PetAggroandTanking
InPetTankingnews,Ihavegoodnewsandbadnews:ThegoodnewsisthataTenacityPetcandosomeprettyserioustanking.Thebadnewsisthattheaggroofsomefamiliesisstillverydicey,andyou'llhavetoworkextrahardtokeepfrompullingaggrooffofthem.Whetherthischangesat80,Ican'tsayforsure,butfornow,givenanormalgrowlanddamagerotation,IfindmyselfhavingtothrottlemyDPStomakesuremypetBoarcankeeptheattentionofthestuffwe'refighting.
Ofcourse,itis,onceagain,possibletouseafewhandymacrosandabitofplanningtogetaroundthat.Misdirection'scooldownisupprettyswiftlynowadays,whichgivesyouagoodexcusetouseit.CreatingaspecializedMisdirectionMacrofocusonyourpetcandowondersforlettingyourpetkeepthemonster'sattention.Here'sanexample:
/target(yourpet'sname)
/castMisdirection
/targetlasttarget
Thiswillquicklytargetyourpet,giveitMisdirection,thenswitchbacktoyouroriginaltargetsoyoucanstartunloadingthethreatimmediately.Ofcourse,youcanstreamlinetheprocessquiteabitmore.Here'samoreinvolvedmacrofromWoWWiki:
#showtooltipMisdirection
/cast[target=focus,help][help][target=pet,exists,nodead]Misdirection
Ifyouhaveafocusedtarget,thismacrowillautomaticallycastonyourfocus.Ifyoudon't,itwillcastonyourpet.Ifyoudon'tuseyourfocusforkeepingtrackofenemies,settingyourfocusonthetankcanbehelpfulinkeepingMisdirectionflowingintherightdirection.
Inthegoodnewssection,there'sstillawholelotoftankinggoingon.IfyougrabaTenacitypetwithafamilyabilitymoresuitedforgainingaggro,suchasaGorillaoraWorm,and/orifyoukeepMisdirectiongoing,youcantankstuffprettywell.MyBoarhaspersonallytankedtheHeadlessHorseman6timesinarowwhilebackbyaHolyPaladin,andsolo,I'vemanagedtosololevel66-68eliteswithabitofmendpet.JustunloadwiththeIntimidationandBestialWrathupfrontandkeepthatMisdirectiongoing,andyourpetshouldbeabletograbalargeenoughchunkofaggrothatyoucanstaycomfortablybehindher.
MyPethasSkills
AsImentionedearlier,thereisonemoreproblemthat3.0.2hasboughttotheworldofHunterpets:theoverflowofskills.Justwithasimpleferocitybuildat70,youmighthaveskillslikeCalloftheWildandHeartofthePhoenixthatyou'dliketobeabletotriggeratwill.Unfortunately,bythetimeyoufitGrowl,Cower,Bite,Claw,orSlap,andyourpet'sfamilyskillonthepetbar,youhavenoroom.
Luckily,thereisasolution,ifyouhavesomeextraroomforanothermacro.Thenyoucanjustwriteasimpletwo-linemacro:
#showtooltip
/castCalloftheWild
Voila.Younowhaveaccesstotheskillevenifyoudon'thaveroomforitonthepetbar.Youcandothiswithanyotherpetskillaswell,ofcourse.
OtherRandomObservations
AvoidingtheAutocastBugout
SothisisaproblemIknowsomeofyouhavetoldmeyou'vebeenhaving:Youthinkyouhaveaskillonautocast,say,HeartofthePhoenix,anditdoesn'ttriggerwhenitshould.Or,youtakeaskilloffautocast,andittriggersanyway,andwhenyoucheck,it'sbackonautocast.
Thisisabugthatseemstopopupprettyfrequentlyeversincethetalentchange,ontheBeta,onPTRs,andnowliveservers.No-one'squitehammereddownhowthebughappensthatI'vebeenabletofindout.Itmayhappenwhenyoulogout,whenyouenteradungeon,orevenwhenyourpetautomaticallyattacksamonster.Luckily,there'safewwaystodealwiththis.
Thefirstistoputtheabilityonyourmaincastbar.Theabilitiesinthose4slotsgenerallykeepthestatetheirinandwillautocast(ornotautocast)properly.Ofcourse,theproblemwiththisisthatwiththenewpettalentsandfamilyskills,chancesareyouhavemorethan4abilitiestokeeptrackof,whichbringsustoournextoption.
Thenextoptionistouse/petautocastoffand/petautocastoninmacrostomakesureyourabilitiesareworkingright.Youcanjustcreateastraightupmacrothatyoucanpressperiodicallytoresetyourpreferredcastandautocastabilities,oryoucanweavethemintoanotherusefulmacro.Here'saverysimpleexample:
/castHunter'sMark
/petattack
/petautocastoffCower
Thisisasimpleattackmacrothatmarksyourtarget,sendsyourpetintoattack,andmakessurethatCowerisoffautoattack.Thisisveryusefulwhensoloingforsure.Ofcourse,evenwiththesetwooptions,thisisstillaveryannoyinglittlebug,andhopefullyBlizzardwillsquashitsoon.
Tags:WoWWiki