Help learning pvp

[yawut]

Is it even worth lvling in battlegrounds as a hunter? Should I just try to quest to 90 and learn then? I'm a newb to the game overall, I've only played since wrath and my main was a arcane mage for raiding only. I don't like raiding at all though so I'd love to learn to pvp.

Any links to viable hunter guides would be really appreciated, thnx

[Bowno]

While I might be terrible at PVP on my hunter, I still say it is worth it
The best time to learn how to PVP on a class is when youre low level.. Then as you get closer to 90 you know JUST what to do against other people.

One of my favorite things to do in PVP when I'm on my hunter is eagle eye. I know it doesn't sound like much, but checking on the Gold Mine from Lumber mill is really useful ;P

I haven't been able to pay for my WoW for a long time, but last I heard BM spec is amazing for PVP right now.

[Eternallylostx]

Go BM. Stuns and trinkets are your BFF. Spiders or a buff not covered is great, personally I use a shale spider for web and kings.

Move and jump. A lot. PvE will say 'No need to be a headless chicken.' While you go 'I pvp'

[yawut]

okay thank you that sounds good-i prob will lvl in BG's. I think my problem is that I need to get my glasses made so I can see when/what people are casting without squinting really hard and losing focus. I am BM, my hubs (cblaze12 on petopia) gives me some tips, like spec to play, how to set up bars, abilities and such, but he's so into the game that I get lost in everything he's trying to tell me all at once lol. I need somebody to put everything in lay mans terms, so he told me to ask some one on one of the wow forums because I learn better from reading.

[Kalliope]

You don't need to worry too much about your spec and such while leveling, so hopping into a bg can help you learn your class too. PvP lets you exercise a whole different set of instincts. My best advice is to not get too discouraged by dying, since that can happen a lot in battlegrounds. Just gotta learn from it and move on.

[Boven]

I think PvP can be very helpful to one's PvE performance. Situational awareness, keeping an eye on your surroundings and not just your target, and being able to react quickly to the unexpected are always good skills to devlelop.

Just remember that you'll probably die a lot for a while. It'll take some time to figure out how to deal with various classes and how to keep them from killing you. Also, as with most all classes, at different points during the leveling process you'll fare better or worse against different classes. Just because you're a PvP god in one bracket doesn't mean you will be in the next. You may also find yourself vaporizing classes that you used to find unbeatable. PvP isn't supposed to be balanced until 90 and even then Blizz is always tinkering with it.

Oh! And do keep track of your pet in PvP. That goes double, triple, or even quadruple if you're BM. I see a lot of hunters just send their pet in after a target and not bother keeping tabs on it. I PvP a lot on my prot warrior and one thing I absolutely love doing is taunting a pet off the healer it was set upon and letting it chomp pitifully on me while the hunter doesn't realize Fluffy is on the wrong target. Keeping your pet alive is also a must. Given the opportunity and lacking a better target**, I'll kill a BM hunter's pet just to make them stop and rez it (thus taking them out of action for a moment) or to make 'em continue on with significantly reduced dps.

Just like with PvE, you'll also learn how to integrate new skills and talents into your technique as you gain them.

So, yeah, I for one think you should PvP as you level rather than just waiting til 90 and diving in. It's a good learning experience for both PvP and PvE, plus you can make sure you hit 90 with capped honor, making it easier to buy that first piece or two of honor gear.



** I should note that this is usually when PvP'ing in an organized group and in a position where other, more desirable targets aren't available. Running one of the choke points in AV in a group using the Rath Strat (or a similar strategy that one of the people on Argent Dawn has been using since LK) would be an example. You would be amazed at how many hunters stand back and just send their pet in against a group over and over.

[yawut]

Great advice bov, I appreciate it

Yeh dying repeatedly makes me want to facepalm but I'm accepting it as a necessity of the learning process. do any of you use addons for pvp? and do any of them seem unethical? (like a cheap, cop out ?)

[Kalliope]

I still like using LoseControl over the Blizzard default replacement (which I have since turned off) since it gives me a better idea of what I still have available to me while still showing what I'm being CCed by.

I also like using the Deadly Boss Mods timers for battlegrounds so I have a better handle on the big picture. Having timers for the towers in AV is a godsend.

