Gaining Agro as a Hunter

As I have gone to kara and gotten better gear (e.g. Sunfury box), my
DPS has soared.

Great but now I am gaining agro. Even without spells, my pet no longer
holds agro (growl not strong enough).

In groups, if I don't cast spells I don't do very much DPS. I if I do
cast spells, my soars above the tank.

Any ideas what to do?

<faceman28208.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1c9d8276-14fe-4874-b849-cfe9bdc64bb6@b2g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> As I have gone to kara and gotten better gear (e.g. Sunfury box), my
> DPS has soared.
>
> Great but now I am gaining agro. Even without spells, my pet no longer
> holds agro (growl not strong enough).
>
> In groups, if I don't cast spells I don't do very much DPS. I if I do
> cast spells, my soars above the tank.
>
> Any ideas what to do?


In no particular order:

1. Feign death. Again, and again, and again...

2. Get better tanks.

3. In groups, turn off growl (if you have it on). You are messing with the
tank's agro when pets growl. Tanks usually don't like that. And if that
doesn't bother them, see number 2.

4. Get a threat meter add-on if you don't already have one. When I was at
the 65-70 range I started pulling from my pet. It happens since we are not
upgrading the pet as much as we are upgrading to gear that does more damage.
I learned to slow down. It's nice to be able to bring down mobs fast, but
the risk to your character's life (and repair bill) aren't worth it. Send in
the pet and do a 3-5 second count before you shoot so your pet gains some
agro. Then plug away. Since you say you are 70 and running Kara, your pet
should be able to knock a regular 65-69 mob down almost 1/4 hp in 5 odd
seconds. You should then be able to finish, or almost finish the mob off,
before you gain threat. If it is still happening, it might be time for a new
pet. You didn't say what you had, but it's a good idea to have one pet for
instances, and one for grinding. I don't PVP, but there are hunters in my
guild that also have a pet specifically for that too. Go to
http://petopia.brashendeavors.net/ if you haven't been there and read up on
the different pets, and what they can and can't do.

5. Spam Steady Shot-Auto shot with the occasional high burst shot thrown in.
Hunters are here to DPS. It's nice to be tops in the damage area, but
risking a wipe because the huntard wants bragging rights on how he destroyed
Midnight in Kara is sad. (Not saying that's you, just some people I know).
For hunters, the key element of the fight is dealing constant damage without
wiping the entire party. And slow and steady does add up on the damage chart
more than most think.

6. Find a macro for your shot rotation. I have different macros for
different situations.

7. Freeze trapping is your friend. Use it. In a run like Kara, 20 seconds is
usually enough time for one of your tanks to pick up what you just pulled.
And if the tank can't get to you, run to him so he can take the pull off
you. Same applies to grinding/quest hunting. Always use traps, frost or
freeze. It gives you time to maneuver.

8. Misdirection is also good, both prior to the fight, and during after it
cools down.

9. If feign death is still on CD and you close in on the tank's damage, stop
shooting for three seconds.

10. Learn to kite if you don't know how. It is invaluable. Trapping,
concussive shots, and wing-clips while kiting saved my ass more times than I
care to remember.