Scattered Shots: Best-in-slot hunter gear for Cataclysm
by Brian Wood 
Jan 27th 2011 at 9:00AM
Loot week continues here at Scattered Shots, and in Cataclysm, all loot is hunter loot! Whether it's a brand new gun to blow the face off of dragons or a decorative mace to put over your hearth, anything purple was put in the game for hunters to claim.
On Monday, we discussed hunter trinkets in depth. Today, we're going to take a broader view and look at our best loot options slot by slot. We're going to be considering everything that drops from current normal-mode raid content, as well as what we can purchase with our valor points.
As always, we are not going to consider PvP options. With the massive increase in the value of agility that Cataclysm brought to us, the PvP set is shockingly attractive; however, the agility it provides is being nerfed on the PTR right now. Clearly, Blizzard doesn't want you to have to run arenas or rated battlegrounds just to build your optimal raid set (we'll see how successful they are at that).
Join me after the cut as we dig into the giant pile of loot available to us and mourn the lack of any hunter gun drops in raids.
Lightning-Charged tier 11 set
The new hunter set continues the theme of breaking the "stalker" theme, and one of the first questions we always have is whether the set is worth going for. Typicall,y what we see with set armor is that each individual piece is slightly worse than the alternative raid drops; however, the set bonus usually makes the set worth going for.
Not so in Cataclysm. For most slots, our set pieces are actually better than the alternative drops for that slot, even without the set bonus. This is primarily because our set pieces are giving us a better socket bonus (agility) and better-colored sockets. So while the generic raid drop might have a blue socket with a 20 haste socket bonus, the set piece has a yellow socket with a 20 agility bonus.
Of course, we're also benefiting from socket bonus as well, as we've discussed before. Note that Blizzard is experimenting with a change to the four-piece set bonus on the PTR right now (currently the PTR version favors BM/MM).
For most slots, our set piece is the best choice. There are a couple of slots for which it's up in the air, depending on your hit balance, and I'll be pointing those out. However, you do want to pursue your four-piece set bonus, so that means of the five Lightning-Charged set pieces, you only want to skip one. However, it's not a bad thing if you end up with all five set pieces, unlike expansions past.
What to buy first?
More than any other right now, the question that is filling my inbox is "What should I buy first with my valor points?" Alas, the answer is that you should get whatever is the largest upgrade per valor point. I can't tell you what the largest upgrade is for you!
While our set bonus is nice, it's not such a huge thing that we really want to get it as soon as we can. It can wait. So if you have a particularly low ilvl piece of gear, replace that first. If you like the look of the shoulders, replace that first. But your best bet is to go for the biggest upgrade per valor point, with an eye to eventually completing the set.
Head
Our head slot has one of our delightful set pieces, the Lightning-Charged Headguard. To get this piece, you actually need the token drop from Nefarian himself, but it is well worth it. We are sharing a token with warriors and shamans, so that is your competition. For the engineers out there it's worth noting that yes, this is better than your engineering goggles.
Neck
Our best neck item is the Necklace of Strife that drops from Theralion and Valiona, the second boss encounter in the Bastion of Twilight.
Shoulders
We have two options for the shoulder slot, depending on our hit balance. The Lightning-Charged Spaulders are going to be the best shoulder slot item for any hunters needing the hit rating, and we get them from an armor token dropped by Cho'gal, the fourth boss encounter in the Bastion of Twilight. However, if you don't need the hit -- and you probably do not -- then you'll prefer the Spaulders of the Scarred Lady that drop from Nefarian.
Happily, with reforging, even if you don't need the hit, you won't necessarily be wasting that itemization.
Back
The best hunter cloak is the Viewless Wings that can be purchased for the low price of 1,250 valor points. Interestingly, there is also another cloak with exactly identical stats, Dory's Finery, which looks like a world drop from any heroic or raid instance. Dory's Finery is BoE, so you may be able to pick it up on the AH for an outrageous sum and save your valor points for something else.
