Azortharion's 6.2.2 MM Hunter Guide

[Ulgratron 4]

Wanted to share some Beast Mastery advice on pet management. 

 

Pet's assist stance is an easy way to make your pet always attack something. But, due to it's crappy logic, it will often cause your pet to run around indecisively, wasting time and DPS, and to switch targets when it's not necessary. 

 

So, it's better to keep your pet on passive. But that requires you to manually manage your pet, and assign a new target when the old one dies. It's a chore, and it's easy to mess up. 

 

You could simply macro a /petattack to all your abilities, making sure that pet will always attack your current target. But it's not always optimal. You don't want your pet running 40m just to kill a 100k health add. 

 

The solution is this elegant macro:

#showtooltip Kill Command
/startattack
/petattack [@pettarget, noexists]
/cast [@pettarget] Kill Command

What this does:

1) Starts autoattack at your current target.

2) If your pet has no target (i.e. isn't attacking anyone at the moment) it will send your pet to attack your current target.

3) Casts Kill Command at pet's target.

 

The idea behind this macro is that now you can switch targets all you want, but your pet will keep attacking the target you last assigned to him.

 

For example, you can keep your pet on the boss, and cast Kill Command on cooldown, while doing ranged damage to some squishy adds far away. And when the need arises, you can send your pet to attack another target manually with a /petattack macro or Ctrl + 1 hotkey by default. 

 

Naturally, to get the most benefit from this macro, you should keep your pet on passive.

 

It's also a good idea to add the line:

/petattack [@pettarget, noexists]

to all your other abilities, like Multi Shot and Arcane Shot, to make sure your pet is always attacking something. 

 

The best part about this system is that it automatically manages your pet for you in an optimal manner, yet allows you to manually manage your pet when necessary for added benefit.

 

Of course, there are problems: you need to be mindful where you left your pet, because if a target becomes immune to damage, but still reachable, your pet will keep attacking it until you manually tell him to attack something else.

 

I use "/use [nochanneling:Barrage]Kill Command" to keep my KC from clipping barrage during button spam.  Do you happen to know the specific macro string that will combine your @pettarget macro with the nochanneling command?

 

Using "/use [@pettarget][nochanneling:Barrage]Kill Command" still clips barrage.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Ulgratron

[Iridar 80]

I use "/use [nochanneling:Barrage]Kill Command" to keep my KC from clipping barrage during button spam.  Do you happen to know the specific macro string that will combine your @pettarget macro with the nochanneling command?

 

Using "/use [@pettarget][nochanneling:Barrage]Kill Command" still clips barrage.

I haven't used "nochanneling" command before. 

Have you tried this?

/use [@pettarget, nochanneling:Barrage] Kill Command

EDIT:

You can also always try /stopmacro

#showtooltip Kill Command
/startattack
/petattack [@pettarget, noexists]
/stopmacro [channeling:Barrage]
/cast [@pettarget] Kill Command

Edited March 17, 2015 by Iridar

[Reap 0]

Hello!

 

First of all I just want to say that this guide/thread is a great source of information.

 

I have some questions about Blink Strikes vs Stampede.

If I am on the boat crew on Iron Maiden should I go Blink Stikes or Stampede (we skip last boat phase)?

Should I go Blink Stikes on The Blast Furnace (we don't kill Feldspar on pull)?

Is there any point of using Blink Stikes on Beastlord or Operator if the rest of the group is doing good AoE?

 

Thanks!

[Arkhoul 1]

I've been struggling with talent decisions for those encounters as well, just got our first kill on Maidens HC this week so I don't have a huge amount of experience there but my feeling is that Dire Beast + Stampede may be more useful overall. If you're skipping the 3rd boat, you can use Stampede for the first boat and the final phase I guess? Can't really comment on Blast Furnace as we've only just started attempts on it and so far it's kicking our asses.

[Ulgratron 4]

 

I haven't used "nochanneling" command before. 

Have you tried this?

