Continuing with our series of research topics on talents that were redesigned with Wrath of the Lich King, today we talk about Improved Hunter’s Mark.

During Burning Crusade, Improved Hunter’s Mark was placed in the same talent tier as Efficiency, and the pros and cons of using either one became a topic of discussion. However, the new expansion has changed the placement of Improved Hunter’s Mark into a lower tier talent and redesigned its function from scratch.

Did you ever notice that before Wrath was released, the last time we received an upgrade for Hunter’s Mark was at level 58? I had even missed this fact myself. Burning Crusade did not have a Hunter’s Mark (Rank 5). It came with Wrath. This is a shame because it could mean that the ability was highly underpowered in the first expansion. But would an extra rank of Hunter’s Mark during Burning Crusade have made the original Improved Hunter’s Mark any more attractive?

Causes 20/40/60/80/100% of your Hunter’s Mark ability’s base attack power to apply to melee attack power as well.

That was the description of the original talent. It was a five-point talent that was competing with Efficiency for utility. The mechanics of this incarnation of the talent was discussed in the link I provided earlier.

Hunter’s Mark Hypotheticals

Unfortunately, there was no way that an extra rank of Hunter’s Mark could be added. The ability was first introduced at level 6 and received upgrades at 22, 40, 58, and finally 76. With the exception of the first, every upgrade had an 18-level gap. Let’s say, hypothetically, the last gap was split into two, and there was another Hunter’s Mark at level 67.

If this hypothetical rank of Hunter’s Mark existed in Burning Crusade, we estimate a Ranged Attack Power bonus of 170. If one were to place talent points into the original Improved Hunter’s Mark with this hypothetical rank of Hunter’s Mark available, it would also have provided more bonus melee attack power. It would also have provided an alternative option to the old Trueshot Aura (+125 AP at level 70) because it would provide 45 more attack power to melee classes. The fact that Improved Hunter’s Mark was a lower-tier talent, Beast Mastery hunters could have easily picked it up so that in a raid it could provide a buff that Marksmanship hunters could give with Trueshot Aura.

(click to enlarge)

Although we can’t say whether this would make the talent more attractive due to the attack power buff, it seemed clear that Blizzard had intended to keep with the original schedule of introducing a new Hunter’s Mark every 18 levels. It is also possible that the poor reception to Improved Hunter’s Mark (due to this flaw) prompted Blizzard to revamp the mechanics of the talent.

Hunter’s Mark Redefined

Increases the bonus attack power granted by your Hunter’s Mark ability by 10/20/30%, and reduces the mana cost of your Hunter’s Mark ability by 33/66/100%.

The new Improved Hunter’s Mark is a three-point talent. However, the description of the talent itself is a redefinition of what Hunter’s Mark is meant for. In Wrath of the Lich King, it was clear that Hunter’s Mark was solely meant for buffing ranged attack power. The sole right to buffing melee attack power would go to Trueshot Aura.

In the old Improved Hunter’s Mark, the primary flaw of the design was that it did nothing to the ranged attack power already given to you. Many saw that the five-point requirement was too valuable to be wasted on buffing melee attack power. In the new design, this was resolved because for any number of points you spend in the new talent, it provides bonus for your ranged attack power.

(click to enlarge)

Questions and Further Notes

What was the intention for the original design of Improved Hunter’s Mark? Could it have been meant for PvP rather than PvE to emphasize the concept of “focus fire”? If this was the case, why was the talent redesigned into a seemingly PvE-centric one?

As with any hunter ability we have previously discussed, both Aspect of the Dragonhawk and Trueshot Aura, the attack power bonus of Improved Hunter’s Mark is useless without Hunter’s Mark itself. To really have any effect, the hunter with this talent must always use his Hunter’s Mark. It should also be noted that Improved Hunter’s Mark will not stack, so assign only one hunter to pick up this talent.

It is also worth noting that the Glyph of Hunter’s Mark will add 20% of the base Hunter’s Mark RAP bonus to the total bonus. When this is used in conjunction with Improved Hunter’s Mark (Rank 3), the total RAP bonus from your Hunter’s Mark becomes 450, which is not something to be ignored. Considering Marksmanship hunters already boast some of the highest RAP values out there, a combination like this can provide us with the big crits we are looking for.

You can also find out more about Improved Hunter’s Mark through Nassira’s survey of the DPS value of the talent and Feanoro’s brief overview of what the talent means.

The year 2009 is the year of the Ox, or more appropriately, the year of the Tauren.

According to the lunar calendar, the new year begins today, and it’s a time to honor the elders. Taurens deeply honor their elders, and this is reflected in their customs. They are also a strong and noble race.

