Hunter Pets and the Ferocity Tree

If you pick a pet for its damage potential, it makes sense to pick talents that will increase its DPS. So if your pet has the Ferocity Tree, which talents should you choose?

First, you need to ask yourself how many Talent Points will your pet have? Your pet gets one Talent Point at level 20 (regardless of whether you leveled the pet to 20 or not), and one Talent Point every 4 levels afterwards (again regardless of whether you leveled the pet to its current level). At level 80, that means 16 Talent Points.

But wait! There's more! Hunters who spec Beast Mastery are able to get the Beast Mastery talent for themselves, adding another 4 Talent Points for their pet (all of your pets get this).
The Talent Tree is split into 5 Tiers. In order to pick a Talent from any given Tier you must have picked 3 Talents for every level below it. So you need 3 Talent points in Tier 1 before you can pick any Talents from Tier 2; you need 6 Talent Points in Tier 1 and Tier 2 combined before you can pick from Tier 3, etc.

Talents have from 1 to 3 ranks, each rank requiring one Talent Point. The entire tree would cost 32 Talent points, but as 20 is the maximum you need to decide which Talents are not worth picking up.

In Tier One you have the following Talents:

1. Cobra Reflexes, 2 Ranks. This Talent increases the attack speed by 15% and then 30%, but reduces the damage of each hit. The overall effect is to increase damage, but I am not sure what the effect of lower hit value is on threat. I do not pick up these Talents. -- Note: Rick in China (see comments below) has pointed out that the Pet's threat is actually increased with this Talent, so this is actually a good Talent for BM Hunters to give their Pets. In addition, the faster hits means that the stacking effect of Rabid (see Tier 5) happens much faster and more frequently.
   
2. Dash or Dive (depending on pet type), 1 rank. Increases the pet's speed by 80% for 16 seconds. This will help in surprising ways. Not only does the pet get to the mob faster, it can get back to you faster if you have taken on multiple mobs at once and you are getting attacked. This has saved my bacon more than once, and I always pick this one up.
3. Great Stamina, 3 Ranks. Increases pet's stamina by 4%, 8% and 12%. Since you need to pick 3 Talents in Tier 1, this may well be where you pick up the other two points, at least to start off with. The choice is between this Talent, which increases the total amount of Health your pet has, and choosing the next Talent, which increases the Armor and therefore reduces the amount of damage that your pet takes. -- Note: with the correction that I got about Cobra, I no longer bother with this, until I have nothing else good to pick in later levels.
   
4. Natural Armor, 2 Ranks. Increases your pet's armor by 5%, then 10%. Since later Talents will increase some of the healing abilities of your pet, Great Stamina might be a better choice. You can fill in some extra Talent points here in later levels if you choose. -- Note: Again, Cobra appears to be the better choice, along with Dash/Dive.
   

In Tier 2 we have the following Talents:

1. Bloodthirsty, 2 Ranks. Pet's attacks have a 5%/10% chance to to increase happiness by 5% and health by 10%. This is huge; I have only one point in this Talent so far and I rarely have to feed my pet anymore. The reasons this is so effective are a) your pet's happiness does not suddenly drop in the middle of battle, which would reduce damage by about a third; and b) your pet has a much lower chance of dying, and the mana cost of healing is reduced. This is one case where a non-DPS Talent radically affects DPS in a positive way. Plus, having points in this Talent helps later on with other higher Tier Talents.
2. Boar's Speed, 1 Rank. Increases Pet's speed by 30%. This is of limited value in my opinion.
3. Improved Cower, 2 Ranks. Decreases damage to pet by 10%/20% over the next 10 seconds. Bloodthirsty already benefits total Health, and I am not sure if Cower reduces threat, so I am not a huge fan of this Talent.
4. Spiked Collar, 3 Ranks. Increase damage done by pet by 3%/6%/9%. Extra damage is good, so you will probably end up making on this.

Tier 3:

1. Avoidance, 3 Ranks. Reduces damage to pet by AoE effect by 25%/50%/75%. I can see having this Talent for pets to be used in specific raids. Other than that I am not crazy about this.
2. Charge or Swoop (depending on pet type), 1 Rank. Pet charges or swoops an enemy, immobilizing it for 1 second, plus increases pet's melee attack power by 25 % on the next attack. The benefits of this are limited, I think, but consider this when using up extra Talent points.
3. Lionhearted, 2 Ranks. Reduces duration of Stun and Fear effects by 15%/30%. This can be useful in certain situations; less time out of action means more damage by the pet, and less damage to the Hunter.