Chest
Our chest slot is the second place where we may not want to go with the set piece. Our Lightning-Charged Tunic is still a good choice, and in this case, we can just purchase it for 2,200 valor points. However, if you need more hit rating, you can pursue the Tunic of Failed Experiments and its 228 hit, which drops from Maloriak in Blackwing Descent.
Wrists
The Chimaron Armguards are our best, and in fact our only, wrist drop. They drop off of Chimaeron in Blackwing Descent, so you're really depending on your healers to get them for you.
Hands
Nothing will protect our hands quite so well as our Lightning-Charged Gloves, available from your friendly valor vendor for 1,650 valor points.
Waist
The best hunter waist option is the brilliantly named Coil of Ten-Thousand Screams, dropping from Cho'gall in the Bastion of Twilight. The gem socket makes it a better choice than the leatherworking-craftable Corded Viper Belt, but if you have the funds, the Corded Viper Belt can certainly carry you over until you get the drop.
Legs
Once again, we're sticking with our trusty set piece, the Lightning-Charged Legguards, available for purchase for 2,200 valor points.
Feet
Interestingly, the most fashionable footware for hunters doesn't come from a raid, but instead is actually the Treads of Malorne from exalted reputation with the Guardians of Hyjal.
Rings
Hunters are a bit boned on the ring front. We do not have a valor point ring option, unlike every other class, as far as I can tell. Our ring choices are a bit odd, actually. Certainly for one of our ring slots, we want the Lightning Conductor Band that drops from the Omnotron Defense System in Blackwing Descent.
Our second choice is the Mistral Circle, which drops from the Conclave of Four Winds in the Throne of Four Winds. If and when Mistral Circle drops, it has one of four random stat combinations. All of them have 190 agility and then 126 of two random secondary stats. Ideally, we probably wan the hit/crit version (Mistral Circle of the Stormblast), but any version with crit will work fine for us. We do not want the haste/mastery version (Mistral Circle of the Zephyr).
Trinkets
We discussed trinkets in detail on Monday. Suffice to say here that our best trinkets are the amazing Fluid Death, available for 1,650 valor points, and Essence of the Cyclone, which drops from Halfus Wyrmbreaker in the Bastion of Twilight.
Melee
Interestingly, Cataclysm does not have a whole lot of two-handed agility options for us in raid content, and those two-handers remain superior to dual-wielding one-handers for us. Malevolence from Halfus Wyrmbreaker is the melee weapon of choice that all the fashion-forward hunters will be sporting this season.
Ranged
Our ranged weapon choices is an appalling atrocity against an entire race -- there are no hunter gun drops in the entire tier of raid content. Silly bows? Sure. Crossbows? Yup. Guns? Only for tanks. This is a tragedy, my friends.
If you are race that doesn't care what kind of ranged weapon you use, the best option is the Dragonheart Piercer crossbow that drops from the Theralion and Varliona encounter in the Bastion of Twilight. If you're a troll, you will prefer the Themios the Darkbringer bow dropping from Atramedes in Blackwing Descent.
Finally, if you are a dwarf -- and this is so sad, yet again -- your best ranged weapon is the Crossfire Carbine heroic ilvl 372 version. It's a BoE, so you don't need to be doing heroic content to get it; just keep looking for it on the AH. Yes, it's a tank weapon with strength on it, and yes, it's much faster -- but it's still going to increase a dwarf's DPS more than any other ilvl 359 or lower ranged. That said, if you don't have the cash for it, the Dragonheart Piercer is your next best bet. The Piercer is better than the engineering gun and better than the non-heroic version of the Crossfire Carbine, even though we lose our racial bonus. It's also worth noting that the Vicious Galdiator's Rifle is better than anything for dwarves, but it does require arena or rated battleground play to acquire.
