Specializing heavily in Beast Mastery is commonly known to be the most efficient way of leveling a hunter, enough that players usually refer it to as \’easy mode.\’ This tree strengthens a hunter\’s pet in terms of damage per second and survivability. One disadvantage of Beast Mastery that carries through the game is that it\’s highly dependent on the hunter pet. If the pet dies, there isn\’t really a good way to bring it back under heavy pressure.

Most recently, Beast Mastery has been outpaced at raiding and player versus player by the other two talent trees, Marksmanship and Survivability. Even under ideal conditions and with ideal equipment, Beast Mastery just isn\’t as effective, long-term, as it used to be.

The Marksmanship talent tree is popular in raiding and great for fighting other players. Specializing at least a little in this talent tree will increase the power of your ranged attacks. This fact makes nearly every hunter put about 14 points in Marksmanship. Maxing out Lethal Shots, Careful Aim, Mortal Shots, and Go for the Throat are considered mandatory in any build.

Even though Survival is not the most recommended talent build to level up a Hunter, it becomes more powerful in end-game instances and against other players. Usually, talents like Replenishment help out the other players in a raid with mana management. Explosive Shot is the final talent in the Survival tree and well worth the additional points.

The Hunter character is one of the most popular classes in World of Warcraft. There are a lot of different builds that can be utilized through the talent tree.

If you need to stay current on the best hunter talents, scan the Warcraft forums and always check the patch notes to see how changes to the game will affect your build.

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Totem Talk is the column for shamans. This installment sees Matthew Rossi contemplating the incoming influx of gear and how current itemization affects shamans. Also, sorry but you get Alliance shamans this week. I can’t wait until I can race change to a dwarf. The thing is this: I hate doing gear lists. My editors (I like to imagine them as an old Marvel Comics cosmic entity like The Living Tribunal) quite rightly point out to me from time to time that with Patch 3.3 so close, we’re effectively at the end of Wrath of the Lich King and therefore all sorts of new loot will be entering the game. Loot from the new five mans at Ulduar 10/25 quality! Loot from the new raid exceeding all previous iLevels! We’ll be awash in the best gear we’ll ever see until Cataclysm drops and we start it all over again. And of course they’re right. It helps me to accept this if I imagine that cosmic entity spinning a giant head around with different faces on it like Reliquary of Souls . (No, sorry, we didn’t call it Reliquary of Souls all those weeks just to be corrected by Blizzard. Heck, you guys even brought it back in Icecrown.) The next couple of weeks, however, I’m going to look not at gear but at itemization itself and how it interacts with shamans. I was inspired by the change to Elemental Mastery , the talent in the elemental combat tree that currently grants 15% crit when activated as well as making your next spell instant cast. On the surface, this doesn’t look like a bad talent all told, so why would we even want to change it? Because of the way shaman talents and spells interact, an extra 15% chance to crit is somewhat useless to an elemental shaman. Specifically, we’re talking about Flame Shock and Lava Burst . Because of these two spells and their interaction, elemental shamans can basically crit every eight seconds or so. They can guarantee an Elemental Focus clearcasting state to reduce mana cost by 40%. Stacking crit doesn’t really do anything for them: they’re going to crit anyway. Most of the elemental tree has synergy with spell haste in comparison, with abilities like Lightning Mastery and Storm, Earth and Fire already reducing cast time on various spells. Continue reading Totem Talk: Shaman Itemization resists a clever title Filed under: Shaman , The Burning Crusade , (Shaman) Totem Talk , Wrath of the Lich King , Cataclysm Totem Talk: Shaman Itemization resists a clever title originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

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Totem Talk: Shaman Itemization resists a clever title

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The Care and Feeding of Warriors is about tree sloths. Why do you do this to me? We all know it’s about warriors as written by an extremely hairy man who crouches in a dark corner of his apartment muttering about block value vs block rating until his wife hits him with the hose. Matthew Rossi fears the hose. Completely unrelated to anything even tangentially warrior in WoW: Dragon Skin Armor . We’re one step closer to gigantic magical battle axes being viable in modern warfare. Since it’s a holiday in the States (which I’m from, although not currently residing in) and because I’ll take any excuse to gorge myself on turkey flesh and loll around in a swollen food coma (like, say, last week, when I used the fact that I’d washed red clothing with white clothing and now have a lovely pair of bright pink underwear and I don’t care if you know ) I thought this week we could compile a list of things we, as warriors, can be grateful for. If it’s really an issue for you, assume it’s Pilgrim’s Bounty of something. Anyway, let’s you and I get our best grateful faces on (that’s me being grateful up there, in case you couldn’t tell) and discuss things we as warriors can appreciate. Charge / Intercept / Intervene – I’m not sure what people in Azeroth actually pray to when they pray to the Light… it seems like an abstract benevolence slightly akin to the Force from the Star Wars series…but whatever it is, thanks for Charge and its iterations, boy howdy. No other ability can be seen to be as iconic and representative of a class (only Death Grip and Totems come close) as the warrior ability to get from point A to point B in order to put point C into something, or prevent point D from going into that helpful person in a leather miniskirt or what have you. Continue reading The Care and Feeding of Warriors: A Warrior’s Bounty Filed under: Warrior , Analysis / Opinion , The Burning Crusade , (Warrior) The Care and Feeding of Warriors , Wrath of the Lich King , Cataclysm The Care and Feeding of Warriors: A Warrior’s Bounty originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

