Learn 2 play ... with your pet
by Dan O'Halloran 
Aug 16th 2007 at 10:45AM
I was reading a post on the Hunter forums that asked a simple question: how do I separate my beloved hunter from the millions of huntards out there. The reply was a resounding: learn to play your class. With that in mind, I was excited to find someone had created not one, but two excellent guides to help newbie Hunters with the basics.
Alanoymous of Vek'nilash is responsible for creating both 'A Guide To Choosing A Pet - BC Revised' and the follow up 'A Beginners Guide to Pet Taming, Training and Care.' In the first post, he covers the wide range of pets available for various PvP and PvE situations. He also recommends the best pet in those scenarios. Then in the second post, he talks about what is involved in keeping your new pet happy and well-trained.
If you are looking for more in-depth information about pets and their abilities, you can also check out two well done hunter pet sites: TKASomething and Petopia.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James Stuart Aug 16th 2007 11:07AM
Yeah, so the difference between the vast majority of the hunters and the ones that know how to play their class isn't selection and care of pets (scorpids aside).
It's timing shot rotations. That's all. If you understand and can do that, you're going to be playing your class wall. If not, you're better off auto-afking.
http://elitistjerks.com/f31/t13107-hunter_shot_rotation_illustrated/
As someone else put it, Hunters are the only class who can be drastically messing up their DPS without having any idea or feedback from the game. (.5 casting time auto shot)
Green Armadillo Aug 16th 2007 11:53AM
Now all we need is a way to fix pet leveling. I have a cat on my hunter alt that is the ONLY pet I've ever leveled with (others tame and release to learn skills) and somehow he's lagging 1-2 levels behind me at all times. This is a disaster because growl resists go to crap three levels above the pet, i.e. one level above me, and my girlfriend will kill me if I abandoned our pet that we've had since level 10. :( (No, there isn't a higher level version of the same skin, I checked. ;))
jshtan77 Aug 16th 2007 1:17PM
1st comment is exactly correct. The difference between a good hunter and a huntard is not spec, pet or gear. It's all about proper shot rotation. Even with excellent gear, a hunter DPS WILL BE crap if he doesn't know how to maximize his dps with a good shot rotation. Seeing that the hunter's main role is DPS, if he can't do that, he's not good.
PyroAmos Aug 16th 2007 1:23PM
lol by learn to play your class, they don't mean learn how to chose and care for a pet. They mean learn how to keep something ice trapped indefinatly, do a decent shot rotation (it is obvious who has done research and who hasn't if you look at a dps chart, the diferance is drastic), and learn not to pull agro, and if you do pull agro, what to do (feign death when a mob gets to you is the WRONG answer... if you didn't feign before you draw agro, don't do it after you do and drop the mob on ur healer, or any clothie near you. Scattershot, ice trap if your not ice trapping something else, put ur pet on it if you can't ice trap, last resort, run to the tank so he can taunt it off you, you wear mail, a decent healer can heal you through a few seconds with a mob on you, even in most heroics... of corse all that is avoided if you lrn2play and don't draw agro to start with (watch KTM, when you hit same threat as tank, you feign, you DO NOT wait for the mob to start coming to you. if your really good, you can let yourself go a bit above the tank (unless it has a ability that highest on threat is immune to) god i hate huntards.... its not that bad until you play with a really good one, and see what they can actually do, then you just get pissed at ne sub-par huntard.) in reality, even a beastmasters pet in a party/raid situation doesn't matter much, unless your good at employing it to get a mob off a clothie.
Rich Aug 16th 2007 2:00PM
The only thing the pet teaches you how to maximize your DPS and control your threat gain. If your constantly pulling aggro off your pet, what do you think will happen in a group?
There are things Hunters need to have, learn and eventually master.
Bow and/or guns at max skill for your level.
Your melee weapon at least at 90% of your skill level.
Your defense skill should be maxed.
Know the shot rotation that works best for that situation. Max DPS without pulling aggro. Don't know? Ask another hunter who is familiar with the encounter for the best rotation. A hunter with a crap shot rotation is trouble and will cause alot of repair bills.
Traps. Learn to use them. Know what they are capable of and what situation to use them.
Feign Death. Its your friend, but know when to use it. Just because its off cool down doesn't mean you HAVE to use it.
Practice pulls with 2, then 3 then 4 mobs at 2 or 3 levels before you. When you master that, move up in mob levels until you can handle 4 same level mobs.
Hunters need more than just pets. Its the easiest class to play and master. Yet it has the biggest gulf between good hunters and bad hunters.
Rich Aug 16th 2007 2:00PM
The only thing the pet teaches you how to maximize your DPS and control your threat gain. If your constantly pulling aggro off your pet, what do you think will happen in a group?
There are things Hunters need to have, learn and eventually master.
Bow and/or guns at max skill for your level.
Your melee weapon at least at 90% of your skill level.
Your defense skill should be maxed.
Know the shot rotation that works best for that situation. Max DPS without pulling aggro. Don't know? Ask another hunter who is familiar with the encounter for the best rotation. A hunter with a crap shot rotation is trouble and will cause alot of repair bills.
Traps. Learn to use them. Know what they are capable of and what situation to use them.
Feign Death. Its your friend, but know when to use it. Just because its off cool down doesn't mean you HAVE to use it.
Practice pulls with 2, then 3 then 4 mobs at 2 or 3 levels before you. When you master that, move up in mob levels until you can handle 4 same level mobs.
Hunters need more than just pets. Its the easiest class to play and master. Yet it has the biggest gulf between good hunters and bad hunters.
Lokse Aug 16th 2007 4:24PM
If you consider TKASomething to be a "pet site", then you fail at huntering. The only greater repository for heavy theorycrafting is elitistjerks' forum, and TKASomething has spawned most of the definitive data which EJ uses.
Lokse Aug 16th 2007 4:27PM
If you consider TKASomething to be a "pet site" then you fail at the internets. No other website has been a more valuable repository for people to learn the actual mechanics of how to play a really, really good hunter. ElitistJerks get most of their info from TKASomething (including that illustrated shot rotation guide, which was created by one of TKASomething's most-loved theorycrafters.)
Znodis Aug 16th 2007 5:13PM
Those guides were the reason I created my own. It's way too complex for beginners. Who wants to read through that wall of text when I could tell you:
* boar
* carrion bird
* cat
* owl
* raptor (PTR - 2.2?)*
* ravager
* warp stalker
* windserpent
http://znodis.wordpress.com/guide-choosing-the-right-pet/
I'm also working on a beginner's FAQ:
http://znodis.wordpress.com/beginning-hunter-faq/