#0 - July 16, 2008, 1:37 a.m.
BM is the best spec for newcomers as their pet will do a whole lot of damage without much effort. However when it comes to grouping with other players it might be a good idea to know a thing or two about the key abilities for this spec.
First off we have Autoshot, which every hunter has. Autoshot has a 0.5 second hidden casting time, however this is not so important (I will explain later). The core damaging ability for a BM hunter is Steady Shot, you should not be wasting your mana on Multi-Shot, Arcane Shot or any other ranged ability for DPS purposes. Last off we have Kill Command which is an ability that makes your pet attack for instant dmg, this ability can only be used when you score a critical hit with any of your abilities.
To sum it up there is three different abilties that you should be using, both mana conserving (to a certain point) and DPS efficient. But you do not wanna click three buttons like a madman do you? This is where macroes comes in. Macros is an ingame tool in WoW that enables you to have multiple abilities/commands in one button so you dont need to faceroll your keyboard.
There are two main macroes for BM and they look almost the same, but the difference is HUGE. It relies on your attack speed, whether your mana pool is big/small, Shadow Priests (SP) is a big plus here. I’m not going to go deeper into the pet abilties used here, as they do not effect your DPS in regards to the macro itself and your rotation.
Lets take a good look at these macros, see how they work and how they effect your dps:
The 1:1 Macro:
- #showtooltip Steady Shot
/castsequence reset=2 Steady Shot, !Auto Shot
/cast [target=pettarget] Kill Command
/cast [target=pettarget] Lightning Breath
/script UIErrorFrame: Clear ()
This macro will first fire off a Steady Shot, then it will wait until it can cast an Auto Shot before it returns to the beginning. (The ”/castsequence reset=2” doesn’t matter, the timer resets with each button press. So if u dont click it for 2 seconds it will reset to the beginning)
The 1:1 maintains a perfect rotation no matter what, it CANNOT adjust for any kind of haste effects, as it will not do the next ability in the macro before the previous is executed.
The 3:2 Macro:
- #showtooltip Steady Shot
/cast !Auto Shot
/cast [target=pettarget] Kill Command
/cast [target=pettarget] Lightning Breath
/cast Steady Shot
/script UIErrorFrame: Clear ()
This macro works totally different compared to the 1:1 rotation. Like binding different trinkets and cooldowns to one macro, this one also tries to cast everything at once. Failing to cast an Auto Shot due to it being on cooldown, it will cast a Steady Shot. Pressing it again while Steady Shot is casting, because your Auto Shot can’t be fired off while casting Steady, your Steady won’t be interrupted.
A small FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Q: Auto Shot is first in my macro, why does it fire of a Steady shot first?
A: Either your Auto Shot is on CD or try right clicking a mob to initiate attack. (Do not click your macro). You will see your character lifting up the bow, loading it, and then fire of the Auto Shot, this is the ”casting” time of Auto Shot. Auto Shot is now on CD. Then when you press your macro it will notice your Auto Shot is on CD and it will then fire off a Steady Shot instead.
Q: Does my Weapon Speed effect which rotation I should use?
A: Because of how the 3:2 is designed, it will attempt to cast Auto Shot, then it will try for a Steady Shot. So if you have a slower speed (anything above approx 1.7) when it attempts to cast Auto Shot, it will be on CD and it will cast a second Steady Shot. If you have a faster speed, after it casts the first Steady Shot, Auto shot will be off "cooldown" and available for use, reducing it from a 3:2 to closer to a 1:1. This is also one of the reasons why 3:2 is good, as it self-adjusts for speed buffs, such as Haste, IaotH, Rapid Fire, Heroism, ...
Q: Won't this rotation clip my Auto Shots at certain speeds?
A: Yes. You will see some clipping from time to time. But it will still improve your DPS over a non-clipping 1:1 rotation. The reason is that with the 1:1, if you aren't at the speed where your Auto goes off IMMEDIATELY after your Steady Shot, then you will have dead time where you could have been doing DPS. The 3:2 will keep you in almost constant action. By utilizing this extra time, you will see a DPS increase even with your Autos getting clipped. While the GCD is an issue casting Steady Shot, thus still causing a bit of downtime, it is far less than waiting for the Auto Shot to become available. When you have the haste that widens the gap where your Steady Shot is removed enough from the GCD that casting it twice causes more downtime than waiting for the Auto Shot, the Auto Shot time is reduced enough to balance the time utilized.
