I'm getting keyed for Kara, and I'm wondering how useful GoTurbo (my cat) will be. He's got 11200 armor, and off-tanks fairly well (when he's getting healed) in instances. He's great for PVE/farming, though (which is what I'm doing most nights).

I'm wondering, though, about re-speccing MM for more DPS for Heroics and Kara (when I get there). Will it make that much difference? I'll probably wait till the new patch comes out before changing...any thoughts?

That's a difficult question to answer; it's true that your pet is probably not going to be off-tanking in Kara or Heroics. The mobs hit FAR harder than the average instance, and they also crit far more often, making things like +def critical which a pet is not going to have much of. With that said, we've always been a guild that encourages playing the spec you WANT to play :) Don't respec just because you think it would be better for those. Respec if you want to, but otherwise I'm sure you'd do okay. Paying very close attention to what is going on, hitting the correct mobs, strategy and tactics, etc. are generally more important than raw DPS in the high end stuff. I'd also recommend talking to Eulalia or Sapphyre if you want more info - both have played a hunter in Karazhan now, and both are fantastic at their class, they'd certainly have a lot more insight than I can.

I'm getting keyed for Kara, and I'm wondering how useful GoTurbo (my cat) will be. He's got 11200 armor, and off-tanks fairly well (when he's getting healed) in instances. He's great for PVE/farming, though (which is what I'm doing most nights).

I'm wondering, though, about re-speccing MM for more DPS for Heroics and Kara (when I get there). Will it make that much difference? I'll probably wait till the new patch comes out before changing...any thoughts?

Actually, not to steal the thread, I have been thinking about respeccing as well, and I'm not sure whether I should focus more on constant dps or burst dps. Currently I am in the purgatory of the two, not having high ratings in RAP or Crit chance. Any advice from the fabulous (and lovely) hunters who I wuv would be greatly appreciated. (Again, sorry if I stole the thread from you, Plasmo :( )

Not at all, Shino. Good advice, Jamisia. Thank you.

I am happy with my MM spec and my pets are almost purely used for DPS. I've always wanted to try to use a pet as an off-tank but in these higher instances it just doesn't seem feasible. Mind you, I have not really tried it so maybe it would work in some instances.

In general, I think hunters in groups are relied on for their ranged DPS. We are often used as secondary CC and AOE, but mainly, DPS.

Euls has tried different specs so maybe she has more to say on it.

And as Jam said, you should play the spec you are most happy with.

Not sure if that helped at all!

Yes yes play what makes you happy etc etc

but

Pets cannot off tank in end-game instances because like Jamisia said they have zero defenses, and I don't just mean the defense stat itself, but also adjustable block/parry/dodge. Although pets can and do block/parry/dodge, the hunter cannot adjust the pct of that happening. In fact, the only pet stats a hunter is capable of influencing afaik are Armor, Stamina, AP and Spell dmg, which are based off of your Armor, Stam, and AP respectively. Unfortunately, pets remain very limited in their personal abilities, including ways to make healing them easier (like the numerous tank talents of Jam and Rin) and so on, so regardless of armor, having a pet as an OT in any end-game instance is going to result in healers who do not like you very much.

That said, I do USE my pet for damage in several fights, it's just that pets have to be tightly controlled and you cannot always use them--i.e., in situations where mobs Cleave or Fear or w/e. In terms of sheer raid effectiveness, the majority of the dps should be coming from you and your ranged weapon--not your pet. IMO MM spec is still the best build for this. But again, you should do what you like. The only thing I would really recommend (though more for Heroics than Kara) is that you put 3 points in Survival in order to take advantage of your full range capability ... you need to be as far away from mobs as possible.

Shino, hunters aren't designed to do burst damage. Sry2say. Your stats look fine for your level btw, though if you really want to go heavy on either AP or crit pct I can't figure why you have so many points in BM. Even a crit-heavy surv build won't give you the burst damage you want to see, I reckon, particularly not with the adjustments they made to the way crit mechanics work--if you don't keep finding and equipping gear with crit rating on it, you'll find your current rating dip exponentially as you level.

sapph....

why is your signature pic .... you know... of your boobs?

sapph....

why is your signature pic .... you know... of your boobs?

Does this question really need to be asked?

Shhhhh I made it for her and I don't think she's noticed yet.

sapph....

why is your signature pic .... you know... of your boobs?

Because I haven't had a chance to get a good naked pic yet.

Friday after Kara! Naked Scholo run!

I'm in!

Me too!

Yes yes play what makes you happy etc etc

Your stats look fine for your level btw, though if you really want to go heavy on either AP or crit pct I can't figure why you have so many points in BM. QUOTE]

I'm only specced in BM for now because I find it easier to solo with, rather than putting more into survival or MM. I plan to respec when I hit 70 (which is partly why I asked). So thanks for the help :) .