- I guess this means I'm back. I had a cold that made me terribly feverish (in bed, fully dressed, with jumper on, feeling cold, with the weather we've been having recently?) and this may have affected my mood.
- I still want a break from the paladin so I've started a new alt and I've gone with Female Dwarf Hunter for pretty much the reasons I went through yesterday, Female Dwarves are more exclusive (and I'm safe with my sexuality) and Hunters seem to be one of the easiest classes to level. I could theoretically have continued levelling the night elf rogue auction alt but... dunno, not a fan of night elves and I've a feeling that rogue play is too much key-mashing for me.
- I've used Boston's 1-12 Dun Morogh Leveling Guide to speed my progression. Compared to when I did it the first time this seems to involve much less wandering about. It took me two and a half hours to get to level seven. I'm now level nine, looking forward to ten when I get to train a pet.
- The play style is a nice change from paladin in that I have a BIG GUN. It has a good range, 35 yards, so you shoot a beast at maximum range and keep shooting while it runs towards you (I didn't realise they ran so fast, with the pally I had to run to them). By the time it reaches you it is half dead and you finish it off with an axe. If you are in the right area surrounded by beasts you don't have to move you just pick the next one. You get a nice beast tracking ability so you can see the beasts all around in your minimap. If you are hunting crag boars for a quest you just find them on the map.
- The gun has a range of 8-35 yards so once within 8 yards you must resort to melee. Adds are a problem as they come straight into this area. Hunters melee skills are not that strong, on equal-level mobs she can handle it but two is too much, where for pally this is no problem. At these low levels it is pretty easy to run away (she doesn't get dazed when she turns her back) and the minimap makes it easier to avoid running into more mobs. She's died three times so far, from getting add's while in a cave full of trolls with no escape route. One good thing about shooting at 35 yard range: if you get a bad pull and two come running it is easier to turn and run and you can see from the minimap when it is safe to stop running. Guns and cowardly running away, a match made in heaven.
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I've picked up cooking and first aid but not fishing as I'm still not sure I can stand it. I know some people love it (I'm looking at you Urban) and it's free pet food but I don't like standing still. I'm deciding on primary professions:
- engineering: could make guns, ammo, sniper sights, bombs, could be useful but higher level engineering toys are just toys and have a tendancy to backfire. A bit of a money pit profession, not very profitable. However my main can mine all the materials very easily which would give me a spare profession slot.
- blacksmithing: main already highly skilled
- mining: main already maxed out
- skinning: not really interested
- leatherwork: not really interested
- tailoring: not really interested.
- enchanting: as a hunter I'm not sure she would be too welcome in raiding groups (Hunter's strength is the pet and pets are hard to control in instances) which means no Uldaman which means no higher level enchanting training unless she can get a portal to Shattrath (hum).
- herbalism: the sensible choice, for the money. Auction alt is a herbalist but he doesn't get out much.
- alchemy: experience so far says she will be needing health pots. No self healing spells!
- jewelcrafter: again main can do the mining
- Looks like herbalist/alchemist, the health pots are the clincher. My auction alt could drop herbalism (since he never goes outside ironforge) giving me another spare slot but I'm not sure how high he can level a profession without levelling his player skill (level 375 engineer on a level 10 character?).
- The newbie areas seem deserted compared to when I was a noob last november. There were maybe three other lowbies, all male and all, I suspect, alts (especially a gnome called 'BlackNinja', last seen struggling vs two trolls: would you help someone with a name like that?). I did seem to get some attention but I don't know if that is because I was playing a female character or because they had few other people to talk to/group with/trade with.
WoW Daily News Issue 86
Submitted by Peter on Thu May 03 2007 07:52
about 1 year ago
Peter Says:
Thu May 03 2007 16:01 about 1 year agoFishing has its merits but it's not really my thing. Now if I could shoot the fish... I may give it another try, maybe five minute sessions, or maybe I choose pets with a liking for red meat?
More seriously I have read that it is good to let your pet feed while while you fight melee without it to keep your skills sharp. An alternative would be to let it feed while I fish.
I've been wondering how a hunter fights under-water: does the gun work? Does the pet swim? Do I have to melee? Time will tell, bring on the murlocs.
Peter
Nibuca Says:
Thu May 03 2007 16:12 about 1 year agoI highly recommend you read Big Red Kitty (bigredkitty.blogspot.com) (check out his archive) and take an opportunity to browse Petopia (petopia.brashendeavors.net).