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The Care and Feeding of Warriors: A Warrior’s Bounty

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Every week, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, we examine the issue of effective health in more depth . We’ve discussed in the previous column why effective health is important; here, we’re going to discuss why it’s not as important as you might think if you had nothing beyond the collective opinion of the Tanking forum to go on. While this has something to do with the mob mentality of the forums themselves, it has more to do with how the concept of effective health isn’t usually placed in context. Tank death on hard modes is quickly attributed to EH discrepancies, with rather less discussion on encounter mechanics, inappropriate gear, or that great but frequently unacknowledged bugaboo — player error. It is for this that I say effective health needs to die. What is effective health? I neglected to put some hard numbers on this in the last article, but calculating base effective health is actually pretty simple. It’s your health as modified by the damage you’ll take after armor contribution (AC), or Health / (1 – AC%). A 50,000 health tank with 25% armor contribution has 66,666.67 effective health (50,000 / 0.75). A 50,000 health tank with 50% armor contribution has 100,000 effective health (50,000 / 0.5). A 50,000 health tank with 75% armor contribution (the maximum functional AC) has 200,000 effective health (50,000 / .25). Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: Why effective health needs to die, part 2 Filed under: Druid , Analysis / Opinion , Features , Raiding , Classes , (Druid) Shifting Perspectives Shifting Perspectives: Why effective health needs to die, part 2 originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

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Shifting Perspectives: Why effective health needs to die, part 2

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Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low , the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI , a WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the idea of using spells based around procs or on-use trinkets. Now I don’t know about you, but I sometimes tend to forget that I have these on-use abilities. Other times I never notice procs going off. But first, what is a proc anyway? A proc is short for procedure. They are events that happen when conditions are triggered. For example, Val’anyr will trigger a buff for the user when they heal players. This buff then grants the player to place shields on anyone they heal. Continue reading Raid Rx: Maximizing the proc Filed under: Items , (Raid Healing) Raid Rx Raid Rx: Maximizing the proc originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

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Raid Rx: Maximizing the proc

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Blood Pact is your weekly warlock digest brought to you by Dominic Hobbs . “A succubus is a devourer of souls, destroyer of hearts, tempter of men. A creature of profound evil and of singular mind. It cannot be brought into our world without a stimulus.” ~ Gan’rul Bloodeye Previously in ‘Meet the minions’ we have looked at the imp and the voidwalker as well as how to manage your minions and your threat . In this installment our demon of choice is the succubus and the game mechanic is crowd control; fear, seduce, howl, banish and a svelte demon with wings. But before I delve in I need to clarify something to Blood Pact readers. For a while now I’ve had a demon trying to whisper words of doubt into my ear. He’s been telling me that Blood Pact readers want PvP info in the column, that they cry out for it, they yearn for it, they need it; and that I can’t deliver any. It’s true that my knowledge and experience of PvP pretty much extends as far as being able to smell it early enough to avoid it. Don’t get me wrong, I love researching for Blood Pact but in this case I’m not going to try, and for two reasons. First, nobody who cares about warlock PvP wants to have me school them on it, and second we have some first rate PvP experts at WoW.com who can do it better. So I’ve sent the demon packing (literally; don’t be surprised if you find more than the normal number of broken biscuits in future packets) and have started a campaign to convince our arena and battleground columnists to get with some lock love. So enough with the preamble, lets get on with the show. Continue reading Blood Pact: Meet the minions, part 3 – the succubus and crowd control, page 1 Filed under: Warlock , Analysis / Opinion , Tips , Tricks , How-tos , Leveling , Guides , (Warlock) Blood Pact Blood Pact: Meet the minions, part 3 – the succubus and crowd control, page 1 originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

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Blood Pact: Meet the minions, part 3 – the succubus and crowd control, page 1

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Every week (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI , a UI and addons blog for WoW. Once in a while, I’ll get a question in the mail from a reader that goes something like this: Dear Matt, There’s a priest who has recently joined our guild. I’m not sure if he’s doing the right things. His HPS doesn’t seem to be where our other healers are at. His overhealing seems to be a little bit high. I’m not sure if I’m reading it right and I was hoping you could tell me how you evaluate the priests (or healers) that are in your guild . Am I supposed to be using numbers as a solid way to see how good they are? Sincerely, Dazed from healing In this week’s Spiritual Guidance, I’ll walk you through how I evaluate priests who join my guild. I’ll go over the best times to get impressions, what I look for specifically, and how I deliver the necessary feedback. We’ll go all the way from application through to raid insertion. Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: How to critique a priest without making them cry Filed under: Priest , Analysis / Opinion , (Priest) Spiritual Guidance Spiritual Guidance: How to critique a priest without making them cry originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

