Cat Vs Spirit Beast

Daragh was kind enough to send us this a few weeks ago. It's a bit outdated but we LOVE to publish our readers mail. Hey, better late than never heh?

So here's something that is going to put a downer on all us spirit beast hunters. I always feel proud strolling the streets of Dalaran or Stormwind with my spirit beast and have people stop and stare at it but alas this remains pure vanity...

I noticed something the other night that scared me a little. I was in Icecrown doing the argent crusade daily with the spirit beast and as always I kept a close eye on my recount DPS; now I always use the same shot rotation. I decided to go back and come out again with my level 79 cat and do the same thing. So here I am with a lvl 79 cat and after resetting recount, I notice I am doing more DPS with the cat than with the 80 spirit beast...

Can this be true I ask myself ? so I decide to level up the cat to 80 and once that was done, I headed back to Darnassus and the heroic training dummy. I set the cat and spirit beast up with the exact same talents and I took to the dummy using only hunter's mark and aspect of the dragonhawk with auto shot and no other shots...

Now irrespective of my gear, I took down some figures. During a period of 3mins each, with the cat I recorded a DPS of 840 (simple autoshot) and then with the spirit beast I recorded a DPS of 732. Now this is due to the fact that spirit strike does not benefit from our hit rating seeing as how it's a spell based attack and hot physical.

So in short I decided to stable Loque until patch 3.1 is released and the bugs on spell hit are fixed. Normally the patch promises the spirit beast being on equal par to a devilsaur so lets hope they stick to their word.

However prior to patch 3.1, no sincere BM hunter can afford to take a spirit beast on a raid or an instance, knowing full well that they can get more DPS from a simple cat and probably insane DPS from a Devilsaur...

We agree. But may not just been a matter of vanity. For us is the thrill of getting what we think it's the most amazing, beautifull, mystic pet in the game.

Spirit beast FTW!

Daragh's Hunt

We LOVE Loque'nahak hunting stories. How can we NOT love them? Other fellow hunters pursue the ultimate challenge of finding and taming this amazing pet and they honor us with their tales. Here is Daragh's story:

A hunter born under the boughs of Aldrassil searches for his companion amongst the rarest of beasts in Azeroth. After learning the ways of the hunter and how to keep an animal faithful to you, I ventured into the Darkshores in search of the ghostsabers, the spirits of the great cats that were lost due to the great sundering. Lore has it that the spirit is spawned from figurines and in the ruins of a night elf city, I found Maya, my ghostsaber that would guide me through my travels from Azeroth to the outlands and back to the forsaken lands of Northrend... On my travels I picked up Humar the pridelord and Rakshiri the white tiger in Winterspring but Maya stayed by my side as my main companion until...

The legends of Loque'NaHak were whispered to every battleworn hunter in the northrend... Ofcourse the legends mentioned of very rare appearances and a certain level required to try and tame the spirit beast. So begins the tale of the hunt for Loque'NaHak.

With Maya stabled, this hunter set out to find the spirit beast which proved to be the most evasive pet in the history of warcraft. 2 months of endless hunting, camping, circling and not a sighting, nor a whisper... two months of leaving the basin and returning on a daily basis and nothing...

Until one late evening a fellow hunter mentioned the downing of a trophy kill, the almighty King Krush and seeing as how rumour has it that the King, Loque and a estranged bird never show up together but in succession, every beastial instinct in me felt the arrival of Loque in the basin...

I needed to be prepared, so 12 hours later I came back to the basin with an eagle to hunt the spirit beast that evaded me for 2 months. I decided that this hunt had to be different from the others, this hunt had to be done from the skies and movement was the key, never stopping, simply circling in a well planned manner with one goal in mind. Loque'NaHak...

So high above the tree canopies of the basin flew the hunter on his green proto drake avidly scanning every piece of grass and rock... when all of a sudden besides Bittertide lake and under the boughs of the lush green trees lurked the spirit beast, white as winter snows and with a muzzle that glowed with a blue of the spirit world...