Tier 4:

1. Great Resistance, 3 Ranks. Reduces damage to pet by Arcane, Fire, Frost, Nature and Shadow Magic by 3%/6%/9%. This is a small amount of damage reduction to be spending Talent Points on.
2. Heart of the Phoenix, 1 Rank. Requires 2 Talent points in Bloodthirsty (Tier 2). When pet dies, it respawns immediately with full health (10 minute cool down). This is pure gold. I don't know how many times this would have saved my bacon in raids. This is equivalent to a 100% heal plus a total reduction in threat, which in a raid is fantastic. Even in PvP or PvE it will come in handy. Make sure you get this.
3. Spider's Bite, 3 Ranks. Increases chance of Critical Strike by pet by 3%/6%/9%. Since Critical strikes are approximately double a normal hit, it is almost the same thing as an increase in base damage. But the higher your critical hit chance to start with, the lower the percentage effect this would be. However, it does increase the frequency that buffs and other procs will occur that depend on Critical Hits. Definitely consider getting at least one or two of these, if not all 3.

Tier 5:

1. Call of the Wild, 1 Rank. Requires 3 points in Spider's Bite. Pet's roar increase party's melee and ranged attack by 10%, with a 40 yard effect, for 20 seconds. In a large group, this can be a large amount of damage increase, vastly exceeding what the pet could do alone. for raiding, this is a great Talent to pick.
2. Lick Your Wounds, 1 Rank. Requires 1 Point in Heart of the Phoenix. Pet heals itself for 100% of its health over 5 seconds. This requires channeling, during which overall damage is reduced. With other Talents and Skills you should have enough to heal your pet without too much problem, plus Heart of Phoenix is a good insurance policy. No need for this one.
   
3. Rabid, 1 Rank. Requires 3 Points in Avoidance. Pet goes into a frenzy, Increasing Attack Power by 5%. Successful attacks have a 50% chance of increasing Attack Power by an additional 5%, which stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 20 seconds. With a potential overall increase of 25%, this might sound good, but to me it is a small benefit that can be used only every 45 seconds (cool down). Think about this only if you are running out of other good options.

Again, the important thing is to choose Talents that a) increase damage directly; b) reduce the amount of "down time" for the pet, thereby increasing damage indirectly; c) increase the chance of Critical Hits and other short term, high benefit events.

This Talent Tree works well with Hunters who have the Beast Master spec. The Hunter's damage will not be enough to overcome the threat generated by the pet, and the Hunter's talents will drastically increase the damage and other benefits provided by the pet. Hunters who have the Marksman spec may find themselves stealing aggro from their pet; but on the other hand they can do a tremendous amount of damage as well. In raids with a good tank the aggro will not matter.

New Hunter AddOn

When not hanging around in Azeroth or the Outlands, I work as a computer programmer. It's not as glamorous as slaying dragons, and I don't get to ride griffins to work, but it pays the bills.
However, it does give me some background knowledge that I can use in WoW, specifically in creating Add-ons for WoW. I have purchased a big fat book that will teach me all the technology that I need to learn, so I now ask you to tell me what features you would most like to see in a new Add-on.
These features can be aimed at use for Hunters, or for all players -- I want to hear it all! If I get a lot of different features I might break them out into different add-ons; but everyone who gives me a suggestion will be given an opportunity to try the out before they are published to the general public.
One feature that I thought of was comparing items for the same slot and determining which is "best" for Hunters. There is a calculation process that looks at Agility, Hit Rating, Crit Rating, Attack Points, etc. It would be nice to have a feature that says "this item is 100 Hunter Points, and this one is 105." Or something to that effect.
Any other ideas?

Pet Talents

One of the changes in Patch 3.0 is the way Pet Talents work. Most "talents" are already known to your pet and do not need to be taught or leveled. These are actually "skills" rather than "talents".
However, much like a character's Talent tree, you can choose the special talents that your pet possesses. in upcoming posts I will describe the three major families of Talent tree, but in this post I will mention just the basics.
Starting at level 20, your pet will earn one talent point every 4 levels. Also, each pet type uses only one of the three Talent trees: Cunning, Ferocity or Tenacity. This is unlike a player's Specs, where they can choose among talents across three different trees (such as Marksman, Beast Master and Survival for Hunters).
Lastly, when you "buy" a talent with your pet's talent points, you can add that talent you your pet's action bar, and toggle the auto-cast on or off as you see fit.
I should also point out that these changes apply to you and your pet regardless of whether you bought the Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack or not.

