The Spirit Beast

I am very, very lazy

I'm extremely lazy, and I've been putting off doing any kind of web stuff for a while as I've been kind of preparing for Cataclysm in my off time by leveling several multibox groups of ranged chars. I have something in the works, but keep in mind that it's almost impossible for me to be motivated to do anything other than play WoW once I get home. Look forward to a couple posts at some point this month, as well as some site rebuilding, new features, and a new tool that should prove extremely useful to you aspiring multiboxers out there.

News Sites Picking Up On RealID Disaster

This list was taken from the 1200+ page and growing WoW forums thread, with the shortened links corrected. I'll be adding to this list as I get more, and if you have any additional links feel free to post them in the comments.

Long Overdue Post: WTF Blizzard?!

I know this post is long overdue, as this site has become stagnant over the past few months due to the fact that I've been busy during the day almost every day, and extremely lazy at night. It's so much easier to just play WoW rather than write about it, and I've put myself into a bit of a niche with a class that hasn't seen many changes in the past few patches. Regardless, Blizzard has motivated me heavily to get back into updating this site for a few reasons. I'd like to tell you that the big reason I'm getting back into working on this site is because I'm in the Cataclysm beta (which I am), but that would be a lie. The real motivation for me to even write this post is because of the latest RealID move which was no doubt made thanks to the increasing influence that evil mother fucker Robert "Zuckerberg" Kotick has been having on Blizzard.

In Defense of Beast Mastery

First off, I wanted to apologize for having not updated this site in quite some time. I've been extremely busy during the day with work projects, which leaves me very little energy to want to continue working in the evening. When I first started this blog, I had hoped that I could quell some of the arguments that Beast Mastery is a poor choice for talent specialization. Why did I even want to do this? Surely I could just roll Marksman or Survival like all the other "good" players and force myself into a cookie cutter build of what the perceived ideal hunter should be. The World of Warcraft community would have you believe that Beast Mastery is really only good for heroics, leveling and world PvE. They'd tell you that it's "not raid viable." Before I continue with that, I'd like to tell you a little story about a game I used to play.

And the newest spirit beast is...

Get your hopes up? Sorry, I'm a jerk. Although, given that Blizzard has released new spirit beasts on a fairly regular basis with large content patches, it's not out of the question that we'll be seeing another one with the release of Cataclysm. It's all speculation, but given that the looks of the four current spirit beasts consist of two cats (let's be honest, Loque looks a lot like a cat), a wolf and a bear, would it be out of the question for the next one to be a boar?

It's official: No more whining about oculus

Before you get uppity about the post subject, let me admit that I'm one of those whiners. Personally, I hate the oculus. It's not about difficulty, it's just the fact that I really dislike a lot of vehicle/mount combat in this game. Something about not being able to play the character I've spent so much time leveling and building up just irks me. Thanks to the changes to this bane of an instance, however, no one really has any room to complain.

I like to call them "tamies"

My first comic, hopefully not the last. Feel free to leave me a comment and download the hi-res version inside!

Don't starve your pets! Feed them the good stuff

Every little buff counts when it comes to DPS, so naturally your pet should be no exception. Don't leave your pet starved and weak when you take them into a raid. Give them the good stuff: Spiced Mammoth Treats. It's an often overlooked item. It provides a nice little buff for your pet, stacks with all other raid buffs (since it counts as well fed for your pet), and it really doesn't take that much effort to farm the materials.

Fighting Onyxia the right way

We've all seen DPS padding hunters come into Onyxia, dropping volley after volley on whelps when the raid has more than enough melee to handle them. Maybe they're insecure, or maybe they just don't know any better, but I'm going to explain what you need to do as a hunter to pull as much DPS as possible without pissing off your fellow raid members. For those of you who are familiar with the Onyxia fight, some of this might be old news, but hopefully you'll still pick up a couple tips.

Stupid Pet Tricks: Helping your friends level

If you're looking for something to do and you happen to have a friend who's leveling, boy are you in luck. Just find yourself an area chock full of mobs, stay out of party with your friend, and use Eyes of the beast. Then, without attacking the mobs, use growl. Your low level friend now gets to reap all the benefits of a level 80 pet with none of the drawbacks. This technique is especially useful in for farming elites, allowing your friend to gain full experience without having to share any with a tank (or a level 80).

Beast Mastery: Understanding an underrated specialization

The Beast Mastery talent tree is considered by most hunters to be nothing more than a novelty spec, used only when a new patch (and spirit beast) comes out. With the right talent build, gear, and some gameplay tips to keep in mind, you'll have the perfect excuse to give those spirit beasts some well deserved exercise! I've broken this post down into the following sections

An Introduction

For my first post, I figured an introduction was in order. I'm Hesson, and I'm a hunter from Gurubashi. More specifically, I'm a BM hunter. I've been a BM hunter since I started playing, and I don't ever plan on changing. I was already in love with the spec, and with the release of Wrath of the Lich King and the introduction of some of the coolest pets ever created, my feelings were only reinforced. Even when BigRedKitty seemed to have abandoned the spec for everything but exotic tames, I pressed on, convinced that beast mastery is capable of more than everyone thinks. Thanks to my stubborn attitude regarding talent specialization, I've essentially forced myself to learn how to get the most out of the beast mastery talent tree. However, I've noticed something in the WoW community regarding beast mastery: everyone thinks it's bad

Spirit Beast Resource: Arcturis

The fourth spirit beast added to World of Warcraft, introduced in patch 3.3. Unlike the other spirit beasts, Arcturis can be found in one spawn location. While there have been reports that he's spawned elsewhere, I found him two nights in a row in the same spot, as most everyone has reported, just north of Amberpine Lodge. Also, while he's somewhat transparent like Gondria, his transparency increases from his torso to his hind legs, appearing almost invisible when using Prowl. Probably the easiest to catch because, with enough patience you can simply camp out near the waterfall and wait, using an addon like NPCscan or an occasional target macro. You must be at least level 75 to tame this pet.

Spirit Beast Resource: Skoll

The third spirit beast added to World of Warcraft and introduced in patch 3.2. Skoll can be found in Storm Peaks found in an area where you'll also occasionally find Vyragosa and the Time-Lost Proto Drake. Taming is easy, like all other spirit beasts, with a simple Freezing trap, step back, tame beast. You must be level 80 to tame this pet. A cool note, even when he's dead, Skoll's trademark lightning effect persists.

Spirit Beast Resource: Gondria

The second spirit beast added in World of Warcraft, introduced in patch 3.1, and definitely hard to spot from above without a /target macro! Gondria can be found in Zul'Drak, within a fairly small area, making him a pretty easy tame with enough patience (and free time). Taming is easy, like all other spirit beasts, with a simple Freezing trap, step back, tame beast. You must be at least level 77 to tame this pet.

Spirit Beast Resource: Loque'nahak

The first spirit beast in World of Warcraft, introduced in Wrath of the Lich king, and probably the most distinct. You'll find Loque'nahak in Sholazar Basin, appearing much larger in its wild form compared to the tamed version. Found at a number of possible spawn locations throughout Sholazar Basin, coupled with the fairly high amount of traffic in that area (and the unfortunate fact that this beast is part of the Northern Exposure achievement), this can be fairly difficult for a hunter to find. If you're lucky enough to find Loque'nahak roaming the forest, taming him is quite easy. Place a freezing trap within taming range of him, take a step back from it, and begin casting Tame Beast. He, like the other spirit beasts, will pounce right into your trap.