TarikB

Yes Replying to my own post. The wonders of google.

http://cityweekly.blogspot.com/2008/10/don-drapers-tarot-reading.html

Great comments guys. What i would really love to see is an actual reading of don tarot cards. Did we ever see the full set on screen at the same time?

i CAN HAZ HORDE PLZ!!!! THX K BAI!! XD XD XD

Ummm Can I has Horde pls

pick me!

@14 You are wrong. Damage meters with low sync numbers tend to be inaccurate is some fight sue to the fact that the default blizz combatlog range is set to 50 yards. Anyone greater than 50 yards and in default mode you will not see the data. That is what damage meters basically are, combatlog parsers.

You can actually get very accurate data for any five man encounter and most 25 man encouters with one person who has taken the time to understand the mechanics of how these parsers work and extended the range used by his log.

Have a look in the options for what is displayable in your combatlog, if you have them turned on or not your client still "sees" all of those things, you just decide which to display. People have been using the meters long enough that you can be sure that if used correctly they work right.

Taz

As someone has already said, WoW Web Stats is currently the best tool for actually learning about what is going on in a fight.

Live damage meters are useful in identifying large variances within classes, but there are so many variables that can effect a fight and with 25 man raids it is more pronounced than before. i.e. where as the 40 man raids would have 4-5 members 2-3 is more normal for a 25 man encounter. If one person gets unlucky with orbs, has a cube he cant damage from, is watery tombed, is fighting his inner demon..... you suddenly have a very small chance of getting a viable comparison.

WWS and it's ability to drill down to the finest detail and examine them across class enabling you to benchmark consistent top performers and emulate them.

Taz

Up to last night gruul was still hurtful striking in a semi random manner, our rogues ate it in quick time, but he still died so meh...

Taz

Oh btw no 66 = Tazrach - Gurubashi

For those asking for some viable options for a raiding hunter post 2.1 you may find the following post I did for my hunters useful. It is based on builds culled from people whose opinion I have grown to value on the Blizz hunter boards and the Elitist Jerks forums.

Builds come 2.1

17/44/0 – BM Lite

As a longtime Marks hunter and convert to pet use due to the synergy with a Lightning Breath and GFTT I really think with the changes in 2.1 this build has a very good shot of being a solid contender for best raid DPS. Pet use got a very large number of buffs in 2.1 and since I always found my pet to be a valuable contributor to my dps before this can only mean good things.

Pets get the following improvements in 2.1 – AOE reduction talent, less glancing blows, no 360 degree cleaves, no sweeping strikes, Kill command is no longer on the global cooldown, and Mend Pet is now a HOT so we can heal our pets without gimping our damage.

The build drops Hawkeye since we have not seen a use for it past 5 mans as yet and these are all raid focused builds but really the last 3 points once you hit 41 Marks is up to you. Dropping silencing shot is a real possibility for a true pure raider but it is useful in PvP and farming and there is not that much else out there. Points low down in the Marks tree are pretty much up to the individual.

Must Haves – Ferocity – TSA – RWS – FF – GFTT – IaotH

Example - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=mEb00xZVibRVzhest

7/4x/xx – Heroic Marks / Slayer Marks

Dipping into the BM tree for IAotH and Focused Fire, the main aim of this build is get up to clever traps in Survival for better CC in Heroics where CC is king. Clever traps combined with Beast Lord two piece giving you 26 sec traps with a 26 cooldown and make chain trapping relatively painless. The other version of the build does not go past the slaying talents picking up both along with Hawkeye.

Silencing Shot shines in situations where you are forced to trap a caster or have to move a caster to ensure lack of add pulls. It is also very useful in PvP where silencing shot is not only another shot you can use on the move but also can straight up kill a healer or give you enough time to burst down a target in arenas.

Like all Marks builds this one can hit very hard and will have more AP compared to other non MM builds. Focused fire is a like a universal slaying talent if you just keep your pet out, and gets better with pet/KC use. With the changes to pets mentioned above I can’t see a compelling place to put those 2 point elsewhere in the build.

Must Haves – TSA – RWS – Cleaver Traps – IAotH

Example - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=VxbZVibRVzheotfhhM


0/31/30 – Old School Hybrid

TBC? What’s that? This is the reason hunters no longer get 2 AP per crit, if that change had not been made a large portion of hunters in the game would be this build. As it is once you hit around 533 base agility, which was impossible hard with old gear, the build moves from borderline viable to solid raiding spec.

The 533 agility has been suggested as the break point as this is when you get an 80 agility boost from LR. That is ~2% crit and of course 80 RAP. This is seen as enough to mitigate the loss of RAP from not having Careful Aim and Master Marksman. You still keep RWS and TSA so you are not gimping your AP too much beyond those two talents and are still able to provide TSA for group buff purposes.

Must Haves – TSA – RWS – LR – SI – KI – Surefooted

Example - I can only enter three URLs so check my profile on armory for an example of this build.

0/2x/3x – New School Hybrid

With the coming change to Expose Weakness in patch 2.1 it moves from being nice if somewhat unreliable to a buff you can count on being up as close to constantly as to considered a perma buff. Expose Weakness numerically matches the effectiveness of TSA at 500 agi, considering that TSA is a party buff and EW is for the raid and true effectiveness is match well before that point. Raid buffed a well geared LR specced hunter should be above 800 agi which translates to a near constant 200 extra AP for the raid.

The other TBC talent that this build uses is Thrill of the Hunt, with a target unbuffed crit rating of 30% TotH is a very useful talent in terms of sustaining a mana intensive shot rotation and combined with Aspect of the Viper can drastically change the damage output of hunter low on mana waiting for a potion cooldown to be up.

Some versions of the build do dip into Beast Mastery for IAotH instead of Scatter Shot and Barrage.

Must Haves – LR – EW – SI – TotH – Mortal Shots

Example -
Thre URL limit forced me to cut this one but have a look at Abindiya on armory for on potential build for this type of spec.

41/20/0 – Beast Mastery or IWINKITTY!!1!

Much maligned as a “n00b spec” and the source of many bashed keyboards as some clothie is chewed on by a big red kitty while his master hits him upside the head from range. BM is actually gaining notice from a chorus of converts hailing it as not just a viable raid spec but THE raid spec for the smart hunter.

One large problem is that BM is huge adjustment for a lot of hunters, most are accustomed to the futile nature of trying to keep a pet alive in a raid environment pre TBC and long ago adjusted play styles accordingly. The ironic thing is the real factor making the BM viable is not TBW but rather Serpents Swiftness. This talent is a very valid contender for the single best talent in all of the trees and it goes a long way in making up for the drastic reduction in RAP and Crit on offer in the other trees.

BM still needs a bit more care and attention than other builds however, spots in a shadow priest group for example can make a huge difference to if a pet survives or not. The coming HoT mend pet change is a real boon in terms of being able to keep your pet topped off and still DPS.

Must Haves – Serpents Swiftness – TBW- Mortal Shots

Example - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=mebM0xxRquVoVVbRV