What Kind of Pet to Choose

In the end, what kind of pet to choose is a very personal choice. Aside from the obvious issues of style and looks and cute names ("Hello Kitty"), you need to take into account the type of playing that you will be doing.
Another thing to decide on is how many different pets you want to keep. Remembering that they all take time to level, you don't want to have to spend a bunch of time leveling a pet that you will use infrequently anyway. You can buy space for up to five pets.
Lastly, you will want a pet or pets that match your Talent Specs. The pet you choose can be affected by the talents you choose, so you want to match the two as much as possible.
There are three main classes of pets, based on the "Talent Tree" that they possess: Ferocity, Tenacity and Cunning. Ferocity pets will have higher DPS, and their talents will also increase yours. Tenacity pets have higher Stamina and keep aggro better than other pets. Finally Cunning pets balance the best of both, and are flexible enough to work in most or all situations.
The best approach to picking a pet is to compare your own Talent Tree to that of the pets' trees, and decide what combination will work best in the type of scenario you will be working in. For instance, if you are Marksman spec, the you will be dealing fairly high damage compared to someone with Beast Master spec. You will also be creating a lot of Threat, and you run the risk of stealing aggro from your pet. This means that a Tenacity pet will help keep the mobs off you.
However, if you will be doing more raiding than questing or grinding, keeping aggro will be the job of the Tank, not your pet, so a Ferocity pet is called for in this case.
On the other hand, those with Beast Master spec don't have the threat that Marksman Hunters do, and can use a Ferocity pet without much fear of stealing aggro.
Cunning pets are decent for Battleground situations where conditions might change at a moment's notice. They don't have all the DPS of a Ferocity pet, nor all the Armor and Stamina of a Tenacity pet, but they are well balanced and have some other options that can help a Hunter stay alive in a PvP situation.
All that being said, it bears (ha!) mentioning that pets are a lot better than they were before the WotLK update. Almost any pet will be playable under nearly any condition, and usually all you will need to do to succeed is to change your strategy a bit based on whatever strengths your pet has. These various strengths will be explained in future posts...just check under the "pets" category.

Aspect of the Viper

I am not sure how useful Aspect of the Viper was before the Wrath of the Lich King came out, but I sure find it useful now. It used to be that in the middle of a prolonged fight or series of fights, I would run out of Mana, and would have to rely on potions to restore it. Of course, that meant that a healing potion would be unavailable to me for a while, and that is not a safe thing to have happen. So I would end up leaving my Mana at low or zero, and then I would be unable to trap, or Mend Pet, or do any other useful stuff.
By switching to Aspect of the Viper I actually let my attacks generate Mana for me, as the Serpent Sting and Arcane Shot, as well as a few others, will actually increase Mana instead of use it up. In fact, if I keep this aspect on then my Mana simply stays at or near full and I can use spell after spell without fear of running out. The downside is that total damage is reduced by 50%. But if the pet is doing a lot of the damage in the first place, and if you are not running out of Mana, then this is a decent trade off.
I like to use this in long grinding situation, especially if I am taking on no more than one or two mobs; in other words, when it really does not matter how long the kills take. I end up more than making up the difference in the fact that I don't have to pause to drink or to mend the pet after Mana regenerates.
In bigger fights I might switch back to Aspect of the Hawk in order to take down lots of mobs fast, especially a boss, but afterwards switching again to Viper can help regenerate badly needed Mana in order to finish the fight. The last thing you need to have happen is to not be able to cast a Mend Pet when your pet is tanking the last three mobs for you.
I have also found that Aspect of the Viper reduces my aggro in relation to my pet's aggro. I am not sure if this is true or not, but I have found that my pet will hold aggro a lot more than when I am using the Aspect of the Hawk. Since my total damage drops, and my pet's does not, this make sense; but again I have not been able to get verification on this.
Lastly, if you have a bit if a run between spots, switching to Viper can help you generate your Mana, as you will get 4% of your total Mana regenerated every three seconds. That's 75 seconds for a full regeneration, so you can spend the time running instead of drinking. I do this only in situations where Aspect of the Cheetah or Pack is not safe.

