out some of that stuff prior to Wrath but hey either way is a win.
I’ve always been unfairly bias toward pets, and have had EVERY rare hard to get pet there is. But I do know all aspects of my class, though for the first part of WOW I was more PVP and raiding then I do since BC. BC sorta crushed my guild into choosing between hunters and mages to fill such small slots they only ended up bringing one hunter mostly for lewt. Despite the fact that when I was there, without really trying, I was always top dps with crappier gear. So aside from the random kara I stopped raiding and went farming… >.> So I can feel with teh lone hunter thing, but I’ve played all sides, and I can hold my own in all aspects and arguments related to hunters. As I’ve done it all, at least once.
In Beta I have been lollygagging my way through quests, mostly favoring the ones that m ake you kill x number of the same mobs. I’ve done a few others, but I hate quest that make we walk here to find item a and bring it back so he can send me back to get item b blech.
Hunters in Beta r fine! There are some changes I hate; KC command rank 1 being one, mana regen being another, some I love; exotic pets ftw, and auto shot not getting clipped ftw. But I have only been BM for the majority of my WOW life, even when spirit bond was the end talent. I was survival for about 10 seconds, not my preference, nor was MM, the whole 3 dps a second boost of my end talent (Trueshot) was not worth it to me. I became hunter because I could chose any pet from like hundreds and name it and make it my own. Talents DEFIANTLY help me feel more like my pet is MINE, and not just one pet 2000000 other people h ave the exact same of. Though I’d prefer having all trees open to me and me to chose which I wanted it ot be… but oh well.
I wish I had a beta key. I could help with saying how Hunters play in the Beta. I’m an experience Raider and know my place in parties.
Lot of players turn down hunters cause they, just don’t know how to handle themselves, or their pets. Sending it off, pulling more ad’s, or having it go after what it shouldn’t (traped, stunned, shackled etc) However I’ve earned enough respect from several guilds to be counted as an extra on their raids or normal runs when they need it cause unlike some, I do know when it’s best to keep my instance running kitty by my side for a battle and when to send it in and onto what target.
One such guild refuses to let their only hunter; who is much better geared then I am; into their raids cause he just can not keep his pet at bay. Think cause he does a lot of PVP and jjust outs it on aggressive and forgets it and tried the same in raids and it just don’t work.
When I go to fix a car I use a wrench not a hammer… unless is a Ugo.
same for this. When I feel like gouging my eyes out, I got to the hunter forums.
Info on pets? I come here.
Whew, so that’s why my site stats went insane! Hee hee! My first reaction is always “uh oh, what did I do???”
I’m still not in the beta myself, and it’s still very hard to be in the same room with someone playing it, only not be in it. (Envy envy!) I’m loving the idea that I no longer have to stay with just two pets (was always too nervous to try juggling three). And I’m REALLY into the idea that there will be many more hunters around me with a variety of pets. I know some folks are bummed about a unique pet not seeming so unique if you didn’t level it up from a pup of lvl 5 or so – but look at it this way, there will be more of that great pet that you love looking at. It still won’t be the same as your pet, that’s always going to be yours and frankly I’m still kinda proud at getting my flamingo from lvl 9 up to 69 (does hitting 70 take forever or is that just me?!). There’s much of playing a hunter that’s a solo game, and I find it totally satisfying.
Actually, that’s why I keep coming back to my hunter, again and again. It’s not the class I know best, I’m not even sure I play it well, but there are SO many interesting variations and tricks to it. I think that the ability to find new things in the class and the pet mechanism is part of what’s kept Wow fresh for me for so long. And with the look of the Beta – it’s almost as though we’re getting a whole new class of hunter. Much is familiar, but wow – mag wheels, racing stripes, 0-100mph in 4 sec – an exciting upgrade, and you get to tinker with a new setup!
Now if I could just put armor on my flamingo I’d be set.
(Admit it, that would be SO fun!)
It’s SO hard to report back from the Beta, because there is SO much to see! Nevermind the new things the trainers teach you – I’m pestering my poor husband so much just to wander around SW and look at the new areas. Which reminds me, I need to work on getting more screenshots!
Dang, forgot to mention that I am now wildly curious about the secret project!!!!
Nimizar: “It’s possible that I spend too much time kibbitzing on the beta forums and not enough time actually playing the game :)”
Maybe, but your comments and analysises (new word? :P) on the forums are very appreciated (just look at how pet focus changed with your help ^^).
@Palladiamors: Agree with you there.
@Mania: Keep up the good work. ^^
Id like to take this opportunity to plug The Hunting Lodge, a blog/community site about hunters (and all aspects). It is the home of the infamous “Cheeky’s Spreadsheet” (now maintained by Wertez), as well as some forums which have many different areas where you can discuss ANYTHING related to hunters.
http://www.brigwyn.com
Hate to burst your bubble, Kindinos, but we can talk about anything related to hunters here, too. Even if Mania doesn’t know the answer, some one in her blog readers will. That being said, some people here might find it to be a nice rescource for their more immediate hunter needs.