According to one Chinese legend, the 12 animals argued as to who would be the first animal in the 12-year cycle. The gods decided to hold a contest in which the animals must cross a river. The first animal to cross the river would be the first on the chart followed by the other animals according to their finish. The rat was the smallest of the animals and was expected by the other animals to finish last. Quickly, the 12 animals jumped into the river, but unknown to the ox, the rat had jumped on his back. As the ox was about to jump on the riverbank to claim first place, the rat jumped off his back and won the race. (source)

Matticus has also posted the horoscope of the Ox zodiac from a World of Warcraft perspective.

Following in the footsteps of Kestrel, Matticus, and Jess, I’ve decided to put up my humble desk setup at school and what you would see when I play World of Warcraft. It’s a testimony that you don’t have to have a shiny system to play the game or be using that much extra equipment.

• Dell Inspiron 700m, 2.0 GHz, 1.5 GB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive
  (I’ve been using the same computer for almost 4 years now. It has endured beatings and many games of intense graphics, the first of which was Battle for Middle Earth.)
• AcomData E5 250 GB External Hard Drive
  (This is where I run World of Warcraft from now.)
• Samsung SyncMaster 151V 15″ Monitor
  (Most of the time, this monitor is turned off. I usually only use it when I’m doing work, WoW-related or not, and need a second screen for quick reference. As a matter of fact, I have the GPSA Engineering Data Book open.)
• TDK Tremor Xa-10 Speakers
  (They’re the orange things. I started using external speakers when my laptop finally succumbed last month to the design flaw that causes its speaker cables to fatigue and break with age.)

I’d be interested in seeing what you’re using to play. It’s always fun to see what other people can come up with to enhance their gaming environment.

That about wraps it up this week for the generic posts to ease me back from vacation into the mood of writing more hunter-related stuff, which will start to appear again next week. If you find spare time this weekend, go check out the All Things Azeroth podcast episode 97. I managed to sit in on their recording session, which was full of fun.

E-mails make me happy. =]

Hey Loronar,

I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and wanted to let you know how much i liked it. My main is also a Marksmanship Hunter. I recently started my own blog (http://iquestalone.blogspot.com/) and ask that you take a look at it and let me know what you think. If you like it I would appreciate linking to it from your page.

Thanks.
Nerrad

I’m glad you like what you’re reading. You asked for it, and you got it. Welcome to my sidebar list of links, Nerrad. You’ve also been added to the Compendium of Marksmanship Hunter Blogs. Everyone else, drop by Nerrad’s page and say hello! It’s always a pleasure to see for Marksmanship hunters blogging.

How else would you be able to discover new World of Warcraft blogs and find the wealth of information available at your fingertips? Here’s a look at some of the latest searches that have led readers to our blog.

“35 yards out”

Why, yes. You have indeed found the right place.

“wow can i tame an exotic beast then space marksman”

I believe you meant spec Marksmanship. As far as I know, yes, but you will not be able to take that exotic beast out of the stable once you have spec’d out of the 51-point Beast Mastery talent. Perhaps you would like to consider this if you are a Marksmanship hunter who has his or her sights on Loque’nahak.

“trueshot aura or ferocious inspiration”

Even in Wrath, this choice is sometimes still a matter of raid composition and need. Trueshot Aura has been promoted to a raid-wide and scaling buff, but it still does not stack. Ferocious Inspiration, on the other hand, is still a stacking buff, so you can have as many Beast Mastery hunters as you’d like providing damage bonus. On the other hand, having more than one Marksmanship hunter in your raid does not add any significant contribution to the overall raid. If you are prepared to provide your raid with the benefit of Trueshot Aura, don’t hesitate from doing so. You may find that you like the Marksmanship tree as well.

“hunter dragonhawk viper macro”

Such a macro is actually very simple. For example, you can use this one-line macro:

/cast [button:2] Aspect of the Viper; Aspect of the Dragonhawk

Right-click on a mouse will provide you with Viper, and left-click provides Dragonhawk. There are, of course, other variations of this macro.

“improved hunter’s mark 3/3 level 80″

It appears you have read into my mind, dear reader. A research post is in the works and will be released sometime next week on this topic. Like my previous research into Aspect of the Dragonhawk and Trueshot Aura, this one promises insight into the new mechanics of Improved Hunter’s Mark. Be patient, and you will soon find the fruit of your search.