Level 41, On to the Badlands, Broken Alliances

The Badlands are somewhat like Stranglethorn in that there are lots of beasts to be skinned, but the terrain is a lot more wide open. The quests here have been mostly easy, but there was one that gave me a little trouble: Broken Alliances. This is where you have to kill the "Boss" who is surrounded by 5 other ogres.
I actually had to kill him twice, as I died on my first attempt, and my bags got bugged when I came back to loot him. Anyway, the strategy to kill him is simply enough in concept, but can be difficult to execute. First, the whole group spawns at around 63, 63 and they hang out there for a while. After a few minutes they move west to a patrol circuit. There is one "midget" ogre that lags behind the group, and he is easy to pick off without any adds. After he is gone, you need to wait until the group is nowhere near any beasts that can join the fight. Send the pet in on the boss, and fire away until he is dead. Try to freeze any mobs that attack you, but save your feign for when the boss is dead. Wait for the pet to die and for the mobs to move on. Rez your pet, loot the corpse and you are done.

Level 40 In Dustwallow

Finally I can wear mail, as I reached Level 40 this morning while questing in Dustwallow. I had another one of those quests that are supposedly "bugged" for Hunters; this one was called "The Grimtotem Weapon", and you plant the totem in the ground and attack crocolisks. The totem zaps the crocs, and you get credit for one test (you need ten). Again, I used my "shoot before sending the pet" method, and not only did I get credit every time I did this, sometimes I got two credits with one kill! I am not sure if this is a bug or not, but if it is then it is the sort of bug I would like to see more of!

Level 39 In Dustwallow Marsh

As the title suggests I have gotten Level 39 while questing in Dustwallow Marsh. The quests are pretty simple, but there is one quest that is supposedly "bugged" for both Hunters and Warlocks, and that is "What's Haunting Witch Hill". By killing the Undead just north of where you pick up the quest (Jarl's Cabin at 55, 25) you get "information", and you need 10 of these. It is supposed to be a 100% drop rate, but apparently Hunters and Warlocks were not getting drops all the time.
I checked a couple of sites and forums, and the common suggestion was that if the pet gets the killing blow then you won't get the drop. I tried playing with this, but I still did not get drops every time, and I thought it might have something to do with range distance.
Then I tried something based on a hunch, and I got my last three drops in three kills, and that was to make sure I got the first shot in, not the last. I was only able to test this on three before I finished the quest, so if anyone can confirm this, please leave a comment to that effect.

Hand of Iruxos Quest

I used to have a tough time figuring out how to do the Hand of Iruxos quest, or the equivalent for the Alliance (its name eludes me right now). It is completed in the center of the first building at the entrance to the Thunder Axe Fortress in Desolace (around 55, 24).
Approaching the Fortress is no big deal; I used my Mana-efficient Aspect of the Viper method, which involves shooting to pull, backing up while the cat gets aggro, and then finishing off. As long as there is clear space behind you this method works well.
Once you get past the gates it is important to clear the whole area by the door to the building, because you need to be able to back up if the mobs inside the building come after you. After the outside area is clear, you need to watch for the single mob that circles the hallway. The building is round, and the hallway circles the central room. There are also stationary mobs in the hallway, but these need to wait until the patrolling mob is taken out.
After you get inside, you need to work fast, as these mobs respawn very quickly. I like to switch to quick-kill method, which involves sending the cat and setting Hunter's Mark at the same time while using Aspect of Hawk. For the first mob should be shot a little before the pet gets to him, as you want to pull the mob away from the other one behind him, to avoid doubling up. Once he is done, turn around and take care of the one behind you. Now you have room behind you regardless of which direction you decide to take. Working quickly, go around the hallway and clear out the mobs.
Getting into the room can be a bit tricky, and don't be surprised if you pull more than one mob. Set a freeze trap, and send the pet in and hope for the best. Be ready to feign, but do so out in the hallway. As long as none of the mobs have respawned you will be fine.
After the mobs in the center room are clear (Horde can ignore the Alliance NPC; it is there for an Alliance escort quest that you can be happy you are not doing), click on the red crystal in the center of the room, and be prepared for a tough fight. I prefer to stay back and work with Viper Aspect again, which lets me use lots of Mana for Arcane, Serpent Sting, pet mending, Concussive and Multi-Shot. Again, Feign Death can be useful here, but it may be resisted because of the level difference.
When you have finished the demon, loot it for the box, and get ready to fight your way out. Even if you did this at top speed they will be respawning already.
I did this as a Level 33, and Feigned twice due to my own mistakes, but did not die at all. At the same time I took care of the "Burning of the Spirits" quest (while I was outside, as it takes a little longer to kill the mobs while collecting the gems), and the "Sceptre of Light" quest at the top of the tower to the left of the gate once you get in.
Just try to pull one at a time, go through the mobs quickly, and all will be well.

