I once had a Hispanic friend who was a bit of a ladies’ man. They loved him - thought he was funny, charming, and debonair. Most of all, they always lauded over his hair. Oh how the women-folk would go on and on about his thick lustrous wavy black locks.

But had they known what I knew, I think they would have stayed away from him. You see, my friend Valdez had a secret. That fancy head of hair had been attained through preternatural means. At one time, he had almost no hair and it was obvious it bothered him greatly. He had tried all the “natural” remedies. Sought medical advice, tried every anti-balding solution on the market.

Eventually, he gave in and turned to the dark side. He visited a Voodoo priestess.

She gave him a precise list of ingredients to procure in order to cast the spell to restore his hair.

As these stories always go, shortcuts in the recipe were taken. My friend did not want to kill the yearling cockerel with his own hands and strip the meat from the bones. Instead, he stopped at the local fast food restaurant and picked up some fried chicken. He didn’t want to shear the wool from a newborn sheep, and instead chose to purchase a cashmere sweater. The list of unfortunate substitutions was long.

In the end, I suppose you could say he was lucky. He got what the spell promised - a full head of thick, gorgeous hair, if a little on the greasy side.

The Voodoo priestess, however, was covered from head to toe in a thick black goo that no amount of washings and soap could remove.

… (wait for iiiit) …

Tragically, it was a spill over from the hex on Valdez.

A VERY interesting post went up over at WoWInsider not too long ago*.

The gist of the post was that hunter pets can be massaged even further with family-abilities than they are now, to make them more flexible and raid-viable. I encourage you to go over and take a gander at it if you’re interested, the details of the various pet abilities are an interesting read even for non-hunters because you can dream about what kind of pet might synergize well with whatever class you play.

Normally I don’t like to dwell too much on entries that have “wouldn’t it be great if…” and “oooh, it’s possible we may get…” type topics. Not only does it accomplish little, it makes me weep to think of how badly I want my priest to have a Holy Form to counter the Shadow Form for shadow priests. It’s not a new idea, it’s not a unique and special snowflake of an idea, but by golly it would be SO FRACKIN COOL. You know it would! Don’t even bother to deny it!

Ahem. Back to the hunter pets.

The reason I decided to go ahead and make a post that is not only just a response to someone else’s post, but also has nothing to do with the reality of huntering at this moment is because I really like the idea, and it got me to thinking.

I love the hunter class. One of the things that MAKES the hunter class is how very customizable it is.

Druids (bless their heart) look exactly the same in bear form and decked out in the most fanTABulous gear available as a brand spanking new level 10 bear druid. I am convinced that this is an oversight that will be fixed in the expansion, but that’s not the point of this post.

A hunter’s pet is a reflection of the hunter himself (or herself. ‘itself’ doesn’t fit, and english has no gender-neutral pronouns, throw me a bone here). The pet chosen by a hunter can not only be a unique creature, it can also be a different skin/color for that type of animal. The combinations are mind-boggling.

When you see a hunter run past, and then a long-legged pink tallstrider weaves its way through the crowd behind them…you know at least a tiny bit about that hunter. They have flair. They wish to be noticed. Maybe they’re even a bit of a jokester or a clown.

A crocolisk? A crab? These are rare breeds indeed, someone who truly craves the unique. (Or maybe they just like gators or crabs, that works too).

But you can express yourself through the pet that you choose. There are SO many skins for cats, SO many skins for raptors and ravagers and owls…

When I’m running through Shattrath or wasting a bit of time in between SSO dailies and I see a bright tiger with white stripes glaring suspiciously at the people walking past…I click to see if it’s BRK and Hobbes. Not because I recognize the faceless hunter…because I recognize the PET.

Pets are more than just an expression of yourself. When you’re soloing as a hunter, you aren’t REALLY soloing. So many hunters become emotionally attached to their pets, they feel like they have a friend with them, even if it is just pixels and code There’s a connection there. Pets are more than just a sword or a mace. They’re more than just a weapon or a mount, or a status symbol.

They MAKE the hunter class, and hunters are proud of their pets.

