Tips for Hunting Glorious Rares

Ever since my time in Pandaria kicked off I have been absolutely addicted to hunting Rares. It started with rare pets for my hunter whilst I was levelling through Northrend and Cataclysm. Every day before I start anything, I would check known locations of any pets I wanted. Now in Pandaria they have added Champions of Pandaria – rare spawns (if they can even be called that) that have shorter spawn timers than we’re used to, that drop a random piece of blue gear and have a chance to drop a rare item. For some rares its a 85-87 epic item (BoE epic pants for Krasarang Wild Rares and BoP Epic weapons for Jade Forest). For others it’s a Bag of specific Materials (i.e. Lon the Bull’s Bag of Herbs will contain all types of Pandaria Herbs, all Townlong Steppes rares drop a type of Bag). For the remainders its a vanity item of some sort.

Well, now that I have been 90 for a couple of weeks now, I have finally completed the Achievement associated with these rares (Glorious!) – I have killed all the rares found in Pandaria. Granted, this cannot be compared to Frostbitten! Or any of the previous Rares achievements – those required some dedication. But then my mission wasn’t just to kill these rares, I wanted the rare items that they dropped as well. Now suddenly this task looks a little bit harder and requires quite a bit more dedication. Anyone can go and kill 30 odd rares on a known spawn timer. It takes a little more to persuade them to do it over and over again until their special drops are collected.

So far I’ve collected about half of the items on offer. As per usual some items are more sought after than others, and I certainly have my own favourites. But first a few tips for those that are interested in getting this achievement or these rares.

Return through the Mists

Return to a new World of Warcraft

After a 1 year hiatus from World of Warcraft, I have returned but not with Serebihm. I spent 1 year trying to find a game that is better than World of Warcraft. Many games I played were hailed as WoW beaters- SWToR and GW2 in particular – but none lived up to their hype. SWToR had decent raid content, but unfortunately it had crippling bugs, a horridly basic and uninteresting crafting system, and just not enough other things to spend your time with – things I like to call “Fluff” , like collecting Mounts or minipets, etc. GW2 on the other hand had a great crafting system and lots of “Fluff”...and a severely lacking endgame.

After a year of trying to find the better MMO, we had come to the conclusion, this is the best MMO and it will probably remain so until Blizzard’s next effort. I was part of a group of 9 players who tested these new waters, but every time we tried something we would find something we weren’t happy with and WoW comparisons would emerge. So about two weeks ago, as we were again discussing the shortcomings of another failure, I had had enough. It had become clear to me, that for us there was only one game that could cater to our needs.

But I set new stipulations for our return, we would not be allowed to return to our mains, we would approach it as a completely new game, And so we did, well, most of us anyway.

RP? Yes Please!

So you've Quested, PVP'd, and PVE'd as a hunter and thought maybe you'd like to give the RP realms a try. Well sir or ma'am, this article should help you get started in the incredibly complex World of Warcraft role playing world. Lucky for you, your class is one of the easiest and most versatile class to RP in, in my humble opinion. With no real formal training (unlike other classes like Warlocks or paladins) and the solitary nature of the hunter and his pet it is the ideal class for truly breaking out of the strict lore of some races. Here are some helpful hints for the first time RP'er.

1. Learn your Lore.
I'm not saying read and memorize everything, just know basic stuff about your class, race, faction and world, or at least have some bookmarks to references. Blizzard has some great material for beginners and from there you can decide on how you'd like to proceed.

2. Choosing Your Name
Name etiquette on RP servers is much more strict than the other servers, for obvious reasons. Do you personally know anyone named Lolfailmage in real life? Even a name like Sureshot, while acceptable to most, isn't very original. Have fun with it, and if you can keep it hunter themed, even better. Also, pick a title (if you have some)that is rare, and fits with your toon. Even old titles are appreciated in the RP world. (I use my Celestial Defender title, very rare and showy, and I'm still getting complimented on it.)