Q: Why do I see greater DPS with the 1:1 macro rather than the 3:2?
A: This could be due to the fact that the 3:2 macro drains ALOT more mana than the 1:1 macro, but it also gives less downtime and more DPS. Ideally for a raid, either a Shadow Priest and/or JoW (Judgement of Wisdom) and a Shaman in your group will help on the mana conserving.
Just a quick example to show how big the mana gap is when comparing these macroes:
Assuming: 5 min (300 second) fight; 2.00 Weapon Speed; Perfect 3:2 and 1:1 rotations. (Please note that this is for modeling purposes to show the difference in mana consumption only. It does not take into effect haste changes or the GCD, or other variables.)
Steady Shot consumes 110 Mana (before Efficiency).
3:2:
300 second fight = 150 Auto Shots (300 / 2.00)
3 Steady Shots for every 2 Auto Shots = 225 Steady Shots (150 / 2 = 75; 75 * 3 = 225)
225 Steady Shots * 110 Mana = 24,750 Mana
1:1
300 second fight = 150 Auto Shots
1 Steady Shot for every Auto Shot = 150 Steady Shots
150 * 110 Mana = 16,500 Mana
That's a huge difference in Mana consumption just from the shots. Once you include Kill Commands (more shots from the 3:2 = More Crits = More Kill Commands = More Mana consumed).
More Mana consumed means, even with popping pots at the right time, you're going to hit OOM faster. If you're OOM, or have to switch to AotV for a short time, then your DPS is severely gimped.
This will answer why most of hunters that see better DPS with the 1:1 have that conclusion. There may be some other variables involved with the specific fights, or the hunter, as well.
If you have a certain amount of haste gear or consistent procs(I haven't worked out exactly how much, but it will be around the 1.51 - 1.56 area), then you will reach a point where you are starting your second Steady Shot just a few hundredths of a second before your Auto would be available. This will clip your Auto badly.
Q: People say that 3:2 adjusts with haste, but my 1:1 seems to adjust as well. Why is this?
A: With the 1:1, as shown above, you're held to a rigid rotation, with no room to adapt. The reason why you still see improved DPS when you have haste procs is because it reduces your Auto Shot "cooldown" and thus the time between shots where your character is doing nothing. A 3:2, because of the "fall-through" mechanic, can adapt to ANY speed, slow or fast. This is why it is said to adjust better with haste.
Q: I cant decide which macro to use! Can you explain some more about the weapon speed?
A: The 1:1 Macro works optimal with a weapon speed of 2.7 or faster, while the 3:2 Macro is better suited for weapons slower than 2.7. As a general rule we can say that a paperdoll speed (Character sheet) for anything above 1.9 the 3:2 Macro will provide the best DPS, while for anything less than 1.9 attack speed the 1:1 Macro will be better. Additionally you can use both macros based on what your attack speed is. When you pop Rapid Fire a 1:1 macro will fit better, the same with the proc of IAotH (Improved Aspect of the Hawk).
Hopefully this will help clear up any misunderstandings about these macros, how they differ from each other, and why one or the other is giving you better DPS. Thanks to Elysianna on US forums for contributing with this :)
Lets carry on. Pets!
There is alot of different pets in World of Warcraft, but they have all been given normalized stats compared to WoW Pre TBC. There is three pet families that is the best when it comes to raiding; Wind Serpents, Cats and Ravagers. Personally I like using a Cat, even though Wind Serpents have the highest DPS (Crit Based). Cat is the best option if you want to have a pet that has many different abilties that all contribute to the Fericious Inspiration buff (When your pet crits), Ravager is in the middle with the Gore Ability and Bite and Wind Serpent for the Highest DPS. This is as far as I explain with pets as they dont really vary that much. As long as u have Bite, Claw and Gore on Autocast, they pretty much do all on their own. You should ALWAYS spec into Improved Revive Pet as it will die alot in the raids if you are in new content that you are not used to. Losing your pet is a big chunk of ur own and your groups dps gone
Q: What gems should I be socketing as a BM hunter?
A: Agility gems! Agility is a great way to balance your stats out, in both Crit, AP, Dodge and Armor. Agility is also affected by Blessing of Kings (BoK) which gives you another 10% agility which comes very handy when it comes to maximizing your DPS. In your headpiece you should put the meta gem with 12+ agi and 3% Critical Damage, other than agi gems you should put what you feel you lack of stats, be it crit or hit.
