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November 20, 2007

Tales of a Noob Hunter















So, my hunter finally hit level 70.

It's a momentous occasion not just because it means I've crossed into the realm of people with three or more level-capped characters, but also because my hunter was the very first character I rolled in WoW.

We were in a small guild on Stormreaver at the time, and while the people were nice, there just weren't enough of them on at a time for it to have any real atmosphere. So a few weeks before my last round of college finals, at level 46, I quit. The game had lost its luster, and I couldn't see myself coming back. (Little did I know I'd be rolling a mage within four months, but that's a story for another day.)

I took my hunter out of storage about year ago, bought him a character transfer and stuck him in my current guild. Examining his gear, I realized I'd had no idea what I was doing. He was wearing green "of the Gorilla" shoulderpads, and while I'd had some concept that agility was a good stat, I seem not to have grasped that spirit gear was not worth my time. My pet was Ol' Smokey, a decent choice at the time, but it took me two levels of wondering why he couldn't hold aggro before I realized what was wrong.

I'd quit my hunter before the very first hunter class review, back when there was no pet training, and pet attack speeds hadn't been normalized. The talk of the day was why no one wanted hunters in "end game" (read: Stratholme) groups, and justifying our existence vis-à-vis the Perfect Zone of Ultimate Safety. So when I started playing him again nearly two years later, I wasn't just out of practice. I was behind the times. I hauled my bear in to see one of these newfangled "pet trainers," and wondered how much more noobish I could be.

I came into Outlands wearing a level 37 cape, ZF blues, and some extra pieces of Giantstalker's that were sitting in the guild bank.

I've killed my pet over and over, often unintentionally.

I was all the way to the Bone Wastes before I realized I'd never trained bows.

At times, meleeing my way out of combat because I'd run out of ammo (. . . again), the only thing that kept me going was stubborn completionism, but in the past three or four levels, the class has really grown on me. Not enough that I'm ready to volunteer to pull Shattered Halls just yet, but enough that I feel... well, competent as a hunter.

And that's definitely a first.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

CONGO RATS!

Ardent Defender said...

Gratz. I really enjoyed reading that as its more a personal story of your Hunter. At least your also aware of what you need to improve which is much better than playing and not ever knowing.

Sellia said...

Congrats ! I know what you're talking about ... i'm in the same boat. =)

Anonymous said...

Grats!

I've been through a similar thing on my main druid and for a long while it was not being played much. That and the fact that I don't like running the same instances over and over and over for a measly drop chance and taking months to complete a nice shiny set only to see it replaced with the green quest reward/drops when the new expansion comes...

That's why now all my chars are in the same "One Girl Army" guild! :)

Unknown said...

Hello, found your blog looking for ZA reset timer, enjoying the fun personal tone so far :)

We just got to Vashj :O
A'lar to 22% (P2) we're looking at a lot of wiping XD

My 70s were rolled warrior, mage then priest, although I have a lot of alts too! Have you tried a healer? They're a lot of fun. Priests especially are a bit less imba than palas or trees, but so much more versatile.
If you think a 6k fireball crit is cool, wait until you pop an 8k crit onto a tank *and get 12 points overheal*. You feel like a god.

unfortunately warriors are pretty much gimped for now :S
My new tank is a prot pala, huuuge fun if you twink them hard. I kill chainpulls of up to 7 and it doesn't take an hour either!

Learn to chaintrap, read BRK and soon your hunter will be clamoured for in groups around the globe!

Rusty said...

I picked up my prot warrior after convincing the new guy to roll a healing pally. With the new leveling speeds, Dwarfvader should burn up the next 40 levels to join my priest and hunter.

I just hate doing the same quest for the umpteenth time.

What is interesting is switching between toons and going through the relearning.

"Oh, yeah, I'm healing"

"Crap, those mobs SHOULD be hitting me"

"Squeeeeee!!! Get 'em PuddyTat!!!! Run away, run away!"

Unknown said...

This tale brings back so many memories of my pre-raiding days!

Girl Meets WoW said...

Lilxs, I haven't yet really healed much (although I did respec the priest a few times to fill in on Molten Core healing back in the day), partly due to being a little afraid of being a complete noob, and partly because my computer could rarely crack 12fps until recently. Thanks for stopping by!

And Ryster, I know exactly what you mean with the switching. Sometimes I switch between shadow priest and mage in the same instance, and it always takes a few minutes to adjust.

Unknown said...

Pardon a little threadcromancy.

I had ultimate respect for healers as a tank. A good tank, in my mind, never criticised his healer - it was always his fault for pulling too many, not organising CC etc.

That changed when I first healed Strat. I literally lol'd my way through XD
Many many healers are actually shockingly bad, it's the easiest role by far when you have a good group. Be brave and kick ass!

Palas have already had and druids are soon getting the nerfbat, making priest healers more viable than ever. I would say, the kings, as we have HOTs, instants, AOE, high HPS and high HPM.

I'm seriously considering respeccing... I'm often top DPS though and we're healer heavy. :S