Indeed Mania, without Petopia, it’s possible there would be no Tawyn & Tux. BRK and Hunter’s Mark were the first blogs that I found, but the first WoW site I ever visited was Petopia, as a shiny new level 10 hunter, scouring the site for hours on end trying to decide on the perfect pet.
And look where I am now, with about a million hunter alts and a blog.
I’m blaming you for my hunter obsession!! =P And since I love my obsession, the “blame” turns into a giant “thank you”. Keep up the good work!
“I’m weird!”
I disagree
lol
I think you’re one of the coolest hunters out there!
And even tho i’m not a big fan of dwarf hunters *grin*
I love reading your blog because of it’s accurate information about pets.
Pets are a really important asset of the hunter class.
So i would indeed consider you a person that gives the beta good feedback
relax
and don’t beat yourself up
=P
This is not related to WOTLK, but I am so bummed and I thought I would go to the experts. :o)
I had stabled my level 67 dragonhawk Tranquil that I tamed from the Tranquillen flight master, over the weekend to do BG’s with a guildie, last night when I went back to grind her some more to get her to 70, she wouldn’t come out of the stable. has anyone else experienced this problem?
I opened a ticket with the GM, but they didn’t get back to me fast enough last night before I went to bed. I had an email from blizzard this morning directing me to the website to help me with the issue, but it appears to be down. I am so bummed, and don’t know how to fix it.
I am right behind you there, Mania!
For your info, I have quoated part of what you said here, if that is okay with you.
Mania’s playstyle
Bravo to you, Mania, and all that you do. Not all of us can raid extensively due to time constraints. In the end, it’s a game, and a game should be enjoyable. How a player finds enjoyment out of a game is going to be as unique as the player.
I am not so different as you, actually. I love the website and the posts because to me, my pets are what make me stand out. My gear, sadly, never will. Their is a very awesome feeling, however, when you run around an alliance town with a Springpaw Stalker (that your wonderful website clued me in on) and having a dozen whispers to the effect of “whoa that cat is awesome where did you get that?” on my Drae hunter. That unique (for alliance) cat is my gear of pride on my PVP realm because it’s not around the corner from Bloodmyst Isle to go and get! lol
Thank you for being the type of player that you are, without that, we would have no Petopia, which would be a sad thing indeed.
Amewen, what do you mean won’t come out? As in you can’t drag her into your active slot, or that you can’t interact with her at all? Sometimes I get a weird glitch where I can sort of interact with the stable master and flight master, but I can’t actually DO anything, like take off or pull out my pets. Usually moving away until the window closes itself, and then moving back in fixes it for me, but sometimes I have to restart my computer.
When I put her in my active stable slot, she doesn’t doesn’t appear next to me. no toolbar or anything. it’s like I have all 3 pets stabled. I did try to log out and log back in, but it still didn’t work. it is so strange. I can put her picture back into the stabled section, and pull out one of my 2 cats, and they show up like always, standing next to me. It’s like she is too shy to come out. very frustrating, I am at work at the momenet, but I have asked my daughter to log in and try to get her out for me.
Very strange, it is fixed, and all is well with Tranquil. Sorry to bug you guys about this. my daughter pulled her out of the stable and when she didn’t appear, whistled for her, and she appeared. I have never had that happen before.
Mania – thanks for the epic web site. I love all of the information that you have about pets!!! There is all the pictures and then the stats and then where you can find them, thier abilities (and now talents) and then links to other sites too. You make being a hunter more enjoyable by providing this site!!
Thanks for all you do!!!!!!
Amewen – I think I read that as being a bug that sometimes occurs when you play with the stable while mounted. I think it can be fixed by opening your stable again and shuffling your active and stabled pets around all of the slots. Eventually they get properly synched up again.
Amewen – I had that happen to me once too! Was extremely frustrating because I tried everything I could think of. I finally decided to relog and see if that helped, but first I screenshot as many angles of the problem as possible, in hopes that I could prove that I’d lost the pet, and what level it was. A full restart helped and things went back to normal. This happened to me right after one of the patches and I thought that had something to do with it – but I can’t remember whether I was mounted or not, so Murajin may have the right idea there.
And I should mention my blog wouldn’t exisit without this site either!
(Darnit, I keep forgetting to mention these things! I should actually USE that preview button!)
I would like to congratulate you Mania for such a big help! You’ve offered to me, many useful information regarding Pets.
I read your blog daily and I love it! Every single information you add regarding Pets, it’s brilliant and always nice to know.
Keep up the good work hun. :)
-Female NE Hunter of Eonar EU-
Mania, it is the fact that you do not raid, group, or even keep up on training that makes you such a useful and helpful resource on hunter pets. You provide the WoW hunter community with objective information about our all important companions. Petopia’s unbiased presentation of data provides hunters with the information they need to decide what is best for them. And then some of them share their conclusions and experiences on their own sites and blogs, further expanding the incredible hunter community that so many of us have come to rely on.
Yep, it all starts with the Mania and Petopia!