Gracefully landing on his feet, the hunter sent his eagle to taunt the beast and keep him busy, while he cunningly laid a trap under his feet. Then with a sudden command he dismissed his eagle and the beast finding no target in front of it turned it's rage towards it's new target. With eyes glowing a fierce blue, it cut through the air faster than a hunter's arrow to be caught in midflight by a block of ice. Yes it was far too late... The might Loque'NaHak had been rused into a trap. Where the hunter now forced his dominion over it and where the hunter proved his hardend training over the years would come to be invaluable...

During the endless tame, all the time spent hunting and all the time spent reading similar lore was coming to fruition. During those endless seconds the beast stared at the hunter and even as it's spirit fought against the will of the hunter, a pact was being formed between them, to serve each other to the best of their capacities and to find a common strength in their weeknesses... during those endless seconds where both master and beast were fragile and exposed to the dangers of the north, strength and friendship was born.

The Hunter and Loque'NaHak walked away from the lake in silence, each pondering about the adventures and dangers that lay ahead...

To my fellow hunters, the hunt never ends until the beast is aquired, such is the way of the hunter...

May your patience be your virtue and find hope in your frustrations because in the end you will prevail

Daragh

Thank you so much for sharing your story, Daragh, and congratulations for your well succeeded hunt. Walk with the Earth Mother. And good huntering!

Yet Another Loque'nahak Story

Chaaron was kind enough to send us another story of Loque'nahak.

I have another Loque story and this one seems to repeat itself in similar forms.

I was in Sholazar Basin the other day to do some leather farming. I went to the area where the Hardknuckles are located and landed on my drake but did not dismiss my mount.

I immediately received a whisper saying "I just skinned him". I reply "Skinned who?". "The rare you're obviously looking for"

At this point I dismissed my mount and here comes my Beast, faithfully trotting up to my side. I sent him to attack the hardknuckle closest to my tormentor and received more whispers - "oh, I see you have him. I was j/k. How's his dps? Is he really worth it?

Another random whisper - "Is that the Spirit Beast?". Followed by "Where did you get that pet?"

Sometimes I politely respond with as much information as I know and will help polite hunters find the Beast. Other times, fellow Horde are just plain rude to me for no reason!

One Orc accused me of being a liar and said "I've never seen that cat in the area, funny you claim to have tamed it there." My response - "He's not a cat, he's a Beast, go google Loque,nahak on the internet."

I love playing with my Beast, his dps is fine for the Heroics I run and my guild is happy. As long as we are having fun, that is really all we care about.

Anything like this happen to you?

Fortunately, we haven't any rude comments about we stating we have Loque. We do get a lot of whispers but, funny enough, most of them are when we are in Orgrimmar. When in Dalaran the whisper count drops to zero.

Talented Pets

Yet another reader mail with a request (we love reader mail!):

Hi again!

I just wanted to ask if you know how to spec a ferocity pet for most dmg?

Satanja

Hello Satanja. We're sorry about the delay. Here is what we believe to be the most effective pet talent for the most damage (linky here)

Let's cut this down, shall we?

Cobra Reflexes - more speed but less damage? Well, yes! The damage reduction is not proportional to the speed increase, meaning the pet will do slightly more damage. Also, the more times it hits, the most it will crit.

Dash - not a damage ability, but very handy and needed. It will allow your pet to get to mobs faster (and you need the points to go to tier 2). I rather spend it on speed thank on armor or more health. This is up to you really. Just choose whatever you prefer.

Great Stamina - Pet damage is worthless if your pet is dead. Period.

Bloodthirsty - for every 5 strikes, your pet can heal itself AND keep itself happy.

Spiked Collar - pure damage. 'Nuff said.

Avoidance - It's nice to have but not that much usefull on non-raiding PvE. We do need it to get to Rabid which will get us a 50% chance of our pet do 25% more damage.

Heart of the Phoenix- again, a dead pet is a worthless pet. The same goes to Lick Your Wounds.

Spider's Bite - more crit chance. And since our pet is hitting faster... It's a party!

Call of the Wild - more attack power = more damage.