/use [@pettarget, nochanneling:Barrage] Kill Command

EDIT:

You can also always try /stopmacro

#showtooltip Kill Command
/startattack
/petattack [@pettarget, noexists]
/stopmacro [channeling:Barrage]
/cast [@pettarget] Kill Command

 

"/use [@pettarget, nochanneling:Barrage] Kill Command" works great thanks.  I'd definitely suggest trying a nochanneling macro out btw.  Since all abilities cancel channel spells and Barrage is so important for us now it really helps if you prefer to spam your next ability during the barrage cast.

[Iridar 80]

"/use [@pettarget, nochanneling:Barrage] Kill Command" works great thanks.  I'd definitely suggest trying a nochanneling macro out btw.  Since all abilities cancel channel spells and Barrage is so important for us now it really helps if you prefer to spam your next ability during the barrage cast.

Yes, I will be using that. Like I said, I simply didn't know about that command. 

[Ulgratron 4]

Hello!

 

First of all I just want to say that this guide/thread is a great source of information.

 

I have some questions about Blink Strikes vs Stampede.

If I am on the boat crew on Iron Maiden should I go Blink Stikes or Stampede (we skip last boat phase)?

Should I go Blink Stikes on The Blast Furnace (we don't kill Feldspar on pull)?

Is there any point of using Blink Stikes on Beastlord or Operator if the rest of the group is doing good AoE?

 

Thanks!

 

In most progression situations Blink strike is for padding meters.

 

Maidens:  If you're going up on boats for progression Stampede is invaluable and lines up well with the boats/frenzy phase.  If you're not going up on boats you could argue that Blink Strikes is better over all.

 

Blast Furnace:  When we were progressing HC Blast Furnace we immediately had issues killing the Primal Elementalists in 1 slag phase.  Ended up switching our hunters back to Stampede and used it on pull, then spaced out our 3 hunters for 1 Stampede each on the Primals.  The first Primal usually dies faster by default because more people are alive and the phase hasn't gotten too chaotic yet so people tend to focus better, so we ended up just doing a stampede rotation on the last 3.  

 

Basically all 3 hunters Stamp on pull.  We kill the first primal, second Primal hunter 1 stampedes it, third Primal hunter 2 stampedes it, fourth primal hunter 3 stampedes it.  Then hunter 1 and 2 could possibly have stampede up again for the end of the fight depending on how fast you kill it.  If you're raid isn't having issues killing the primals in 1 slag than blink strikes is probably the better choice for thinning out the adds imo.

 

Stampede will always be better for on demand burst where as blink strikes will be better for beastcleaving, so as far as progression is concerned it's usually best to make a judgement call on what your raid is having issues with, AoE or single priority target burst (usually stampede is better for brf unless it's Operator/Blast Furnace on FARM).

Edited March 18, 2015 by Ulgratron

[Ulgratron 4]

Yes, I will be using that. Like I said, I simply didn't know about that command. 

 

Also note that you obviously need to put nochannels on arcaneshot/FF/DB/etc as well if you want to keep from clipping Barrage while maxing CPM.  It's stupid that there is no easy work around to stop the barrage cancel but I guess having to macro every ability in your arsenal is a common thing for hunters anyway...

[Reap 0]

In most progression situations Blink strike is for padding meters.

 

Maidens:  If you're going up on boats for progression Stampede is invaluable and lines up well with the boats/frenzy phase.  If you're not going up on boats you could argue that Blink Strikes is better over all.

 

Blast Furnace:  When we were progressing HC Blast Furnace we immediately had issues killing the Primal Elementalists in 1 slag phase.  Ended up switching our hunters back to Stampede and used it on pull, then spaced out our 3 hunters for 1 Stampede each on the Primals.  The first Primal usually dies faster by default because more people are alive and the phase hasn't gotten too chaotic yet so people tend to focus better, so we ended up just doing a stampede rotation on the last 3.  

 

Basically all 3 hunters Stamp on pull.  We kill the first primal, second Primal hunter 1 stampedes it, third Primal hunter 2 stampedes it, fourth primal hunter 3 stampedes it.  Then hunter 1 and 2 could possibly have stampede up again for the end of the fight depending on how fast you kill it.  If you're raid isn't having issues killing the primals in 1 slag than blink strikes is probably the better choice for thinning out the adds imo.