Shimmering Flats Quests

There are 5 quests that I like to do together when I am in Shimmering Flats. I was Level 31 when I picked them up, and got my Level 32 when turning them in.
They can all be picked up at the race track in the center of Shimmering Flats from various NPCs. They are: Hardened Shells (get the shells from tortoises); Bump in the Road (Basilisks, Crystalhides and Gazers); Load Lightening (Vultures); Salt Flat Venom (Scorpids); and Rocket Car Parts. The first four require you to kill beasts, the last requires you to pick up items around the area (car parts, of course). Bump in the Road only requires you to kill a certain number of each, while the others need specific drops, but be aware that the drop rates does seem to be better than it used to be.
If you run directly east from the track, and start tracking beasts, and work your way around the outside of the track you should be finished or almost finished all the quests by the time you complete the circuit. There are a few things to watch for though. One is that some of the tortoises are level 35, as well as some of the Gazers. I was able to take them down without any trouble, including one time when I got attacked by a second Gazer while occupied with the first.
Each time I moved into a new area, I would clear out the aggressive mobs first (red dots on the mini map), then grab any rocket car parts, and then tortoises. My bags did get full, but when I got back to the track to sell some stuff I was pretty close to the last area that I needed to go to.
South of the track is where you will find most of the Gazers; but as I mentioned, be careful not to get attacked by too many mobs at once!
Lastly, there is a gun vendor at the track who also sells gun ammo. I did not remember to write down his name, but he is there...and I did not see any ammo vendors for bows.
I adjusted my attack method slightly, and it seems very quick and efficient. I do not add Hunter's Mark, but simply get to a maximum distance from the mob and hit it with an Arcane followed by a Serpent Sting. My cat attacks automatically and proceeds to get Aggro. If need be I start backing up until the mob attacks the cat, and I then stop and let Auto Shoot do the rest. If the mob starts running toward me again, I hit it with a Concussive Shot to slow it down, and usually the cat gets aggro again. If I had to use the Concussive Shot at the beginning, and it is not back up yet, I will do a Feign Death to lose aggro. If I needed to I would be able to do another Concussive, but it never happened. And if I get low on Mana I switch to Aspect of Viper for a bit until my Mana tops up again.
By using this method I required no food, drink or bandages. The only healing was for my cat, and that only costs a little Mana. No time lost for sitting!

Stranglethorn Raptor Mastery

I like the Raptor Mastery quest, along with all the others from Hemet Nesingwary, mostly because all the mobs are in one spot, and they give nice hides every time! :)
Easy way to finish this quest is to run to coordinates 25, 15 and put your tracking on beasts. If you are capable of killing these raptors, then you can certainly handle the tigers and panthers in the area too, which makes the second part of those quests a natural combination if you are speed leveling.
And, oh...the hides! Plus all the hides from the Young Stranglethorn Tigers and Crocolisks on the way back to Nesingwary's camp...no wonder I was able to get my mount at Level 30!
My usual method of attacking is to set Hunter's Mark on the target and send the cat in. As soon as the cat has aggro, I do one Arcane Shot and let Auto Shoot take care of the rest. If the Raptor leaves the cat I hit it with a Concussive Shot and start backing up (watching for mobs behind me on the inset mini map), and let the cat damage it while it tries to get to me. Sometimes they do make it to me, but by then they are nearly dead. Other times the cat gets aggro back and the deal is done.
All in all, a fun and easy quest at 31.

Hunter's Feed Pet Macro

This Macro generally comes in two flavors: one that uses a specific bag slot, the other using a specific item. I prefer the item-based macro because I am at level 70 and use the same item almost all the time. I first made the macro when I was in Stranglethorn, so that's what this sample represents:

/cast Feed Pet
/use Tiger Meat

I had a lot of Tiger Meat because of the quests I was doing, and with this macro it does not matter which bag slot it is in. The first line simply calls the Feed Pet "spell", and the second uses the item specified. When you upgrade to a new item to feed, you can replace the item name in the second line. Bind this to a key, and you have a one-keystroke way to feed your pet. This is particularly useful in raids when you need to quickly feed the pet and then drink for more mana all while the rest of the party is waiting.