Now this is what WE feel works for us - and it has been working great. Feel free to try it and let us know what you think.

Got your own questions? Write as to nadva.hunter at gmail dot com. We'll try to get your answers here as soon as possible.

Good huntering!

This is SO Right

"What is so right?", you may ask. Well, a female, Blood Elf, hunter with Loque'nahak as her pet is. And she reads our blog too!

Chaaron sent us her story on the hunt for Loque. Here it is:

I've spent every day since the first week of December standing in the same spot in SB. I saw Loque dead once, skinned him and received the cloak. Nice trophy but I'd rather have the pet!

I've spent up to 6 hours at a time in the same spot over the past several weeks. I log out every night in SB, in the same spot.

Jan 29 was my lucky day! I was running some errands around town and swung by Baja Fresh for some lunch. Got home, unwrapped my burrito, took a big bite and logged in to the game.

I logged in to Aerie Peak at 4:58 pm. I noticed my mini map first and a yellow dot where there isn't normally a yellow dot. I knew it was Loque. I didn't see him though! I hit my macro and sure enough, Loque was targeted! I actually tossed the burrito I was holding onto the table, scattering black beans and tried to stay calm. Loque was walking underneath me as I stood on a small hill (71,72).

I was so excited I forgot what to do! Oh yeah.... abandon pet, abandon pet! I hit Loque with an ice trap and a gorilla started beating on me. I abandoned my tiger as Loque broke free of his ice trap. He too started hitting me but I had a tame on him. I watched my health drop as my tame wound down. Oh dear, was it all about to go horribly wrong?

And then a Death Knight came down from the skies. Was he going to kill my treasure? Then an Ally hunter swooped down, the same Ally hunter whom had been harassing me for days with his antics but it was all over. Loque was mine ! First thing I did was send him after that Hardknuckle! Next I spammed my guild with an all caps "LOQUE IS MINE"!

I fed the Beast, posed for pictures and then renamed him, "Loki". I thought I had a solid plan, knew exactly what steps to take when I finally spotted the Beast - let me tell you I didn't remember not one step of my plan! It happened so fast and my heart was pounding so hard!

I renamed him soon after, I felt he deserved a strong name with meaning. He is now named "Matthiessen" in honor of Peter Matthiessen, the author who spent two months tracking the elusive Snow Leopard in the Himalayas.

My advice for hunters still hoping - it WILL happen to you also, pick one spawn point and stay there. This was the third time Loque was sighted at this spot at around 5:00 pm. Be patient and you shall be rewarded!

I am a believer in karma so now whenever I attempt to obtain a rare item (such as the reins of the ravenlord mount) I go to Baja Fresh for lunch! It hasn't worked again but no harm in trying!

Thanks for all of the stories you've shared.

Thank you too for your story, Chaaron.

You have a story too? Email us at nadva.hunter at gmail dot com with a nice screenshot and we'll post it here!

What the Glyph?...

Oh look. We has our first readers email with a question for us!

"Hello Nadva

First of all, thank you for the nice blog you have here. I have been reading it daily for the past couple of weeks [and] I find your tips really useful.

I'd like to ask you something if possible: I recently hit 80 and I've been thinking about what glyphs to use on my hunter. I'm not so sure about the ones I have now. What do you suggest?

Thanks, Mark"

Well, hello Mark. As with most of the stuff in World of Warcraft, there's no absolute right or absolute wrong. You usually go with what works for you.

We can let you know the glyphs we use that we feel work for us. Feel free to try it and see how it works for you.

Major Glyphs

Glyph of Serpent Sting
Glyph of Arcane Shot
Glyph of Steady Shot

Minor Glyphs

Glyph of Feign Death
Glyph of Mend Pet
Glyph of Revive Pet

There you go. Note that Glyph of Arcane Shot is listed here because of the changes on patch 3.0.8 that will reduce Arcane Shot's mana cost. And, with this glyph, it is reduced even further.

Give it a try and let us know what you think of it.

Got a question for us? Check the image on the right bar or mail us at nadva.hunter at gmail.com.