3. Your Characters Back story
Now that you've gotten somewhat familiar with your lore, time to create your back story. My advice to you on this is keep, it simple to start with, and as your character develops it's personality, your story will natural develop with it.

4. Picking the Right Pet
As a hunter, you are generally viewed as a private person who has an unbreakable bound with your pet. Chose carefully, and remember, this isn't for DPS or tanking, it's for show. Pick something that compliments your character, and put some thought behind naming it.

5. Gear and Weapons
Look for rare and/or showy armour, stats aren't too important, and don't be afraid to put on old tier or even leather armour. Weapons present a nice opportunity to really show who you are. Duel weld, 2h axe, pole arm? Gun, bow, even throwing knifes? totally open to your discretion, but put some thought into it. If you're a silent hunter who scouts an area for your raid into Goldshire, a large pole arm or a loud gun might not be the best choice, but if you actually hunt for your group, then that gun might be desirable.

6. Guilds?
Guilds are great if you're new to RP. Be careful though, some are VERY dedicated to RP and will not put up with anything that is not in character. I suggest looking for a light or medium RP guild at first, get to know whats what. Heavy RP guilds are truly dedicated and often script story lines that might not fit your story, so be careful if you decide to join one.

Like I've mentioned before, hunters offer incredible flexibility when it comes to RP, so be creative and original. Some like the bond with nature they develop, some .like the solitude, I myself am a hunter for reasons of revenge, but that's a story for a later time. Hopefully these tips will help you get started into RP, but don't forget, it's your imagination, use it or lose, it.

AFTERTHOUGHT CORNER: My personal favorite gear for RP is the tier 6 set, because lets face it, when you're deep into Alliance territory, you can use as many eyes as you can! (and eyes can't smell the stench of those drunken Dwarfs)

Post 4.2 Best Pre-Raid hunter gear

Every day new hunters are being created and some of them are planned for raiding. It happens all the time, be it new alts, first time characters or a re-roll to fill a specific raid spot in your guild. They will need gear to get into raids and they will need to get them quickly. Often the guild will help with gearing a toon if a raid spot needs filling. So here is a list I have compiled, of epic gear available for each slot, and how they can be obtained. The only criteria is that this gear can be obtained without ever setting foot in a raid instance. The following gear can be obtained through heroic dungeons, crafted, bought with gold, bought with justice or Valor points, or obtained through factions.

Transfering to New Hunting Grounds?

Today's post is just a quick one to let you all know I'm still here and working on some neat stuff for the upcoming weeks, but lately I've been rather busy. So as a helpful person, here's my experience of the last couple of months and how a server transfer can be more work than you originally thought.

When I first started the transfer I made sure that I had enough mats and gold to see me through some lean times, and believe me, when you cold transfer to a new server there will be lean times. Make sure you have all the BoA's available to you, especially your guild rep tabard if you were high enough in guild rep. (oh yea, get those mounts too).

Once the transfer is complete, there is one major decision you have to make. Which is more important, guild rep or leveling a mats toon. In most cases, the rep will take precedent, after all those guild perks make life very easy, and with the Renowned Guild Tabard, your rep climbs incredibly fast. So (ugh) dailies become necessary again.

As for your alt, you have a number of choices. DK's are pretty popular, with the high starting level, but I find that a good gathering alt is either a mage or hunter. Being a hunter main though, this might seem redundant, but here me out. First, being very familiar with the class, it will level extremely fast. Second, your abilities give you the ultimate miner/herbalist/skinner in the game. Finally, I now can experiment on builds, reforging, and gearing without any ill effect to my main, (or have a strictly pvp toon).

These are some of the things to consider when transferring, but there are allot more which I will cover later. As a gift though for this rather small post, here is a video I threw together, that shows you how to run Alysrazor's tornado effect with 100% success. Enjoy!

