Thursday, July 3, 2008

Huntard or just misunderstood?

I've been playing Lilanis (my Draenai hunter) quite a bit lately - I rolled her 2 weeks ago and already she's 44. I guess that could be considered slow for someone who has a lot of time to play, but the sad truth is I do have a job, and other things that need doing other than WoW.

During her travels, there have been the usual comments one might expect from the kind of people who "know it all" and need to reaffirm their superiority over others. Unfortunately, their arguments tend to be along the lines of "l2p noob" rather than constructive criticism (well, who wants that? If I actually take their advice and improve they wouldn't be able to feel superior anymore).

So what is one to do? Usually, set forth into the vast expanses of the Internet and read what other (possibly) better players have to suggest. Which I do quite often - there's no better way of passing time at work than reading WoW blogs (good thing I have no readers, would be embarassing if my boss saw this), and it did teach me a lot about how to play the game.
The problem, however, doesn't stop there. In fact, a big part of the problem is caused by all this flood of information for 2.5 reasons:
  1. There are "trends" where certain things are considered popular, or the "right" way to do things. Of course, being popular, you can usually find the same opinions in many places.
  2. Most people don't really do the whole "critical reading" thing. If it's on a blog, it's probably true. If it's popular (hence on a lot of blogs) then it must be true, and must be the only way to do things.
  3. I'm not most people.
So, yeah, I have learned a lot about the game, but I'm not about to turn into a "bot" like most hunters advertise for leveling/soloing (i.e.: get a boar, send it charging in with Growl and Auto/Arcane shoot the mob(s) to death in AotH). In fact, I rarely use Growl and Arcane Shot. Does that make me a huntard? I suppose, if it was done out of ignorance one could call it that, but it's not. There's actual reasoning motivating it (don't know if it's actually sound reasoning, but it's reasoning nonetheless):
  • Lilanis lives in a RP-PVP realm. Getting caught with your pants (uhmm, I mean health/mana) down and ganked is not fun. Yes, I want to kill things quickly, but if I have to sacrifice some of the time it takes me to kill a mob to be able to react to someone jumping me in the middle of a fight, that's a trade I'm willing to make.
  • So, we want to preserve mana. That means no Arcane Shotting mobs.
  • Next comes choosing aspects. Personally, I mush prefer Monkey for PvPing - the added survivability and damage (yes, damage. Mongoose Bite FTW) in melee is more important to me than ranged damage. If I get in range, I'm OK with kiting a little longer until the other guy is dead.
  • Right now my DPS is pretty gimped, right? Right, but... Lower DPS has its advantages too. I also don't produce as much threat, so my pet has a much easier time tanking for me. So let's try switching off Growl. Well, lookit that - now Tora has enough focus to Bite and Claw to his heart's content. That leads to a nice boost for both DPS and threat - obviously it's not as much threat as Growl, but it's enough to keep aggro.
So let's see, what do we have here? Less DPS than your usual hunter, but I have no downtime at all and I'm ready in case an Undead Mage 2 levels higher than me jumps me while I'm fighting a mob 3 levels higher (don't worry, the incident ended with no injuries. Unless, of course, you count the mage who attacked me and the mob I was fighting, but they aren't important, are they?). Most importantly, it works for me and doesn't affect anyone else (again, dead undead mages not withstanding) since it only relates to solo play. Slightly less important, but still important, it is thought out and is the result of experimenting with different styles.

Hmm, I wonder if there was actually a point to this. Probably not, so let's make one. *drumroll* As long long as you keep learning, keep experimenting and have fun with it you'll do fine. You won't be a huntard, and all those who call you one can safely go screw themselves.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a fair reason. You're looking out to PvP in a PvP server, and I wouldn't necessarily think your decisions are bad. If you've gotten so far as the 40s with your style of play, you're fine. At the least, you're also aware of how hunters usually work. It's the people who are oblivious that scare me.

For me, I'm kinda stuck the other way, preferring PvE in a PvP server (no RP, just PvP). Considering you're BM, your pet holds aggro just fine anyway.

Tal said...

Actually, I don't prefer PvP... I don't usually start fights, but I sure don't run from them either. It's just that being on a PvP realm, I like to be ready for it (since you never know when someone might jump you).

As far as my "rant", it was directed at the ones who just start with the "n00b" and "huntard" without talking to me or trying to think why I do things the way I do. I'm not naive enough to think that'll change - idiots are a fact of life, but it doesn't mean I can't bitch about it. :)