eMg Wins MLG Dallas with Beast Cleave

   
Finally, Twixz the Hunter Hero has won a tournament.  I've been rooting for a Hunter team to take a 3v3 tournament for the last 2 years, and today my wish has been fulfilled.  For a complete match by match write up of MLG Dallas I highly suggest you visit World of Ming.

Twixz became known when his team Get Money Get Payce qualified for Blizzcon Regionals.  That team featured the lineup of Death Knight / Hunter / Paladin.  With 3.2 their lineup shifted from Death Knight to Enhancement Shaman.

Beast Cleave is the new term for the comp BM Hunter / Enhancement Shaman / Holy Paladin.  I expect to see a lot of Beast Cleave comps at the start of Arena Season 7 on Tuesday.

Twixz was using a Corehound for most of the tournament, but on the last day switched to a Worm.  The Worm proved to be most effective against the Plate Cleave and PHD team (x6stence).

3v3 BM Hunter Build: 44/16/11

I played some 3v3 games to prepare for the next season, and tried out a few different builds. 

At first I tried a regular Full BM with Aimed Shot build.  I had good burst but our team didn't have the CC to pressure the other teams.  The next build I tried was a Marksman PvP build and was frustrated with how much CC came my way (which made it difficult to damage & CC others at effective times). 

The final build I tried was BM with Aimed and Scatter Shot.  In the beginning of matches I was able to CC perfectly under the affects of Bestial Wrath (Scatter / Trap).  Not only could I CC effectively but I could also burst when their healer was in that CC.  This is what the build looks like:

BM / Aimed / Scatter (44/16/11)

 

 

  

Most likely this is the build I will use in 3v3 next season.  With it I end up using a Wasp to help in killing off Rogue teams.  With 3/5 Frenzy and no Cobra Strikes a Cunning pet is really out of the question, Ferocity is needed for the extra crit chance.

   

Hunter PvE DPS 3.2

With the sample builds taken from Shandara's Spreadsheet, with current best gear, in patch 3.2, it is clear that in theory, Marks is the best PvE DPS followed by Survival which is followed by Beast Mastery.

Marks    (7/57/7)   -   9289 DPS
Survival  (0/15/56)   -   8884 DPS
BM    (54/12/5)    -    8604 DPS

That is about a 7% difference between the lowly BM Hunter and the mighty Marksman Hunter.  I would prefer if BM was within 5% of the top spec, be it Survival or Marks.  BM may have the easiest rotation, but on pet unfriendly fights, it has the most to lose by far.
 
  
Talent DPS has changed most significantly (in patch 3.2) with Animal Handler.  It used to provide 27 DPS per point (54 total).  Now it provides 130 DPS per point (260 total).  Just in that talent change BM Hunters gained 206 DPS (in my gear, spec, etc. on my BM page).

The Wild Hunt pet talent change increased a BM Hunters DPS by 137, but it also increases Marks and Survival pet DPS.

The expertise change for pets (Ranged Hit now gives Expertise for Hunter pets), is another area where our pets gained a bit of damage.
  
 
All in all, this is how my PvE pages total DPS has changed since 3.2 (again, with my gear, spec, etc.).

BM went from 6211 DPS before 3.2, to 6783 after 3.2.  +572 DPS
Marks went from 6613 DPS before 3.2, to 6789 after 3.2.  +176 DPS
Survival went from 6769 DPS before 3.2., to 6677 after 3.2.  -92 DPS

Notice: My talent trees are not perfected for theoretical top DPS, as I usually forgo a couple of DPS talent points for Hawk Eye, as I tend to find that it adds unmeasurable DPS and longevity to my life in raids.

I'm not sure why my Survival build with my gear lost DPS from 3.2, but BM definitely gained the most since 3.2.  In better gear, especially a better ranged weapon, Marksmanship would pull further ahead, like it does on the samples, as it scales better than BM (as does Survival).

