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Something I thought I would share, as I have been researching this, and talking with the theorycrafters at EJ.

First off, let me be clear, I'm talking to BM hunters here, and ideally BM hunters with 2pc-T10 gear. (MM and SV hunters, as well as gun-haters, can stop reading here).

So, now that I'm speaking to the BM hunters with 2-pc T10 who like or don't mind guns, there's a nice secret out there. Rowan's Rifle of Silver Bullets is really, really good for you (and dwarven hunters get that extra bonus).

I've been playing with the spreadsheet looking at dps, as well as some personal testing, and it turns out that Rowan's is as good or slightly better than Zod's bow, and certainly better than any of the 251 or 232 weapons.

Why?.. It's simple. The speed on the gun means a 11% increase in uptime of the 2pc-T10 bonus. The lower damage range on the gun doesn't hurt BM much because our main shot (steady shot) is based on the raw weapon damage, which is about the same on all the 264 weapons.

So, if you are a BM hunter and still stuck with 232 weapons (like the crossbow out of PoS), Rowan's could be a major upgrade for you. And if you don't have 2-pc T10 yet and are level 80, there's no reason not to get it. Go do VOA each week and do your daily hero, and get the frost badges.

And if you happen to be a goblin engineer, all that much better, you can make your own bullets.

wow.com actually had an article that pointed out this same fact, about oh... a month and a half ago, I think. Same reasoning, and he especially suggested it for non-raiders as you can pick it up on the AH.

*Crosses his eyes* This hurts my head. There's no way in a million years I'd have thought this'd be good for any form of hunter.

Sarayana wrote:wow.com actually had an article that pointed out this same fact, about oh... a month and a half ago, I think. Same reasoning, and he especially suggested it for non-raiders as you can pick it up on the AH.

But they didn't dig deep enough in the spreadsheet. What they really meant was no BM should be raiding (and they have said that before). But, even for BM raiders, it is very good, and is only really surpassed by the 271+ weapons. (If you are a raider and hate guns, then Zod's is basically just as good).

Fearstalker wrote:

Sarayana wrote:wow.com actually had an article that pointed out this same fact, about oh... a month and a half ago, I think. Same reasoning, and he especially suggested it for non-raiders as you can pick it up on the AH.

But they didn't dig deep enough in the spreadsheet. What they really meant was no BM should be raiding (and they have said that before). But, even for BM raiders, it is very good, and is only really surpassed by the 271+ weapons. (If you are a raider and hate guns, then Zod's is basically just as good).

Uhm no. That is most definitely not what they were saying. The article was about non-raider gear at level 80, regardless of spec. In fact, if I recall, they didn't even mention spec. Here's the post. (As an aside, I've never, ever read that BM shouldn't be raiding on wow.com. In fact, wow.com has always seemed a site that advocates speccing the way you want and tries to help you maximise your output in the chosen spec.)

Sarayana wrote: Uhm no. That is most definitely not what they were saying. The article was about non-raider gear at level 80, regardless of spec.

ok, to be fair, I was probably extrapolating from one of their writers, Frostheim, I think, who does (or did) the hunting lodge podcast. He was big on BM not raiding. The other hunter writers don't seem to have that mentality.

Sometimes tank guns will be an upgrade for the Hunter due simply to the higher DPS value of the gun. If Rowan's does more DPS than your current weapon (by a reasonably large degree), then stats aside Rowan's will be an upgrade.

There was a while in Ulduar where the tank gun that drops from Razorscale would actually have been an upgrade for me, but I never rolled on it due to not wanting to deal with the "huntard is using a tank gun!!11" thing.

But yes, if you're running with something like a 232 ranged weapon and you can get Rowan's, it'll very likely be an upgrade, especially if you're a Dwarf.

Fearstalker wrote:

Sarayana wrote: Uhm no. That is most definitely not what they were saying. The article was about non-raider gear at level 80, regardless of spec.

ok, to be fair, I was probably extrapolating from one of their writers, Frostheim, I think, who does (or did) the hunting lodge podcast. He was big on BM not raiding. The other hunter writers don't seem to have that mentality.

I really hope you don't think I'm nagging, but here's the intro to this particular article:

Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of Dwarven Stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim.

I don't actually read Hunter's Union, so I don't know what his personal opinions are, but on wow.com I doubt spec'ism is accepted. I find the hunter articles on wow.com are amazingly spec balanced. Then again, they're not the place I'd look if I wanted info on raiding as a hunter.

no BM should be raiding

I can't wait until the BM stigmata is no more.

Dewclaw wrote:

no BM should be raiding

I can't wait until the BM stigmata is no more.

Sadly I think that's going to stay a while longer. BM has always been, and probably always will be considered the facerolling levelling spec. TBH I'm a bit glad that it's not our raidspec. The "zomg bm huntard" would turn into "zomg huntard"...

Dewclaw wrote:

no BM should be raiding

I can't wait until the BM stigmata is no more.

I couldn't agree with you more. I think it's in part because it's still the best leveling spec. Leveling specs != raiding specs in many people's minds.

And I think you mean stigma, not stigmata.

Sarayana wrote:I don't actually read Hunter's Union, so I don't know what his personal opinions are, but on wow.com I doubt spec'ism is accepted. I find the hunter articles on wow.com are amazingly spec balanced. Then again, they're not the place I'd look if I wanted info on raiding as a hunter.

Point taken. I've listened to enough of his podcasts though, and he's definitely a no-BM in raid, even if he's not nasty about it. (I'll also admit I'm biased against wow.com for their terrible paladin tanking info, but that's another story).

But, back to the point, for anyone suffering with bad luck at getting a weapon, Rowan's is amazingly good for BM, and I've seen it as cheap as 1,500 on the AH.

Fearstalker wrote:But, back to the point, for anyone suffering with bad luck at getting a weapon, Rowan's is amazingly good for BM, and I've seen it as cheap as 1,500 on the AH.

I can't speak about the wow.com pally coverage nor the Hunters' Union podcasts, but yes. Bottom line = we agree on the gun.

lets just hope Bm does not become the "uber" hunter spec and makes every other spec the "sucky" spec. Nice article tho.