But...I won't have a big red pet!

[Boven]

My 10 man Firelands raid has poked at Heroic Shannox a couple times without success. One of the issues we've had has been getting the big crit on Rageface when he does his thing. While our warlock can usually do it, there are times that it doesn't happen. The only other one who consistently crits for over 30K almost on demand is my pet with his Kill Command. Unfortunately, doing that means he's pretty much got to be on Rageface the whole fight and I have to be sure Kill Command is up at the right time. It's a big hit to my dps and hard as heck to not automatically hit the KC key whenever it's up.

So, they're asking me to go MM for our attempt(s) next week. I'll admit that I'm a bit nervous about it. I've never played MM at high levels before. The only reason I have an MM offspec right now was to tame Karkin and Skarr. I've been told not to worry about a perfect rotation and such, just to be ready to hit Rageface hard when needed.

Does anyone out there have any advice? I figure I'll try to make sure I've got an optimum MM raiding spec this weekend and try practicing a bit as MM. I know I won't give a stellar performance on Tuesday, but I want to do the best that I can.

I really don't mind usin another spec, but it'll be odd not having my corehound, Gir, or any pet for that matter, gettin all big and red.

[Dewclaw]

No clue what to tell you. I get lost in any other spec besides bm and my dps goes down the toilet, but good luck.

[Magli]

I don't quite understand why they're asking you to do this. Sure, BM damage output without KC isn't great, but is Marks any better if you're reserving Aimed Shot for breaking Face Rages? Especially since you aren't comfortable with the spec, I suspect your DPS isn't going to be any better.

[Kalliope]

You're not saving aimed shot for face rages, you're saving chimera shot. It's not practical to rely on the instant proc being up in time.

Beyond that, all I can say is good luck!

[Magli]

Ah, I didn't realize Chimera hit hard enough to break face rage. It's still a big hole in the rotation, though probably not as big a hole as holding back Kill Command as BM.

Boven, about the only recommendation I have is to keep your haste buff up. Keep those Steadies rolling!

[Kalliope]

Oh yeah, chimera hits really hard pretty consistently, since it doesn't require serpent sting to "charge" it for the extra boost. Our hunter keeps up fine with our mage and boomkin for rage-breakings.

[Lisaara]

Eh I don't see why they're asking you to do that cause if you like BM and dont know MM, your DPS is just gonna be worse. MM takes a bit of practice to get the hang of.

[Kalliope]

Eh I don't see why they're asking you to do that cause if you like BM and dont know MM, your DPS is just gonna be worse. MM takes a bit of practice to get the hang of.

One of the issues we've had has been getting the big crit on Rageface when he does his thing. While our warlock can usually do it, there are times that it doesn't happen. The only other one who consistently crits for over 30K almost on demand is my pet with his Kill Command. Unfortunately, doing that means he's pretty much got to be on Rageface the whole fight and I have to be sure Kill Command is up at the right time. It's a big hit to my dps and hard as heck to not automatically hit the KC key whenever it's up.

^
It was already stated.

This is very practical reasoning, as only having two people prepared to handle face rages is already a bit of a hindrance. If one of the facerage breakers gets focused and the other fails to crit, it's basically a wipe, due to the trapped breaker dying. This is likely a necessary call, especially if Boven's raid happens to be melee heavy.

[Mychelle]

I would say in my own experience with heroic shannox as a MM Hunter....Chimera shot will break Rageface's Rage around...8 out of 10 times. Every once in awhile it *WILL* fail. But usually not. I'd use a Wolf pet for the little extra help from its Howl. It has alot to do with Luck, and your Kiting ability.

And as far as your DPS ability....You wont be DPSing alot. So worrying about your damage is not even worth the headache. The tanks do more damage then I do when I am on Rageface duty. All your job is, is to keep the dog busy and focused on you as much as you can.

[Sarantha]

I don't raid unless they agree to let me in as BM. Then I proceed to wow them with my awesome dps. I can beat MM/Surv hunters easily as BM. Its the spec I've been since vanilla and I don't intend to change it. For pvp, I DO go MM, but that is the only time. I understand how MM is really amazing for PVP and how BM isn't as good (in me and my guild's opinion). BM can do great in pvp too. Nothing like owning your opponent with your pet alone.

[Impulse]

I don't raid unless they agree to let me in as BM. Then I proceed to wow them with my awesome dps. I can beat MM/Surv hunters easily as BM. Its the spec I've been since vanilla and I don't intend to change it. For pvp, I DO go MM, but that is the only time. I understand how MM is really amazing for PVP and how BM isn't as good (in me and my guild's opinion). BM can do great in pvp too. Nothing like owning your opponent with your pet alone.

