First Impressions: Hunter/Ret/Disc

'Sup,

First, I'd like to thank Outdps and some random users on Warcraft Hunters Union for the mentions! I really appreciate it! I write this blog with the hopes that I can help people get better at this class that I love, and feedback like that really makes me feel like I'm making a difference.

And to anyone looking to find some more great information about huntering in general, be sure to check those websites out!

So, yesterday I transferred to Khaz Modan, which is a member of the Vengeance battlegroup. It pains me to admit this, but my old comp, which was Hunter/Enhance/Holy Paladin, seemed to have hit a wall as far as comps go. There are a lot of reasons for this, but long story short, it wouldn't have been possible to get Gladiator as that comp. So after a final day of games for points and tier 2 weapons, we said our tearful goodbyes and broke up the team.

Thanks to the Arenajunkies recruitment tool, I was quickly able to find a Ret Paladin/Disc Priest looking for a Hunter for 3s, and I was pretty excited about it. On paper the comp is extremely strong, with the Ret Paladin able to throw massive off healing to his partners thanks to Selfless Healer, and the crazy CC trains that can be put out on healers thanks to fear/mind control from the priest. I contacted them, hammered out the details, and transferred the next day.

Khaz Modan is a lot like Eonar... except empty.

So, it turns out that if you play with the same teammates for over a year and switch teams, there are going to be some communication problems. We were having a ton of trouble coordinating our CC, our Ret was tunneling people and going out of LOS and getting smoked, our disc priest was making a ton of mistakes, like using Divine Hymn while being focused, and we were just having a terrible time. I was also using a spider, which you may remember is not my preference.

Discouraged, I almost called it a night. I had a test the next day that I needed to continue to study for, and we were struggling to break 2100, which I didn't think boded well for the future. Finally, against the urgings of my partners who insisted that rets needed a reliable snare to be effective, I switched my pet to my Cat.

I'm so sorry I left you, Tyki!

Suddenly, everything worked.

Like a switch being flipped, we suddenly were killing enemies in 3 globals. CC trains were going off no problem. Our communication became drastically more effective. It suddenly seemed like enemy teams were putting out less pressure, even though we were fighting the same teams we had been fighting all night. We won 9 games in a row and surged up to 2300 without any problems, before stopping because... I still had a test the next day. Roar of Courage, indeed!

It was probably not the cat that changed our play. Although 549 agi/str certaintly helps... I think it was all phsychological. Because so many things had changed for me, a new team, a new server, playing with a spider... I was just off balance. Bringing the cat back made me able to shift back into my old play style, and not having to worry about so many new things about the game, cleared my mind and made us bring the pain.

But enough of that sappy crap. You want to hear about the comp right? Well... I'll tell you some things.

First, I noticed that if your ret has to off heal, his damage potential is very limited. If you're running this comp, minimizing the damage you take is going to be key. Although, your ret's healing will definitely win games you otherwise would have lost, so don't let that stop your ret from throwing heals out.

Second, I noticed that switching is extremely key. Your ret paladin should save his wings until after you get the enemies to blow some cooldowns first, or until you guys have their offensive dispel controlled, and preferably on a switch. His wings are usually spam dispelled by any decent team, so just be prepared. But a ret paladin can switch targets and, with very little setup, can be doing maximum damage to them. Switch when a target is running out of your LOS and you cant get to him.

And finally, keep your CC rolling as much as possible! scatter>trap>repentance>silencing shot>fear>mind control>trap. Start at any step and you can just keep rolling until your cooldowns are out.

Oh, and SPAM Concussive Shot on your target. Your ret will love you for it.

Good luck out there! Until next time..

Oonoes