 

Stampede will always be better for on demand burst where as blink strikes will be better for beastcleaving, so as far as progression is concerned it's usually best to make a judgement call on what your raid is having issues with, AoE or single priority target burst (usually stampede is better for brf unless it's Operator/Blast Furnace on FARM).

 

I'm talking pure farming here.

My problem is that every time I got to the boss again I have better gear so I don't know if its worth changing it up or not.

Right now I'm going with Blink Strikes on Operator, Blast Furnace and Iron maidens.

Might change to Stampede on Maidens.

[Ulgratron 4]

I'm talking pure farming here.

My problem is that every time I got to the boss again I have better gear so I don't know if its worth changing it up or not.

Right now I'm going with Blink Strikes on Operator, Blast Furnace and Iron maidens.

Might change to Stampede on Maidens.

 

If it's on farm Blink strikes is better for Operator and Blastfurnace.  Arguably better for Maidens (it sort of depends on your kill timings).

 

Stampede for everything else.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Ulgratron

[IanScott 0]

So question I have been told that Lonewolf is better with two to three targets. I mean its on icy veins and reviewed by Azortharion So is that correct or is your guide correct 

[IanScott 0]

As well on your guide you have powershot for surv is that correct as well 

[Msa 1]

Lone Wolf is not better than Focusing Shot on multiple targets, 

 

The only time you should use crows is when you can get mutiple resets on it, like imperator. Stampede is the best choice for almost every single fight. 

 

Only use powershot for pure single target (ST fights.

[Xerinn 0]

only time i use crows is blast furnace so i can use it on every elementalist. other wise stampede smashes it.

i used it on target dummies and the stampede alone hit close to 700k~

the crows only hit like 100k.

this is making stampede useful on any distance of fight

[Niix 169]

only time i use crows is blast furnace so i can use it on every elementalist. other wise stampede smashes it.

i used it on target dummies and the stampede alone hit close to 700k~

the crows only hit like 100k.

this is making stampede useful on any distance of fight

 

To be honest it really depends where your problems lie with your group. The way we do the elementalists is this, we kill the first one we pop with 1 slag elemental.

 

The following three we don't even try to kill them in 1 go and instead choose to focus on Firecallers when they spawn, so being able to do as much damage as possible to them is kinda pointless outside of that first one, where I have my trinket + pot + 5stack FF and if I'm lucky Bestial Wrath.

 

So if you guys are lacking damage on the Elementalists it might be nice to use Crows but if you have a 11 ish kill time, you can use it off the start, on the 3rd elementalist, and on the burn at the very end with a second lust.

 

I think that if your kill time is around 10 minutes like ours, I could probably get a better usage out of using it on the first elementalist we kill in 1 go, then on the Heart of the Mountain.

 

Food for thought.

[Xerinn 0]

Yeah for sure I usually do run stampede but I play Sv and sometimes if the elementalist aren't dieing I use amoc. With the guild I use stampede and we just have each group use 2nd pot on each elementalist then pop hero towards last elementalist allowing us to secure the kill and clear the adds really quick

[Akomagus 8]

I feel like such a noob again. I was only gone for a year...lol.  

 

I'm confused about focus fire.  I thought it was a proc?  Should I just use it when ever the weak aura flashes (that the OP created?) or use it when it procs?  Maybe it's not a proc...but I thought it was.  I feel like it's a minimal part of my rotation right now.  Granted i'm just questing and things are dying quickly so maybe that's why.  I guess maybe I'd use it for bosses more.

 

Also, is there no longer hunter's mark?  Are you guys doing anything to send your pet after the target or are you just hitting kill command first to initiate the pet's attack?  Any feedback would be appreciated.  It's almost too overwhelming to job back into with this garrison stuff and I haven't even gotten anything to start jewel crafting...

[Msa 1]

Frenzy (which is a stack your pet gains) is a procc, Focus Fire consumes these stacks to give yourself a buff.

