Die? lol

Weekend was a bit of a grind, as the toons slowly edged closer to Level 30, with Mathe joining Vis across the line. The best thing? Feign Death! The uber Hunter skill! WOOT!!!

While on hunters, I've found that with the new leveling 'buffs' to pet, it hasn't been too stressful to keep two pets leveling at the same pace as the hunter, even with the leveling buff. Both Frostbite and Isis are pacing along just fine.

I've yet to get used to Isis starting her attack with a poison spit at max range but since the deadzone is no longer as unforgiving, there are advantages. Now, my pet could pull mobs out of pack, whereas with Frostbite, I would pull with a low ranked shot and then let Frostie Growl it off me. Because it doesn't need to close against the mob, Dash would also look to be less important. The lack of an AOE attack (like Screech) could prove to be a bother later, but it looks like I'll keep Isis for awhile. Of course, some might suggest a Wind Serpent as a better pet with a ranged ability, but Wind Serpents have become a bit common...

Finally, I wish my Hunter was a Leatherworker so he could eventually craft these... It's not so much how uber they are, but how cool they look... Maybe, there is something similar for my rogue? hmmmmm

Isis the Snake

I had an epiphany while on the way to work...

Somehow, the name Isis popped into my head while trying to decide on a name for my snake. While the mythology behind Isis (one of the Egyptian Pantheon) doesn't really involve snakes, somehow the connection to them stuck... Maybe a bit of David Eddings' fiction at work here. Besides, Isis had the bit of hiss to it...

So, that's what I ended up naming my snake... Isis.

Name the Pet

Mathe picked up a snake while cruising through Wailing Caverns, a purple little bugger with red trimmings (sounds wrong, somehow...).

Problem is now, I need to name her...

I like names which are representative of the beast in question, eg, my snow leopard is Frostbite and every pet I've ever had with wings were called Zephyr. But, what do I call a purple snake?

She's sitting in the stable at the moment, since Frostbite is trying to catch up level-wise, but I hope to get her a name before her next foray... Having a pet with it's family type as it's name is just a tad bit wrong....

Hunter Speccing

My hunter has also started rolling in the talent points so it's her turn.

I've never had anything besides a BM hunter (even when MM/SV were the rage), and I'm not going to start on anything else now. The other specs have their nice bits but really, BM is great for soloing which is what I'll likely to be doing for awhile, even after I hit 70, for my hunter, that is.

First, a good read on how to spec the BM tree can be found at BigRedKitty's.

However, I did make some changes to suit my playstyle and needs.

Bestial Swiftness

BRK selected this, but I gave it the miss. Frankly, I do question the need for this talent. While running between mobs, the pet will just keep pace with you. When running after mobs, your pet will quickly get Dash, which does put this talent to shame.

If I needed a filler, this might be under consideration. However, too many goodies in this tree to consider.

Ferocious Inspiration

Another of BRK's choices which I left out.

Don't get me wrong. This is a phenomenal talent in groups. The buff is a huge damage boost when this procs, which happens often for a BM hunter.

However, my hunter tends to be the 'farmer', with her dual gathering professions and her grouping sessions are likely to be limited. As such, she will get little out of this talent.

So, with four points to allocate, this is what I did instead.

Animal Handler

This is one which helps the leveling process and her farming career.

Pre-70, there is no Riding Crop, so this helps to boost along the movement while mounted. Also, with no other way to increase a pet's chance to hit, this is a nice little boost to reduce the misses and increase the pet's DPS, as well as tanking ability.

Catlike Reflexes

For farming, I need my pet to survive cos I don't want to melee... This helps.

Again, there isn't any other way to add to a Pet's dodge so every few percent helps. In the time when my hunter will need to melee, this helps as well...

If I do end up raiding/grouping often with my hunter, Catlike Reflexes will go and the points can go back to Ferocious Inspiration, with possibly another point coming from Animal Handler.

The next 20 points will go into MM, which is nicely covered by BRK here.