Raid Management: The Keys to Success

I have been raiding for around 4 years now. In my time I’ve been part of 4 different raid guilds. I speak regularly to friends of my previous guilds who still play on Khaz’goroth, and naturally we discuss our progress with our respective guilds. Whereas my stories are generally those of success and progression (Firelands cleared and working on heroics), my friend’s stories are those of despair and anguish. I care for my previous guildies so I try to give as much advice as I can, but the more we talk the more I realise, the problem does not lie with the strategy but with the raid group itself.

So why are some guilds more successful than others, even though their goals are the same? I posed the question to my fellow writer Quadilious and after only a few minutes we were repeatedly using the same terms: Attitude, Communication, Organisation, Discipline, Research, Leadership...in two words Raid Management.

What about Gear and Skill?

So let’s look at what you need for a successful raid. When I originally spoke with my friend about the difference in success between our guilds, her first comment was “Well you are much better geared than us...” No, gear is not required for a successful raid. It helps but it is not required. Being better geared may have helped at the start of Firelands, sure, but everyone’s gear levels were the same for BWD and BoT. As I see it, gear is a bi-product of a successful raid. And also if successful raids require good gear then how did Paragon get world first kills of end bosses and even heroics only a few weeks into this expansion?

At this point I expect to get the “Yeah, well, Paragon are super-skilled players...” Again, that’s not the difference between success and failure. I see plenty of talented players in Ultima Ratio and have seen skilled players in GOAT and Incursion as well, so what excuse will they use? Skill is most often not the problem. And what do people mean by “Skill” anyway? If I don’t die to fires on the ground, or can successfully navigate through tornadoes, does that make me skilled? I think, that just means I have good awareness. What about using tricks, like jump-disengaging, etc? Again, that just means I heard about a trick, read up about it and practiced it. I think the term “skilled player” gets used a little too loosely at times. Skill comes from experience and research in my opinion, and any player can become “skilled” with a little effort and - key word – Research.

You're Standing Where?

MOVE OUT OF THE DAMN FIRE NOOB!

This is what most hunters think of when you mention "positioning", and yes, not standing in fire is very important, but there is a much more subtle meaning to the term, one which top hunters know and allows you to truly maximize your DPS.


When it comes to setting yourself up for a boss fight, there are a couple of questions you have to ask yourself:
Are the things that make me move predictable? (ie: is the position the pop up on preset, like Ragnaros' Sulphuras Smash or random like Magma Traps)
If they are predictable, are they static or mobile?
The main goal is to try and keep out of Aspect of the Fox for as long as possible by keeping your movement to a minimum, and this is what the first question is for. Most abilities are predictable in knowing when they're going to be cast but not all are positioned in a constant way. For the unpredictable, bite the bullet and hope it is in between casts so you aren't interrupting one. The predictable static ones though, here's a hint: stand on the edge. A good example is Valonia's Deep Breathe (DB) in the BOT V&T fight. This is a good example of predictable events and where to stand. Near the wall, not good, it's easy to get caught too far in and then breathed on. Find a spot near the edge of the flames that would be thrown down in the center ( either side will do) and wait. If you are closer to the entrance here's what will happen. DB on entrance, step 1 or 2 steps forward, Center, 1 or 2 back, and exit, no worries. If you watch videos of boss encounters you will see that most ground effects that are predictable and have a sweet spot to stand in that will require very little movement on your part.

Other things to consider are do we have to stack or spread? Where are my healers? Am I close enough to launch my traps as needed? The trick to these questions are look to see where you are at the START of the fight and what the group as a whole are going to do during the encounter. Once you learn how to read raid groups quickly, positioning will come quickly and naturally.

Some tips for when you have to move.:
Macro in your Aspect of the Hawk to your signature shot (ie Chimera),arcane, and serpent sting because these are all shots that don't need AotF to fire on the move.

When you know you have to move, try and time it so you don't have to switch aspect at all and you can keep up ISS (if you're a MM)

Finally, make sure you're pointed in the right direction if you have to move.

Good luck and I hope this helps improve your game. :)