Whats your Artifact at?

[Quiv]

This isn't a brag about how far you've come GIT GUD NERD thread. Just curious what traits you guys have taken and how you like it so far?

I regret going for Spirit Bond because the heal is so non-consequential. Its like 1.3% every 6.7 seconds (with my haste and 845 ilvl). It'll get a little better as gear improves, but I can't imagine its going to matter in the long run.

Surge of the Stormgod is my latest trait, and its really challenging. From my test of around 1300 multi-shots, I am seeing a steady 20% proc chance. And when it goes off in Dungeons, good grief its powerful! Its just not reliable enough. I have debated going from Volley to Murder of Crows because Surge plus Volley feels like AoE overkill, and Surge is near useless on single target, and Murder could pick up that slack. idk though, I'm not a super mather so Icy Veins could likely answer that for me.

[Vephriel]

Ooh, neat thread idea! Also I really appreciate the insight about Spirit Bond because I was thinking of getting that next for the extra heal but it sounds like that can wait until later if it's not very significant.

Currently I'm sitting on Surge of the Storm God as my latest trait too, and it's such an uphill climb after that one. I've been kinda lazy this week and haven't been farming as much artifact power as I should have been, mostly because it's not as instantly rewarding now that I need sooooo much for the next level.

I'm mostly trying to run with relics that are Furious Swipes/Jaws of Thunder.

[Lupen202]

I screwed up early on and put some traits into natural reflexes. So despite being at lvl 20 I don't have my 2nd golden trait yet. Don't know if it's worth refunding or not.

[Magnakilro]

Mine's about the same as Veph's but with Pathfinder.

[peanutbuttercup]

I followed the suggestion off Icy Veins, they have a "roadmap" with numbered trails meant to get you to the golden traits fastest I believe. Currently sitting at lvl 20 with Master of Beasts and Surge of Stormgod.

[Kalliope]

My build is the same as yours, Quiv. Same number of points and everything! And I've been using Crows; give it a shot! Then you've got single and multitarget options.

[Shelassa]

Same as Vephriel, but with Pathfinder and Spirit Bond, which I regret taking. Trying to claw my way to Titan's Thunder

I'm satisfied with how BM is performing, but cannot help but feel like I need 1 or 2 more buttons to press

[Quiv]

Apparently we're all BM lol I've tried dumping some into my other Artifacts but I'm going to wait until I get more Artifact Knowledge. I'm at level 4 (130%).

[Kalliope]

Oh yeah, I'm not interested in playing the other specs at all right now. Especially not now that I can do decent AoE damage!

I finally got to the point where I can see what beta players were talking about. I did swap to Dire Frenzy, which means more downtime for me. But my numbers went up so much.... The gameplay style is less fun/engaging. :/ And yet, I like contributing so much more, so it's a tradeoff I'm willing to make.

[Rikaku]

This is how mine looks at the moment.



I chose my path of Titanstrike long before I saw the IcyVeins guide on the suggested path and they just pretty much coincided lol. Going to finish going for the 3rd gold trait, then take the Cobras and work it out from there.

I poured all my AP into one artifact. I don't plan on playing MM at all, nor SV seriously. I'll probably max them out too down the road, just cause I'm a completionist, but other than that. Pure Titanstrike for now. The Surge of the Stormgod is amazing. I love Mythic+ runs so much at the moment (and just mythic in general, sweet sweet AoE). So I'm totally cool with not being highest in single targets, because hot-dang BM is great in Mythics lol, genuinely having a lot more fun than I predicted initially.

Now if I could just upgrade the dang arcane relic, I'd be happy. Drowning in freakin Life relics XD

[peanutbuttercup]

I chose my path of Titanstrike long before I saw the IcyVeins guide on the suggested path and they just pretty much coincided lol. Going to finish going for the 3rd gold trait, then take the Cobras and work it out from there.

I poured all my AP into one artifact. I don't plan on playing MM at all, nor SV seriously. I'll probably max them out too down the road, just cause I'm a completionist, but other than that. Pure Titanstrike for now. The Surge of the Stormgod is amazing. I love Mythic+ runs so much at the moment (and just mythic in general, sweet sweet AoE). So I'm totally cool with not being highest in single targets, because hot-dang BM is great in Mythics lol, genuinely having a lot more fun than I predicted initially.