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Spiritual Guidance: How to critique a priest without making them cry

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Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the rogue class. This week, we talk about leveling a rogue from level 71 to level 80. Your goal is firmly in sight: your rogue is ready to being his or her assault upon the Lich King’s lands. With only a fleeting few levels between you and the level cap, these last few minutes are among the most important in your rogue’s development. With nearly every trick available and our DPS rotations fleshed out, your rogue will be feeling more and more like the level 80 you are about to become. All three talent trees are fairly viable for leveling, and so this is by far the most flexible period of the leveling process. As I mentioned in the last installment , experimenting with different specs, rotations, and playstyles will only become harder and harder to do once you reach level 80. During these important formative levels, max out your respect costs and give every build a fair shake. You’ll be a better rogue for it in the end. Continue reading Encrypted Text: Leveling a rogue, level 71-80 Filed under: Rogue , Leveling , (Rogue) Encrypted Text Encrypted Text: Leveling a rogue, level 71-80 originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

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Encrypted Text: Leveling a rogue, level 71-80

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And so we find ourselves at the threshold of another Arcane Brilliance , the weekly mage column that conjures the very best the world of magic and mystery has to offer, then sets it on fire and hurls it at a warlock . Something I wanted to throw out there before we begin: I’m lazy. It’s difficult to find pictures every week for this column. Thus, I no longer wish to do it. Therefore, I am extending an open invitation to you, my fellow mages everywhere, to do my job for me. I formally request–nay, demand –your screenshots. That’s right: if you ever had the desire to see your mage featured prominently at the beginning of a sentient, warlock-hating mage column, this is your chance. Ground rules: Mage-pictures only. If you try to slip in a picture of a warlock and pass it off as a mage, I will hack your Twitter account and then make a series of embarrassing tweets on it, like “My genital fungus really burns today…I wonder if I’ve been scratching it too much,” “Quick tip, everybody: bacne + shaving back-hair = an awful way to spend a weekend,” or “I firmly believe that Michael Bay is the genius of our time.” In-game screenshots that you personally captured only . No character names visible, and no hud, please. Use Alt-Z before you take your screenshot. Nothing vulgar. No matter how much I’d like to see a picture of you doing something obscene to the corpse of that warlock you just killed, I can’t use it. Also, I have a wife and two small children. Try not to send me anything that will scar them permanently should they be in the room when I open it. Send all screenshots to the following email address: arcanebrilliancepics@yahoo.com . Also, title them with something simple and appropriate, like “mage screenshot,” so I don’t think they’re spam. Other than the above limitations, I don’t care what you send. I can use just about anything. Low-level mages, high-level mages, cool looking spells, action shots, funny stuff…chances are I can find a use for just about anything you send me. And with that out of the way, we’re ready to begin this week’s installment of our ongoing mage leveling guide . Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Mage leveling guide, 41 to Outland Filed under: Mage , Analysis / Opinion , Tips , Features , Leveling , Guides , Classes , (Mage) Arcane Brilliance Arcane Brilliance: Mage leveling guide, 41 to Outland originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

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Arcane Brilliance: Mage leveling guide, 41 to Outland

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Welcome to the latest Arcane Brilliance , the weekly mage column that is your absolute best source for all things mage. Leveling guides? Talent spec guides? Loot guides? PvP guides? Profession guides? Random, vindictive, mean-spirited, and wholly superfluous warlock -bashing? Check, check, check, check, check, and CHECK. Arcane Brilliance has all your mage needs covered. And the leveling parade continues! Your mage is level 30 and you’ve grown in your mastery of the magical arts. Your Fireballs are now significantly more likely to set your enemies aflame than they are to go off in your face, you now arrive at your teleport destinations with your extremities more or less intact, and small children no longer cry at the sight of the pastries you conjure. In celebration of our new-found competence, we’ll be changing the content of these leveling columns a bit. We’ll no longer be giving each two-level gap its own blurb. Instead, we’ll be covering each new spell as it comes, and every major milestone at the appropriate point. If that means that more than two levels go by without a specific shout-out in the text, so be it. Enough preamble. Read on and we’ll see how it goes. If it’s terrible, we all know I’ll just blame warlocks. Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Mage leveling guide 31-40 Filed under: Mage , Analysis / Opinion , Tips , Features , Leveling , Guides , Classes , Talents , (Mage) Arcane Brilliance Arcane Brilliance: Mage leveling guide 31-40 originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments

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Arcane Brilliance: Mage leveling guide 31-40