I love that they added pet abilities that can only be learned by certain pet families. I love that there’s a game-significant reason to choose one pet over another. It saddens me that some pets have no unique abilities, nothing to set them apart.

But if they gave bears an extra aggro-inducing ability, you can bet your sweet buppy I’ll be one of the first hunters trolling the snowy hills of Winterspring. I love those polar bears, with their heart-shaped pawpads. If they can hold aggro over me, I’d happily trade in one of my lions for a soloing pet that truly has a REASON to be called a soling pet.

The hunter with the Tallstrider would be beloved by any mana user they group with - hunters, enhancement shaman, paladins…it’s not just the pure casters who could use the boost and who would be delighted to see one of those unique and much-beloved pets.

I love the idea that hunters can tailor their pets more specifically to the job they need done. I love that hunters who choose “nonstandard” pets might be able to validate their choose and provide buffs to the group. I haven’t heard of people requiring certain hunter pets or banning hunters with crabs, for example. But what if you could tweak and tailor just a little bit more? What if hunter pets provided more group synergy? There’s already a reason to want a wolf, or an owl, or a carrion bird for the buffs they bring. Why not extend that, give every pet just a little more reason to be used?

I love it. I love the idea, I love the implications, and I believe it can be done carefully without upsetting the delicate class balances. Right now, the PET balances are skewed heavily away from certain pets, and I’d love to see that equalized without removing the uniqueness associated with the pets.

Although I do feel obligated to note that if the abilities are implemented as detailed in the original post, the cats are going to be overpowered as choices for dps raiding pets for the hunter who wishes to up his/her own dps. I also notice that my beloved ravagers were not mentioned. /cry

_{* Please note that if I remember it, it was “not too long ago”. If I only vaguely remember it, it’s “a ways back”, and if I’ve forgotten it completely, it “never happened”.}

I keep talking about how much I hate Eviscerate but that post is going to involve a lot of math and it has not been the most productive week in terms of writing. With the group deciding to go back to our alliance toons and transfer to a new home on Drenden, my mind has been other places. Tuesday I stared at my screen for 3 hours trying to figure out what and how to say it… I accomplished nothing, so you get this cop out post.

Zasp is no longer a Blacksmith, due to his shiny new fist weapons. He’s now a 375 Leatherworker with some awesome Swiftstrike Shoulders, and Drums of Battle for everyone! I got impatient towards 340 and bought the last mats to hit 375 — it was not a cheap process. Also manged to hit exalted with Shattered Sun Offensive, which gave me access to the awesome neck (especially because I’m Aldor). The 200 attack power on the proc is down right awesome, not to mention I’ve seen it proc on Sap which just makes me giggle.

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Someone asked me for some tips on healing Magister’s Terrace, affectionately known as MrT. At the time, I hadn’t healed it yet, but I’ve done so on multiple times now and feel I can give some tips to those who’d like some help.

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It’s time for more random tips from your friendly neighborhood tank who is stalling for time while he tries to write a real article! I bet you’re excited, I know I am.

Take the Lead

If you PUG 5-mans, every now and then you’ll find yourself in a group with a non-tank that wants to do the marking, pulling, leading, and maybe even “off tanking”. There are any number of reasons why they act like this, none of them good or reasonable.

In any case, unless the tank is entirely unfamiliar with the instance, or just doesn’t know how to assign CC and pull properly (in which case they’re not a very good tank anyway), there’s no logical reason for anyone other than the tank to be leading. Any decent player should know this, which is why mister I’m-a-DPS-class-but-want-to-be-leader will typically fail in every role they’ve assigned themselves in the first 20 minutes.

So what to do about this person? The easiest solution is to just not PUG, or form your own group. But if you’re really determined to make it happen, you’re going to have to work with this person, especially if they’re getting the group wiped right out of the gate.

Sometimes simply asking “Hey, mind letting me do the pulling?” will do the trick. Sometimes you may have to browbeat the person into submission. Calmly whispering suggestions so that they can maintain the illusion of leadership while doing exactly what you tell them to is seldom a bad idea.