Yeah my artifact path looks exactly like yours. I'm also only pouring AP into this one artifact as I've never liked spec switching and was dying to get away from MM after being "forced" to play it last xpac to stay competitive.

Our single target dmg has a lot of downtime and is lacking when all CDs are down, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting (this is assuming a raid enviroment). The thing that helps to make up for our overall lower damage numbers it is the fact that BM hunters are the only truly mobile range class now since MM hunters are no longer in their old tier set to give them all instant shots.

[Shelassa]

I have 17 traits in Thas'dorah and I enjoy the pet-less sniper kind of gameplay from time to time (no Sidewinders!!) when I get pet fatigue, but the spec's dependance on RNG drives me crazy.

Plus. Windrunning is pretty handy when you do Archaeology ;D

[Kalliope]

BTW, if any of you BM hunters dabble in PvP, the combination of Spirit Bond (Titanstrike) and Go For the Throat (honor talent) has been VERY good to me. Prot warriors generally wipe the floor with me, but that talent combo netted me a couple of kills on one earlier.

[Lupen202]

Similarly, I'd think killer cobra + spirit bond would work wonderfully for solo'ing pve. Whenever bestial wrath is active, every time you cobra shot it'll reset the CD on kill command... so while not as effective I can see that being a decent heal.

[Kalliope]

Similarly, I'd think killer cobra + spirit bond would work wonderfully for solo'ing pve. Whenever bestial wrath is active, every time you cobra shot it'll reset the CD on kill command... so while not as effective I can see that being a decent heal.

Oh yeah, it definitely is! And it works in dungeons/raids as well. Pretty nice being able to help assist the healers with self-healing.

[Shelassa]

PvP-wise, stacking Viper Sting with Monstrous Bite / Bloody Screech / Gruesome Bite, etc. has worked real well to greatly lessen some spec's self-healing

[Quiv]

I've tried Killer Cobra, but I don't think I have high enough haste. I always end up gated badly by focus so the CD reset is mostly wasted.

Edit: but i did switch to Murder of Crows and good lord it hits like a truck!

[Rikaku]

I've tried Killer Cobra, but I don't think I have high enough haste. I always end up gated badly by focus so the CD reset is mostly wasted.

Edit: but i did switch to Murder of Crows and good lord it hits like a truck!

Murder of Crows is AMAZING once you start getting some good mastery gear, since they actually scale with our mastery. They hit like tiny angry trucks XD Personally I sometimes skip Killer Cobra, even though it's better single target, for the same reason you stated: the CD feels wasted.

Though, if you get a shaman with you and get lust going, Killer Cobra is amazing for the single target fights.

I find myself using one of three set ups generally.

Murder of Crows/Killer Cobra (generally when I know its a pure single-target fight or a dps check like Ursoc or Nythendra.)
Murder of Crows/Stampede (my general pve/pvp run, also my world quest solo)
Volley/Stampede (General dungeon run, especially mythics and mythic+)

It usually means I carry a lot of those talent changers, but that's what I go with. Once you get Titanstrike higher, BM feels like its okay really. More than I thought it would (I mean the downtime sucks, but overall I am content with out output).

As far as pets go, I generally go with Spirit Beast the whole time. But lately I've been running with Quilen for the battle-rez, which has saved my group many times in the higher mythic+

[Kalliope]

As far as pets go, I generally go with Spirit Beast the whole time. But lately I've been running with Quilen for the battle-rez, which has saved my group many times in the higher mythic+

Oh gosh yes.

I've been running with a crane/quilen as my secondary pet and keep saving groups from wipes. Sure, it's a dps loss to swap pets in combat, but it's better than wiping!

[Quiv]

I have a Moth as my emergency rezzer and a Nether Ray as my backup lust if we need it. Other than that, yeah its Spirit Beast all the way. The heal may not be super, but I like seeing my pet throw it out on party members all the time.