The Way of the Ed

Well after a few days of trying to figure out just what the hell it is I want to talk about I finally settled down to decide I should address my play style (specially since I cant seem to get in a raid for crap these days and when I do people are so busy pointing fingers its a bad one anyway).

Edyion:

Well for starts Edy is a beast mastery hunter as I am sure you are well aware of by now. Yes I did not succumb to the temptation of the survival numbers. Close a few times (hell even as I type this I'm thinking about it) but I am stubborn and don't like to have my game dictated to me as to what I should and shouldn't spec since its blah blah blah fludda fludda. I started out BM as a tip on leveling from a friend of mine when I started playing. From there I began to really enjoy actually having to multitask to be affective and the utility of having a pet that wouldn't simply die in 3 hits whether it be solo or in a group and even possibly off tank something on the healer until the tank could get to it or I could get it to the tank.

Now without getting into the old "overpowered" BM of 3.0.2. and the great nerf of 3.0.8. I will admit we did need the nerf to a degree. The exstint to which we got hammered was way too much though and we are still working to recover verses the explosive shot in terms of dps. On average in a raid I will never be close to out dpsing a SV hunter and I have excepted this after much fustration and what I felt to be set backs since even equally geared I am easily run into the ground at the moment but I do hold my own. Which of course brings me back to why I remained BM in the face of all this.

Its simple. I like the utility.

I might not be pumping out the dps at the moment (will see how that holds up when 3.1. finally reaches us as I had to give up the PTR for various fustrating reasons) but my pet is still more sturdy than that of a the other hunter trees and I have perks that come in very handy on a PVP server and when I actually do decide I wish to battleground or arena. Most of all since I love instancing my pet is like a build in off tank and does very well at it. I have a very very tight relationship with my guildmates I have known the longest and in particular our few remaining tanks and our long suffering healers, and as such they have grown to trust my play style. I learned to pick up add slack and to be the flexible hunter in a run that I am now. Now I don't get the buffs of the MM and SV trees for party benefit, such as True Shot Aura and Hunting Party, which probably also hurts my raid utility some. My pet also has to be alive for me to benefit from the ap boosts, which can be a bit of a pain but at the same time since my pet takes more of a beating huntanking is more manageble for my spec than others, so in essence you are getting 2 of me for the price of one.

Now am I one that pays a ton of attention to the mechanics and math of dps? No. Math is not my thing and I sure as hell dont play this game to crunch numbers. My dps is not the top in most cases and unless something is really off or I am completely out of commission I will not be the bottom either. I am stable upper middle dps. Would I like to be the top? Who wouldn't? Its not the end of my world that I am not. Is my spec perfect? Not by any means, but my spec is set to a way that I am comfortable with. I am fortunate enough to be a guild that isn't overly concerned with those things as other more "hardcore" are. I have run with numerous other guilds and for the most part they like the way I play because, again, I am dependable and flexable.

With Dual spec I do intend to experiment more and fully learn the Marksman and Survival trees but will I be giving up Beast Mastery? Highly unlikely. With the knowledge of these trees I will be able to better improve how I do certain things I am sure. Would I be able to give you the exact numbers and mechanics of my spec? Hell no. Never said I was the hunter grand puhbah. There are sites for that. I'm just trying to give a little insight into the inner workings of the brain of an Ed.
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That said I think i will give a little insight into the things I do with Tytanya at some point as well.