Scattered Shots is dedicated to helping you learn everything it takes to be a hunter in Cataclysm. From leveling your hunter to optimizing for heroics to gearing up with pre-heroic loot and pre-raid loot, we've got you covered.Filed under: Hunter, (Hunter) Scattered Shots
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
Ell Jan 27th 2011 1:43PM
Thanks Saregos, excellent post. I got female dwarf calling it a 35 dps increase for me as well.
I was thinking wrong in regards to "Well, what if during that 10 second procc i don't crit?" Where my mastery damage will always be there from Tia's.... that is digging too deep though.
thanks again.
Kazador Jan 27th 2011 1:55PM
Nice guide.
It might be useful in your article to point out that the set-piece gloves and legs have a 3-4% drop rate from Baradin Hold. In my case, I'm holding off to buy those last with my points, in case I get lucky in Baradin Hold.
Kazador Jan 27th 2011 1:56PM
Make that 3-4% drop rate in 10mans, around 8% drop rate in 25 man Baradin Hold
Draelan Jan 27th 2011 2:58PM
Lies! I have come to the personal, anecdotal, and (technically) completely unsupported conclusion that Baradin Hold only drops PvP gear, and 90% of the time it's for whichever player in the group that DESPISES PvP the most. Hence, why I've got the 2-Piece PvP set bonus from Gloves/Pants. =P
Undra Jan 27th 2011 4:10PM
I'm afraid I must disagree with you there, my good-looking friend. My personal, anecdotal, and (technically) completely unsupported data can only support the hypothesis that Baradin Hold (and indeed all PvP unlocked raids) only drop gear for the least represented, if not completely absent, class.
Zeherah Jan 27th 2011 2:11PM
Just a tip for those that are dwarves- as Frost mentioned, you can get the PvP gun. You really don't have to be skilled at PvP to get it. You only need to win a total of I believe 13 arena games to get it (capped at 5 per week unless you have a high rating). If you get a friend and do 2v2 arenas, even if you play badly it shouldn't take more than a few hours to win your 5 games for the week, since 2v2 games are generally very short and often don't involve a healer.
Cedarkin Jan 27th 2011 2:50PM
Maybe this is obvious to everyone else but it was news to me. FYI, 10 and 25-man raids both drop gear of the same ilevel. This means that the gear Frostheim discusses in this article is the gear that drops from normal mode 10s and 25s. Gone are the days of 25-man raids dropping better versions of 10 man gear.
As Frosty mentions, heroic modes are where you will get the best gear in the game, and again, 10 and 25-man raids will drop identical gear of the same ilevel.
Klown Jan 27th 2011 3:06PM
Nice article, I been looking through hunter gear for a while and reading up on some stuff from here and elitestjerks. There seems to be a slight difference in opinion on which gear is actually BiS. But this one is pretty good. I do disagree with some stuff like the back and feet though. Here is a little list I tossed up a while ago for my BiS gear.
http://www.wowhead.com/profile=22262469
I didn't see an option for reforging to get it set up exactly how I want it though. Thanks for the articles and keep em coming.
iceveiled Jan 27th 2011 3:17PM
Great article. I too race changed to worgen (from a night elf..good riddance) for the 1% increase in hit no matter which ranged weapon finds its way into my han....paws.
iceveiled Jan 27th 2011 3:17PM
crit, not hit. ^
BallsMcGee Jan 27th 2011 3:50PM
I think the bow is better than the crossbow. More damage and faster. With same other stats. It seems superior to me. Of course I could be having a lapse in logic due the the mind blowing realization that there are no sweet guns :(
dobak23 Jan 27th 2011 4:04PM
Can someone tell me why Moccasins of Verdurous Gloom are not BiS for feet?
http://www.wowhead.com/item=58199
Crit and Mastery + a red socket (+10 mastery bonus)
The +10 agility socket bonus on the Treads of Malorne is not enough to make you match the yellow socket and the secondary stats of hit and mastery are not that attractive since hit capping is not hard with Fluid Death and other gear.