In raiding DPS isn't everything, some times utilities brought by specific spec can do greater good overall. Of course most often this is the case during progression. Once everyone's overgeared then it should be no problem.

I understand not everyone's comfortable of learning different playstyle of each specs but personally I'd like to keep my options open so knowing them all makes you more valuable as a raider.

[Boven]

I would say in my own experience with heroic shannox as a MM Hunter....Chimera shot will break Rageface's Rage around...8 out of 10 times. Every once in awhile it *WILL* fail. But usually not. I'd use a Wolf pet for the little extra help from its Howl. It has alot to do with Luck, and your Kiting ability.

And as far as your DPS ability....You wont be DPSing alot. So worrying about your damage is not even worth the headache. The tanks do more damage then I do when I am on Rageface duty. All your job is, is to keep the dog busy and focused on you as much as you can.

I spent a little time on the heroic dummy in Thunder Bluff on Saturday and Sunday to get some practice in and figure out what keys I wanted to bind abilities to. Originally I started with a cat, but then realized I should swap to my wolf.

I didn't bother running Recount, since I was primarily trying to get used to the shot rotation/priority and also because I was more interested in how often Chimera Shot's would crit than in overall dps. It seemed to bear out what you said and crit over 30k about 80% of the time. Now if I'm lucky, I'll proc a free Aimed Shot in time for the Facerage.

[Mychelle]

I would say in my own experience with heroic shannox as a MM Hunter....Chimera shot will break Rageface's Rage around...8 out of 10 times. Every once in awhile it *WILL* fail. But usually not. I'd use a Wolf pet for the little extra help from its Howl. It has alot to do with Luck, and your Kiting ability.

And as far as your DPS ability....You wont be DPSing alot. So worrying about your damage is not even worth the headache. The tanks do more damage then I do when I am on Rageface duty. All your job is, is to keep the dog busy and focused on you as much as you can.

I spent a little time on the heroic dummy in Thunder Bluff on Saturday and Sunday to get some practice in and figure out what keys I wanted to bind abilities to. Originally I started with a cat, but then realized I should swap to my wolf.

I didn't bother running Recount, since I was primarily trying to get used to the shot rotation/priority and also because I was more interested in how often Chimera Shot's would crit than in overall dps. It seemed to bear out what you said and crit over 30k about 80% of the time. Now if I'm lucky, I'll proc a free Aimed Shot in time for the Facerage.

That sounds perfect really. As far as kiting goes, my trick has been to Disengage (With Disengage Glyphed for the run speed buff), and basically get as far back from the main group section as I can without ticking off Shannox and making everything enrage. I let the dog come to me, I deterrence to take a few hits without damage, and then Feign Death. About that time he has to walk ALL the way back to the group to chomp on someone, before Rageing again. Then its the same deal, Chimera, Run, Feign Death (If Deterrence is on Cooldown.). If you have Priest with Body and Soul it can help you as well, or in my case I use my Worgen's Dark Flight for a speedy dash around in back before he actually starts attacking me. You *WILL* have to clear his buff by trapping him eventually during the fight. (Two rages, and you'll need to trap on the Third one for sure.) Which is easy enough, by this point the Crystal traps have only (hopefully) been used by the Offtank's dog. Which means you should have a obvious choice of a trap to use. When he decides to rage again, just position yourself with a crystal trap infront of you, Chimera to break, and let the dog walk to you and get trapped. The percentage of this working is also around 8 to 10. Every once in awhile he will walk over a fire trap, meaning he cant be trapped by the crystal for a little while. Basically its a game of just watching the dog's debuffs.

And make SURE your raid knows, that if the dog decides to Rage on YOU, that you need some extreme healing going on you. Or (Hopefully) you'll have a 2nd Rage-Breaker for if this happens. This is where the whole luck ordeal comes in really. You want to pull off this fight with hopefully the dog never choosing you to rage on. Have your Battle Rez'ers in the group ready to get you off the ground if the plan goes bad.

Thats how Ive done it. =) Might not be the BEST way, but its worked for me! lol

[Slickrock]

Considering the cast time of Aimed, MM is not the best for this either. Sadly, another class is better for this. No arcane mages?

[Kalliope]

Considering the cast time of Aimed, MM is not the best for this either. Sadly, another class is better for this. No arcane mages?

As stated earlier in the thread, marks hunters use chimera, not aimed.