My recommendation is to try out BM again if you have Naxx 25 / Ulduar 10 gear or less (it should be about equal to Marks DPS).  But you might want to have a secondary spec as Survival or Marks in case you come across a pet unfriendly fight.  If you have an Ulduar 25 or better weapon, your probably better off with Marks in PvE.
   

First thoughts on patch 3.2

 
Here are some of my initial findings and thoughts on Patch 3.2 as a Hunter.

Being able to lay 3 traps at one time is actually pretty nice whenever I have time to setup before a fight.  However, I found it was very difficult finding a great keybind system that worked well when in the middle of a fight.  With a suggestion from a friend I decided to use a castsequence macro for my traps and I have found it much easier to lay 3 traps, especially in combat.
  
/castsequence Frost Trap, Snake Trap, Explosive Trap
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()

This is the macro that I now use which I can spam and get my traps down easily with one button, while still prioritizing Frost Trap then Snake Trap and finally Explosive Trap.

 
360 Deterrence is a godsend, I never have to worry about facing the target while using Deterrence and can run around psychotically while laying traps to my hearts content.
 
I haven't been able to test the Roar of Sacrifice change much but I'm hearing some abilities / spells seem to be able to crit through it, which seems stupid.

Pets now receive 40% of the Hunter's resilience, but I haven't noticed my pets lasting extra long under fire, they are still super fragile when focused.

The pets I currently use in PvP are my trusty Ferocity Wasp and my lovely Cunning Chimaera.  I highly recommend owning both pets if you love PvP'ing with your Hunter.
  
Also, if you have are leveling a lowbie Hunter like me because you can't get enough of Hunters, then make sure you pick up the new Heirloom chests available.
    

Patch 3.2 Arrives

Hunters

• Aspect of the Cheetah: Can now be learned at level 16.
• Deterrence: This ability now allows the hunter to parry spells and attacks from behind as well as in front. Now has a new visual spell effect.
• The time that traps will exist in the world after being put down has been reduced to 30 seconds, down from 1 minute.
• Frost Trap: Will no longer "fizzle" on targets immune to snare effects, however Lock and Load will not succeed when using Frost Trap if the target is immune to snare effects.
• Snake Trap: The Mind-numbing Poison effect has been reduced to a 30% increase in casting time, down from 50% to match similar effects.
• Traps now have separate 30-second cooldown categories: Fire (Immolation Trap, Explosive Trap and Black Arrow), Frost (Freezing Trap, Frost Trap) and Nature (Snake Trap). A hunter can have one trap of each category placed at one time.
  

• Talents
• Beast Mastery
• Catlike Reflexes now also reduces the cooldown of your Kill Command ability by 10/20/30 seconds.
• Survival
• Entrapment: This talent no longer works with Immolation Trap or Explosive Trap.
• Lock and Load: Now has a 22-second cooldown. The Lock and Load effect cannot be obtained on targets immune to snare effects when Frost Trap is used.
• Pets
• Roar of Sacrifice: Redesigned. This ability can now be used on any friendly target to make that target immune to critical strikes, but the hunter pet takes 20% of all damage taken by that friendly target. Cooldown is now 1 minute, up from 30 seconds.

  
  

One major change in 3.2 for Hunters is being able to lay 3 different types of traps (3 separate 30 second cooldowns).  I have not tried it in PvP on the test realms so I will have to play with it a bit on live to see if being able to lay more traps helps in PvP.

The 2 other major changes for Hunters in 3.2 is 360 deterrence, which is a godsend for PvP, and the new Roar of Sacrifice which I'm still undecided about.

There hasn't been much of a change as far as DPS goes for any tree, so I'm not sure if I am going to update the guides to Survival, Marks and BM.
    
Now that 3.2 has hit I should be playing my alt Hunter a bit more and PvP'ing a bit more with my main Hunter.  It's been a nice break off and it is nice to be back, I just hope there will be enough interesting things to post about in the future...