 

Mastering focus fire is key to do big deeps and you should have 100% control of it. Pop FF when Stampede is up, before entering/or while inside (if on CD) Bestial Wrath and when its on 5 stacks. The weakaura will tell you when to use it, but understanding why will help you alot. If you are not raiding on bosses I can understand you having issues practicing it.

 

I've macroed /petattack to kill command but also using ctrl+1 a lot to send my pet around.  

[Orthios 271]

I'm confused about focus fire.  I thought it was a proc?  Should I just use it when ever the weak aura flashes (that the OP created?) or use it when it procs?  Maybe it's not a proc...but I thought it was.  I feel like it's a minimal part of my rotation right now.  Granted i'm just questing and things are dying quickly so maybe that's why.  I guess maybe I'd use it for bosses more.

If you're still leveling, then focus fire is largely not needed.  In dungeons, it's easy enough to just use as the WA says.  In raids, you have to know the encounter and that if adds are spawning soon, that you might want to hold off on using it until the adds spawn.  The proc you might be thinking of is Frenzy, which is on your pet, and you consume the Frenzy stacks to use Focus Fire.

 

 

Also, is there no longer hunter's mark?  Are you guys doing anything to send your pet after the target or are you just hitting kill command first to initiate the pet's attack?  Any feedback would be appreciated.  It's almost too overwhelming to job back into with this garrison stuff and I haven't even gotten anything to start jewel crafting...

Hunter's Mark got removed in the ability "cleanup" that happened in 6.0.  As for pet management, using Kill Command works, but if you switch targets and use KC, your pet will use it on it's target (unless it has no target).  Another popular way of doing pet management is to put your pet in passive and make macros that include a /petattack line that tells your pet to attack whatever you used said ability on.  Examples:

#showtooltip Arcane Shot
/petattack [@target]
/cast Arcane Shot

#showtooltip Multi-Shot
/petattack [@target]
/cast Multi-Shot

Another common macro is for Master's Call to slingshot your pet to you (mostly useful on oregorger and beastlord in blackrock foundry so far):

#showtooltip
/cast [@player] Master's Call

[Akomagus 8]

Great, thanks for the help folks!

[babyangel 0]

I am a MM Hunter and I have been using Mr. Robot for gearing, Gems, Enchants etc. After reading the Hunter (MM) class here on IV, I am a little confused. Mr. Robot says that I should Gem, Enchant, etc. with Multishot, but your guide says I should use Crit. I am also using MOC instead of Stampede...should I change that?  My Toons name is Softwhisper and I am on Ysera, if you would take a peek at her and help me with some advice. I feel like with my IL that I should be doing higher DPS then what I am getting.

[Orthios 271]

I am a MM Hunter and I have been using Mr. Robot for gearing, Gems, Enchants etc. After reading the Hunter (MM) class here on IV, I am a little confused. Mr. Robot says that I should Gem, Enchant, etc. with Multishot, but your guide says I should use Crit. I am also using MOC instead of Stampede...should I change that?  My Toons name is Softwhisper and I am on Ysera, if you would take a peek at her and help me with some advice. I feel like with my IL that I should be doing higher DPS then what I am getting.

AMR's default weights are wrong.  Marksman stat priority is Crit > MS > Vers >= Master > Haste, and you should be gemming and enchanting crit.  Stampede is better than AMoC, so yes, that should be changed.  

[Akomagus 8]

Sorry, again with FF questions.  Can someone just tell me what the symbol is for the Weak Aura from the guide?  Is it the FF symbol with a BW underneath?  Does that mean that It wants me to be popping Bestial Wrath at the same time?

 

Still just a little confused but let me see if I get this right.  Barring saving the CD's for times in the fight where it's most valuable (Time Warp, AOE situations etc.) all things being equal you should be popping Bestial Wrath whenever is it available and Focus Fire when the WA pops up?

[Niix 169]

This guide is going to be updated for Marks in the coming weeks. Please refer to the initial post for more information. Thank you.

[Niix 169]

GDoc for marks is completed and the link is in my signature / on the first post of this thread.