BRK is a hoot to read and he has very insightful comments about hunters and how to play them well.
I ran Uldaman and Zul'Farak earlier this week with two hunters. I think they're great for instances. Played right, they're the best choice for precisely pulling mobs, they have good crowd control skills (ice trap), in a pinch the right pet can serve as off-tank.. in a different pinch the right pet can bring a ton of DPS to the table while at the same time the Hunter herself is dumping on the DPS.
In an instance the Hunter needs to control her pet. Normally this means changing it over to docile so it only attacks as the hunter commands. BRK has lots more to say about that.
I look forward to reading about your new toon. What's her name?
Nibuca Mystic Chicanery warcraft.fibergeek.com/
Spikeles Says:
Fri May 04 2007 02:30 about 1 year agoShoot fish eh? Guess you havn't seen this(wowhead.com/?item=3567) item :P
As for your questions, yes the pet swims, no it dosn't drown, yes the weapons work under water.
Peter Says:
Fri May 04 2007 07:40 about 1 year agoYou're the second person to mention Big Red Kitty so I'll check it out.
Her name is Maevyn. I avoided the temptation to make a silly name and I invented one. I called my bear colin, I'll go wild with the silly names there.
I saw a toon called 'coopextra' this morning but you'd have to be english to appreciate that one.
Peter
Sarah Says:
Fri May 04 2007 13:30 about 1 year agoYou will get abuse as a female dwarf. I know, my paladin is one. I have people come up to my char and tell me how ugly it is. Especially in battlegrounds. It really annoys the hell out of me.
I did Uldaman with a hunter. He was a cretin, but it does happen. ;) Heh, funny doing the instance with the Princess (massive boss person) where the hunter was telling us his pet could tank it alone. Um, no? But i have grouped with good hunters, and they can be great dps.
Leatherworking is good for a hunter, as they can wear the stuff obviously. As you get to the high levels, you will be making great gear for yourself, and stuff like the armor kits and riding crops can be used by other players. I would say if you don't already have a herb/alch alt that they are helpful. You will have to level them appropriately if you want the good pots though. They have to be level 20 to do 150+, level 35 to do 225+ (I don't know about further, none of my alts are above 35 and I didn't level my main's blacksmithing and mining to 300 before outlands, assume level 60 for 300+). Engineering is fun, but yes it is a money hole. And your main isn't going to be getting *that* much copper now are they?
Fishing : I also lack the will. I wish, at the lowest level, i had spent 5/10 minutes a session fishing in stormwind or something, just to level it up as I went along. I would say, as a hunter, you should really look into doing that, as it does open up your options massively later, as pets can be really picky. Just do a few minutes each session, it soon mounts up, even just do a couple of catches each time. I tend to do 10 minutes with a bauble or something, but that does get old quickly.
Peter Says:
Sun May 06 2007 05:08 about 1 year agoI hope she doesn't get abuse but if she does I'm happy to throw some back. Men have their weak spots...
The dps looks very good so far, kills come very quickly compared to a pally.
Peter
Praxis Says:
Mon May 07 2007 21:37 about 1 year agoThe first character I rolled was a warlock, and during the early days I struggled with the uncertainty of whether my fire-based spells would work under water. I was happy to learn that, yes, they do! Then I stuggled with the question of why fire burns underwater. Similarly, there is the question of why my shaman's totems do not sink uselessly to the bottom of the ocean floor, when there is no solid surface underwater for me to plunk them down upon.
Magic fire, magic totems, magic guns... something tells me they're governed by alternative laws of physics.
Peter Says:
Tue May 08 2007 08:06 about 1 year agoI've now got a pet chicken and after seeing it swimming underwater I think there are different laws of nature as well as physics.
Peter
Comments are Closed
Peter's Moblog
HURRAY, your back!! I get to get some humor back reading something!
Another soon to be Alchemist in Azeroth, HURRAY! One more for the Alch BrotherHood. You can make good money with both profession.
Hey nothing wrong with fishing :)) Just fish fr 15 min at a time and you get there. Some pets get very happy with fish, especially with them 3 +40lbs big groupers i got sitting in my Alt's mail. I made plenty money fishing all for just standing there to collect the fish. Ain't it great.
Leveling a alt all over is a lot easier when you know the area.