It is indeed. A couple nights ago, I respecced Xandar to Survival. This is more of a "hey lets try something new" thing than anything else, although, in concept, SV has been my closet favorite for since before TBC. Every few months I give it a go, realize it just doesn't make the cut DPS wise, and go back to MM (pre-TBC) or BM (Post-TBC and WotLK). When the 3.X patch came out prior to the expansion, I went directly to SV, and promptly ditched it AGAIN, as it was BAD.
With the above in mind, and the intent of always trying it out, I tend to gem and enchant +agility, thinking, of course, that eventually SV would be the way to go and it would require less changes (I am a tightwad, even though I do have 5 toons with Epic Flyers, those are an investment, as EVERYTHING happens faster with them). Agility is not a bad focus for BM anyway, although, with the current pet scaling, I understand AP gets a better return on investment.
RESPEC
My first foray into SV this time around was with a heroic TF group, to whom I explained the situation up front (new spec etc). My dps cat (my Spirit Beast now has to stay in the pound, sorry for those of you still looking for her in the wild) was also only lvl 76 (NEVER bring an under-leveled pet into a heroic, they do worthless dps), but this was also explained and agreed to by the group. DPS for that run was about 1700. Not bad, but with my BM spec, and my properly leveled spirit beast, I could get about 500 - 800dps more, depending on the instance.
RESPEC
Played around solo. From my experience post 3.X patch, and pre-WotLK, soloing SV was a pain. This was my fear this time. However, I found that my solo pet (Gorilla) still held aggro acceptably, although an elite I know I could have gotten down with BM did take me out. So I was able to quest around and learn some more about my spec, which led to yet another
RESPEC
Considering when I started this, my respec cost was a whopping 20g, respeccing is a big deal to me. I just doesn't happen much. Anyway, following this respec, I got into a 25 man OS run. The run was beautiful with respect to people doing what they were supposed to, when they were supposed to. Of course we had a server crash after 3rd mini-boss and the authentication server locked me out for about 4 hrs. Still, my dps was about 2800 in the 25 man (still 10th down on the dps list however), which was thoroughly surprising to me. I realized that my BM spec was highly dependent on synergies from other classes, but not to the extent the SV spec.
Next - 10 man Naxx. I received an invite from a PUG (6 from 1 guild, rest random including me). Very good group. We sliced through the spider wing, Noth, and were working on the one following Noth when I had to log. 7 of us were first timers there, 2 had gone once or twice. Again, very good, skilled group who listened and did the right thing on the bosses. My dps 2300. Topped the charts in that group by a decent amount (next was 1700), but would not have in a dedicated, better geared group. Still, very respectable, and acceptable, considering my cat was still lvl 79 (I know, broke my own rule, with the raids consent however), I used purchased rather than engineering ammo, and no potions as it was a PUG (see above about cheapskate, I mean tightwad, I mean Frugal playing).
I already know some changes which I will implement in yet another RESPEC, but had to go to bed.
What I have learned:
While I knew that hunters require synergistic affects to really shine, BM doesn't hold a candle to SV in its dependence on these affects. Here is what boosts an SV's DPS:
Fort buff (Priest) (30% of stam --> AP)
Int (Mage) (100% int --> AP)
Kings (Pally #1) (+10% to agility, which also receives a 20% boost from SV --> AP and Crit)
Might (Pally #2) (Pure AP buff)
Horn of Winter (DK) (+155 agility --) SV buffed to +187 agil --> AP and Crit)
Totem (Shammy - doesn't stack with DK I think) (Also 155 agil, see above)
MotW (Druid) (Agility --> AP and Crit)
Without any potions or food, in the 25 man raid I was about 1700 agility and 5300 RAP, and 40% base crit (I say base, because several things in the SV tree boost this well over 50% during a fight).
Conclusion: I will stick with SV for a bit, its something different, and enjoyable to me. Though still less dps than BM, with my current gear and skill level, the dps is acceptable and the spec is soloable. I reserve the right to become return to BM at any point, however, since my Spirit Beast needs to be taken for a walk now and then or she gets cranky *grin*
With the above in mind, and the intent of always trying it out, I tend to gem and enchant +agility, thinking, of course, that eventually SV would be the way to go and it would require less changes (I am a tightwad, even though I do have 5 toons with Epic Flyers, those are an investment, as EVERYTHING happens faster with them). Agility is not a bad focus for BM anyway, although, with the current pet scaling, I understand AP gets a better return on investment.
RESPEC
My first foray into SV this time around was with a heroic TF group, to whom I explained the situation up front (new spec etc). My dps cat (my Spirit Beast now has to stay in the pound, sorry for those of you still looking for her in the wild) was also only lvl 76 (NEVER bring an under-leveled pet into a heroic, they do worthless dps), but this was also explained and agreed to by the group. DPS for that run was about 1700. Not bad, but with my BM spec, and my properly leveled spirit beast, I could get about 500 - 800dps more, depending on the instance.
RESPEC
Played around solo. From my experience post 3.X patch, and pre-WotLK, soloing SV was a pain. This was my fear this time. However, I found that my solo pet (Gorilla) still held aggro acceptably, although an elite I know I could have gotten down with BM did take me out. So I was able to quest around and learn some more about my spec, which led to yet another
RESPEC
Considering when I started this, my respec cost was a whopping 20g, respeccing is a big deal to me. I just doesn't happen much. Anyway, following this respec, I got into a 25 man OS run. The run was beautiful with respect to people doing what they were supposed to, when they were supposed to. Of course we had a server crash after 3rd mini-boss and the authentication server locked me out for about 4 hrs. Still, my dps was about 2800 in the 25 man (still 10th down on the dps list however), which was thoroughly surprising to me. I realized that my BM spec was highly dependent on synergies from other classes, but not to the extent the SV spec.
Next - 10 man Naxx. I received an invite from a PUG (6 from 1 guild, rest random including me). Very good group. We sliced through the spider wing, Noth, and were working on the one following Noth when I had to log. 7 of us were first timers there, 2 had gone once or twice. Again, very good, skilled group who listened and did the right thing on the bosses. My dps 2300. Topped the charts in that group by a decent amount (next was 1700), but would not have in a dedicated, better geared group. Still, very respectable, and acceptable, considering my cat was still lvl 79 (I know, broke my own rule, with the raids consent however), I used purchased rather than engineering ammo, and no potions as it was a PUG (see above about cheapskate, I mean tightwad, I mean Frugal playing).
I already know some changes which I will implement in yet another RESPEC, but had to go to bed.
What I have learned:
While I knew that hunters require synergistic affects to really shine, BM doesn't hold a candle to SV in its dependence on these affects. Here is what boosts an SV's DPS:
Fort buff (Priest) (30% of stam --> AP)
Int (Mage) (100% int --> AP)
Kings (Pally #1) (+10% to agility, which also receives a 20% boost from SV --> AP and Crit)
Might (Pally #2) (Pure AP buff)
Horn of Winter (DK) (+155 agility --) SV buffed to +187 agil --> AP and Crit)
Totem (Shammy - doesn't stack with DK I think) (Also 155 agil, see above)
MotW (Druid) (Agility --> AP and Crit)
Without any potions or food, in the 25 man raid I was about 1700 agility and 5300 RAP, and 40% base crit (I say base, because several things in the SV tree boost this well over 50% during a fight).
Conclusion: I will stick with SV for a bit, its something different, and enjoyable to me. Though still less dps than BM, with my current gear and skill level, the dps is acceptable and the spec is soloable. I reserve the right to become return to BM at any point, however, since my Spirit Beast needs to be taken for a walk now and then or she gets cranky *grin*
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