“marksmanship hunter glyphs”

My personal choices would be Glyph of Arcane Shot, Glyph of Hunter’s Mark, and Glyph of Steady Shot for major glyphs. The only minor glyphs that have some value are Glyph of Mend Pet, Glyph of Feigh Death, and Glyph of Revive Pet. In truth, most of the minor glyphs are quite lackluster, but these three provide survivability.

“can 5 level 80 do serpentshrine cavern”

I don’t know, but you’re certainly welcome to try be the first ones. Let me know when you do, so I can break the story.

“very first chuck norris joke”

I was baffled at how this search could end up here. It turns out this exact phrase was uttered by Euripedes in a comment to my post about memories (though in a slightly different context). I’m not sure how I should respond to this find.

I also found something I must have missed that was announced at BlizzCon: swimming mounts in Patch 3.1.

You want to know why that is one of the most exciting changes, in my opinion, for hunters? You see, pets on defensive have a tendency to engage enemies you may have accidentally or unintentionally aggro’d while running on your mount. As you get away from water, you are now in combat and can’t simply mount up again without having to kill that which you have aggro’d (or run from it until your pet despawns or the mob disengages).

Forget 3.0.8 and its problems. I want to see 3.1 goodies!

In this special feature, we had the privilege of interviewing Feanoro of Not Quite Immortal, the top-ranked guild on US-Silver Hand. We first met Feanoro through his blog Trueshot Aura last July. He is an active raider and participated in realm-first kills of Wrath of the Lich King raid bosses as a Marksmanship hunter. We’ll let him tell the rest in his own words.

First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m Feanoro, a Marksman raiding hunter on Silver Hand. I’ve been through all the raid content for classic and BC, and, barring any disasters, I should see all the content Wrath will offer us.

What brought you to World of Warcraft?

Originally, I came in on a guest pass from a friend on Silver Hand, Leonius. I’d completed plenty of other Blizzard titles before… all the Warcraft series, of course, Diablo 1 and 2, a little Starcraft… but I have to admit, I was concerned WoW would be following EverQuest’s “grind or die” philosophy. In retrospect, I should’ve had a bit more faith in Blizzard, but it can’t be helped. I’m here now, and enjoying every minute.

What made you choose to play a Marksmanship hunter?

I chose a Hunter because I’ve found I prefer ranged combat, scouting, and pulling in fantasy games. I prefer Marksman spec because it brings a balance of high personal damage and utility, which is my preference.

I know your focus has primarily been PvE raiding. Do you find time to PvP?

Very occasionally, but by choice rather than time limitations. I’m not going to give a rendition of “Woe Is Me, A Hunter in PVP” but I do think we could use some work in that area. Also, unless going with friends or guild, I just don’t enjoy it that much. Personal preference, really.

What’s your take on the current state of Marksmanship hunters?

After the debacle of BC and hunter damage being based on working around mechanics no one will argue were broken, the class and MM in particular have gotten a nice shot in the arm. While you could push MM to do decently in BC, it was sadly impossible to equal BM numbers, due to Serpent’s Swiftness proving that linked Auto Shots and specials was a poor design. Right now, the trees are a bit uneven, despite Blizzard’s stated goal to encourage pure dps to spec for their preference, but the 3.0.8 patch will correct that a bit, I think. MM specifically will be requiring a bit more cooldown watching and timing, but I feel that MM has always been about a variety of shots and a more complex rotation.

If there is one thing about hunters you could change, what would it be?

What to change? The entire pet system, and subsequently the Beast Mastery tree. As it stands, a not insignificant amount of our damage is based on the assumption our pets are alive and attacking. As we all know, there are many times when it’s difficult to have our pets attacking (and in some cases, alive!) the entire fight, artificially limiting our dps. This is worst for BM, as many of their talents boost only the pet. Blizzard has made some baby steps towards correcting this with spells like Ferocity’s Bloodthirsty talent, but there’s much more to be done. I’d like to see pets remade to be a bit more like Death Knight pets, where being unable to use your pet isn’t quite so harshly penalized. Further, I’d like to see talents more modestly improve the pet but also the Hunter. This is not to say I think we should be able to go without our pets, only there’s plenty of room for improvement.

How long have you been with Not Quite Immortal? Do you hold any key positions?

I’ve been with NQI since early 2007, about when we started killing Gruul, and currently am honored to hold an officer’s position. Among other things, I work with our hunters and tanks to ensure smooth boss pulls and steady chain pulling on trash, as well as working with people to improve their dps.

Silver Hand is an RP server. Is a raiding guild any different in an RP server than in any other server?

