adjusting to MM strategy, per guide

[Eyeroll 5]

so my hunter http://www.askmrrobot.com/wow/player/us/dalaran/snowtracker has been raiding with my team for a couple of weeks.

I'm rereading strategies to get them into my head, working on the dummies and running raids to better my situational experience.

 

I see some comments in the guide about not delaying my abilities (mirror of the blademaster, stampede, etc).

However, after wiping a couple of times on SOC, I started holding back stampede until the ghosts came out, despite the RL telling ranged not to tunnel the boss, but sometimes they just don't get it.  Didn't seem to matter, as we still wiped, but is this a reasonable tactic?

Also, I recently picked up the bow from mannoroth, and am considering dropping my crafted 705 weapon and replacing either my cloak or my belt with crafted, since I can't seem to roll worth a damn when gear drops that I could actually use and I'm not the only one rolling (like it was on my heroic Gorefiend pants).  The cloak is pretty bad as it has the worst 2 stats for MM, while the belt is just a 691 but the right stats.

Thanks
 

 

[Orthios 271]

On Socrethar you have a couple of options regarding stampede: you can use it on pull to help kill the construct faster to get to p2 faster, you can save it for when you get to p2 and use it on the soul of Socrethar, or you can save it for a specific dominator in p2 to kill it faster (I do not recommend this third option). When you want to use it kinda depends on kill times and whether or not you kill the boss in one p2 or not. If you do, then I'd save stampede for the first dominator which should be accompanied by hero/lust. If not, then use it on pull and again when it's back up. Stampeding on the ghosts is rather useless since they have little health, and as a hunter, just sending a barrage their way should be the most you have to do, as destro warlocks and ele shamans are much better suited for handeling them and should be focused almost solely on them.

As far as delaying abilities, there are a few exceptions regarding MotB. Namely, if the boss is going to move out of it while it's up and you won't get the full benefit of it (such as Iron Reaver's Blitz or Archimonde's Allure Flame abilities). The other big exception is for when adds are spawning soon, you will want to delay mirror to be able to hit them as much as possible (i.e. Xhul'Horac and Mannoroth imp spawns).

I wouldn't drop the crafted weapon, as for marksman, ilvl>everything when it comes to weapons. It does look like that you only have 2 crafted items on, so you have room for a third. Both the 715 crafted belt and cloak are BiS until you get to mythic (aim for as balanced as possible between crit and MS). Also, do not use the class trinket. It is horrible for marksman. To be completely honest, it is actually really powerful, so long as you stay 35 yards away from the target for the entire fight. This is possible on one or two fights, those being Iron Reaver and Zakuun, and even then, you're risking yourself by standing so far away from the boss. Get a Malicious Censer or use BHotM until you do instead.

[Eyeroll 5]

On Socrethar you have a couple of options regarding stampede: you can use it on pull to help kill the construct faster to get to p2 faster, you can save it for when you get to p2 and use it on the soul of Socrethar, or you can save it for a specific dominator in p2 to kill it faster (I do not recommend this third option). When you want to use it kinda depends on kill times and whether or not you kill the boss in one p2 or not. If you do, then I'd save stampede for the first dominator which should be accompanied by hero/lust. If not, then use it on pull and again when it's back up. Stampeding on the ghosts is rather useless since they have little health, and as a hunter, just sending a barrage their way should be the most you have to do, as destro warlocks and ele shamans are much better suited for handeling them and should be focused almost solely on them.

As far as delaying abilities, there are a few exceptions regarding MotB. Namely, if the boss is going to move out of it while it's up and you won't get the full benefit of it (such as Iron Reaver's Blitz or Archimonde's Allure Flame abilities). The other big exception is for when adds are spawning soon, you will want to delay mirror to be able to hit them as much as possible (i.e. Xhul'Horac and Mannoroth imp spawns).

I wouldn't drop the crafted weapon, as for marksman, ilvl>everything when it comes to weapons. It does look like that you only have 2 crafted items on, so you have room for a third. Both the 715 crafted belt and cloak are BiS until you get to mythic (aim for as balanced as possible between crit and MS). Also, do not use the class trinket. It is horrible for marksman. To be completely honest, it is actually really powerful, so long as you stay 35 yards away from the target for the entire fight. This is possible on one or two fights, those being Iron Reaver and Zakuun, and even then, you're risking yourself by standing so far away from the boss. Get a Malicious Censer or use BHotM until you do instead.

 

Great, thanks for the analysis.  I will pay attention to when ring and hero are supposed to be used and plan on using it as the situation dictates.  I guess I'll just have to speak up more in the SOC fight, and work some more to learn the rotation to avoid situations of being focus starved.  

Or is that just a normal thing for a MM hunter and we eventually learn when to burn it, and when to be a little more conservative?  I know on Kilrog, I'm trying to keep my focus near the top so I can burn down a Bloodthirster or loose blood coming to the front.

The delaying tactic, I need to work on for MotB.  Notably Archi and Reaver I've managed to get subsequent uses timed badly so they had a minor effect.

 

I had LFR tier gloves which I replaced today with the crafted ones, since that was a 30ilvl upgrade so I'm up to 3 crafted pieces.  I got shoulders I didn't need on N tyrant today, and the bonus rolled the boots, hoping for the Censor. I rolled on Heroic Iron Reaver for fel spring coil or torch-brazed waistguard and got gold. Either would be a good upgrade compared to the tier trinket or the 685 piece I was using before Archi dropped 2 for my guild raid, or the belt I lost to a pug in my guild raid this week.

So a 5pt downgrade on the weapon (from crafted 705 [224crit/224multi] to Cursed Demonbone Longbow 700[131crit/296multi]) outweighs upgrading a 691 > 715 with the rights stats (belt) or a 700 > 715 with the wrong stats (cloak)?

Finally, AMR thinks I'm supposed to haste enchant/gem a Pit-Extracted Stone Signet ilvl 705, replacing a 710 Serrated Demontooth Ring.  I'm pretty sure that's just wrong as I'm not crit capped yet.

[Orthios 271]

Learning when to be conservative vs high-expenditure with focus is something that comes with practice.  And yes, the weapon ilvl is a huge deal for marksman, so downgrading your weapon (even by 5 ilvls) is a bigger loss than you would gain by upgrading your belt or cloak.  Regarding the ring, the only thing I can think of is if when you go to optimize BiB, you have BM as your "primary spec", so AMR will try to optimize for that first, then optimize marksman without changing any BM pieces.

[Eyeroll 5]

Learning when to be conservative vs high-expenditure with focus is something that comes with practice.  And yes, the weapon ilvl is a huge deal for marksman, so downgrading your weapon (even by 5 ilvls) is a bigger loss than you would gain by upgrading your belt or cloak.  Regarding the ring, the only thing I can think of is if when you go to optimize BiB, you have BM as your "primary spec", so AMR will try to optimize for that first, then optimize marksman without changing any BM pieces.

 

Ah, that makes perfect sense about the recommendations from AMR.

Thanks