The absolute worst thing you can do though, is nothing, while hoping they figure out what the hell they’re doing before your gear turns red. Tanking and timidity don’t go well together. If you wont do it to save yourself, then do it to save the rest of the group, that’s what we’re there for.

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It has come to our attention that one of the members of Aetherial Circle, Kelektra has been bearnapped!

The onus for this crime has been laid upon the doorstep of EgoCorp, and we wish to set those allegations to rest.

Although EgoCorp did indeed embark upon a partnership with Kelektra (affectionately known as ‘Kel’) for mutual benefit in Magister’s Terrace, it is folly to assume that her current disappearance is in any way related to our business relationship.

We, here at EgoCorp, find the disappearance of Kelektra to be highly suspicious, possibly implemented in order to keep our organization from conducting further business with the highly skilled druid and other members of the Aetherial Circle Umbrella corporation. We have unconfirmed rumors that BRKWWA, when confronted with news of EgoCorp’s intent to conduct future business with Kelektra, grew wrathful and hotly denied any such possibility. “She is my precious!” he was quoted as saying.

Please remember, these rumors are not yet confirmed - we simply wish for our audience and stockholders to be as informed as possible in this time of flux and crisis.

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It has come to our attention, here at the Egotistical Priest Corporation, Unltd (henceforth known as EgoCorp), that the BRKWWA has hinted at allegations concerning the loyalties and alignment of EgoCorp, which has caused quite a bit of concern among our stockholders and employees.

At this time, EgoCorp can neither confirm nor deny these rumors, but we do wish to reassure all of those associated with us that there is no need for panic or alarm.

We wish to reiterate our company goals - to bring useful and timely information to the World of Warcraft Gaming Community - and to remind everyone that we shall remain firm to those goals.

As the expansion gets ever closer we are seeing tidbits of info. Some go through the trouble of data mining each small patch to look for any minuscule amount of information as can be found. We here at Ego are willing to even go above and beyond that! Ego has sent me personally to dig through trash and hide in air ducts just to secure world first knowledge pertaining to changes in the game and the ramifications those changes can have. Here, for you readers, is the first taste of those efforts.

The Housewife Class

Housewives are the masters of their domains. You can rest assured, while having one in the group that not a single strand of a raid member’s hair will be out of place! They are ready and willing to clean that smudge from your chin with a smidge of spittle on a ready napkin. Much like racial buffs, every Housewife receives a +10 skill bonus to cooking, and are capable of discovering recipes as they spend more time cooking! They bring powerful group buffs, such as the Reassurance Aura (5% Stamina and Spirit increase to group members).

In addition, it turns out that Chastise was originally a housewife spell, but they cannibalized it for a priest racial when the class was scrapped.

The original text copied from in game group chat:

Vonya: For a short period, they toyed with the idea of having a Housewife class - someone who would furiously scrub the enemies with harsh scouring powder, bake cookies to buff the raid with Sugar Rush or apply a debuff of Oh My God Is That A Dead Beaver In My Soup, and give an AOE bonus of Babysitting to all gnomes in the raid.

But they abandoned it after they realized that nobody wanted to do the daily quests of The Dishes and Taking Out The Trash in order to be eligible to raid.

Sad, really.

Aensu: That class still has a few diehard proponents though…but all they can do now days is head for goldshire to roleplay waitresses, and dream.

While leveling up Tyrsdae, my lowbie priest, I’ve been able to confirm information that changes how I -used- to gear a lowbie priest.

Spirit
In the past, I’d have mocked anyone who actively sought spirit in gear. “Use the spirit that comes with the gear that has int on it, and be happy,” I’d have said.

Oh, certainly, when I had my choice of gear suffixes, Of The Owl has -always- been treasured by me.

But I was always much more int-centric than spirit.

Times have changed, my friends.

I will confirm what others have said on this blog. At low levels, gearing for spirit is not just a good idea, it’s a great idea. My mana regen on Tyrsdae is through the ROOF.

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Wow, the slacker finally gave us part 3 of this “guide”. Psh, how can he even use that word? If you missed the first or second installment I’d recommend starting there.

Anyways on to the final part.

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