Well, we don’t call raid directions in iambic pentameter if that’s what you mean. We don’t actively encourage or discourage RP among our members, and many at the very least have established personality traits for their mains. During raids, we joke about such, and turn it into a motivator on farm content or something to relieve any stress. For example, a running joke back in Sunwell that we used to keep up our pace was Feanoro despising Blood Elves and wanting to keep moving to slaughter more of them.

Describe a typical NQI raid night for us.

We joke and kid around on vent, but overall, NQI doesn’t screw around in raids. We keep up a steady, fast (but not rushed) pace, and pride ourselves on high dps, with friendly contests to push each other to improve.

Where is NQI now in raiding?

I’m pleased to say NQI has cleared all the current 10- and 25-man content, our latest kill being Sartharion with three drakes. It’s a good challenging encounter without being twitchy like say Eredar Twins, testing your ability to control a fight while not being a hard gear check.

You’ve mentioned to me that you entered Naxxramas when it still hovered in Eastern Plaguelands. How is it different now from the one you remember before Burning Crusade?

One major difference is the overall tuning of the place. Naxx was the pinnacle of classic raiding, and, in many ways, Blizzard’s answer to raiders stacking every buff they could possibly find in that the place practically required all those buffs. Compared to other classic raids, Naxx was a huge step up in the amount of coordination and discipline a raid needed to succeed. However, most serious raid groups are now used to encounters at those levels, and Blizzard has thankfully greatly reformed the buff systems. Combined with very slight nerfs (Heigen’s poison splash doesn’t one-shot, tanks do not need to perfectly position themselves for phase one of Thaddius) and of course everyone’s previous familiarity with the fights, the new Naxx isn’t a pushover, but it’s certainly not difficult.

What has been the most memorable moment from playing World of Warcraft?

Well, although it’ll sound like bragging, the most memorable point has to be earning my Rhok’delar back in classic WoW. That event was incredible, and gave a real sense of accomplishment. Many of the old school hunters, myself included, wish Blizzard would revive the idea of class quests like that one.

Do you have any plans to go back to blogging? I’m sure some people would like to see the perspective of an experienced Marksmanship hunter on the cutting edge of raiding.

In all honesty, ceasing to blog was a combination of real life being busy and my being a tad lazy towards it. I do plan to start again, perhaps with small pieces, to get myself in the habit of semi-regular writing. One idea I’ve had is to talk about each of the current content’s bosses from the Hunter’s perspective, to avoid limiting myself just to theorycraft and mechanics discussion.

Favorite hunter ability?

As of Wrath, I definitely have to say Chimera Shot. I love the versatility it offers as well as the punch it packs, especially if Improved Steady Shot is up.

Is Hemet Nesingwary evil?

Evil, no. A bit crazy, but what Dwarf isn’t? I think the best word for him is “enthusiastic”.

Bow, gun, or crossbow?

Ideally a bow, since the gun sound slowly drives me insane.

Have you ever met Pike of Aspect of the Hare (Tawyn on Silver Hand)?

I’m afraid I haven’t had the pleasure, but I’d certainly welcome such a meeting.

Favorite quote?

“First know your class, second know your spec, third, see steps 1 and 2.”
—Howitzer of <Fusion> on Turalyon

Three tips for an aspiring raider?

First, know your class and spec inside out. Know as much as you can about each skill and talent, constantly experiment to learn new techniques.

Second, get to know your fellow raiders. Learn how they do things, learn how to work with them. Heroics are a great place to really get an idea of others’ capabilities, especially if you make a point of going with different groups.

Third, THINK. This is something no one can teach you. Don’t just grind along in the raid, following orders and waiting to be told what to do. Observe everything that’s going on, and you start to see “aha, Blizz is repeating the ol’ expanding poison/wall of fire/pie to the face trick” rather than “Boss A does Ability Q every X seconds”. When you can anticipate and react on the fly, you’ll be doing very well indeed.

Would you like to make any shoutouts?

Thanks of course to NQI’s awesome raiding team. It’s a pleasure to rip up all the challenges Blizzard tosses at us with all of you.

And it has been our pleasure speaking with you as well. Many thanks to Feanoro for this interview. Please stop by his blog if you have the time, take a look around, and say hello!

While the United States is draped with a message of change and hope on this day, change also appears to be coming to the hunter community. Announcement of an extended maintenance has led many to believe that today is indeed the day for Patch 3.0.8.

In what has been called the “Great Hunter Nerf of 2008″, playing a hunter will no longer be the same should the patch hit the servers. Here are a few highlights of the most updated patch notes:

Steady Shot: Now gains 10% of attack power as damage instead of 20%.
Arcane Shot: Mana cost lowered to match the cost of Steady Shot.
Ferocious Inspiration: This talent now also increase the damage the Hunter does with Arcane Shot by 3/6/9%.

