Hunter Pet Survivability

[kreelor]

Bomyne, and in addition to what you said, it appears that Blizzard (very recently) has NERFED the Hunter's Pet's ability to stay alive again! Mine used to tank several enemies at a time without suffering hardly any loss of life. But, now... he's half dead or fully dead battling just one enemy! The "Heal Pet" does hardly anything, and I spend more time clicking on it than I do shooting! Yet, he dies anyway. This is really screwed up.

They also nerfed the Warlock's pets, to a point of their almost being unnecessary.

[AussieEevee]

My girlfriend is pretty much the same as you, Cabby while i'm in Kreelor's boat. She has no problems with hunters either.

Bomyne, and in addition to what you said, it appears that Blizzard (very recently) has NERFED the Hunter's Pet's ability to stay alive again! Mine used to tank several enemies at a time without suffering hardly any loss of life. But, now... he's half dead or fully dead battling just one enemy! The "Heal Pet" does hardly anything, and I spend more time clicking on it than I do shooting! Yet, he dies anyway. This is really screwed up.

They also nerfed the Warlock's pets, to a point of their almost being unnecessary.

This sound EXACTLY like my experience with hunters. i can fight one, maaaaybe two (Tenacity pet) but the pet usually ends up half dead or even dead after those fights. I'm thinking because i usually sacrifice everything for DPS or agility, i'm not giving my pet the Stam or armor he needs to stay alive.

EDIT: Maybe this thread should be split? Hunter stat centric posts moved to their own thread with the op pointing back here for reference?

[kreelor]

I'm glad your Hunter pet is working good for you, Cabby, but can you explain why my same pet suddenly lost his ability to survive (like he used to do)? I haven't changed anything, except for upgrading a few of my armor pieces. He's now only 1/2 as capable as he was before. Can you suggest (specifically) which are the most important stats and least important stats I should look for on my own armor which will aid in increasing his survivability? Sorry if I hi-jacked this thread, but it seemed an appropriate place at this time to ask.

[cabby]

I think you're looking at the hunter from the wrong angle. It's not about how to make the pet into a tank like a pally or dk, it's about increasing your dps so the stuff will die before you even have to worry about the pet's health. The pet is there only to hold the mob's attention while you kill it very fast. Most of the single target fights with normal mobs should be over within about 10-15 seconds. Gear yourself for dps.

For stat priority go with:
Agi
Expertise or Ranged Hit until capped at 7.5%
Crit
Haste
Mastery

If you think you need a little bit more survivability with the pet go tame one of the Spirit Cats in Mt. Hyjal. These are an easy tame, but you must be naked to tame them or they will one shot you. The Spirit pets have a healing ability that they will use on themselves and on you if needed so that will help a little with survivability. Just spec them as Tenacity for the tanking aspect. These cats are named Magria and Ankha and they share the same spawn spot and pathing so it will be either one or the other up if they're up.

And then finally, what kind of rotation are you using? If you're using a poor rotation then your dps will be down and this will cause the fights to last longer which in turn means a higher chance of pet death if you're not paying attention to it's health and using your Mend Pet ability properly.

[AussieEevee]

I tried that last expansion. I found my Worgen hunter was dying too much so i focused on agility. Enchants, Gems, anything to raise my DPS. It seemed that the harder i hit, the harder I fell.

[cabby]

Ahh, but what pet were you using last expansion? When you hit harder you need a tenacity/tank pet to hold the agro. Last expansion when it first came out the pets weren't holding agro like they should have been which made it a bit more difficult but Blizzard got that fixed. Right now no matter how much damage I do it seems like I can't pull the mob off my pet unless I use distracting shot.

[kreelor]

Screenshots of my Hunter's 'Ranged' stats and my Pet Bear (Tenacity/Tank).

I know my char is weak compared to most peoples; I haven't played him in a long while. Spent more time working on Professions than aquiring better gear for him. But, even as he is, (with the same pet bear), the bear doesn't survive like he used to. That's my only point.

Hunter and Pet stats.jpg

[cabby]

Don't have a hunter in the lower 80s anymore to compare. Where have you been questing at 82? I remember the first couple levels with Cata zones was a bit tough because of such a major difference in the zones and gear for the expansion. You just need to be persistent and grab the right quest reward gear and it will all fall back into place and be easy by the time you hit 85.

[AussieEevee]

Ahh, but what pet were you using last expansion? When you hit harder you need a tenacity/tank pet to hold the agro. Last expansion when it first came out the pets weren't holding agro like they should have been which made it a bit more difficult but Blizzard got that fixed. Right now no matter how much damage I do it seems like I can't pull the mob off my pet unless I use distracting shot.

I tamed a white bear in early Wrath, called him Snowy. He's been my primary pet ever since. Love that bear.

I did have trouble initially in Cata with pulling off him but after that was fixed, the problem wasn't that I was pulling off him. The problem was that he was dying too quickly. All a same level mob had to do was glare at him and he died. This is why my stamina is vital. Stamina translated to health for me (Always good in instances if you stand in the fire by mistake) which translates to health for Snowy (Always good in Solo play when Snowy is my tank.). Health is survivability.

[cabby]

I understand what you're saying. I just never looked for Sta because it's already there on my Agi gear without having to look for it. I just looked at every piece of gear I have equipped and every one (except for trinkets) has about 25% more Sta than Agi on it. This was all just with using Pawn and it's 0.1 Sta weight compared to the 100 Agi weight. And it's all quest reward gear, no dungeon or raid gear.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...ssaille/simple

[mzanker]

There appears to be a vast difference in survivability between low and high levels. I have a level 39 pandaren hunter with a tiger from the pandaren starting area (ferocity). This is on a separate realm that I go to for a change now and again, so gear is just quest greens and the odd blue. Mobs die fast but my pet does appear to lose health pretty quickly. Two or more mobs and I'm having to hit mend pet to keep him alive. The glyph helps here - boosts mend pet healing by 60%, I think.

Contrast that with my hunter levelling from 85-90. I chose a shale spider for the extra agility and he's configured as ferocity, but NOTHING kills him (or me, for that matter). Even with 3 or 4 mobs on him he's maybe down to 75% health at the end of the fight. I hardly ever have to use mend pet. 85-90 has been quite boring because I and my pet seem indestructible.

So, Kreelor, just hang on - it does get better! Make sure you wear agility mail items (wearing all mail gives you a 5% agility boost, so only replace with leather if the agility boost on the leather is greater than 5% of current).