6/6 SSC and 2/4

Last week we ventured into Mount Hyjaal and this week we did a complete clear of SSC to finish off Vashj. No loot for me other than T5 pants Friday night on the Karathas fight. 3 months and a few days after the guild rerolls and starts gathering folks and we are 6/6 SSC and 4/5 TK and 2/4 MH.

5/6 SSC and 2 T5 for this here hunter

Okay so tonight we had another raid night. Leo two shotted. Fathom Lord downed (that pull sucks btw) and then on to Lady V. That fight is going to take some time as it's about timing etc. Leo gave up his T5 glove token. Woot for me!

Oh and look!

Yes, I caught Mr. Pinchy on Saturday. My first time was the weaksauce Furious Mr. Pinchy. Second time was the pet.

2 out of 3 ain't bad.

Well wasn't our best raid night, but we got bosses down and got good loot. I got my T4 Chest and my T5 Shoulders.

How do I look?

After jacking up the gemming of said pieces and spending way too much in gems to fix my mistake, here's my setup:

Wish List: Raids and such

Time for a wish list I have.

At least 2 pieces of T5 as quick as I can get them. That T5 bonus for pets is just too nice to pass up. T5 is within reach for us and of course the guild had to shard two of the shoulders last week when I missed. Tonight is Gruul's, Maggy and TK for Void Reaver and Solarian. Here's my wish list from NEED to upgrade slots.

Chest Maggy just needs to drop this token tonight and I need to win the roll, if there is one. My normal raid chest is Haha for some hit rating and to activate my meta gem. Other than that I am running the S1 Chest (boo!)

Shoulders Currently using the Beastmaw or the S1 shoulders (S3 is not something I can ever get with my skills in Arenas. I know there are some nice shoulders in ZA and that is a raid we are doing on a regular basis for some upgrades etc.

Feet Okay here's where the stars have to align and no shamans want this item. It's in some cases a sidegrade to Shadowhunter but I would like the ability to gem these as I swap armor in and out. I won't cry if I don't get them, because I think they would be a nice option for me. My other boots are the PvP boots. To be honest the Vindicators may also be an upgrade to the Shadowhunters, armor ignore is still a hard concept for me to understand.

I need a new helm, T4 helm is okay, my PvP helm is from HKM

I am saving badges for a crossbow and a new stat stick plus a nice ring (although I need to adjust my hit to replace one of my rings)

May the loot gods be good to me tonight!

2 more bosses down in SSC

Last Friday was my birthday and I had some family obligations. So, of course, Saturday, the guild drops VR and Solarian. And yes, T5 shoulder token drops for hunters and they end up sharding 2 of them. WOAH is me....

Monday night I chose raiding over watching the KU Jayhawks win the national championship. (I did get to see the end of the game though) We one shot Tidewalker on our first try and move on to Karathress. Okay bad crazy pull. Takes us a few shots but we finally down the entire council.

No loot for me. :(

Ran MrT on normal to help a guildmate get his heroic opened up. We got to the pull before Kael and one of the locks said, you know Halk, I appreciate you much more after grouping with a Huntard, because of how much you don't suck. High compliment to me in my mind. Sure it's probably harder for a hunter to wow the rest of the raid, but sometimes, folks get to see what it's like to work with a huntard and appreciate how good they have it. ;) This probably easier to accomplish in 5 mans than it is in a full blown 25 man raid.

How does one avoid the Huntard label? In no particular order.

1) Know your role.

Sure BRK has claimed that the role of the hunter is to provide mass quantities of sustained ranged dps and to be sure that is true. But, there are other roles you may or may not have to do. For example, I don't trap much on our raids. Most of the time, my responsibility is to MD the tank on pulls, and provide the raid with good solid DPS. If you don't know the role you are set to play, ask. Don't wander through a raid wondering if you are supposed to do more or less. Find out beforehand what the raid leader expects of you. Sadly, the role of the hunter is probably limited by the amount of trust your raid leader has in you. Which leads to ...

2) Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others.

As you learn a fight, you will make mistakes. Heck you'll make mistakes in fights you know real well. One mistake is forgettable (unless it's falling off the bridge in SV before the mech boss--cuz you never live that one down) Two of the same mistake is forgivable, but three starts hacking into the trust factor. Let's be honest, in most raiding guilds DPS is something you have in large quantities. Sure having a hunter along in some fights is a good thing but not necessary. DPSers have to EARN their spots. Can your raid leader trust that you'll target the mobs in the kill order? Oh and btw, if you are the hunter mark hunter, remember your raid leader gets to see the bouncing arrow tattling on you.

3) Learn your class and your shots and what works and what doesn't.

This includes controlling your pet. Know what resistances to spec your pet for the raid. Know when and where to stand. Know how to get the best DPS you can from your rotation and use macros when you can. I know some folks hate the macros, especially the shot rotation ones. That's fine, I don't judge them for not using them, they shouldn't judge me for using them.

I am not saying you need to know all the theory craft or what minute percentage you'll get from X hit or whatever. Know the concepts of what makes the hunter class tick. Understand that in a raid you have a great lot of tools to bring to the table, providing mass quantities of sustained ranged dps to the raid is one of them, but also remember that DEAD DPS is ZERO DPS.

Badges?? We don't need no stinkin' Badges...

Oh but yes we do.

Kara badge runs net us around 22 badges per week (depending on if we have someone who can summon the big ugly fire dragon who hates me or my pet...or both)

25 man raids now drop badges. 8 last night alone from the raid boss smack down. Do you smell what the hunter is cooking? /hunter's eyebrow

So I am looking over the 2.4 badge loots. Oh some very tasty stuff in there. If you aren't a hunter. If you are, you are probably drooling over the crossbow (linked below) or possibly some of the armor pieces.

So all you tons of hunters who read my blog, yeah that's it, what gear are you looking forward to picking up? Okay you other class folks have permission to add your comments too. ;)

Lvl 70 Hunter 2/6 SSC, Gruuls and Mags downed

Oh yes, it's Fire and Blood's version of Wednesday night fights. Let's get ready to RUMMBBBBLLEEEEEE!!!!!!11onetwothreefour!!!11

Gruul's one shotted (bastage Gruul killed my pet early though)

Maggy one shotted

Hydross one shotted

Lurker 2 shotted. Main tank dies and we scramble to get another tank to aggro lead right before submerge. We struggle to get the adds down, got one on our side of the main island, oops sheeped right before the shot from our bow hits him. Dead hunter. Raid wipes due to a couple folks disconnecting at during the fight.

Both fights I actually got the fishing pole to axe swap done. Still need to work on the timing to get the MD on the main tank done right. Lurker has a huge hit box and it's hard to get the shots off without getting in the water. Perhaps swap axe, put up mark, send kitty, get to my island and then do the MD thing?

I have over 70 badges now, so I am getting close to being able to upgrade with the new badge loot. I am thinking of going with the crossbow. There are a few other things I would like to have, mostly in the area of items for PvP or when I need a ton of stamina, but that crossbow is the only thing I really drool over.