[Boven]

I would say in my own experience with heroic shannox as a MM Hunter....Chimera shot will break Rageface's Rage around...8 out of 10 times. Every once in awhile it *WILL* fail. But usually not. I'd use a Wolf pet for the little extra help from its Howl. It has alot to do with Luck, and your Kiting ability.

And as far as your DPS ability....You wont be DPSing alot. So worrying about your damage is not even worth the headache. The tanks do more damage then I do when I am on Rageface duty. All your job is, is to keep the dog busy and focused on you as much as you can.

I spent a little time on the heroic dummy in Thunder Bluff on Saturday and Sunday to get some practice in and figure out what keys I wanted to bind abilities to. Originally I started with a cat, but then realized I should swap to my wolf.

I didn't bother running Recount, since I was primarily trying to get used to the shot rotation/priority and also because I was more interested in how often Chimera Shot's would crit than in overall dps. It seemed to bear out what you said and crit over 30k about 80% of the time. Now if I'm lucky, I'll proc a free Aimed Shot in time for the Facerage.

That sounds perfect really. As far as kiting goes, my trick has been to Disengage (With Disengage Glyphed for the run speed buff), and basically get as far back from the main group section as I can without ticking off Shannox and making everything enrage. I let the dog come to me, I deterrence to take a few hits without damage, and then Feign Death. About that time he has to walk ALL the way back to the group to chomp on someone, before Rageing again. Then its the same deal, Chimera, Run, Feign Death (If Deterrence is on Cooldown.). If you have Priest with Body and Soul it can help you as well, or in my case I use my Worgen's Dark Flight for a speedy dash around in back before he actually starts attacking me. You *WILL* have to clear his buff by trapping him eventually during the fight. (Two rages, and you'll need to trap on the Third one for sure.) Which is easy enough, by this point the Crystal traps have only (hopefully) been used by the Offtank's dog. Which means you should have a obvious choice of a trap to use. When he decides to rage again, just position yourself with a crystal trap infront of you, Chimera to break, and let the dog walk to you and get trapped. The percentage of this working is also around 8 to 10. Every once in awhile he will walk over a fire trap, meaning he cant be trapped by the crystal for a little while. Basically its a game of just watching the dog's debuffs.

And make SURE your raid knows, that if the dog decides to Rage on YOU, that you need some extreme healing going on you. Or (Hopefully) you'll have a 2nd Rage-Breaker for if this happens. This is where the whole luck ordeal comes in really. You want to pull off this fight with hopefully the dog never choosing you to rage on. Have your Battle Rez'ers in the group ready to get you off the ground if the plan goes bad.

Thats how Ive done it. =) Might not be the BEST way, but its worked for me! lol

We downed him on the first try last week. I wish I could say it was due to my incredible hunter awesomeness, but hey...

Anyway, yeah, it's two of us dealing with Rageface. Our warlocks and me, as an insecure MM, saving chimera shot just for the facerages. It seemed to work out well enough. Our goal was to get him into a trap every 3rd rage, but he and Shannox weren't super cooperative regarding that. We seemed to get a boatload of fire traps all in one cluster and, naturally, the crystal traps'd be located so taht Rageface would snag one or two on his way to the crystal one. We also had the opposite happen where he'd end up in a crystal trap before we wanted him to. We pulled it off, though.

And I was glad to be able to swap back to BM for domo and Rags.

I'm sure I'll get better at MM with more practice. I've just always been BM/SV in the past and, while the raid didn't really care about my performance for this one fight (aside from breaking face rages), I feel bad not putting out really good dps on a boss. I also had to make a conscious effort to watch what keys I was hitting. I have Chimera Shot bound to the same key I use for Kill Command when I'm BM. I found myself more than once automatically hitting that key just as I would when BM.

[Araela]

My FL experience is limited at best- but I can relate to this. This last week, I was asked to drop my BM spec to go MM to help with the 30k crits on a friend's alt run. I was going on my main because my guild is oh so barely getting into FL now and we have our first real run (not just trash) set up for this week. I dropped BM knowing full well I would pick it up again otherwise I'd lose the use of most of my stables and kept my Surv/MM. I love Surv, but I did just fine as MM. I had been MM/BM leveling up but had dropped MM for Surv once the shattering hit because I didn't like the new rotation.

I decided to keep MM to help out with that fight as my guild enters into FL, and dropped Surv to go back to BM (and unfortunately have had to put talents in again for ALL of my BM/exotic pets. Bah!).

I'm interested to see if I continue with this, or if I end up dropping it and going back to Surv again. Regardless, I'm keeping BM because I enjoy the pets!