Frostheim Jan 27th 2011 8:05PM
It's worth an orange gem for a 10 agility socket bonus, btw.
A lot of people seem to feel that if you have Fluid Death, hit capping is not a problem -- and this is true. But you still need lots more hit rating to get there! Fluid Death is only getting you 1/3 of the hit you need! So you want to get the rest of your hit from pieces that offer you the best stats (preferably the most agility). After all, hit and crit are interchangeable to some extent with reforging. I'll happily go a hundred or more hit over for more agility -- I can just reforge my Fluid Death into crit!
Elhessar Feb 2nd 2011 12:31PM
Femaledwarf disagrees... I lose around 10 dps gemming a yellow slot with +10agi bonus with a 20agi20crit instead of 40agi gem.
Tyrik Jan 27th 2011 4:18PM
I disagree with the Treads of Malorne being BiS. The Boots of Veritgo (blue slot, agi bonus, haste and hit) seem to be a better fit to me if you need the hit (SV hunters, anyway). At he very least they share the "BiS" title, since Mastery is rather poor and in most cases you would rather haste over mastery.
Frostheim Jan 27th 2011 8:05PM
You get identical hit for both pieces, but the Treads get you more agility. You *never* want to gem for hit unless the socket bonus is worth the loss of agility. Look at it this way:
- If you gem for hit you are sacrificing your best stat (agility) for hit
- if you reforge for hit you are sacrificing your worst stat for hit
So gem for the best dps gain (which is *usually* the biggest agility gain) and reforge up or down for the hit cap.
Arodiel Jan 27th 2011 4:24PM
Dear Mr Frostheim Sir,
Please stop reading my mind. I wonder what gear I need for raiding, I get the raider gear list. I think about trinkets, I get a column on trinkets. I look up references to hunter BiS, I get this column...you're starting to freak me out. Keep up the awesomesauce work though!
xxx
Arodiel
Therosh Jan 27th 2011 6:08PM
As a fellow hunter, I say good riddance to guns. Keep those loud, ugly, stinky weapons out of my raids. How can we call out for Maloriak stacking when all we can hear is "Pew Pew!"? Now that DBM and the like ar elinked to "Sound Effects", one can no longer play with sound off and still receive audio raid warnings.
spawnsdf Jan 27th 2011 10:48PM
Frost, what about new alchemist trinket comes in 4.0.6?
I find it quite cool while VERY easy to get.
Dracodraco Jan 28th 2011 7:53AM
I am afraid that some of this just doesn't hold up, Frostheim.
First off, the 372 Crossfire carbine does not exist. Its not there, gone, null, nada. It was datamined but never actually implented on live (and why should it be - it is a drop from thrash in Bastion of Twilight, and there is no heroic version of that).
Along with that, unless youre at a plateu where a huge chunk of haste is worth more than mastery, then you want to use the Star Chaser belt of the Windstorm from conclave (mastery/crit stats) instead of the one from cho'gall.
Lightning charged gloves is haste/crit - the ones from Halfus is Crit/Mastery. Still the preferable combo.
The BoE/Valor cloak is hit+crit. The one from Maloriak is crit+mastery - which is the favorable stats, once again (assuming you are reforging the stat thats least worth into hit to reach the cap, instead of actually gearing to hit it).
How on earths name would the Dragonheart Piercer be better than Themios the Darkbringer? Again, I'll say it: DP = Crit/Haste. Themios = Crit/Mastery.
I think you may wrongly be basing your gear choises on the fact that Kripparrian said on his Interview, that haste was better than mastery. This, of course, is only true untill you hit the "softcap" for your cobra shot, which, in theory, is the 757 haste mark. Personally I sim out to do ~200 dps more through only 706 haste, instead of reforging 50 mastery into haste. You shouldn't be gearing for this - you should get this through "accidental" haste thats present on our BiS pieces, theres haste present on the tier chest, legs, and the valiona + theralion necklase. At that point we are up to 500 or so already, and can easily hit the rest from reforging.