This sequence of changes is part of the core changes designed to balance the three talent trees a bit more. By reducing the damage bonus of Steady Shot, which is the core of a Beast Mastery rotation, it makes Arcane Shot slightly more attractive due to the reduced mana cost. Although it remains to be seen how much this will impact how shot rotations are designed, it certainly is something worth further studies.

Lock and Load: Now has a 30 second cooldown.

This is an interesting change. Because Lock and Load currently triggers from the periodic damage of Serpent Sting, Blizzard implemented the cooldown to make the talent conform more with the cooldown period of traps. (See Lienna’s thoughts of the periodic damage proc.) What I’m interested on finding out is if bonuses such as one from the Beast Lord Armor could (or should) reduce the cooldown on this talent as well. With this change, I see this talent more useful for long boss fights rather than for regular battles.

Rake: This hunter pet ability has had its damage adjusted to prevent unreasonable scaling with attack power.
Scorpid Poison: No longer stacks. The damage has been adjusted to prevent unreasonable scaling with attack power.

An unfortunate change for Marksmanship hunters, cats and scorpids were still considered two of the top pet choices after the entire pet skill system was redesigned. By adjusting the attack power scaling of these two pets, Marksmanship hunters no longer gain a great advantage from using them in fights. Somehow this change reminds me of Znodis’ old prognostication that “[s]ome new mechanic will cause one and only one pet ability to be overpowered”, except in this case it is two pet abilities.

All Silence spells now have diminishing returns. This includes: Arcane Torrent, Garrote silence effect, Improved Counterspell effect, Improved Kick effect, Silence, Gag Order, Silencing Shot, Spell Lock, and Strangulate.

Unfortunately, this change will make the ability a bit more lackluster than before. It will slowly lose appeal before finally deemed unnecessary in a Marksmanship talent build. When it comes to that day, it will be a sad and quiet end for the old 41-point talent.

Although the changes we see in the horizon may not be at all positive, we hunters have always adapted and excelled. It is what makes us that much better because we are under constant attack, yet we continue to shine despite everything that has been thrown at us. There is still hope for us yet.

We’re back, and classes start today for my last semester. So while we’re on the topic, let’s talk about World of Warcraft culture in college.

Just last week, PC World posted an article on whether World of Warcraft could be a college class. It cites the economic practices that appear to come into play in the game. While I don’t doubt that there is some theory that can come out of such an economics class, some factors make it difficult to really understand the inner workings of the community. For one, there lacks any real-time tracking method for transactions made among players.

Although World of Warcraft can be made into course content, I believe it shouldn’t. From a student’s perspective, such a class would have little to no direction. The experiment itself risks compromise if the people who enroll are players who believe they will get an easy ‘A’ out of the class just because they play. In fact, the one sentence that bothers me the most in this article is this:

After all, it’s a chance to legitimize all that time you’re planning to spend holed up in your dorm slaughtering Bloodfen Scytheclaws and Ragged Young Wolves and launching company-sized all-nighter raids…

Back in May 2006, MapWoW listed the top .edu domain addresses that visited the site. Although the number of subscriptions back then was only a bit more than half the number of subscriptions today, the listing provided a snapshot of how the culture of each university impacted students playing the World of Warcraft. My own university was listed 22nd in this survey. Truthfully, I’m surprised at the number of big name schools on the list. What is evident from the list is that each university has its own environment that either promotes and hinders the players’ ability to play regularly.

If an academic is seriously considering an endeavor like this, it should only be done at a campus that has a conducive environment. It is not as simple as introducing a course with planned materials. One must also understand the experiment from the points-of-view of those who will be taking the course, be it players or non-players.

Good morning and Happy Winter Veil to all!

I hope you’ve been good boys and girls while I’m gone. May Blizzard give you the presents you wished for and may you find a chance to spend time with your families (inside and outside Azeroth).

The snow effect will be sticking around here until New Year, so enjoy a white Winter Veil with us if there is no snow where you are!

By the time you read this, I am already on a plane to go home for vacation. Where I come from, cable internet is more like glorified dial-up. This means no playing for about 3 weeks, but I’ll keep in touch from time to time to make sure the hunter community hasn’t exploded when I come back from vacation. While sporadic, I have also scheduled a few posts in advance for your reading.

I will also probably on Twitter. If you can’t find me, your best bet is to reach me there or by e-mail. This blog’s e-mail address is on the sidebar.

In the meantime, go down those raid bosses.

Oh the joys of 20-some-hour flights…