New Blog: Skyrim Mods

For anyone who is interested, I've been getting into the mods of Skyrim lately and have a blog about Skyrim Mods.  This site will probably only be updated a few times a month for as long as I am enjoying Skyrim.

 

Other Games

I have stopped playing World of Warcraft this summer.  I highly doubt I will play World of Warcraft again, and definitely not before another expansion.

I have mainly been playing a modified version of Diablo 2 and League of Legends this summer.

Diablo 2 Epic Mod

My mod for diablo 2 makes it more challenging while making quite a few abilities a lot more interesting.  Yet the core gameplay of Diablo 2 is still there.

The installation to get it all working is slightly more difficult than just loading Diablo 2, but instructions are on the site and it makes for a much more interesting game.
 

2k Rogue / Hunter

Siphter and I finally managed to get back to the illustrious 2k rating.

Marksmanship with a Spider pet ended up being the ticket.  Once I was able to get more used to Marks I can see how Marks is just night and day better than BM.  It makes me sad but Kill Command is just a bad signature shot for PvP.

In 3's as Hunter / Rogue / Resto Druid we are also doing much better with me as Marks.  I think we could possibly get to 2k with the comp but I'm not sure about anything after that.  The highest Hunter / Rogue / Resto Druid team in the world is 2.2k, but I'm partly sure that is because nobody runs with this comp (the other part is its just a inferior comp).

Well, my goal is still to get to 2.2k at some point with a 3's team.  Not sure if we'll ever reach that goal but it's another step closer with me as Marks.
 

BM PvP Talents and Glyphs

You can look at my Armory page to see what exact talent spec and glyphs I am currently using.

Talent specs after Cataclysm have gotten much simpler since they are now 31 point talent trees.  The main two options for a BM Hunter is to go into Marksman or Survival with most of the extra points. 

Here are my two different builds for BM PvP:

BM PvP Spec A

 

BM PvP Spec B

 

My main spec (Spec A) has two important talents from the Survival Tree: Survival Tactics & Entrapment.

Hunter vs. Wild is pretty much a mandatory talent for every Hunter PvP spec.  15% more stamina for 3 talent points, yes please.

Improved Serpent Sting is just filler to get to the next tier.  Slight DPS gain.

Survival Tactics reduces my Disengage by 4 seconds which is always nice for survivability and can be used even offensively.

Survival Tactics also supposedly reduces the chance for your traps to resist, which should allow more consistent crowd control via Freezing Trap.

Entrapment snares targets when they break a Snake Trap or an Ice Trap (Frost Trap).  This ensnare lasts for four seconds with 2 talent points.  This is a decent control mechanism, especially against melee.

 

My secondary spec (Spec B) goes for more damage in the Marksmanship tree with my extra talent points.

Go for the Throat used to be mandatory for BM Hunters before Cataclysm.  Go for the Throat used to give your pet 25/50 focus on an auto-shot crit.  As of Cataclysm this talent now only gives your pet 5/10 focus on an auto-shot crit.  That's a huge nerf to the talent, but it gives BM Hunters a choice with their spec.

Go for the Throat still gives a decent increase in DPS per talent point (roughly the same as Bestial Discipline).

Efficiency is really just filler as BM to get down to Sic 'Em! as the 3 less focus cost on Arcane Shot is insignificant, and Efficiency is only 1 less focus during The Beast Within (12 focus cost BW without 3/3 Efficiency, 11 focus cost BW with 3/3 Efficiency).

Sic 'Em! is a much more interesting talent for Survival than for BM.  BM does use Arcane shot a decent amount, especially against high armored targets.  The DPS gain from this talent is still marginal and very random at best.  Of course, during Bestial Wrath it can contribute to a little more burst as the chances of an Arcane Shot crit are pretty high since you will be spamming it between Kill Commands.

Prime Glyphs

Kill Command - 3 focus reduction is not much but there is nothing else interesting for BM.

Kill Shot - Doesn't hit for near as much as it used to, two of them are usually required for a kill.

Arcane Shot - Used frequently and a decent increase in Arcane Shots damage.

Major Glyphs

Bestial Wrath - Lower cooldown = more frequent burst opportunities

Disengage - 5 seconds off a great defensive ability, self explanatory

Raptor Strike - 20% less damage is huge when versing any team that focuses the Hunter, and it's not that tough to land with it now being instant

Master's Call - 4 second increase in duration used to be great, but now that Master's Call can be dispelled, any decent team will usually dispel it after a few seconds (just like a freedom).  Also the 4 second base time of Master's Call is usually enough time to free yourself up and move away.

 

2v2 Update:

Siphter and I played a few games the other day but just couldn't get into a decent rhythm and my spec was a little bit off.  We will be playing more games in the near future.  We will break 2k.

3v3 Update:

I play with Siphter and Evanie as BM Hunter, Subtelty Rogue, Restoration Druid.  We have climbed above 1800 and are starting to get a good feel for the comp.  The comp itself is not a great comp, but it's not a terrible comp either.  I believe it is possible for our comp with our moderate skill level to get to 2k at some point.