[Boven]

Personally, I don't have much in the way of PvP specific addons. Some primarily PvE addons (such as DBM which Kalliope mentions above) are helpful in battlegrounds. For BG's, I'd recommend BattlegroundTargets. It creates a frame listing the opposing players by class and spec. It's akin to the bgspy addon that some folks use, but gives a graphic representation and shows who is carrying a flag and such. The other that springs to mind is Healers Have to Die, which will identify healers and put a big cross over their heads. I'll admit I've had this one turned off for a while. It seemed to be somewhat laggy for me. It also has the downside that it triggers off pretty much any healing, so if that ret pally or elemental shaman does a quick little heal on themselves, it'll mark them too, even though they're not as prime a target as a *real* healer.

For organized PvP and PvE, especially with cross-server groups, I can't recommend oQueue enough. It allows people to create and list groups so that others who want to do the CTA, rated bg's, random bg's, or whatever can sign up. The group leader(s) can queue their group and when a bg pops, instruct (via a big red button on the group members' screens) everyone to enter or drop queue. Tiny responds quickly to feedback and is very open to suggestions from users. Unfortunately for you if you're PvP'ing while leveling, though, most of the groups created are for 90's.

[Slickrock]

Also, find a BG you like, my preference is AV.

Don't worry about dying, just fight. Also find roles you can help your team with, depending on the BG.

[Lazurianis]

This depends on what you intend on doing, if you intend on going to max level, twinking, etc.

For leveling in BGs as a hunter I reccomend Survival or MM, depending on which you play better, Survival has plenty of burst and instant casts to keep kiting melee players, MM is more of a stand your ground spec, unless you get the glyph of aimed shot, avoid Beast Mastery until you are level 69-70, enjoy!

[SylviaDragon]

BM hunter here who has hit 1600 in rbgs. =) I’m probably going to spam you with a lot of info so brace yourself! Obviously it comes down to what combos you are most comfortable with but I hope you can walk away with something from all this spam. xD Also you may want to try going surv until you can get exotic pets but I did ok as a low lvl bm as well so it’s up to you.

Pets:
I recommend you use a wasp/bat for the stun, or a spider for low lvl bgs. Once you can tame exotics, a lot of great choices will open up and it comes down to personal preference. A shale spider is great, its web and kings buff make a nice combo. If you get a chimera and make an auto target/attack macro with froststorm breath attached to it, you can flush out rouges and slow them. You can bring a core hound for emergency hero too.
I found that above all else, I use a spirit beast for the emergency HoT and I made a macro that will automatically cast spirit mend on my hunter. (something like /cast @yourname spirit mend)

Talents:
I enjoy running with posthaste (but narrow escape is handy too) silencing shot (healers hate it) exhilaration (amazing emergency heals) blink strike (I use this more for arenas, nice way chase down players who are running away or pillar humping) and barrage. (Powershot can bug and takes a long time to cast. Glaive toss is a good kiting choice but barrage has a massive aoe range that’s great for defending flags against cappers and you can move while casting.)

Glyphs: camouflage glyph for invisibility, explosive trap glyph for the knockback. (Great for kiting and pushing players off of cliffs and flags!) and marked for death. (its going to be replaced soon by a glyph that restores health when you disengage but as it is right now, it’s nice to have.)
Minor glyph: if you put your pet’s special ability on its action bar and mark the spell as active, they will spam it during stampede. It’s a good idea to bring pets with you that will buff you during stampede, or you can use the minor stampede glyph if you run with a spirit beast. The glyph will clone your active pet and if you use a spirit beast then that will be five spirit mends that you can use at the same time on yourself or a low party member.

Gear:
Gear doesn’t matter much until level cap. You used to be able to do pretty well in pve gear but as of this expansion it would be best to grab some pvp/arena gear as soon as possible.

Macros: ( bleh if I could get on wow I could just copy and paste all of my good ones)
Make a nuke macro with all of your cds on it.
/cast bestial wrath
/cast intimidation
/cast rapid fire
/use name of dps trinket
Ect ect. It will ROFLstomp players at low levels.
Use a hotkey for focus targets and then make focus target macros for scatter shot and silencing shot so you can cc healers while nuking the dps

tips:
Making arcane shot an auto target macro is great for finding stealth.
Also standing right behind a freezing trap is a great way to frustrate stealth.
Dropping a snake trap and using FD is a great way to confuse players who have enemy health bars activated
Lining up a frost trap and explosive trap and then dragging the player through them & then disengaging back over the active traps can drive people crazy.


Have fun and good luck!